After Liang Qian finished her ice drink and left the shop, Gu Wenxi sat in the shop for a while longer, then came out when he felt it was time. Just as he walked down the steps, he caught sight of Zeng Bo Nian’s figure at the station on the other side.

He stepped forward, then immediately stopped. He hadn’t expected Jiang Chen, who supposedly “couldn’t come because of something,” to be there, and he was standing right next to Zeng Bo Nian.

“Wenxi, you’re here!” Jiang Chen turned around, greeting him with surprise, as if the awkwardness from a few days ago had completely vanished.

Gu Wenxi remained silent, his gaze shifting to Zeng Bo Nian.

Having known each other for several years, Zeng Bo Nian immediately sensed his dilemma and pulled Gu Wenxi aside discreetly, “He pushed aside some other matters temporarily… Are you still at odds with each other?”

It seemed that Zeng Bo Nian had no idea what had happened between him and Jiang Chen. Looking at Jiang Chen, who seemed to be trying to please him, Gu Wenxi felt annoyed. The whole thing was stirred up by that kid, making it seem like he had wronged him, and now he had to endure the scrutiny of other friends.

“Let’s just leave it at that,” he said coldly, “Aren’t we going in?”

“Let’s wait for Yue Ling.” Yue Ling was Zeng Bo Nian’s girlfriend, who was also coming directly from work.

Gu Wenxi had said he would treat everyone, so he decided to do it today. He went upstairs to pay and reserved a large room. He knew Jiang Chen was following behind, but he didn’t turn his head until the waiter led them into the room, turned on the lights, and even then, he didn’t look back once, treating Jiang Chen like air.

The private room was about 20 to 30 square meters, with a corner sofa occupying more than half of two walls, enough to accommodate about ten people. Gu Wenxi sat on the sofa and ordered some drinks and light snacks for the waiter to note down and bring later. After the waiter left and closed the door, there were only the two of them left in the room. The TV screen connected to the jukebox was already on, the MV images changing and flickering, but Gu Wenxi didn’t look in that direction, instead casually playing with his phone.

“Wenxi,” Jiang Chen sighed heavily, “Am I really unforgivable? Can’t I even qualify as a normal friend?”

Gu Wenxi raised an eyebrow slightly, “You’ve got it wrong. There’s no question of forgiveness or not. It’s just that I don’t want to be friends with someone like you.”

“What about Liang Qian?” Jiang Chen didn’t sit down, standing by the sofa with his hands hanging down. “You can still chat and laugh with her, right?”

Gu Wenxi remembered the encounter at the cold drink shop, “You saw that just now?”

“Yes, I came early too,” he said despondently.

“Liang Qian didn’t trample on others’ dignity under the guise of loving me,” Gu Wenxi put down his phone and looked at him calmly. “As for love and those matters, if it works, it works; if not, we separate. There’s nothing complicated about it. You’re in your twenties now, you should understand that love and friendship are choices. Don’t cling to others like a child clinging to a parent to buy toys. I have nothing to apologize for or owe you.”

Gu Wenxi’s selfishness was evident at this moment; he detested moral coercion.

In the past, Jiang Chen was used to obeying him, liked being sheltered by him, appearing somewhat spineless. Compared to him, who didn’t like being constrained, they complemented each other in a way and got along harmoniously. However, Gu Wenxi didn’t feel indebted to someone just because they were compliant; self-pity was useless to him.

“Hey, this room is quite big!” Zeng Bo Nian pushed the door open, noticing that the atmosphere in the room was a bit off, with one person sitting and the other standing, quite far apart. “What’s going on with you guys?”

“It’s nothing,” Gu Wenxi asked, “Is everyone here?”

“Hey, Wenxi,” Yue Ling jumped out from behind Zeng Bo Nian, making a playful gesture with her hand, “Long time no see!”

“Hey,” Gu Wenxi stood up, “Is your health okay now?”

Yue Ling said embarrassedly, “Just had a little food poisoning, but I’m fine now.”

While Zeng Bo Nian was waiting for Yue Ling, the others they had arranged to meet had also arrived, including Yu Luo and a few other guys from the day before yesterday. They all went upstairs together, and the room became lively.

The waiter brought up everything Gu Wenxi ordered one by one. Yu Luo looked astonished at the full table, “Gu ge, did you order so much?”

“We’re going to sing until late, right? We have to eat something,” Gu Wenxi said.

Zeng Bo Nian said, “Alright, you can rest assured with what Wenxi ordered. Whoever’s hungry can eat!”

The screen was rolling with randomly recommended MVs, all the most popular songs of the past two years. Among familiar friends, there were no constraints; everyone ate what they wanted, drank what they wanted, and talked about what they wanted. Surprisingly, only Xiao Shao was actively selecting songs in front of the jukebox.

Zeng Bo Nian leaned over and asked, “Have you chosen?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Xiao Shao selected a popular song from the homepage, “With you three here, aren’t we all showing off our skills?”

By “three,” he meant Zeng Bo Nian, Jiang Chen, and Gu Wenxi, because they had once formed a band at school. Although not very professional, they were considered outstanding among ordinary people by their friends.

“I’m just someone who plays instruments,” Zeng Bo Nian said modestly, “Singing depends on Gu Wenxi and Jiang Chen.”

He spoke with a loud voice, and everyone around heard it clearly. Because of these two names mentioned together, the atmosphere in the room stagnated for a moment. These close friends mostly knew about Gu Wenxi and Liang Qian’s breakup because of Jiang Chen, especially since Gu Wenxi had hardly given Jiang Chen a second look in the private room. Jiang Chen also felt guilty and never dared to communicate directly with Gu Wenxi again. From the perspective of these acquaintances, the two hadn’t reconciled, but the real reason for the rift was beyond their understanding.

Seeing this, Zeng Bo Nian felt a little embarrassed. Yue Ling tried to ease the atmosphere, clapping her hands and saying, “Our Wenxi here is a karaoke master, I’ll just enjoy the free show today!”

“It’s not that exaggerated,” Gu Wenxi smiled, “You guys go ahead.”

Gu Wenxi had passed the age of showing off, and he was happy to watch others play. He opened a bottle of foreign wine, sat on the sofa, and drank with Yu Luo and a few others.

“Gu ge, I’m sorry for what happened the other day that upset you,” Yu Luo said, clinking glasses with him.

“It’s okay.”

After drinking several glasses in a row, he closed his eyes for a moment to rest, then opened them to find Jiang Chen looking at him. Jiang Chen neither sang nor drank with them, sitting in a position not too close to him. That night, there was no further communication between them.

“Wenxi, come sing!” Yue Ling shouted again.

“Okay.”

He ate a little, drank some wine, and then went to sing.

He was willing to do something else besides drinking.

Zeng Bo Nian, who knew his preferences well, suggested, “How about I pick a song for you?”

“No, I’ll do it.”

Gu Wenxi sat down and looked at the song list on the jukebox screen. He typed in a song title in the search interface.

“Hey,” Zeng Bo Nian was a bit surprised, “You want to sing this one?”

“Yes.”

The first song he chose was “Blue and White Porcelain,” which he had heard on the street the day before yesterday.

Gu Wenxi hadn’t liked Jay Chou before, but his voice was quite suitable for this kind of song. He even had a bit of that lazy vibe, quickly finding the right feeling with the accompaniment. The whole room quieted down as he began to sing.

He was good at evoking emotions, whether performing or for his own enjoyment. When singing, he would immerse himself deeply in the emotions of the song, bringing those around him into the same mood. When the song ended, no one could easily switch out of that atmosphere.

Yu Luo was the first to speak, saying exaggeratedly, “Gu ge, I don’t dare to sing anymore.”

Gu Wenxi, already a bit flushed from drinking, felt even more embarrassed, “Come on, don’t flatter me.”

“No way, ge,” Xiao Shao said, “You have to sing another one.”

With everyone’s urging, Gu Wenxi sat down in front of the jukebox again. This time, he browsed the categorized song list at random. After flipping through a few pages, he saw a song title that caught his attention. Despite never having sung it before, he chose “Tenderness.”

The prelude was only a dozen seconds long, with light guitar accompaniment and a strong rhythmic drumbeat leading into the lyrics.

“Walking in the wind, today’s sunlight suddenly feels so gentle

The gentleness of the sky, the gentleness of the earth, is you holding me

Then I noticed your change, the lonely future

If it’s cold, how to get through it

The scenery on the horizon, me by your side, are not in your eyes

What is hidden in your eyes, I never understand

It’s okay, let you have your world

Not disturbing is my tenderness

…”

He had only heard this song a few times. Relying on his memory, and with the accompaniment, he sang it from start to finish, looking somewhat unsatisfied at the screen now showing a different song’s music video.

Zeng Bo Nian, while praising him, found it unbelievable, “Wenxi, your taste has changed, huh? You didn’t like these kinds of somewhat cheesy songs before, did you?”

“Yeah, he never liked love songs before! We always had to beg him to sing!” Yue Ling also noticed the difference, “Wenxi, are you in love again?”

“Not quite there yet.” After saying that, Gu Wenxi put down the microphone and sat back in his original spot on the sofa, ready to continue drinking.

Everyone was stunned; Yue Ling had hit the mark halfway.

Yue Ling, excited and gossiping, asked, “So you like someone?”

Gu Wenxi’s gaze swept over them one by one, then he simply replied, “Yes.”

“Oh—” Except for Jiang Chen, whose face turned pale, everyone else cheered, dragging out the sound. Yue Ling was especially excited. She was a few months older than Gu Wenxi and looked at him like a younger brother, “So, have you made a move yet?”

“About to.” Gu Wenxi’s eyes were filled with undisguised longing, making his expression seem lively and carefree.

Because of this unexpected gossip, everyone’s focus shifted from singing to finding out what kind of person he liked. Unfortunately, Gu Wenxi was tight-lipped, and no matter how they tried to probe, they couldn’t get anything out of him.

“Wenxi!” As they left the KTV, Jiang Chen stopped him.

Gu Wenxi had other plans and had already said goodbye to his friends. He didn’t want to get entangled with Jiang Chen, “What’s up?”

“Do you really… really have someone you like?”

“Otherwise, would it be fake?”

“But—how could you, you haven’t even been in touch with anyone…”

“Jiang Chen,” Gu Wenxi frowned, “I don’t need to report to you about who I’m in contact with, and who I fall in love with has nothing to do with you.”

He had drunk a bit too much tonight and stumbled back a couple of steps, unable to stand steadily.

“You’ve had too much to drink,” Jiang Chen tried to support him, “I’ll take you home.”

Gu Wenxi brushed his hand away, “No, I’m not going home.”

“Then where are you going?”

“I told you it’s none of your business.”

Gu Wenxi rubbed his temple with one hand, took out his phone with the other, turned his back, and walked away from Jiang Chen. Cars passed by one after another, their headlights illuminating his surroundings.

He walked to the next intersection under a streetlamp. The light was a soft yellow, gentle even when he looked up. He dialed Du Yunyan’s number.

The ringtone played twice. Just as Gu Wenxi was about to call again, the phone connected, and after a brief silence, a soft voice came through, “Wenxi.”

Gu Wenxi gripped his phone tightly and took a deep breath, “Where are you?”

Du Yunyan didn’t answer.

He asked again, “Where have you been these past few days?”

Maybe it was the alcohol, but he became stubborn, needing to hear the answer. He wanted to see if Du Yunyan would tell him the truth.

His palm started to sweat. After nearly ten seconds of silence, he heard a voice through the phone.

“I’m in S City.”

^[1]Author’s note:

The lyrics are from Mayday’s “Tenderness.” Wenxi will definitely sing to Yunyan in person in the future~