Aside from a brief glance at the bakery in S City, Gu Wenxi hadn’t seen Yun Han in months. The young man seemed paler than when he left, and a bit thinner, looking quite delicate.

“You’re back?”

“Mr. Gu?” Yun Han’s surprise was more evident. He seemed not to have expected Gu Wenxi to still be here. After a moment’s hesitation, he replied, “I took a few days off and came back.”

“Are you here to see Yunyan?” Yun Han had a house in the village, so he wasn’t here to stay at the inn. Besides visiting Du Yunyan, Gu Wenxi couldn’t think of any other reason. The overly familiar address surprised the young man again. Gu Wenxi didn’t explain further, and continued, “Please wait a moment, I’ll call him.”

“Sure, thank you.” Despite his confusion, he followed the suggestion and waited on the side.

The restaurant was empty in the afternoon, with staff either resting or upstairs cleaning the vacated rooms. The wind chimes occasionally emitted a lazy tone or two.

Gu Wenxi found Du Yunyan in the backyard and took a few eggplants freshly picked from him, “Someone is looking for you.”

“Who?”

“Yun Han.”

---

Like slender pillars, streams of water flowed into the kettle. Gu Wenxi plugged in the kettle, filled with clean water, and it would take a minute or two to boil.

After boiling a pot of water, he poured the hot water into the teapot, waiting for the curled tea leaves to unfurl.

“Why did you come back at this time?”

Du Yunyan and Yun Han were sitting at a table not far from the kitchen door, and voices could be heard from inside as they conversed.

“It’s not that busy in the shop right now, so I took a few days off to come back and organize the old house. And also to see you guys. How’s everything here?”

“Business is doing well, and we have enough staff.”

…

Gu Wenxi brewed the tea and also prepared a small plate of pastries. He placed everything on a tray and skillfully arranged the tea set in front of them. “Have some tea.”

Yun Han looked puzzled again, his gaze scanning over him.

“Wenxi,” Du Yunyan spoke up and pulled the chair beside him a bit, “Why don’t you sit too?”

Originally intending to leave after serving the tea, Gu Wenxi’s lips curved slightly. “Then I’ll get another cup.” The white porcelain tea set originally came with five cups, and since there were only three of them, he quickly fetched another one from the kitchen.

Gu Wenxi suddenly remembered the scene last winter when the three of them had breakfast together at a table. Only back then, it was Du Yunyan and Yun Han sitting on one side, and himself on the opposite side. Now, it was him and Du Yunyan sitting on the same side.

“Mr. Gu,” Yun Han finally asked, “Have you never left?”

“I went back home once,” Gu Wenxi said cheerfully, “and then I came back, and I plan to stay here in the future.”

“Stay here?” The expression on the young man’s face opposite him was no longer one of surprise but of shock. “To work here?”

“No,” he waved the tea cup, “just to live.”

“Live?” Yun Han seemed to be getting more confused or perhaps he had caught some signals, his eyes widening as if trying to find that elusive answer.

“Yun Han,” Du Yunyan patted Gu Wenxi’s arm secretly, “I wanted Wenxi to sit with us to reintroduce him to you.”

Gu Wenxi didn’t expect him to say that, and both he and Yun Han looked at him at the same time.

“Ge,” the young man lowered his head, his hands fidgeting with the cup in front of him, “Are you two…”

“Yes,” Du Yunyan said, “Now, we’re living together.”

Yun Han’s mouth opened slightly, and he was stunned for a moment before seeming to breathe a sigh of relief. “No wonder… I guess it’s like that.”

“Yun Han,” Du Yunyan said to him, “Because you’re an important friend to me, almost like family, I didn’t want to hide it from you.”

“Ge,” there was a hint of bitterness in his smile, but it quickly disappeared into a cheerful tone, “It’s nice that you have someone with you.”

There was the sound of a car approaching outside the door. Gu Wenxi stood up from his seat, “Maybe someone’s here. You guys keep talking.”

“Yeah.”

There weren’t enough parking spaces in the front yard. Gu Wenxi helped the owner of the car and guided them to a corner where they could barely park.

“Hello, welcome,” he said to the family getting out of the car, “Please come this way.”

After registering the guests, Du Yunyan and Yun Han were still chatting over tea. Gu Wenxi didn’t sit back at the table but watched from a few steps away behind the counter. Whether just now or last year when he eavesdropped on their conversation secretly, he never missed the regret in Yun Han’s eyes. Regardless of whether their relationship reached the level of love, this young man indeed had an unusual attachment to Du Yunyan.

Sometimes Gu Wenxi would also wonder, if Yun Han had agreed to Du Yunyan’s proposal back then, these two people might have been together long ago, and the lives of all three of them would have been rewritten.

Has Yun Han ever regretted it?

---

That afternoon, Yun Han stayed to help out and didn’t leave until evening.

After finishing a day’s work and returning to the room, Gu Wenxi was immersed in his thoughts from earlier in the day and couldn’t snap out of it. Since before Du Yunyan went to take a shower until he came out of the bathroom, he saw him sitting cross-legged on the bed without changing his position.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing.” There was a jumble of thoughts in his mind, and he just felt tired.

“You don’t seem okay,” since they started dating, Du Yunyan’s usual attitude of not getting involved in others’ affairs had basically disappeared. Moreover, he could accurately sense Gu Wenxi’s thoughts, “Is it because Yun Han came back?” After all, Gu Wenxi knew that he had once liked Yun Han.

But Gu Wenxi glared at him: “Do I seem petty to you?”

“Well, I know you wouldn’t mind, but perhaps there are some things you’d like to understand better, right?” Du Yunyan asked with a smile.

“You—You know what I want to understand?”

“I don’t know,” he said, “So if there’s something you want to know, just ask me.”

“I just feel that at that time… Actually, he might have had feelings for you too, right?” Gu Wenxi was talking to him about Yun Han for the first time, discussing his confusion from last winter.

“Ah,” Du Yunyan leaned against him, “Me and him, how should I put it… Over these many years, it’s been almost like with a real brother, so he probably has some attachment to me, but I can’t really define that kind of feeling.” Because there’s more than just romantic love between people.

“Or maybe, his feelings for me were more out of habit, but staying by my side might hinder him from finding the life he truly wants, and he might regret it one day.”

Does staying always lead to regret?

As long as you’re familiar with Du Yunyan’s way of thinking, it was not hard to understand the implications.

Making a decision inevitably comes with some level of regret. To describe it as “greed” is a bit too much; rather, it’s the sensitivity and weakness of human nature, and it takes a seemingly painful struggle to face one’s true self.

“How long have you known each other?”

Du Yunyan did some quick calculations in his mind, “Fourteen years.”

“Can you tell me about your past?”

“Do you really want to know?” Du Yunyan was somewhat surprised. Most people don’t have this strange hobby of talking about past crushes with their lovers.

“Go ahead,” Gu Wenxi understood his concerns, “I don’t mind your romantic history, I just want to understand more about your past, because compared to him… we met too late.” In fact, he was very curious about what kind of person Du Yunyan, who grew up with Yun Han, was.

“If you’re willing to know, of course, I can tell you,” Du Yunyan’s voice was softer than usual, blending into the gentle evening breeze, “This is my mother’s hometown. I came here to settle down with her when I was fifteen. As for my dad—”

Gu Wenxi held his breath, almost interrupting him, but Du Yunyan squeezed his hand firmly.

“My dad left my mom shortly after I was born, they never even got married, and I’ve never seen him.”

“So you…” It was almost as he had guessed, Gu Wenxi didn’t know how to respond to this.

“It’s okay, it doesn’t matter. A person like that, it doesn’t matter where he goes. You’re with me now, and you have to know what kind of person I am, where I came from,” he laughed, then continued, “Yun Han’s family only consists of him and his mom. His dad passed away when he was very young, his mom raised him alone, it wasn’t easy. Maybe because of this, my mom and his mom got along well and became friends, they would get together on holidays and my mom asked me to take care of him like a real little brother.

“I’ve told you before, when I was in S City, I was quite withdrawn. When I first came here, I didn’t like to talk to people much. He wasn’t even eight years old at that time, always pulling me to play with him. I didn’t understand what kids liked to play, but I loved cooking, so I often brought him along to make pastries for the adults. Later, he became much more talented in this area than me…”

Gu Wenxi listened intently, and Du Yunyan waved his hand in front of him, “Wenxi, these memories are important to me, but I’ve let go of him.”

“Of course, I know.” Gu Wenxi laughed and shook his head.

“Is that so… I thought you were a bit uncomfortable.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ve been quiet since he came for the past half day,” Du Yunyan said with a confident expression.

“I was—I did think about some things, but not to the extent of being upset, I just felt a bit awkward just because I haven’t known you for as long as Yun Han,” Gu Wenxi said calmly, “Even if I feel awkward, so what?”

“Well…” Du Yunyan lay down, “How do you want me to comfort you?”

“Comfort me?” Gu Wenxi found it amusing, hearing the tone as if talking to a child. His gaze met Du Yunyan’s soft peach blossom eyes, and an idea came to him. He leaned over and said, “Let’s do it now.”