Fu Wenshan hadn’t heard the name Yao Ren in a long time.

His last impression of Yao Ren was still stuck on the day he moved out of the dormitory. He had smiled innocently, wearing a blue T-shirt, fair-skinned, with curly hair, looking like a high school student at first glance.

But it was this seemingly innocent and harmless person who said to him, “Wenshan, I’m also planning my own way out.”

Then Yao Ren dragged his suitcase and walked out of the dormitory.

“How did you get my number?” Fu Wenshan asked in a deep voice. He subconsciously glanced at Xie Wanxing in his arms and found that Xie Wanxing was eavesdropping openly, his eyes wide open, not sleepy at all.

Fu Wenshan: “……….”

Xie Wanxing wasn’t ashamed of being caught eavesdropping. On the contrary, he leaned in a little closer, like a child who had done something naughty on purpose, deliberately wanting the adult to notice him.

Fu Wenshan didn’t drive him away, but instead, he hugged him with one hand and gently patted his back.

Yao Ren paused on the phone for a few seconds before smiling bitterly, “I got it from someone.”

The word “got” was quite subtle.

But Fu Wenshan didn’t ask who he got it from, instead, he asked directly, “What do you want from me?”

Yao Ren’s hand holding the phone was slightly sweaty, and his voice trembled a bit. “I don’t want anything, I just want to hear your voice. Wenshan, I… I regret it. Today, I heard your song on the street, and I was thinking…”

Fu Wenshan didn’t let him finish.

Whatever Yao Ren was thinking had nothing to do with him.

He had given Yao Ren choices.

Since Yao Ren didn’t have anything important to say, he simply hung up the phone decisively, lowered his head to look at Xie Wanxing, and asked, “Are you happy eavesdropping?”

Xie Wanxing was still lying on Fu Wenshan’s chest, not feeling ashamed of being caught eavesdropping at all. He blinked and asked, “Who was that?”

Fu Wenshan didn’t hide it from him either. “My former teammate. Originally, we were both at Huayin.”

“We were practice trainees together, him, me, and two other guys, living in the same dorm. We were supposed to debut as a group together. But halfway through, he secretly contacted the higher-ups in the company and went solo, and our group fell apart. Later, I changed companies, and I also had some connection with him.”

This could explain why Fu Wenshan disliked this person so much.

But Xie Wanxing intuitively felt it wasn’t that simple. He pressed on, “If he’s just a former teammate, why does he…?” Xie Wanxing recalled Yao Ren’s words just now and got goosebumps. It was too melodramatic. “Why does he act like he had a fling with you?”

Fu Wenshan looked at Xie Wanxing speechlessly, feeling that his taste had been insulted out of nowhere.

But explaining his past with Yao Ren was indeed troublesome, and it did involve a bit of youthful affection.

He didn’t want to mention this person anymore, just patted Xie Wanxing’s head and said, “Nonsense, after he went solo, I never saw him again.”

Seeing that Xie Wanxing’s IV bottle was almost empty, he got off the bed. “I’ll go call the nurse.”

Left alone in the room, Xie Wanxing stubbornly searched for the name “Yao Ren” with one hand.

But he didn’t find anything noteworthy.

Just an unknown little singer who had a bit of fame when he debuted but quickly faded away. Now, he was just moderately active, appearing occasionally on third-rate variety shows and releasing a few singles.

Xie Wanxing also found a photo of Yao Ren. He couldn’t say he was particularly handsome, but he had a pleasant appearance, not tall, with a head of curly hair, and he smiled sweetly.

Xie Wanxing evaluated for a while. Yao Ren was far from being as good-looking as him, but he was still above the passing line, the type that both gay men and girls would find attractive.

But after looking for a long time, he couldn’t figure out much from just this information, so he closed it.

But when Fu Wenshan came back with the nurse, removed the needle, and helped him wash up,

He stared at Fu Wenshan’s face, still wanting to ask—If Yao Ren was just an ordinary former teammate, why did your face change so much just hearing his name?

As if this name had some significant meaning to you.

But in the end, he didn’t ask.

Because before he spoke, he finally remembered his position.

He wasn’t Fu Wenshan’s boyfriend, just a casual partner.

He had no reason to inquire about Fu Wenshan’s past.

That night, the two of them spent a casual night in the hospital, wearing the patient gowns provided by the hospital. Fortunately, they weren’t the common blue and white ones seen on TV, but light gray ones.

The next day, Fu Wenshan woke up first and saw that Xie Wanxing was still sleeping, so he didn’t disturb him. He wore a mask and went out to buy breakfast.

The hospital actually provided breakfast, but Fu Wenshan went to Yuhexuan to pack a light vegetarian congee and some snacks. Xie Wanxing liked this place.

When he came back, Xie Wanxing was still asleep, curled up in the blanket, with long and dense eyelashes. His face was no longer as pale as yesterday but had regained its rosy color, with a peachy hue.

Fu Wenshan didn’t disturb him, but after watching for a while at the bedside, he inexplicably leaned over and kissed Xie Wanxing’s face.

A light kiss like a dragonfly landing, on Xie Wanxing’s forehead.

“Clap, clap, clap.” Suddenly, there was applause in the room.

Fu Wenshan was startled and turned around to see a tall figure in a white coat leaning against the door, looking at him with a smirk.

It was the little buddy he dissed behind his back yesterday, the young master of this hospital—Luo He.

His job was at his own hospital, and he heard that Fu Wenshan brought someone to his hospital last night.

Early in the morning, he specially came to see the excitement, but he didn’t expect to stumble upon this scene.

He didn’t even need to see who was on the bed to know it was Xie Wanxing.

The first hand information Li Siheng sent from the frontline said that Fu Wenshan used the name friend with benefits but was actually secretly dating someone, and that someone was Xie Wanxing.

At first, Luo He didn’t believe it. After all, these days, how could there be so many stories of friends with benefits turning into true love?

But just at the moment when he saw Fu Wenshan lowering his head to kiss Xie Wanxing.

He believed it.

This wasn’t just a relationship between casual partners; this was clearly the budding of love.

Luo He recalled and felt that even when he was in primary school, he wasn’t as innocent as this.

Fu Wenshan stood up, walked to the door, and pulled Luo He into the corridor, casually closing the door behind them.

Luo He didn’t mind. He leaned against the corridor wall, looking at Fu Wenshan with a playful expression.

Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, Fu Wenshan raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why did you come here?”

Luo He took out a lollipop from his pocket, slowly unwrapped the wrapper, and grinned, “Just here to see the fun. You brought someone to my hospital for treatment. If I don’t come to check in, would I still be a good buddy?”

He popped the lollipop into his mouth and nodded towards the ward knowingly. “Is that Xie Wanxing inside?”

Fu Wenshan didn’t hesitate to admit, “Yeah.”

Luo He’s smile grew wider. He shook his head. “Li Siheng told me that you pretended to be in a friends-with-benefits relationship but were actually in love. I didn’t believe it, but it turns out you really are…” Luo He thought for a moment and finally found an adjective, “naive.”

Fu Wenshan was already regretting coming to this hospital yesterday.

He knew Luo He wouldn’t miss the chance to tease him.

“Where did you hear all this nonsense?” He also took a piece of chocolate from Luo He’s pocket, only to find out it was white chocolate, which he found distasteful. “Why do you like sweet things so much?”

But since smoking wasn’t allowed in the hospital, having a piece of chocolate was fine.

Fu Wenshan threw the chocolate into his mouth, mumbled unclearly to Luo He, “It’s just temporary friends with benefits.”

Luo He pushed up his glasses with a meaningful look, “Temporary. What about later?”

Fu Wenshan glanced inside the room, then back at Luo He, “We’ll see.”

Stubborn as a mule.

That’s what Luo He thought.

He intentionally provoked Fu Wenshan, “Alright, if you say it’s temporary friends with benefits for now, then so be it. But if you two break up, you can introduce him to me. I’m not picky; I don’t mind if you two have had a fling.”

Fu Wenshan kicked him away, “Get lost.”

Luo He burst into laughter, patting the marks on his white coat.

After having his fill of laughter, he said, “I won’t see you off today. Let me know when you guys settle down. I’ll definitely give you a big red envelope as your good buddy.”

With that, Luo He left. Satisfied with the gossip, he was planning to share the latest love news of Fu Wenshan with the others later.

This was much more interesting than playing video games.

---

Fu Wenshan drove away the annoying fellow and returned to the room.

Xie Wanxing was still asleep, completely unaware, as if oblivious to the outside world.

Fu Wenshan couldn’t help but chuckle as he gently poked his soft cheek. Xie Wanxing murmured softly, seeming to find him annoying, and snuggled further into the blanket.

The room was quiet, with only sunlight streaming across the floor.

Fu Wenshan didn’t disturb Xie Wanxing any further; he just watched him quietly.

He remembered Luo He’s words just now and what Li Siheng had said to him a long time ago.

They could see it, see that he was developing feelings for Xie Wanxing.

He had once thought that he wouldn’t fall in love with Xie Wanxing.

In such a hasty and absurd relationship, where both sought nothing but physical satisfaction, how could it possibly turn into love?

But since returning from the film set, over these past two months, despite the infrequent meetings with Xie Wanxing, he found himself thinking of him almost every day.

He wondered if Xie Wanxing was doing well in the film set, if Li Siheng knew how to take good care of him, if he was tired from filming, if he was getting involved with any actors from other crews.

All these troubles.

Forced him to face his own feelings.

He indeed had never been in love before, and this short-term affair was a sign of that.

For over a decade, there hadn’t been any decent infatuation. The slight softening of his heart, in the end, proved to be nothing but a joke.

But that didn’t mean he lost his self-awareness.

There are three things a person can’t hide: poverty, coughing, and love.

Just like now, his fingers couldn’t help but stroke Xie Wanxing’s eyebrow bone, where there was a small, faint red mole hidden at the end of his eyebrow.

This red mole wasn’t particularly special, but because it was on Xie Wanxing’s face, he found it adorable.

He indeed developed an admiration for Xie Wanxing. This affection was like a starlight in the night, nowhere to hide, so much so that even Li Siheng and Luo He saw through it.

But what about Xie Wanxing?

When will Xie Wanxing realize what kind of gaze his so-called friend with benefits was casting upon him?

He couldn’t come up with an answer.