After returning home in the evening, Yu Nian hung the two coats in the wardrobe.

Apart from that, his wardrobe was packed with autumn and winter clothes just delivered to his home, including hoodies, sweaters, cashmere coats, wool jackets, each piece soft and expensive.

There were no common luxury brand logos on them.

Because most of Yu Nian’s clothes from childhood to adulthood were custom-made from several exclusive overseas stores, perfectly tailored to his body, according to his preferences, and delivered to his residence well before the change of seasons.

Compared to these carefully designed clothes, the two Qi Wang bought for him, although considered exquisite in fashion, suddenly appeared rough, hanging in the wardrobe like two outliers. It’s just that Yu Nian’s good proportions and handsome appearance made it hard to notice any significant difference when worn casually.

Sitting on the bed, he stared at these two pieces of clothing, lost in thought.

When he told his brother and sister before that he wanted to work in this restaurant for a while longer, it was because he wanted to see things through to the end.

But he had to admit that most of his reasons were because of Qi Wang, with a small part being that he didn’t want to leave behind his boss, Xiao Gu Chu Hejun, and others. If word got out, he’d be beaten up and accused of prioritizing romance over friendship.

But there was no way around it.

Eighteen-year-old boys are like that, scheming and eager to get close to their crush. Seeing Qi Wang a few more times each day felt like adding years to his life.

But he hadn’t thought of confessing at that time.

It was too difficult.

He wasn’t like Ying Quanshen, a playboy who had been giving candy to girls since kindergarten and could recite love confessions as fluently as multiplication tables.

Although he was often dumped by girls, he would only be sad for three days before inviting a new and beautiful girl he just met to a concert.

Yu Nian had always been a bit pretentious and aloof, although he had a sunny disposition and got along with everyone, when it came to romance, he was picky, able to find faults in anyone, unwilling to squander his first love on some reckless high schooler.

So he had never thought he would experience his first love at eighteen.

He thought his first love should be precious and solemn.

The object he chose should be elegant and radiant like a diamond walking down the street, as handsome as a CEO in a Korean drama, gentle and steady in character, obedient to him yet dignified in public.

It was very juvenile and unrealistic.

Dreamy and naive, he would be laughed at by his sister for a whole year.

But the truth was, liking someone was so easy.

He couldn’t even tell at what moment he had started to like Qi Wang. When he came to his senses, his eyes were already following Qi Wang.

Nothing earth-shattering happened.

Naturally, like the buds of a willow in spring, swaying in the spring rain.

Qi Wang wasn’t the CEO in a novel who would buy him a building in a minute. He was just a young man working as a barista in a restaurant, quiet and reserved. His face was flawless, standing by the French window grinding coffee beans was as beautiful as a painting.

But there were so many mysteries about him: reclusive, aloof, never mentioning his own private matters, no friends, tattoos and scars on his arms, he didn’t seem like an upright young man.

But Yu Nian still liked him.

Yu Nian hugged the blanket, burying his face in it, and chuckled.

He remembered the conversation with his brother before he left home, subtly indicating that as long as he didn’t hang out with all sorts of bad people, his sister could turn a blind eye to him being a little gay.

If his sister knew he had fallen for someone like Qi Wang, she would go crazy.

She would tear up the so-called agreement and stop being a reasonable guardian. She would send someone to tie him and bring him back home the next day.

That’s why he hadn’t thought of confessing to Qi Wang at first.

He was just running away from home.

His encounter with Qi Wang wasn’t romantic at all, their living environments and backgrounds were completely different.

Regardless of whether Qi Wang liked him or not, couples with such a big gap in life often didn’t end well.

Having grown up, he had witnessed a few reckless love stories in his circle of life: princes and Cinderellas, rich girls and poor boys, they were sincere and passionate when they loved, but they all ended sadly.

He didn’t think he would be an exception.

He was naive, but he wasn’t stupid.

So he just wanted to prolong the time with Qi Wang, but didn’t dare to confess recklessly. Even if the matchmaker fell asleep and messed up the romance script, and Qi Wang really agreed, he hadn’t figured out how to deal with the tsunami of troubles that followed.

But on this early winter night, with the fierce wind outside the window, sitting in the air-conditioned room, he couldn’t help seriously considering the possibility of confessing to Qi Wang.

His gaze wandered around the room.

In addition to those two pieces of clothing, there were many traces left by Qi Wang in this small bedroom.

The humidifier in the corner was bought by Qi Wang because he had a sore throat these days, and his lips were always dry and peeling.

The gloves on the table were also given by Qi Wang, specifically for him to wear when riding a motorcycle.

The thermos on the cabinet was also Qi Wang’s, he was craving red bean cake in the middle of the night, but most shops were already closed, and there was none on the delivery platform. Qi Wang was annoyed by his phone calls, hung up on him on the surface, but came knocking on his door after work and stuffed the red bean cake into his arms. He still didn’t know where Qi Wang bought it from.

And… there was a box of exploding bead mint candies on his bedside table.

Only half of it was left.

It was left behind by Qi Wang last time when they were reading horror stories together. He was screaming and shouting in fear, while Qi Wang remained expressionless, bored and indifferent, eating mint candy on the side.

So much so that he always felt the zombies that day smelled of mint.

Later, this box of mint candy was left inadvertently on his bedside table.

Yu Nian glanced at it for a while, then quietly reached out and took it.

The iron box was opened, and inside, emerald green candies rolled out like jade beads.

He took one and put it in his mouth. A cool sensation rushed up immediately, making him shiver.

Qi Wang always bought the strongest peppermint candies. It wasn’t because he liked them, purely to stay awake. He often worked night shifts and had two jobs, relying on something other than cigarettes to stay alert.

He thought, Qi Wang was really strange.

With such a cold and indifferent face, he should be an insensitive scumbag.

He should live a carefree life, avoiding entanglements and should deceive someone like him, that way he would shed tears, endure the bitterness of love, and then return home without looking back, disappearing from the scene.

Then he wouldn’t have to worry.

But Qi Wang wasn’t like that.

Qi Wang was good.

So good that he couldn’t find words to describe it.

Like a lush poplar tree, resilient, upright, low-key and quiet, but always silently providing shelter.

Yu Nian crunched on the peppermint candies, his brain almost numb from the cold, yet he kept eating five in a row.

When he reached the fifth one, he finally stopped, gritted his teeth, and picked up the mirror on his phone to look at himself.

Looking at his face on the phone, he wondered what his chances would be if he confessed to Qi Wang now.

Should he give it a try?

Maybe he would be rejected, left with no friends, and would have to slink back home empty-handed.

There was also a one in a million chance of acceptance. He would live with Qi Wang, deeply in love, only to face storms of arguments even worse than before a few months later, maybe even getting kicked out by his sister.

The problem was too complicated and heavy.

There was none of the lightness and beauty of teenage romance.

Yu Nian didn’t want to face it at all. He groaned and buried himself under the thick blanket, like a flipped-over turtle, motionless.