Yu Nian naturally didn’t get up the next day.

In recent years, he hadn’t had the energy to stay up all night drawing design drafts and cutting fabrics like he did in the past. He was originally a delicate and pampered young master. A slight bump would make him complain of pain.

During the years when Qi Wang was absent, he graduated, interned, and established his own brand, steadily advancing step by step. People outside respectfully called him President Yu, but it was hard to see the busy and clumsy appearance he had in “Morning Ten” back then.

But lying in bed now, with a goose-down pillow behind him, lazily looking at Qi Wang, he felt so fragile that even a slight movement would make him furrow his brows. Compared to his time at “Morning Ten,” it seemed like he hadn’t made much progress.

“You’re quite something, inviting me out to ski, and now look, the skiing plan’s ruined,” Yu Nian raised an eyebrow at Qi Wang. “You said it was to relax, is this what you call relaxing?”

He sneered, “Relaxing on the bed.”

Even moving a bit now, it hurt. He was afraid that if he went skiing, he would fall apart with one slip.

Qi Wang also knew he was in the wrong.

He lost control of his emotions last night. He had been careful around Yu Nian for so many days, as if he were treating a fragile glass figurine. But last night, he lost control, and even when Yu Nian cried so miserably at the end, he didn’t stop.

But he didn’t truly feel remorseful.

He held the red bean soup that the hotel had just sent, fed Yu Nian a spoonful, and whispered, “Let’s just rest in the hotel today, I’ll accompany you next time.”

He paused, “If the two of us go out like this, and if someone sees us together, it would be hard to explain.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, the bedroom curtains wide open, the sunlight shining through the window onto the snowy landscape outside, illuminating the room.

On his left cheek and neck, there were three not-too-deep red marks, not heavy-handed, nor painful, but it was obvious who had left these marks in a moment of passion.

After years of tempering and refining, Qi Wang’s character was still cold, but his skin wasn’t as thin as it was when he was young. However, going out with such obvious marks was still a bit ostentatious.

This place wasn’t far from the city center, and there were quite a few people coming here for vacation from City A. If they ran into acquaintances, he didn’t care, but he might find it hard to explain.

Yu Nian’s mouth twitched slightly, understanding what Qi Wang meant.

He didn’t say anything more, his lips twitched slightly, and he swallowed the red bean dumpling given to him by Qi Wang with the spoon.

The two of them stayed in the hotel for the whole day, driving for an hour to go skiing, but it ended up becoming a two-day stay in the hotel.

Yu Nian sat barefoot on the wooden floor, enjoying the warmth from the floor heating system. His lower body was comfortably dressed in flannel sleeping pants, while his upper body wore a loose camel-colored sweater over a deep blue shirt, with all buttons firmly fastened up to the top. He looked solemn as he attended a video conference with the marketing department.

Qi Wang sat a little further away, trying to avoid overhearing Yu Nian’s work content. He casually picked up a pencil and sketched Yu Nian’s profile as he attended the meeting.

The pencil made a soft scratching sound as he hand moved across the paper, capturing Yu Nian’s shadow gradually.

When Yu Nian’s meeting ended, Qi Wang had finished the sketch.

Yu Nian walked over, picked up a glass of orange juice from the table, took a sip, and glanced down to see his own image on the paper.

He raised an eyebrow, still mentally preoccupied with work. He had just discussed next year’s artist collaboration series with the marketing department, reviewing nearly twenty proposals they had presented.

Now, seeing Qi Wang sitting on the couch, young and handsome and a leading figure in the art world among young painters, Yu Nian found him quite impressive. Qi Wang was well-known among the youth, yet he remained low-key, avoiding publicity and social events. He had a mysterious aura. If Qi Wang were to be associated with their brand “THE ONE,” it would undoubtedly add sophistication and appeal.

Not to mention, the brand “THE ONE” was derived from Qi Wang’s name.

However, Yu Nian would probably never let Qi Wang know.

Thinking of this, Yu Nian’s overheated brain cooled down a bit, dismissing the thought.

Reunion with an old lover was already rare enough, let alone working together.

Yu Nian finished his glass of orange juice, unbuttoned his tightly buttoned sweater, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He also sat on the couch, took the sketch from Qi Wang’s hand. Although the sketch was simple, it accurately captured his posture and demeanor. Looking at it, he felt as if a thread had been stolen from his soul and attached to the paper.

He couldn’t help but recall many years ago when he lay in Qi Wang’s bedroom, half-draped in a red robe, urging Qi Wang to sketch him.

It was also a quick sketch.

Now hidden deep in his home safe, it hadn’t seen the light of day for many years.

Qi Wang seemed to have remembered too.

Qi Wang asked in a low voice, “Did you receive the things I entrusted someone else to give you back then?”

Before leaving, Qi Wang had packed up everything Yu Nian had left at his place and entrusted it to Yu Xinli’s secretary for delivery. He had instructed them not to throw anything away in case Yu Nian wanted it back.

But Yu Nian never received them.

Yu Nian’s gaze still lingered on the sketch.

He blinked his eyelashes. “I did, but I have no idea where they were thrown. Maybe they got lost.”

He said it casually and naturally, without a hint of falsehood.

But Qi Wang subtly sensed otherwise.

If they were truly lost, Yu Nian wouldn’t speak so casually. Instead, he might remain silent.

Bowing his head, Qi Wang looked at Yu Nian’s soft hair, faintly feeling his current temperament.

There wasn’t much change from when he was eighteen years old. Outwardly, he had a strong temper, but inside, he was as soft as a rice cake, ready to melt at the slightest touch.

But now, he wasn’t as straightforward and passionate as he was when he was young. He liked to speak in reverse, like a little hedgehog, always ready to make a sarcastic remark or argue.

But perhaps it was because, besides sharp words, Yu Nian didn’t have any decent weapons.

So Qi Wang said, “Is that so? But I still have your things. The scarf you bought for me back then, I wore it for many years, mended it several times. My mentor scolded me several times, asking if I was so poor that I needed to wander the streets, why else would I fixate on this one scarf.”

“But I haven’t taken it out for the past two years.”

Yu Nian suddenly looked up, “Why?”

Qi Wang recalled, “I lost it once when I was in Switzerland for inspiration. I almost left it on the slopes of Grindelwald. Later, I didn’t dare to wear it out again, afraid of losing it for real.”

Only then did Yu Nian relax his shoulders and leaned back on the couch.

His gaze rested on Qi Wang’s wrist.

There hung an old, cheap black string bracelet, with only a silver-gray plaque, without any other decoration, plain and incompatible with Qi Wang’s current style.

This was what he had bought when they returned from Jiangyang County.

He found a small stall and had the fluorite Qi Wang gave him strung into a deep green bracelet.

The stall owner was a young girl who smiled and asked if he was buying it for someone else. Since she was free that day, she offered a buy one, get one free deal and helped him make another identical black string bracelet, on which he engraved his initials.

It was truly a cheap gift.

Only 28 yuan in total.

This was an extraordinary stroke in his history of gift-giving, something his group of rich friends would mock him for years if they found out. But Qi Wang didn’t dislike it when he received it. He was just slightly embarrassed, feeling that it was too childish. But unable to resist his pestering, he eventually put it on.

Now, after so many years, this bracelet still remained on Qi Wang’s wrist, carefully preserved. Despite its cheapness, it showed no obvious signs of wear and tear. The plaque still shone brightly.

Yu Nian held Qi Wang’s hand.

He picked up Qi Wang’s long sleeves, examining the black string bracelet, and asked softly, “You attend parties and gatherings. Others wear luxury watches and bracelets, but you wear these roadside decorations. Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at?”

Qi Wang said, “Maybe, but I’ve never cared about what others think.”

The words sounded arrogant and aloof, but coming from Qi Wang, they seemed ordinary.

Yu Nian couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly, thinking how things had changed over the years. Even though he had a deep understanding of Qi Wang in the past, he would never have imagined Qi Wang achieving the success he had today.

His shadow fell on the white oak bookshelf behind him, and the afternoon sunlight heated the floor, causing even his shadow to blur and sway slightly.

He asked Qi Wang, “Don’t others wonder why you always wear this? Do they think it’s some kind of talisman?”

“Some people have asked,” Qi Wang replied.

Yu Nian’s gaze followed Qi Wang’s wrist upwards, and he asked casually, “How did you respond?”

Qi Wang hesitated for a moment. “I said… it was a gift from my lover.”

Not a first love, nor a past lover.

But a lover.

Present tense.

Yu Nian understood, but he only paused, neither confirming nor denying, and then slowly released Qi Wang’s wrist.

However, that night, when Qi Wang drove him home, the black Bentley parked outside his apartment building, it wasn’t late into the night yet, and occasionally there were residents passing by. But when Qi Wang leaned down from the driver’s seat to kiss him, he didn’t refuse.

A dry kiss, first on his forehead, then on the nose and finally on his lips.

“Can I come pick you up on Thursday to see the musical, Don Juan in French?” Qi Wang asked, his fingers lightly brushing Yu Nian’s moist lips.

Yu Nian’s keycard was in his embrace. For a moment, he had the urge to follow him to the sixteenth floor tonight, using the password he gave him to open that door, boldly, like a thief, rudely intruding.

But he knew it wasn’t time yet.

Even though he didn’t want to miss a single minute with Yu Nian anymore, he was still on probation, without Yu Nian’s permission.

Yu Nian also felt a bit unsettled.

The buttons of his shirt were loose, with only a thread barely holding them together, ready to fall off.

Outside, it was freezing, but inside the car, it was warm enough to make sweat bead on his forehead, his eyes misty.

He cleared his throat, but in the end, he didn’t refuse.

“Sure.”

As he said this, he adjusted his collar, and the button of his shirt finally couldn’t bear its weight anymore. The thread broke, and the round white mother-of-pearl button unexpectedly rolled into Qi Wang’s open palm.

…

When Yu Nian got out of the car, a sudden gust of cold wind blew in. His sweater seemed thin in the wind, causing him to involuntarily curl up.

In his arms, he held a magazine bought from a roadside stand, with a piece of sketch paper tucked inside, a sketch Qi Wang had given him.

He didn’t look back, but hurried up the stairs, into his apartment, brushed off imaginary dust from his body, then walked to the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room and looked down.

Qi Wang’s Bentley was still parked downstairs, now just a small black dot.

He rested his forehead against the transparent glass, staring for a long time. The emotions in his eyes were as thick as the dark night outside, unable to dissipate. It wasn’t until the car drove away that he finally left the window.

He placed the sketch paper in a folder and placed it in the bookshelf in the living room, planning to frame it later.

And when Thursday arrived, he boarded Qi Wang’s car on time.

As he got into the car, his phone screen lit up briefly, showing January 10th.

Less than three months had passed since he reunited with Qi Wang.