Cen Wei had lost count of how many times he’d come to Chu Lai’s apartment.

As soon as the door opened, Chu Lai wouldn’t bother getting him slippers. After hugging the dog, he’d head straight into the kitchen to start making dinner.

The little dog happily followed Chu Lai around in circles, then dashed back to the entrance to look at Cen Wei.

After putting his umbrella into the stand, Cen Wei thought about how Chu Lai hugged the dog. While Chu Lai was washing vegetables, he tried to mimic the way Chu Lai did it, gently hugging the dog.

First, he leaned his head on the dog’s left side, then switched to the right.

Unfortunately, Da Cai didn’t appreciate the gesture. Its fluffy ears brushed against Cen Wei’s face before it ran off.

Cen Wei couldn’t help but wonder: Would it obediently let Chu Lai’s ex-boyfriend hug it?

At first, Chu Lai didn’t notice, but when he placed his phone on the table, intending to turn on some music, he caught sight of the tall man sneaking a hug from the dog.

The scene was so funny that the next second, Cen Wei turned to look at him, and Chu Lai pretended to nonchalantly continue looking at his phone.

Cen Wei calmly washed his hands and asked, “Need help?”

Chu Lai replied, “Take out the fish tofu for me.”

Then, thinking of the soup that Xuan Rongqing had brought over earlier, he added, “There’s also the soup your mom sent yesterday in the fridge. I haven’t finished it.”

Recalling how Chu Lai had complained about it on WeChat, Cen Wei said, “You can always refuse my family, you know.”

Chu Lai’s apartment wasn’t very big. The kitchen was mostly for show, with no space for large dishes to be cooked.

Although Chu Lai could cook, he didn’t do it often. He ordered takeout more frequently and was too lazy to even pour noodles into a bowl when cooking for himself.

Occasionally, after Cen Wei completed the hugging task and sent him home, they’d share a small late-night snack together.

It became a habit over time.

Chu Lai thought of Cen Jianxun’s health.

The old man looked stern, but he was actually quite humorous. Despite knowing his condition, he seemed to have come to terms with it, enjoying the time spent at home with his wife.

During the days when Cen Wei was away on a business trip, Chu Lai would be picked up every day after work. The old couple would be waiting, cutting window decorations together before dinner.

Thinking of this, Chu Lai smiled. “It’s fine.”

Cen Wei had shown Chu Lai the medical report on Cen Jianxun, and Chu Lai knew that the old man’s request for marriage was a final wish. After interacting with him, Chu Lai couldn’t bear to let him leave unfulfilled.

Looking at the rolling boiling water, Chu Lai said, “I get paid for this.”

The “payment” stood next to him, chopping green onions, and asked, “Are you getting paid now?”

Chu Lai shook his head, pointing with his chin, “Go change Da Cai’s water first. We’ll talk later.”

Obediently, Cen Wei went to do it.

Chu Lai’s apartment was packed to the brim. You could imagine how much effort it would take to pack everything when moving out.

A pot of udon noodles was placed on the table. The bowl in front of Cen Wei was two inches larger than Chu Lai’s, clearly meant for noodles, while Chu Lai’s was just an ordinary bowl.

For a single working person living alone, it’s rare to have matching dishware. They had iron, wood, and plastic, all mixed together.

In the rising steam, Cen Wei asked, “Did you move by yourself last time too?”

Nodding while eating his noodles, Chu Lai replied, “Yeah, after the breakup, I had him take his stuff, and I organized the rest on my own.”

Although they’d never had noodles together before, today, Cen Wei realized that Chu Lai seemed to struggle with using chopsticks for noodles, taking ages to pick up a bite.

Seeing that Cen Wei was about to help, Chu Lai explained, “It’s just a habit. It’s hard to change. Bear with me.”

He even demonstrated how he held his chopsticks. “I’ve held them like this since I was a kid. It’s hard to pick things up, and my mom used to scold me for it.”

“But my dad said it was fine.”

The udon was packed with ingredients, and Chu Lai fished out some fish tofu. The cramped space under the table meant their legs kept bumping into each other.

When talking about his dad, Chu Lai pursed his lips slightly, which made Cen Wei curious, but he didn’t ask further.

Pausing his chopsticks for a moment, Chu Lai continued, “Though holding chopsticks this way isn’t a big deal, it can be embarrassing in formal settings. That’s why I avoid company dinners.”

Cen Wei thought: Couldn’t it just be because he doesn’t want to attend?

Chu Lai, feeling a bit embarrassed after speaking, added, “Do you think it’s weird?”

Seeing him pick up some bok choy, Cen Wei smiled and asked, “So, about your ex-boyfriend… never mind.”

Chu Lai seemed to know what he was going to ask. “Ex-boyfriend? Of course he knew.”

He spoke as if it were obvious, without any trace of lingering attachment.

Memories, unlike habits that can be changed, are hard to completely forget. Thinking of Shen Quanzhang annoyed him. “He even laughed at how weird I was.”

This surprised Cen Wei. Glancing at him, Chu Lai explained, “At the start of the relationship, he used to help me pick up food with chopsticks. But later on…”

Chu Lai had only been in that one relationship, so he didn’t have much to compare it to. “I could feel that he didn’t like me as much as he did in the beginning.”

“Doesn’t matter. If I can’t pick up food with chopsticks, I can always use a spoon.”

Maybe because of the habit formed over the past month, Chu Lai found himself able to say a bit more to Cen Wei: “When I was young, my dad eventually realized I couldn’t change the way I held chopsticks, so he always helped me pick up food.”

“But no one’s indispensable to anyone else.”

When he mentioned his father, his expression softened in a way that tugged at one’s heartstrings. It seemed he didn’t talk about his family much, or maybe there wasn’t anyone else to mention.

His social circle was so narrow that even squeezing a contractual marriage partner into it was a rare privilege, making Cen Wei feel rather flattered.

Perhaps because of their contractual relationship, he hadn’t seen Chu Lai’s ex-boyfriend from the bar again.

Instead, it was Jiang Liyong who told him that Chu Lai’s friend, Mr. Liu, was the young boyfriend of his half-brother.

At the time, Jiang Liyong even added, “What a small world.”

While Cen Wei had a wide professional network, his personal social circle was small, so he didn’t quite agree with the “small world” sentiment.

But for the first time, he got a taste of what the older generation called fate, through his and Chu Lai’s experiences.

Now, sitting across from him, the young man was taking small bites of noodles. The Shiba Inu was still munching on dog food. Chu Lai would glance at the dog after a few bites and couldn’t help but smile.

“I’d help you pick up food if we ate together,” Cen Wei said.

Chu Lai froze for a few seconds, confused. “But we don’t always eat hotpot, and there’s a ladle for that.”

“Oh, and last Wednesday at your place, I really couldn’t pick up your mom’s braised eggs. Good thing there was a spoon.”

It seemed he hadn’t picked up on any hidden meanings, and Cen Wei regretted it as soon as he said it.

After dinner, when Cen Wei went to wash the dishes, Chu Lai was about to take the dog for a walk alone. But Cen Wei told him to wait.

So, Chu Lai dressed the dog in the new outfit he’d bought a few days ago.

He was the kind of person who could live well on his own, with emotions that auto-regulated, and the dog for company.

If it weren’t for that strange hugging habit, Cen Wei thought, they might not have developed the relationship they had now.

Da Cai quickly adapted to the clothes. While waiting for Cen Wei to finish the dishes, Chu Lai packed up his figurine collection and asked, “Does your apartment have space for my figurine cases?”

“Yeah,” said Cen Wei.

He added, “You’ve been there, haven’t you?”

Chu Lai was a fast packer. He even kept the boxes for his figurines. The cabinet he pulled out was full of empty boxes, which he neatly packed back into the boxes one by one on the floor.

“My impression was that it was quite empty, kind of… too clean, lacking a lived-in feel.”

Thinking of how full Chu Lai’s apartment was, Cen Wei hesitantly asked, “Do you think you can fill the place?”

Chu Lai nodded. “I’ve got plenty more things to display.”

That entire weekend, Cen Wei helped Chu Lai pack, completely unaware of how he had managed to move last time.

Once everything had been moved to his place and unpacked, Chu Lai was already sprawled on the floor, exhausted.

The first thing he set up was Da Cai’s dog bed. Cen Wei had bought a deluxe model, which the little dog loved, already snuggling into it.

Cen Wei’s place was a one-bedroom too, but he had it remodeled to be more open. Chu Lai, still catching his breath, turned to the man collapsed beside him and said, “Mr. Cen.”

“Mm?”

Although the moving company handled everything, just setting up Chu Lai’s glass display cabinet was enough to fill the space.

They both shared a hobby of collecting. Their first meeting at a barbecue had sparked a lively conversation about these things, leading to an instant connection.

It turned out that their manga collections were so similar that their volumes were consecutive in numbering.

Chu Lai asked, “Where do I sleep?”

Despite the moving company and the help, Chu Lai was still tired.

Lying on his side, his face was lightly flushed. As he turned, he was so close that, with just a little more movement, their noses would have bumped into each other.

The apartment was much larger than Chu Lai’s, and it was Sunday evening. The sun had already set, and the room was getting darker, with no lights turned on inside.

Soft twilight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making everything look hazy.

Too close.

So close that Chu Lai could count Cen Wei’s eyelashes in the dim light.

With his sharp nose and deep-set features, Cen Wei always had an air of tenderness when looking at someone. At this moment, their breaths mingled, and it was unclear if the music playing from the CD player heightened their heartbeats or if one of them was breathing more heavily. Even Chu Lai, usually calm, felt his pulse quicken.

Cen Wei’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he found it hard to tear his gaze away from Chu Lai.

Chu Lai had delicate features, and Xuan Rongqing, whether on the phone or when meeting with Cen Wei, always expressed her infinite fondness for Chu Lai.

The most common thing she’d say was, “Lai Lai is just too sweet.”

Chu Lai couldn’t handle the intensity of Cen Wei’s gaze anymore. He called out, “Mr. Cen.”

He repeated, “Where do I sleep?”

Closing his eyes for a moment, Cen Wei suppressed the strange thoughts that had briefly surfaced. “Do you really need to ask?”

Propping himself up, Chu Lai sat up. Moving had been tiring and hot, and he had a lot of stuff. Cen Wei realized he had a bit of a hoarding habit.

One drawer was full of paper bags—ones from dessert shops, milk tea places, bookstores…

They were neatly stacked as if they were brand new.

When asked why he kept them, Chu Lai just shook his head but insisted on keeping them.

Now, all those pristine knick-knacks were stored in Cen Wei’s cabinets, and the apartment was now shared with Chu Lai.

Shared.

Another word that hadn’t crossed Cen Wei’s mind before.

Lying back down, Chu Lai said, “Your bed is definitely comfier than mine.”

“If you’re not used to it, I can buy another one,” offered Cen Wei.

Chu Lai shook his head. At work, he often tied a little ponytail at the back of his head, which made him look even more delicate, though no one ever mistook his gender. Instead, it gave him a more Japanese look.

Now, with his hair down, a bright orange hair tie had fallen beside Cen Wei’s hand.

Without Chu Lai noticing, Cen Wei quietly clenched his fist, hiding the colorful tie in his palm, as if he was trying to deceive himself.

Chu Lai said, “Your family already knows we’ll be living together. If we end up sleeping in separate beds, they’ll definitely ask questions.”

“They won’t.”

“They respect boundaries. This is our privacy.”

The floor was spotless, and the heater was on. Even in a thin sweater, Cen Wei felt a bit warm. Chu Lai, in his oversized crew-neck T-shirt, looked like he was wearing pajamas.

“Oh,” Chu Lai replied. “Well, I want to sleep with you.”

He said it so casually, as if it were as simple as drinking a glass of water. Yet he couldn’t help but glance at Cen Wei, asking, “Would that bother you? We’re no longer just a contract marriage that stays the night.”

The man lying beside him shook his head. “No, it wouldn’t. You’ve already got me used to it. At night, if I don’t have something to hold onto…”

“I feel uncomfortable.”

“Really?” Chu Lai squinted slightly, as he couldn’t see well without his glasses.

Cen Wei moved closer to him and said, “Really.”

“I even have a long body pillow on my bed. Don’t believe me? See for yourself.”

Just as Chu Lai was about to sit up, he was lifted by the man beside him, carried straight toward the soft bed.

“I’m going to hold you.”

Chu Lai couldn’t be bothered to correct his premature action. This way of carrying him was like picking up a child, which felt new to him. He asked, “Can I hold your neck?”

His oversized T-shirt slipped down a bit from his shoulder, and as he hooked his arms around Cen Wei’s neck, the sleeves slid down even more. Cen Wei, holding him under his butt, had Chu Lai’s legs wrapped around his waist.

The apartment was so big that even walking to the bed took several steps, which caused the little dog to come over and sniff around.

When Chu Lai was finally placed on the bed, Da Cai was also tossed onto the bed by Cen Wei.

Standing tall in his thin sweater, Cen Wei looked down at the person and the dog on the bed. “Good thing you already had a bath.”

Chu Lai raised an eyebrow. “Do I smell?”

Cen Wei replied, “Wouldn’t dare say that. You sleep for a bit. I’m going out to get groceries.”

As he turned to leave, Chu Lai tugged at his hem, holding onto the dog and the body pillow. Looking at him, he said, “Stay. I’ll only sleep for fifteen minutes. Just wait for me.”

Cen Wei nodded.

Chu Lai didn’t struggle with insomnia and fell asleep quickly.

For Cen Wei, the fifteen minutes felt like torture. He turned on the light outside and, using the dim glow, watched the young man sleeping on the bed.

The little dog jumped down to play, but Cen Wei found himself unable to look away.

He became acutely aware of the dangerous nature of this relationship.

For example, the brief moments of impulsive desire. For example, his uncontrollable urge to get closer. For example…

The current thought of reaching out to touch Chu Lai.

He was just about to pull his hand back when someone else grabbed it.

Chu Lai mistook him for a body pillow, rubbing his cheek against Cen Wei’s hand, and snuggled closer to the warmth in his dazed state.

Cen Wei thought: I’m doomed.