---

I said I never wanted to see him again, that he shouldn’t stand in the way of my great future.

Gu Yongge struggled to control the slight tremble in his voice.

“But look at you now.

“You’ve ended up in the ER, backstabbed by your friends, and now you don’t even have a place to stay. Is this your so-called bright future?

“I told myself countless times that even if I saw you again, I couldn’t be soft-hearted. But seeing you in pain, sweating on that hospital bed, I realized I could never do that.

“When we were dating, I followed your lead. You didn’t want to go public, so we hid, snuck around, and dodged everyone.

“In the years after we broke up, I tried to forget you, but I only remembered you more deeply.

“And you?

“Not only did you fall for someone else, but now you’re openly declaring you want to love him proudly?

“Li Zhuo, you heartless bastard.”

Gu Yongge emphasized the words “proudly declaring” heavily.

He was losing his mind with anger.

“What about all the years we spent together?

“A fine line about ‘only love is noble’—your love is so noble, huh? And mine? Was my love meant to be cheap and worthless?”

There was a hint of red in Gu Yongge’s eyes.

After uttering those final words, his lips pressed into a thin, hard line.

—What’s gotten into him?

I opened my mouth, ready to explain.

Gu Yongge removed his glasses with one hand and leaned over the table, kissing me directly.

---

I didn’t know how much time had passed.

All I could feel was the wild beating of my heart.

It turns out, after all these years, the person who made my heart race at first sight still has the same effect.

Most importantly, he had never forgotten me.

We broke apart, panting heavily.

Gu Yongge’s collar was already a bit disheveled.

I angrily bit his ear, flipping him over in an attempt to take control of the situation.

The more I thought about it, the more furious I became.

How could someone be jealous of themselves?

I grabbed his shirt collar, forcing him to lower his head and listen to me:

“Gu Yongge, you’re the heartless one.

“The person I mentioned in the livestream… was you.”

The person I liked was you, the person I loved was you.

—The only one I wanted to be with openly was you.

---

My answer left Gu Yongge momentarily stunned.

He was no longer the calm, composed person he usually was.

“Do you really think I’d believe you?”

He questioned me, his eyes flickering with doubt:

“Back then, you broke up with me at my lowest point, decisively and coldly. Not only did you delete my contact information, but you erased all of our mutual friends too.

“I was unwilling to accept it, so after we broke up, I kept searching for you. If we hadn’t run into each other by chance, would we have never seen each other again in this lifetime?

“You’re heartless, disappearing without a trace and leaving me behind for two whole years.

“Li Zhuo, do you really call that ‘love’? Don’t you think that’s laughable?”

I clenched my fists, silently enduring his anger.

The unspeakable truth was stuck in my throat.

For two years, I had been running away, weak and cowardly.

But if I didn’t say it this time, maybe I would never have the chance again.

As disappointment filled Gu Yongge’s eyes, I slowly began to speak.

---

“Back then, you were working so hard to get into graduate school. You spent every day in the lab, up early, staying late, sometimes even pulling all-nighters.

“You kept telling me you wanted to give me a better life, so you wanted to work harder.”

That period of time was tough, but when I look back, it’s filled with sweet memories.

Because I knew how hard Gu Yongge was working, I realized how cruel that anonymous report was.

“You were reported because of me.”

Finally, I revealed the truth.

Gu Yongge furrowed his brows.

“My grad school application went too smoothly. A lot of people were jealous. How can you be sure it was because of you?”

I gave a bitter smile.

“Because… the people who reported you were my parents.”

---

I had promised Gu Yongge that once he got into grad school, we would come out and be together openly.

So, I never planned to hide anything from my parents.

They always said no matter what happened, they would be my strongest support.

The day I came out to them, the atmosphere was heavy.

My dad smashed everything he could in the house, made me kneel on the ground, and forced me to break up.

That’s when I realized—they could tolerate my rebelliousness and my reckless behavior, but they would never accept my love for Gu Yongge.

I didn’t give in.

But my stubbornness only enraged them further.

My dad, while writing that report, cruelly read it aloud to me.

He even said:

“Li Zhuo, don’t blame me for being heartless. Our family cannot produce someone like you—neither man nor woman.

“If ruining his future will make sure you two have no future together, will you finally give up?”

I knelt and begged my dad not to do it.

But I didn’t expect him to send the letter anyway.

During the days when Gu Yongge was at rock bottom, my father continued to pressure me.

I watched my lover on the verge of collapse and faced my unyielding parents, feeling like my heart was being torn apart.

My father said as long as Gu Yongge stayed in this city, he would never stop trying to destroy him.

No matter where he went to work, my father would make sure his workplace knew that Gu Yongge was a “pervert” who harassed his son.

I had no power to fight against my parents, and I didn’t dare to tell Gu Yongge the truth directly.

I was afraid that, in a moment of impulse, he’d do something he’d regret for the rest of his life.

So, my only choice was to leave him temporarily.

“I thought that at least, once you left the city, I could find a way to explain everything to you.”

I choked on my words, suddenly feeling ashamed of my weakness.

But what happened afterward shattered all my hope.

---

“My dad tried everything to make me fall for girls.

“He locked me in a room and brought in many women to spend the night, hoping to change my sexual orientation.”

Those days were like a living nightmare whenever I closed my eyes.

Even though I refused them, I still felt disgusted with myself.

I felt disgusted for being trapped by my own cowardice and for ruining Gu Yongge’s future.