The hot water rushed down with a gurgling sound, and the misty fog on the glass door was marked with An Yi’s ambiguous handprints.

After some time, he couldn’t stand anymore, so Yan Chen effortlessly lifted him up, his arms passing through An Yi’s legs, and teasingly shook him twice.

“Don’t mess around!” An Yi exclaimed.

“Don’t like me being playful?” Yan Chen asked.

Carrying him towards the bedroom, he rested against Yan Chen’s chest and softly admitted, “I like it. I like it a lot.”

Yan Chen was quite pleased and was about to continue, but An Yi let out a low cry.

Something wasn’t right with his voice.

Yan Chen glanced down and immediately frowned.

He stepped back and sneered, “You clearly don’t know pain. You’re like this and still want me to do it?” He chuckled softly, “I’m not as kinky as you.”

An Yi looked embarrassed.

Wanting to please him in a different way, but his skills were too poor, and he was as inexperienced as a fledgling.

Yan Chen was very dissatisfied. “Didn’t I tell you to learn when you have time? Why are you still so clumsy?”

An Yi awkwardly pursed his lips. “How can I learn on my own?”

“Watch some videos. How hard can it be to find a cucumber?” Yan Chen impatiently closed his eyes, then grabbed his hand. “Faster.”

An Yi had beautiful hands.

Long and slender fingers, distinct knuckles, and his experience in pottery, day after day of shaping clay, had honed his dexterity.

Yan Chen’s expression softened slightly.

But the hasty ending still left him somewhat annoyed.

After the shower, Yan Chen smelled a strong medicinal odor in the bedroom and immediately wrinkled his nose. “What’s that smell?”

“Burn cream.” An Yi opened the window to let the smell dissipate.

This box of cream was bought when he was an apprentice, long past its expiration date. He didn’t know if it still worked.

His hand was hurting so badly that he could only use this for now.

Yan Chen took a look at his hand, the blisters on his fingertips had already burst, covered with a lump of dark brown cream.

He rubbed the cream in, and An Yi winced in pain.

Yan Chen glared at him. “I told you to change jobs. Dealing with mud and soil all day, it’s dirty, and you even manage to burn your hands.”

He had never looked highly upon An Yi’s job, dirty, tiring, and low-paying. He didn’t see any value in it.

“But it’s the only thing I know.” An Yi said.

His pottery skills were taught to him by his grandfather, who had praised his talent more than once. Before his death, he had reminded An Yi not to give up.

He didn’t want to change jobs, nor did he want to sever this emotional connection with Yan Chen.

“Then I’ll open a studio for you. If you like doing it, just do enough,” Yan Chen said disdainfully, washing his hands clean. “I’ll hire someone else to handle the kiln and other work.”

“I don’t want to be a boss. It wouldn’t be good if it failed,” An Yi refused.

He had been taught to be self-reliant since he was a child. If it weren’t for being forced into a corner, he didn’t want to have any financial relationship with Yan Chen. He already owed Yan Chen a lot of money, he couldn’t accept any more unnecessary gifts.

Yan Chen wasn’t surprised at all. He was just curious how far An Yi would fall before he was willing to shed his pride.

“W-what’s wrong?” An Yi felt a little flustered under his gaze. “Are you angry?”

“No.”

If he got angry every time he was rejected, Yan Chen’s grave would have been dancing in the wind long ago.

“It’s because you’re too difficult to please,” Yan Chen said teasingly. “Before, I gave a Porsche Cayenne to the principal dancer of a dance troupe, and she was so happy she did a striptease on the spot. But you, you don’t want this or that. What exactly do you want?”

An Yi smiled bitterly.

He awkwardly changed the subject: “Do you want something to eat? I can make it for you.”

“No need.” Yan Chen made two phone calls in front of An Yi, arranging to meet someone for drinks.

An Yi asked sarcastically, “Are you going to meet the dancer?”

Yan Chen chuckled, texting while casually replying, “That’s old news.”

“Then… is it a new target?”

Yan Chen raised an eyebrow. “Spying?”

An Yi immediately shook his head.

After getting dressed, Yan Chen put away his phone and said, “It’s Qi Wenxing and Qin Muye and the others. You should have met them once or twice in high school. Do you want to come with me and catch up?”

An Yi shook his head again.

These were friends Yan Chen had grown up with, either rich or noble. It was a circle he couldn’t fit into, and he didn’t want to climb up, nor could he.

Yan Chen was the kind of person who stood at a height that others could never reach even in a lifetime. He was born with a halo, a distinguished and handsome young master who would always be the center of attention wherever he went.

Even though they were in different grades at school, An Yi still heard a lot of gossip about Yan Chen’s background and interests.

It was precisely because of this that An Yi was surprised by Yan Chen’s initial approach.

They were clearly from two different worlds. Even though they had shared the cold wind on the rooftop, it didn’t mean they were friends.

Yan Chen wasn’t obligated to help him when he was injured, but he did.

That day, when An Yi was bleeding from a head wound, with bruises all over his knees and shins, Yan Chen stood by with his arms crossed, watching without expression while the school nurse treated him.

But An Yi felt extremely uncomfortable, filled with a sense of shame.

He kept his head down and quietly asked him to leave.

Yan Chen walked away.

When the school nurse went to the next room, Yan Chen came back and continued to stare at him expressionlessly.

An Yi awkwardly pulled down his pants, covering up the bruises, trying to preserve what little dignity he had left.

“How did you know which class I’m in?”

“Your photo is on the first page of the Honor Wall. Even a random senior party-goer would know you,” 

“Oh.” An Yi thanked him quietly. “I’ll pay you back for the medical expenses tomorrow. I… didn’t bring any money today.”

“Do you even know who I am? How are you going to pay me back? Waiting on the rooftop for a miracle?” Yan Chen’s tone was lofty, but upon closer inspection, there was a hint of amusement.

An Yi looked up and managed to force a smile. “I know who you are.”

To make sure he could repay the money without incident, An Yi put the money in his pocket before leaving for school the next day, fearing it might be stolen on the way.

Fortunately, he made it to school without any trouble. But before he could relax, he was greeted with a shocking sight at the school gate.

His photo, intended for the Honor Wall, was splattered with paint, and the entire Honor Wall was filled with crooked red words that read “Pay your debts.”

An Yi’s face turned pale, and his limbs froze in place.

Many students recognized him and gathered around, pointing and whispering.

The gazes from all directions felt like sharp knives, leaving him at a loss, wanting to run away, but feeling pinned in place by those knives.

Suddenly, a school uniform was draped over his head.

Warm with the body heat of a young person, it securely enveloped him.

The sunlight in front, along with the scrutiny from the outside world, was all blocked by the school uniform.

With his head lowered, An Yi saw a pair of expensive white sneakers appear at his feet. Then came the arrogant growl from Yan Chen: “What are you looking at? Go to class.”

The crowd dispersed like startled birds and beasts, leaving An Yi with his head covered by the school uniform, like a piece of wood being forcibly dragged to an empty corner.

When the school uniform was lifted, An Yi shrank back in surprise.

Yan Chen clicked his tongue: “Are you really the top student in your grade? With a mind like that… frozen when facing a problem, has studying made you dumb?”

An Yi silently pulled the school uniform around him and hugged it to his chest, his eyes downcast, not saying a word.

Yan Chen inexplicably grew angry: “Can’t you have a backbone? Is it that even a passing dog could come over and bite you? Bullied and not daring to speak up, only hiding on the rooftop to hit the legs of a stool. I’ve never seen anyone like you…”

“Thank you,” An Yi suddenly interrupted his scolding.

Yan Chen stopped.

In the morning light, An Yi’s eyes turned into a light golden color, teary and shining. He handed over a few crumpled banknotes and said “thank you” again.

Yan Chen didn’t take them, nor did he say anything else. He just stared at him for a few seconds with a pair of arrogant teenage eyes, then turned and walked away without looking back.

The school uniform remained in An Yi’s arms, and even when he dropped out of school, he never found the opportunity to return it to Yan Chen.

Now, ten years have passed, and that school uniform still hangs intact in the wardrobe, alongside many shirts that Yan Chen wore and threw away, carefully ironed and well preserved by An Yi.

He knew very well that he and these clothes shared the same fate – sooner or later they would be discarded by their owner.

He just wanted to prolong the time he spent with Yan Chen as much as possible before that happened. But seeing Yan Chen’s increasingly impatient attitude towards him recently, he was afraid that this wish would soon be shattered.

Perhaps he should accept Yan Chen’s gifts and cards happily, like that dancer did, but he couldn’t get past his own barriers. He wanted to keep the debt to Yan Chen within his own ability until his sister’s health improved, and then he would work hard to repay it.

Because he was still hoping that one day Yan Chen would turn around, willing to have a real relationship with him, and then he could stand by his side equally and openly.

Yan Chen asked him what he wanted, and this was what he wanted.

“Ding,” a new message notification from WeChat interrupted An Yi’s thoughts.

Yan Chen sent a photo.

The location was a dimly lit private room in a club, crowded with people. Several dancers on a small stage posed boldly and sensually. The accompanying text read: “Not as pretty as you.”

An Yi’s eyelashes trembled.

He calmly tapped a smiling emoji.