Yu Wanlai coughed, “Cough, cough—hey, don’t snatch it! You’re spilling it, you’re spilling it!”

“I obviously know you drank from it. I saw you drink it, how could I not know? So what if I drank from it? You’re not sick,” Yu Qingyue said, then paused, his gaze stopping on Yu Wanlai’s face, which had been fair but was now a little flushed. He hesitated and said, “…You… can’t actually be sick, right? Don’t scare me!”

Yu Qingyue rolled his eyes, speechless for a moment. “You’re the one who’s sick! You’re the sickest!” He muttered under his breath, *You should really get that brain of yours treated.*

He then pushed the bowl back toward Yu Wanlai’s mouth. “Drink it, drink it! You drink it!” He pushed a little too hard, and Yu Wanlai’s mouth hit the edge of the bowl, but it didn’t hurt too much, so he didn’t mind.

When they got home, the house was empty. Wang Ma was just about to go out to buy groceries, and they ran into her at the door.

“Young Master, Little Master, you’re back?” Wang Ma greeted them.

Yu Wanlai changed into his slippers and walked inside. “Yes, Aunt Wang, I drank the chicken soup you made. It was really delicious. See, it’s all gone.” He waved the empty thermos in his hand.

Hearing the soup was praised, Wang Ma’s eyes lit up with a smile. “Our young master has really become good at talking now.” She raised her eyes to see the cut on Yu Wanlai’s lips. “Oh no, what happened to your mouth?”

Yu Wanlai was confused. “Huh? My mouth? There’s nothing wrong with it.” He reached up to touch his lips, and a sharp pain shot through him, causing him to wince.

Remembering the earlier incident with the soup, he figured it must’ve happened then. He cleared his throat, putting on a pitiful expression. “Ah, it’s all your fault for making such delicious soup. My brother and I were fighting over it.”

Wang Ma chuckled. “It’s fine, it’s fine. If it’s so good, I’ll make more for you. No need to fight over it.”

Yu Qingyue walked over and silently observed Yu Wanlai, who was making up stories. After Wang Ma left, Yu Qingyue finally spoke up, “I fought with you over the soup?”

Yu Wanlai coughed lightly. “I was just joking. Everyone’s happy, right?”

Yu Qingyue looked at the cut on Yu Wanlai’s lip, which seemed pretty serious and slightly swollen. After a few moments of hesitation, he finally said, “I didn’t mean to bump into you… Do you want to put some medicine on it?”

Yu Wanlai smiled, the corner of his mouth curving up. “Then you put it on for me?”

Yu Qingyue pursed his lips, his face suddenly breaking into a bright smile. He pointed at himself. “I put it on for you?”

Yu Wanlai nodded, shamelessly saying, “Yeah, you put it on for me, I’ll let you do it.”

Yu Qingyue instantly stopped smiling, his face turning serious. His tone flat, he said, “…Oh, well, think about it. Do it if you want, don’t if you don’t.”

He turned to walk away, muttering to himself, ‘Give him an inch, and he takes a mile.‘

Seeing that Yu Qingyue was angry again, Yu Wanlai reached out to grab his arm, but Yu Qingyue swiftly dodged. Yu Wanlai then grabbed his shirt at the back of his waist instead.

Yu Qingyue had already taken off his coat. When Yu Wanlai yanked at him, his vest, which was barely staying on, was immediately torn open.

Yu Qingyue took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling sharply. He turned around, glaring at Yu Wanlai. “Still pulling? You’ve torn my clothes!”

Yu Wanlai looked at the vest that was suddenly opened wide and blinked. “Didn’t you take it off yourself… Odd, where are your buttons?” He raised his eyes and accidentally met Yu Qingyue’s gaze.

Yu Qingyue ground his teeth, seething, “Where did my buttons go? Shouldn’t you know that? You didn’t take them off?”

Yu Wanlai was puzzled. “How would I know where your buttons are?” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Yu Qingyue paused for a moment, the anger in his eyes fading when he saw Yu Wanlai’s confused expression. But he couldn’t recall the scene from last night to explain it. “…Never mind, you don’t need to know. You’re involved anyway. Either help me find the buttons and sew them back on, or you’ll have to replace this vest with one of yours!”

Even though he was still confused, Yu Wanlai didn’t want to see Yu Qingyue angry, so he agreed with a good-natured tone, “Alright, give me your vest then.”

As he spoke, he removed his suit jacket, revealing a white shirt and a black vest stretched tight over his muscular chest. Yu Qingyue’s eyes widened slightly. *When did he get this fit? Has he been secretly working out?*

He lowered his gaze. He thought his own muscles and shape were pretty good, but looking at Yu Wanlai now, he couldn’t help but think that his physique looked even better.

Seeing Yu Qingyue standing there, frozen, Yu Wanlai took a step forward, reaching out to take off the white vest hanging loosely on him, tossing it onto the nearby couch. Then, he put his own black vest on Yu Qingyue.

Seeing Yu Wanlai suddenly getting so close, Yu Qingyue blinked, looking up to meet Yu Wanlai’s Adam’s apple and sharp jawline. He felt suddenly awkward, so he hurriedly stretched his hand out to push him away. But when his hand touched Yu Wanlai’s chest—barely covered by a thin shirt—his face flushed even more. His palm felt like it was burned, and he quickly pulled it back, hiding it behind his back.

He gritted his teeth, “What are you doing?! Stay away from me!”

As he spoke, since he didn’t manage to push Yu Wanlai away, he took a step back.

Yu Qingyue was so flustered that he didn’t notice the sofa leg behind him and tripped, heading straight for the corner of the coffee table. Yu Wanlai’s eyes widened in shock, and he immediately reached out, grabbing Yu Qingyue’s waist and pulling him back.

His heart raced loudly, so loudly that even Yu Qingyue, who was now in his arms, could clearly hear it.

Yu Qingyue unintentionally recalled the events from the previous day. His throat suddenly felt dry. *Why am I suddenly thinking of these things? I was so annoyed with him yesterday, but now when I think about it again, it strangely doesn’t feel as bad.*

Yu Wanlai lowered his head and noticed the red tips of Yu Qingyue’s ears. He clicked his tongue in amusement. “What are you hiding for? Look, if I hadn’t caught you, you would’ve hit your head on the coffee table! Seriously!” He raised his hand and gently tapped Yu Qingyue’s red ear. “You’re so scared, your ears are all red.”

Yu Qingyue turned his head away with an indignant snort. “This is all your fault! Let go of me!” If he hadn’t suddenly gotten so close, he wouldn’t have tried to push him away, and if he hadn’t tried to push him, he wouldn’t have tripped.

Yu Wanlai let go of Yu Qingyue, helped him steady himself, and took a step back. “Alright, alright, it’s all my fault!”

“You said I should compensate you for the vest, so I was just trying it on for you to see if it fits.”

Yu Qingyue rolled his eyes, his breathing now steady. “Of course it fits!” They were both about the same height.

Yu Wanlai buttoned up the vest on Yu Qingyue. “It’s a little loose, but it fits. Do you want to wear it?”

Yu Qingyue nodded, raising his chin with a smug expression. “See? I told you it fits. Why wouldn’t I wear it? You ruined my clothes, so you should replace it with one.”

Yu Wanlai straightened the collar of the vest and smiled, “Alright, then this piece of clothing is yours.” To be honest, the combination of a white suit and a black vest looked pretty good, even though he hadn’t put on the outer jacket yet. The original pure white suit made him look like a little prince, but now… it still looked noble, though it lacked some of the aloof, detached aura.

Yu Qingyue looked down at the vest on his body, and his cheek accidentally brushed against something warm. He had forgotten that Yu Wanlai was still adjusting his collar. Suddenly, Yu Wanlai’s hand, cool and smooth, made contact with his skin. His fingers stiffened, and his movements paused as he unconsciously slowed his breathing. He swallowed, flipped his hand, and slowly reached upwards.

Yu Qingyue noticed the hand reaching towards his face and tilted his head back, exposing his delicate neck. He immediately raised his hand and slapped the intruding hand away with a loud “smack” that echoed in the silent living room. “What are you doing? You think you’ve earned a good look from me? What, you want to touch me again?”

Yu Wanlai snapped back to his senses, retracting his hand, pouting and muttering under his breath, “It’s just a touch on the face, not like a chunk of meat will fall off. Why the hell are you so forceful?”

Yu Qingyue, who was close enough, heard the mutterings despite their faintness. “… ‘He’s crazy.‘ Why should I let you touch me? I’ve already been merciful by not holding you accountable for last night’s incident.” Thinking about what happened last night made his face flush, and he couldn’t bear to look at Yu Wanlai any longer. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to settle the score; he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Fed up with the situation, he grabbed his suit jacket and turned to head upstairs.

Yu Wanlai stood alone in the living room, his eyes drifting up to see Yu Qingyue’s slim waist, accentuated by the black vest. Yu Wanlai thought: ‘What the hell?‘ That same feeling of heart racing and breathlessness returned. Could it be that he had some kind of unidentifiable medical condition that no doctor could diagnose?

Yu Qingyue returned to his room and entered the bathroom. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he pursed his lips and scoffed. “Tch,” he muttered to himself. When he had seen Yu Wanlai wearing the vest earlier, his physique had looked great, but now that he was wearing it… ‘It doesn’t look quite the same on me.‘

Later that evening, after taking a shower, Yu Wanlai came out of the bathroom with a towel haphazardly draped over his shoulder. He saw the white vest that he had left on the bed’s end bench. It stood out among the pile of black suits, which made it impossible to miss. He casually draped the towel over his shoulder and sat cross-legged at the edge of the bed, holding a few buttons that he and Wang Ma had gotten, wondering how to sew them onto the vest.

He recalled asking Wang Ma about the buttons earlier in the evening. She had suggested he just give her the clothes, and she would sew them. But Yu Wanlai had immediately declined without thinking. For some reason, he really wanted to do it himself.

In the quiet room, the sudden sound of knocking broke the stillness. Yu Wanlai, who was focused on threading the needle, frowned in irritation, calling out without looking up, “Come in! The door’s not locked!”

Just as he managed to finish sewing on a button, he looked up, still holding the thread in his mouth, and saw Yu Qingyue standing behind the door.

The cage could no longer contain the little kitten. When Yu Qingyue entered, the kitten had been running around, and to prevent it from escaping, he had immediately closed the door. But he had been standing there for a while, and since Yu Wanlai hadn’t acknowledged him, he thought Yu Wanlai might be in a bad mood after hearing his annoyed tone. Just as he was about to turn and leave, Yu Wanlai finally looked up.