Yu Qingyue took a small sip from the cup. Hmm, although it wasn’t very hot anymore and he hadn’t expected much when he bought it, the taste was surprisingly good. He felt in a good mood and sat back down in the chair. His gaze fell on the figure sitting on the bed. He put down the straw, handed the cup to Yu Wanlai, and quietly asked, “Do you want some? You can drink a little.”

Yu Wanlai was even more shocked. He quickly looked up at Yu Qingyue. Didn’t he just get upset last time when he drank his soup? What’s going on now? He pointed to himself with disbelief, confirming, “You’re asking me? You’re giving it to me?” Actually, he was a bit thirsty now.

Yu Qingyue took a deep breath. “Stop—” But when he met Yu Wanlai’s gaze, he quickly changed direction, his ears turning red as he nodded, softly murmuring, “Mm.”

Yu Wanlai was puzzled in his mind and even more puzzled on his face. He asked again, “…So if I drink the rest, will you drink it too?” Didn’t he just say I should drink less?

Yu Qingyue clicked his tongue. This person is so annoying. His arm was getting tired from holding the cup up. He took a step back, preparing to pull his hand away. “If you don’t want it…”

Yu Wanlai quickly grabbed the cup and smiled, saying, “I’ll drink it. It was always you who complained about me, now you’re accusing me?”

Yu Qingyue coughed lightly and didn’t respond. He thought to himself that in the past it was one thing, but now… As he thought this, his gaze fell, and he accidentally caught a glimpse of Yu Wanlai’s lips, slightly parted, as he gently bit the straw. Yu Qingyue’s face flushed, and he quickly looked away.

Soon after, his eyes uncontrollably returned to Yu Wanlai, and he swallowed. The rosy tip of his tongue flickered between his lips. Yu Qingyue frowned, forcing himself to look away, troubled by his current reaction. Why was he like this, constantly unable to control his thoughts?

Yu Wanlai took the cup and eagerly drank a large sip. The smooth, delicate taste filled his mouth, and he sighed inwardly, thinking how good it was to be alive. Looking down, he saw that the milk tea had decreased by two-fifths. He glanced at Yu Qingyue with a guilty look, but Yu Qingyue wasn’t paying attention to him at that moment, so he sighed in relief. He chewed the chewy pearls and decisively returned the cup to Yu Qingyue. If it was still in his hands, he would end up drinking it all.

Yu Qingyue froze for a moment, receiving the milk tea and noticing that more than half of the cup was gone. Had he been zoning out for that long? He looked up at Yu Wanlai. “Did I space out that long?”

Yu Wanlai thought Yu Qingyue was annoyed he drank too much, so he rubbed his nose. “…How about you just give me this cup, and tomorrow I’ll get you another one?”

Yu Qingyue found this idea strange, but… something crossed his mind. He smirked slightly, the smile fleeting. Yu Wanlai blinked, wondering if he had seen wrong. Was Yu Qingyue just sneaking a smile? No way! It must be his eyes playing tricks!

Yu Qingyue spoke confidently, “I’m not giving you this cup, but you need to buy me a new one tomorrow.” Though the one he bought wasn’t bad, it still didn’t taste as good as when Yu Wanlai bought it.

Yu Wanlai paused for a moment, confirming that Yu Qingyue wasn’t joking. Then he laughed in exasperation. So, this was his plan all along. No wonder it seemed like he suddenly didn’t dislike him anymore. “Fine, I’ll buy you one tomorrow. I’ve always bought you one, no need to go around in circles.”

Yu Qingyue was misunderstood, but he couldn’t explain himself. He took a deep breath and responded, “Oh.” Yet inside, a sweet warmth quietly spread through him, as though the milk tea had flowed into his heart.

Yu Qingyue lowered his head, his lips gently touching the spot Yu Wanlai had just been drinking from, slowly sipping the milk tea. He felt the blood rushing to his head, and he raised his other hand, lightly touching his cheek. Sure enough, his face was burning hot, and his lips felt numb.

Yu Wanlai watched as Yu Qingyue’s ears gradually turned red, until his neck was blushing as well. He leaned forward, placing one hand on Yu Qingyue’s chin, gently forcing him to look up, and as expected, he saw Yu Qingyue’s cheeks were bright red. Yu Wanlai immediately brushed aside the hair falling over Yu Qingyue’s forehead, using the back of his hand to feel his forehead. He then placed his own hand on his forehead to compare temperatures.

“You’re not having a fever, so why is your face so red?” Yu Qingyue blinked his water-like eyes, staring at the person in front of him without blinking. When Yu Wanlai looked at him again, he quickly averted his gaze. His eyes trembled for a moment before he reluctantly spoke, “…I don’t know, maybe it’s just the heat…” As he spoke, his face turned even redder.

Yu Wanlai was still concerned. “Could it be an allergy?” He looked at the milk tea in Yu Qingyue’s hand, wondering if the redness started after drinking it. “Who bought you this milk tea? Maybe you shouldn’t drink it…” As he spoke, he reached out to take the milk tea from Yu Qingyue, but Yu Qingyue pulled his hand away.

“I want to drink it. I’m not allergic. You don’t need to worry about it.” Yu Wanlai muttered a soft “oh” and stepped back to his original position.

Yu Qingyue regretted what he had just said. He had been used to teasing Yu Wanlai before, but now he didn’t want to. All he could do was try to make up for it. “…That’s not what I meant. If you want to control things, then… but right now, I’m really fine.”

Yu Wanlai hadn’t paid much attention before. He was used to how the male lead always treated him this way. But now, hearing him struggle to explain himself, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction in his heart. Yu Wanlai gave a faint smile and murmured another “oh.”

Yu Qingyue: “……….” He looked down at the milk tea in his hands, hesitating whether to stop drinking it, when suddenly a voice sounded above his head, full of subtle triumph. “You just said… if I want to control things, what would happen?” “I didn’t hear clearly. Can you say it again?”

Yu Wanlai’s gaze focused on the soft strands of hair above Yu Qingyue’s head, deliberately picking the important part.

Yu Qingyue: “………” How had he never realized how much this person took advantage of him? He bit his lip, closed his eyes, and forced himself to continue, exasperated, “Control, you’re my brother, I’ll just listen to you.”

Hearing this, Yu Wanlai’s lips curled into a smile, his eyes filled with joy. Another “oh.”

Yu Qingyue gritted his teeth. “Oh, you’re…”

Suddenly, Yu Wanlai realized something and hurriedly confirmed, “Wait, did you just call me ‘brother’? I didn’t hear it, can you say it again?”

Yu Qingyue: “………” How arrogant! How did he manage to pick apart everything I say? He felt it was impossible to continue, but he also wanted Yu Wanlai to keep talking to him. He knew Yu Wanlai had heard it, but he was deliberately making things difficult.

Yu Qingyue parted his lips, but no sound came out. He didn’t know what to say, so he fell into silence for a while. He lowered his head and took a few more sips of milk tea. When the tea was finally finished, it made a “glug glug” sound as the liquid ran out.

Suddenly, a hand appeared within his line of sight. Yu Qingyue blinked, stunned, as he watched the hand take the cup from his hands.

Yu Wanlai was feeling pleased with himself, deliberately teasing Yu Qingyue. Seeing that Yu Qingyue didn’t want to call him and didn’t force the issue, he noticed that the milk tea was almost finished and Yu Qingyue was still “slurping” up the last drops. He thought to himself, ‘When did this person become so fond of milk tea?‘

He pulled the straw out of Yu Qingyue’s mouth, only to find that it was so chewed up that it was unrecognizable, full of dents and folds. Yu Wanlai couldn’t help but smirk. He glanced at Yu Qingyue, but all he could see was the top of his head.

Yu Wanlai: ………. ‘Although his head is round and cute, I’d rather see his face.‘

He got out of bed and threw away the trash. With a light “thud,” the trash landed in the bin. Yu Qingyue snapped back to reality and saw Yu Wanlai returning from the door and getting back into bed. He immediately reached out to support him, his tone urgent. “What are you doing? Don’t you know you hurt your head? You shouldn’t be throwing out the trash by yourself.”

Yu Wanlai sat back against the headboard and clicked his tongue in response. “You know it’s my head. Well, my hands and feet are fine, so it’s perfectly normal to throw out the trash…” As he spoke, he looked up and saw that Yu Qingyue’s eyes were red again.

Yu Wanlai immediately fell silent, feeling a bit confused. *What’s going on? The male lead in the original book wasn’t this soft, crying at the slightest thing. I just threw away some trash, and I managed to make him cry?* He wondered if he should celebrate; it seemed like he was succeeding at making Yu Qingyue soften up.

He raised his hand to gently touch Yu Qingyue’s eyes, lowering his voice. “…You’re not going to cry again, are you? It’s not that bad, really. I’ll tell you next time before I get out of bed.”

Yu Qingyue didn’t want to cry. He rarely cried, except in the past few days when he couldn’t control his emotions. He was scared. Even when he fell asleep, he kept dreaming of that day when Yu Wanlai was hit.

Yu Qingyue didn’t say anything, nor did he refute it. He simply took Yu Wanlai’s hand off gently, then turned around to the cupboard to get the bedside quilt, which had been untouched in the past few days.

Yu Wanlai glanced outside through the gap in the curtains and noticed the dark night sky. He suddenly realized it was already nighttime. He casually picked up his phone from the bedside, pressed the screen to light it up, and saw an unfamiliar wallpaper. His face flushed slightly; this wasn’t his phone, so it must have been Yu Qingyue’s.

It was already past 12 o’clock, and when he saw the two clear characters for “New Year’s Eve” next to the time, Yu Wanlai suddenly felt a bit dazed. ‘How long had he been out for?‘ Hearing the sound of the cupboard opening and closing, Yu Wanlai turned his gaze towards the source and saw Yu Qingyue pulling a quilt out. His posture seemed strangely slumped, looking rather dejected. Yu Wanlai almost imagined he could see his rabbit ears drooping.

When Yu Qingyue turned around holding the quilt, Yu Wanlai focused his eyes on him. Sure enough, his face was pulled tight, his mouth pressed down—he was clearly unhappy. Yu Wanlai cautiously spoke, “How about… you sleep with me tonight? It’s so late, and you still have to make the bed…” But he was a little confused—after all these days, the bed didn’t look like it had been touched at all. Where had Yu Qingyue been sleeping all this time? Or was this the first time he’d stayed to care for him, and Yu Wanlai just happened to wake up?

Yu Qingyue’s eyes brightened for a moment but quickly darkened again. He looked up at Yu Wanlai, his tone hesitant. “…Maybe not, your injury still…” Before he could finish his sentence, he stopped. The truth was, he did want to be close to Yu Wanlai. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been sleeping while holding Yu Wanlai’s hand these past few days. But the caregiver’s bed felt so far away from Yu Wanlai.

Yu Wanlai thought that after saying this, he would either be scolded or receive a cold stare, but to his surprise, neither happened. Instead, he saw something unexpected—he saw longing and desire in Yu Qingyue’s eyes? He looked again through the curtain gap at the dark sky, wondering if the sun had risen in the west. But it was pitch dark outside. He doubted his own eyesight. ‘Hadn’t this person even refused to share a bed with him during company lunch breaks before?‘

It wasn’t until one day when he woke up early and came out to find Yu Qingyue asleep leaning against a chair that he realized, for the past few days, Yu Qingyue had been resting outside. After that, he never went back to that rest room. The only time they shared a bed was the last time, and just thinking about it made Yu Wanlai blush for a moment. He quickly coughed lightly. ‘This time, though, Yu Qingyue wouldn’t even talk to him.‘ Yu Wanlai looked at Yu Qingyue again and patted the spot next to him. “It’s okay, the injury is mainly on my head. I just need to sleep on my side tonight.”