In the morning, Liu Sizhen felt something was off with his body, but he thought he’d tough it out and go buy some medicine from the convenience store after work. He had overestimated his physical resilience and tolerance.

His legs gave way, and before he could even react, he was caught in a strong embrace. At that moment, his mind was a blur—thinking he didn’t have much money in his pocket, thinking healthcare here was extremely expensive, and then finally thinking—this is so embarrassing.

He vaguely heard the male lead calling his name.

“Zhenzhen… Zhenzhen…”

His voice was so urgent, full of worry.

When he regained consciousness, Liu Sizhen heard Lin Bosheng talking to the doctor nearby. The unfamiliar voice explained that Liu Sizhen’s high fever and cold were caused by exhaustion and that he also had some gastroenteritis. The doctor advised a few days of rest to recover.

It seemed like the problem couldn’t be detected unless the plot reached the appropriate point—triggering the conditions necessary for something to happen.

While listening to their conversation, Liu Sizhen also learned that he’d been unconscious for most of the day, and before he had even woken up, he’d already received a nutritional injection.

After a brief exchange, the doctor left.

The entire hospital room fell into a deathly silence. As Liu Sizhen was thinking about how to naturally open his eyes and how to greet Lin Bosheng once he did, he suddenly felt a cool touch on his hand.

Liu Sizhen secretly squinted his eyes and saw the male lead gently kissing the back of his hand…

So should he continue pretending to be asleep, or continue pretending to be asleep?

Of course, Lin Bosheng could tell exactly when Liu Sizhen woke up. The breathing pattern of someone in deep sleep was completely different from when they were awake, not to mention the facial expressions. Just like eight years ago, his acting skills were still poor.

Lin Bosheng’s gaze greedily lingered on Liu Sizhen’s face.

Eight years was enough time to change many things, enough to make everything—people and things—unrecognizable.

Changning City had changed year after year, with new high-rise buildings replacing the old water factory alley where Lin Bosheng once lived. Even the classmates from class 11 had changed. Sometimes, even Lin Bosheng, when looking at himself in the mirror, felt that the reflection was a little unfamiliar.

But what he never expected was that the young man he met at seventeen was still the same, with the same light in his eyes as before—pure and untainted.

However, not everything had remained the same. Perhaps because Lin Bosheng had grown taller, when he first saw Liu Sizhen, he thought he seemed a little shorter, his stature a bit smaller than in his memories.

He raised his hand and gently stroked Liu Sizhen’s cheek.

“Zhenzhen…”

Liu Sizhen tightly shut his eyes, listening to the male lead calling his name over and over. He thought he’d keep calling like this, but then he heard him asking if it hurt, and a cold sensation spread across the back of his hand, faintly carrying the smell of medicine.

The male lead was being extremely patient… was he applying medicine to his hand?

Liu Sizhen could feel that his touch was incredibly gentle, even with a slight tremble. At first, the male lead wasn’t kissing his hand but the small red burn marks on the back of his hand.

No matter what, Liu Sizhen felt something was off.

His hand had not only a burn mark but also mild peeling from cheap cleaning agents that had slightly burned his fingertips, and small cuts from accidentally brushing against sharp objects while cleaning without gloves. These were all normal, nothing to worry about, and he hadn’t even noticed them himself.

But when did the male lead notice?

---

Lin Bosheng had noticed immediately, from the first time he saw him.

He had often dreamt of reuniting with Liu Sizhen, but in those dreams, Liu Sizhen’s features were blurred, as if veiled by a thin mist. It wasn’t until this moment that he finally saw him clearly.

The once fierce exterior still hid the soft little peacock inside, just like before, but… completely different. His once vibrant feathers had become dull, as if they had been damaged.

Lin Bosheng always believed… that Zhenzhen should have grown up in luxury and warmth, adored by everyone. He had been born to live in love and warmth. He himself had once been a pampered young master, meant to travel and laugh freely…

But now, Liu Sizhen’s hands were stained with grease and dirt, wearing a cheap work uniform, and being bossed around by rude customers…

Just one glance, and Lin Bosheng felt his heart ache.

Liu Sizhen’s fingers had tiny cuts, and the once smooth back of his hand was burned by something. His fingers had countless small cuts from things he didn’t even know about, and they hadn’t been treated properly.

He must have suffered a lot…

Lin Bosheng himself had endured many hardships in the past, far worse than these injuries. At the time, he hadn’t felt any pain, but seeing Liu Sizhen suffer, he couldn’t stand it…

Because he had seen Liu Sizhen proud and radiant, now seeing him in such a fallen, miserable state made Lin Bosheng feel nothing but discomfort, not the slightest sense of revenge.

His heart was overwhelmingly bitter, as if all of Liu Sizhen’s wounds were being multiplied and transferred to Lin Bosheng’s own body.

“Zhenzhen…”

After all these years, Liu Sizhen was still the same. Even though he wore the same uniform as the other receptionists, he was still more attractive than anyone else.

“I know you’re awake. Stop pretending to sleep…”

The male lead’s fingertip, still warm from his touch, continued to gently apply the ointment on Liu Sizhen’s skin. The transparent cream felt cool when it was first applied, but it became warm as it spread under the male lead’s body heat.

Liu Sizhen wasn’t sure how to break the awkward silence.

Then he heard the male lead directly say he was awake…

It must be a test, definitely. He wasn’t going to fall for it.

Liu Sizhen remained motionless, and the situation quickly became more absurd. While applying the ointment, Lin Bosheng began to talk to himself. At first, his words were normal, reminiscing about the past.

He said he had liked Liu Sizhen for a long time, that he still kept Liu Sizhen’s school uniform from back then at his house, and despite moving several times over the years, he had thrown away many things—yet he never parted with that one item.

He talked about how he often dreamed about him in the past…

By the time Liu Sizhen heard this, he started to sense something was off. He had no idea what would come next, but the more Lin Bosheng spoke, the stranger it became. He started sharing some of his bizarre dreams, the odd dreams he’d had at night.

The content of these dreams was outrageous. Not only was Liu Sizhen uncomfortable listening to them, but he also couldn’t believe the male lead could say these things without even changing his expression. He even remembered the first dream he had about Liu Sizhen from years ago so clearly…

The male lead spoke in Chinese, and in this foreign land, Liu Sizhen was probably the only one who could understand. The room felt quiet, likely just the two of them in it, so only he could hear those words…

As the other protagonist of these dreams, Liu Sizhen initially thought he had misheard or imagined it.

Had he lost his mind?!

What was he saying?!

What exactly was he talking about?!

Liu Sizhen’s fair face instantly flushed red, his cheeks growing hotter the more he listened. Unable to pretend to be asleep anymore, he quickly sat up and raised his hand to cover Lin Bosheng’s mouth.

His face was bright red, teeth clenched as he said, “Shut up!!!”

What was Lin Bosheng even saying? He would never step on his things, let alone do those… those things… he couldn’t even repeat them!

What was wrong with this person’s mind?!

Did he even have any shame?!

Liu Sizhen originally wanted to scold him with righteous indignation, but after he spoke, his stammering voice made him seem less confident.

“How… how did you become like this… like this… not learning anything good!”

The smile in Lin Bosheng’s eyes deepened.

“Why aren’t you pretending to be asleep anymore?”

“You… you tricked me?!”

Liu Sizhen looked at him in disbelief, not expecting that to wake him up, Lin Bosheng would… would make up those ridiculous lies to trick him?

It seemed as if Lin Bosheng saw right through his thoughts. He neither admitted nor denied it. With a raised eyebrow, he remained calm, as though the person who had just spoken obscenely in public wasn’t him.

He said, “This isn’t a trick. Every word I said is true.”

Liu Sizhen was a bit unaccustomed to the now adult version of Lin Bosheng.

He had been like a thin sapling back then, but now he had grown strong and full of branches and leaves. The young male lead never used to look at him with such direct eyes. Before, whenever they made eye contact, they would always look away right after.

But now, Lin Bosheng not only didn’t look away, he kept staring at him, his gaze burning to the point it made Liu Sizhen feel uncomfortable.

“Zhenzhen, we haven’t seen each other in so many years. Don’t you miss me?”

This question was really hard for Liu Sizhen to respond to.

Before hearing the nonsense Lin Bosheng had said, Liu Sizhen had planned to pretend to have just woken up and exchange some pleasantries about being old classmates catching up. He had planned to throw in something like, “Did you bring me to the hospital?”

A reunion with an old friend in a foreign land should have been a touching moment.

But after hearing all those… things he said, Liu Sizhen could only think of the disturbing images Lin Bosheng had described, and his ears were still burning, not cooling down as time passed but instead heating up even more.

It seemed that Lin Bosheng wasn’t done with the teasing. Taking advantage of his height, he reached out to ruffle Liu Sizhen’s hair, speaking almost as if to himself.

“What do you think of me…”

The male lead suddenly spoke. He was no longer the immature teenager, and even his voice was deeper than it had been back then.

“Huh?”

Before Liu Sizhen could respond, another bombshell dropped.

“I’ll take care of you, Zhenzhen. Everything will be just like before… I promise.”

???

Lin Bosheng didn’t think what he said was outrageous at all.

Afraid Liu Sizhen might think he was joking, he began seriously explaining some of his current circumstances to him, so detailed it could almost be mistaken for a blind date introduction.

It seemed as though he was ready to lay everything out for Liu Sizhen, showing him everything about himself, and this behavior left Liu Sizhen stunned.

It was like he didn’t care whether Liu Sizhen accepted it or not, just wanting to force it all onto him.

His person, his heart, everything heavy he had to offer.

“…”

This scene didn’t feel right.

Liu Sizhen vaguely remembered that when the male lead reunited with the villain who had once bullied him years later, it shouldn’t have been like this. Although the script did say that the male lead wanted Liu Sizhen to stay and work for him, to get revenge on the villain, it never mentioned anything about taking care of him.

It just didn’t feel right.

[System, is this really the male lead?]

[…Yes.]

As an AI, 258 only looks at the task results.

The task result is: whether the male lead’s wishes have been fulfilled, or if there’s just a final plot point to wrap up, the task can be considered completed.

The task scores are all correct…

In the eyes of others, Liu Sizhen had indeed “bullied” the male lead, and the male lead had indeed become stronger, so it seemed fine, but something still felt off.

[Can you help me check the original script for the scene when they reunite?]

To outsiders, Liu Sizhen only seemed to have thought for a few seconds, but in reality, he was reviewing the script in his mind. In the script, Lin Bosheng didn’t come to find him, nor did he say anything about taking care of him. Their first reunion after adulthood should have been at a class reunion.

At that time, the male lead knew he wasn’t working and offered to give him a job as his secretary, but everyone knew that wasn’t the real meaning behind the words. When Liu Sizhen had read that scene, he had actually felt quite pleased.

But now the plot had completely collapsed. Their reunion after returning to the country turned into the male lead actively seeking him out. Instead of the usual sarcastic remarks, the male lead sincerely said he hoped Liu Sizhen would stay by his side, even saying that he had waited too long and didn’t want to wait another second.

Liu Sizhen really didn’t know how he should respond.

So he decided to stick to the original script and recite the lines.

He couldn’t see his own expression and didn’t realize that without the messy yellow hair, his already slightly immature and delicate face, now paired with smooth black hair, looked like a pure young boy, without any of the imposing aura he had imagined.

He lowered his gaze for a moment to gather his emotions.

In just a second or two,

when he looked up again, his expression had turned to one of embarrassment and indignation, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. His face was flushed red, and his eyes were glistening with a trace of tears, a look of silent humiliation.

“Lin Bosheng, you! What do you mean by all that?!”

“Is it fun to humiliate me like this?”

Yes, it was intentional.

After all, he had deliberately said those things to trick him earlier in the day.