In the days that followed, Lian Jun’s legs would always tremble for a while after exercising and he would always be awakened by pain at night. Shi Jin became more and more perceptive and would wake up at the slightest hint of movement from the other side of the bed.

Lian Jun was distressed to see it. When he judged the atmosphere was right, he raised the matter of sleeping in separate rooms in an indirect way.

Shi Jin’s face changed at once. “First you wanted me to move over, and now you want to throw me out?” he growled. “Say, does this mean you got tired of me and want to break up with me?”

Lian Jun looked at his fierce expression, and although he knew the younger man was just acting, he still couldn’t bear to say anything that might hurt him. “It would be only temporary,” he promised, trying to pacify him. “You need to be able to rest properly.”

“Rest? I rest very well, I sleep in every day—I’m the last person to get up in the whole club.” After saying this, Shi Jin’s face returned to looking silly. He took out a book of dessert recipes and went to Lian Jun’s side, bubbling with excitement. “Uncle Long said the workouts you’ve been doing are very effective and that your diet might have to be adjusted to keep your nutrition up with your consumption. When I asked, he said that you could have some dessert once in a while. He went through this recipe book and marked what you can eat. If something catches your eye, tell me, I’ll try to make it for you—I’m free anyway these days.”

Lian Jun’s heart flooded with both warmth and guilt. “I’m sorry, I said that we would go on a date when we returned to B city, but…”

“Do you want a date? Okay, then let’s go on a date!” Shi Jin seemed to have been reminded of something as he dropped the book and stood up. “You keep on working, I’m going out to buy something.”

This dumbfounded Lian Jun, a rare occurrence. He reached out, trying to catch Shi Jin’s hand. “What do you want to buy, I’ll…”

“I’ll be back soon, don’t miss me too much.” Shi Jin, who had reached the door, smiled, dropped a line in farewell, and ran away.

The room fell into quiet in an instant. Lian Jun slowly took back his empty hand. He glanced at the dessert recipe book Shi Jin left at the coffee table, then looked around the study. Suddenly, he felt a little lonely.

He’d gotten used to Shi Jin always being within sight when he looked up, refusing to go away no matter how he was coaxed. Now that Shi Jin had thrown a curveball and taken the initiative to leave on his own, he really couldn’t get used to it.

His heart felt empty.

He went back to his desk and picked up a file, trying to distract himself with work, but he couldn’t concentrate on reading. In the end, he took out his phone and dialed Shi Jin’s number.

The call connected almost immediately and Shi Jin’s vibrant voice came from the speaker: {Gua Nine will come to accompany you in my place. If your legs hurt, please don’t endure in silence, tell Gua Nine to call Uncle Long}.

“Where are you?” he asked in a low voice.

{In the garage… Gua Two, here… Is there anything you want? I’ll buy it for you.}

Gua Two’s complaints were faint noise in the background: {You sure know how to order people around… I swear I’m going to make you get your driving license as soon as possible so you’ll stop dragging me out to be your chauffeur… Hurry up and get in, the earlier we go, the earlier we’ll be back.}

{Alright, alright, I’m coming,} came Shi Jin’s indistinct reply, then his voice became clear again: {I need to get in the car, Jun-shao, I’ll call you later.} With that, the call disconnected.

Lian Jun listened to the busy tone. A long moment later, he put the phone down, looked at his useless legs, and raised a hand to press the bridge of his nose.

After all, Shi Jin wasn’t even nineteen yet—being locked in the club every day, it was only natural he would be bored.