"Are you alright?" Yibo murmurs, his voice a fragile thread as he searches Xiao Zhan’s eyes. One moment, Xiao Zhan’s expression is strained, and in the next, he’s laughing softly. "What?" Yibo mouths again, severely anxious. "You should see your face," Xiao Zhan replies. "Why are you so worried?" Yibo’s lips tremble. "I don’t want to hurt you." "Am I so fragile?" Xiao Zhan reaches out affectionately, brushing Yibo’s hair away from his face. Yibo kisses Xiao Zhan on the lips,

Eight years later, as Yibo stands outside the Rosewood Hotel in complete silence, the cold night air claws at his skin. His phone is still pressed to his ear, the producer’s words hacking through him like a saw. “He made the case go away. The student had all the evidence stacked against him. There was no way he could escape imprisonment, so Xiao Zhan called the chairman.” Back then he’d simply thought he was lucky. The evidence was judged to be insufficient and inconclusive,

"Who?" Yibo asked as he lifted his head from his desk. "Xiao Laoshi," the study monitor said. "He wants to see you now before physics starts." Yibo was just as confused as he was alarmed. Why would Xiao Zhan be asking to see him all of a sudden? "Our homeroom teacher," Meiyin supplied kindly. "Language. Not the new Xiao  Laoshi ." "Oh," relief washed over Yibo as he nodded. He headed down the stairs as quickly as he could, not wanting to be late in his return. A faint clamor

"Do you love him?" At Wei You's question, Xiao Zhan’s beer froze mid-air, inches from his lips. "Lawyer Lee is not cheap, so you’re about to incur a  lot  of legal fees. Plus, we don’t know how long fighting this for him is going to take."= Perched on his balcony's stool, Xiao Zhan stared at Wei You, then he continued with the sip he’d been about to take. Now however, he took a long drink. The dim neighborhood sprawled beyond, swallowed in shadows, as Wei You’s cigarette smok

“Absolutely. Motherfucking. Not.” At the sling of filth from Yuze’s mouth, his mother stared at him in shock. Knowing what was coming next, he ducked to protect his face, and in the end, his shoulder received her blow. " Ah ," he cried out, his face and body contorted from the pain. “What do you mean, ‘ no ’?” his mother demanded in a hushed, furious tone. "I wanted to try the dorms first year high school—remember? You refused. Same with Dad. Now is the most critical time, so

“You sick bastard!” Yibo’s father spat. The words hissed through the police station, chilling all with silence as heads turned to them in shock at the assault. Xiao Zhan took his time recovering, and when he finally straightened, his cheek was bruised red from the force of the blow. “Lawyer Lee,” he said in a calm, borderline deadly tone, his gaze fixed on Yibo’s father. “Go ahead and board your flight. I’ll see you soon.” His composure was slow and calculated as he returned

"How the hell did this happen?" At his frigid tone, Yibo's stepmother snuck a peek at her husband. "I… " she returned her gaze to the road. “I really don’t know. I’m as shocked as you are.” He remained silent, but one more glance at his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel, and she was pushed to continue speaking. “I… this is really shocking. The policeman said they arrested him at the airport? He was on the way to Beijing. But why would he be going to Beijing? Was he tr

“Do you have a special way you make your sauce?” Sluggishly, Yibo lifts his gaze to meet Xiao Zhan’s. “Actually, I don’t. I usually just mix whatever’s available.” “I have mine,” Xiao Zhan says, his movements deliberate as he gathers peanut sauce, black vinegar, cilantro, green onions, fermented bean paste, and sesame seeds. “What makes it special is adding the spicy broth,” he explains, scooping a little of both the simmering Sichuan and Yunnan mushroom broths with a ladle.

"Sirs?" At the sudden call, both men turn to see the waiter coming over with a trolley of their dinner.  Yibo’s shoulders immediately deflate, but to his surprise Xiao Zhan takes his hand. "Set it up," he tells the waiter. "We'll be back soon." The urge to skip rather than walk is visceral but Yibo manages to control himself as they head out of the restaurant hand in hand. Yibo’s gaze clings to their joined hands, his heart throbbing at the sight. This is not an ordinary mome