Chapter 72

On the way back, Wen Ran wore his hat and barely talked. Not until the car drove back into the city did he look up at the driver, type a few words in his phone's notes app, and show them to Gu Yunchi.

:Can you get me a room at Cloud Bay? And maybe a little discount [rose]

Gu Yunchi read it and asked, 'How many percent off?'

Wen Ran lowered his head and quickly typed a few more words, then handed it back.

:Is 99% off okay? [heart]

Gu Yunchi: 'Why not just ask me to transfer Cloud Bay to you for free.'

'I'm not that good at business. Better not.' Wen Ran put his phone away.

They hit the evening rush hour, crawled all the way to the destination — not Cloud Bay, not Yueting, but a Bingjiang Residential Area. The car stopped at the elevator entrance. Wen Ran and Gu Yunchi got out.

Gu Yunchi carried Wen Ran's Backpack into the elevator and pressed his fingerprint to select the floor. Wen Ran stood beside him and suddenly felt nervous. He thought about it — probably because even though he'd been with Gu Yunchi every night lately, the Hospital was a public space, not a private home.

The elevator climbed all the way to the top floor, and the doors opened straight into the apartment. Wen Ran stared at the empty foyer, stepped out half a beat late, and followed Gu Yunchi into the living room.

A thousand-plus square meter top-floor duplex, so clean it showed zero signs of anyone living there. Even with the lively river view from the balcony, it still felt excessively empty. The villa at Yueting had been big too, but with BDH-339 around, Wen Ran had never felt cold or lonely there.

Wen Ran turned around in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, hesitated a few seconds, and asked, 'Did you sell the house at Yueting?'

'Not so broke I have to sell a house.' Gu Yunchi set the Backpack on the sofa.

'Then... did you sell BDH-339?'

Gu Yunchi's hand paused, barely noticeable, before he said, 'Who'd want a trash can that never shuts up.'

'Then can we go to Yueting?' Wen Ran tucked his hands together, sincere. 'I'm... I'm leaving soon. There's no need to waste such a big new house on me. And I want to see BDH-339.'

He'd promised BDH-339 that if he ever got the chance to come back, he'd visit.

Gu Yunchi didn't answer. He went to the control screen on the kitchen island and pressed a button to tell the chef to send dinner. Wen Ran followed like a tail, persistently asking again, 'Can we?'

Still no response, so he asked a third time, stubbornly, 'Can we, Gu Yunchi?'

Gu Yunchi turned to look at him with no particular expression. Wen Ran had been leaning against Gu Yunchi's arm, face tilted up, but the moment he got that look, he flinched back — only for Gu Yunchi to grab his clothes and pull him back.

From far below came the sound of traffic. They stared at each other from inches away for a few seconds. Gu Yunchi was about to speak when Wen Ran, eyes flickering, asked first, 'What do you mean? You want me to kiss you?'

He didn't seem to find it that hard. He leaned back against Gu Yunchi, tilted his chin up, and kissed his cheek.

'Take me to see BDH-339.' Even after the kiss, he didn't forget to repeat his condition.

'Who taught you that?' Gu Yunchi asked.

'You did. You, I mean.' Wen Ran was a bit baffled. 'Wasn't that what your eyes just said?'

Gu Yunchi looked completely unmoved. 'You're imagining things.'

'But I already kissed you!' What's the difference between this and getting blocked right after a transfer? Wen Ran tugged at Gu Yunchi's sleeve. 'Take me to see BDH-339.'

After a moment of silence, Gu Yunchi suddenly raised his hand. Wen Ran, thinking he was about to get hit, let go of his sleeve and tried to run — only to be grabbed and hauled back, trapped between Gu Yunchi's body and the kitchen island.

Before he could even get out an 'I won't bother you anymore,' everything went dark in front of Wen Ran's eyes. Gu Yunchi leaned down and kissed him.

The traffic noise disappeared. All he could hear was breathing, heartbeats. Wen Ran stared, eyes wide.

Gu Yunchi started off restrained, pressing against Wen Ran's lips with light sucking and nipping, grinding against them, not too hard, not too soft. But soon, dizzy from the Alpha Pheromone in the air and the kiss that was both strange and familiar, Wen Ran opened his mouth on his own. The instant their tongues touched, Gu Yunchi's fingers on Wen Ran's waist tightened, his breathing grew heavier, and he pressed his tongue deep against Wen Ran's, kissing him deep.

He couldn't remember when his arms had wrapped around Gu Yunchi's neck. In his hazy consciousness, Wen Ran felt like a hot air balloon — mostly weightless, floating, but with an undeniable heat source inside, burning. The Gland on the back of his neck.

He could barely stand, his whole body hanging off Gu Yunchi, until Gu Yunchi wrapped an arm around his waist and set him on the kitchen island.

Ding dong—

Impossible to say how long it had been. The doorbell rang through the control screen on the island — the chef was here with dinner.

Wen Ran came back to himself a little, pushed at Gu Yunchi's shoulder, and seemed to just remember, asking muzzily, 'What are you doing?'

Gu Yunchi kissed from his chin down to his throat and the side of his neck, then slowly raised his head and said, 'After all this, how do you even ask that?'

'D-don't worry about that.' Even looking up from below, Gu Yunchi had this way of looking down at people. Wen Ran pressed his reddened lips together, eyes darting left and right. 'Let me down first. I want to eat.'

Gu Yunchi reached up, grabbed the hood of Wen Ran's jacket, and pulled it down over his head, then went to open the door. Wen Ran sat on the island, turned his head, and peeked at Gu Yunchi's back from under the hood.

During dinner, Wen Ran kept his head down to avoid all eye contact — until Gu Yunchi spoke. 'Tomorrow morning we go to the Military Hospital for a detailed check on the Gland, then back to Yueting to see BDH-339.'

Wen Ran stopped eating at once, and quickly understood what Gu Yunchi was thinking — compared to getting this artificial Gland checked in City S, going back to the Capital would make him feel more at ease and more willing to accept it.

'Got it.' Wen Ran said, then went back to shoveling rice into his mouth.

After dinner, Gu Yunchi went to the Military District. Wen Ran stayed home alone, wandered up and down the place, admired the night view for a while. Once he'd digested, he found a guest room, washed his hair and showered, climbed into bed, and opened his Mobile Phone to check the department group chat — everyone was deep into team-building.

He hadn't even finished scrolling through the photos when the screen switched to an incoming call — Tao Susu. Wen Ran picked up, and the other end burst with chatter and airport announcements.

'Wen... Li Shu! You told me a few days ago you were going back to the Capital City — did you?'

'Yeah, just got in today.'

'I'm almost back too, I'm on a layover right now. Guess who I ran into? An outstanding young writer—' Tao Susu shrieked, 'Song Shuangang!'

A panicked voice from beside her: 'Susu, can you keep it down?'

'Sorry, got too excited. Here, take the phone, you two talk!'

After some scrambling, Song Shuangang took the phone and tentatively called out, 'Li Shu?'

'That's me.' Wen Ran sat up. 'I don't read much literature normally, I didn't even know you were already a writer. Congratulations!'

'Not really a writer. I stayed on to teach at the school for a couple years, quit this year, started traveling around, writing bits and pieces myself.' Song Shuangang laughed a little. 'Susu told me today that you're still alive — that's wonderful. Is everything okay with you now?'

'I'm good, don't worry about me.' Wen Ran asked, 'Did you just get back from a research trip too?'

“Yeah, some friends were shooting a documentary, so I went along with them. There happened to be a Charity High School there, so I went and talked to the principal. That's how I found out most of the donations get carved up layer by layer by the organizations along the way, and by the time it reaches the Preparatory School there's barely anything left — the principal's carrying it all on her own. So coming back to the Capital City this time, I wanted to reach out to my media friends and see if maybe…”

'Song Shuangang, you start talking about this stuff and you never stop — we're boarding!' Tao Susu cut in, snatching the phone back. 'Li Shu, let's all three of us grab dinner the day after tomorrow! I'll show you the latest photos of the little kangaroo and Dolu!'

'Okay, see you the day after.' Wen Ran lay back on his pillow, smiling. 'Bye, Susu. Bye, Song Shuangang.'

'Bye!'

After hanging up, Wen Ran was happy for a while thinking about seeing his friends soon. Then he backed out of the department group chat and saw a message from Gu Yunchi, sent half a minute ago: 'Back late. Sleep if you're tired.'

Wen Ran yawned and replied: 'I'll be asleep in five minutes [sleepy]'

Gu Yunchi: 'Oh.'

Wen Ran turned off his phone, closed his eyes, and was dead asleep in two minutes.

Probably because he'd spent so long on planes and cars today, Wen Ran was exhausted and slept deeply. Combined with the room's good soundproofing, he didn't hear Gu Yunchi come home — didn't even hear Gu Yunchi come to his door, find it locked from inside, and have to knock.

He'd locked the door from inside because the house was too big — he hadn't felt safe showering.

The next day, from breakfast to leaving the house, Gu Yunchi's face was stormy. Wen Ran had no idea what was bothering him — guessed maybe he'd been nagged to turn in his self-criticism report at the Military District last night. A few days ago, cracking sunflower seeds in Wei Xing's hospital room, he'd heard Wei Xing say Gu Yunchi had a five-thousand-word handwritten self-criticism to write.

So Wen Ran silently, sympathetically patted Gu Yunchi's shoulder and gave him an 'I get it' look — but Gu Yunchi just shot him a glance that said 'stop bothering me.'

Wen Ran figured Gu Yunchi was probably working out the outline of his self-criticism, so he sensibly left him alone.

They arrived at the 195th Military Hospital, got out of the car, and the moment Wen Ran stepped onto the stairs, the sound of a motorcycle came from behind. He turned and saw a traffic cop pulling up, long leg bracing the ground, pulling off his helmet.

The Alpha flashed a handsome, easy smile. 'I was wondering why the Capital City's sunshine was so dazzling today — turns out Lieutenant Colonel Gu is back in the country.'

Gu Yunchi said flatly, 'I heard Xu Ze proposed to Chi Jiahán. Officer He, here to deliver a red envelope?'

Seeing He Wei was already a shock. Hearing that news was another. Wen Ran's ears perked right up.

He Wei's face darkened. He gave a cold laugh. 'A little love problem. Can't touch me.'

Gu Yunchi pulled out his phone and took a picture of him. 'Work problems work too. Sent it to your boss — reporting you for stealing a fellow officer's uniform and motorcycle.'

'Don't care. That's the twentieth time this month.' He Wei looked at Wen Ran. 'Long time no see, Teacher Xiao Shu. Listen, I've got a poison that can permanently silence someone. Hit me up anytime you need it.'

After saying that, he tossed Wen Ran a wink, snapped his helmet shut with a click, gunned the engine, and headed for the cafeteria to find Dr. Chi, who was eating breakfast.

By the time Wen Ran came back to himself, Gu Yunchi had already walked off. He hurried after him, about to ask how come he hadn't told him all this gossip in detail, when he saw Xu Ze step out of the hospital's main entrance, a few documents in hand, no white coat — probably there to pick up files.

Gu Yunchi had his head down, looking at his communicator, and didn't notice. Only Wen Ran and Xu Ze were left, face to face. Wen Ran stared, unable to look away. Xu Ze recognized him too, seemed to freeze for a moment, then pressed his lips together in a faint smile and nodded at him.

Wen Ran turned and watched Xu Ze walk away for a long time. Once they were inside the lobby, he said to Gu Yunchi, 'Xu Ze just walked past. He's so handsome.'

No response. Wen Ran figured Gu Yunchi hadn't heard, so he said it again, louder: 'Xu Ze is really handsome.'

'Even if he doesn't marry Chi Jiahán, he'll marry Lu Heyang. Whether he's handsome or not has nothing to do with you.'

'Just because he's marrying someone else, I can't say he's handsome? Why are you so weird...'

Chatting all the way, they reached the elevator. Gu Yunchi pressed the up button, and an elevator happened to be coming up from the garage — ding, the doors opened.

The moment he saw the Alpha inside the elevator, Wen Ran shut his mouth mid-babble. He really hadn't expected to run into this many familiar faces within five minutes.

Standing in the elevator was the current chairman of Shengdian Group — Wen Rui.