CH 113

It was hard to ignore such a loud disturbance.

The opposite bedroom door opened at this ruckus, and Yan Suizhi came out in slippers. 

Even if Young Master Joe had gotten struck by a sudden bolt of lightning, he wasn’t going to do his own friend an injustice. In his opinion, Gu Yan was so tight-lipped that the man would take it to his grave if he liked someone, let alone that him liking someone was a once in a millennium occurrence.

Before he had clarified what was going on, it wasn’t appropriate to shout it for the world to hear. It’d only be embarrassing for Gu Yan.

Young Master Joe believed that while he didn’t have many redeeming qualities, he, at least, believed that he was as soft and snug as a small cotton-padded jumper.

At the sight of Yan Suizhi, the Smol Cotton Jumper bit on his tongue, swallowing down the splintered end of his words. 

He forcibly changed the subject, asking, “You’re not asleep yet? What did you come out for?”

Yan Suizhi raised the glass in his hand. “I was a little thirsty after showering, so I came out to get some water.”

“Isn’t there a water cooler in the room?”

“Yeah,” Yan Suizhi filled his glass with warm water in the living room, unfazed as he spoke, “But the two of you were yelling too loudly. It seemed a bit of a pity not to find an excuse to come out and see what this was about.”

The distinguished Lawyer Gu, who hadn’t yelled a single word from start to end, felt rather wronged.

The Smol Cotton Jumper was very antsy. He stared at Yan Suizhi, carefully asking, “What did you hear us yell?”

Gu Yan corrected him, “Us?”

Yan Suizhi leaned against the counter and leisurely sipped his water. “It was a bit muffled, which was why I came out. How about repeating what you said?” 

Gu Yan, “…”

As if anyone would believe him; would he especially have come out if he really hadn’t heard it?

“Uh… hang on, I need to clear things up first.” Joe latched onto Gu Yan’s collar and tugged him back into his room.

Bang. The door slammed shut again. 

The only light in the bedroom was still that pendant lamp on the balcony. The ambience was ripe for spilling secrets. Young Master Joe’s blood was pumping.

He pressed the door handle, feeling as though he had time-travelled back to the first year he’d entered Maze University, when he had attempted to abduct Gu Yan for a heart-to-heart talk every night, but couldn’t get more than three sentences out of this ice block in a night.

But today, everything was different.

Joe asked Gu Yan in a whisper, “I didn’t understand you wrong, did I? You… really like that intern?” 

Lawyer Gu fell silent for a moment, but still couldn’t resist sniping, “Did you forget to bring your reflexes to De Carma with you?”

“…”

Young Master Joe took it like a champ, saying, “If you say so. But you can’t blame me for this; you’re the main reason for this. It’s nothing if this sort of thing happened to anyone else, I can sniff it out almost immediately.”

Gu Yan, “…” 

Only God knew where this Young Master’s self-confidence came from.

“But since it’s you, of course I’d have to verify it a few more times,” Joe said. “Blame yourself for looking so ascetic all day. If I don’t get dumbstruck from having such a bomb suddenly thrown on me, who would!”

He had a point.

Dea atlr rfcafcmf kjr rb oeii bo tbifr atja Xe Tjc vlvc’a xcbk ktfgf ab yfulc glvlmeilcu. Lf mbeiv bcis ibbx ja tlw lwqjalfcais, kjlalcu ab tfjg ktja batfg fcilutafclcu gfwjgxr tf kjcafv ab vlrmerr. 

Cr ojmar qgbnfv, Tbecu Zjrafg Abf vlvc’a ojli ab vlrjqqblca—

Qtjafnfg tf atbeuta bo, Abf rqfca j ktlif weiilcu bnfg la, atfc jrxfv Xe Tjc, “Fw… jgf sbe regf atja atf bcf sbe ilxf lr atf lcafgc tlwrfio?”

Gu Yan, “?”

“I think you’ll have to explain to me what you mean by that,” Gu Yan said. 

Joe wavered.

This explanation was somewhat cumbersome to put across…

Actually, he once believed that Gu Yan had some intentions for the late dean. Gu Yan behaved differently, especially so when they neared graduation, and these feelings also became more obvious.

Later on, in truth, Joe had always paid attention to this. Though Gu Yan didn’t keep in contact with the dean, he’d always kept a close eye on any news involving the dean. 

While others might not have been aware of this, if he couldn’t even tell this, he would have been a disaster of a best friend.

But this wasn’t an appropriate topic for discussion, so Joe had never dared to ask Gu Yan.

And after, when that dean was involved in an explosion, it was even more inappropriate to mention.

Joe had come across many psychiatrists while taking care of Ke Jin all these years. For some time after the explosion happened, worried that Gu Yan would be devastated, he’d gone to ask a few doctors about it in a roundabout way. 

However, it wasn’t convenient for him to disclose too many details. Thus, the suggestions that those doctors could give were also limited.

Joe could only pick and try a few that wouldn’t easily go wrong. For example, not to completely avoid mentioning Yan Suizhi, but also not mentioning him too many times; the frequency of mentioning him had to be gradually reduced to normal, and he had to slowly modulate his tone from sadness back to a natural state.

It took a few months for him to create a psychological cue for Gu Yan—the past had passed, and one could move on from grief.

For a time, he felt that his approach had worked, even if just barely. At least when others mentioned Yan Suizhi, Gu Yan wouldn’t show much emotion on his face. 

But he was well aware that there was a limit to how much he could do.

Only time could allow Gu Yan to completely move on from the late dean.

It was hard to forecast how long it’d take, but in any case, it wouldn’t be this soon.

That was the biggest reason why his jaw had dropped when he heard Gu Yan say that he liked the intern. 

But just now, Joe suddenly perceived that the intern, Ruan Ye, did share a trace of resemblance to the dean. Not a resemblance in features, of course, but from a certain angle or in specific actions he made, he would evoke a faint association.

He had noticed this before; he just hadn’t delved into it.

But thinking about it now, he felt rather complicated.

Did Gu Yan really like this intern, or was his liking for this intern extended from his interest in the late dean? 

Young Master Joe felt that he had inadvertently glimpsed an inscrutable mystery of nature from being too perceptive.

But it wasn’t appropriate for him to talk about this now.

Joe felt a little sorry for that intern, but if Gu Yan could really use this opportunity to move on, that wasn’t anything bad either.

As a smart and thoughtful friend, Young Master Joe secretly slapped himself on the inside, telling himself that nature’s mysteries couldn’t be divulged, so watch your mouth. He swallowed back the words that had almost slipped from his tongue, shook his head, and said to Gu Yan, “It’s nothing important. I was just shocked and wanted to confirm with you again.” 

As he spoke, he darted a glance towards the door, as though he could look through this door at the intern in the living room.

Following this, he gave Gu Yan a profound look. “Forget it. This works pretty well, too.”

His tone made him sound like he’d just tided through a thousand calamities.

Gu Yan, “?” 

Joe didn’t give him time for doubt, soon shifting the subject away. “Do you need help with that intern? With how much of an uncommunicative brooder you are, shall I help you work an opening with him?”

His tone now carried considerable tact and sympathy.

Gu Yan, “That’s not necessary.”

“Why? Are you just going to hold it in? If you hold it in for too long, one day that guy might haul over someone and tell you, ‘Hello Teacher Gu, this is my girlfriend or boyfriend.'” Young Master Joe hadn’t even gotten his own love life settled but was already worrying for his friend. 

Little did he expect that Gu Yan would say, “He already has one now.”

Joe, “What? Who?”

Gu Yan glanced at him askew, calmly tossing out a word. “Me.”

Joe, “…” 

Joe, “???”

Lawyer Gu patted his shoulder, opening the room door.

Yan Suizhi was still in the living room, sitting on the armrest of the small sofa with his long legs elegantly crossed. Seeing Gu Yan come out, he turned his head over and set his empty glass on the coffee table, asking, “Have you cleared it up for him yet?”

Gu Yan, “Not quite.” 

Yan Suizhi stood up and walked towards Gu Yan, only to see Joe supporting himself against the door frame, shooting a complicated look at him, a little bit of grief and indignation in his gaze.

“What’s wrong?” he asked casually.

“It’s nothing. Ignore me.” Joe was still holding on to the door frame.

Gu Yan turned over to look at him. 

Joe hastily flapped his hand. “Hurry up and go, don’t look at me. I’m questioning life at the moment.”

“…”

And so, Gu Yan and Yan Suizhi went back in to sleep.

One behind the other, going into the same room to sleep. 

Young Master Joe felt that he was going to lose sleep tonight again.

But it was also fortunate that he had lost sleep, for he happened to see something in the night.

At 3:10 a.m., Joe had just finished reading a book for leisure on his smart device. He went over to Ke Jin’s room to make sure that the other’s quilt was tucked in and the floor was well-heated, then returned to his room to get ready to sleep. All of a sudden, he noticed a spot of light somewhere in the opposite building.

The other building was also styled like a mansion, but the interior design was rather different from the building he was residing in. As far as he knew, Southcross Law Firm’s interns, as well as some of the junior managers and assistants, were arranged to stay in that building. 

That spot of light wasn’t very bright. It was more like a flash of light through the curtains, soon disappearing into darkness.

Then, there was nothing.

Joe didn’t think much of it at that time, assuming that someone had woken up in the middle of the night and, lazy to turn on the main lights, had only used the torch on their smart device or watch as a light source.

He’d merely paused in front of the French windows for a moment. Then, he massaged his temples and returned to bed, swiftly falling asleep. 

—

It wasn’t a quiet morning at Hanjin Garden Hotel. The occasional birdcall would turn louder as birds approached, flitting past the French windows, gliding up to the roof above.

Southcross’ company event was meant to be a short holiday in disguise for the guests. Everyone could take it easy and do as they pleased. There weren’t any activities with set timings, so, at nine in the morning, there were only a sparse few figures having breakfast at the glass-domed garden downstairs.

When Joe walked out of his room smoothing his birdnest’s bed-head, Gu Yan was reading a case file on the sofa while Yan Suizhi was seated on the armrest, a hand resting on Gu Yan’s shoulder, casually discussing the contents of the case file with him. 

Hearing the movement, both of them raised their heads and greeted him in unison. “Morning.”

Young Master Joe felt that his damn eyes were getting blinded all bright and early in the morning.

He grunted “morning” in response, downing a cup of black coffee, then took a towel and got on the treadmill with a bitter grimace on his face.

“I’ve called breakfast. It’ll be here soon,” Yan Suizhi looked over, speaking to him. 

Under the ample sunlight from the windows, the dark eye circles that dropped from Joe’s eyes down to his cheekbones were clearly illuminated.

Yan Suizhi was frightened. “Why are your eyebags so dark? Did you not sleep last night?”

Joe drily said, “All thanks to you guys, I only slept at three.”

He was obliquely facing the long glass windows behind the sofa. As he jogged, he idly began to count the panes of the opposite building. 

A few of the occupants in its room had gotten up, pulling the curtains wide open. With his enviable eyesight, Young Master Joe was able to see the silhouettes of people moving about inside.

“There’s no work today; what are those interns getting up so early for?” Joe lamented. “Does this event count as overtime?”

Hearing this, Yan Suizhi turned his head over and looked out of the window at the opposite building. He squinted his eyes against the glare of the sunlight, taking a quick glance. “They’re really up.”

“Not all. Isn’t there still a curtain tightly closed?” Joe said. 

“Which one?” Yan Suizhi was puzzled. When he looked over just now, the occupants of those that housed interns were all awake. He could even make out the slumped silhouettes of Luke and the others as they ate their breakfasts at the dining table.

Joe pointed at a particular window. “There, that one. I reckon that they’re in the same boat as me and didn’t sleep well. I saw a light flash by at three last night.”

Yan Suizhi’s brows furrowed. “Which are you talking about? The sixth room from the left?”

Joe nodded. “That’s right.” 

At this, Gu Yan frowned and turned over as well, looking across to the other side. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Joe said. “When I saw it last night, I had even stopped to count it out of boredom. It’s the sixth room. What’s wrong?”

Yan Suizhi lowered the hologram that was being projected from the smart device on his hand. “If you’re certain that you didn’t count wrongly, then there’s really a problem. The sixth room is the room that I was arranged to stay in.”