Xie Zhinan didn’t look at Wen Yun.
But Wen Yun was looking at him.
Xie Zhinan was always like this, very silent. Even after they had been together, he remained silent, as if he had become accustomed to being the one who endures. If others didn’t ask anything of him, he wouldn’t know what to do.
He had no concept of asking for anything. Sometimes, Wen Yun would feel that Xie Zhinan seemed to like him so much, yet he could easily turn around and leave.
Because Xie Zhinan never held any hope for him.
During the summer after graduation, Xie Zhinan forgot which date it was, but one evening in the park near the lake, they had met. In the hour that followed, neither of them said a word.
Wen Yun wanted to see when Xie Zhinan would finally break, but it turned out that Xie Zhinan could hold it in.
It seemed that just walking alongside Wen Yun made Xie Zhinan happy, as if it were stolen time. Wen Yun glanced at him secretly. Xie Zhinan, like now, kept his head lowered, eyes cast down, watching the shadow of the sunset stretch across the ground.
So Wen Yun stopped walking.
Xie Zhinan also stopped, finally willing to lift his head, looking at Wen Yun in confusion, not understanding why he had stopped. But thinking that there must be a reason for it, he waited for Wen Yun’s direction with a dazed expression.
Wen Yun stared at him for a few seconds, remained silent, then coldly asked, “Are we breaking up now?”
Xie Zhinan froze, his face, already flushed from the sun, turned paler, and he asked softly, “Do you want to break up?”
Wen Yun’s pitch-black eyes were like lifeless glass beads, showing no warmth as they fixed on Xie Zhinan without speaking.
Xie Zhinan, however, mistook Wen Yun’s silence for agreement, and lowered his head again, his eyes fixed on the ground.
He seemed to think that it was normal to be broken up with after less than a week of being together. He quietly accepted the decision, silently waiting for Wen Yun’s verdict.
Wen Yun turned and walked away. After just a few steps, Xie Zhinan didn’t follow. Since there was no sound behind him, Wen Yun suddenly turned around and saw Xie Zhinan standing in the shadow of the thick, gloomy trees, like an abandoned little animal. Even the large tree shadows on the road seemed to devour him, looking pitiful.
Wen Yun paused for a few seconds, then stiffly turned back and stood in front of Xie Zhinan.
Xie Zhinan lifted his head, still a bit dazed, staring at Wen Yun for a while. When he was sure that Wen Yun hadn’t left, he swallowed the dryness in his throat and asked, “Why… did you come back?”
Wen Yun thought to himself, today Xie Zhinan had said two sentences to him. One was asking if he wanted to break up, and the other was asking why he came back.
In Xie Zhinan’s eyes, Wen Yun was backlit, with the evening glow behind him, and his face was darkened by the tree shadows. His lips were pressed tightly together, looking in a bad mood.
Xie Zhinan shrank back and lowered his head again, thinking that he might have upset him. Maybe it was because he hadn’t picked up on the hint to leave after understanding the breakup?
It should have been like that, but his heart suddenly felt heavy, like it was going to explode—it was an unbearable discomfort.
Xie Zhinan lowered his head very low and said softly, “Sorry, I…” then stopped.
A hand stretched out in front of him, cold and white, blocking his view of the asphalt road and interrupting what he was about to say next.
Xie Zhinan was stunned and slowly raised his head, looking at Wen Yun in confusion.
He thought that the sword of Damocles, hanging over his head, was finally going to fall and judge him.
But it didn’t.
He stared blankly at Wen Yun, and in that moment, suddenly, he became a little smarter.
He wondered if Wen Yun… wanted him to hold his hand?
So, tentatively, cautiously, like a little animal poking its head out of a cave, he quietly asked, “Do you want me to hold your hand?”
Wen Yun replied, “If you don’t want to, then forget it.”
But he didn’t pull his hand away.
So Xie Zhinan obediently placed his hand into Wen Yun’s palm, a cute dimple forming at the corner of his mouth as he smiled purely and sweetly, saying, “Then I’ll hold your hand.”
…
People do grow.
Sometimes, Wen Yun felt that Xie Zhinan at that moment had grown. Before, Xie Zhinan was a passive receiver—whatever was given to him, he accepted, whether it was joy or pain.
Later, he finally learned to take the initiative.
That request was—
To break up with him.
Truly remarkable.
Wen Yun’s gaze was sharp, cutting through Xie Zhinan.
Xie Zhinan became more nervous under his gaze, his eyelashes trembling, his fingers gripping the tray tightly, the pads of his fingers turning white.
At times like this, Wen Yun thought, Xie Zhinan hadn’t really grown that much.
Clearly not wanting to talk to him, but still standing in front of him, unable to even dare to get angry.
He didn’t dare to run away either.
Wen Yun just kept staring at him, looking for a long time. Then, slowly, he stood up and walked towards him.
He was ten centimeters taller than Xie Zhinan, nearly 1.9 meters tall, with broad shoulders and long legs. Just standing next to him was enough to create a strong sense of pressure.
Xie Zhinan felt like a docile herbivore locked in the sights of a fierce predator. His instinct to flee was completely paralyzed, and all he could do was shiver, though he wasn’t being bullied.
Wen Yun didn’t want to force Xie Zhinan, but there was a knot of frustration in his throat.
His Adam’s apple moved slightly, dry and hot, as if swallowing the burning coal in his throat, before he coldly dropped the words, “Stay after work.”
It was very low, only the two of them could hear it.
After saying that, he didn’t look at Xie Zhinan again. He picked up his tray and left.
Xie Zhinan stood in place for two seconds, a little dazed. The eyes around him were still on him. He pursed his lips and also picked up his tray and left.
….
In the afternoon, people came to inquire.
Although only a few words had been exchanged, some people, like human detectors, caught on to something unusual.
Xie Zhinan casually dismissed it, saying Wen Yun had just asked him about his satisfaction with the cafeteria, and he knew his name because it was on his name tag.
It was a reasonable explanation, yet it felt odd in some way, and the oddness was masked by the reasoning.
But in the end, he managed to get past it. Xie Zhinan felt he could still maintain his calm and ordinary life.
Unless… unless what?
Quit?
He felt a little lost.
He wasn’t the kind of person who liked stepping out of his comfort zone. He was quite satisfied with this job. Although sometimes he had to work overtime, overall it wasn’t tiring, and the benefits were good.
Most importantly… he was used to it.
Habit is a terrifying thing. Because he was used to it, this kind of life had become a part of his flesh and blood.
Giving it up would be very difficult.
Sometimes he felt that even though he was already 27, he didn’t feel like he had grown up. He felt guilty about it, very guilty, so he tried hard to pretend, or rather to play the part of a mature adult.
But mature adults probably wouldn’t worry about such small things.
Sigh.
Xie Zhinan let out a deep, heavy sigh, staring blankly at the red marks on his hand from the burn.
After a day, he had almost stopped feeling it.
But after Wen Yun’s remark at lunch, he suddenly felt as if it did hurt a little, as if it needed some care.
He had been spacing out, and while doing so, he lightly scratched the burned skin with his nails, as if this slight sting could wake him up a bit.
Soon, the end of the workday arrived. He used to always find the afternoon unbearable, but that day it passed unusually quickly.
There was no work that required overtime, so his colleagues quickly packed up and got ready to leave.
Li Mo picked up her bag and, seeing that Xie Zhinan hadn’t left yet, asked, “Xiao Xie, aren’t you leaving?”
Xie Zhinan didn’t want anyone to notice something was off, so he pretended to gather his things and said, “…I’ll leave soon.”
“Alright, then, bye!”
“…Bye.”
Soon, the office was empty, and Xie Zhinan was the only one left. He felt like leaving, but at the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to.
He could only stare blankly at the desk.
He waited until 6:30, when the office really was empty, and finally, someone came.
Xie Zhinan looked up and saw a man in a dark gray suit, probably around thirty years old, looking like an elite. He had a smile on his face and was walking toward him.
—If there were other people here, Xie Zhinan wouldn’t have thought that the man was coming to find him, but there were no others here.
And he was looking at him.
“Xie Zhinan?” The man came over and asked.
Xie Zhinan hesitated and nodded.
“Hello, I’m Assistant Lin Jing.” Lin Jing wore a polite smile and said to him, “Mr. Wen has an urgent meeting, so he asked me to deliver this to you.”
He held up a brown paper bag, which looked like it contained something, but the bag was sealed with a strip of white tape.
Lin Jing’s gaze was ordinary, and his words were routine, as if he was just delivering a normal task.
After speaking, he added, “It was prepared by Mr. Wen.”
Meaning, he hadn’t seen it or touched it.
Xie Zhinan took a few seconds to react, then finally understood what he meant, but he didn’t know what Wen Yun was doing. After a long pause, he hesitantly took the bag, slowly saying, “…Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Lin Jing said with a smile.
He didn’t leave, as if waiting for something. Xie Zhinan remained still, not opening the bag, just staring at him in confusion, their eyes meeting in a silent stare, gradually losing focus.
Lin Jing: “…”
Maintaining his professional demeanor with the same formal smile, Lin Jing asked, “Is there anything you’d like me to relay to Mr. Wen?”
Relay… a message?
What message?
Xie Zhinan hesitated, shook his head, and after shaking it, felt something was off. He cautiously asked, “Do I… need to say something?”
Lin Jing laughed softly and said, “No need. If you have nothing to say, I’ll take my leave.”
“Ah, okay.” Xie Zhinan paused, briefly searched for the appropriate social behavior, and decided he should be polite. He softly added, “Sorry to trouble you.”
The smile on Lin Jing’s face deepened. “It’s no trouble.”
Then he left.
Xie Zhinan had waited all afternoon, and the strange event finally passed.
After Lin Jing left, he first rubbed his chest.
The heart and the brain are completely separate organs. The brain’s logic and commands are often betrayed by the heart, which truly reflects emotions.
For instance, now, Xie Zhinan felt like his heart was a little empty.
But it was just a moment, and he quickly dismissed that emptiness, opening the bag Lin Jing had given him.
Then his actions froze.
Inside the bag was a tube of green burn ointment.
