Chapter 1 – The Reunion

The moment Su Yuan walked out of the elevator he immediately turned toward the main exit. As his eyes glanced toward the huge glass windows, he noticed the people outside walking with their umbrellas out. Seeing this made him think of the weather report he had seen the night before, it had mentioned that there would be heavy rain and possible thunderstorms in the coming two days, and he had not been sure how accurate that forecast would be.

Before he even made it to the doorway, the handphone in his trouser pocket suddenly rang and his footsteps halted. He reached into his pocket to take it, and looking at the screen he saw the name “Zheng Lingyang”.

The frostiness of Su Yuan’s expression seemed to warm up a bit as he continued walking while answering the call with a mere “Hello?”.

Unlike his usual calm self, Zheng Lingyang’s flustered voice burst out and it was obvious that something had unsettled him.

“Brother Su where are you?”

Su Yuan had just made the turn toward the main entrance and while walking through the revolving door he answered, “I’ve just gone downstairs, why?”

Zheng Lingyang hastily replied, “Ning Jun is back! And apparently one of his company’s new branches recently opened near you guys.”

By now Su Yuan already had one foot out the door but had yet to step down. As Zheng Lingyang’s voice traveled into his ear, he had also noticed the new name of the skyscraper building opposite him. He immediately thought of the lunchtime gossip between his colleagues earlier, about the new owner of the building and fell silent. He murmured a reply “Mmm” and calmly said, “I already know about that.”

Zheng Lingyang could not help but stammer out, “Brother Su…”

Su Yuan glanced over at the vibrant and eye-catching words “Ning Group” on the building and continued to walk to the side of the building. Slowing his footsteps, he looked at the endless stream of vehicles on the road and with a light laugh answered, “Lingyang, there’s no need for you to worry. What happened between us is a thing of the past, and I’ve long forgotten about it. To be honest, I was at fault too. If by chance, we meet again, I owe him an apology.”

Zheng Lingyang was still worried and asked, “What if he’s still not over what happened then?”

Su Yuan’s voice still seemed like his normal self, and his voice was still tinged with laughter, “He wouldn’t be… Ning Jun… He’s…” The moment he said the name, he unconsciously paused, letting the name rest just a millisecond more on his tongue… “He’s got a cold personality but he is a civil gentleman. Back then, no matter how badly I treated him, he still did not do anything back to me. Now that we’re both no longer in a relationship, he won’t bring up those things of the past. And even if we do meet, he definitely won’t be hard on me. Most likely we’ll end up pretending like we don’t know each other.”

Zheng Lingyang had also just remembered what Ning Jun was like, and he agreed with what Su Yuan said, which considerably eased his worries. Still, he did not forget to remind him, “Anyway, if he does end up giving you trouble, remember to tell me alright? Don’t try and bear it by yourself.”

“Alright.” Su Yuan cheerily accepted and began to poke fun at him, “If that’s the case, then in the future you can’t call me Brother Su anymore, I’ll be the one who needs to call you Elder Brother, seeing as I’m relying on you.”

Zheng Lingyang was quite amused by this, and noticing that Su Yuan was smiling quite relaxedly, he let out a breath of relief, and picking up the conversation said, “Aiyo, it’s quite the thing listening to you call me elder brother… Quick! Call me that again, let me enjoy it.”

Su Yuan walked around the corner, the smile in his eyes clear as he continued, “Okay, brother, sweet brother, here — this should be enough for you…”

Suddenly, the words he was about to say got stuck in his throat, and his smile seemed to freeze.

UWU enter Male LEAD!!!

There was a man standing there, just a few steps away from him. He was clad in a black suit, and his build was lean and imposing. He exuded this chilly aura, and his stormy expression was further accentuated by his strong facial features. This man was staring right at him, and it seemed like the sharp edges of knives were hidden in his gaze, all yearning to slash into his flesh.

On the other side of the phone, Zheng Lingyang had finally noticed the awkwardness and asked, “Su Yuan? Are you alright? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Su Yuan was jolted back to reality, and hastily turning away, he answered, “I have a bit of a problem here, let me get back to you later.”

Zheng Lingyang did not pick up on anything and he said, “In that case, when you get back, video call me.”

Su Yuan murmured a reply and with his head bowed, he ended the call. As he did so, he completely missed the instant where the man’s brows furrowed upon hearing the words ‘video call’. When he lifted his head up again, all he noticed was that the man’s expression was even grimmer than before.

Su Yuan carefully assessed the man’s expression and guessed that he was not too happy to see him. The fact that they met by coincidence really was quite unlucky, and if he had been a bit more self-aware, he should have just done what he had said he would do in the call just now, and pretended not to know him.

Thus, he curtly nodded his head and began to move around the other person. However, just as he made a step forward, his shoulders were instantly blocked by the other person.

Even though it had been years since he had last heard it, the voice that sounded above him was still so familiar as it asked, “What’s wrong? Su Yuan, after 5 years have you already forgotten who I am?”

Su Yuan was a tad shocked, he had not expected the other person to stop him from leaving. Following the force of the other person’s action, he turned toward him and after a moment’s hesitation he called out his name.

“Ning Jun.”

Su Yuan could not tell if it was a figment of his imagination but the grip of the hand on his shoulder seemed to tighten as he said that.

In the past, Ning Jun had already been taller than Su Yuan, and in the span of these few years, it seemed like he had grown even taller. Su Yuan was eye level with the second button of the other guy’s suit.

Su Yuan could not help feel a bit wistful as he was reminded of their old memories. He began to remember the year of their graduation, and how he had behaved once their National College Entrance Examination had finished. Back then, he was utterly besotted over Ning Jun, he would always want to swap his clothes with Ning Jun, and Ning Jun had always been reluctant to do so. So what he had done was to hide all of Ning Jun’s clothes, leaving only one piece out for himself to wear, and then he would lay out all of his own clothes. In order to be able to go out, Ning Jun would then be forced into wearing his clothes.

In truth, it was not like there were completely no other alternatives, Ning Jun could have chosen to forcefully strip him of what he was wearing, but Ning Jun had never been one to touch him of his own initiative, and would much rather choose to wear Su Yuan’s clothes over touching him.

At the time, he was a hot-blooded, fearless youth; and to him, this was part and parcel of being lovers. Looking back on it now as an adult, he thought that the Ning Jun of the past must have felt extreme shame and embarrassment because he had been forced to such extent.

Su Yuan could not help but sigh internally, and lifting up his head, he looked at Ning Jun’s face. This face had long since lost the youthful somewhat innocent look, and now he looked more charming and attractive. Su Yuan moved his lips as he attempted to speak, but nothing came out.

Ning Jun’s eyes were hooded as he stared directly at Su Yuan. His gaze swept over Su Yuan’s thick eyelashes, and the thin, soft hairs just above his ears. Nor did he miss the sight of Su Yuan’s naturally pouty lips and his sparkling of black eyes.

Those eyes were like gems, it was easy for him to see his own reflection, and in it, there was only one person, himself; everything seemed like it had been so many years ago.

Only then did Ning Jun’s previous feelings of anger begin to ebb away, he could tell that Su Yuan wanted to say something, and now even though he did not know what he expected, he even felt a little excited as he waited.

In a deep voice, he asked, “What do you want to say to me?”

Su Yuan had been holding his breath, and now he breathed out, saying, “I…”

Ning Jun watched his mouth open and close as a million guesses filled his head.

What does he want to say?

Does he want to tell me that he still loves me?

Or perhaps he wants to sincerely beg me to let him stay by my side?

Ning Jun thought to himself, I definitely cannot easily promise him anything, I need to list out conditions for him, but as to what particular conditions I should include…

Ning Jun had yet to finish his train of thought when he heard Su Yuan’s earnest reply, “I want to apologize for everything I did in the past. Back then, I was immature and because of my family background, I behaved recklessly, not to mention all the things I did to you. All of it must have been very bothersome for you. In these recent 5 years, I have constantly reflected on my past actions, and I feel intense regret toward you. If you still hate me because of them, I will not object nor resist if you want to beat me up or scold me. Furthermore, I promise never to bother you again or affect your life in any way.

Ning Jun’s face turned as black as coal.

Su Yuan had originally thought that Ning Jun would not have given a damn about his apology, he even guessed that the other might look down on it and felt that it was very likely that he would just turn away halfway through and just walk away. However, to his surprise, Ning Jun did not turn away, he just stood there silently. He listened to every single sentence, and with each sentence, his expression seemed to grow darker and unhappier, so much so that by the time he finished speaking, Ning Jun exuded a gloomy, threatening aura.

Su Yuan sighed and stopped speaking.

Ning Jun’s next words seemed snarky and cold as he said, “Why did you stop? It took you so many years for this apology, even you know just how absurd and comical this is right?”

Su Yuan swallowed his discomfort as he said, “I really am so very sorry.”

“Sorry?” Ning Jun’s temper was simmering to a boil, and he could feel his temples throbbing with his increasing frustration. He scoffed, “Two years worth of time, the countless things that happened, and you think that a single sorry is enough?”

Ning Jun’s response was penetrating and his entire being seemed to signal that he wanted to swallow Su Yuan alive for even daring to think that way.

Uwu Is it gonna be *lights-off* time already?????

By now, even the passers-by were giving the two of them odd looks.

The weather of the month of July was hot, and these few days it had been exceptionally humid. Su Yuan was always one to be fearful of the heat, so he had always traveled straight to his home after work. Today he had spent an unusually long time outside, and his body was already covered in a light sheen of sweat, he felt that he probably looked terrible right now.

Hanging his head, he did not dare to meet Ning Jun’s gaze as he repeated, “I’m sorry.”

Ning Jun’s eyes were glued to his hair as his deep voice rumbled, “Why did you leave without saying anything then?”

Su Yuan’s reply was, “At the time, I had a family emergency and I was immediately sent abroad with all channels of communication shut down for me. The moment I left the country, I had no idea what was happening inside, and I did not dare to recklessly contact anyone.”

Ning Jun did have some knowledge of what happened to Su Yuan’s family that year, but he still wanted to hear Su Yuan’s personal apology.

What he did not know, however, was that there was something Su Yuan had not mentioned. When it happened, Su Yuan did not even think about contacting Ning Jun, mainly because once he lost the power and influence from his familial connections, he had thought that he no longer had the chance of any relationship with Ning Jun.

Ning Jun had finally noticed the beads of sweat steadily appearing on Su Yuan’s forehead and instinctively stepped forward to shield him from the oncoming rays of sunlight. “Do you have anything planned tonight?”

“No, I don’t.” Su Yuan replied with a shake of his head.

Ning Jun did not like the feeling of just being able to look at Su Yuan’s head and he wrinkled his brow before instructing, “Lift your head up.”

Su Yuan meekly lifted his head and looked at him.

Ning Jun nodded in the direction of a nearby parking lot and said, “Follow me.”

~~ End of Chapter ~~