TF01 53

Since it was Ying Ming’s birthday, there was no way he could avoid drinking.

Wang Yiqi had been called over by Kou Jing as well. When Shi Yi first saw him, he frowned a little but didn’t say anything. The whole band was there too, singing a few songs. Most of the regulars at the bar were from the same circle, people who came and went, all having some level of connection.

But among them, Shi Yi didn’t know many.

He stood off to the side with a drink in hand, watching as Ying Ming was surrounded by people. A faint smile tugged at his lips.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he had arranged something like this for someone. Even for Liu Li, she had put in all the effort herself. He had only helped book the venue.

He never really paid much attention to his own birthday. Thinking about others’ was even less likely.

Shi Yi took a sip of his drink and thought back to the first time he met Ying Ming. The feeling was almost surreal, like a memory from another lifetime. Back then, he never would have imagined that they would end up as close as they were now.

They had started off as two people who were unlikely to ever have much to do with each other. They came from different circles, had different ways of handling things, and even looked at problems from entirely different perspectives. But somehow, through a series of twists and turns, they kept crossing paths. By the time Shi Yi realized just how close they had gotten, things had already reached this point.

Ying Ming was like a book.

At first glance, he seemed like some absurd novel. But as soon as you flipped to the first page, you would find poetry. The writing style carried a certain artsy flair, but once you read deeper, the essence of the story was actually philosophy. Then, just as you reached the ending, he would hit you with a casual “By the way, this is all purely fictional.”

Even now, Shi Yi still couldn’t tell how much of what this guy said was true and how much was just nonsense.

Every time he wanted to snap at him with a Fuck! Are you messing with me?! Ying Ming would always respond with the same thing. Take a guess.

How had he even managed to put up with someone like this and end up becoming such close friends with him?

Shi Yi mulled over it for a long time but couldn’t come up with an answer. In the end, he just shook his head with a chuckle.

When Ying Ming finally broke away from the crowd and walked over, he saw Shi Yi standing there, smiling to himself.

“What the hell are you grinning about?”

Ying Ming stopped at his left, eyeing the drink in his hand. “You should take it easy on the booze.”

Shi Yi let out a laugh. “You’re the one in danger tonight, not me. Don’t waste your energy worrying about me.”

“I really didn’t expect you to put effort into something like this.”

Ying Ming was genuinely surprised. Every year, his birthday would end up as some chaotic mess, but usually, it was just a group of guys getting together for drinks. This kind of elaborate setup had become less and less frequent ever since he stepped out of the spotlight.

It felt a little unfamiliar.

The person beside him stretched lazily, straightening his back a little. He didn’t seem to care much as he replied, “Just giving a friend an excuse to have some fun. There’s been too much crap going on lately. Might as well change the mood a little.”

Ying Ming turned to look at him and frowned instinctively. “How’s your eye? Getting used to it?”

“It’s alright. Peripheral vision is a bit tricky, but it doesn’t really affect me too much,” Shi Yi said, adjusting his glasses. “If I focus on something for too long, it gets a little sore and uncomfortable, but it’s not a big deal.”

“You refused the surgery. How did your family end up agreeing to that?”

“What else could they do? My dad yelled at me for a bit, then just let it go.”

Shi Yi shrugged. “At the end of the day, it’s my eye.”

He sounded completely indifferent, like he really didn’t think it was a big deal. Ying Ming suddenly reached out and took his glasses off without warning. Before Shi Yi could react, he felt a hand cover his left eye.

His vision instantly blurred into a hazy mess.

He frowned. “Ying Ming?”

But there was no response.

He could tell that Ying Ming was looking at him, but he couldn’t make out his expression. The senses were a strange thing. When the eyes couldn’t see clearly, instinct became even sharper.

Shi Yi could feel the weight of Ying Ming’s gaze, could even sense that complicated and indescribable emotion behind it. There was no reason for him to know. He just did.

He called out to Ying Ming a couple of times, testing the waters, but got no response.

For a brief moment, unease crept up in Shi Yi’s chest.

He reached up and grabbed the wrist covering his eye. They remained like that, locked in a tense silence. Ying Ming never explained why he did it. After a long pause, he simply handed Shi Yi’s glasses back. By the time he put them on and turned to ask what the hell that was about, Ying Ming had already walked away.

Shi Yi frowned in confusion, watching Ying Ming’s retreating figure in the crowd. Something between them felt like it was shifting, off balance.

That night, Ying Ming drank a lot.

Even Kou Jing and the others had never seen him drink that much before.

In the end, Haozi and Kou Jing had to prop him up and shove him into a car to take him home. Shi Yi had offered to do it, but Ying Ming stubbornly refused.

The group didn’t disperse until two or three in the morning. By the time Ying Ming got home, it was almost four.

Haozi and Kou Jing helped him onto the couch and asked if he could make it upstairs. He simply waved them off in a dazed manner, signaling that he wasn’t going anywhere. Haozi ran upstairs, grabbed a blanket, and threw it over him before they finally left.

The warehouse door clicked shut. Moonlight streamed through the skylight, casting blurry shadows on the floor. Smoke Rings padded over and curled up at his feet, unmoving.

Ying Ming slowly opened his eyes, staring blankly ahead.

His head was spinning, nausea rolling violently in his stomach. But his mind was clear, and his heart was unsettlingly calm.

At what point did this all go to hell.

Back during the rally race, he had admired Shi Yi. That admiration slowly turned into a kind of understanding, a habit. But friendships formed that way all the time. What made Shi Yi different? He didn’t get it.

He had thought Shi Yi wasn’t like the usual army brats and privileged kids, but in the end, they weren’t from the same world. Yet the more they got tangled up, the deeper he understood him. Looking back on everything that had happened between them, Ying Ming let out a quiet sigh, covering his eyes with a hand as he murmured, “Fuck, this is ridiculous.”

They said emotions couldn’t be traced, but in all his years, he had never even considered the possibility of liking men. And yet, somehow, he had fallen for the most unreliable bastard.

Seeing Shi Yi’s face covered in blood had sent him into a full-body chill, like he had been dragged out of an ice-cold lake.

That fear, that shock, no words could describe it.

He had gone his whole life without owing anyone anything. Even when he got the short end of the stick, he made sure it never became a favor. Kou Jing and the others had even complained about it before, saying his personality kept people at arm’s length, like no one could ever truly get close to him.

But now, not only did he owe a debt, it was one he could never repay.

Anger burned in his chest, but beneath that was an unbearable, gut-wrenching ache.

Just now at the bar, when Shi Yi grabbed his wrist after his glasses were taken off, something deep inside him had snapped.

They said only the person drinking the water knew if it was hot or cold.

Shi Yi couldn’t see his expression, so he had no idea what he looked like in that moment.

Ying Ming hadn’t checked a mirror either, but he could imagine how pathetic it must have been.

As an actor, he made a living by portraying emotions, and in everyone else’s eyes, he had always been someone who could hide his feelings flawlessly.

And yet here he was, one lifetime of Ying Ming, ruined in an instant.

Fuck.

What the hell was he supposed to do now.

---

Shi Yi noticed that ever since the birthday party, it had become increasingly difficult to ask Ying Ming out.

The first time he was turned down, he found it oddly unsettling.

But the reason Ying Ming gave was solid. His movie was in the post-dubbing stage, and there were a ton of details to handle.

When things got busy, time blurred together.

Shi Yi understood, but accepting it was a different matter.

His phone always ended up in his hand without him realizing it, and before he knew it, he had already dialed the number. Each time, he instinctively hoped that maybe this time, Ying Ming would be free.

It was not even a big deal, just a simple meal together.

But somehow, he always caught Ying Ming at the worst possible moment.

By the seventh rejection, Shi Yi finally snapped. “What the fuck. What are you so damn busy with all day? You don’t even have time for a single meal?”

Ou Yang, sitting across from him, flinched in surprise and looked at him in shock.

Ying Ming fell silent for a moment before finally responding in a steady voice, “Sorry, I really have a lot on my plate right now.”

Shi Yi hung up on the spot.

To be honest, Ying Ming’s way of rejecting people was not exactly subtle. Anyone with half a brain could tell he was not actually that busy. He just did not want to accept the invitation. But Shi Yi had no clue why.

From what he remembered, Ying Ming had never been the type to do this.

Seeing his dark expression, Ou Yang hesitantly asked, “Shi Yi, you okay?”

Shi Yi frowned in irritation. “I’m fine.”

He flipped open the project proposal they had been discussing and forced himself to focus and stop dwelling on that frustrating situation. He told himself not to reach for that damn phone again.

The entire afternoon was spent in meetings. By the time everything wrapped up, it was already close to ten.

Ou Yang suggested they grab a meal together, but Shi Yi was not in the mood. He waved him off. “I’m exhausted. You guys go ahead. Just put it on the company tab.”

Ignoring the worried look on Ou Yang’s face, he grabbed his coat and headed to the parking garage.

Of course, he did not go home.

Instead, he drove straight to Ying Ming’s place. From outside, he could see the lights were still on in the warehouse.

He was definitely home.

Shi Yi pressed the doorbell twice. The headlights from behind cast a glare on him, making him look even more impatient.

The person who opened the door froze for a second when he saw him. “What are you doing here?”

Shi Yi frowned. “Where’s Ying Ming?”

His frustration, already hard to contain, flared even more when he saw Wang Yiqi at the door. Annoyed, he pushed past him and stepped inside. “Ying Ming! Get the hell out here!”

Wang Yiqi raised a hand to block him. “Shit, are you drunk?”

What the fuck? He better not be here to start a fight.

But no matter how many times Shi Yi called out, Ying Ming never showed. Instead, another man appeared at the top of the stairs, frowning in confusion. “Ah Qi?”

He walked down while calling Wang Yiqi’s name. He was probably half-asleep because his steps were unsteady, and he nearly stumbled after a few steps.

Wang Yiqi immediately forgot about Shi Yi and rushed over. “What are you doing up? You’ve got a fever. Get back to bed.”

“I heard noises downstairs, so I got up to check.”

His voice was quiet, probably from being sick. He looked weak. “Are you okay?”

“Just some lunatic. Ignore him.”

Wang Yiqi stopped him from going down any further. “He’s here for Ying Ming. You should go back to your room.”

“But…” The man clearly hesitated.

“Damn it! I told you to go back, so listen to me. Don’t forget, I’m your brother.”

That finally shut him up. He glanced at Shi Yi, narrowing his eyes in confusion, then turned around and went back upstairs.

Standing by the door, Shi Yi could not make sense of the situation. He was about to ask when a familiar voice snapped his attention back.

“Shi Yi?”

Ying Ming stood at the entrance, holding two bags of groceries. He looked surprised to see him standing there.

Shi Yi turned around. Finally, he had found him. The anger in his chest eased just a little.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. They just stood there, staring at each other.