TF01 60

When Wang Le left, no one knew. Not even Shi Yi.

In the morning, Wang Le was still asleep when Shi Yi left for work. By the time he called home that evening, there was no one left to answer.

He later asked his uncle about the situation at home.

Although the explanation wasn’t very clear, his uncle’s tone was basically an admission.

“The Wang family’s problems are pretty complicated. Don’t dig too deep.” It was both advice and a warning. Shi Yi frowned but didn’t ask further. After hanging up, Wang Le, sitting across from him, smiled bitterly.

Over the past few days, they had talked a lot off and on.

Maybe it was the longest conversation they had ever had since growing up. In Shi Yi’s memory, Wang Le had always been the impulsive type who acted on instinct without much thought. But in just a short time, it seemed like he had matured. Whatever happened at home had clearly shaken him, but Wang Le was tougher than he let on.

At the very least, he already had some mental preparation for what lay ahead.

Apart from Shi Yi, Wang Le hadn’t reached out to anyone, not even Ying Ming or Wang Yiqi. When Shi Yi asked if he wanted to meet up with them, Wang Le flatly refused. His situation was too sensitive now. It wasn’t the right time to be socializing, and besides, Ying Ming and Wang Yiqi felt like remnants of his past life, distant and irrelevant overnight.

“Ah Yi, it’s only when things get this bad that you realize nothing matters more than family.”

Their kind of families and environment… To be honest, because they spent so little time with their parents, the emotional bonds weren’t that deep. The so-called memories of childhood probably revolved more around the housekeepers and drivers than their own parents. It sounded cruel, but it was the truth.

Family, to them, wasn’t much more than a definition from a textbook, people connected by blood, the ones who gave them life. All that talk about affection and family ties felt distant. Or maybe just empty. Wang Le used to prefer hanging out with delinquent kids rather than going home. Back then, it was Shi Yi who had found out and dragged him back.

They had no siblings, and the bond they built growing up together was enough to fill the emptiness left by the lack of familial warmth.

That was why Wang Le always felt his understanding of family was a lie.

When he realized that he was attracted to men, he was almost happy. Coming out to his family caused chaos, but while the experience was painful, it brought him a strange thrill. It was hard to explain to outsiders, but it was that twisted sense of presence that came from rebellion.

But all of that lost its meaning the moment he heard his mother crying, telling him that their future might be spent living in constant fear and uncertainty.

When something truly important is placed right in front of you, the choice becomes obvious.

Wang Le had taken a huge risk returning home, but Ying Ming and Wang Yiqi weren’t what was on his mind. He just felt he had to tell Shi Yi in person. It was the same feeling that told him he had to stay by his family’s side, no matter what.

It was like the instinct behind animal migrations, a natural habit, a primal urge.

Even though Shi Yi already knew Wang Le had left when he heard it on the phone, he was still stunned when he came home and saw the empty room.

No one knew if they would ever meet again.

Most of his memories of Wang Le were tied to trouble. Their personalities and ways of handling things were completely different. Even though they had grown up together, they had never truly confided in each other. Wang Le couldn’t understand Shi Yi’s perspective, and the things Wang Le cared about seemed completely trivial to Shi Yi.

To him, their relationship had always been one of familiarity, the kind of bond that came from shared time rather than shared thoughts.

But now that they had parted, Shi Yi finally realized that Wang Le had seen him as a stand-in for the family connection he lacked. And over the years, the little things had already tied them together in ways he hadn’t noticed.

Suddenly, his home felt strange and unfamiliar, filled with a discomfort he didn’t want to face. Shi Yi frowned and didn’t go inside.

Keeping up his usual routine now felt like a betrayal of Wang Le.

There was no logic to it. It just felt wrong.

He drove around the city aimlessly, circling block after block. Traffic was jammed as always, and frustration hung thick in the air.

Shi Yi leaned against the window, his hand gripping the steering wheel as he stared at the endless line of taillights stretching before him, expressionless. Nothing had changed on the streets. Everything around him remained the same.

This world moved forward at its own pace, and whether you liked it or not, you could only follow time’s relentless push.

Though he was driving, Shi Yi’s mind felt strangely blank. By the time he realized where he was, he had already stopped in front of Ying Ming’s house.

When Ying Ming opened the door and saw him, he stepped aside to let him in. “Come in.”

He had been boxing. Wearing nothing but a sports tank top, his chest was slick with sweat, and his damp hair clung to his forehead in messy strands. His breathing was still heavy. After Shi Yi sat down, Ying Ming pulled off his boxing gloves, wiped the sweat from his face with one hand, and casually opened the refrigerator. “What do you want to drink?”

Shi Yi glanced at him. “Alcohol.”

Without a word, Ying Ming took out every bottle containing alcohol from the fridge and liquor cabinet, placing them all on the coffee table. “Take your pick.”

Shi Yi grabbed a bottle of baijiu, twisted off the cap, and poured himself a full glass. He raised it, looking up. “Not drinking with me?”

His tone was cold. Just four words, but there was a hint of challenge beneath them.

Something about him seemed off. His whole body was tense with suppressed anger, and yet his mood felt low and restless at the same time. He knew perfectly well that he shouldn’t have come here. Ying Ming would never have reached out to him, and avoiding each other might have been the smarter choice.

The two of them were like trees already set on fire. Getting close was a recipe for destruction, dragging each other down along the way.

He was fully aware of that, yet his body refused to listen.

It was like walking straight into disaster, even though anyone could tell that what this moment called for was calm and distance, not alcohol to fan the flames.

Shi Yi stared at Ying Ming, his gaze sharp, as if he wanted to peel away every layer and see through him completely. His eyes swept over Ying Ming’s body, leaving a trail of invisible heat behind.

If it had been anyone else, the smartest move might have been to let Shi Yi implode on his own, or to never open the door in the first place.

But Ying Ming only wiped his face again, sat down beside him, and poured himself a drink.

Shi Yi’s eyes stayed fixed on him, watching him sit, watching him pour the liquor, watching him stop. He took a silent sip of his own drink, still staring at Ying Ming, who slowly lifted his glass and drank half of it under that intense gaze.

Something shifted in Shi Yi’s expression, and with an emotion even he couldn’t fully define, he smiled. It wasn’t a friendly smile. It was dark, dangerous, and filled with something deeper.

He downed his drink and poured himself another.

He repeated this process over and over without exchanging a single word with Ying Ming. Both drank in heavy silence. Shi Yi would drink a glass, and Ying Ming would follow. The only difference was that Ying Ming drank with an expressionless face, while Shi Yi never once looked away from him.

When the bottle was empty, Shi Yi lit a cigarette.

“Wang Le is gone.”

The mingling scent of alcohol and smoke spread through the room, creating an atmosphere thick with decay. Ying Ming squinted slightly. “Yeah.”

“He told me it’s possible we might never see each other again.”

Shi Yi’s words sounded like he was talking to himself. He smoked slowly, leaning back into the couch, his unfocused gaze fixed on a point in the distance. “Tell me, if you never see someone again… isn’t that the same as them being dead?”

Ying Ming frowned. “Stop talking crap.”

Shi Yi turned his head to look at him. “Ying Ming, if one day we never see each other again, what would you do?”

Ying Ming didn’t answer right away. The silence around them stretched on.

A stray puff of smoke drifted to the dining table and knocked over a fruit plate, sending it clattering loudly to the floor. Neither of them turned to look.

It was a long time before Ying Ming finally spoke. “Just forget it.”

Three simple words, blunt and direct.

Shi Yi gave a laugh as he smoked, glancing at Ying Ming. The smile on his lips carried no warmth. Without a word, he opened a bottle of red wine, filled Ying Ming’s glass to the brim, and raised his own. “You’re something else. Here’s to you.”

Ying Ming took the glass and downed it in one gulp.

But Shi Yi wasn’t going to let him get off that easily.

Like a man who had lost all sense, he kept pouring glass after glass, watching as Ying Ming drank with an unfazed expression. By the time Shi Yi’s cigarette had burned halfway down, the bottle of red wine was already empty.

If someone could paint a picture of Shi Yi’s current state of mind, it would probably be a sandglass.

But what trickled down wasn’t sand. It was stones.

One by one, they fell, each one heavier than the last. With every drop, there came the sound of something cracking, like shattered glass grinding underfoot. It was a quiet, maddening noise, like countless tiny sounds twisting together to make your skin crawl.

Shi Yi emptied one bottle and reached for a second. Ying Ming lit a cigarette of his own, watching him with a smile that grew colder and more distant. He didn’t say a word.

But this time, Shi Yi drank alone.

He didn’t even bother with a glass. He drank straight from the bottle. Red wine spilled down his jawline, soaking into his shirt and staining it a deep, unsightly crimson. Ying Ming frowned as he watched Shi Yi down the entire bottle. Unable to hold back, he cursed under his breath.

“Maniac.”

Shi Yi slammed the empty bottle onto the coffee table with such force that, though it didn’t shatter, the sound echoed through the empty warehouse as if he had smashed it against the ground.

Ying Ming felt like he must be out of his mind.

In the middle of the night, he had dragged this man into his own home just to let him wreak havoc. He took a couple of drags from his cigarette, inhaled deeply, and tried to calm the fury rising in his chest. Fixing his gaze on Shi Yi, who was still gripping the bottle tightly, he asked, “Are you done yet, Young Master Shi?”

Shi Yi turned his head. “Can you really forget?”

The two of them were having entirely different conversations. Shi Yi frowned after asking the question, then leaned a little closer to Ying Ming, as if confused, and repeated, “Can you forget?”

Ying Ming kept smoking, his brows furrowed, and ignored him.

Shi Yi didn’t seem the least bit surprised by his silence. His gaze remained locked on Ying Ming, sharp and oppressive. After a long pause, he gave a small laugh. “Ying Ming, you’re just a coward.” He sounded almost smug. “Not just a coward. You love playing the victim too.”

Ying Ming didn’t flinch.

Shi Yi pointed at himself. “But I’m no better. I’m a coward too. A coward and a goddamn bastard. I could have lived a normal life, but I had to be different.

“Other people with connections climb higher and higher, stepping on their own fathers’ shoulders to make the family proud. Everyone cheers them on, calling it a great honor. But me. I had to go against my old man. He wanted me to join the army, so I refused. He wanted me to go into politics, so I wouldn’t. I became the thing he despised most. A businessman, working day and night for a few lousy contracts. He wanted me to marry and settle down, so of course I didn’t. Not only that, I fell for a man. And that man just so happens to be my best friend.”

Shi Yi’s brows furrowed. “Damn it… You took the fall for me, wore handcuffs for me. I lost an eye for you. How the hell did I end up falling for you?”

It was impossible to tell whether that last question was directed at Ying Ming or himself. Even Shi Yi couldn’t tell anymore.

He thought Ying Ming’s earlier insult had been right. He really had lost his mind tonight. There wasn’t a shred of reason left in his head. He was like a wild beast driven to the edge of a cliff, thrashing and struggling, desperate for one last chance to breathe.

Behind him was a sheer drop, and if he fell, he would be crushed to pieces.