Chapter 34 – Deep Love

Ye Zhou slept well that night, waking up feeling refreshed. Guan Heng wasn’t in the room, probably already up and about.

Ye Zhou checked his phone for the time; it was only half past seven in the morning, much earlier than his usual wake-up time. Today was Saturday, so Guan Heng didn’t have school, and besides, school was on break. Although Ye Zhou still had to work at the restaurant, he had no more drowsiness. This was the first time he stayed over at Guan Heng’s house, and he intended to share breakfast with his boyfriend, savoring the rare moments of intimacy in the morning.

Ye Zhou quickly got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up. He hadn’t brought anything with him, initially thinking he’d make do with Guan Heng’s towel and toothbrush or perhaps use mouthwash as a temporary solution. But unexpectedly, Guan Heng had thoughtfully prepared new items for him. The new toothbrush and rinse cup were the same design as Guan Heng’s, except his was white while Guan Heng’s was blue, placed side by side like matching couple cups. His towel was also neatly arranged next to Guan Heng’s, creating a cozy atmosphere as if they were living together.

Ye Zhou suddenly felt very happy, experiencing a genuine sense of having a boyfriend. After washing up, he went downstairs and found that Guan Heng wasn’t in the living room either. Guan Heng wasn’t the type to leave without prior notice; he must have seen that Ye Zhou was still asleep and went out for exercise and to buy breakfast. Ye Zhou had been Guan Heng’s neighbor for quite some time, although they rarely met in the mornings, he could judge Guan Heng’s daily routine based on some traces of life.

Actually, if Guan Heng had ingredients at home, Ye Zhou could make sandwiches, guaranteed to be better than those sold at breakfast shops. However, since it was his first night staying over, he didn’t want to touch Guan Heng’s things recklessly.

With nothing else to do, Ye Zhou sat in the living room watching TV, waiting for Guan Heng to return. There weren’t many good morning programs, so he switched to the news channel by default.

A beautiful female reporter appeared on the screen, seemingly at an outdoor crime scene, surrounded by yellow police tape, with several police officers walking around behind her. She spoke solemnly and seriously, “…This is the third murder case in recent days. The victim was a twenty-five-year-old working woman. The perpetrator acted brutally, dragging the victim into the park, raping her before killing her, and attempting to dismember the body to destroy evidence… Whether it was committed by someone familiar or random, the police are currently investigating the cause…”

Ye Zhou frowned; watching a murder case early in the morning seemed to dampen the mood. But when he switched to other news channels, they were all reporting on this shocking dismemberment case.

Media outlets excel at capturing viewers’ attention and manipulating public opinion. The reporters standing in front of the cameras were all passionately speaking, almost as if they wanted to take the place of the police and convict the heartless murderer on the spot. After flipping through a few channels, Ye Zhou couldn’t help but continue watching.

But just then, there was a sudden sound from upstairs, as if something had fallen onto the floor. The sound wasn’t loud, but Ye Zhou heard it.

He looked up, and it seemed to be coming from Guan Heng’s study. Wondering if he had misheard or… another thud came from upstairs, clearly the sound of something dropping.

Ye Zhou didn’t think much at the moment; he was just worried that something might have broken and planned to go up and check.

Ye Zhou hadn’t seen Guan Heng’s study during his two previous visits to his house, and he knew well that such places were private domains, best not to intrude without permission. So he planned to only take a quick glance to confirm everything was fine and then leave, with no intention of prying into Guan Heng’s privacy.

The study door wasn’t locked, and Ye Zhou easily opened it. The window inside the room was open, probably due to the wind, which blew the books on the table onto the floor, along with several scattered sheets of paper.

Ye Zhou immediately went in to pick up the documents and books, and slightly closed the window. As he placed the items back on the table, he inadvertently saw the titles of the books: “Records of Sexual Assault Crimes,” “On the Making of a Psychopathic Killer,” “The Normal Disguise of High IQ Criminals.”

Ye Zhou: “…”

Ye Zhou had always assumed that Guan Heng’s study would be filled with books related to his profession, but when he looked up into the bookshelf, he realized they were all books about crimes.

Unable to resist his curiosity, he flipped open a page of the topmost book titled “The Normal Disguise of High IQ Criminals.” The first sentence he saw was: [ …Many social elites are actually antisocial personalities, occupying high positions in society. They are skilled at pretending, adept at judging others’ emotions, capable of building relationships, and easily gaining others’ trust, thus becoming very popular or respected… Among them, the top performers are adept at creating a perfect image, generally highly regarded in the eyes of others.]

Ye Zhou: “…”

The next paragraph read: [ …These high IQ criminals can easily please and pursue their targets. By observing the psychological needs of their targets, grasping their desires, and using their own charm, they mesmerize their targets, making them fall into a “deep love,” unable to extricate themselves, unable to leave them…]

Ye Zhou: “…”

It couldn’t be possible. Ye Zhou gave a bitter smile, probably influenced by the news report earlier, causing him to overthink.

Ye Zhou didn’t intend to read further, closed the book, and put it back on the table. When he tried to press the picked-up papers under the book, he accidentally caught sight of the content:

[She looked terrified, her pretty face contorted, screaming desperately… Ugly as hell, but I was excited…]

[I thought she was too noisy, wanting her to shut up. So I took a knife and stabbed her body…]

[She finally became obedient, stopped struggling, and the world suddenly became quiet…]

[The buzzing in my head stopped.]

These words were clearly handwritten, describing the entire crime process in detail, like a confession or diary entry. Ye Zhou only read a small segment, yet every hair on his body stood on end. Other pages contained similar yet different accounts, naked and cruelly narrating the evil within human nature. The key point was… the handwriting on these pages was identical, all written by the same hand.

Ye Zhou had been to Guan Heng’s office too many times to not recognize his handwriting, which matched the writing on the papers. All of these were written by Guan Heng himself.

If seeing those few books could still be considered Guan Heng’s interest, then now… Ye Zhou couldn’t help but suspect Guan Heng. After all, ordinary people wouldn’t write such terrifying things for no reason, unless they were mentally deranged, there was no need to do so.

Ye Zhou was shocked, his mind blank. He vaguely remembered the other night in the police station, where several police officers gathered to discuss a psychopathic serial killer who had been committing crimes frequently recently. Allegedly, this psychopathic killer had a very high level of crime execution; the crime scenes were thoroughly tampered with, leaving no clues…

High IQ criminal. Antisocial personality. Perfect disguise. Psychopathic killer. These keywords strung together, and Ye Zhou’s mind inexplicably conjured up Guan Heng’s face.

At that moment, Ye Zhou heard the courtyard gate open; it was Guan Heng returning.

Ye Zhou was startled, momentarily at a loss, hurriedly put the items back on the table, quickly left the study, and gently closed the door.

Guan Heng saw the TV turned on as soon as he entered the house, with the news channel replaying the dismemberment case of the young woman. It seemed Ye Zhou was awake but didn’t know where he had gone.

Guan Heng was about to go upstairs to check when Ye Zhou came down.

Guan Heng had just put down the breakfast he brought back and immediately noticed that Ye Zhou’s mood was off. “What’s wrong?”

As Guan Heng spoke, he walked toward Ye Zhou, intending to touch his face, but Ye Zhou subtly avoided him, forcing a smile. “Nothing. Maybe I’m just not used to sleeping in a different bed.”

Guan Heng quietly observed him for a while, but ultimately asked nothing, merely turning off the TV. “Let’s eat.”

“Mm.” Ye Zhou answered absent-mindedly. His mind was in chaos at the moment, unwilling to believe that Guan Heng would commit illegal acts. Guan Heng had no reason to do so, but mental illness was hard to predict, especially considering the content on those papers could be taken as evidence. No matter how straightforward he usually was, he couldn’t ask such a thing directly, he couldn’t just blurt out, “Are you a murderer?”

What if it provoked Guan Heng? His life might be at risk. Moreover, Guan Heng had turned off the TV, was he feeling guilty?

Guan Heng brought back soy milk and fried dough sticks for breakfast; Ye Zhou usually liked to soak the dough sticks in the soy milk before eating. But his distraction was too obvious; he soaked the fried bread in the soy milk and directly bit into the dough stick, not even realizing what he was doing.

Guan Heng: “…”

Ye Zhou’s odd behavior was too evident. Although Guan Heng didn’t know the cause yet, he wouldn’t make any hasty moves until he figured out the situation.

Guan Heng always ate quickly, finishing in less than five minutes. Ye Zhou didn’t know what he was thinking, eating faster than usual, as if he was in a hurry to go home: “I’m finished eating, I’ll go back first.”

But Guan Heng suddenly called out to him, “Ye Zhou.”

Ye Zhou turned around, and Guan Heng remained silent, just staring straight at him.

Despite the turmoil and confusion in his heart, Ye Zhou genuinely liked Guan Heng, his infatuation with this man was undeniably real. Guan Heng looking at him with those innocent eyes, he couldn’t remain indifferent.

So Ye Zhou still walked over and gave Guan Heng a kiss on the lips. “I’ll go back first then.”

In that instant, a rash thought flashed through his mind. If Guan Heng really had a problem, then he would accompany him to seek treatment. But he wasn’t sure if he could take responsibility for this impulsive thought; he needed to think it through, so he said nothing.

“Mm.” Guan Heng suppressed his emotions, watching him leave with his own eyes.

After Ye Zhou left, Guan Heng immediately went upstairs. The bedroom showed no signs of disturbance; the toothbrush, rinse cup, and towel had been used, indicating that Ye Zhou was still normal when he woke up in the morning. So…

Guan Heng walked toward the study and opened the study door. The hairpin originally wedged in the door crack was gone, fallen on the floor, indicating that someone had entered.

Guan Heng then looked at the window; the window was halfway closed, and the books and papers on the table had clearly been moved, not in their original position. He approached the desk and saw faint creases on the edges of the papers, suggesting they had been picked up.

He pondered for a moment, suddenly understanding the reason for Ye Zhou’s abnormal behavior… he thought he was a psychopathic killer.

Guan Heng slowly laughed.