“Hey!”
A loud bang sounded through the office, followed by a pained hiss. Everyone looked over to Gui Yin and his desk mate, who had just innocently placed a can of coffee in front of him. The office was silent. The authors stared in wide-eyed horror. Gui Yin could only let out a long breath and smile.
“I’m okay. I just…hit my knee.”
“Is…is your knee okay?” the manager asked.
“My knee is not dislocated,” Gui Yin replied, with the same winning smile.
The office released the breath they were holding and everyone went back to their business.
The man who had woken Gui Yin up frowned slightly and sat down. “What’s wrong with you? Is the event planning that difficult? Even when you pulled all-nighters in the past, you would never fall asleep in the office.”
“I must be getting old,” Gui Yin said. He pulled himself back up to his desk and woke up his computer.
The man clicked his tongue. “Can you stop saying that? How do you think I feel? You’re just turning twenty-nine today. I’m already thirty-five!”
“I just turned twenty-nine,” Gui Yin echoed.
“…Yeah. Today’s your birthday.”
“My birthday, huh?”
“…You. Are you okay? Did something happen? Did you…” the man lowered his voice. “Breakup with your boyfriend?”
“Sir, I’ve been single for two years. I have no boyfriend,” Gui Yin said, turning his pen over his thumb.
“Are you experimenting with girls then?”
“I’m not bisexual either,” Gui Yin lazily glanced at the man.
“Then what? You know, I didn’t want to say this—”
Then, don’t?
“But the past two weeks, you’ve been acting really weird! You don’t normally make mistakes, but you sent out wrong documents to different authors. They don’t even write in the same genre! Do you know how shocked the fantasy author was to receive BL reference?”
“I’m broadening his horizons,” Gui Yin said.
“No! And just the other day, you nearly offended a shareholder, do you know that?”
“She kept staring at me. I only asked if she thought I was pretty.”
“That—but you don’t normally do that. And now you’re falling asleep at your workstation? I’m asking this only because we’ve been coworkers for seven years, but is there really nothing wrong?”
Gui Yin stared at the pen flipping over his thumb.
He had gone to the doctor for a checkup when he woke up two weeks ago. He thought that it was finally time—maybe he developed a tumor because of stress. But when he got the results back, there was nothing wrong with him. He was perfectly healthy. The ache in his chest had nothing to do with his physical health. But when he went to see his therapist, he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why he had this “pain” nor why he felt so sad.
Then, the nightmares came. And they were so realistic.
If you asked Gui Yin to describe them, then he would freeze up. It wasn’t because he was lying—he was never an attention seeker, despite what others might tell you—but he just couldn’t remember. They were realistic, yes, but only in the moment. When he woke up, all he was left with was that feeling of fear, helplessness, and despair.
Even just now, he swore he dreamt of…someone important to him. And that someone important to him…died?
Gui Yin abruptly stood. His clattering chair drew the attention of everyone in the office again. He took his cardigan from the back of his chair, threw it on, and grabbed his phone and wallet. “I’m going to get coffee.”
“O-okay,” the man said, nodding.
“Do you want anything?”
“Oh, no, I’m…oh! There’s a new coffee shop that opened downstairs. Could you try it out and tell me if they’re good or not?” the man asked with a grin.
“Alright,” Gui Yin nodded.
It would save him the trouble of having to walk a block.
Though, maybe having to walk a block would have helped him clear his head.
Gui Yin sighed and massaged his temples, despite the odd looks he was receiving from onlookers.
Forget about it, forget about it. What could he do even if those dreams were real? Most of the time, they wore ancient clothing, right? If it was real, then it was from a long, long time ago. It would be a past life! It’s not like he can hop back in time and change the past now! This isn’t a novel! That would be absurd!
Gui Yin exited the elevator and walked towards the sign with balloons tied to it that said “Now Open!”, written in chalk.
Right, even if those dreams were real—which they are not—there was absolutely nothing he could do. So, he should just forget about it. He should just…
When the door opened, he was immediately drawn out of his thoughts by the soundtrack that played above.
Cafés like these usually opted for pop music. They followed the trends that played on the radio, most of which were the most acceptable by the public. Sometimes, they would even play soft, classical music to fit the ambiance of a western style café. However, the song that greeted him was the deep, mellow qin.
The first pluck of the strings made Gui Yin’s heart tremble. The song’s melody was hollow, as if to better showcase the grief the player felt. He couldn’t help but listen as the song progressed. He seemed to be on the edge of his seat, waiting for a part he anticipated the most. But what could he anticipate? He had never heard this song before.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Lfiib?”
Xel Tlc lwwfvljafis rcjqqfv ogbw tlr atbeutar. Lf tjv kjixfv ab atf mbecafg jcv tjv yffc rajglcu yijcxis ja atf wfce obg rbwf ecxcbkc alwf. Qtfc tf gfobmerfv jujlc tf obecv atja tf kjr, fwyjggjrrlcuis, rajcvlcu lc ogbca bo j nfgs tjcvrbwf wjc.
“Yt, et…tl,” Xel Tlc ugffafv.
The man smiled, revealing his sharp canines and a set of charming dimples. “Hi.”
“Sorry, I was distracted by the music.”
The man showed an embarrassed expression. “It’s odd, isn’t it? I’ll change the soundtrack right away.”
“No! No, I like it,” Gui Yin quickly said. “It’s very tradition…al…”
The man raised a brow as Gui Yin wildly shook his head.
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way! I like it a lot. It’s very soothing,” Gui Yin said.
And it was. It had been a long time since he had felt this way. But for some reason, the beds of his fingers twitched along as he listened to the notes, as if he were also itching to play a few songs.
The man’s smile widened. He tapped at the screen in front of him and looked up at Gui Yin again. “Your order?”
“I, oh. Uh. Coffee.”
“What kind of coffee?”
“Americano—no. No, no,” Gui Yin waved his hands frantically as his face got redder and redder.
The handsome man hid his laugh behind his hand. He placed the cup down and handed Gui Yin a menu. “Here. We have tea and specialty drinks as well. If coffee isn’t to your taste, you can try those.”
“T-thank you.”
Gui Yin moved off to the side in case another customer needed to get in line. But at this time of day, when it was smack between the start of the work day and lunch, there were barely any customers. So, the handsome barista must be free. Which would explain why he was staring at Gui Yin.
“Do you work in this building?” the barista asked.
“Me? Oh, yes. I work as an editor of the webnovel site, Butterfly Books,” Gui Yin said, glancing up at the man.
“Oh, so you’re an editor? That’s pretty cool. Reading stories from Butterfly Books is how I procrastinate on my exams. I didn’t realize they were located in this building.”
Gui Yin paused for a second. “Exams? You’re still in school?”
“I just graduated undergrad,” the young man said.
“Oh, so, you’re…?”
“Twenty-two.”
“Twenty-two,” Gui Yin nodded. “That’s nice. It’s nice to be young.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, how old are…?”
“I’m twenty-eight—no. I’m twenty-nine,” Gui Yin said. He laughed sheepishly. “I haven’t gotten used to saying that yet.”
“Was it your birthday recently?” the young man asked.
“Just today. It’s today actually,” Gui Yin said, smiling slightly.
“Today,” the young man slowly nodded. He cleared his throat. “Sorry, we’ve spoken so much but we haven’t introduced ourselves. My surname is Sun. My friends call me Erlang.”
“I…my surname is Gui. Gui Yin,” he said. He looked back down to the menu, but not because he disliked the way the young man introduced himself.
It was just odd. The moment he heard the name “Erlang”, he suddenly felt jittery.
“Erlang is a special nickname. Who came up with it?”
“It was just my friends joking around. I was always too lazy to aim for first place, so I ended up in second. And ‘lang’ is because…well, this is embarrassing to say, but they said it’s because I’m handsome,” Erlang said, laughing awkwardly.
So, it wasn’t a reference to a god, but because this handsome guy just happened to continuously get second.
Gui Yin raised a brow. “Then, are you sure that’s what you want me to call you? It sounds quite intimate.”
Erlang cleared his throat. “It—well, it’s not that…intimate now.”
Gui Yin watched him for a moment and turned back to the menu.
“Do you have any plans tonight?”
“If I don’t have plans for my birthday, wouldn’t I seem pathetic?” Gui Yin murmured.
“No! No, you wouldn’t. If you told me you didn’t have plans, I’d just think that…no one around you was worth your time or…something,” Erlang said.
Gui Yin paused again and raised a brow. “What? Are you asking me out on a date right now?”
Erlang met Gui Yin’s gaze and cleared his throat. “Is that…would that be weird?”
“Well, I don’t know. The two of us just met and you’re asking a twenty-nine-year-old out on a date for his birthday. You don’t even know if I’m gay or not,” Gui Yin said.
“I got ahead of myself,” Erlang admitted sheepishly. “I just…you walked in and I couldn’t think about much else.”
“I can’t tell if you’re honest or a smooth talker,” Gui Yin said, putting the menu back on the stand as a small smile played on his lips.
“I-I’m being honest! You’re one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen,” Erlang said.
Gui Yin raised a brow and sighed. “Aren’t you going to take my order?”
“O-oh, right,” Erlang lightly cleared his throat.
“Lychee black tea with grass jelly please,” Gui Yin said. He prepared his phone to be scanned, but he watched as Erlang directed the scanner at his own phone.
“Alright, it’ll be out soon,” the young man said, with a small smile.
“You didn’t scan my phone,” Gui Yin said.
“I know. It’s a birthday gift,” Erlang said. He tucked his phone away and quickly went to make the drink.
Gui Yin let out a soft scoff as he stepped to the side. He shook his head as he left the wallet portion of the app and went to scroll through his messages. He frowned slightly when he saw more messages from his half-siblings and his parents. He opened another app out of annoyance, but barely scrolled through as he let the music take over his mind again.
The bell on the door jingled and a new customer walked in.
“Gui Yin?”
Gui Yin paused. He lifted his gaze only momentarily and shifted his feet, so that his back was facing away from the man.
Zhen Wengu froze. After a moment of hesitation, he approached Gui Yin again. “Uh…did you order?”
“Do I look like I’m in line?” Gui Yin asked.
Zhen Wengu laughed awkwardly. “You…”
Gui Yin sighed tiredly and lifted his head to look at him. “What?”
“I just wanted to say happy birthday,” Zhen Wengu said. He glanced at Gui Yin’s phone. “Are your parents bothering you again? Do you want to just say you’re spending it with me?”
“Now, why would I do that, Mr. Zhen? You’re married,” Gui Yin said. “Do you want to make me seem like a homewrecker?”
“It’s not like your parents know that,” Zhen Wengu said. “It’ll be a harmless lie.”
Gui Yin’s grip on his phone tightened. He really couldn’t stand the audacity of this man. He took a deep breath to calm down before he spoke again. “Don’t act like you’re the only person I could spend my birthday with. Besides, we’ve already broken up two years ago. You’re no one to me now.”
Zhen Wengu’s expression puckered. “I was just offering. I figured you wouldn’t be with anyone right now anyway.”
“How do you know?” Gui Yin asked. “What? Are you stalking me?”
“No, but—”
“Yin-ge.”
The soft voice interrupted the two men. Gui Yin looked at Erlang, who had just placed his order at the pickup window. Erlang glanced at Zhen Wengu, his gaze darkening.
“Your order is done.”
Gui Yin quickly walked over and grabbed his drink, as well as a straw. He glanced at Erlang and found that he quite liked his current expression. It was like a little wolf cub who saw that his territory was being encroached.
And that “Yin-ge”?
Gui Yin chuckled. “What time do you get off?”
Erlang turned to Gui Yin. His expression dissolving into a little puppy again. “I-I get off around lunch and then I have to go to my second job. But if you want to get dinner, I can come back here when you get off.”
“You don’t even know when I get off,” Gui Yin pointed out.
Erlang’s face flushed. “When…when do you get off?”
“I’ll get off around six today,” Gui Yin said. “Will you wait for me by the bus stop?”
Erlang nodded. “I will.”
“Can I see your phone?”
Erlang obediently handed over his phone. He watched Gui Yin add himself to Erlang’s messaging app. He handed it back to him with a small smile.
“If I’m not there, call me,” Gui Yin said. “I often forget the time when I work.”
“Alright,” Erlang smiled. He watched Gui Yin leave before his gaze settled on Zhen Wengu.
Zhen Wengu took a step back. The man was obviously much younger than him, but there was a weird sensation of suppression just by being stared at him. He cleared his throat and turned to leave without ordering anything. The look Erlang gave him haunted him even as he entered his car.
The day dragged on, yet it was the quickest that six o’clock ever came.
Gui Yin stood abruptly and quickly packed his things. His desk mate stared at him.
“Are you sure that you’re okay?”
“What? I can’t get off earlier on my own birthday?”
“You usually stay later on your birthday,” the man said, watching as Gui Yin waved to the others.
“Well, I happen to be busy tonight. I’ll see you all next week,” Gui Yin said, running away before his manager could question him too.
Gui Yin hurriedly pressed the button on the elevator to keep the doors closed. It wasn’t until he got to the first floor that he breathed out a sigh of relief. But it didn’t end there. His pace remained quick until he left the building, as if he were afraid his bad luck would catch up to him. He only relaxed when he finally made it to the bus stop.
Erlang stood from the bench to walk a few steps to meet him. His excited expression turned into one of confusion when he saw that Gui Yin was a little out of breath.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I walked a little faster so my manager wouldn’t keep me,” Gui Yin said.
Erlang frowned. “They would keep you on your birthday?”
“They would do a lot of things,” Gui Yin said. He took a deep breath and straightened. “Alright, where do you want to eat? I’ll treat you.”
“But it’s your birthday. I was hoping I could—”
“You already bought me a drink this morning. I can’t buy you dinner in return?” Gui Yin raised a brow.
Erlang pouted slightly. “But it’s your birthday. I…do you drink?”
“I do.”
“Do you want to get drinks after dinner then? I’ll pay,” Erlang said excitedly.
Gui Yin observed the young man for a moment and finally gave in. “Alright. You can pay.”
It was rare for Gui Yin to give in so easily to others, but maybe he really was just weak to a good-looking face. Besides, when he spoke with Erlang he just didn’t feel uncomfortable. It was as if they had known each other for decades. With just a few words, Erlang already knew what Gui Yin wanted and with just a casual glance, Gui Yin could guess what Erlang was thinking.
With this false sense of familiarity lingering around him, Gui Yin forgot to hold back while he was drinking.
He leaned against the palm of his hand drowsily as he observed Erlang in silence.
Erlang raised a brow and set down his cup. With a small smile, he looked back at Gui Yin with a tilted head. “Yes?”
“You’re very handsome.”
Erlang grinned. “Am I?”
“Mm…maybe that’s why I feel so comfortable around you,” Gui Yin said, taking a sip from his cup. “You know…my entire life, I feel like I’ve just been wandering. No one seems to want me anywhere I go. My parents didn’t want me. Everyone I dated seemed to…hate me. None of my friends genuinely listened to me…Erlang, you know those toys babies play with, where they have a shape and they just need to match the shape of the block to the box?”
Erlang nodded. “Mn. I know those.”
“I feel like…I’m a square that’s just trying to fit into the shape of a star,” Gui Yin murmured. His head slumped to his arm and sighed. A moment later he tilted his head and looked up at Erlang. “Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
“I do,” Erlang said, gently brushing Gui Yin’s hair from his eyes. He watched silently as Gui Yin unconsciously leaned towards his fingers. His lips curved into a subtle smile.
He watched as Gui Yin maneuvered his hand so he could lay his entire head on it. He didn’t bother pulling away and only adjusted himself so that he wouldn’t be pressing down against Gui Yin’s arm too much.
“You’re the first person I’ve felt this comfortable around,” Gui Yin murmured. “I wonder why.”
“Maybe it’s because you’re special.”
“Hm?”
Erlang leaned against the table as he watched Gui Yin. “You’re special. When people are special, they’ll feel out of place in the world.”
“But I’m not special,” Gui Yin murmured. “I’m just…some guy.”
“No. To me you’re special,” Erlang said, his voice softening.
Gui Yin didn’t respond.
A few minutes passed. Once Erlang confirmed that Gui Yin was actually asleep, he paid the bill, and carried Gui Yin to a taxi he managed to flag down.
The address Erlang gave was to Gui Yin’s apartment. And when they got to his apartment, Erlang managed to enter Gui Yin’s passcode perfectly. He pushed the door open, helped Gui Yin take his shoes off, and walked to the living room. He placed Gui Yin on the couch and went to get him water. When he returned, he set the cup on the table, and sat down in the space between the table and the couch.
Erlang’s eyes remained on Gui Yin as he silently took in every bit of his features. His soft brown hair was cut shorter. The glasses made his large eyes seem smaller and restrained his amorous and lively disposition. His smiles were more restrained and his words were not as concise.
Although this Gui Yin was far different from the Gui Qinle Erlang knew, the soul was one and the same.
Erlang reached out and gently touched a lock of Gui Yin’s hair.
“My lord immortal,” Erlang chuckled, “I’ve finally found you.”
eeeeeeeeeEEEEEE GUI YIN!!! i’ve missed you!!!! aND GASP!!! cafe meet-cute!!!! im- wait, Erlang!! how the heckadoo did you know his door code akxbskxbsndh
but aaahhhhh Erlang found himmmmmm and Gui Yin feels comfortable with him aaaaaaaaaaa (๑˃ᴗ˂)
Thank you for the chapter! So happy to see Gui Yin again!
Happy Gui Yin dance! And Erlang, cute puppy with nasty teeth for the bad guy! So sweet. So thrilled. Thanks for finding Gui Yin! 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣❤️
Thank you so much for this chapter! 🫶🏽 Aaaaahhhh Gui Yin is here! 🤧