Xu Ze squinted his eyes instinctively the moment he took off the cap even though the light in the changing room was dim and not blinding. Xu Ze wasn’t good at reading other people and became even more sluggish when he was drunk. Still, he instinctively felt a sense of pressure from Lu Heyang, despite the latter’s wristband effectively controlling his pheromones.
Before he could think further, Lu Heyang’s fingertips traced his collarbone and pressed on his chest with some force. Lu Heyang’s fingers sank a few millimeters into Xu Ze’s muscles through the T-shirt.
“Is your injury healed? You finished the match quickly today.”
Lu Heyang looked down at his hand without looking at Xu Ze. His voice was deep with a sense of ambiguity.
Xu Ze cautiously controlled his breathing and replied, “It’s better.”
“Sorry,” Lu Heyang suddenly said.
Xu Ze was instantly confused, not understanding why he was apologizing.
“Bringing He Yu here to talk to you about this without talking to you first was not well thought out on my part,” Lu Heyang raised his head, his expression returning to the usual calm that Xu Ze was familiar with. His hand dropped to rest casually on Xu Ze’s waist.
“No,” Xu Ze immediately shook his head, “It’s okay.”
Anyway, the answer would be the same no matter when He Yu came to ask. As the benevolent one offering help, Lu Heyang had no reason to apologize.
“Can you tell me why?” Lu Heyang stood between Xu Ze’s legs. He propped his hands on the edge of the table as he raised his eyes to look at him.
Xu Ze turned his head somewhat unnaturally to avoid eye contact, “I signed a contract for one and a half years. There’s still over half a year left. It would be inconvenient to break the contract.”
Whether it was the breach of contract or Tang Feiyi, it was extremely inconvenient.
“I want to know what you’re thinking,” Lu Heyang said.
Xu Ze remained silent for a moment, still refusing to look at Lu Heyang, and replied, “I want to stay here.”
“Xu Ze.” Lu Heyang raised his hand and patted the outside of Xu Ze’s thigh to remind him, “Look at me.”
For a second, Xu Ze’s breathing stopped. He slowly shifted his eyes to Lu Heyang. When their eyes met at close range, the heat from the alcohol surged into his brain, making it difficult for him to breathe.
He knew it was his fault. Lu Heyang had tried to help him out of kindness, and he not only refused but also evaded and gave vague answers. If he were Lu Heyang, he would also be displeased.
“I just want to make money quickly. I get paid after fighting a match every week,” Xu Ze explained with difficulty, “Professional boxing requires training and build-up, and I don’t have the time. I’m only suitable for a place like this. The audience here doesn’t care about boxing skills, they get excited when they see blood, plain and simple.”
“I’m not what you imagine. I don’t like boxing and I’m just doing it to make money.”
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.
Admitting all of this to Lu Heyang made Xu Ze feel twice as bad, but he finally said it. He hoped that Lu Heyang could see that he was not worthy of pity.
“P vlvc’a lwjulcf sbe lc jcs kjs,” Oe Lfsjcu ibbxfv ja tlw, “Ktf mtblmf lr eq ab sbe.”
Ktf wbgf tf rqbxf ilxf atlr, atf wbgf uelias We If ofia.
“P’w rbggs.” We If ibkfgfv tlr tfjv, “Cmaejiis, sbe vbc’a tjnf ab kbggs jybea wf, jcv vbc’a—”
Lf rkjiibkfv yfobgf mbcalcelcu, “Gbc’a qlas wf flatfg.”
These were words that he would normally never—absolutely never say out loud, but today, after drinking so much, he managed to force them out.
Xu Ze didn’t think he was that miserable. Not everyone had a good life or fortune, and he just happened not to have it. There were many people like him in the world. Xu Ze did not expect anything from Lu Heyang. He could handle not receiving a response from him or even being ignored or neglected, but he preferred anything over pity.
If Lu Heyang really pitied him, then he was truly pitiful.
For some reason, Lu Heyang didn’t speak. Xu Ze closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall.
His head was spinning, and each second of silence seemed to stretch on forever. Eventually, Xu Ze said, “It’s very late. You should go back, it’s really not safe here.”
“Give me your phone number,” Lu Heyang took out his phone and unlocked it. He then switched to the dialing screen and handed the phone to Xu Ze.
Xu Ze opened his eyes and looked at Lu Heyang’s hand for a few seconds before taking the phone. He entered his phone number and gave it back to Lu Heyang. After taking the phone, Lu Heyang pressed the dial button, and soon, Xu Ze’s phone began to ring.
He sat there in a daze, waiting for Lu Heyang to hang up the call, but Lu Heyang put the phone to his ear and stared into his eyes.
Xu Ze reacted slowly and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. He looked at the unfamiliar number on the screen and blinked slowly before answering the call. Xu Ze also put the phone to his ear. There was no sound on the phone as neither of them was speaking.
“Hello?” Xu Ze suddenly spoke.
He heard his voice as well as the echo coming from Lu Heyang’s phone.
“Feeling dizzy?” Lu Heyang asked, still looking at him.
“Yeah,” Xu Ze nodded his head as he spoke like he was answering Lu Heyang on the phone and in front of him at the same time.
“I’ll take you home,” Lu Heyang’s mouth finally curved into a smile.
Lu Heyang’s offer was tempting to Xu Ze. The sentence wasn’t a question and he smiled, so Xu Ze couldn’t think of a way to refuse. Xu Ze’s gaze dropped to Lu Heyang’s lips. Xu Ze had drunk so much but now he was suddenly thirsty—he licked his lips and said, “Sorry to bother you.”
After today, he and Lu Heyang would never cross paths again.
The call ended with a click. Xu Ze was still holding his cell phone and blankly staring at Lu Heyang’s lips when he heard Lu Heyang ask, “What are you thinking about?”
“Your… lips,” Xu Ze, fully demonstrating “in wine, there is truth”, said honestly, “They’re very attractive.”
“What about it?”
The tone of the question rose toward the end, each word was like a hook that pulled at Xu Ze’s heart up to his throat. He was ready to spill uncontrollable truths out as long as he opened his mouth.
“I want…” Xu Ze mumbled, the alcohol was making his thoughts scatter. He leaned forward enticed and lowered his head.
He seemed to have never been this close to Lu Heyang before. The tips of their noses almost touched, their breaths intertwined, and there were only a few centimeters between their lips. But Lu Heyang didn’t move closer or pull away, just watched him in silence. Xu Ze realized that the alcohol had given him the courage to temporarily set aside his usual caution and restraint. Xu Ze’s breathing was trembling, and he could hear his heart pounding like a racing drum—
But in the end, he gave in before he reached the finish line.
Xu Ze turned his head to the side and only lowered his forehead to rest on Lu Heyang’s shoulder.
He wasn’t that straightforward and bold. If he was someone else, he might have taken the change, but he was just Xu Ze. No matter how much he drank, he still couldn’t muster the courage to do what he wanted.
“I’ll give you three opportunities. Do you want them?” Lu Heyang unexpectedly asked.
Xu Ze’s nose twitched as he caught the scent of Lu Heyang’s pheromones. He raised his head and looked at Lu Heyang with some confusion, “What opportunities?”
“Opportunities like the one just now,” Lu Heyang said.
He didn’t say it explicitly, but Xu Ze somehow understood. He had no intention of asking Lu Heyang why he was offering him such opportunities. Even the determination he finally got was forgotten in an instant. He just stared blankly before asking, “Is it okay to do anything?”
Lu Heyang seemed to be pondering. Xu Ze was so captivated by him that his eyes turned serious and he was unable to take his eyes off of him.
“I think so,” Lu Heyang finally replied.
Then he regretfully informed Xu Ze, “You already used one just now.”
The bad news caught Xu Ze off guard, and he sounded a little anxious as he instinctively grabbed the hem of Lu Heyang’s T-shirt, “Why?”
Agreements should only take effect after both parties have been informed, so how could it be started in advance?
Just as he finished asking, there were sudden knocks at the door with regular pauses between each knock. Lu Heyang didn’t turn around, but his expression became more subdued. He checked the time on his wristband and said to Xu Ze, “It’s getting late. I’ll take you home.”
Xu Ze remained silent and didn’t inquire further. He put on his cap and left the room with Lu Heyang. Strangely, there was no one outside, yet Lu Heyang’s expression looked like he was used to it.
—
The light in the hallway had broken long ago. Xu Ze leaned against the railing while Lu Heyang held his other arm and guided him up the stairs. After opening the door, Xu Ze turned on the light in the living room. He was unsteady and his entire field of vision was shaking, but he still wanted to ask, “Do you want some water?”
“No, thanks.”
Once in the bedroom, Xu Ze sat down by the bed. Lu Heyang leaned against the desk and turned on the fan for him. He said, “Get some rest, I’m leaving.”
He straightened up as he spoke. Xu Ze was about to speak but hesitated. Finally, when Lu Heyang took a few steps, he couldn’t help but stand up, “Wait.”
Due to the dizziness, Xu Ze nearly stumbled back onto the bed and had to rely on the edge for some support. He felt his voice just now had been too quiet, and he was afraid that Lu Heyang hadn’t heard it, so he repeated, “Wait a minute.”
Lu Heyang turned around, standing directly under the brightest lamp in the room. The light shone down on him before fading into the corners.
“You said earlier that I already used up one opportunity,” Xu Ze was still dwelling on it. The thought of squandering the first opportunity due to his timidity filled him with frustration.
Losing one opportunity meant missing a third of the precious moments to get closer to Lu Heyang, which was equivalent to 33.3333…% repeated countless times.
“Right,” Lu Heyang said.
“Can it not count?” Xu Ze felt disappointed. He lowered his head and mumbled incoherently, “I didn’t know back then.”
There was no response for a long time. Xu Ze stood in place feeling drowsy amid the humming of the electric fan and the chirping of the insects downstairs. Suddenly, the room darkened slightly in front of him. He lifted his head to see Lu Heyang standing in front of him.
“What are you going to do if it doesn’t count?” Lu Heyang’s eyes slowly swept between Xu Ze’s eyebrows and lips, and he asked him.
“You haven’t agreed yet,” Xu Ze was still cautious at this point—if Lu Heyang didn’t agree to restore the first opportunity and he did something now, it would mean that he used up the second opportunity, which would be too extravagant.
Lu Heyang looked at him for a while and said, “I agree.”
As soon as he said those words, Xu Ze leaned over to Lu Heyang without the slightest hesitation, almost as if he was going all out, and kissed him lightly on his right cheek, close to the corner of his lips.
Then he looked at Lu Heyang with a smile on his face that reached his eyes, the kind of honest and silly smile that drunk people often had. His pupils were unusually clear, and it was hard to tell whether there was water or tears in his eyes.
Xu Ze would never know that at this second, his eyes and expression had long since surpassed any confession that could be expressed in words.
Translator’s note: Happy Valentine’s Day! 
Such a cute chapter
First 🥇
Aww, that’s the best thing I ever got on Valentine’s Day!
Xu Ze is the cutest guy ever, I love him tons. <33
Babe, get outta here quickly. You deserve love and care, which is exactly the services Heyang’s offering!!
THE SWEETEST CHAPTERS FOR A SWEET DAY. GOOD.
tysm for the hard work, translator, much appreciated. Hope you have a great day/week/♾️
Awwwww that was adorable! 😊
Sorry Bleh I seem to have answered under your post haha 😅
it’s fine love, not minding the company 😛 have a lovely day/night! 🥰
Thanks dear! You enjoy your day as well. 🌞
Sweeter than any chacolate~~ 🤭
Thak you so much for this treat of a chapter 🥰🥰
Best valentine gift 💝 thank you for these chapters 💕
adorable 🥹
AHHH XU ZE IS SO CUTEE😭❤️
Awww Xu Ze my cutest baby
So cute!! 😍😍😍😍
Thank you for the translation!