wait

The city's nightscape was stunning, its lights cascading like a galaxy. Xu Yan took Lu Ziyi to a hot pot restaurant he used to frequent. The bustling atmosphere temporarily dispelled the heaviness of the atmosphere. After eating, the two of them strolled along the river, the evening breeze carrying moisture gently caressing their paths.

Lu Ziyi's eyes inadvertently fell on Xu Yan's left wrist, which was hanging at his side. There was a light scar there, faintly visible under the streetlight. His steps slowed down. When they met again, Lu Ziyi had already seen it.

"What's wrong with your hand?" he asked, his voice particularly clear in the night wind.

Xu Yan stopped and turned his head to look at him, his eyes blank for a moment: "What?"

"That scar." Lu Ziyi's gaze was fixed on the scar, and his voice became low.

“…”

Xu Yan fell silent. The cruise ship on the river blew its whistle, and faint laughter could be heard in the distance, but in the nearly minute-long silence, the air seemed frozen. He finally moved his lips slightly and uttered three words:

"unimportant."

He tried to move forward, but Lu Ziyi just stood there without moving.

"What's important?" Lu Ziyi pressed, his voice filled with a stubborn pain. He needed to know what Xu Yan had endured during his absence.

Xu Yan's back stiffened for a moment. He stared at the bright lights on the other side of the river, the dots of light blurring in his vision. He shook his head, his voice so soft it seemed to fade away in the wind:

"have no idea."

Those three words left Lu Ziyi feeling more powerless than any accusation. He walked over to him, peering deeply into his drooping eyelashes in the night. He no longer questioned the scar's origins; he could already guess what it was related to, and who it was related to. A flood of guilt and heartache overwhelmed him.

He raised his hand and gently brushed the scar with his fingertips, as if trying to heal the pain of the past. His voice was hoarse and nasal:

"sorry……"

For this scar, for all the harm he failed to prevent, for those desperate moments he let Xu Yan endure alone.

Xu Yan didn't pull his hand away, nor did he speak. He simply stood there quietly, letting the cool night breeze and the tiny warmth from the other man's fingertips intertwine across the old scars.

Some pain can't be resolved with words, but at least now, this scar was no longer a secret from the past he carried alone. It had been seen, touched, and, along with the heavy weight of regret, melted into the dimly lit night. Okay, this kiss was the natural outburst of accumulated emotion, a final answer beyond words.

The warmth of Lu Ziyi's apology still lingered, dissipating in the night breeze between the two of them.

The next second, Xu Yan suddenly stretched out his hand, grabbed the collar of Lu Ziyi's coat, pulled it down hard, and at the same time stood on tiptoe and kissed him.

The kiss came without warning, and it hurt Lu Zi's lips and teeth. But it was also so hot, so real, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the night sky, pouring out all the unspoken words, all the complex emotions - the inexplicable forgiveness, the lingering pain, the long-suppressed love, and the grievances behind "unimportance" - all at once.

Lu Zi also froze, his mind blank for a moment. He could clearly feel Xu Yan's hand trembling slightly as it gripped his collar, and he could taste the salty, bitter moisture in the corner of someone's eye, someone he didn't know where to get from.

Then, a huge feeling of heartache and enlightenment that almost overwhelmed him swept over him.

He understood. This wasn't forgiveness, or rather, not entirely. It was something far heavier than forgiveness—a choice. It was Xu Yan, knowing all the hurt, all the unbearable past, still resolutely and proactively choosing him.

Lu Zi also closed his eyes, all his caution and uncertainty dissipating in this kiss. He raised his arms and wrapped them tightly around Xu Yan's waist and back, pulling him deeper into his arms, and then, taking the initiative, reverently and passionately responded to the kiss.

The river breeze is still blowing, and the lights on the opposite bank are flickering gently, witnessing this silent oath.

Xu Yan used this kiss to tell him:

Shut up.

Stop apologizing.

The past doesn’t matter, the scars don’t matter.

At this moment, you are by my side, and that is what matters.

--------

The days in the south were like honey, warm and long. Lu Zi also turned down almost every possible task to be with Xu Yan. They helped out together at the "safe haven," walked along the coastal highway, and shared the same movie in the apartment late at night.

However, this peace was broken in the early morning of the seventh day.

The sharp ring of a cell phone shattered the silence. Lu Ziyi answered the call and, after listening for a few words, his expression suddenly grew serious. He walked to the window, lowered his voice, and responded quickly and calmly in fluent English.

Xu Yan sat at the dining table, a half-empty glass of milk in his hand. Having learned some English, he could pick out a few scattered words—"emergency," "board of directors," "must immediately..."—but the other person spoke too quickly, and the background noise made it impossible for him to piece together the full picture. He could only stare at Lu Ziyi's upright yet suddenly tense back, a faint sense of unease rising within him.

After the call ended, Lu Ziyi turned around, his face showing an anxiety that he couldn't fully conceal. He quickly walked over to Xu Yan, squatted down, and shook his hand.

"Xu Yan, listen," he said, speaking faster than usual, "something serious has happened overseas, and I have to fly over there immediately to deal with it."

Xu Yan's heart sank suddenly, his previous uneasiness instantly turning into actual panic. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask, "How serious is it?" "How long will it take?" "Is it dangerous?" But all his questions were stuck in his throat, and in the end, he only said: "...Are we leaving now?"

"Yeah." Lu Ziyi saw the disappointment and reluctance that instantly welled up in his eyes, and his heart seemed to be tightening. He leaned forward, kissed his forehead firmly, and promised: "I'll be back as soon as possible. Wait for me."

The packing process was swift, Lu Ziyi's movements efficient and almost hurried. Xu Yan stood at the door, watching him, feeling like a prop forgotten outside the scene.

The door was opened, and Lu Ziyi, carrying a suitcase, paused at the door, turned back and gave him a deep look: "Take care of yourself."

Then the door closed gently.

Xu Yan was suddenly the only one left in the apartment. The space, which had just been filled with the presence of the two of them, was now eerily quiet. The air still seemed to linger with the scent of Lu Ziyi's usual cedar perfume, but the warmth had vanished.

Xu Yan slowly walked to the window and just saw the familiar old SUV downstairs start up, drive away, merge into the traffic, and finally disappear around the corner.

It felt like something had been taken away from him, leaving him feeling empty. A mixture of worry, loneliness, and inexplicable sadness slowly surged up like a tide, drowning him.

Lu Zi barely slept during the fourteen-hour flight. The cold glow of his laptop screen reflected in his slightly tired yet still sharp eyes. He had to digest all the complex documents before landing and uncover the critical loophole buried beneath the countless reports and data.

As soon as the plane landed, a black sedan was already waiting on the tarmac, its doors closed, isolating it from the outside world.

"Young Master, are you going directly to the company?" The assistant handed over a cup of warm black coffee.

"Hmm." Lu Ziyi took it and took a sip. The bitter liquid lifted his spirits. He stared out the window at the rapidly receding foreign streetscape, his eyes cold. This "emergency" was far more than just a typical business competition; it was a grave betrayal, a conspiracy between someone within the family and an outside force attempting to destabilize the group's foundations. He'd been gone for two years, and some people had finally lost their composure.

Back in his office on the top floor of the center, overlooking the entire city, Lu Yi didn't even take off his coat. Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the bustling city thronged day and night, but inside the office, the atmosphere was stagnant, the pressure so low that all the executives were terrified.

He sat in the main seat, listening to his subordinate's trembling report, his fingers unconsciously stroking the cold screen of his phone. On it were Xu Yan's eyes, trying hard to suppress his anxiety as he saw him off.

"Get to the point." He interrupted the long, excuse-filled statement. His voice was low, but it carried an undeniable pressure. "I want a solution, not an explanation of why the problem occurred."

The entire conference room fell silent. Lu Ziyi was no longer the man in his small southern town, the one who'd carefully lowered the car window for Xu Yan and clumsily learned to care for others. He was now the helmsman of the Lu Group, calm and decisive, even with a long-lost ruthlessness, the kind he'd used to defend his territory.

For the next three days, he worked like a precise, tireless machine. Intense work, endless meetings, maneuvering with various factions... He handled everything flawlessly, swiftly stabilizing the situation with lightning speed and ruthlessly severing those tentacles that were ready to move.

Only during the rare moments of solitude, such as when he returned to the hotel late at night and took off his suit, which was stained with cigarettes and alcohol, would he lean against the French window and look at the photo of Xu Yan on his phone. The photo was taken at the "Safe Haven", where Xu Yan was mixing drinks, his profile in the warm light appearing quiet and focused.

His fingertips lightly brushed across the screen. The cold glass could not transmit any warmth, but just by looking at it, his heart, which had been as hard as iron in the business war, would soften a little, and he would be filled with subtle thoughts and heartache.

He knew that he had to deal with everything here as soon as possible. In that distant city with a sea breeze, someone was waiting for him.

He couldn't keep him waiting too long.

Another sleepless night, as the sky began to turn pale, Lu Ziyi signed the final liquidation document. He picked up his phone, ignoring the early morning hours, and dialed Xu Yan's number. While waiting for the busy tone, he rubbed his brows and whispered tiredly yet firmly to the sky, facing the dawning sky, in a voice only he could hear:

"It's almost done... Wait a moment."

Lu Ziyi's departure took longer than expected. Despite his near-constant, swift handling of the family company's crisis, it still took nearly ten days. During those ten days, his contact with Xu Yan was sporadic. Due to the time difference, their communication often relied on brief text messages and the occasional, late-night phone call for a few minutes.

On the surface, Xu Yan appeared to be doing just fine, going to work at the "Safe Haven" as usual and offering a gentle smile to the guests. But Lin Shuyin and Gu Yan could both see that he often stared blankly at his phone, and when he mixed cocktails, he wasn't as completely absorbed as before. A lingering loneliness lingered in his eyes. The faint trace of Lu Ziyi's presence in the apartment faded day by day, and the feeling of emptiness grew ever more pronounced.

On the evening of the eleventh day, just as it was getting dark, Xu Yan was about to go to the bar when his phone suddenly vibrated. It was a message from Lu Ziyi, just three short words:

"Open the door."

Xu Yan's heart skipped a beat, and he almost ran to the door and opened it.

Outside, Lu Ziyi stood there, dusty and exhausted. He wore the same black coat he'd worn when he left. His face was visibly tired, with a faint dark tint under his eyes, evidently having rushed here directly after a long flight. But the moment he saw Xu Yan, his eyes lit up startlingly, filled with undisguised longing.

Before Lu Ziyi could speak, Xu Yan stepped forward, hugged him tightly and forcefully, and buried his face deeply in his coat, which was filled with the cold air from outside and the familiar scent of cedar.

Lu Ziyi was pushed back slightly by his proactive hug, and then without hesitation, he closed his arms and held him tightly in his arms, so tightly that he almost rubbed him into his body. He lowered his head and gently rubbed his chin against the soft top of Xu Yan's head.

In the quiet corridor, the only sounds were each other's clearly audible heartbeats and breathing.

After several seconds, a muffled, slightly nasal and aggrieved voice came from my arms. It was very quiet, like a feather scratching my heart gently:

"...I miss you so much."

Lu Ziyi's heart softened instantly, and all the fatigue disappeared at this moment. He tightened his arms and responded in her ear with the same low, yet extremely solemn voice:

"Yeah, me too." He paused and added with a tone of promise in his voice.

"Everything is done. This time, I won't be leaving anytime soon."

The body in my arms seemed to relax even more at these words, leaning closer. No further words were needed; this embrace and these whispered words were worth a thousand words. The uneasiness of separation was completely dispelled, leaving only the peace and tranquility of regaining what had been lost.

Lu Zi also loosened his arms, but his hands remained on Xu Yan's waist, as if he was afraid that he would disappear. He stared into Xu Yan's eyes, his tone more cautious than ever before.

"Xu Yan."

"Hmm?" Xu Yan raised his eyes, still immersed in the warmth of reunion, but keenly caught the strangeness in his tone.

"You..." Lu Ziyi paused, as if choosing his words, "Do you want to meet with my father?"

Those words were like a pebble dropped into a tranquil lake. The gentleness on Xu Yan's face froze for a moment. He lowered his eyes slightly and fell silent. Those deliberately buried memories—the cold office, the disdainful gaze, the check that seemed so light yet so weighty—became clear again.

Lu Ziyi immediately noticed his resistance and uneasiness, and quickly added, his tone full of unreserved defense: "If you don't want to go, you don't have to go at all. Don't force yourself."

Xu Yan raised his head again and looked at Lu Ziyi. He didn't miss the complex emotions that flashed across his eyes. It wasn't just a suggestion, it was more like... a last resort. If something hadn't happened, he would never have offered this potentially harmful suggestion.

"Go." Xu Yan said softly but firmly. He chose to face it. Then, he looked directly into Lu Ziyi's eyes, which he tried to hide, and asked, "Did something happen?"

Lu Ziyi's Adam's apple rolled. He avoided Xu Yan's probing gaze and subconsciously wanted to pull him back into his arms, as if that would isolate him from the chaos. Ultimately, he simply nodded, acknowledging that something had happened, but he didn't want to say more at this moment.

"Yeah." He responded softly, with a barely perceptible hint of fatigue and heaviness in his voice. "Don't worry, I'm here."