Chapter 10 He cried. There was the sound of running water from the bathroom next door, and inside...

Gu Qingyan's Adam's apple bobbed, but in the end she just bent down to pick up the pajamas from the floor and handed them back to her: "You have class tomorrow morning, you should get some rest."

At this moment, Lin Yuwei suddenly felt a strong sense of loss. She thought she had finally torn off Gu Qingyan's calm and composed mask, but she found that there were countless other masks waiting for her to uncover. What was even more terrifying was that she actually began to long to see the out-of-control and aggressive Gu Qingyan again.

"You can leave now," she said coldly, turning her back to him.

Gu Qingyan stood at the door for a while, then gently closed the door and left. As Lin Yuwei listened to his footsteps fade into the distance, she suddenly grabbed a pillow and threw it against the wall.

It was utterly tasteless.

She had expected a thrilling adventure, but found herself still trapped in that familiar pattern—she commanded, he obeyed, and even in their most intimate moments, Gu Qingyan maintained a certain restraint that drove her crazy.

Lin Yuwei stared at the ceiling, the lingering pleasure still coursing through her body, yet her heart felt empty. She recalled the burning gazes in those sketches, the fleeting madness in Gu Qingyan's eyes tonight, and suddenly realized a terrifying truth:

Perhaps what she wanted was never an obedient Gu Qingyan.

Instead, it was Gu Qingyan who would truly possess her.

The next morning, Lin Yuwei was awakened by regular knocking on the door. She sat up, and the dull pain from her hangover immediately exploded from her temples. She stretched and felt aches and pains in her back and waist, as if her whole body had been disassembled and reassembled: "What the hell is going on? My whole body hurts so much."

She staggered to the mirror, and the sight in it made her pupils shrink. In disbelief, she leaned closer to the mirror. Her snow-white skin was covered with bruises, the teeth marks on her collarbone were tinged with purplish-red, and the bluish-purple finger marks on her waist were like vines. And those two most delicate and secret places were almost blackish-purple from the bruises, which looked particularly shocking in the morning light. The slightest touch made her hiss.

Lin Yuwei remembered that she had confronted Li Rui last night. Could it be that she slept with him? No way! She scratched her messy hair in frustration and racked her brains for a while. Suddenly, fragments of memory flashed back: Gu Qingyan's figure on the living room sofa and his rarely unrestrained eyes... She breathed a sigh of relief: Thank goodness it was Gu Qingyan.

She pushed open the door, and the aroma of coffee wafted from the kitchen. She walked barefoot into the kitchen, where Gu Qingyan was making breakfast with his back to her. The morning light streaming through the kitchen window cast a soft silhouette on his back. The cuffs of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows, and the muscles in his forearms were faintly visible as he flipped the bacon. He was always very focused when he cooked, and even the way he flipped the bacon had a touch of solemnity to it.

Lin Yuwei leaned lazily against the door frame: "Good morning." Gu Qingyan's back stiffened noticeably when he heard her voice. Lin Yuwei noticed it keenly and smiled, finding his shyness rather cute.

"Awake?" He didn't turn around, his voice a little hoarse: "Breakfast will be ready soon."

Lin Yuwei walked back to the dining table, where blueberry pancakes were laid out. She had casually mentioned wanting to eat them last week, and Gu Qingyan had bought them for her. As soon as she sat down, Gu Qingyan brought over coffee, and she noticed that he had faint dark circles under his eyes.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?" She reached out and took one of the cups of coffee.

Gu Qingyan paused, the coffee cup clinking softly on the table. He suddenly looked up, staring directly at her with unwavering determination: "Lin Yuwei, I will take responsibility for you." He enunciated the name Lin Yuwei clearly and solemnly, as if he had practiced it a thousand times.

Lin Yuwei was stunned for a moment, but then burst out laughing as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world: "Gu Qingyan, you are so cute. What era are we living in? Why are you still saying such old-fashioned things?" She picked up a blueberry muffin, took a small bite with an elegant posture, and nodded with satisfaction: "Delicious. Hmm, don't take what happened last night to heart. Although it was my first time, it was your first time too. So neither of us lost out."

Gu Qingyan's expression froze on the spot, but Lin Yuwei didn't care. She took a sip of coffee: "You have good physical strength. I can consider letting you serve me in bed long-term." His Adam's apple bobbed, and his hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly: "I..." But in the end, he didn't say anything.

And so, Gu Qingyan became Lin Yuwei's secret lover, always at her beck and call. She continued her relentless search for true love, flitting between all sorts of men like a tireless butterfly. She would spend her nights with Gu Qingyan, and gradually, Gu Qingyan spent less and less time in the apartment. Whenever Lin Yuwei asked him where he was, he would only say that his studies were demanding and that his professors had asked him to help with projects, so staying in the dormitory was more convenient.

But whenever Lin Yuwei gets hurt in love or gets tired of those hypocritical games, she texts him, and Gu Qingyan will come home early that night and silently go to her room to provide her with temporary support and warmth.

Amidst their intertwined body heat and panting breaths, Lin Yuwei greedily absorbed Gu Qingyan's warm companionship and understanding. She only cared about her own comfort, deliberately ignoring the deepening shadows in his eyes. On many mornings when the light was just beginning to break, when she woke up, her pillow and the side of the bed were often empty, with no sign of Gu Qingyan. Only the perfectly warm milk and fried eggs on the living room table proved that he had been there the night before.

One dark night, Lin Yuwei returned from a bar, exhausted and reeking of men's cologne. Surprisingly, Gu Qingyan was home. He was coding by the floor lamp in the living room when she entered. Hearing the door open, he immediately looked up, his gaze falling on Lin Yuwei. He quickly noticed the suggestive red mark left by someone else on her collarbone. Gu Qingyan lowered his head, saying nothing. Lin Yuwei, however, remained unfazed. She walked over, pushed the laptop off his lap, and pulled him into the room to exhaust herself until she was completely worn out before finally falling asleep.

She woke up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty and groggily asked Gu Qingyan to get her some water. She called him several times but received no response. When she turned around, she found that Gu Qingyan was no longer there. She went to the living room to get some water and heard the sound of running water from the bathroom next door, along with the faint sound of Gu Qingyan's suppressed sobs, like the mournful cry of a trapped animal.

He cried?

Lin Yuwei sighed. This absurd game had been going on for over a year, and she was getting tired of it. Since they couldn't have a pleasant time together anymore, it was best to end it sooner rather than later. Just these past few days, she had met a man who was incredibly compatible in every way. Once Gu Qingyan finished investigating his background and there weren't any major problems, she was determined to be a good girlfriend and experience a new life.

Lin Yuwei sent Gu Qingyan the name of her new boyfriend for investigation, but a whole week has passed without any response, which is very unusual. In the past, he would always give Lin Yuwei the most detailed results within three days.

Gu Qingyan is slacking off. Lin Yuwei finished drawing her eyebrows in front of the dressing mirror, picked up her phone, and opened Gu Qingyan's chat window: "How's the investigation going? Hurry up, I plan to move in with him tomorrow."

The chat box indicated that the other party was typing, but after waiting for a long time, Lin Yuwei did not receive a reply from Gu Qingyan. She impatiently turned off the screen and began to apply lipstick in front of the mirror.

The woman in the mirror had exquisitely beautiful features. Her slightly upturned eyes, enhanced by eyeliner, made her even more alluring, exuding a natural arrogance. She pursed her lips to even out the color, then smiled with satisfaction.

The phone screen lit up with a message from her new boyfriend, Yang Mingyuan: "I'll pick you up at five in the evening." Lin Yuwei's fingertips tapped lightly on the screen to reply, her mood so cheerful that she almost hummed a song. Yang Mingyuan was a senior executive at a financial company who had returned from studying abroad. He was handsome, rich, and most importantly—he was very self-disciplined and ambitious, and there were no annoying women around him.

Lin Yuwei opened the wardrobe and began to choose what to wear tonight. Her fingers wandered among the gorgeous clothes, finally stopping at a burgundy velvet dress in the far corner. This was a birthday gift that Gu Qingyan had given her last year. At that time, he stood in front of her, holding the beautifully wrapped gift box in both hands, his eyes shining brightly, as if it was his greatest honor for her to accept this gift.

"You have good taste." She remembered giving that perfunctory comment, and then casually hung the dress in the corner of her wardrobe. She had so many new dresses that she quickly forgot about this one, and hadn't worn it even once since.

Her phone vibrated again, interrupting her thoughts. It was a message from Gu Qingyan: "The investigation report isn't finished yet. Give me two more days."

Lin Yuwei chuckled and quickly replied, "I've changed my mind. You don't need to investigate anymore. Mingyuan is a very good person with a clean past. With your computer skills, if he really has a dark history, your program could crawl it out in less than two days."

She reached for the red dress hanging in the corner of the wardrobe, put it on, and twirled in front of the mirror. The wine-red velvet made her skin look as white as snow, and the cut perfectly outlined her slender waist. Gu Qingyan's taste was really good. She was sure she could amaze Yang Mingyuan again tonight, she thought happily.

Before the agreed time with Yang Mingyuan, the doorbell rang abruptly.

"You actually arrived early? So eager, huh?" Lin Yuwei's lips unconsciously curved upwards. Her fingertips gently brushed the long, curly hair at her temples. She turned around in front of the full-length mirror, her burgundy velvet dress swaying gracefully. After confirming that every detail was perfect, Lin Yuwei took light steps to open the door.

The moment she pushed open the door, her carefully maintained smile froze on her face.

Standing outside the door was not Yang Mingyuan, whom she wanted to see, but Gu Qingyan, who had not returned for many days. The motion-sensor light in the hallway behind him cast a heavy shadow on his face. Gu Qingyan's bangs were soaked with sweat, and dark sweat stains were visible on his shirt collar. His chest was heaving violently, clearly indicating that he had rushed back under the scorching sun. But at this moment, Lin Yuwei did not want to see him.

"You have class this afternoon, right? What are you doing back so early?" She instinctively braced herself against the doorframe, her fingers tightening on the metal handle, not intending to let him in. The scene of Yang Mingyuan bumping into Gu Qingyan when he came to her house last time was still vivid in her mind. Even though she introduced Gu Qingyan as her distant cousin, the gloom that flashed in Yang Mingyuan's eyes still made her feel uneasy. She glanced at her watch; there were only thirty minutes left until her date. She couldn't let these two men meet again, lest it ruin her sweet date tonight.

The light that had been flickering in Gu Qingyan's eyes died down when he saw her defensive posture. His gaze lingered on her bare shoulders, his Adam's apple bobbing. "You look really good in this dress." His voice was dry and somewhat harsh. "I rushed over to tell you that there's new progress in the investigation, but his experiences abroad need to be verified. Give me two more days, don't move out... okay?" His tone was cautious, with a hint of pleading.