The two were separated by several meters, one on the bed, one below it.

“Come eat something.” Xu Xingchun turned around, lowering his voice.

“Where’s my phone?” Fu Xueli interrupted her train of thought, suddenly remembering another matter.

Oh no, she still had to join the film crew today! Tang Xin was probably going crazy looking for her at this hour. Fu Xueli knelt on the bed searching everywhere for her phone, flipping over pillows and blankets, turning the bed completely upside down, but there was no trace of her phone anywhere.

Could it have fallen in the car?

“Did you take my phone?” Fu Xueli urgently called out, pressing him: “Xu Xingchun, my phone is missing.”

Xu Xingchun didn’t even give her a glance, opened the bathroom door and went in. After just a moment, the trickling sound of water started.

“Xu Xingchun?”

“Xu Xingchun?!”

“—Xu Xingchun!!!” Fu Xueli got angry. She’d been calling him for ages with no response. She got out of bed barefoot, paced back and forth at the door for a long time, standing in place and shouting a few times. Getting no response, she then went to push the room door, discovering it wouldn’t open at all.

It could be locked from the inside?

What kind of bizarre structure was this room…

What kind of insecure person would design it this way?

So Fu Xueli angrily went to push the bathroom door.

This time it opened with one push—he hadn’t closed the door at all.

Xu Xingchun was covered in steam, wearing only pants, his shirt buttons mostly undone, his upper body almost bare. The belt across his waist hung precariously, his bones prominent. He tilted his head, using a towel to wipe his hair.

The black ascetic leather really matched his skin tone.

He looked so sexy.

Truly, a feast for the senses.

This was Fu Xueli’s first thought.

Then came an awkward silence. She quickly withdrew her gaze, stepped back, deliberately adopting an indifferent posture, muttering, “I’m talking to you, why do you always ignore me? Hurry up and give me back my phone.”

Not a trace of shame for barging in on someone’s privacy.

Xu Xingchun looked up at her, rinsed his face with cold water, and casually tossed her a sentence, “Go eat something.”

As soon as he spoke, Fu Xueli immediately perked up, saying resentfully: “Weren’t you ignoring me? If you don’t give me my phone, I won’t eat anything.”

Her tone carried her usual spoiled pride. There was also a certain smugness. Though not quite repulsive, it wouldn’t make ordinary people comfortable either.

Xu Xingchun threw the towel aside, turned and buttoned his shirt all the way up.

—

Although the congee was bland and tasteless, Fu Xueli still, under ‘coercion,’ reluctantly ate most of it.

Anyway, no matter what she said, her current situation was—

Once again, she was confined in this shabby room, like being imprisoned.

Fortunately, Xu Xingchun didn’t go anywhere, just sat behind that office desk reviewing documents. This place didn’t look like a proper office no matter how you looked at it; it was more like a temporary break room.

Fu Xueli felt she couldn’t use ordinary logic to speculate about the thoughts of people like Xu Xingchun.

Finally, she simply gave up on herself, propped her chin with her hand, lay prone on the bed, staring at him carefully. “Xu Xingchun, what have you been doing these past few years? I think your job really has serious problems. Seeing dead people every day and all that fighting and killing will cause psychological disorders and such.”

After a while, she changed position, sat cross-legged, pouted and continued rambling nonsense, “You were already a bit mentally abnormal before, now it seems to be getting worse and worse. Don’t you police have some kind of psychological counselor to help you work through things?”

“……”

Fu Xueli always had a lot to say, but she had one good quality—she never pretended to be reserved. Regardless of whether others paid attention to her or not, chattering away alone, she could carry an entire show by herself.

The quiet room was filled with her incessant talking. Xu Xingchun, whether he was listening or not, kept his head down the whole time, not saying much. Only when Fu Xueli occasionally quieted down would he look up.

Fu Xueli tried hard to recall the past.

Times when she and Xu Xingchun were alone together like this were actually quite rare.

What she remembered was that serious illness during her first year of high school, when Xu Xingchun took leave to stay by her side day and night. Back then, Xu Xingchun’s personality was at most just somewhat repressed and introverted; at least in her eyes, he was far from reaching a twisted state, not silent and gloomy like he was now.

“This cold war between us isn’t a solution.”

Fu Xueli rattled off a self-analysis, “As for me, I’m actually quite fragile. If you really hate me, just tell me directly. I won’t shamelessly pester you anyway. We have nothing to do with each other now, my work is very busy, worst case I just won’t come looking for you anymore. If you still want to get along well with me, leave me a contact method, and we can be friends again in the future.”

There was an intention of actively seeking reconciliation in her words. Though very tactful, this was already one of the very few times in Fu Xueli’s life that she had actively backed down to show goodwill. Or to put it more bluntly, to curry favor and seek peace with someone.

She had been the center of attention since childhood, had many friends, never lacked clothes, money, or love, had never tasted the feeling of wanting but not getting. Actively maintaining relationships was never something she needed to do.

“But come to think of it, what right do you have to hate me? You were the one who left first, the mistake wasn’t mine alone to make, you were also the one who cut off contact, so now are you feeling accomplished watching me chase after you like a clown?”

Fu Xueli brought up old matters, threw away all dignity and propriety, said many things in one breath, though she didn’t quite dare look at his expression during it all.

Having acted in too many scenes, insincere emotions were relatively simple. There was truth and falsehood mixed in, the words even attempting to smooth over the past, to completely whitewash the mistakes she had made back then.

However, this heartfelt speech received no response for a long time.

Only then did Fu Xueli turn her head, tentatively calling Xu Xingchun’s name. Looking up, she saw him lying back in the chair, eyes half-closed, breathing shallow, already peacefully asleep.

At first, she was tentative, slowly moving her body, inching along, inching off the bed.

Barefoot, step by step, soundlessly approaching.

It had been too long, too long since she had properly looked at him. Truth be told, Xu Xingchun was very good-looking, naturally having the appearance of a gentle gentleman. Just looking at him like this was very pleasing to the eye.

Otherwise, that love affair that ended without resolution wouldn’t have remained the white moonlight in Fu Xueli’s heart for so many years.

Fu Xueli hugged her knees, crouching beside him, gazing quietly. Using her nose to secretly sniff.

Having just showered, he had a very pleasant scent on him, a kind of clean soapy feeling.

Sighing softly, her actions preceded consciousness. She moved forward a bit more, her fingertips carefully touching his face, then his eyelashes, his lips.

All were cool.

“What exactly are you thinking, Xu Xingchun?” Fu Xueli whispered to herself.

Just at this moment, the door behind her creaked open, and Xiao Wang came in carrying takeout. Upon seeing the scene before him, he hastily averted his eyes, closing the door while repeatedly saying, “Sorry, sorry, I’m interrupting, I’m interrupting.”

Fu Xueli froze. By the time she reacted, Xu Xingchun’s eyes had already opened.

His eyes stared straight at her, so close at hand.

Fu Xueli steeled herself, her hand suspended in mid-air like a sculpture. After thinking left and right, she managed to squeeze out a sentence, pulling at the corner of her mouth, “Don’t misunderstand, I’m not a pervert, I wasn’t trying to steal a kiss from you.”

Somewhat clumsy flirtation, her gaze wandering.

Acting as if nothing had happened, yet also like an incompetent lecher.

Her heart was nervous, she lowered her head slightly, not daring to look at Xu Xingchun, afraid he would open his mouth with sarcasm. She stood up and quickly jumped back onto the bed.

The room was silent for a long time. Fu Xueli had just done something utterly humiliating, her head buried in the pillow, not wanting to lift it at all, her haughty arrogance completely extinguished.

Xu Xingchun made a few phone calls during this time. Fu Xueli kept her eyes tightly shut, pretending to be asleep.

Later, due to fatigue, she actually did fall asleep.

When she woke up, Xu Xingchun was no longer beside her. Fu Xueli had a headache, her mind foggy and swollen. For some reason, her heart felt empty and uncomfortable. She really didn’t like this feeling of being left behind.

Slowly crawling out of bed, she discovered her phone sitting on the side. Fu Xueli picked it up and unlocked it; countless missed calls and messages exploded in like a flood.

The last one was from Tang Xin:

【Fu Xueli!!! I don’t care where you are now or what’s happened, there’s an 8:30 PM flight to Malaysia for filming. If I don’t see you there, I’m jumping off a building!!!】

Tossing aside her phone, Fu Xueli got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash her face. Lifting her head to look at herself in the mirror, a thought flashed rapidly through her mind.

—

Xu Xingchun opened the door and came in.

The room was empty.

Walking to the bedside, he stopped in his tracks. He stood alone in the room, silent and still, his lip color gradually fading.

“Fu Xueli.”

Xu Xingchun spoke to the vast emptiness, calling her name again of his own accord.

The dim evening glow, the curtains slightly lifted by the breeze. Hiding behind the curtains, she initially felt the joy of a successful prank.

But suddenly seeing his appearance, for that one instant, her heart ached, and she trembled.

Gradually feeling restless and uneasy. Fu Xueli regretfully poked out her head, pulled open the curtain in front of her in one motion, and jumped down from the windowsill.

Hesitating, she mumbled an explanation for her behavior: “I… I didn’t leave, I was just joking with you.”

But Xu Xingchun didn’t smile. From the moment Fu Xueli showed her face, there were no ripples in his eyes. Watching her, like the most violent storm, yet also the most silent stillness.

Though he only revealed the slightest trace of emotion, falling into her eyes, it was all a kind of painful stimulation.

Fu Xueli felt a bit regretful, cautiously, guiltily and with palpitations, not daring to trigger his more extreme emotions.

She was also a bit confused and aggrieved.

Why did Xu Xingchun’s emotions lose control so easily?

“I won’t leave without a word.”

Fu Xueli said to him. Her eyes widened, her whole body trembling, she retreated several steps. Her pupils contracted, her heart beating violently. Because Xu Xingchun’s fingers had brushed past the skin on her neck, moved upward to touch, and tightly clamped her jaw.

Retreating further back, there was the wall.

He leaned in, pressed close to her ear and whispered.

“Fu Xueli, only pathetic men would believe your impulsive nonsense.”