Chapter 64: Only Talking About the Future

Chapter 64: Only Talking About the Future

Zhou Liao couldn't remember how he fell asleep that night. Perhaps it was because his heart felt exceptionally relaxed, no longer constricted. His whole body felt light, and the warmth of the towel against his skin as Qin Zhan wiped him down was incredibly soothing. Eventually, he drifted off into oblivion.

When Zhou Liao woke up the next day, he found that Qin Zhan was no longer beside him.

Recalling the events of the previous night, he stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before running his hands through his hair and sighing.

He couldn't quite put into words what he was feeling.

Unlike that day, this time there was a subtle sense of finality.

He sat up and looked around; the environment was the same as when he had last visited, except for an additional suitcase in the corner, which made him tense up momentarily.

It must have been something Qin Zhan bought for his trip abroad.

Zhou Liao sat on the bed, staring straight at the suitcase for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a key turning in the lock, followed by the door creaking open.

"Wake up?"

The familiar yet cold voice came from the doorway. Zhou Liao turned his head to see Qin Zhan placing an umbrella aside and holding a steaming plastic bag, just like every time he returned to the warehouse.

"Uh-huh." Zhou Liao looked at the white object in his hand. "What's that?"

"Buns."

"For me?"

"If you don't want them, I can make noodles."

Zhou Liao swallowed. How could he not eat these tasteless buns after everything Qin Zhan had done? He lay back on the bed. "I want noodles."

Qin Zhan merely hummed in acknowledgment, setting the buns aside and starting to fill the electric pot with water.

Zhou Liao watched his back, took a deep breath, and asked, "Hey, so you're really going abroad?"

"Not decided yet."

"But didn't you say you wouldn't go if I told you not to?"

Zhou Liao was a selfish person. Even though he knew Qin Zhan's grades were good enough for him to study abroad, where the hourly wage was higher, he still didn't want Qin Zhan to leave. If Qin Zhan went away, he couldn't imagine what he would become.

Even being in the same space with Qin Zhan made him suffocate, let alone not being in the same place at all.

"Zhou Liao."

"What?"

"Do you remember what you said last night?"

"......What?"

"If you don't remember, I recorded it."

"Fuck, you're insane."

Zhou Liao's ears flushed red at the thought of his midnight confession. He grabbed a pillow and covered his face, almost tearing the faded pillowcase.

"You recorded it? When did you do that? Have you been planning this for a while?"

People tend to talk a lot when they're embarrassed, but Qin Zhan remained indifferent.

"It doesn't matter. Just remember what you said." Qin Zhan broke an egg into the electric pot.

"I beg you, either delete it or never play it for me again." Zhou Liao threw the pillow aside and glared at Qin Zhan's back.

"You deny it?" Qin Zhan frowned slightly.

Zhou Liao straightened his neck. "I didn't say anything. And I was asking about your trip abroad. Stop changing the subject. If you recorded me, then you should answer my question directly."

Qin Zhan hadn't seriously considered going abroad. It was only his teachers who mentioned it several times, saying his grades were good and that he could stay there for graduate school after the exchange program, potentially having better prospects abroad. However, he wasn't interested in pursuing a master's degree, and going abroad wasn't a simple decision.

He wasn't on a scholarship, and the expenses would be a significant burden. Besides, he had no compelling reason to leave. Perhaps if he had been offered this opportunity right after the fire, he might have left without hesitation.

"If you say so, I'll stay."

If you don't need me, I'll leave.

Just as his past purpose in life was to care for the elderly in the hospital, now his reason for staying has emerged.

"Oh, so you keep your word."

Although Zhou Liao felt relieved, he couldn't shake the unease. Qin Zhan was unpredictable, and he feared that one day he might suddenly decide to leave.

After all, Qin Zhan had very little to his name, and if he disappeared, he would truly be gone.

"Get up." Qin Zhan placed the cooked noodles on the table where he usually worked on his computer. "Come eat."

Zhou Liao got out of bed and saw a bowl of tomato and egg noodles on the table, surprisingly not instant noodles, which shocked him.

"Why is there only one bowl?"

Qin Zhan glanced at the buns.

"You're eating those? Who can get full on that?" Zhou Liao frowned. "Since you cooked for me, why can't you cook another bowl?"

"A bowl of noodles costs more than a bun."

"You’re willing to give me some to eat."

Zhou Liao muttered softly, but Qin Zhan didn’t hear him clearly.

Although Zhou Liao was used to a life of luxury, he wasn’t the type to let someone else make noodles for him while he ate steamed buns. He scratched his hair awkwardly and said, "Why don’t you have a bite?"

Qin Zhan probably guessed what Zhou Liao meant, but his gaze only swept over the table. "I can afford more than a bowl of noodles; I just don’t like eating this kind in the morning."

"Oh, okay." Zhou Liao reluctantly withdrew his hand and stopped insisting. "Aren’t you going to work today?"

"Took a day off."

"Why?" Zhou Liao was surprised.

"Only slept at around four in the morning."

"…" Zhou Liao felt even more awkward. Last night, in a fit of passion, he had knocked on the door in the middle of the night without considering the time. "I didn’t get enough sleep either."

After they finished eating, Zhou Liao didn’t mention leaving, and Qin Zhan didn’t urge him to go.

He leaned back in the chair and checked his phone for a while. Chen Xian had sent him a bunch of messages asking about last night and who the phone number belonged to. Zhou Liao thought explaining would take too long, so he simply said he’d tell him when he returned to school on Tuesday.

After eating, due to the alcohol from the night before and the emotional turmoil, the sound of rain outside made Zhou Liao feel sleepy again soon.

When Qin Zhan went into the bathroom to brush his teeth, Zhou Liao lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

When he woke up again, he didn’t expect to find Qin Zhan sleeping beside him, with the sky already dark outside.

Zhou Liao felt an inexplicable sense of comfort, similar to how he felt whenever he saw Qin Zhan sleeping in the warehouse in the past, making him feel that all was well.

Thinking back to the first time he woke up next to Qin Zhan, he got goosebumps, but his ears turned red involuntarily.

The other person’s sleep was light. Zhou Liao felt that he had only stared for a few seconds before Qin Zhan’s eyelashes fluttered, and then he opened his eyes.

"I thought you purified your sleep." Zhou Liao genuinely believed this, as the other person used to sleep very little.

Qin Zhan glanced out the window, his voice still hoarse from just waking up. "What time is it?"

"Don’t know, I just woke up too."

Qin Zhan rested his hand on his forehead. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept so well. In the past, he would finish work at three in the morning and wake up at eight to commute to work or school. After a moment, he sat up.

"Hungry?"

"Not hungry, sleeping doesn’t burn energy." Zhou Liao still felt drowsy, not fully awake yet, but enjoying the lingering comfort of the soft bed. "Are you hungry?"

"A bit."

"Wanna order takeout? I’ll treat you, anything you want."

Qin Zhan turned to look at him and then compulsively straightened the books on the table.

"Let’s go out to eat."

"Don’t wanna go out… raining, gloomy weather, uncomfortable at night." Zhou Liao rolled over. It wasn’t that he wanted to stay, but the rainy weather made him reluctant to move. Guessing Qin Zhan wouldn’t eat his food anyway, he ordered from a few places he usually frequented, knowing the addresses by heart. "Ordered, let’s watch a movie."

"Isn’t it time for you to go home?"

"Can’t be bothered." Zhou Liao lay there like a lord, thinking, ‘To hell with it, let it be.’ "Hey, use your computer to play a movie."

Qin Zhan didn’t say anything. "What do you want to watch?"

"Anything, something long."

He said anything, and Qin Zhan chose randomly, not even looking at the description. The result was a foreign survival thriller.

Zhou Liao watched for a couple of minutes, feeling a lump in his throat as memories flooded back. He stole a glance at Qin Zhan. The other person watched the screen expressionlessly, the cold glow of the screen making him appear even colder and more solemn.

"Zhou Liao."

Qin Zhan suddenly called his name.

"What?"

"I don’t like dirty things."

Hearing this, Zhou Liao’s breath caught. He knew exactly what Qin Zhan meant by “dirty.” The first time Qin Zhan called him dirty, they were still in school and ended up fighting. That was also why he continued to be violent towards him afterward.

The second time was when Qin Zhan saw a message from a woman on his phone saying she missed him. He remembered Qin Zhan’s exact words: "I don’t like the people I care for being surrounded by others. If they are dirty, they are trash to be thrown away."

Zhou Liao swallowed hard, and Qin Zhan kept watching the screen without turning to look at him.

"So, don’t make yourself dirty."

"…Did you see what happened at the cinema?" Zhou Liao suddenly connected the dots, clenching his fists, remembering his behavior then.

"Yes."

"But I didn’t do anything. I didn’t even go out to eat with them later."

In the past, Zhou Liao had been prone to cheating, but now he instinctively explained himself to Qin Zhan.

As if if he had really done it, the consequence would be Qin Zhan leaving him, because Qin Zhan had said that if he was dirty, he would be discarded like trash.

He had no doubt about Qin Zhan’s decisiveness.

"I don’t care about your past."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. It must have been the delivery person.

Qin Zhan stood up under the cold light of the screen, the dim lighting casting half of his stern features into shadow.

Zhou Liao could not see the depths of his obscure gaze, but he could feel the chilling pressure emanating from him.

"Let's only talk about the future now."