Chapter 164 Lover, Lover

Chapter 164: Lover, Lover

After Lu Lin left, Shen Qingci finally began today's work.

Call it work, but there was actually nothing much to do.

Lu Lin was extremely capable; he had taken care of all the piled-up documents, pending contracts, and emails needing replies all by himself, and he handled them in an orderly manner, even adding clear notes.

Shen Qingci flipped through them and only found a few minor issues that needed temporary handling after he left. He signed a few documents, and then there was nothing else to do.

It was rare to have free time, and even rarer that Lu Lin wasn't by his side.

The office was very quiet. Shen Qingci sat behind the large desk, his fingers resting on the top of his cane, tapping it idly from time to time.

Sunlight slanted in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, falling on him and casting a long shadow.

It was exactly the same as usual, but somehow he felt a little out of sorts.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to Feng Yuetian. After sending it, he leaned back in his chair, his slender fingers sliding aimlessly across the screen, then he opened the browser.

In the search bar, the cursor blinked. After a long moment, he typed a line.

“Why do I feel uneasy when my lover is gone for a bit?”

The search results popped up: emotional dependence, separation anxiety, attachment theory... densely packed entries. He knew every word, but together they seemed foreign.

Shen Qingci looked at the screen. A few seconds later, he silently put down his phone.

Emotional dependence? On Lu Lin?

Wasn't it always Lu Lin who depended on him?

He lowered his eyes, his gaze indifferent and calm like a bottomless cold pond.

The sunlight fell on his profile, accentuating his cool features. His eyelashes cast a small shadow under his eyes, giving his face an even more ethereal, untarnished look.

Then he suddenly remembered: Lu Lin hadn't sent flowers today.

Shen Qingci ran his thumb over his phone, opened the chat with Lu Lin. His finger hovered over the screen for a moment, then he typed a few words.

“When will you be back?”

As soon as the message was sent, a reply popped up, almost instant, as if he had been waiting.

The phone vibrated once.

Then vibrated again.

And again.

Several vibrations in a row before it stopped.

Shen Qingci looked at the messages popping up one by one, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a barely perceptible smile.

“Lu Lin: As soon as I'm done～I'll come find brother～”

“Lu Lin: [Photo]”

In the photo, Lu Lin sat in the back seat of the car, smiling brightly at the camera.

The street scene outside the window sped backward. His face was bathed in warm sunset light, his eyes sparkling, like a big, happy puppy.

“Lu Lin: Just got in the car, and I already miss brother.”

“Lu Lin: Don't want to leave brother's side, want to stick by brother's side [whimper.jpg]”

Shen Qingci's slender fingers lightly tapped on the screen. After receiving Lu Lin's reply, the faint discomfort that had been lingering in his heart instantly dissipated. A smile tugged at his lips, so faint that even he himself hadn't noticed.

That smile spread from the corners of his mouth to his eyes, making him look a little softer, losing some of his usual aloofness.

“Good.”

Just that one word, and the other side blew up again as soon as it was sent.

“Lu Lin: Brother～if I'm good, do I get a reward～”

“Lu Lin: Brother is so nice, he'll definitely give me a reward [puppy wagging tail.jpg]”

“Lu Lin: Brother, brother, Xiaoye wants a reward!”

Shen Qingci looked at those three messages, his eyes softening for a moment, then he typed back.

“What do you want?”

The other side was silent for a few seconds.

“Lu Lin: Brother promise me first～”

Shen Qingci looked at that line and thought for a moment. A businessman never makes a bad deal. Paying first and seeing the goods later—that was unreasonable and completely out of the question.

He should refuse—make him state the request first before deciding whether to agree.

But the other person was Lu Lin. He and Lu Lin weren't in a business relationship; they were lovers.

His finger tapped twice on the screen, and he replied with one word.

“Okay.”

After sending it, he waited for Lu Lin's request, but a long silence followed.

Shen Qingci tilted his head, a few strands of hair slipping from behind his ear and tumbling to the side of his face.

A faint trace of doubt appeared on that cool, beautiful face, like ripples suddenly appearing on a moonlit lake, fleeting.

He had thought Lu Lin would happily make all kinds of requests, but there was no reply?

Just as he was thinking, there was a knock on the office door, and the assistant walked in with a folder, beginning to report on work items.

Shen Qingci put down his phone, took the documents and started going through them, gradually forgetting that Lu Lin hadn't replied.

Work progressed item by item, time ticked away, second by second.

By the time he finished going through the last document and looked up, it was already dark outside the window.

The city's neon lights lit up one after another, flickering in the night, reflected in his cool eyes like broken starlight scattered across the ground.

He picked up his phone. On the screen, the message Lu Lin had sent a few hours ago was still sitting there.

“Lu Lin: I need to think it over carefully! Brother, you already promised me, no backing out now～”

Shen Qingci looked at that line of text, his slender fingers tapping lightly on the screen, typing out a response: "Mm."

Before he could send it, his phone rang.

Feng Yuetian.

Shen Qingci answered, but before he could speak, he heard a chaotic mix of music and voices from the other end, so noisy it made him frown.

The music was too heavy, the drumbeat pounding his eardrums, irritating him.

"A Ci, I'm so sad... boohoo..."

Feng Yuetian's voice came through slurred and broken, thick with drunkenness, as if his tongue were tied.

"Can you... hic... come keep me company... boohoo..."

Shen Qingci was about to refuse.

Then, from the other end of the line, an unfamiliar male voice spoke, not far away, as if he were right next to Feng Yuetian.

"Oh~ pretty boy, drinking so much, want big brother to keep you company?"

The voice was sleazy and flippant, filled with ill intent, buzzing like a fly in one's ear.

Then, the laughter of several men followed, mingling with the chaotic music, harsh and grating.