Chapter 61: You’d Better Pray Du Yang Is Fine

Chapter 61: You'd Better Hope Du Yang Is Fine

In the afternoon, besides working, Du Yang only hid in the cleaning room, not going out. This entire floor was filled with Fu Yan's presence.

He had rejected Fu Yan, and Fu Yan didn't want him anymore.

During this time, Fu Yan's kindness to him had made him mistakenly believe it was love.

In his past life, a little kindness from He Lin had also made him think it was love, only to end up scarred and broken.

Fu Yan didn't like him; he just wanted to sleep with him.

After work, Du Yang cleaned again, paying extra attention to Fu Yan's office, wiping everything down and arranging the office supplies neatly.

Once he finished cleaning, Du Yang placed his resignation letter on Chen Miao's desk.

He couldn't keep coming back. Du Yang felt he was in a terrible state, and he didn't want to cause Chen Miao any trouble.

Back at Fu Yan's house, Du Yang unlocked the door with his fingerprint. The lights were off inside; Fu Yan hadn't come back.

He went to his room, pulled out his suitcase, and began packing his few belongings.

It was already midnight by the time he finished packing. Du Yang took a shower, left his room, and opened Fu Yan's door.

The room had a very faint scent of sandalwood, the same as Fu Yan's scent.

Du Yang took a deep breath, as if his deadened heart was finally drawing in oxygen, but it wasn't enough.

Still wearing his pajamas, Du Yang lay down on Fu Yan's bed. The quilt and pillow all carried Fu Yan's scent. He hugged the quilt, burying his face in the pillow, freely breathing in his scent.

Perhaps it was because he hadn't slept the entire night before, or maybe it was the soothing effect of Fu Yan's scent, but Du Yang fell asleep on Fu Yan's bed, hugging the quilt.

When he woke up again, it was already daylight. Du Yang neatly made the bed, went back to his room to wash up, then grabbed his suitcase and headed to the apartment Fu Yan had rented for him.

Since school hadn't started yet, Du Yang also moved his dormitory belongings into the apartment, so he wouldn't have to bump into any classmates.

It was almost evening.

Du Yang turned on his computer, and the screen was still on the page from that night when he had watched the video of Du Debao and Qin Yue's affair.

An overwhelming numbness and heartache spread rapidly. Du Yang lay on the sofa, feeling miserable.

Fu Yan didn't want him anymore.

After some time, his phone kept buzzing in his pocket. Without even looking, he pulled it out and answered.

Lu Jin'an didn't waste any time. "Du Yang, where are you now? Grandma told me to bring you some food. I went to your company and found out you've resigned."

"President Lu, I've moved near the school..." Du Yang told Lu Jin'an the address.

After hanging up, Du Yang pulled himself together and went to wash his face. Grandma still cared about him, sending him food.

Half an hour later, Lu Jin'an showed up at Du Yang's apartment building.

He'd just brought food on Monday, and now Grandma asked him to deliver again today. He would've just dropped it off at Fu Yan's company.

But when he got to Fu Yan's company, Chen Miao told him Du Yang had resigned and Fu Yan was away on business.

Since he couldn't find Du Yang, Lu Jin'an didn't want to deliver the food, but he didn't want to upset Grandma.

The past couple of days, the house had been a mess. He and Grandma had just moved out, and Lu Jin'an was fed up.

Du Yang came down in just a sweater, forcing a smile. "Mr. Lu, sorry for the trouble. Grandma Lu is so kind."

As it got dark, Lu Jin'an handed the insulated bag to Du Yang, frowning as he looked him up and down. His voice was tight with displeasure.

"It really is a hassle. After all, I'm the president of a company, and I'm running errands for a college student every day." Lu Jin'an sighed. "My grandma is nice to you because she sees you as my dead younger brother."

"I... I..." Du Yang stammered, knowing Lu Jin'an was upset.

"Du Yang." Lu Jin'an cut him off, his tone cold and sharp. "Don't see my grandma anymore from now on. No one can replace my brother. This is the last time I'm bringing you anything."

Du Yang gripped the handle of the insulated bag hard, his fingernails digging into his palm, as if he couldn't feel the pain.

What hurt more was the pain in his heart.

Du Yang bit his lip hard, trying to keep it together, then quickly said, "I understand, President Lu."

With that, he turned and walked into the building, carrying the bag.

Lu Jin'an wanted to call him back, but he was already out of sight.

Du Yang was breathing heavily, fumbled into the room, and slumped onto the floor, still hugging the insulated bag tightly.

This was from Grandma; he couldn't drop it.

After a while, when his breathing had calmed down a bit, Du Yang stood up, holding the bag, and placed the food containers on the table. He started eating.

He needed to eat more today. He couldn't waste the food Grandma had sent.

After today, Grandma wouldn't send him anything anymore.

His brother still disliked him, just like in his past life, thinking he would take Lu Yang's place.

Fu Yan didn't want him either.

The food tasted bland, but Du Yang forced himself to eat a lot. Near the end, he suddenly felt nauseous and wanted to throw up.

He fought the nausea, unwilling to waste the food Grandma had sent.

But the urge to vomit was unbearable.

Du Yang ended up hugging the toilet, throwing everything up. Afterward, he rinsed his mouth and sat on the bathroom floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

-

That evening, Fu Yan pulled his suitcase back to the villa.

The living room lights turned on. Fu Yan bent down to get his slippers, but on the shoe rack, only one pair of Du Yang's slippers remained.

Both pairs of his own shoes were gone.

He changed into his slippers, took his suitcase upstairs, placed it in the bedroom, then went to Du Yang's room.

The quilt on the bed was folded neatly. The books and notebooks on the desk were gone. The whole room felt empty again.

Fu Yan opened the wardrobe—Du Yang's clothes were all gone.

Du Yang had really moved out.

It was only Friday, and he had already moved out in a hurry.

His kid had really given up on him.

During the two days of his business trip, he had thought a lot. He didn't know when he started falling in love with Du Yang.

Perhaps it was from the first time they met when his heart softened and he let him stay, or from the moment he shielded him from that scalding cup of tea, or when he said he wanted to sell himself to him, or maybe it was from so many moments they shared.

He rushed back, wanting to apologize to Du Yang for impulsively kissing him that night, wanting to tell Du Yang that it was okay if he didn't like him back, that he wanted to treat him well and protect him.

Those two nights he hardly slept, worrying if Du Yang was sleeping well, yet he didn't dare call him.

Fu Yan sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes landing on the pillow Du Yang had slept on. He looked at it quietly for a moment, then picked up the pillow, pressed it to his nose, and took a deep breath.

The pillow still smelled like Du Yang—fresh and pleasant, mixed with the fragrance of shampoo.

Fu Yan lay down on the bed Du Yang had slept on, resting his head on the pillow Du Yang had used.

He pulled the blanket over himself and lifted it slightly closer to his nose. The blanket was filled with Du Yang's scent.

He closed his eyes and greedily breathed in the scent from the blanket. Every breath was filled with Du Yang's presence, and his breathing started to get heavy.

Just then, his phone rang. It was Lu Jin'an.

Fu Yan sat up, steadied his breathing, and answered the call.

On the other end of the line, Lu Jin'an's voice came through, stammering, "Old Fu, uh, I think I messed up."

Fu Yan frowned slightly, getting off Du Yang's bed, his voice already calm and steady, "What happened?"

Lu Jin'an took a deep breath and confessed: "Today, Grandma asked me again to bring food to Du Yang. When I went to his rented apartment to deliver it, I said some things that probably weren't nice for him to hear."

Fu Yan's voice went ice-cold, "What did you say?"

"I... I told him not to try to replace my brother. And to stop contacting my grandma from now on." Lu Jin'an's voice carried regret, "He seemed really upset... I'm worried about him."

"Lu Jin'an, you'd better hope Du Yang is okay." Fu Yan cut him off and hung up without another word.

Without a moment's delay, Fu Yan grabbed his jacket, rushed out to his car, and drove straight to Du Yang's apartment.

----------------------------------------