Ziyu Ai tried to hug Zhishu. It was simply a gesture of solace that meant to warm and support him. But the moment Ziyu Ai reached out his arms, Zhishu intuitively and imperceptibly dodged.

Ziyu Ai’s arms awkwardly hung in the air,; he looked down on the ground without making a sound. He could no longer conceal the heavy weariness. No matter how much he cared for Zhishu, he was still a man that he knew for less than six months, so how could he ever compete with the one Zhishu He had known for 15 years? Even though he didn’t say anything, he didn’t show any signs, the struggling and the sadness in Zhishu He’s eyes couldn’t lie.

Zhishu He’s love was unswerving all along. The next life was unpredictable but in this life, all he loved was that one person and that person alone.

Ziyu Ai had done everything right. He had been as dedicated as Wenxu Jiang used to be, he had kept Zhishu He’s company for the last several months. What he didn’t have was the memory Zhishu and Wenxu had created together but it was no matter of sequence. Perhaps God just had his own plan.

“Sorry, Doctor Ai,” Zhishu He sensed the awkwardness in the air, “I…”

Ziyu Ai shook his head and forced a smile, “Zhishu, let’s go to Yangzhou.” He didn’t explain why but both of them knew the reason—Wenxu Jiang had known this place and that man wouldn’t be kept in custody forever.

Zhishu also shook his head but he wasn’t saying no. “Doctor… Before we leave, can I ask for some help?”

There still seemed to be a distance between them.

“Sure, anything you want.” Ziyu Ai didn’t give another answer, he just held the bitterness down.

…

Wenxu had been in custody for about 6 hours and he answered every question he was asked. When he was left alone, he just watched the willows in the breeze through the half-opened gate, head tilted.

He didn’t see Zhishu He today and even the thought of the name “Zhishu He” made him want to cry.

He saw his young enemy though, the gentle, polite doctor, the man went berserk when hearing the name “Wenxu Jiang”. He suddenly realized that everything he had done to Zhishu He was unforgivable evil in the eyes of a man that genuinely cared for Zhishu.

But of course, Wenxu Jiang knew.

Zhishu He was cut off from his parents, his school, and his friends because he took him away. Wenxu Jiang was supposed to make it up to him with love and guilt, to make him happier than anyone else so that Zhishu He wouldn’t regret anything when he reminisced the past. Zhishu He was loved by his grandpa, disciplined by his parents, placed high hopes by his teachers.

However, here he ended up in misery.

What Wenxu Jiang did was more than evil. After a little thought, he mumbled the word “fiendish”.

He did more than one bad thing to Zhishu He; every one of them was cruel.

After Wenxu Jiang went through everything from beginning to end, he admitted that Zhishu He had never enjoyed one happy day with him. Zhishu He never complained about the hard life at the beginning of their relationship. In summers, he had heat strokes while developing business; in winters, his hands suffered frostbites in the freezing winds. Afterwards, Wenxu Jiang kept Zhishu at home and expanded business on his own, he didn’t have lovers at the time but that was a suffocating time for Zhishu He. And then, Wenxu Jiang turned into a whole different person.

Persons like Zhishu He was soft; he wouldn’t make a sound no matter how many damages he was undertaking. No one knew how painful he was unless he couldn’t take anymore when he was at his last gasp.

Wenxu Jiang gently stroked the plain ring on his third finger. Knowing the fact that he had failed the one he loved the most in his life was so despairing that he couldn’t even shed a tear.