He thought he should have stayed in bed longer!
However, the work he had already taken on still needed to be completed. When he met up with 余瑜 that day, he first recalled the subtle provocations 余瑜 had been throwing his way, which left him feeling a bit unsettled. Yet he quickly realized that 余瑜 was also a victim in the situation between him and 蔺唯, so it wouldn’t be right to begrudge him overly much; it would just make him look petty.
With his mind elsewhere, 霍淇君 ultimately delivered an even stronger performance than usual, managing to compress a three-day workload into just one day.
Seeing 霍淇君’s urgency, 余瑜 assumed he had resolved things with 蔺唯 and was eager to return for a meeting. Out of consideration for 蔺唯, he didn’t deliberately drag his feet and instead quietly helped to boost his efficiency.
In the end, they successfully caught the last flight that evening.
Of course, 霍淇君 didn’t drag 余瑜 along but left him at the hotel, telling him that the extra two days could be treated as paid leave, allowing him to arrange his time freely.
He hurried back alone, arriving home just after 1 AM. Initially, he thought about getting some sleep before addressing the matters at hand in the morning. However, after a moment’s consideration, he realized that having worked so hard to come back so late at night meant he couldn’t hold off on wanting to see 蔺唯!
“蔺唯…”
Awakened by someone shaking him, even 蔺唯, typically so patient, couldn’t help but feel annoyed. Yet, upon opening his eyes and seeing 霍淇君 sitting at the edge of his bed, all remnants of sleep vanished instantly.
“How did you get back so quickly?” 蔺唯 asked while yawning, sitting up.
“It’s all your fault! You insisted on meeting before talking!” 霍淇君 replied, looking less than revitalized, with bloodshot eyes—thankfully, the dim light in the room concealed his fatigue.
“…” 蔺唯 didn’t know what to say, feeling a growing sense of foreboding about how things were progressing.
霍淇君 appeared serious, not like someone who just had a spontaneous thought.
“Aren’t you tired?” 蔺唯 asked, feeling that his mind wasn’t clear enough to engage in such taxing discussions, so he decided to change the subject.
“…tired.” 霍淇君’s voice suddenly dropped.
It seemed he had sensed the avoidance in 霍淇君’s tone; the high hopes of returning home quickly turned to disappointment, causing 蔺唯’s conscience to ache slightly.
“Get some sleep first; you need to rest,” he gently advised.
Upon hearing this, 霍淇君 lifted his gaze and regarded 蔺唯 intently for a moment in the dim light of the room. Finally, he took off his glasses, rubbed his aching brow, and murmured, “Okay.”
蔺唯 realized he couldn’t resist the sight of 霍淇君’s earnest yet cold demeanor, far too different from the past. Back then, 霍淇君 would stick close to him and, under his indulgence, could lay directly on him without hesitation.
Thinking about it, his hand moved faster than his mind, and as 霍淇君 was about to get up, he pulled him back down onto the bed.
“…What are you doing?” 霍淇君 said, finding himself forced to lie next to 蔺唯, recalling the dream from the previous night, his eyes blinking rapidly and uncomfortably.
蔺唯 realized he had acted impulsively, but the moment had arrived…
“Why don’t you just sleep here?”
At this, 霍淇君 instinctively grasped the blanket tightly. After a while, just when 蔺唯 thought about switching rooms, 霍淇君 finally spoke up.
“Okay.”
霍淇君 lay stiffly on the large bed. In the past, he might have found the presence of another person uncomfortable, but now he was too embarrassed to get up and undress, preferring to endure the discomfort of sleeping fully clothed.
The tie around his neck felt suffocating, so he subtly tugged at it. Soon after, he heard 蔺唯 let out an almost inaudible sigh. A hand reached over, moving slowly and gently as it began to loosen his tie, and once it was removed, 蔺唯 immediately used it as a makeshift blindfold, covering 霍淇君’s eyes.
His vision was suddenly engulfed in darkness.
“Sleep now; don’t overthink it,” 蔺唯 said softly.
Since being provoked by 余瑜, 霍淇君 had felt restless as if he was continuously amidst a crowd. In that moment, he was finally able to calm his chaotic mind, and all the noise faded away, granting him a wave of sleepy fatigue.
蔺唯 quietly waited until 霍淇君’s breathing steadied before he opened his eyes and gazed at the man beside him, who now seemed almost surreal.
The man lying before him was entirely different from the once round-faced cat; 蔺唯 saw sharp brows and bright eyes, a striking visage, a tall figure, broad shoulders, and a slim waist. If it weren’t for the strange coincidences and an almost familiar aura, he would never connect the two.
Even now, he found it impossible to equate the essence of a cat with that of a person. Yet, he also couldn’t treat them as entirely separate; this mindset itself was already chaotic. Presently, it was evident that he had muddled various aspects, further entangling their already complicated relationship.
However, whether due to their recent interactions or the bond created in a former world, 蔺唯 sincerely wished to avoid causing him any harm.
The next morning, when 霍淇君 woke up, he found himself alone in bed. Sitting up and putting on his glasses, he noticed 蔺唯 had already gone next door to retrieve a set of his casual clothes and placed them on the other side of the bed.
This man seemed to treat everyone with such gentleness, but 霍淇君 felt 蔺唯 was different with him. Even if it was in his nature, 蔺唯 carefully moderated his attentiveness, not extending such gestures to others.
It seemed like they had a natural intimacy that blurred the boundaries of their mutual safety, excluding any hesitance about physical contact.
It was peculiar; the 蔺唯 he recalled from earlier memories had never given him this feeling. 霍淇君 could only interpret this as 蔺唯 having restrained himself, intentionally maintaining a distance.
After freshening up and changing clothes in the bathroom, 霍淇君 slowly made his way downstairs.
蔺唯 hadn’t gone to work that day. He was sitting on the couch, playing with his phone, and stood up with a smile when he saw 霍淇君 come down. “Finally up! No need for breakfast; let’s have an early lunch instead!”