Part 4
Probably because he drank alcohol, Lin Zheng’s mind became even more dizzy.
Gu Lin told him that the alcohol content was high, so he should drink moderately, but he didn’t listen.
He could still taste the strong fruity aroma and intoxicating sweetness. A large, cool hand held his chin, slightly raising his head.
Lin Zheng’s eyes reflected Gu Lin’s image.
Flawless skin, perfect features, and now those slightly curved peach blossom eyes were looking at him with affection.
He watched that face slowly enlarge before his eyes, then his lips felt a moment of warmth, as if caressed by a feather.
Lin Zheng’s heart was beating fast, either because of the alcohol or the kiss.
Gu Lin rested his forehead against his, his fingers gently stroking his chin, his thumb caressing the delicate skin of his cheek, “I want to kiss you.”
It was a request, but the low voice was lost in the touch of their lips.
The initial gentleness was like the sweetness of wine entering the mouth, then becoming more intoxicating.
Later, it became a little clumsy.
Gu Lin hissed, enduring the pain of his tongue being bitten, his hand on Lin Zheng’s nape, gently pinching it.
Then, his long fingers reached into his hair, gently caressing his soft strands.
Lin Zheng felt he was really drunk.
So drunk that his brain couldn’t distinguish things.
The next morning, Lin Zheng opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Gu Lin’s face enlarged before him.
After two seconds, he suppressed the urge to scream and quietly lifted the blanket to look.
He covered his mouth in relief. Thank goodness, they were both still fully clothed, and nothing substantial had happened last night.
Their clothes were still wrapped around them.
Nothing unusual behind him.
Excellent!
…Bull crap.
Thinking of the absurdity of being kissed by Gu Lin on his lap last night, Lin Zheng felt terrible.
Was he crazy??
He actually kissed Gu Lin??
Alcohol really is the most harmful thing!
No, no, he was also seduced by Gu Lin’s beauty, so it’s not entirely the alcohol’s fault.
Why was Gu Lin’s arm so heavy?
Lin Zheng tried to lift the arm across his chest.
Dude, are you catching a thief? Why are you holding me so tightly?
The person beside him shifted slightly. Lin Zheng dared not move, afraid of waking him up. He was embarrassed.
He wanted to sneak away.
He carefully observed; the only thing preventing him from leaving was Gu Lin’s arm.
He looked at Gu Lin’s arm around his side. He tried to carefully remove it, but couldn’t!
He had to wait for an opportunity.
Suddenly, Gu Lin’s arm moved, lifting slightly.
This was his chance.
Lin Zheng subtly moved, successfully escaping Gu Lin’s reach. Gu Lin instinctively reached for him, but Lin Zheng quickly grabbed a pillow and put it in place. Seeing Gu Lin holding the pillow and not moving, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Wow, he was escaping.
Leaving the sleeping man behind, Lin Zheng splashed cold water on his face to calm down.
He breathed a sigh of relief, put on his hoodie and pants, and went out.
He went to Yan Yang’s house next door.
Yan Yang had just finished showering and looked surprised to see him, “Chicken-nest head, why are you at my place?”
Yan Yang’s house was completely different from Gu Lin’s in layout and decoration. Although it was his first time here, Lin Zheng didn’t feel out of place. He immediately lay down on the sofa, placing his hands on his chest, “Here to confess.”
To confess his mistake last night.
Yan Yang walked past him, drying his hair with a towel. He got two beers from the refrigerator, then changed one to juice, placing the juice on the table next to Lin Zheng, “You made a mistake yesterday? By the way, why is your mouth so red? And a little swollen?”
Lin Zheng touched his lips, and sure enough, they were swollen.
He said tearfully, “I made a mistake, a big one.”
Yan Yang sat down on the sofa next to him, fiddling with his laptop, “What mistake? Tell me, brother, I’ll listen.”
Could Lin Zheng say it? No, he couldn’t.
He couldn’t tell Yan Yang that because he had drunk a little last night and heard Gu Lin’s confession, he had ended up in bed with Gu Lin. Although nothing substantial happened, they kissed, and his lips were swollen.
Even though Yan Yang was a player and might not care, Lin Zheng couldn’t. He had never dated or kissed before, and he felt increasingly ashamed.
He didn’t know how to face Gu Lin later.
Maybe he shouldn’t go back; he could just stay at Yan Yang’s.
Yan Yang said, “No way, if you stay here, I’m afraid Gu Lin will come and demolish my house.”
Lin Zheng said angrily, “Is that necessary? If you don’t want me to stay, just say so.”
Yan Yang just laughed.
Thinking of Gu Lin last night, Lin Zheng was puzzled.
Strange, according to the original plot, Gu Lin should have met the male protagonist by now and fallen for him at first sight. Why did he act that way last night?
Lin Zheng knew that his presence would affect minor plot details, but Gu Lin falling for the male protagonist was a major plot point.
Lin Zheng wondered if his abilities were so strong that he could change major plot points.
Gu Lin liked the protagonist because of the painting. The book said: [Gu Lin liked the painting in the exhibition hall as much as he liked Wu Yu. Later, he directly opened a personal studio for him, which became their love nest, the beginning and end of their love.]
But Lin Zheng noticed that after praising the painting at the museum, Gu Lin hadn’t mentioned it again, or even any related topics.
Their love started because of the painting, but without the painting, there was no love.
Had the plot really changed?
Lin Zheng suddenly felt great.
Lin Zheng lay on the sofa for a while, and Yan Yang was at the computer for just as long.
It was boring to just lie down. He curiously sat up and leaned over to look, “What are you doing? Huh? Watching the stock market?”
Yan Yang put down his beer and closed the stock market page, “Watching the stock market is just incidental, I’m looking at this.” He tapped the keyboard a few times, bringing up another page.
Seeing that page, Lin Zheng froze.
He asked Yan Yang, “Why are you looking at this?”
Yan Yang leaned back on the sofa, not noticing the change in the person behind him, “Gu Lin asked me to look at it. He wants me to buy this for him.”
Lin Zheng confirmed, “Gu Lin asked you to buy it?”
Yan Yang said, “Yeah, unlike Gu Lin, I can’t appreciate these kinds of artworks.”
Yan Yang’s laptop displayed a painting from the exhibition.
—Towering mountains, a sea shimmering with the setting sun, it was Wu Yu’s painting.
Yan Yang spoke without noticing the change in the expression of the person behind him.
Lin Zheng stared blankly at the painting on Yan Yang’s laptop.
The painting that Gu Lin wanted Yan Yang to buy.
It’s funny. He had just arrogantly thought that he was capable enough to change the plot.
But the plot was quietly moving forward when he wasn’t paying attention.
So, did Gu Lin already like the male protagonist?
And what happened last night was just because Gu Lin was influenced by him and hadn’t figured out his feelings yet?
The questions he couldn’t figure out all morning suddenly had answers.
Lin Zheng patted Yan Yang’s shoulder, “Thank you.”
Yan Yang was puzzled, “Thank me for what?”
Lin Zheng lay back on the sofa, “Thank you for letting me face reality and turn back from the brink.”
Lin Zheng breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t need to worry about Gu Lin’s attitude last night; he felt much lighter.
Lin Zheng stayed at Yan Yang’s until noon. Gu Lin called once, and Yan Yang just said that Lin Zheng was having a great time at his place, so Gu Lin didn’t call again.
They ordered takeout for lunch, and Lin Zheng went home afterward.
When he opened the door, Lin Zheng peeked inside, looked around, didn’t see Gu Lin, and quickly ran inside.
“Why did you take so long to come back?” The voice came from upstairs.
Lin Zheng looked up and saw Gu Lin leaning against the banister, smoking and looking at him.
Gu Lin came downstairs, came to Lin Zheng, “Having fun at Yan Yang’s?”
Before Lin Zheng could answer, he coughed twice from the smell of smoke.
Gu Lin extinguished his cigarette and threw it in the trash can.
After making sure he didn’t smell of smoke, he hugged Lin Zheng, “Don’t like smoke? Then I won’t smoke anymore.”
Lin Zheng thought, “You’ll quit smoking, but not for me.”
Lin Zheng suddenly had a little idea.
He looked up at Gu Lin, “Can you really quit completely?”
Gu Lin said confidently, “Of course, what I say, I’ll do.”
“Okay,” Lin Zheng said seriously, “Then from today on, you’re not allowed to smoke anymore.”
Gu Lin pinched his face, “Okay, but I have a condition.”
“…I knew you wouldn’t agree so easily.” Lin Zheng rubbed his face.
“My condition is simple.”
“How simple?”
Gu Lin lowered his head, kissed his face, and looked into his eyes, seriously saying, “Stay with me. As long as you’re with me, I can definitely quit. Is that condition simple enough?”
That condition did seem simple.
But before Lin Zheng could answer, Gu Lin’s phone rang.
Gu Lin answered the phone without avoiding Lin Zheng, continuing to play with his face while holding him.
Gu Lin said into the phone, “Got it, I’ll be back tonight.”
Lin Zheng couldn’t hear the other side, but guessed it was Gu Lin’s mother.
After hanging up, Gu Lin told Lin Zheng that he had to go to his mother’s place tonight and couldn’t come back, then said regretfully, “I was going to watch a horror movie with you tonight.”
“…I don’t want to watch horror movies.”
“You choose the movie, we’ll watch it next weekend.”
Lin Zheng muttered, “If I choose, I’ll definitely choose a comedy.”
Gu Lin smiled, “Okay, a comedy.”
Although he said he would go back at night, Gu Lin actually left in the afternoon.
He said he had to go to the company first, then go home.
Lin Zheng watched Gu Lin leave.
Night fell.
The city lights lit up.
Gu Lin got out of the car…
He smiled, hugged his mother who had come to pick him up, and then walked into the house with her.
Lin Zheng ran to the balcony to water the flowers, then carefully wrote down the date and time in the notebook next to the flowerpots.
“The date, ah, it’s been exactly two months.” After writing down the date, Lin Zheng deleted the date from his phone calendar.
He took a few photos of the flowers with his phone and a few more of himself with the flowers, then gently touched the petals, “You have to grow well.”
Then he went downstairs and thoroughly cleaned the house, making everything look brand new. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, “Thank you for the accommodation.”
After showering and changing his clothes, Lin Zheng took his already packed luggage—not much.
This was Lin Zheng’s plan from the beginning, or rather, his nature. He discarded anything unworthy of attachment.
Gu Lin was very good to him and genuinely liked him, but he knew that Gu Lin would leave eventually, and he would be left standing still. He didn’t like that passivity, so he made his choice.
Lin Zheng placed his room key and the supplementary card Gu Lin gave him on the hallway cabinet.
Then he left a note for Gu Lin.
Finally, he glanced at the spacious house, pulled down his baseball cap, pulled his suitcase, walked out, and closed the door behind him.
He also closed the door on his memories with Gu Lin.
Whether it was romance or career, let the main characters handle the main plot. He was going to…
Escape the plot and go adventuring!
Author’s Note: Thank you to all the lovely readers who subscribed. Within 24 hours of this chapter’s update, readers who leave comments in this chapter will receive a red envelope! Love you all~