"Before you say anything," Jae said, "I worked very hard on this and you are not allowed to be low key about it."

Tian Huan looked at him for a moment.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

Jae pulled him into a hug.

Tian Huan held on for a moment longer than he usually would and Jae said absolutely nothing about that.

The room filled with movement after that, Hao Lin crossing over immediately, Lindong close behind, everyone converging on Tian Huan with the easy warmth of people who had genuinely missed each other and were not going to pretend otherwise.

Guiying watched from where he stood beside Liuxian.

He watched Tian Huan move through the greetings, composed and quiet, saying little but receiving everything with the particular stillness of someone who was more moved than they were showing. He watched Jae hovering nearby like he was making sure nobody left before Tian Huan had been properly welcomed back.

He thought about what it meant to have people who showed up like this.

Liuxian looked at him.

"Come," he said. "I’ll introduce you."

Inside, the room was full. Round tables with white chrysanthemums at the centre, a long spread of food along the far wall, soft music threading under the noise of conversation.

Jae had done well and he knew it.

He was mid conversation with Hao Lin when they entered.

He looked up.

Liu Liuxian walked in with his partner on his arm. Jae took one look and nudged Hao Lin.

Hao Lin turned around and looked.

"Oh.." Hao Lin said.

"This is Tang XiaoYu," Liuxian said. "My partner."

Tian Huan extended his hand.

He was calm faced and steady eyed, the kind of person who took their time forming opinions and meant them when they did. "Tian Huan. Welcome."

"I’ve heard about you.." Guiying said, shaking his hand. "Welcome back."

Something shifted briefly in Tian Huan’s expression.

"Thank you," he said.

They moved to the tables and the evening settled into its rhythm. Jae ended up beside Guiying, which surprised nobody.

"Art collecting.." Jae said, refilling his glass. "That’s not a common profession. How did you get into it?"

"I traveled a lot when I was younger.." Guiying said. "I spent time in Europe mostly. After a while you start developing an eye for things."

"What kind of things?"

"Ink wash mainly. Some impressionism. Contemporary installation work when something interesting comes up."

"Do you have a favourite piece? Something you own?"

"A few," Guiying said. "Nothing I’d sell."

"High standards.." Jae said, nodding. "I respect that." He leaned back in his chair. "And what brought you to Beijing specifically? Business?"

"A chance encounter," Guiying said simply, and picked up his chopsticks.

Jae glanced at Liuxian across the table. Liuxian was eating and did not look up but the corner of his mouth moved very slightly.

Hao Lin leaned forward. "He hasn’t told us anything about how you two met. Nothing. We’ve been dying."

"We met at a government office," Guiying said.

Hao Lin stared at him. "A government office."

"Mm."

"That’s all you’re giving us?"

"That’s all there is," Guiying said pleasantly.

Jae laughed and shook his head. Hao Lin sat back looking thoroughly unsatisfied. Lindong smiled into his glass. Even Tian Huan at the end of the table looked faintly amused.

Liuxian set his chopsticks down. "Leave him alone."

"I’m just asking," Hao Lin said.

"You’ve asked," Liuxian said.

The conversation shifted. Jae brought up Moying’s audition on Monday. Liuxian confirmed the label. Hao Lin said Yang Entertainment had a solid roster, that if the boy was serious about music he had landed in the right place.

Words spread fast in the group, they seemed to know each other’s daily lives.

"Has anyone actually heard him?" Jae asked.

"I have," Guiying said.

The table looked at him.

"He’s very good," Guiying said. "Not trained good. Just naturally good. The kind of voice that doesn’t need much done to it."

"High praise," Jae said.

"I mean it," Guiying said, and went back to his plate.

Jae looked at Liuxian with an expression that said several things. Liuxian looked back at him and said nothing.

Later, when the table had broken into smaller conversations and the food had been thoroughly dealt with.

The evening wore on warmly. The food was excellent and the company was easy and Guiying found, without particularly meaning to, that he was comfortable.

Not performing Tang XiaoYu, not calculating his next answer, just sitting at a table with people who were genuinely good company and eating well and listening to Jae make everyone laugh at regular intervals.

At some point Liuxian’s hand found his under the table.

Guiying looked at him.

Liuxian was in conversation with Tian Huan and did not look back.

His hand simply stayed where it was, warm and unhurried, like it belonged there.

Guiying looked back at his glass.

He left his hand where it was too.

The evening air outside was cool and still.

Guiying stepped out onto the small terrace adjoining the venue and let the door close behind him. The city spread out below, unhurried and lit, and he stood at the railing and breathed for a moment.

He had not been outside long when he heard the door open behind him.

He turned.

The man who stepped out was tall, around thirty, with the Xue family’s bone structure worn differently than Deyong or Jiaming. Less aggressive in his bearing. He was dressed well and held a glass loosely in one hand and when his eyes landed on Guiying he went still. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

They looked at each other.

Xue Bowen.

The second son.

The one before Guiying in the family order, the one who had always occupied the particular position of someone who neither championed nor condemned, who simply existed in the household with the detached ease of someone who had decided early that none of it was worth his energy.

He had done the least damage.

That was the most Guiying could say for him.

Bowen looked at him for a long moment.

Then he exhaled slowly and came to stand at the railing a few feet away.

"I knew it was you the moment I walked into that room," he said. He looked out at the city. "Your pheromones haven’t changed."

Guiying said nothing.

"I’m not going to say anything," Bowen said. He swirled his glass once.

"Grandpa made his position clear. Let him go, move on, focus on building something real. Then he gave his shares to Uncle ShangYan and now Father and Jiaming are sitting on a hot seat of their own making."

He glanced at Guiying briefly. "Nobody has the energy to chase you anymore. They have bigger problems."

Guiying looked at the city.

"That said," Bowen continued, "I’d still be careful if I were you. Father is embarrassed and embarrassed men do stupid things. And Jiaming—" he paused, "you know what he’s like."

"I know," Guiying said.

Bowen nodded. He finished what was in his glass and straightened up.

"You look well," he said.

It was not a compliment exactly.

Just an observation, the kind that carried something underneath it that he was not going to name out loud.

He turned and went back inside without another word.