He Juan sat up with a groan and clumsily pulled the phone out of his pocket. Only when the screen’s piercing light almost blinded his eyes did he realize that he had forgotten to turn on the light when he came in.

Fuck this, he thought, and proceeded to read the text on his phone with his eyes squinted into narrow lines.

It turned out to be messages from Chen Youzhi. The first was sent two hours ago when he was still talking to Marius. Come to think of it, it seemed like he had indeed sensed his phone vibrating in his pocket, but he had outrightly ignored it in lieu of catching up with his friend.

[Boss, Old Huang and Mo’er are awake. They’re worried about your condition.]

Then the last message, the one that had just come in a minute ago:

[Are you sure that you don’t need me to assist you, Boss? Please don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean to defy your order, but... I’m just worried that your fractured arm will inconvenience you.]

"Foolish..." He Juan let out a snort, though his lips were stretched into a warm smile.

He could almost imagine Chen Youzhi’s deep furrow as he composed that one message. This kind of concern couldn’t have been faked, right? He Juan had no idea whether it was the long day that had exhausted him to the brink, but he found himself not wanting to think too much about it – at least, for tonight.

Just for tonight, he wanted to bask in this worry and pretended that it was genuine, without any seed of treachery or hidden intentions whatsoever.

Considering how difficult it was to type with his non-dominant left hand, he finally conceded to using voice notes. He pressed his thumb on the record button and said to the speaker, "Good night, Chen’er. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine."

As he watched the voice note be delivered, his mind started to wander toward the boy whom he had left behind. Had he fallen asleep yet? Was the food he ate for lunch and dinner delicious? Did he go hungry in the middle of the night? Did he feel apprehensive being left alone in such a big apartment?

He Juan’s eyes darted to the clock and saw that it was a little past nine pm. It meant that in China, it should almost be eleven soon. He should be asleep already, right...?

He Juan was almost tempted to forego his urge to hear Mu Yuze’s voice, but then he recalled how the boy had tossed and turned in his bed last night until dawn emerged, and before he knew it, he had scrolled through his list of contacts and pressed call on Mu Yuze’s number – or to be exact, one of Chen Youzhi’s number that had temporarily become Mu Yuze’s.

He was jolted out of his reverie when the ringtone echoed in the air.

Oh God, what had he done?! How could he make a call at such a late hour?! What if Mu Yuze had fallen asleep with much difficulty and the call would only rouse him awake?! He Juan scrambled to reach for the red button to cancel the call only for the phone to slip from his hand and crash to the floor with a clatter.

"Fuck!" He cursed softly and bent down to retrieve it, having totally forgotten about his poor ribs. As a result, He Juan gasped as a searing pain pierced through his chest, so intense that he could almost feel blood surging up in his throat. Just as he was cursing his entire life that led to him making this stupid decision, the call was finally connected with a click.

"Hello? W–Who is it?" Mu Yuze’s quiet voice drifted from the phone lying somewhere on the floor, and once again He Juan closed his eyes and resisted a groan. Too caught up in his own misery, he failed to notice how Mu Yuze was utterly clueless on the identity of the caller when his name should have been displayed on the screen.

"God, I’m so sorry... I shouldn’t have called you at such a late hour. Please tell me that you haven’t fallen asleep yet." Trying not to aggravate his ribs, He Juan resigned himself to slide down from the couch and finally held the damn phone in his hand. He did not even bother to return and instead chose to settle on the cold floor, his miles long legs stretching out below the coffee table.

"No, I haven’t." Mu Yuze paused for a beat before asking, "...Is there something wrong?"

"Oh no, nothing’s wrong at all. I just want to hear your voice." He Juan had spoken without thinking, and it was not until all he got was silence from the other side did he snap back to his senses.

For God’s sake, He Juan, you... you sound just like a pervert! No wonder Mu Yuze was creeped out by you! In that split second, He Juan added another point to his list of ’Things To Watch Out For Around Mu Yuze’ – never make a call when he was in an exhausted state!

He had no idea that his brain-to-mouth filter would malfunction at a time like this. After all, this kind of error had never happened before! He resisted the urge to bang his head on the table in front of him. Now what should he do to salvage his crumbling image in Mu Yuze’s eyes?!

Utterly flustered, He Juan opened his mouth to rectify his mistake when he heard Mu Yuze ask in a much smaller voice,

"Why?"

He was asking why He Juan wanted to hear his voice.

He Juan was ready to answer when words were abruptly lost on his tongue. Why did he want to call Mu Yuze and hear his voice again?

Simple – it was because he wanted to. But he had a hunch that Mu Yuze would directly hang up on the phone if he said that, so he hastily braked himself in time. If he had to give an answer though...

"I’m worried about you," he sighed. "I’m sorry, Xiao Ze, even though I promised to help you move in yesterday, in the end I couldn’t fulfill it due to some urgent work. So, how are you settling in? Was the food enough? Chen Youzhi didn’t forget to bring you lunch and dinner, right? Have you done your homework? And your bruises... does it hurt?"

The barrage of questions spilled out of his mouth smoothly, much more genuine that he thought it would be. That’s right, it must be because he had taken Mu Yuze as a part of his responsibility that he wished to hear the boy’s voice and make sure that he was okay. He Juan reasoned that it must be where this sudden urge came from!

Once again, a long silence stretched from the other side.

Just as He Juan was wondering if the call was disconnected, he suddenly heard a slight rustle coming from the phone. Frowning, he brought the phone closer to his ear and his eyes widened when he realized what he had just heard.

It was the whistling wind and quiet footsteps in between. Not only that, he also heard Mu Yuze hushing softly and was replied with a sweet cry he couldn’t be more familiar with...

Shell-shocked, He Juan blurted out his question, "Xiao Ze, are you bringing Kitty into the house?!"