Chasing the Wind and Shadows: Don’t Flirt with Your Ex, He’s Highly Combustible

On Fu Qinghuai's first day back in the country, he walked into a mission where his almost-ex-boyfriend was on the scene. His father, Fu Longsheng, issued a cold order through the comms: “Tea, there's been a change at the restaurant. Handle it.” He replied casually, “OK.” Xiao Xin was still reeling from that familiar voice when a hand with long, defined fingers rapped on the table in front of him. Fu Qinghuai looked down at him, his gaze passing over the glittering earring in his left ear. The corner of his mouth curled in a humorless smile. “Change your gear.” Those were the first words he said to Xiao Xin after their reunion. Later, he dragged his suitcase back “home” and found his ex-boyfriend being beaten by his own father. “Well, that's quite a welcome.” Fu Qinghuai smiled around his cigarette, but his eyes had turned to ice. Everyone knew how badly things had ended between them back then. Xiao Xin had told him, “Fu Qinghuai, I think of you as a brother. Your kind of feelings disgust me,” then slammed the door and left the country, never to be heard from again. Now Xiao Xin was crumpled in the corner, pain written all over his face, and Fu Qinghuai's heart still hurt so badly it trembled. Zizai tugged at Fu Qinghuai's sleeve. “Brother Huai, please talk some sense into Godfather...” Fu Qinghuai tipped his head back and blew out a ring of smoke, his voice cold and hard. “They brought this on themselves. They deserve to be beaten.” At the welcome banquet, Fu Qinghuai got drunk. His eyes red, he pinned Xiao Xin hard against the cold old wall at the rooftop corner. From the private room next door came the crash of Fu Longsheng smashing a glass and cursing. Fu Qinghuai's breath, hot and smelling of alcohol, brushed Xiao Xin's ear. “Back then, my dad told you to get lost, and you really did...” “Xiao Xin, do you even have a heart?” #What he thought was rejection was a confession his father had personally cut short# #What he thought was disgust was the “I love you” he hadn't dared say back then#