"I'm gonna say something definitely stupid," Liang Yue announced with the confidence of someone who'd already decided to ruin peace at 7 in the morning, "but I'm gonna say it anyway. And don't beat me after I say it, okay?"
He said this while aggressively chewing a cream bread like it personally offended him. His eyes squinted at Ning Wen like he was solving a murder case.
Ning Wen eyed him back. "What now."
"Nothing, it's just…" Liang Yue leaned closer, dramatic as always, "…you look weird."
Ning Wen blinked. "Weird how?"
"Like… in a good mood."
"Huh?"
"Yeah, bro, your face is giving 'I am the happiest human alive.' Did you win the lottery? Or find a treasure chest full of premium snacks? Because nothing else explains this."
Ning Wen's soul left his body.
His face went red so fast he nearly choked on his congee. Because Liang Yue was right. Painfully right. Annoyingly right. And Ning Wen absolutely could not say it out loud.
It wasn't lottery.
It was Tang Zeyan.
He had slept better than he had in years. Softly. Peacefully. No nightmares. No weight crushing his chest. Just a warm memory of a balcony, a gentle voice, a forehead kiss that still burned faintly on his skin.
And when he saw Tang Zeyan in the morning, that boy pretended to act normal, but those tiny smirks and warm glances? Yeah, Ning Wen felt every single one of them in his bones.
But he could never say that to Liang Yue.
Never. At least, not now when things aren't in proper confirmation.
So he did what any sane, flustered man would do.
He shoved more food into his mouth and stared at his bowl like it contained the secrets of the universe.
Liang Yue squinted harder. "Ning Wen… you're hiding something. I can smell it."
"Eat your bread," Ning Wen muttered, ears burning.
Liang Yue narrowed his eyes even more, leaning forward like he was about to sniff out a crime scene.
"…You're totally hiding something," he declared, pointing at Ning Wen with the cream-covered bread like it was a microphone of justice. "Your whole aura is saying I-slept-like-a-princess-don't-question-me."
"Liang Yue, just eat," Ning Wen muttered, shoving another spoonful of porridge in his mouth just so he wouldn't have to speak.
Liang Yue wasn't buying any of it. "Aha. See? See?! Deflecting. Classic guilty behavior."
"I'm not guilty of anything."
"That's what guilty people say."
Ning Wen clicked his tongue, but his cheeks were already betraying him with that soft pink warmth. He shoved his hair behind his ear like it was the hair's fault.
And of course, he could feel it.
That gaze.
That slow, warm, lazy gaze from the other side of the room. Burning into his back like sunlight he secretly wanted to stand under forever. Tang Zeyan didn't say anything. He just sat there across the table of them, chin propped on his hand, looking like he was quietly enjoying the view.
Every time Ning Wen accidentally glanced up, Tang Zeyan smirked. Just a tiny one. The type that said 'I remember everything from last night and I'm not letting you forget.'
Ning Wen nearly dropped his spoon.
Yeah… staying cool was not happening.
Liang Yue caught that microscopic moment and gasped like he'd cracked the biggest scandal of the century. "You—YOU'RE BLUSHING."
"I'm not."
"Oh my god you so are. Who is it? What did you do? What did THEY do?"
Ning Wen covered his burning face with one hand and kept eating with the other, voice tiny, "Shut up and eat…"
Liang Yue leaned back dramatically. "I'm telling you, something happened last night."
Ning Wen's heart jumped. His mind flashed to moonlight, warm hands, whispered words, a forehead kiss that still felt warm.
He tried not to smile.
He failed miserably.
"Brother Yue, how about you focus on eating?" Tang Ruihan said, voice calm as ever as he sat across the table.
He'd been watching this entire interrogation unfold with the patience of someone who had already accepted his fate. His brother and soon-to-be brother-in-law were clearly in the soft glow of something new, something warm, something that did not need Liang Yue's detective act ruining it. Tang Zeyan had been dreaming of this since forever, and Ruihan had no intention of letting anyone sabotage it.
Especially not Liang Yue.
But Liang Yue, naturally, didn't even spare him a glance. "Nope. I'm a multitasker. I can talk and eat at the same time like a pro."
He shoveled another bite of cream bread into his mouth and leaned forward, eyes shining with unholy curiosity. Ruihan sighed so quietly it barely existed.
"Now tell me what happened!" Liang Yue demanded, pointing a bread crumb–covered finger at Ning Wen.
Ning Wen didn't blink. "Liang Yue, stay quiet and eat. If you don't, I'm telling Grandma how much of a menace you've been at camp."
Liang Yue froze. "What? No. Please don't. The last time you did that, she banned me from snacks for a week. Do you understand what a week feels like without snacks? Actual torture."
"And," Liang Yue groaned dramatically, "I forgot to call her last night. She rang me this morning and unleashed fifty shades of scolding on me."
"She does that because she loves you," Ning Wen said gently.
"Yeah well, half of that lecture was about you. Why didn't you call her after we arrived?" Liang Yue shot back.
"I forgot," Ning Wen murmured. "I'll call her later. Now eat."
He shoved a piece of bread into Liang Yue's mouth, finally shutting him up. Liang Yue accepted his fate and began nibbling obediently, cheeks puffed like a hamster.
Across the table, Tang Ruihan stared at him, processing the revelation like someone watching puzzle pieces click into place one by one.
So those cheerful, random three-times-a-day phone calls Liang Yue always took?
Those weren't some secret lover.
No mysterious admirer.
No hidden romantic rival.
Just… grandma.
Tang Ruihan's shoulders dropped almost imperceptibly, relief washing through him so quietly no one else would ever catch it. He hadn't asked before because he respected privacy and absolutely did not know how to casually say: "Who are you talking to so happily? I don't like it."
Now he didn't have to.
And with that relief came a realization he didn't bother denying.
Liang Yue might be sunshine to the world, but that remaining one percent—the shadows, the secrets, the moods, the little sharp edges—those were the parts Tang Ruihan found dangerously interesting. Parts he wanted to understand, piece by piece.
Slowly.
Steadily.
And completely.
After breakfast, Ning Wen tried acting like he was a functioning adult, even though he kept fidgeting with his stethoscope like he'd forgotten what the thing even does. It didn't help that Tang Zeyan was standing beside him, tall and relaxed, watching him with that lazy charm that made Ning Wen want to throw himself into the nearest rice field.
Meanwhile, Liang Yue was still on his personal side quest to expose whatever was going on with his best friend. Tang Ruihan, of course, shadowed Liang Yue like a loyal NPC desperate for attention.
"Hey guys, I forgot to tell you," Qiu Lei said calmly as ever. "The villagers invited us out for a walk today. They want to show us the scenery as thanks for our help. Oh, and there's going to be a festival soon, plus a lantern festival in a few days. They want us to join. Interested?"
Liang Yue answered like someone who'd just been told there was free food involved. "Yes! I so wanna see more of the green beauty here. Wait, let me grab my camera!" And he sprinted to his room, Tang Ruihan trailing behind him as if he'd disappear without Liang Yue breathing the same air.
Ning Wen nodded. "Yeah… that'd be good."
"I know, right? And I wanna try the street food," Hu Fang added.
"Hey, Tang Zeyan, you coming too?" Zhang Kai asked.
Tang Zeyan didn't even blink. "Of course. Wherever brother Ning goes, I'll be there."
His hands stayed casually in his pockets, his body leaning just slightly toward Ning Wen, like gravity itself was biased. Ning Wen tried to swallow the smile that wanted to escape and shook his head, pretending he wasn't secretly flustered out of his mind.
That tiny reaction made Tang Zeyan's smile widen. He already felt like he'd gotten his hands on a precious little diamond. And the bigger treasure? Oh, he planned to take that for himself too. No chance he was stopping now. Not when Ning Wen was this close.
Zhang Kai blinked.
Qiu Lei and Hu Fang had the exact same expression.
The three of them exchanged suspicious glances. Ever since last night, something felt… off. Like a major plot twist was brewing right under their noses, but none of them had the receipts.
Wu Ming jogged over, breath a little uneven. "What's up with Liang Yue? Why's he running around like that? Dude almost tripped, but Tang Ruihan caught him like some perfect male lead. Nearly gave my heart a jump scare."
He stopped mid-sentence when he caught Tang Zeyan staring directly at Ning Wen… and Ning Wen doing everything in his power to pretend the air around him was super interesting. His ears were bright red.
Wu Ming went silent and joined Qiu Lei, Hu Fang, and Zhang Kai in a neat little row of stunned observers.
"Are you guys feeling it too," Wu Ming whispered, "or am I losing my mind? Something huge is happening."
"I totally feel it…" Zhang Kai nodded dramatically. "These two Tang brothers are clearly on some secret quest to steal our best doctors away from us. Should we do something, my darling?" He dropped an arm over Qiu Lei's shoulder.
Qiu Lei calmly pushed up his glasses with one hand and used the other to remove Zhang Kai's arm. "Maybe we should. But we literally have no idea what's going on. We should wait and watch. No evidence, no moves."
Wu Ming and Hu Fang nodded like solemn judges.
The four of them stood there like they were witnessing the pre-credits of an impending love drama they absolutely were not ready for.
In the hotel room, Liang Yue was practically excavating his bag like a deranged archaeologist. Clothes everywhere, charger wires hanging like noodles, and in the middle of it all, he finally pulled out his camera.
"I was so smart to bring this. My darling..." He kissed the black, slightly bulky camera like it was a long-lost lover. It was definitely older than half the tech in the room.
Tang Ruihan stared at it for a moment, recognition flickering across his face. "It… seems like an old camera."
"Hey. Don't call my baby old," Liang Yue shot back. "Okay, fine, maybe it is old. But my dad gave it to me before going to heaven, so I keep it really close."
He said it with a smile that was brighter than it had any right to be.
Tang Ruihan's voice softened. "I'm sorry."
"Why? My dad's been gone for years." Liang Yue shrugged lightly. "I don't even remember him properly anymore. It's fine. But he did leave behind his mother to torment me on his behalf." He let out a dramatic sigh, already imagining his grandma scolding him over snacks.
Tang Ruihan chuckled. He genuinely hadn't met anyone like Liang Yue before… this bright, this chaotic, this painfully adorable human tornado.
"There's a bunch of pics in here. Some from this trip, some older. Wanna see?" Liang Yue hopped onto the edge of the bed, patting the space next to him.
Tang Ruihan nodded and sat down beside him. Liang Yue opened the gallery and, with that wide smile and his naturally loud excitement, started showing him photo after photo, each with its own little story.
But Tang Ruihan honestly couldn't focus on a single picture.
His gaze kept drifting back to Liang Yue… the way his eyes lit up, the way he talked with his whole heart, the way every tiny movement felt alive.
The photos were beautiful. He just happened to be looking at something even better.
Tang Ruihan swallowed hard, feeling that strange pull tightening in his chest again. It was ridiculous, honestly. One second he was pretending to look at the camera photos, and the next he was staring at Liang Yue like he'd been hit by a stun spell. No expression on his face, but inside everything was spiraling.
Something hurt in his chest, twisting in a way that felt painfully good, like someone had reached inside and grabbed something essential. And it made no sense. He'd had admirers, lovers, a whole line of people calling his name across the years… yet none of them had ever made him feel like this. No one had ever made him feel like he'd go insane if he couldn't have them entirely.
But Liang Yue? It was like this guy had thrown some kind of quiet magic at him the moment they met. Tang Ruihan couldn't explain it. Couldn't understand it. Couldn't control it.
And it terrified him in a way he didn't want to admit.
He snapped back into reality when Liang Yue turned his head, smiling brightly as he held up a photo of himself in high school.
"Look, I remember this one time I bunked class with Ning Wen. Well… okay, I practically forced him to bunk with me. I was a good kid, I swear, but sometimes I wanted to do criminal stuff." Liang Yue laughed at his own memory, eyes shining.
Tang Ruihan didn't even look at the picture.
He leaned forward without thinking, lowering his head until his forehead rested gently against Liang Yue's shoulder.
Liang Yue froze instantly, a shiver running up his spine as Tang Ruihan slowly rubbed his forehead there. Soft. Warm. Intimate enough to steal his breath.
"Tell me more," Tang Ruihan murmured.
"Huh?" Liang Yue blinked rapidly, trying to act normal even as his entire brain short-circuited.
"Tell me more about your high school times." Tang Ruihan's voice was low, deeper than he usually sounded, with a strange edge he didn't even know he had. "Actually… tell me everything about your life. All of it. I need to know you."
And Liang Yue didn't even know where to put his hands, his heart, or his sanity.
Because something in Tang Ruihan's tone made it sound less like a request and more like a vow.
"What… what happened to you?" Liang Yue asked, his voice cracking a little. He hated that. He didn't even know why his chest suddenly felt like someone poked a bruise he didn't know he had.
Tang Ruihan lifted his head from Liang Yue's shoulder, just enough to meet those big, wide doe eyes. There was nothing dramatic in his expression, nothing wild. Just a calm honesty that hit harder than anything else.
"Did I say something weird?" he asked quietly. "I just want to know you. Properly. Can't I?"
Liang Yue coughed, instantly looking away, ears warming up like someone turned the heater on too high. "I mean… yeah… obviously? It's not illegal or something. I just— whatever. Forget it. Let's go." He scrambled up so fast he nearly tripped over his own bag which he threw away earlier while looking for the camera, he gulped and knelt down, pretending to rearrange things he had messed up.
Tang Ruihan didn't follow immediately.
He just sat there, holding the camera Liang Yue had dropped into his hands.
One by one, he flipped through the photos.
Liang Yue as a kid, missing a tooth.
Liang Yue in high school, pretending to be a troublemaker but obviously just adorably weird.
Liang Yue in college, smiling like he owned every patch of sunlight he stood in.
Liang Yue now, glowing on accident.
Every picture hit harder than the last. Each one tugged at that strange feeling in Tang Ruihan's chest. Something warm. Something terrifying. Something he'd never felt for anyone, not even close.
When he finally stood, he exhaled one long breath.
He'd been trying to deny it since day one.
But there was no point anymore.
He was falling for Liang Yue.
Hard.
Deep.
And in a way he didn't even know was possible until now.