“Didn’t you say you were handling official business in Country Y? Why are you here to pick me up again?”

Gu Qichi rested his chin on the other man’s shoulder. having stood in the snow in thin clothing for too long, his limbs and face were frozen stiff. He couldn’t help but nuzzle against Bo Yu’s warm scarf as he softly teased him.

In truth, it wasn’t hard to guess that Bo Yu would come to find him. Every time there was a gap in his schedule, the man never missed a chance, always appearing by his side as reliably as thunder.

However, when Gu Qichi first heard that Bo Yu was in Country Y and couldn’t return, he had felt a tinge of regret. But that displeasure had been squeezed down by his busy work schedule, buried at the bottom of his heart until this very moment of seeing Bo Yu, where it vanished into smoke, replaced by a faint, filling joy.

At two in the morning, the sky was very dark. There were few pedestrians on the street, almost no one to be seen, save for a few streetlamps flickering with a weak, dim yellow light.

Luo Qianqian followed behind Gu Qichi, holding the wrap bouquet given by the crew. She couldn’t help but glance at the large bunch of white lisianthus in Gu Qichi’s hands. Stray snowflakes landed on the petals—pure and clean.

It was a breathtaking beauty that bloomed through the freezing snow. Bo Yu’s taste had always been impeccable; the things he chose, whether bracelets, rings, or celebratory flowers, always suited Gu Qichi perfectly.

Luo Qianqian glanced at Gu Qichi’s expression and thought silently to herself: Teacher Gu really loves Teacher Bo. His reaction to receiving flowers from Bo Yu versus flowers from the crew was completely different; that immediate delight was something that couldn’t be faked.

So, Teacher Gu and Mr. Bo are really so shippable!!!

With the intention of not disturbing the flirtatious mood of the young couple, and with sleepiness washing over her, Luo Qianqian thought for a moment. Before the two could get too clingy, she spoke up weakly from behind Gu Qichi: “Teacher Gu, how about you and Teacher Bo chat first? I’ll take these things back to the hotel. I’m a bit sleepy.”

Gu Qichi turned his head to look at her, concern in his eyes. “Will you be alright alone?”

Luo Qianqian waved her hand nonchalantly, two small pear dimples appearing on her cheeks. “It doesn’t matter, Teacher Gu. Our hotel is less than five hundred meters from here. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

The distance wasn’t long, and given Luo Qianqian’s insistence, Gu Qichi thought briefly about the route and time before hearing Bo Yu say, “Let Bai Heng drive her back. You can walk back with me.”

Since it wasn’t far, two grown men walking on the street was certainly safer than a girl walking alone. Gu Qichi didn’t overthink it and agreed immediately.

After seeing Luo Qianqian into the car, Gu Qichi unconsciously breathed hot air into his cupped hands; the temperature today was truly low.

Bo Yu also noticed the chill radiating from him and reached out to warm his hands, only to realize his own hands were just as cold. He had to settle for untying his scarf and wrapping it around Gu Qichi.

His hands were too cold, and when they touched Gu Qichi’s, they felt a bit dry. Gu Qichi looked up, glancing at Bo Yu with amusement. “How long have you been waiting here?”

Under the streetlamp, orange-yellow light pierced down from above, a clear river of golden light diffusing into the cold air. Within that river of light, drifting white snow was faintly visible.

Bo Yu took his hand and placed it inside his own overcoat pocket. The movement was incredibly natural, his face unchanging and his heart steady as he said, “The case in Country Y isn’t finished yet, but I wanted to see you. If I didn’t see you, I was going to go crazy.”

Gu Qichi exhaled, watching the formed white mist disperse from his mouth. “It’s not that easy.”

With no one else around, Bo Yu spoke without any burden. “I waited for you in the snow for over three hours. Clearly, I was thinking of you to the point of madness.”

“By the time you go to film the variety show, I’ll have to return to Country Y to handle some contracts. It’s close to the New Year, and the company has a massive backlog of matters. For the coming period, right up until the New Year, our schedules might be out of sync.”

He wasn’t lying. Not only was Bo Yu busy, but Gu Qichi was also busy. He was going to film Strive! Actor! this week, and after that, he had to return to Hengdian to shoot the extra scenes Lin Shuangyi mentioned. At the end of December, Wen Xi had also arranged several auditions for him—one movie, one TV drama—both scheduled to start filming in March, right after the New Year.

Separated more than together; their time to be with Bo Yu was suddenly compressed very tightly.

Thinking of this, Gu Qichi’s heart softened. He didn’t say anything more, simply letting Bo Yu hold his hand quietly.

When Bo Yu kissed down, his lips still carried the unique coolness of winter. As their dry lips pressed together, Gu Qichi’s hand was still inside the overcoat, but Bo Yu had already reached out to wrap an arm around his waist.

They kissed on the day of the first snow.

Clean and blazing hot.

This kiss wasn’t like previous ones, filled with anxiety and urgency. This time, Bo Yu was kissing him very gently.

Bo Yu didn’t rush to intrude with his tongue. His teeth lightly nibbled on Gu Qichi’s lower lip, as if savoring a beloved treat, turning his lips a deep crimson color.

Gu Qichi unconsciously closed his eyes, tilting his neck upward to actively meet Bo Yu’s movements.

But the other suddenly stopped.

Bo Yu’s gaze was very deep, his voice slightly hoarse. The hand on Gu’s waist slid down, then took Gu’s hand again. The darkness in his eyes was so thick it seemed impossible to dissolve, looking as if it wanted to suck the person in.

Not receiving the kiss he expected, Gu Qichi opened his eyes blankly, looking at Bo Yu in confusion.

After standing for a while, both of their body temperatures had risen significantly. A layer of warmth radiated around Gu Qichi. The thick scarf covered his fair, slender neck, and Bo Yu pulled it up a bit higher, leaving only Gu Qichi’s eyes exposed to the outside.

Gu Qichi’s eyes were beautiful. They were standard peach blossom eyes—the inner corners sharp and deep, the tails fine and curved, tilting slightly upward. The double eyelid folds were very deep, and the area around his eyes was tinged with a faint pink, yet the person himself was cold.

Those eyes were always clear and cool, as if containing a layer of snow that never melted all year round. Only when kissing would that snow melt, turning into a vast white mist shrouding the depths of his eyes. His gaze would become gentle, his eyes moist, blurred and lost, revealing a natural, effortless allure.

That was why Bo Yu loved kissing him. He liked watching something different appear in the depths of Gu Qichi’s eyes. Especially when those nameless emotions were born for him, it gave him a thrilling sense of excitement from the bottom of his heart.

He stared at Gu Qichi like this, his thumb rubbing over that patch of skin prone to reddening, watching Gu Qichi’s eyelashes tremble lightly, his eyes filled only with him.

“What’s wrong?” Gu Qichi asked him. His voice was also a bit hoarse from the kissing. The scarf blocked most of his face, obscuring his expression, but Bo Yu’s reaction was truly strange, so his tone carried a distinct confusion.

Bo Yu lowered his brow, silent for a long moment. His Adam’s apple bobbed before he finally asked aloud, “Gu Qichi, when I kiss you, do you feel disgusted?”

Never expecting Bo Yu to say this, Gu Qichi was visibly stunned. He lifted his eyelids, and between the trembling of his lashes, he could clearly see the subtle expressions on Bo Yu’s face under the light.

There was struggle, hesitation, probing, and an expectation hidden in the deepest layers.

Just now during filming, Lin Shuangyi had jokingly remarked that his eyelashes were longer than the actresses’. In all his years of filming, he hadn’t seen many actors catch snow with real eyelashes.

Gu Qichi was one of those very few.

But right now, at this very moment, Gu Qichi suddenly realized that Bo Yu’s eyelashes were also very long, perhaps even a bit longer than his own.

His eyelashes curled slightly upward, but Bo Yu’s were slender, dense, and straight, without much curve. When he lowered his eyes, the lashes cast a faint shadow on his lower eyelids, fanning out to completely obscure the look in his eyes.

Bo Yu was obviously nervous. The temperature was cold, and because the distance between them was mere inches, Gu could clearly see a fine layer of goosebumps rising on his neck. The small red mole on his Adam’s apple trembled along with his emotions, exceptionally distinct against his cold, white neck.

“Bo Yu, do you think if I were disgusted by you, I would still let you kiss me?”

Most of Gu Qichi’s face was buried behind Bo Yu’s scarf. His eyes were clear, the amber irises rippling with a circle of very gentle light under the orange glow.

Hearing his answer, Bo Yu took a deep breath, almost daring not to look directly at him.

These past days, he and Gu Qichi had done everything—holding hands, kissing, hugging, even deeper physical exchanges; nothing had been left out.

They seemed just like the most ordinary couple in the world, entrusting themselves to their beloved.

But Bo Yu knew that between him and Gu Qichi, it wasn’t like that.

They were indeed a married couple, but between them stood a window paper that was neither thin nor thick. It looked inconspicuous, but it was an indelible chasm.

That prenuptial agreement was originally intended to bind the person to his side. Bo Yu’s initial thought was simple: no matter what, keep Gu Qichi in front of him first, help him leave the Gu family, and then take him under his wing.

But people are always insatiably greedy. He had gained Gu Qichi’s trust, gained Gu Qichi’s kisses, and even, without using any underhanded means, gained Gu Qichi’s body.

Yet he had never gained his heart, never gained his love.

Those dark thoughts inside Bo Yu kept breeding, the churning desire never ceasing. He wanted to possess Gu Qichi.

Not just possess Gu Qichi the person; he greedily wanted Gu Qichi’s eyes to see only him, his heart to hold only him. Just like true lovers, true spouses, entrusting their trust to each other, delivering the truest desires deep within their hearts, even surrendering their souls to achieve the unity of spirit and flesh.

He drew a prison on the ground and bound himself firmly within it because he was lost, he was hesitant. He wasn’t sure what Gu Qichi’s attitude would be after poking through this awkward layer of paper.

Would he turn away in disgust, tear up that agreement, divorce him without regard for feelings, and flee from his side? Or would he open his heart to accept him?

He fantasized about ten thousand ways to achieve the second possibility, but a voice always roared in the bottom of his heart—

“You can’t let him go. You absolutely cannot let him go.”

“Don’t you know it yourself? Gu Qichi is someone you tricked into coming back with schemes. You and he have the simplest relationship of interest. Without that marriage contract, you are nothing. If he knew what you were thinking, he would definitely leave without hesitation.”

Bo Yu originally had plenty of time to wait for Gu Qichi, but now he couldn’t wait anymore.

Song Zhian’s appearance had undoubtedly sounded a warning bell for him—

Gu Qichi was a treasure left behind by God in the mortal world. No one could dislike him; no one could fail to favor him.

Song Zhian was the first, but he wouldn’t be the last.

There would be many people who liked Gu Qichi, who wanted to obtain Gu Qichi, and there would be people even more despicable than himself dreaming of defiling him, possessing him.

Bo Yu almost dared not believe how he would react if, three years later, he and Gu Qichi divorced according to the agreement, and the other found someone he liked and could commit his life to.

He might truly go crazy and do some very criminal things.

But the young man’s gaze was too clear, his eyes filled with Bo Yu’s reflection. Bo Yu asked himself in his heart again: Could I really bear to use those methods against Gu Qichi?

The answer was uncertain.

Facing Gu Qichi, he would always compromise unconditionally.

Thinking of this, Bo Yu struggled for a long time before finally speaking: “Gu Qichi, then… if there wasn’t that marriage agreement, would you still be willing?”

The man lowered his head and lifted his eyelids. The difference in height between his brow bone and eye socket made his eyes appear extremely deep. The rolling, boundless darkness crashed directly into Gu Qichi’s eyes, blunt and sharp.

No matter how obtuse Gu Qichi might be, he could hear what Bo Yu was actually asking right now. What’s more, Gu Qichi was extremely sharp and had nothing to do with the word ‘obtuse.’

What Bo Yu wanted to ask was—If there wasn’t that prenuptial agreement, would you still be willing to kiss me?

Or, on a deeper level, Bo Yu was asking him—Gu Qichi, do you like me?

Because one only holds hands, kisses, and does those deeper, indescribable things with someone they like.

The golden river of light formed by the streetlamp shrouded Gu Qichi. Today, he wore a sharply cut grey coat over a white low-collar thin sweater. With Bo Yu’s scarf completely covering his slender, fair neck, his entire being was enveloped in warmth.

Amidst the play of light and shadow, Gu Qichi tilted his head up. Dappled shadows fell across the bridge of his high nose; half his face was in shadow, half in light. The orange glow created a fuzzy halo around him, his hair seemingly plated with gold, diluting his somewhat cold and indifferent temperament.

Gu Qichi suddenly stepped closer, leaning in even nearer to Bo Yu.

The scarf loosely wrapped around his face fell down with his movement, revealing his entire face.

The smile in his eyes was relaxed and bright, crashing straight into the depths of Bo Yu’s eyes without any avoidance.

He wasn’t afraid of Bo Yu at all, and he had never thought of hiding from him.

As early as the second time they made love, Gu Qichi already knew clearly that he might be falling.

It had nothing to do with anything else; it was just because of Bo Yu, because of who he was.

The door to his heart, sealed for so long, had been carefully knocked open a crack by Bo Yu. The man clumsily filled that riddled heart with warmth until it overflowed.

Gu Qichi knew better than anyone that he was falling with eyes wide open.

Bo Yu would answer his calls without hesitation at three or four in the morning; he would stay awake all night to catch the earliest flight to see him; he would quietly observe his favorite dishes and then change the meals on the table to his favorites; he would actively study recipes and secretly learn to cook from the chef because of Gu’s stomach problems; he would stand up for him without hesitation, whether the opponent was the Gu family or the Song corporation…

Yet Bo Yu never actively told him any of this, because saying it all out loud seemed particularly pale.

But Bo Yu didn’t need to speak, because Gu Qichi would see.

Those surging feelings of love had been planted as seeds in his heart from the first time they met. Accumulated over days and months, carefully watered, they finally erupted from the bottom of his heart, sprouting tender shoots, growing step by step into a towering tree that filled the heart, finally spreading a canopy of shade for him.

Resplendent in spring, lush in summer, fruitful in autumn, stored in winter.

He would always shelter him from the wind and rain.

So Gu Qichi let it happen; Gu Qichi indulged it.

This surging love would one day sweep over them, and the drowning man was willing to sink, unable to be stopped.

“Bo Yu.” Gu Qichi called his name again. “Look up, look at me.”

This was what Bo Yu had said that day when he came to pick him up.

Today, Gu Qichi repeated it verbatim.

He pursed his lips, a flush of pink unconsciously blooming at the corners of his eyes and brows from shyness, his ears turning red from the cold.

At some point, the snow had begun to fall more urgently. The intensity increased, snowflakes scattering wildly through the sky. Black hair was dyed white, refracting different lights under the glow.

The sound of the wind around them was clearly audible, whistling past. Gu Qichi’s voice landed clearly beside the ear, crashing into Bo Yu’s heart.

He said, “Bo Yu, I haven’t been in a relationship before, so are you going to pursue me?”

You and I, starting again from the simplest and most sincere step, no longer influenced by other factors.

You pursue me, and let’s fall in love.

Right in this winter, right in this moment.

The heavy snow kept falling, yet it didn’t make one feel cold. Instead, it was melted into wetness by boiling blood. The snow water flowed gently into the blank depths of Bo Yu’s heart, filling the insecurity and apprehension that had bred there.

Bo Yu closed his eyes briefly, as if afraid to confirm what he had heard. His Adam’s apple rolled up and down; Gu Qichi could even hear the distinct sound of him swallowing.

On the day of the first snow, at two o’clock in the morning.

Bo Yu leaned forward, his voice very hoarse, his palm scorching hot as it clasped the back of Gu Qichi’s neck. His burning breath almost smashed against Gu Qichi’s ear as he leaned in to ask, “Gu Qichi, I like you, so can we kiss before the pursuit begins?”

Gu Qichi took his entire expression into his eyes, then smiled slightly. He reached out, wrapping his arms around Bo Yu’s neck, kissed the corner of Bo Yu’s lips first, and then said, “Bo Yu, let’s kiss.”

The force of Bo Yu’s hand on the back of his neck suddenly increased. The gentle licking kiss from earlier seemed like an illusion; he was fierce, as if he wanted to swallow the man whole. When Bo Yu’s tongue pushed in again, Gu Qichi obediently opened his mouth, allowing him to be presumptuous.

He kissed him lightly again and again, not sparing any corner of the mouth, sweeping up his fluids and swallowing them. Bo Yu might have eaten a mint throat lozenge earlier, Gu Qichi thought absentmindedly as he endured the kiss.

But he was quickly discovered by Bo Yu, who bit the tip of his tongue heavily, recalling his thoughts. The cool scent mixed with mint candy was branded on his lips. Bo Yu’s soft hair brushed against his ear, and a faint fragrance floated to the tip of his nose—the smell of the other’s shampoo, exactly the same as his own.

Gu Qichi couldn’t help but shrink back, only to have his chin forcefully gripped.

The sound of wetness rang incessantly in his ears, mixed with the whistling wind, yet Gu Qichi could only hear the frantic, restless beating of his own heart in his chest. Like a drumstick, it struck his eardrums again and again, making his brain numb with the rhythm.

The excessive feeling of suffocation made his head spin, the root of his tongue numb from being sucked. Gu Qichi was trembling all over from the kiss, the shivers deep in his soul roasting his whole body like magma, flowing through his blood, recklessly burning away his reason.

By the end, Gu Qichi couldn’t catch his breath at all. His pupils were unfocused, his lips unconsciously parted a slit, the bright red tip of his tongue swollen, coaxed out by Bo Yu to be held and sucked.

He tried to push Bo Yu away, but his waist was held tight by the other, and he could only endure.

Gu Qichi actually lost count of how long they had been kissing, but he could sense that their kissing sessions were getting longer and longer, and Bo Yu’s kissing technique was becoming more proficient.

In the beginning, Gu Qichi could clearly keep up with him and didn’t end up kissed into such a wretched state. But the last few times, he found he couldn’t keep up with Bo Yu’s rhythm at all. The man kissed too fiercely; Gu Qichi had the heart to respond, but absolutely no opportunity.

He was hooked by Bo Yu until he couldn’t find north. Let alone respond, just having time to breathe was considered a good performance.

Gu Qichi felt a bit weak, his legs soft. His eyes were half-closed, chin resting on Bo Yu’s shoulder, panting softly.

His lips were swollen from the kissing, covered with a layer of ambiguous moisture like he was wearing some mirror glaze lipstick. The area around his peach blossom eyes was crimson, tears hung on his lashes, and the depths of his eyes were a vast white mist—looking a bit pitiful.

Bo Yu kneaded the back of his neck neither lightly nor heavily, ensuring no wind would pour in between his coat and scarf to cause a chill. Then he turned his head to kiss the side of his face again, his eyes satisfied and content.

Gu Qichi trembled a little from the rubbing, like a cat being held by the scruff of its neck, unable to exert any strength.

When he finally caught his breath, Gu Qichi unconsciously licked his lips. They had been bitten into several small wounds by Bo Yu and stung a little.

He pulled at Bo Yu’s sleeve, tugging it down, and said very seriously, “Bo Yu, no more kissing.”

Any more and I’ll be kissed to death.

His voice was hoarse and nasal, his head heavy.

Although kissing Bo Yu was very comfortable, it was also somewhat draining on his…

Gu Qichi thought aimlessly that if they kissed a few more times like this today, following Bo Yu’s style, he might make the headlines of the entertainment section—

Shock! D-list actor gets intimate with boyfriend, kisses in snow for three hours! Dies of suffocation!

That would be too embarrassing; Wen Xi and Luo Qianqian would lose all face along with him.

He hadn’t seen any male star die like that.

Amidst the sky full of flying snow, the corners of Bo Yu’s lips hooked up, his sharp and cold features softening. Gu Qichi finally waited for his answer:

“Gu Qichi, starting now, that agreement is void. I’m going to pursue you.”