JOH CH35: Lullaby

After finishing a business negotiation, Gu Yuanting returned to the top floor of the company’s headquarters around noon.

As usual, while preparing to read some documents, he opened the computer next to him and pulled up the surveillance feed from back home to check on Ranran.

It was around 4 or 5 PM in the domestic time zone—Ranran should still be busy at the dessert shop.

But when he opened the surveillance, Gu Yuanting was surprised to find that only a few employees and customers were in the shop. Su Yiran was nowhere to be seen.

Neither the house nor the shop showed any sign of him.

Gu Yuanting thought Su Yiran might have gone out for something else, so he didn’t think much of it.

He continued reading documents when the corner of his eye caught a small display in the bottom corner of the screen—it was the car surveillance feed.

His heart skipped a beat.

He quickly pulled up the feed. The camera was connected to the car’s hidden dashcam. The footage showed an open-air parking lot, though half the view was blocked by the car body. It looked unfamiliar yet vaguely recognizable.

A chill ran through Gu Yuanting’s heart.

He swiftly accessed the tracking system installed on Su Yiran’s phone.

The last recorded location was in A City’s Dening District, Nanting Road.

The red dot marking his last known position—Weihua Financial.

Gu Yuanting shot up abruptly and immediately called Su Yiran.

He moved so suddenly that his chair screeched harshly against the floor, but he didn’t care. He listened anxiously to the endless beeping in the receiver—no answer, followed by a system prompt.

Gu Yuanting hung up before the message finished and called again.

No answer.

Ranran refused to pick up.

He called again and again, his heart burning with panic. Just imagining how hurt Ranran must be after finding out the truth made him want to fly home immediately.

Time ticked by, and finally, he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. Instead of dialing Su Yiran again, he called another number in his contacts.

---

Su Yiran was still sitting dazedly on the small step by the wall in the plaza corner, not knowing what he was thinking.

His phone kept ringing in his pocket, but he ignored it.

After a long while, the phone finally fell silent, and the world around him was quiet again.

He thought the calls would stop for good, and he didn’t know if he felt relieved or disappointed.

He continued sitting, lost in thought.

Some time later, he saw a stranger crossing the street toward him. He didn’t pay attention, still trapped in his emotions.

The stranger walked straight to him and stopped nearby. Only then did Su Yiran look up in confusion.

The man bent slightly and politely held out a phone:
“Mr. Su, President Gu would like to speak with you.”

Su Yiran blinked in bewilderment, unable to process his words.

The stranger awkwardly pushed the phone closer:
“Mr. Su, President Gu wants to talk to you.”

Su Yiran slowly accepted the phone. He recognized the number on the screen—it was Gu Yuanting’s.

He placed the phone to his ear.

Seeing him answer, the man stepped away to the far end of the plaza, giving them space.

Hearing Su Yiran’s soft breathing, Gu Yuanting held his breath. He gently called:
“Ranran.”

Su Yiran said nothing.

Panic flooded Gu Yuanting’s heart:
“Ranran, let me explain. I didn’t mean to deceive you, it’s just—” He stopped.

How could he explain? That he had intended to leave, to return to the Gu family, that he’d been lying all along?

Or that… he wasn’t even the original Gu Yuanting?

Su Yiran stayed silent, listening. When Gu Yuanting fell quiet, he said nothing either.

Feeling the unusual stillness, Gu Yuanting called him again, voice low and cautious, as if afraid to scare him off:
“Ranran?”

Su Yiran paused a bit longer. When no further explanation came, he finally sighed, looked up at the grey sky, and spoke slowly into the phone:
“…Let me think about it.”

Then he was about to hang up.

“Ranran!” Gu Yuanting panicked, sensing the call was about to end. His mind blanked, desperation taking over:
“Don’t hang up. I’ll come back, I’ll return right away.”

He frantically searched for his passport, causing a loud commotion as he accidentally crashed into the bookshelf, sending books and files crashing to the ground.

Su Yiran heard the chaos on the other end—the sounds of things falling, of frantic searching.

He sighed. His heart softened at the thought of Gu Yuanting’s distress.
“Ting-ge,” he called.

Gu Yuanting froze, instantly halting his movements. He gripped the phone tightly, listening intently:
“Ranran?”

Su Yiran stayed quiet for a moment. The line fell silent again. Gu Yuanting held his breath, his heart pounding painfully, awaiting a verdict.

Finally, Su Yiran asked:
“Where are you right now?”

“D Country, Lunyaa City,” Gu Yuanting answered immediately.

Su Yiran nodded faintly:
“Mm.” He didn’t question whether this was another lie. He asked,
“Are you in trouble?”

The word “trouble” brought reality crashing back. Gu Yuanting tightened his grip on the passport and steadied himself:
“…Just a bit. I’ll resolve it soon.”

He couldn’t just abandon everything and return now.

The situation with the Gu family wasn’t fully handled. If he left midway, those people would retaliate swiftly, hunting him down in the country.

If Ranran got caught in that… Gu Yuanting’s entire body tensed. He couldn’t imagine it—he dared not.

Su Yiran asked his third question, calmly:
“Will you come back?”

Gu Yuanting’s heart clenched painfully:
“Of course, Ranran. Give me… one more week.” He promised,
“I’ll be back next week.”

He had already decided to start the dangerous plan earlier than scheduled, even if it wasn’t fully prepared.

“Okay,” Su Yiran replied.
“I’ll wait for you.”

He didn’t ask why Gu Yuanting lied, what had happened, or how he knew Su Yiran went to Weihua, or why that stranger called him ‘President Gu.’

There were too many questions, too many tangled thoughts he couldn’t unravel.

He told Gu Yuanting:
“We’ll talk when you come back.”

Gu Yuanting finally breathed easier, relieved to have bought some time:
“Okay.”

Su Yiran too felt a bit relieved, as if by setting a deadline, he’d bought himself a little more time to delay facing the worst outcome.

Relaxing slightly, Su Yiran realized how tired he was—his back ached from sitting so long. He didn’t want to think about anything else and murmured to Gu Yuanting like he usually did:
“Ting-ge, I want to go home.”

Hearing his exhaustion, Gu Yuanting’s heart ached deeply:
“Okay. Are you tired? Don’t drive—I’ll have Xiao Li send you home.”

Su Yiran guessed that Xiao Li was the stranger. He didn’t ask further:
“Okay.”

After arranging for Su Yiran’s ride, Gu Yuanting hung up, staring at his phone for a while.

Then he reopened the hidden car camera feed and kept watching the footage of Ranran in the backseat.

He watched until Su Yiran arrived home safely, saw him enter the house, and finally let go of his worry.

He watched as Su Yiran lay in bed, tucked himself under the covers, and closed his eyes. But he kept tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

Worried, Gu Yuanting called him. This time, Su Yiran answered.

“Home yet?” Gu Yuanting asked.

“Mm.” Su Yiran made a nasal hum, eyes still closed. He was very sleepy but couldn’t drift off. Face buried in the soft blanket, he whispered,
“Ting-ge, I can’t sleep. Sing me a lullaby.”

Staring at the surveillance video of Su Yiran, Gu Yuanting’s heart ached terribly. He wished he could break through the screen, climb inside, and hold Ranran tight, kiss and comfort him.

But all he could do was swallow the lump in his throat:
“Okay, just relax, don’t think about anything. You’ll fall asleep soon.”

He softly hummed a gentle lullaby. He hadn’t expected to be familiar with it, but the melody came naturally.

In the soothing hum of Gu Yuanting’s song, Su Yiran finally grew drowsy and fell asleep, leaving the phone line still connected.

Only when Gu Yuanting saw that he had stopped tossing and turning did he finally relax.

He stopped humming and stared at the screen for a long time.

He wished so badly that he could step through it… and hold Ranran.

---

Author’s Note:
(Second part of the mask falling)