Su Yiran reached out to ruffle Ting-ge’s hair. “Why did you do that? Tell me the truth.”

Gu Yuanting didn’t answer. He only tightened his hold on Ranran, turned his head, and kissed the side of his fragrant neck. Caught off guard, Su Yiran felt ticklish and leaned away. “Hey, not now.”

The moment he moved away, Gu Yuanting’s arms clamped even tighter, as if to lock him in completely. Not only did he ignore the request to stop, his actions became increasingly excessive—there was even a tendency to push him down onto the bed while kissing him.

Su Yiran was truly angry now. “Gu Yuanting!” They were in the middle of a serious conversation—was this really the time for that? The problems weren’t solved yet, and he was already trying to distract him. That made it worse.

Su Yiran didn’t believe that issues between them could be solved just by making love.

Hearing Ranran call his full name so sharply, Gu Yuanting trembled inside. Instinctively, he stopped, slowly loosening his hold. But as soon as Ranran looked like he was about to slip away, he felt a suffocating panic and instantly pulled him back again. After holding him for a while, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice. “Ranran…”

Su Yiran had thought Ting-ge was going to behave, but apparently, he hadn’t fully let go. A moment later, he was held tightly again. He stayed silent for a bit, his temper melting away under Ting-ge’s clinginess.

Su Yiran sighed helplessly, ruffling Ting-ge’s hair to coax him. “Alright, alright, I’m not angry anymore. Get up and talk properly.”

Gu Yuanting remained silent, holding him for quite a while longer before finally loosening his grip. He gazed into Su Yiran’s eyes, seeing his own reflection in those pupils. His gaze darkened, and a dangerous thought surged in his mind—

What if… what if I just keep him forever…

Su Yiran caught that intense, shadowed look and felt something was off. He instinctively smacked Ting-ge on the head. “What are you thinking? Your eyes look weird.”

Gu Yuanting: “…”

He stammered, “N–Nothing.”

Su Yiran began to lecture him. “Anyway, what you just did was wrong. Do you know that?”

Oddly enough, after being hit, Gu Yuanting suddenly felt no pain and his mood brightened. It was as if the dark, oppressive state he’d been in instantly cleared, replaced with an inexplicable happiness. Hugging Ranran, he admitted, “I know, I was wrong.”

Su Yiran looked at Ting-ge, who was practically radiating little happy bubbles, and thought, Why on earth is he happy about this? Are you asking to be scolded?

Suppressing his exasperation, Su Yiran pinched both sides of Ting-ge’s face and continued, “Can’t you pick the right time and place? Our problem isn’t solved yet, and you just want to do that to avoid talking about it? Childish much?”

With his head bowed in shame, Gu Yuanting didn’t dare meet his eyes. “I was wrong.”

Seeing his good attitude, Su Yiran let it slide and moved on to the earlier matter. “Tell me, why did you pretend to be allergic to cat fur and send Little Fuzzball away?”

“I…” Gu Yuanting hesitated. He hadn’t been the one to do it, but he could guess why the original owner had. “I… was jealous…”

By the time he uttered those last two words, Gu Yuanting felt a rare sense of embarrassment. To admit that he, a grown man, had been jealous of a cat… it was humiliating.

All the original owner’s fault.

Su Yiran: “…???”

He had thought of many possible answers—but this? Jealous of an innocent kitten? Ting-ge, seriously? Do you even know your place in this relationship?

Su Yiran: “…”

Gu Yuanting: “…”

They stared at each other in silence for a moment before Su Yiran said, voice complicated, “Oh… so basically, you were playing palace politics with the favored concubine-cat, faking illness to frame her and get her exiled.”

Gu Yuanting couldn’t even refute that: “…”

Hugging Ranran and watching his expression, he quickly tried to make amends. “I’m different now. I’ll send someone to Wang Mingzhi’s house to bring that cat back. From now on, we’ll keep her here forever.”

There was no way that fat cat could compete with him.

But Su Yiran shook his head. “That’s not right. Little Fuzzball has lived with Wang Mingzhi for years—she’s part of their family now. We can’t just take someone’s family member away like that.”

Gu Yuanting nodded, but secretly thought, What’s wrong with taking someone’s family? I stole their husband; what’s a cat in comparison? He hugged Ranran tighter but didn’t press the point.

Instead, he cautiously asked, “Ranran, are you still mad at me?”

“I’m not mad.” Su Yiran patted his head.

After hearing Ting-ge’s reason earlier, he had already calmed down. Plus, Little Fuzzball was living well now.

Thinking it through, Su Yiran realized Ting-ge was so insecure that he’d even get jealous over a cat. His psychological issues were serious.

“Then… was transferring Wu Lanlan to another school also because you were jealous?”

Gu Yuanting thought about how Wu Lanlan might have been Ranran’s first love and felt stifled. He nodded without speaking.

Su Yiran wasn’t surprised. “It’s already happened, so now we just have to find a way to make amends. We’ll have to apologize to Wu Lanlan someday, alright?”

But Gu Yuanting started feeling sour again. Ranran cares about that woman so much? He was questioning him earlier because of her too, wasn’t he?

Noticing Ting-ge’s silence, Su Yiran pressed a finger to the center of his brows with a smile. “You little vinegar jar. Wu Lanlan is married now, and we’re married too. Why are you still jealous?” He ruffled his hair. “Besides, we have a child together.”

Gu Yuanting: “…”

His brow twitched, and he took a deep breath.

Su Yiran added, “Those rumors from school back then were fake. Wu Lanlan and I were just friends. I didn’t like her, and she didn’t like me. She wasn’t my first love.”

Gu Yuanting knew Wu Lanlan had liked Su Yiran—she’d even written him a love letter. But before Ranran could see it, the original owner had found it and torn it up.

For once, the original owner had done something useful.

Now that he heard Ranran say he’d never liked Wu Lanlan, Gu Yuanting felt the knot in his chest loosen. So it had been one-sided—Ranran had never had feelings for her.

Then Ranran cupped Gu Yuanting’s face and kissed him. “My first love was you.”

Gu Yuanting: “…”

His brow twitched again. The knot he’d just untied twisted right back up. That damn original owner just won’t stop haunting me.

He hugged Ranran tightly and kissed him back. “I’ll apologize to Wu Lanlan properly.”

Satisfied, Su Yiran brought up the third issue. “Installing a tracking system in the watch you gave me—back then, we were together every day. Was that really necessary?”

Thinking of the original owner’s stunt, Gu Yuanting felt his temple throb with anger. “I…”

“I was afraid you’d suddenly disappear.” Even though he was angry, Gu Yuanting quickly came up with the answer.

Su Yiran had already suspected this. He nodded, then suddenly looked at the watch he currently wore—the one Ting-ge had given him last year. Suspicious, he asked, “You didn’t put that system in this watch too, did you?”

Gu Yuanting didn’t dare lie: “…”

But unlike the original owner, he told himself it was for Ranran’s safety, not because he was a creep.

Su Yiran: “…”

“Alright,” Su Yiran sighed, touching the watch. Gu Yuanting thought he was about to take it off—but he wasn’t worried. Ranran’s phone had the same system.

To his surprise, Su Yiran simply touched the watch and then let go, making no move to remove it.

Gu Yuanting froze, staring at him.

Seeing his dumbfounded look, Su Yiran kissed him and smiled. “I won’t leave you.”

Gu Yuanting stared at his smile, dazed, before smiling back uncontrollably.

They shared a kiss full of warmth and love.

In that moment, Su Yiran recalled something from the past. “No wonder after the college entrance exams, you kept telling me to wear the watch.”

During the exams, watches weren’t allowed, so he’d taken it off and left it at home. On the last day, Ting-ge had confessed to him again. Not knowing how to respond, he’d panicked and left, wandering into a dessert shop without noticing the time. His phone was dead, so he stayed there until 10 p.m., when Ting-ge finally found him.

That night before bed, Ting-ge had put the watch back on him and told him to always wear it, repeating the reminder often afterward.

He’d always thought it was because losing track of time had led to that “disappearance.” Now he knew there’d been another reason.

Gu Yuanting didn’t know the exact details of that day—only that the original owner had angered Ranran, who then “vanished” for hours at the dessert shop.

Hearing it brought up again, he cursed the original owner in his head, his temple throbbing.

Just as he was about to change the subject, a vivid image flashed through his mind: the dark-toned dessert shop, two people in school uniforms hugging—his younger self looking disheveled, holding a teenage Ranran tightly.

It was gone in an instant, but crystal clear.

Su Yiran didn’t dwell on his silence and asked, “Are you hiding anything else from me?”

Snapped out of his thoughts, Gu Yuanting stiffened slightly, then shook his head. “No.”

Su Yiran could tell there was more, but sighed inwardly. Slowly, then. He gently patted his head.

Relieved to have cleaned up the original owner’s mess, Gu Yuanting relaxed—only to frown a moment later.

The rest of the day, until bedtime, he was distracted and absentminded. Ranran noticed him spacing out several times and decided they should sleep early, hoping rest would help.

As the night deepened, the whole village fell silent.

Gu Yuanting began to dream—one dream linked to another. He knew he was dreaming, but couldn’t grasp the events.

Until the last dream: the same dark-toned dessert shop, two people in school uniforms hugging. The younger “Gu Yuanting” looked disheveled, holding a teenage Ranran tightly.

“Ranran, I’m sorry, I won’t force you anymore,” dream-Gu Yuanting said, voice hoarse and choked, as if he’d been crying. “Just don’t get hurt, don’t leave…”

Ranran looked guilty, patting his back anxiously. “I’m fine, I didn’t leave. Ting-ge, I’m right here. It’s my fault—I forgot to check the time…”

They continued talking. The scene was so clear—even the shop’s lighting, a half-eaten dessert on the table behind them, the creases in their uniforms, the redness of his eyes, and the coffee stain on Ranran’s hand.

At last, they seemed to reconcile. Without a word, “Gu Yuanting” relaxed, burying his face in Ranran’s shoulder—and silently cried.

Strange… how do I know he was crying in secret?

…

Gu Yuanting woke with a jolt, gasping for breath.

After a long moment, the dream replayed in his mind piece by piece.

Staring at the ceiling, his breathing wouldn’t steady, and his hands and feet felt cold.

Why… why would he dream something like that?

Heart pounding, he clutched the bedsheet tightly.

Was the original owner… coming back?

…Coming back to steal his Ranran?