Promise (2/2)
When Gu Yilan came out of the shower, he saw Su Zesui sitting on the bed with a stunned, blank expression, as if his soul had left his body. The black phone slipped from his palm and fell with a “plop” onto the bed.
Gu Yilan frowned, puzzled about what the boy had seen that scared him so much.
…Did Father Gu and Mother Gu do something?
He stepped forward and picked up his own phone.
Seeing the man take the phone, Su Zesui let out a muffled sound, turned, and buried his head in the soft pillow, playing ostrich.
The phone screen was still showing that moment post.
Gu Yilan read several times faster than the average person. With just a quick glance, he had basically gone through all the posts and comments on the Moments feed.
Su Zesui’s muffled voice came from under the pillow: “I’m never going out again, ever… wuwuwu… I’m never seeing anyone again, I’m so embarrassed I could die…”
Gu Yilan couldn’t help but chuckle. “Should I delete it?”
“Deleting it won’t help… they all know it was me… I’m never drinking again… it’s so humiliating… wuwuwu…”
At this peak moment of awkwardness—his greatest fear—Su Zesui’s alcohol-fogged brain somehow found a sliver of rationality, and he began analyzing the situation with surprising clarity.
Gu Yilan hovered his fingertip over the “Delete” button, then pulled back. He looked over at the boy who was practically trying to bury himself in the pillow.
“Want me to clear it up for you?”
“Hm? How?” Hearing that, Su Zesui finally lifted his flushed face from the pillow.
“Easy,” Gu Yilan replied coolly. “But I’m not doing it for free.”
Su Zesui paused, then suddenly had a revelation. “Then… I’ll let you do it.”
Gu Yilan’s temple twitched: …
“I have conditions,” Gu Yilan said. “First, you have to promise to stop talking about doing it all the time. And you’re not allowed to watch those kinds of videos anymore.”
Su Zesui thought about it. To avoid dying of social shame, he reluctantly agreed: “Alright… I promise… wuwuwu…”
“Second,” Gu Yilan continued, “if anyone asks why you’re staying with me or what our relationship is, you tell them you’re my younger brother.”
“Mhm mhm,” Su Zesui nodded. “Good brother.”
He was technically Mr. Gu’s little brother, after all.
Seeing that the boy was drunk and easy to fool, Gu Yilan shamelessly seized the opportunity to squeeze in one more demand: “Also, from now on, don’t say you like me. You’re not allowed to like me.”
Before Su Zesui could reply, Gu Yilan had already tapped out a comment on his phone, then handed it to him.
Su Zesui looked down—
[11 th Dimension: I posted it. What about it?]
“Brother, you’re the best…” Seeing Gu Yilan take the blame, Su Zesui was so touched he teared up. “Can I just ask one last thing?”
“Go ahead.” Gu Yilan fluffed out the blanket that the boy had balled up.
“I know everything already… but I still like you. And you like me too, right? Then… why? Why can’t we do it?” Su Zesui whispered.
Since it was supposedly his “last question,” Gu Yilan didn’t interrupt him and let him speak his heart.
He tossed a pillow aside, fixed the pillows on the bed, and asked calmly in return,
“What exactly do you know? The surveillance? That’s not the point.”
Before Su Zesui could ask what was the point, Gu Yilan pulled the blanket over him and said coldly, “That was your last question. No more. Go to sleep.”
Su Zesui mumbled an “Oh,” full of curiosity, then closed his eyes. A moment later, he felt the mattress beside him sink slightly.
. . . . .
Gu Yilan didn’t delete the post. By the next day, even the butler knew.
In the dining room, the butler, looking worried, was quietly setting the table for the two of them. In a voice only Gu Yilan could hear, he said, “Young Master Gu, I know you can’t control who you fall for… but look, Little Master Su is actually… quite a decent boy…”
Gu Yilan calmly interrupted as he placed the warm milk in front of the still-dazed Su Zesui: “I know.”
The butler, realizing his boss had actually taken his words seriously, was both flattered and relieved as he stepped back.
It was the weekend—but PhD students don’t get weekends off. They still had to go to the lab.
The effects of the alcohol lingered from the night before. As soon as they got in the car, Su Zesui leaned to the side, closed his eyes, and passed out, catching up on sleep.
His long, thick lashes drooped sweetly over the dark circles under his eyes. He barely said a word all morning—clearly still suffering from the aftermath of drinking. He looked pitiful.
Gu Yilan turned up the car’s temperature by a degree and eased off the accelerator, slowing the sports car’s speed.
Because Su Zesui had slept in and Gu Yilan wasn’t speeding for once, they arrived at the lab much later than usual.
As soon as they stepped into the building, they ran into Gong Chuang, who had been waiting by the meeting room door—clearly eager for gossip.
The moment he saw Gu Yilan, Gong Chuang couldn’t hold back his grin as he approached: “Hey, you’re here, Brother Fireworks.”
Gu Yilan glanced at the drowsy boy beside him, then looked coldly at Gong Chuang and said, his tone ice-cold: “Don’t leave after the group meeting. I need to talk to you.”
Gong Chuang froze. A chill ran down his spine. He tried to tactfully refuse: “Uhh… do we have to?”
——All he did was make a few jokes, right? No way he’d get taken out for that, would he?
——Wait a minute… Don’t tell him the one Gu Yilan really likes isn’t Su Zesui? What kind of horror story is this?
——Who is it? Who is the one that made his perfectly normal, emotionally unavailable best friend emotionally cheat in his imaginary marriage? Who turned his cold, aloof brother into a cringey, lovesick teenager?
The group meeting was about to start when Ji Yuxing walked in, holding his laptop. Seeing the few people gathered at the door, he couldn’t help but ask Gu Yilan: “Bro, what was up with that post you made last night? Did someone hack your account?”
Gu Yilan lowered his gaze and replied, “No, I wasn’t hacked.”
He had always been a man of his word—every promise he made carried weight and was never taken lightly. Whatever he promised Su Zesui, he would carry out thoroughly and flawlessly, leaving no loose ends. Of course, the word “suffer losses” didn’t exist in his vocabulary. When others made promises to him, he would relentlessly and strictly ensure they followed through.
He looked completely calm, not like someone who was lying or trying to cover something up. On the contrary, he appeared relaxed and open, almost like he had nothing to hide.
“For real?” Ji Yuxing sucked in a sharp breath. “Even the professor asked me earlier why you weren’t replying, and if that post was really from you… And the part about ‘insisting on liking someone’? Man, I think the whole lab knows. They’re probably talking about it in there right now.”
Gu Yilan lowered his eyes and unlocked his phone—sure enough, there were over 99 unread WeChat messages.
Among them were gossipy concerns from classmates, an angry barrage from Su Mingyu, and even messages from his parents asking what was going on.
Unfazed, Gu Yilan locked his phone again and glanced toward Su Zesui.
Based on his experience, the boy—who was notoriously bad at keeping things to himself—was probably fiddling nervously with his fingers right now, dying of secondhand embarrassment and about to blurt out the truth.
But to his surprise, Su Zesui held firm this time.
To uphold their agreement, Gu Yilan simply bit the bullet and publicly took the blame. He looked at the two in front of him and said flatly, “I posted it. And as for who I ‘insist on liking’… that’s none of your business, is it?”
“Huh?” Gong Chuang was immediately thrown off, stumbling over his words. “You’re… serious? You—you—were you possessed or something?”
Gu Yilan still had a score to settle with Gong Chuang and didn’t feel like entertaining him now. Ignoring both of them, he guided the uncomfortable, out-of-place-looking boy toward the office.
After unlocking the door with his ID card, Su Zesui quickly scampered inside and sat down in his seat, pulling out his phone.
Recalling how drunk the boy had been last night, Gu Yilan hesitated for a moment, then opened Su Zesui’s small backpack and quietly helped him organize what he needed.
He hung the backpack on the side of the desk and was just about to remind Su Zesui to repeat the promises he made last night, when the boy timidly spoke up first.
“Brother…”
Gu Yilan raised an eyebrow and opened the online course on his tablet. “Yeah?”
Su Zesui looked conflicted, torn. After a long pause, he asked cautiously,
“Brother… the person you insisted on liking in your post… who was it?”
Gu Yilan: ?
this is too funny and cute sdfjhdskgsjkhg