Hand over
After they got together, even though they hadn’t done anything truly passionate yet, Su Zesui felt that even the air around them carried a subtle change. A quiet intimacy filled the space, making his heart race.
That feeling reached its peak when Gu Yilan gently rubbed his stomach and asked if he was hungry.
“Hungry.” Su Zesui, with a few tufts of messy black hair sticking up, sat up from the bed.
At first, his whole field of vision was only Gu Yilan—so close that he could still steady his thoughts and chat like before. But once he sat up, he began noticing more familiar things around him.
The master bedroom felt different somehow.
The gilded cage was different; when it was first brought over, he and Mr. Gu had still been polite, distant husbands. But now that they were closer, the cage carried a kind of lingering, forbidden intimacy.
The tables and cabinets were different too—Gu Yilan had just taken out folding knives from them to hand over, showing him another side of himself.
And the big bed was the most different of all—they’d done things on it that made Su Zesui blush just recalling them.
This “difference” was more of an illusion, a filter shaped by his shifting mindset. Something like ‘the world is the same, but people have changed’—light, dizzying, almost unreal.
So he turned back, wrapped his arms around the man’s neck, and planted a soft kiss on his face.
Gu Yilan, who had also just sat up, didn’t resist. He let him kiss him, eyes curving in helpless amusement. “You like kissing me?”
Su Zesui’s floating heart finally settled, and he broke into a smile.
So it really was real.
He and Mr. Gu really were together now, free to do more affectionate things.
Just yesterday at this time, he had still been struggling inside a nightmare, feeling like he wasn’t himself at all, but a thief who had stolen someone else’s body. Who would have thought that in just a single day, so much could change?
Perhaps life’s darkest valley is always close to its brightest light. If you just hold on a little longer, a turning point will come.
Gu Yilan stood up, took out a box from the cabinet, and packed away the folding knives hidden under the pillow. Then he asked, “When’s the interview?”
“You… still remember?”
Su Zesui was surprised. When Gu Yilan had been ill, he’d been carrying a suppressed storm inside him. His normally deep, unreadable black eyes had seemed fogged over, his reason drowned, his body only moving in a daze on scraps of will.
And just now, Gu Yilan had been talking in line with his dream about parallel worlds, never mentioning anything about what happened during his episode.
He had thought those memories would be hazy, leaving behind only the fact that they were together now.
Gu Yilan set the box by his side, opened the master bedroom window, and looked back at him. “I remember most of it.”
The summer breeze blew across Su Zesui’s face, sweeping away the room’s stale air—but only making his cheeks hotter.
He hugged the box of knives and answered, “Three days from now. Wednesday.”
“These next few days, do you still want to go out with me?” Gu Yilan asked.
Not wanting to discuss the painful process of exposure therapy, Su Zesui eagerly changed the subject. “Th-then… what about my interview reward?”
“What reward?”
When he realized the man had forgotten this important promise, Su Zesui got flustered, puffing up in anger. “Y-you said, you said—”
“Alright, stop pouting.” Gu Yilan’s lips curved. “I remember.”
Su Zesui was just about to scold him for teasing, when he heard the man lower his voice, drawling, “The reward… is for me to apply the medicine properly these next few days.”
Recalling what he’d said before bedtime, Su Zesui’s head throbbed and his ears flushed scarlet. He lowered his gaze and fiddled with his fingers, completely abandoning the idea of demanding payback.
“It’s already past one. Still got the strength? Will you walk down yourself, or should I carry you again?” Gu Yilan asked.
After three hours of sleep, Su Zesui’s head was fully clear. In broad daylight like this, he was far too embarrassed to repeat what they’d done before.
“I-I’ll go myself.”
Just as he slipped on his slippers, Gu Yilan’s phone rang.
Noticing how the boy kept sneaking glances his way, Gu Yilan simply lit up the screen and showed it to him, stating flatly, “I don’t want to answer.”
The caller ID clearly displayed his father’s name.
Su Zesui knew that if they didn’t pick up, the man would keep calling. After a moment of thought, he offered, “I’ll answer it for you.”
Gu Yilan walked back to the bed, sat beside him, and smiled. “Alright. I’ll trouble you then.”
“N-no trouble at all.” Being “troubled” by Mr. Gu left Su Zesui secretly delighted.
He took the man’s phone, drew in a deep breath, and tapped “accept.”
“Hello? I heard you drove Jiang Jianbai away,” the voice on the other end got straight to the point. “Now you see what kind of person he really is, right? We told you, your parents would never harm you.”
“H-hello,” Su Zesui called out timidly.
On the other end, Father Gu froze at the sound of his voice.
While Su Zesui clutched the phone nervously, struggling with the pressure of conversation, the man leaned in close to his ear and whispered just loud enough for the two of them to hear: “Just tell him I’m sleeping.”
The man’s warm breath brushed past his ear, leaving behind a tingling, ticklish sensation that made Su Zesui instinctively raise a hand to cover it.
“Su Zesui? Where’s Gu Yilan? Put him on the phone, I have something important to discuss with him.”
“H-he’s… he’s sleeping,” Su Zesui stammered, sneaking a guilty glance at the man watching him from the side.
“Sleeping?” Father Gu was clearly baffled, but then noticed something even more alarming. “Why is his phone with you?”
“Brother gave it to me. My phone broke, so I’ve been using his.” Su Zesui made something up on the spot.
What he didn’t expect was that this random excuse hit Father Gu right where it hurt most.
After such a huge blow, why wasn’t his son lashing out, breaking down, and eventually accepting their so-called protection? How could he still be calm enough to be sleeping?
Even harder to understand—why would a son who treated them like enemies so easily hand over his phone to a newlywed spouse?
Things had spun completely out of his control.
In that moment, he realized there was no point in saying anything more. Whatever he said now wouldn’t change a thing.
Seeing that Su Zesui had reached his social limit and was on the verge of trembling from the stress, Gu Yilan gently took the phone from him. His gaze, however, lingered on the boy as he said softly, “Enough. Don’t say anything else. Be good—give me a kiss, and then we’ll go to sleep.”
Su Zesui froze for a second, then obediently leaned in and kissed Gu Yilan’s cheek.
Both Gu Yilan’s words and the boy’s soft little “mwah” were perfectly picked up by the phone’s mic and carried over the line, shattering Father Gu completely.
His son had changed. He was out of control.
In this tug-of-war over control, he had been utterly defeated.
Now that Gu Yilan held real power in the company, they couldn’t use force. All they could do was appeal to reason and emotion. But their son didn’t care about Jiang Jianbai, and he clearly adored Su Zesui. There was no way he would ever agree to their proposal about adoption.
Father Gu’s head throbbed painfully, and with a crash, the phone slipped from his hand to the floor.
. . . . .
After the kiss, Su Zesui’s face was flushed red. He bounced along happily after Gu Yilan as they headed downstairs for lunch.
Although he felt that Father Gu probably couldn’t hear the sound of him kissing Mr. Gu, just the blunt, unabashed words Mr. Gu spoke in front of Father Gu were enough to make the tips of his ears burn red.
Being affectionate in private was one thing; openly flirting when a third party was involved was a whole different level.
So when Su Zesui caught sight of the butler, who was calmly setting out the dishes without a clue, guilt immediately welled up inside him.
He and Mr. Gu had only just gotten together and were still in the honeymoon phase. They’d just shared a kiss earlier, and now his heart was pounding wildly. He wanted to talk to Mr. Gu a little more, just to settle his nerves, but with the butler there, he was too embarrassed.
After all, the butler still didn’t know about their relationship, and it wasn’t exactly something he could blurt out in front of him.
Glancing at Gu Yilan, who was sitting upright and eating with an air of composure, Su Zesui couldn’t shake the feeling that they were sneaking around, like they were having some kind of illicit affair.
——No! This wasn’t right!
Resting his chin in his hand, Su Zesui thought hard.
He decided it was time to go public with Mr. Gu!
——But how? Online posts said the best way was to make an announcement on Moments, something like “We’re together!”
With that thought in mind, Su Zesui decided that after lunch, he’d run upstairs and start drafting the perfect post.
But the moment he stepped into the master bedroom and saw the box of folding knives on the bed, he realized there was something more urgent to do.
Knocking lightly on the box, he turned to Gu Yilan and said, “Don’t pretend to forget. What about the knives in the other rooms? You have to hand those over too.”
Gu Yilan paused mid-step, frowning slightly. “So strict? Do you really need all of them?”
Su Zesui tapped the box again, nodding like a little chick pecking at rice. “All of them, all of them.”
Gu Yilan stayed silent for a long moment, then finally exhaled and turned back. “Fine.”
Hugging the box tightly, Su Zesui followed after him, pattering along with quick steps.
At first, he hadn’t understood why Gu Yilan would use such a large box for just a handful of small items.
It wasn’t until he saw the man retrieving knives from every familiar corner of the villa that he realized how many dangerous things Gu Yilan actually had hidden away.
The box wasn’t nearly big enough to hold them all.
As he trailed behind collecting the knives, Su Zesui muttered under his breath, lips pouting: “Put them all away. From now on, if you’re ever feeling awful, just come to me—I’ll definitely let you kiss me.”
Gu Yilan idly twirled one of the folding knives in his hand, eyes lowered. “I already feel awful right now.”
Su Zesui: …
With that little diversion, Su Zesui completely forgot about his grand plan to make their relationship official on Moments.
By the next morning, when he looked over the drafts of the posts he’d written, all of them suddenly felt unbearably awkward. He couldn’t bring himself to drag Mr. Gu into posting together, so he set the matter aside for now.
Two days later, he had an interview for the competition—one that required face-to-face conversation with strangers. To make it go smoothly, these days of exposure therapy were absolutely necessary.
When they arrived at the physics department building of University A, on the tenth-floor office, the “lucky guest” chosen for this round of desensitization was none other than his familiar Brother, Gong Chuang.
After so much practice, Gong Chuang was already quite skilled at this sort of thing, and he had even volunteered himself this time.
Once he confirmed the boy’s current psychological state with Gu Yilan, he cleared his throat, stretched out his hand, and said, “Hello, I’m Gong Chuang.”
For Su Zesui, even a handshake had always been a challenge—and with his mental state somewhat worse than before, this was harder than ever.
But for the sake of the “reward” waiting after the interview, he forced himself to focus, steadying his emotions as best he could.
Sweat slowly beaded in his palms. Gong Chuang’s outstretched hand was starting to tremble from holding the position so long.
Not wanting to keep the other person waiting, Su Zesui bit his lip and inched his hand forward painfully slowly, as if marching toward the execution ground. Finally, he gave the faintest of handshakes and whispered, “H-hello. I… my name is…”
The last few words were so soft they could barely be heard, even up close. Gong Chuang quickly stepped in to ease the tension, clasping the boy’s warm, delicate hand in both of his. “Hello, hello—it’s an honor to finally meet you. Can I call you Suisui from now on?”
“Y-yes, Brother Gong Chuang.” With such warmth from the other side, Su Zesui couldn’t just yank his hand back. He lowered his head instead.
His eyes darted nervously, his cheeks flushed pink, long lashes trembling faintly with every quickened breath—like fragile feathers caught in the wind.
He twisted his fingers together, shoulders subtly hunched, each deliberately slowed breath betraying his inner tension and unease.
Unsure how to proceed, Gong Chuang glanced over at Gu Yilan, who was leaning against the office door, hoping for some kind of guidance.
Gu Yilan stood at a distance, outside their immediate circle, giving the boy space while still keeping watch over every exchange.
But at that moment, his expression was dark, his eyes lowered, lost in thoughts no one else could guess. No matter how many times Gong Chuang sent him pleading looks, he didn’t respond.
Left with no choice, Gong Chuang pressed on, “So, uh… Suisui, I haven’t seen you in a few days. I’ve really missed you. Have you been doing okay?”
“…Good,” Su Zesui murmured.
“That’s good, that’s good. Not seeing you for a day feels like three years,” Gong Chuang continued awkwardly. “The other members of our research group and I have missed you a lot. Do you miss us too?”
Back in his comfort zone, Su Zesui echoed, “I miss you all.”
“I hope you can complete your treatment soon and join our big family. We’d love to be your friends.”
Su Zesui nodded. “Friends.”
Seeing that the boy’s condition wasn’t too bad, Gong Chuang took the liberty of adding a few harmless gestures. He patted Su Zesui’s shoulder, then ruffled his soft hair. It felt good in his hand—though he failed to notice the deepening shadow on Gu Yilan’s face at the door.
After that round of social interaction, Gong Chuang couldn’t help but give himself a thumbs up in his heart.
——How could he be so good with words, chatting easily even with someone suffering from severe social anxiety? He was practically a little prince of socializing. Gu Yilan now owed him another favor.
“Bye bye, Suisui, I’ll miss you,” Gong Chuang waved.
Su Zesui imitated him, also waving: “Bye bye, brother, I’ll miss you too.”
Once Gong Chuang left, Su Zesui let out a deep breath and smiled with relief.
He had done it. He had held on until the very last moment of the conversation, relying on his own strength. Of course, he also had to thank Brother Gong Chuang for helping with his “therapy.”
Lowering his head, Su Zesui unlocked his phone and glanced at the leftover drafts of announcement posts in his notes app. His smile froze. After a brief hesitation, he hastily deleted them all.
After all, Brother Gong Chuang was also one of his WeChat contacts. If he really made their relationship official, Brother Gong Chuang would definitely come to talk his ear off.
One round of “exposure therapy” was already enough. As nice as Brother Gong Chuang was, no, no—he couldn’t handle another.
At least, not for now.
Gong Chuang, meanwhile, was quite pleased with himself. Straightening an imaginary bowtie, he strode toward the door to report his success to Gu Yilan.
But before he could even reach it, the man frowned thoughtfully, turned on his heel, and headed back toward the lab without a word.
Gong Chuang jogged after him. “I did pretty well, right? I chatted with Suisui for so long without a single awkward pause. He didn’t even reject my physical gestures. You know, Suisui is actually pretty—”
Gu Yilan suddenly stopped and fixed him with a blank, expressionless stare.
Seeing the man’s stormy expression, Gong Chuang faltered in confusion. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Gu Yilan’s voice, cold as ice:
“I almost started shipping you two. The money’s been transferred to your card. Now get lost.”
Gong Chuang: Huh???
——Was I in this for the money? No, wait—this level of possessiveness is ridiculous! … Are you seriously jealous?!
Looks like the one who needs treatment isn’t Su Zesui at all, but someone else entirely…