Deep in the Night - Chapter 24

The night sky over Hong Kong was shrouded by neon lights. Looking down from the hotel terrace, the city was covered in a star-like expanse of lights. In the distance, the shores of Victoria Harbour reflected each other, magnificent and luxurious.

The sea breeze swept down from the high altitude, instantly ruffling Fang Jin’s hair and collar. The cigarette butt held between his fingers flashed on and off in the darkness.

In every corner of this international metropolis, countless people rented tiny, cramped dwellings, rode crowded subways, and struggled daily for three meals. Yet, others owned luxury homes in the Mid-Levels, enjoyed lavish cars and yachts, easily spent vast sums of money, and lived the enviable lives of high society celebrities.

Fang Jin knew that he belonged to a class that was better than those below him but not as good as those above. He wasn’t born with a silver spoon like Gu Yuan, able to spend millions on a minor celebrity or casually win or lose seven-figure sums at a casino. Nor was he like many others, scrambling to work overtime, earning meager salaries to support their families while constantly fearing being fired.

He possessed the education, ability, professional background, and a high-paying job. In the eyes of most people, he should be quite enviable.

But how did he acquire all of that?

Fang Jin narrowed his eyes, wondering with deep self-mockery what his situation would be if he hadn’t entered the Gu family. He might have been sold by loan sharks to some unspeakable place, where a boy his age might have died after a year or two of torment. Or perhaps the loan sharks would have let him go, and the police would have sent him to a social welfare institution to continue his education. The best-case scenario would be working after high school graduation, finding a job stocking shelves at a supermarket or serving as a hotel waiter, able to support himself.

A thought stirred within Fang Jin: Actually, that wouldn’t be bad at all.

A supermarket stock clerk could eventually be promoted to warehouse supervisor, and a hard-working hotel waiter might even become a head waiter.

Fang Jin took a puff of his cigarette and coughed lightly.

Maybe I should escape again, he thought, with a touch of bitterness and casualness. Escape once more, silently and without taking anything. Flee to some obscure corner of a fourth-tier city to become a supermarket stock clerk. Work hard and diligently; perhaps I could genuinely be promoted to a small supermarket supervisor, a successful counter-attack in its own way.

He smiled at the thought. Just then, he heard the large glass door behind him slide open: “Fang Jin?”

Gu Yuan, wearing only a tank top and long pants, walked onto the terrace, looking slightly surprised. “Are you smoking?”

Fang Jin said lazily, “CEO Gu.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he realized his emotional turmoil had made the tone sound wrong. He composed himself and stood up, saying, “CEO Gu.”

Gu Yuan immediately sensed that the first ‘CEO Gu’ had sounded off. He looked closely, seeing Fang Jin leaning back on a lounge chair in the shadows, his face terribly pale. The angle made his legs look particularly long and his body lines noticeably thin.

Gu Yuan’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately pressed his hand down, motioning for him to lie back, then sat down casually beside another lounge chair, crossing his legs. He asked, “Did you eat tonight? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

Fang Jin was silent for a moment, then slowly said, “CEO Gu, we don’t have the kind of relationship where you can ask me such personal questions…”

When Gu Yuan first walked over and saw him, he felt that Fang Jin was very fragile, but he was surprised by the sudden firmness of his rejection.

“Then we can at least be friends, right?” Gu Yuan’s reaction was quick. He countered, “We’ve known each other for so long; you don’t even want to be friends?”

“…”

“What are you thinking about?” Gu Yuan softened his tone.

“…Nothing much,” Fang Jin said faintly, seemingly giving up the argument. “I just saw so many lights still on in those office buildings over there and thought about how unfair the world is. Some people struggle hard for three meals a day, while others, like you and me, don’t worry about food or drink. It just made me a little emotional.”

“Hong Kong is certainly a place that inspires such feelings, but isn’t the world inherently unfair? I even envy the richest person in the world. Why do they have hundreds of billions and I don’t?”

Fang Jin laughed, the amusement in his clear eyes looking very gentle: “You can’t compare it that way.”

“Then let’s compare those close to me. Do you think things are completely fair between Gu Yang and me?” Gu Yuan sneered. “Why can he indulge in debauchery and dog racing without worrying about being stabbed in the back by our father? Why is his mother alive, constantly causing trouble for me since childhood, while my mother tragically died?”

Fang Jin stiffened slightly.

After a pause, he frowned slightly and asked, “Are you still very concerned about Mrs. Gu’s death…?”

“—How can a son not be concerned about something like that!”

Gu Yuan’s tone was heavy, perhaps the heaviest Fang Jin had heard from him since he started working for him.

Fang Jin’s heart sank without warning.

But immediately afterward, Gu Yuan seemed to feel he shouldn’t display such emotion in front of Fang Jin, and he turned with a faint smile: “Speaking of which, I envy you.”

Fang Jin barely suppressed his inner turmoil. “Oh? What do you envy?”

There was no immediate answer. Fang Jin turned his head and saw that Gu Yuan had stood up at some point and walked to his lounge chair, then knelt on the floor beside it.

This posture brought his eyes level with the semi-recumbent Fang Jin. In the night breeze, his handsome face was earnest and focused, the brilliant starlight of the distant sea reflected entirely in his eyes.

“I envy your power to reject me at any time. I envy that you hold my feelings in your hands right now, free to play with them, to hurt them if you wish, or to discard them if you wish.”

Gu Yuan paused, looking at Fang Jin and speaking distinctly: “Even I cannot do that to myself. That’s why I envy you from the bottom of my heart.”

Fang Jin was stunned.

They stared at each other for a long time, as if the vast night sky above and the noisy city below had become formless, leaving only the two of them in the world, their breaths and body temperatures intertwined.

“Gu Yuan…” Fang Jin murmured.

The next moment, Gu Yuan leaned forward, gently and irresistibly kissing him.

This was their first proper, earnest kiss while both were sober. Hot, moist lips and tongues intertwined, every inch of the soft mouth, even the teeth, was thoroughly explored. Their mingled breath, carrying the slight intoxication of fine wine, heated up deep inside Fang Jin’s consciousness.

He even forgot to push Gu Yuan away. He forgot everything.

The bloody grudges, the entangled love and hate, the dirty secrets, and the unbearable past all turned into faint light during this long kiss, gradually disappearing into the distance as his consciousness faded.

…

A sudden coolness spread across his waist, immediately followed by Gu Yuan’s hand sliding under his clothes and pressing onto his skin.

Fang Jin suddenly snapped back to awareness and violently pushed Gu Yuan away!

Gu Yuan did not use force and immediately raised his hands and retreated. Fang Jin sat up from the lounge chair, slightly disheveled, wiping the wetness from the corner of his lips with one hand. “CEO Gu!”

Gu Yuan looked at him calmly: “You like me.”

“You…”

“You clearly like me in your heart. Why won’t you agree to be with me?”

Fang Jin’s mind was still hazy, the lingering ambiance of passion still deeply infused in his veins, making him feel slightly weak. He managed to turn over, intending to get off the chair, but Gu Yuan pressed down on his waist with one hand, forcing him to meet his gaze. Gu Yuan said in a deep voice, “You’d better answer me, Fang Jin!”

“…I don’t want to have any relationship with you outside of that between a superior and a subordinate.”

“Then what is wrong with becoming my lover?”

Fang Jin had no answer. They looked at each other in silence for a moment. Gu Yuan suddenly narrowed his eyes and asked, “Do you think I’m not serious enough?”

“…”

“Do you think I regard you as one of those people who do things for money? I don’t, Fang Jin. I want to seriously pursue a long-term relationship with you because I like you. If you agree to be with me, I will naturally cut off all the people I’ve been sleeping with. You must also stop sleeping with anyone else but me. We will be no different from any ordinary couple in the world. All moral constraints and behavioral standards will apply…”

Fang Jin’s voice was so hoarse it was almost unrecognizable: “…Stop talking!”

“Why?”

“I’m sorry, CEO Gu, I…”

Gu Yuan stared deeply at him, his gaze almost piercing through his eyeballs into his brain, into his soul: “Are you truly unwilling to agree to me, or are you unable to agree to me?”

Fang Jin tried to stand up to leave, but Gu Yuan immediately seized his wrist, forcing him back onto the lounge chair.

“Fang Jin,” Gu Yuan said. “If you truly have some trouble, even if you are being blackmailed, threatened, or coerced with indecent photos or some other nonsense, tell me. I can help you solve it. Although I haven’t officially taken over the Gu family, I have decision-making power in most matters and influence even outside of the company. So, what terrifies you might not be an issue for me. Tell me, and I’ll step in to help. You really don’t need to be afraid.”

Unable to break free from his grip, Fang Jin said despairingly, “It’s not what you think…”

His behavior was too abnormal, and Gu Yuan couldn’t help but ask suspiciously, “Did you provoke someone, or something?”

He suddenly remembered the moans and gasps he heard outside the bedroom door that day, and his eyes instantly darkened.

However, he showed no expression on his face in front of Fang Jin, even soothing him with a smile: “But someone with your background couldn’t possibly provoke any major figure, right? Someone even I can’t handle? —Don’t tell me it’s my father; that would be too ridiculous, and we’d have to go on the run. Anyone else, even Gu Yang, wouldn’t be a problem.”

For several seconds, Fang Jin could not move, only staring straight at Gu Yuan. If one looked closely, his pale lips were actually trembling slightly.

Gu Yuan’s eyes settled on his face: “What’s wrong?”

Fang Jin’s chest rose and fell, but he could not produce a sound.

His fingers gripping the armrest of the lounge chair were strained to the point where the veins were bulging, and it seemed as though his fingernails might break off. But that detail was hidden in the shadow by his side, unseen by anyone.

“…Nothing,” Fang Jin said softly, his voice seemingly calm and stable on the surface, but actually a forced composure achieved through extreme suppression. He had to complete the performance:

“You’re joking. I haven’t been coerced, nor have I provoked anyone…”

“…I just need some time. You have always been my boss. I’m just afraid of potential problems in the future…”

If one had sensitive hearing, they would notice that his seemingly flat tone was actually very fragmented, a strained calm produced after exhausting suppression.

However, because his voice was hoarse and his speaking pace was deliberately slow, Gu Yuan did not immediately detect much amiss.

He could only look down at Fang Jin. That face, which not long ago was bare in his arms, crying out helplessly, flushed with desire and tears, was now deathly pale and flustered, devoid of color.

He looked like prey cornered and utterly helpless, about to surrender and succumb.

“…I’ll give you one month,” Gu Yuan finally said. “Within this month, you can think carefully about whether or not to agree to me, and I will use this time to pursue you.”

“You must give me an answer after one month, preferably the one I want—you know which one. Otherwise, I will force you to agree, so don’t cry when that happens.”

A month was neither too long nor too short, a good buffer period. Fang Jin inexplicably felt relieved and nodded, looking directly at Gu Yuan to signal his agreement to the proposal.

However, to Gu Yuan, this was a decision, not a proposal, so he didn’t overly concern himself with Fang Jin’s agreement. He just smiled, leaned in, and kissed him again.

“I genuinely want to be with you,” he said, resting his forehead against Fang Jin’s, a slight hint of pride in his smile. “I knew you liked me. It’s okay. I like you, too.”