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29

Chapter 30 - 29

๐‘ฌ๐’—๐’†๐’“๐’š ๐’”๐’๐’–๐’ ๐’Š๐’” ๐’‚ ๐’Ž๐’š๐’”๐’•๐’†๐’“๐’š; ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’‹๐’๐’š ๐’๐’Š๐’†๐’” ๐’Š๐’ ๐’–๐’๐’‡๐’๐’๐’…๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’Š๐’• ๐’ˆ๐’†๐’๐’•๐’๐’š.

***

"๐’๐’‰๐’‚๐’‚๐’‚๐’โ€ฆ"

He felt the sound of Yibo's voice spill directly into his ear...low, textured, intimate. It wasn't loud, yet it carried a strange resonance, the kind that didn't rush but instead traced its way slowly across the skin before settling deep inside.

Zhan felt something tighten in his throat, a breath threatening to escape with it, but he forced himself to hold it there, trapped in his chest, when Yibo leaned in again, perfectly aligned with his ear.

"๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘ โ„Ž ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘”โ„Ž๐‘ก ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค...๐‘—๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘ค๐‘œ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘ข๐‘ ...๐‘ ๐‘œ ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘˜."

The words slid softly into his ear, carrying that same quiet weight. Before Zhan could respond, before he could even turn to look at him, Yibo withdrew his hand from the whiteboard, straightened, and walked away.

During their last phone call, Yibo had said there was something he wanted to tell him when they met. Zhan, too, had something he wanted to ask. It was in that moment that Zhan decided he would finally bring it all out...the thoughts tangled in his mind, the emotions locked away in his chest. He sensed that this was the place, the brief window where he could allow himself to open up.

That was the conversation Yibo had meant. Yet the way he had said it...so close, so quietly...left Zhan frozen.

Nearly five seconds passed after Yibo turned away before Zhan closed his eyes, exhaled slowly, then opened them again. When he finally turned, he made a conscious effort not to look in Yibo's direction. He moved quickly, circling back to his seat.

Everyone else was settling into their chairs as well, except Nurse Saleh, who stood off to the side with his laptop, clearly working on the medical adherence list.

Zhan pulled his chair in and sat down just as Aji handed him a sheet of paper...the same ones the ๐‚๐Œ๐Ž had brought in and distributed. His eyes stayed on the paper as the ๐‚๐Œ๐Ž began speaking, his voice filling the sudden quiet in the room.

"๐บ๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘‘ ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”, ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’. ๐ด๐‘  ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘˜๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค, ๐‘ค๐‘’'๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘’...๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘–๐‘”๐‘› ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘Žโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘€๐‘–๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐ป๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘กโ„Ž, ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘œ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ค ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘’'๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘œ ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘—๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘”๐‘›๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ข๐‘ ."

At that moment, the phone resting on Zhan's thigh lit up silently. He glanced down and saw the single letter '๐’€'...Yibo's number...then read the message.

"๐‘ณ๐’๐’๐’Œ ๐’‚๐’• ๐’Ž๐’†โ€ฆ"

It wasn't the command itself that made Zhan lift his head so quickly...it was surprise. Pure, unmistakable surprise showed in his eyes and across his face. And there Yibo was, already looking at him. He smiled...a soft, knowing smile that reached all the way into his eyes, narrowing them slightly with warmth.

Zhan immediately looked away, scanning the room. Most people were focused on their documents or tablets; a few were watching the ๐‘ช๐‘ด๐‘ถ. No one seemed to notice anything unusual. Still, Zhan lowered his head again, forcing his attention back to the ๐‘ช๐‘ด๐‘ถ and refusing to look in Yibo's direction.

"๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘บ๐’–๐’“๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’„๐’‚๐’ ๐‘น๐’†๐’„๐’๐’—๐’†๐’“๐’š ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐‘น๐’†๐’Š๐’๐’•๐’†๐’ˆ๐’“๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐‘ฐ๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’Š๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’—๐’† ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘—๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘–๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘—๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก," the CMO continued. "๐ผ๐‘ก ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘ก-๐‘œ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ...๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘‘.

๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘™'๐‘  ๐‘ ๐‘ฆ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘š. ๐ผ๐‘ก ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›. ๐‘†๐‘–๐‘ฅ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘”๐‘œ, ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘โ„Ž. ๐‘‡๐‘œ๐‘‘๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ, ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ โ„Ž ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘›๐‘’. ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘”โ„Ž ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘’๐‘›๐‘”๐‘’, ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘‘๐‘ข๐‘๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘™๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ , ๐‘–๐‘š๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘ , ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’...๐‘๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘”๐‘’๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ , ๐‘›๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘ , ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘ , ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘ฆ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘ , ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ...๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘ ."

Zhan's phone lit up again.

"๐‘จ๐’ˆ๐’‚๐’Š๐’โ€ฆ"

He read it, but didn't look up. Instead, he traced his long fingers slowly across the surface of the table.

Another vibration. Another message...just his name.

"๐’๐’‰๐’‚๐’โ€ฆ"

Still, he didn't raise his head. He kept listening.

"๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘ค๐‘’'๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘”๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘’๐‘’๐‘™ ๐‘ค๐‘’'๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘‘," the ๐‚๐Œ๐Ž said. "๐ผ๐‘ก'๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’. ๐‘Š๐‘’ ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘›๐‘ข๐‘š๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ , ๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘ฆ, ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ฃ๐‘œ๐‘–๐‘๐‘’."

The phone vibrated once more. This time, Yibo had woven all his words into a single sentence:

"๐‘ณ๐’๐’๐’Œ ๐’‚๐’• ๐’Ž๐’† ๐’‚๐’ˆ๐’‚๐’Š๐’, ๐’๐’‰๐’‚๐’โ€ฆ"

This time, Zhan's eyes...and his mind...betrayed him. Slowly, almost against his will, he lifted his head and looked at Yibo.

Yibo was already watching him, phone still in his hand. Their eyes held for about two seconds. Then Yibo smiled again...a smile that lingered, slipping into Zhan's thoughts and quietly unraveling something deep inside him.

At that exact moment, the CMO turned toward Yibo.

"๐ท๐‘Ÿ. ๐‘Œ๐‘–๐‘๐‘œ, ๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘”๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ, ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข'๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘š. ๐ผ'๐‘‘ ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘˜๐‘’ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘”๐‘ข๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘š ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค...๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘ข๐‘  โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘‘, ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘“๐‘ฆ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘“๐‘’๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘˜."

Zhan immediately lowered his gaze, bowing his head. Dr. Yibo turned to face the ๐‚๐Œ๐Ž, and everyone's attention shifted fully to him. He took a quiet breath, stepped forward, and placed his long hands on the table. When he began to speak, his voice carried the same husky texture he had used earlier with Zhan...though not softer now, restrained, yet unmistakable.

"๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘˜ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข, ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘Ÿ. ๐ด๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‚๐Œ๐Ž โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘ฆ ๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘’๐‘‘, ๐‘ค๐‘’'๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ง๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘”๐‘ฆ. ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘’๐‘˜, ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘ก...๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘š๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘ , ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘–๐‘“๐‘–๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘š. ๐ผ'๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘˜ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘”โ„Ž ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘“๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘–๐‘™๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘”๐‘’๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ, ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐ผ'๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘”๐‘› ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘  ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ก'๐‘  ๐‘ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘ก๐‘ฆ. ๐ต๐‘ฆ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”, ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘˜๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘ก๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘–๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘€๐‘–๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘  ๐‘Ž ๐‘ž๐‘ข๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข."

From there, he moved into a detailed breakdown of roles and responsibilities. The discussion stretched on for over an hour. At some point, everyone had to stand, cardboard sheets were brought in, and each team wrote down their assigned sections to avoid confusion.

The meeting ended at half past twelve. People gathered their belongings and began filing out.

Zhan packed his things neatly into his bag and carefully rolled up one of the cardboard sheets...the one with the heaviest workload assigned to him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced toward where Yibo sat with Nurse Saleh, listening as Saleh explained something and nodding along.

Before Zhan could look properly, Aji, standing in front of him with Zuzu, turned and said,

"๐ป๐‘œ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข'๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘Ž ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘ โ„Ž. ๐‘Šโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’, ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ก'๐‘  ๐‘”๐‘œ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘ ."

"๐‘‚๐‘˜๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ," Zhan replied, slipping his phone into his bag as he followed them out.

The rice cake seller was just one street away from the hospital. The road was wide and paved, lined with tall ๐ง๐ž๐ž๐ฆ trees that shaded the area and gave it a cool, pleasant atmosphere. Many of the surrounding houses were large, and greenery filled the spaces between them.

The vendor operated from a small container beside the third house on the left. The story was that she'd started the business with the homeowners' permission...and between the taste and the affordability of her rice cakes, her business flourished. People came from far away to buy them, which explained the constant queue.

Zhan couldn't even remember how many times he'd bought this rice cakes for Nainai. Once she tasted them, it became routine...whenever Aji and the others went, Zhan followed, and another batch went home with him.

They found seats on a small bench borrowed from a tire repairman nearby. All three sat together while Zuzu crouched in front of them, animatedly telling a story about a neighbor and her husband, making everyone laugh.

By the time it was their turn, each of them made a purchase. As they stood near the container while the vendor added extra portions for Aji...since she planned to visit her husband's house...Zhan's phone vibrated inside his bag. Holding the packaged rice cakes, he reached for it.

The name Yibo on the screen made his eyes widen slightly before he answered.

"๐™๐ก๐š๐งโ€ฆ"

He heard his name even before the line fully connected.

"๐˜๐ž๐ฌ?"

"๐ˆ'๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐›๐ž๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ž ๐ฌ๐š๐ฒ ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐๐›๐ฒ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฆ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž. ๐‹๐ž๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ๐ ๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ."

Zhan scanned the street. From far down the road, he spotted Yibo's white car...the same one that had picked him up on the day of Yufei's event.

"๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž ๐ฆ๐ž?" Yibo asked softly.

"๐˜๐ž๐ฌ," Zhan replied, still watching the car, though the tinted windows made it hard to see inside.

"๐ˆ'๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐š๐ข๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ."

Zhan ended the call.

"๐‘†โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐ผ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ฆ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘ ?" Zuzu said. "๐‘Œ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘˜๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘’."

Aji glanced at her. "๐‘ƒ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘›'๐‘ก. ๐ผ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘ฆ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘’."

Reluctantly, Zuzu gave in. They stepped away from the stall and headed toward the road. Zhan lightly touched Aji's arm.

"๐ด๐‘—๐‘–, ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’'๐‘  ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐ผ ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘”๐‘œ. ๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘›'๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘’."

He spoke quietly, only loud enough for her to hear, as Zuzu and the others walked ahead, chatting.

"๐‘Šโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘”๐‘œ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”?" Aji asked. "๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘›'๐‘ก ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ."

Zhan hesitated, then said, "๐ผ'๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ."

Aji smiled knowingly. "๐‘†๐‘œ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’'๐‘  ๐‘Ž ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ."

"๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’'๐‘  ๐‘›๐‘œ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ," Zhan replied. "๐ผ'๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘›."

"๐ด๐‘™๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘”โ„Ž๐‘ก. ๐ท๐‘œ๐‘›'๐‘ก ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘”๐‘’๐‘ก." She waved. "๐‘†๐‘’๐‘’ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ค."

She caught up with the others, and Zhan watched as they turned at the end of the street. When he turned back, he had barely taken five steps before Yibo's car rolled up and stopped directly in front of him.

"๐บ๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘“๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘›," Zhan said softly as he opened the door and got in.

"๐ด๐‘“๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘›. ๐‘Š๐‘’๐‘™๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’."

The words made Zhan turn sharply toward him. Yibo met his gaze with a smile before focusing on the road and driving back into the street they'd come from.

Zhan asked how he'd known they were there.

"๐ผ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘‘ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘”๐‘œ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘ ," Yibo replied casually.

He drove to the far end of the street and parked beneath a large tree that cast deep shade. Turning off the engine, he locked the doors and turned fully toward Zhan.

"๐ผ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘˜ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘Ž ๐‘”๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘˜, ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘›'๐‘ก ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข?"

His eyes moved from Zhan's face to his hands...to the fingers gripping the bag of rice cakes.

Zhan noticed how Yibo's full attention shifted at once to his hands. He glanced down as well, then at the takeout container he was holding, and looked up.

"๐ผ๐‘ก'๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘—๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘”โ„Ž๐‘ก,"

he said, trying to open the bag.

"๐‘๐‘œ..."

Yibo stopped him quickly, shaking his head.

"๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก'๐‘  ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐ผ'๐‘š ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ž๐‘ก. ๐ผ'๐‘š ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก."

Zhan looked again at his own hand, then set the takeout on his lap. Before he could lift his head, he heard Yibo speak.

"๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘‘๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข'๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘˜ ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘ , ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘›."

Yibo said it aloud, though the thoughts in his mind ran much deeper. For days, he had felt a wide distance between himself and Zhan...between him and those hands. But now, with only a short stretch of time passing, that distance suddenly felt no greater than the space between their seats.

๐‚๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ž๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐œ๐ก.

๐‚๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ž๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฎ๐œ๐ก.

His phone began ringing where he had placed it. He glanced at the name on the screen, ๐๐š๐ฃ๐š๐ฌ๐ก๐ข, ended the call without answering, and turned back to Zhan.

"๐‘†๐‘œโ€ฆ ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐ผ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ?"

Zhan nodded slowly, absently playing with the strap of his bag.

Yibo didn't speak right away. He simply watched Zhan, struck by how naturally his thoughts and emotions were falling into place...as though this moment had been carefully planned long ago. And yet, he knew he hadn't planned any of it. His heart and mind had developed an interest in Zhan on their own, and all he'd done was try to push it aside.

Now, though, it felt as if those parts of him had been set free, opening their doors wide and welcoming Zhan in completely. Looking at him now, something powerful moved through Yibo's chest. It was more than affection. It was a deep, overwhelming protectiveness...an emotion that blended tenderness and love so completely it felt instinctive. Like drawing someone into your own body, where any harm meant for them would have to pass through you first.

He realized then that, aside from the love between a parent and child, he had never felt anything like this. And he knew he needed to steady himself...because if he didn't, he might be the one to disrupt everything before anyone else ever could.

He exhaled quietly, then finally spoke.

"๐‘โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘›, ๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘˜ ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข."

Zhan nodded once, listening, though he still hadn't looked up.

"๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก'๐‘  โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘๐‘’๐‘›๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ข๐‘  ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’...๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค. ๐ฝ๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘š๐‘’. ๐ผ ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘›'๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘˜๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค, ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘–๐‘™๐‘ฆ. ๐‘ƒ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘›'๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’."

Zhan slowly raised his head, as if giving himself time to fully absorb the words.

"๐‘Šโ„Ž๐‘ฆ?" he asked, clearly surprised. "๐‘Šโ„Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘Ž ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ก?"

"๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’'๐‘  ๐‘Ž ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘›...๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘›๐‘’๐‘“๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘ข๐‘ ," Yibo said calmly. "๐ผ ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘›'๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘ฆ๐‘’๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐ผ ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘›'๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข. ๐‘‡๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘š๐‘’. ๐ผ๐‘ก'๐‘  ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘› ๐‘”๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘‘."

Everything he said made sense to Zhan, even if the reason itself remained unclear. And something in Yibo's tone...steady, earnest, unyielding...made refusal impossible. The way he stood there, open and vulnerable, left Zhan unable to say no.

He nodded again, still fidgeting with his hands.

"๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘š ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘š๐‘’," Yibo continued. "๐‘Šโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข'๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘ฆ...๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘š๐‘’...๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘š, ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐ผ'๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘”๐‘œ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ . ๐ต๐‘ฆ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘›, ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘™๐‘™ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘˜๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘”โ„Ž๐‘ก?."

"๐‘Œ๐‘’๐‘ ," Zhan replied softly.

Yibo nodded.

"๐น๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค, ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ก'๐‘  ๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ข๐‘ . ๐‘ˆ๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘™ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘š๐‘’."

The way Yibo said it sent a strange feeling through Zhan...almost as if Yibo believed he would be difficult to accept, or hard to love. That thought pushed Zhan to finally ask the question he had been holding back.

"๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘˜๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”," Zhan said, lifting his head fully.

"๐‘Šโ„Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘‘ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘‘๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘›๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘š๐‘’? ๐‘‚๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘˜๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘คโ€ฆ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘‘ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘’?"

Dr. Yibo studied him for a couple of seconds, then gave a faint smile, still holding his gaze.

"๐‘Œ๐‘œ๐‘ข'๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘™, ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘›. ๐น๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘‘๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐ผ ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘ก ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘™ ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค, ๐ผ'๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ฆ. ๐‘Œ๐‘œ๐‘ข โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘ž๐‘ข๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘œ๐‘๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘›'๐‘ก โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’...๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘ฆ ๐‘‘๐‘œ, ๐ผ'๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘ ๐‘œ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘š ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘‘๐‘œ."

Zhan continued looking at him, clearly understanding the weight of his words. Yibo went on.

"๐ด๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™, ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐ผ'๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘› ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘“๐‘’."

"๐‘Šโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘–๐‘ก?" Zhan asked directly.

"๐‘‡๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก," Yibo replied. "๐‘Œ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘’๐‘›. ๐‘Œ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘’๐‘œ๐‘๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘™๐‘ฆ. ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก'๐‘  ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐ผ ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘Ž ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘”๐‘œ."

To Yibo's surprise, Zhan smiled slightly.

"๐‘Œ๐‘œ๐‘ข โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘œ," he said. "๐ด๐‘“๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™, ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘š๐‘’."

"๐น๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘”?" Yibo asked quietly.

"๐ป๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘” โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐ผ ๐‘˜๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘› ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข, ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘›? ๐ด๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ฆ๐‘’๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘ก'๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘š๐‘ฆ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘’ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข."

Zhan smiled again, softer this time, and lowered his head.

Yibo kept watching him, a growing heaviness settling in his chest. He knew he had told Zhan part of the truth...but not all of it. He still hadn't answered the real question.

๐—ช๐—ต๐˜† ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—บ? ๐—ช๐—ต๐˜† ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฎ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป?

๐— ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜, ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐—ญ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜† ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด? ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ต๐—ฒ, ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐˜€, ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฎ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ...๐—ท๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—บ?

โœจโœจโœจ

Duan stepped out of the shop where he had gone shopping, carrying two large bags, while a store attendant followed behind with a few more. They reached his car, opened the trunk, and loaded everything inside. Duan thanked the attendant before turning away.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. When he checked the screen and saw Yibo's name, he smiled and answered.

"๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐ฆ๐ž," he said lightly, leaning against his car.

But Yibo didn't respond to the joke. Instead, his voice came through Duan's ear, serious and direct.

"๐ƒ๐ฎ๐š๐ง, ๐ˆ'๐ฆ ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐Œ๐š๐œ๐š๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ."

Duan straightened at once.

"๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐š๐ฒ?"

"๐ˆ'๐ฆ ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ," Yibo repeated. "๐“๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž'๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ง๐ž๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐š๐ฅ๐ค ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ž...๐๐จ๐ง'๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ž๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ž ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ."

๐‘ด๐’๐’๐’…๐’‚๐’š, 12ย ๐‘ฑ๐’‚๐’๐’–๐’‚๐’“๐’š

2026

๐’๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’™๐’Š๐’‚๐’๐’š๐’Š๐’ƒ๐’๐Ÿ’šโค๐Ÿ’›

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