Chapter 21: Recalling the Kissing Scene

Chapter 21: Recalling the Kiss

Lu Hechi kept his expression stiff as employees greeted him while passing by; he gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.

He kept scanning with his peripheral vision for where his office was.

Artist Management Department, Publicity and PR Department, Administration Department...

After searching around, he finally found a door at the very end with a sign reading "General Manager's Office."

He quickly pushed the door open and shut it behind him, only relaxing once his back was fully pressed against the door.

So awkward. This was way too awkward.

Here he was, a big-shot company boss, having to use GPS to find his own office. Good thing those two receptionists didn't know he'd even gotten the wrong floor.

Once he calmed down, Lu Hechi started checking out the office.

It was bigger than he'd imagined.

There were stacks of documents on the desk, the computer screen was off, and next to it was a framed photo—a team-building group shot of the company employees.

In the photo, dozens of people stood by the beach, all smiling brightly, but he didn't recognize a single one.

Lu Hechi put the frame back and spun around in the office chair.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, flashed a peace sign, took a selfie, and sent it to Shen Lanxue.

"Bro, I'm at the office!"

The message he'd sent earlier still hadn't gotten a reply.

Lu Hechi put down his phone and looked down at his hand.

The hand that had been in a cast not long ago was completely healed now, and the skin had lightened up a bit again.

But compared to the other hand, it still looked a little different.

He rotated his wrist—it moved fine, didn't hurt, just felt a little sore sometimes.

Whatever.

Lu Hechi flipped through the documents on the desk and found they were all full of professional jargon and contract terms he couldn't understand.

These past few days, Shen Lanxue had hired a professional manager to handle company affairs for him, which was also why he'd been able to stay home.

He rummaged around for a while until he came across a page with the artists' schedules.

Ji Ziyang: May 20, brand event; May 22, variety show recording; May 25, magazine shoot.

There was more after that, but the text cut it off.

Just as he was about to flip past it, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

The door opened, and a familiar-looking smiling face peeked in: "Boss Lu, I heard you were coming in today, so I came by to say hi."

It was Ji Ziyang.

He was wearing a black shirt with the top button undone, his hair styled—looked like he'd just come back from a shoot.

He walked up to the desk and said with a smile, "Boss Lu, you've fully recovered, right? Last time I saw you at the mall with that cast, I was pretty worried."

"I'm fine now," Lu Hechi said.

Ji Ziyang nodded, his smile widening: "That's good. While you were gone, the whole company missed you. Me too."

Lu Hechi found that comment a bit weird.

What did he mean by "me too"?

He just said "mm" in response, thinking that once the guy was done talking, he'd leave.

But then Ji Ziyang suddenly stepped closer, leaned against the desk, and casually glanced at the documents on it: "Boss Lu checking out my schedule?"

"Just flipping through it."

"Boss Lu..."

Just then, Lu Hechi's phone buzzed.

He looked down—it was a text from Shen Lanxue.

"You're wearing my clothes?"

Lu Hechi typed back: "Your clothes look good, so I can't wear them?"

Shen Lanxue had just finished a meeting and was sitting in his office, looking at Lu Hechi's message.

He'd been thinking about how to act around Lu Hechi after that unexpected kiss yesterday, but the guy had just naturally acted like it never happened.

His phone buzzed again.

Shen Lanxue pulled his thoughts together and looked at the new message.

"Bro, you haven't said whether I look handsome in this suit yet?"

Shen Lanxue's fingers typed on the screen.

"Mm."

"..."

Lu Hechi stared at that single character, thinking how dismissive it was, yet he couldn't help the smile spreading across his face.

"Boss Lu."

Those two short syllables brought Lu Hechi back.

He looked up and saw that Ji Ziyang still hadn't left.

Lu Hechi frowned, set his phone face-down on the desk, and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Ji Ziyang had been watching him chat with the contact named "Snowflake"—so gentle, so intimate, even acting cute. He was grinding his teeth.

And when he saw the smile on Lu Hechi's face, his teeth practically shattered.

Seeing that the two were about to keep chatting, jealousy flared up in him, and he couldn't help but interrupt.

Ji Ziyang suddenly leaned in, placing both hands on the office desk, and bent down, probing cautiously: "Boss Lu, why have you suddenly become so cold?"

Lu Hechi: "..."

What is this nonsense?

Lu Hechi felt like his ears had stopped working. He picked at his ear, pretending to listen carefully.

"What did you say?"

Ji Ziyang bit his lip, sounding wronged: "Boss Lu, do you still remember promising to accompany me on that variety show *My Good Friend*?"

Lu Hechi...

Lu Hechi had no memory of it at all.

"Why would I go on a variety show with you?"

Lu Hechi couldn't stand a grown man playing the victim. Even though the guy wasn't bad-looking, he just rubbed Lu Hechi the wrong way.

"I've changed my mind. Get out."

Ji Ziyang's eyes widened in shock. He wasn't ready to give up and wanted to say more, but Lu Hechi cut him off directly.

"Can't you understand what I'm saying? I said get out."

Ji Ziyang was stunned for a moment, and seeing the impatience in Lu Hechi's eyes, he said "Okay" and retreated from the office.

Ji Ziyang closed the door, still feeling dazed.

Why?

He had put in two years of effort, and Lu Hechi had finally warmed up to him, only for him to turn cold again.

Could he have found out something?

At the thought, Ji Ziyang shuddered.

No, he had to get to the bottom of this.

"..."

Once the office door closed, Lu Hechi let out a sigh of relief.

Who was that guy? And this guy was their company's biggest star? What was wrong with people's eyes these days?

Lu Hechi picked up his phone and checked his messages again.

Shen Lanxue had sent another message five minutes ago.

"Little Star has a school event with parents tomorrow. Are you coming?"

A school event with parents?

Lu Hechi's eyes lit up, and he quickly replied.

"Going, going, going!"

Lu Hechi spent the entire day at the office, with staff constantly coming and going, carrying various project contracts for him to review.

There were also department heads and assistant heads reporting on project updates.

Among them was the very project—*My Good Friend*—that Ji Ziyang had mentioned earlier.

The key thing was that one of the guests was a guy named Chen Jiadong.

That's when it clicked. He suddenly understood why he had agreed to go on that show with Ji Ziyang.

Lu Hechi thought it over carefully all afternoon, and in the end, he decided to go.

Chen Jiadong was unwilling to communicate with him now, but on the show, in that environment, he couldn't avoid it—the two of them needed to have a proper talk.

By the time the sun slanted westward and the golden light of dusk streamed into the office, Lu Hechi stretched, stood up, and grabbed his suit jacket from the desk.

Time to head home.

Passing the front desk, he had planned to tiptoe by, but the two girls were sharp-eyed and smiled at him: "Boss Lu, heading out?"

"Yeah."

"Take care, Boss Lu!"

Lu Hechi quickened his pace and stepped into the elevator.

As the doors closed, he watched the floor numbers tick down one by one, and suddenly a scene flashed into his mind.

In the same stairwell.

His lips pressed against Shen Lanxue's.

"Bro, you stole a kiss from me."

"Didn't."

"You did."

"..."