"……"
Wen Yifan didn’t avert her gaze, her expression calm. "Hmm?"
Sang Yan didn’t repeat himself, still looking down at her with an air of superiority, his eyes filled with scrutiny. From the corner of her eye, Wen Yifan could see his fingers lightly tapping on the steering wheel—slow, rhythmic, one tap after another.
As if he were contemplating something.
From her perspective, it also felt like a silent torment.
Wen Yifan scrambled for a response in her mind, her expression faltering slightly as if she had just realized something. She curved her lips into a gentle smile and explained in a soft tone, "Didn’t you just say it yourself? Last night, I only hugged you once."
The tapping on the steering wheel stopped. Sang Yan’s eyelids flickered, seemingly accepting her explanation. He merely let out a faint "Ah," then averted his gaze.
He didn’t press further.
—Silence.
Though Wen Yifan wasn’t particularly in the mood to talk, adhering to the principle of committing fully to the act, she still asked in return, "So, last night… did I lift your shirt?"
Sang Yan looked ahead. "Misremembered."
"……"
"Must’ve been another time." Probably not wanting to contradict himself, Sang Yan lazily clarified, "After all, it’s not a one-time or two-time thing. I can’t possibly remember every single detail."
"……"
Wen Yifan wanted to say she probably wouldn’t do something like lifting his shirt.
But recalling how resigned and unresisting Sang Yan had been when she hugged him last night, she couldn’t help but think that during her previous sleepwalking episodes, many unimaginable things might have indeed happened.
Wen Yifan didn’t dare to imagine those scenes and could only nod. "Sorry for the trouble."
"……"
After a moment’s thought, wanting to reassure him that these trying days would eventually end, she added consolingly, "When I have time, I’ll go see a doctor."
……
When they arrived at the entrance of Nanwu TV Station.
Wen Yifan lowered her eyes and unbuckled her seatbelt. She wasn’t sure whether Sang Yan had come to Shang’an at this hour to go to the "Overtime" bar or for some other reason, but she didn’t ask. Instead, she simply said, "Thank you. I’ll head up now."
Sang Yan responded with a lazy "Hmm."
Just as Wen Yifan was about to open the car door, she added, "Drive safely."
"Wen Yifan." Sang Yan suddenly called her name.
Hearing this, Wen Yifan paused and turned back. "What is it?"
Casually, he said, "There’s something in your hair."
Wen Yifan immediately raised her hand to touch her head, asking, "Where?"
"A little to the left."
She moved her hand leftward.
"Up a bit."
Her hand went higher.
"Right a little."
She followed his instructions precisely but still couldn’t find the supposed "something."
The next moment, Wen Yifan heard Sang Yan click his tongue impatiently. Her scalp tingled, and just as she was about to pull down the vanity mirror to check, she felt a weight on her head—something touching her.
She glanced sideways.
Sang Yan had raised his arm, his hand now resting on her head as if to remove whatever was in her hair. Then, without any courtesy, he ruffled her hair, messing it up.
As if retaliating for her sluggishness.
He withdrew his hand and shooed her off. "Stop dawdling. I’m in a hurry."
Baffled by his actions, Wen Yifan asked hesitantly, "What was in my hair?"
"Dunno."
"……" Wen Yifan didn’t press further and could only say, "Thanks."Wen Yifan got out of the car, smoothing her hair as she walked toward the entrance. She happened to run into Mu Chengyun, who had arrived at some point. He greeted her first, "Good morning, Yifan-jie."
She nodded at him. "Good morning."
Entering the building, Wen Yifan recalled Sang Yan's earlier actions and belatedly rubbed her head. Her thoughts drifted, as if lost in her own world, and she didn't hear what Mu Chengyun was saying beside her.
After a while, Mu Chengyun called out, "Yifan-jie?"
"..." Wen Yifan snapped back to reality. "Hmm? What is it?"
Mu Chengyun had delicate features and a boyish smile. Unbothered by her earlier inattention, he repeated good-naturedly, "Are you dating Sang Yan?"
Wen Yifan paused briefly. "No."
Mu Chengyun exhaled almost imperceptibly. "I saw him drop you off just now and even ruffle your hair, so I thought..." He trailed off, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm being too nosy."
Ruffle?
Wen Yifan was taken aback.
She withdrew her hand, recalling the force Sang Yan had used.
If anything, "kneading" would have been a more accurate description.
But since she wasn't particularly close to Mu Chengyun, she felt a simple denial was enough and didn't bother elaborating further. She merely smiled without saying more.
The two entered the office together.
Returning to her desk, Wen Yifan turned on her computer. As she idly flipped through some documents, Su Tian from the neighboring desk sipped her coffee and leaned over to chat. "Why'd you come in with that puppy-eyed guy today?"
Wen Yifan replied, "We just happened to meet at the entrance."
"Oh." Remembering last night's events, Su Tian sounded apologetic. "By the way, Xiaofan, that drink I gave you yesterday was apparently stronger than I thought. I only gave it to you because I assumed it was fruit wine."
Mentioning this brought last night's events back to Wen Yifan's mind. Her expression stiffened momentarily before quickly returning to normal. "It's fine. I went straight to sleep when I got home. No harm done."
Su Tian asked, "No headache?"
Wen Yifan didn't feel any discomfort and smiled. "Nope."
Su Tian yawned. "Seems like half the office is dragging today—everyone partied too hard yesterday. I'm dead tired and seriously regret not leaving with you."
"It's rare to have a chance to unwind," Wen Yifan said. "As long as you had fun."
The topic didn't last long before Su Tian brought up something else. "Remember how I introduced you to my friend for that shared apartment arrangement? Since your roommate isn't moving out, she found someone online—a male college student."
"A college student?" Wen Yifan thought for a moment. "Why isn't he living on campus?"
"Something about being a game streamer and not wanting to disrupt his roommates' schedules," Su Tian explained. "My friend's been complaining nonstop lately about how messy this guy is."
"What's wrong?"
"Does your roommate do this?" Su Tian grew curious and began listing grievances. "Leaving dirty dishes piled up until the sink's caked with grease. Washing clothes only once every two weeks, throwing underwear and socks in the machine. Never cleans, sometimes even forgets to flush the toilet..."
Wen Yifan shook her head. "No."
Come to think of it, Sang Yan was actually quite tidy.She felt a bit relieved and added, "My roommate is actually quite nice."
"You're pretty lucky then," Su Tian laughed, then continued, "But you might not believe this—just the other day, my friend told me she thinks she might have fallen for that college student."
This twist left Wen Yifan stunned. "Huh?"
"She said he was just spoiled by his family and couldn’t do any chores. But whenever she pointed something out, he’d listen and never repeat the mistake," Su Tian explained. "Basically, she had nothing but praise for him, completely unlike the person she used to complain about."
"..."
"Though I think the main reason is that the guy is really good-looking. If I could find someone that handsome, I’d move in too," Su Tian sighed, sharing her thoughts. "So, do you think living with someone of the opposite sex for a long time inevitably sparks some romantic feelings?"
Wen Yifan blurted out, "Not necessarily."
Su Tian looked at her. "You denied that awfully fast."
"..."
"I don’t think I’ve asked you before," Su Tian suddenly remembered, "but is your new roommate male or female? Didn’t Wang Linlin help you find them?"
After a brief silence, Wen Yifan decided not to lie. "Male."
"Damn," Su Tian was shocked. "Is he reliable?"
"Yeah."
Perhaps because of Wen Yifan’s earlier quick response, Su Tian instinctively assumed her roommate must be unattractive and pressed on. "I know we shouldn’t judge by appearances, but are you sure he doesn’t have any ulterior motives?"
Wen Yifan stayed quiet.
Staring at Wen Yifan’s face, Su Tian grew uneasy. "I think co-ed living is normal, but you should still be careful. Always stay on guard."
Thinking about Sang Yan, whom she had taken advantage of, Wen Yifan felt a surge of guilt, realizing she might be the one with "ulterior motives." She didn’t dare say it out loud and replied calmly, "I know."
...
Wen Yifan had initially thought Sang Yan would only stay for three months.
Assuming their interactions would be minimal during that short time, she believed he’d leave once the period ended. To both of them, the other would just be a passing acquaintance, not even a friend.
Just an insignificant little episode.
Like Wang Linlin before.
But now, things were clearly taking a strange turn.
From Su Tian’s words, Wen Yifan could roughly deduce the reason. It was probably because she had been spending too much time with Sang Yan lately, being around him day and night, that her mind had grown muddled, giving rise to inappropriate thoughts.
Last night’s hug felt like a warning.
Constantly flashing before her eyes.
On this matter, Wen Yifan was very self-aware. She wasn’t delusional enough to think Sang Yan still had feelings for her, nor was she shameless enough to pretend the past never happened and try to get close to him again.
Moreover, Wen Yifan hated this kind of habit and was terrified of growing accustomed to someone else’s presence.
In her subconscious, there were only two possible outcomes.
The other person might vanish from her life without warning, just like her father. Or, like her mother, they might choose to abandon her for a better life—Because of these thoughts and the guilt she felt towards Sang Yan while sober, Wen Yifan clearly realized afterward that her emotions could no longer remain as they had been when interacting with him.
Wen Yifan began subtly distancing herself from Sang Yan.
She tried to revert their relationship to how it was when they first started living together, just enduring until the day he moved out.
The shift in her attitude was slight, and Sang Yan seemed completely unaware. During this time, he had started working, and his workload appeared heavy. On top of that, he occasionally had to work "overtime" at night, sometimes not even coming home for the entire evening.
Over the course of a month, the two of them barely had any time together.
Wen Yifan was also busy with work, often leaving early and returning late, leaving her little time to dwell on these matters.
Adhering to the principle of not getting too close to her roommate, Wen Yifan never asked Sang Yan what job he had found. In the end, it was Zhong Siqiao who brought it up in conversation.
Zhong Siqiao: [I heard from Xiang Lang yesterday.]
Zhong Siqiao: [Sang Yan seems to have started working at their company.]
Zhong Siqiao: [But they’re not in the same department. Xiang Lang didn’t notice before and only just found out.]
Wen Yifan: [Where does Xiang Lang work now?]
Zhong Siqiao: [You Sheng Technology.]
Zhong Siqiao: [He’s in the Marketing Department, and Sang Yan’s in the Software Department.]
Zhong Siqiao: [But Sang Yan’s position is higher—he’s a manager.]
Zhong Siqiao: [Xiang Lang is such trash.]
Zhong Siqiao: [He even told me Sang Yan must have connections.]
Reading this, Wen Yifan suddenly recalled Sang Yan’s earlier words and realized he hadn’t been bragging. She didn’t dwell on it, casually replied a few lines, then exited the chat window to get back to work.
Just as she was about to set her phone aside, she accidentally tapped on another chat box.
It was Zhao Yuandong’s.
Because Wen Yifan hadn’t replied to her messages, Zhao Yuandong had gradually sent fewer. Only occasionally would she send reminders about seasonal changes or to take care of her health.
Wen Yifan absentmindedly scrolled through.
A few days before Qingming:
Zhao Yuandong: [Your aunt returned to Beiyu today.]
Zhao Yuandong: [That day, I forgot to consider your feelings. I won’t let her come again in the future, okay?]
Zhong Yuandong: [Don’t be mad at Mom anymore.]
On Qingming:
Zhao Yuandong: [Ajiang, do you want to visit your dad with Mom today?]
Most of the messages in between were miscellaneous chatter.
Three minutes ago, Zhao Yuandong had sent another message.
Long paragraphs of text.
Zhao Yuandong: [Ajiang, I’ve talked with your aunt recently. Back then, I wasn’t by your side, so I didn’t understand the situation and didn’t stand up for you. I’m sorry.]
Zhao Yuandong: [I always thought they took good care of you, so I felt at ease. At the time, I really wanted to bring you back, but I was afraid frequent changes would affect your college entrance exams. I thought it would be fine after a while—once you got into a university in Nanwu, you could come live with me, and I could take care of you. I never imagined you’d end up going to Yihe, so far away.]
Zhao Yuandong: [Mom will make it up to you from now on, okay?]
Wen Yifan stared at the screen for a long while before exiting WeChat. She turned back to her computer, but her mind was in disarray. The words on the screen seemed to blur into a jumble of code, making it impossible for her to focus.She closed her eyes briefly, picked up her phone again, and cleared the chat history with Zhao Yuandong.
It was almost eleven when Wen Yifan finally finished work and returned home. She took off her shoes and saw Sang Yan lying on the sofa with a laptop, his fingers flying across the keyboard. She had no idea what he was doing.
Not wanting to disturb him, Wen Yifan habitually went to drink a glass of water. After finishing it, she filled another cup and headed back to her room.
At that moment, Sang Yan called out to her, "Hey."
Wen Yifan turned around. "What is it?"
"Forgot the rules?" Sang Yan glanced at her before quickly looking away, continuing to type as he spoke. "You're supposed to let me know if you're not back by ten."
Wen Yifan paused for a moment before replying belatedly, "Oh, I forgot. Sorry."
Then, without saying anything else, she continued toward her room.
"I feel like your attitude toward me lately has been a bit..." Sang Yan hesitated, as if searching for the right words, then slowly uttered two syllables, "neglectful."
"..." Wen Yifan stopped again. "No, I'm just really tired."
Sang Yan looked up.
Wen Yifan said softly, "I just want to sleep."
Sang Yan stopped typing and stared at her for a moment before replying, "Go to sleep then."
...
After Wen Yifan entered her room, Sang Yan recalled her expression just now. He fell silent for a while before resuming typing.
Close to two in the morning, Sang Yan closed his laptop and went to his room to grab a change of clothes for a shower. When he came out and was about to retrieve his laptop from the living room, he noticed Wen Yifan had somehow reappeared in the living room.
She had changed into her sleepwear—a short-sleeved top and shorts—revealing her fair, slender limbs.
At that moment, Wen Yifan was sitting on the sofa, staring blankly at the clock.
"..."
Sang Yan's hair was still damp as he walked over to her. He rubbed his hair with a towel and studied her for a long moment. Then, he pulled over a nearby stool and sat down in front of her, speaking slowly, "So you sleepwalk when you're in a bad mood or drunk?"
Wen Yifan remained motionless and silent.
Sang Yan asked, "What's wrong today?"
Wen Yifan didn't move at all, as if lost in her own world, oblivious to her surroundings. If not for the occasional blink, Sang Yan would have thought she had turned into a statue.
He didn't say anything else either.
He just sat beside her, doing nothing else.
After about ten minutes, Wen Yifan stood up and slowly walked toward her room.
Still seated, Sang Yan turned to watch her retreating figure. He tilted his head forward to ensure there was nothing in her path that might trip her, but he didn't follow her.
He observed her actions leisurely, his expression relaxed.
Wen Yifan moved like a ghost, walking straight down the hallway with slow, steady steps. Just like the previous times, she stopped again when she reached his room.
Following her gaze, Sang Yan saw that his door was still open—he hadn't closed it after grabbing his clothes earlier to shower.
Wen Yifan stared at it for a long time, her expression dazed.
"What are you looking at?" Sang Yan found it amusing. "You're acting like a creep."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Yifan seemed to receive some kind of instruction. She lifted her foot again and walked into his room.
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