Sang Yan lowered his lashes, staring at the droplets of water gathering and sliding down the back of his hand, his Adam's apple bobbing slowly. Soon after, he raised his eyes again and asked hoarsely, "What's wrong?"
Her body remained motionless, not making a sound, only tears falling uncontrollably from her eyes.
As if this was the only way.
Silently, in this empty night, digesting all that pain alone.
Sang Yan reached out, gently wiping the tears from her face. Those icy tears now felt like molten lava, scorching his entire body with pain. His throat was dry, making it hard to speak.
After a long while, he finally called out, "Wen Shuangjiang."
Wen Yifan's gaze remained fixed on her knees.
"You asked me if I've been doing well all these years."
"..."
"What about you?" Sang Yan's voice was very soft. "Have you been doing well?"
They had been roommates for over a year.
After Wen Yifan's first sleepwalking episode, Sang Yan had looked up related information. He learned that there were many causes for this condition, mostly due to lack of sleep, life stress, and past traumatic or painful experiences.
Considering Wen Yifan's work schedule and stress, Sang Yan hadn't thought much of it.
Wen Yifan didn't sleepwalk frequently, and there was no clear pattern. Moreover, Sang Yan noticed she seemed quite self-conscious about it. Later, whenever she sleepwalked again, as long as it didn't cause major issues, he stopped bringing it up.
But Wen Yifan had sleepwalked so many times.
This was the first time Sang Yan had seen her cry while sleepwalking.
Sang Yan didn't know if anything else had happened to Wen Yifan today. But based on her reaction earlier and his own recollections, the most likely reason she was crying now was because of that man tonight.
He didn't know.
Had she been constantly harassed by this so-called "uncle" all these years?
He also didn't know.
Did she always cry silently alone at night like this after experiencing such unhappy events?
Several minutes passed.
Only then did Wen Yifan's tears finally stop. Mechanically, she raised her eyes to look at Sang Yan, freezing for a long moment before standing up. Sang Yan was still holding her hand and was abruptly pulled up by her movement.
Then, Sang Yan faintly realized that she seemed to be holding his hand in return. His lashes fluttered slightly as he followed behind her, wondering if it was just his imagination. He tentatively loosened his grip a little.
Their hands remained connected.
Wen Yifan was still holding his hand.
Sang Yan's brows lifted slightly.
He had thought Wen Yifan would do as before—after sleepwalking, she would go straight to his room to sleep. Unexpectedly, this time when they passed the secondary bedroom, her footsteps didn't pause, continuing forward instead.
Sang Yan didn't pay it much mind.
After all, her sleepwalking actions weren't always the same; there were bound to be variations.
Sang Yan continued letting her lead him forward.
Until they reached the master bedroom door, Wen Yifan raised her other hand to turn the knob. She walked in, pulling him along with her.
After they entered,
Wen Yifan even turned around habitually, slowly closing the door behind them. Her movements were completely natural, no different from her usual self, just slightly stiffer and slower.
They walked all the way to Wen Yifan's bed.Sang Yan was just thinking about settling her back into bed and returning to his own room once she showed no further signs of distress when he felt Wen Yifan climb onto the bed. The grip on his hand remained firm, as if she intended to pull him onto the bed with her.
Only then did Sang Yan realize something was off.
"You want me to sleep with you?"
Wen Yifan lifted her eyes and looked at him quietly. Her expression clearly showed no awareness, yet inexplicably, Sang Yan felt as though she had found some treasure in her dreams and was trying to sneak it back to her little hideout to claim it as her own.
Her grip wasn’t strong; Sang Yan could easily break free if he wanted to.
But he had a hunch.
If he pulled away, she’d start crying again like before.
Even though the two of them had shared a bed a few times before, Sang Yan felt that invading his own private space and encroaching on hers were two entirely different concepts. He stood still, patiently offering a suggestion: "How about we go to my room instead?"
Wen Yifan showed no reaction.
After another standoff, seeing that she seemed unwilling to budge, Sang Yan compromised once more, brushing aside the triviality of the matter. He glanced around the bed, then lay down on the empty side. He couldn’t shake the discomfort, feeling not the slightest bit sleepy, and simply pulled the blanket over Wen Yifan.
She still held his hand, as if finally at ease, and gradually closed her eyes.
Sang Yan lay beside her, watching her quietly.
After a long while, he leaned in and gently kissed her forehead.
...
Early the next morning.
Wen Yifan opened her bleary eyes, her first instinct telling her she was being held. Her lashes fluttered slowly as realization dawned. But since this had happened more than a few times already, she didn’t pay it much mind.
She simply took her time waking up.
But when her consciousness fully returned, Wen Yifan glanced around. The remnants of sleep vanished in an instant as she immediately sensed something was wrong.
—This was her room.
Wen Yifan froze, turning her head in bewilderment to look at Sang Yan.
He was awake too, his eyelids drooping lazily, his expression still drowsy. Noticing her gaze, Sang Yan seemed utterly unbothered. He closed his eyes again, pulling her waist closer with a boldness that bordered on audacity, as if intending to sleep a little longer.
"..."
His calm and natural demeanor left Wen Yifan wondering which one of them was the problem.
She couldn’t help saying, "This is my room."
Still groggy, Sang Yan’s voice was low. "So?"
Wen Yifan: "Why are you here?"
"What do you mean, why am I here?"
"..."
"Your attitude is kind of hurtful, you know." Sang Yan rested his forehead against the nape of her neck, his tone leisurely. "You do the math—how many times have you set the fire, and this is my first time lighting the lamp—"
"No," Wen Yifan interrupted him, maintaining her patience. "I just want to know why you’re here."
"Oh." Sang Yan chuckled. "You tell me why."
"..." Wen Yifan turned her head.
Sang Yan lifted his eyes to meet hers.
After a few seconds, Wen Yifan ventured a guess: "Did you sleepwalk too?"
Sang Yan raised an eyebrow. "Of course not.""Oh." Wen Yifan guessed again, "Then, did you have a nightmare in the middle of the night, or were you scared after watching a ghost film and didn't dare to sleep alone? So you came to my room in the middle of the night?"
"Not that either."
"Or maybe you just wanted to sleep with me."
This time, Sang Yan took the initiative to explain: "You were sleepwalking in the middle of the night."
Wen Yifan nodded, "Mm, and then?"
Staring at her face, Sang Yan's dark eyes gleamed as he slowly reached out to stroke her cheek. Then, he curled his lips and calmly finished his sentence, "You carried me to your room."
"..."
Wen Yifan tried to picture the scene.
Her sleepwalking in the dead of night, suddenly gaining Herculean strength, barging into Sang Yan's room, and effortlessly lifting this man who weighed over seventy kilograms.
What the hell! How could he even say something like that!!!
Suppressing her emotions, Wen Yifan kept her tone calm and composed, "I carried you...?"
Sang Yan didn't respond, as if silently confirming.
"Could I even..." Wen Yifan felt Sang Yan was completely treating her like a fool, but she couldn't outright say it. Instead, she pointed out the flaws in his logic step by step, "lift you?"
Observing her expression, Sang Yan suddenly lowered his chin and chuckled to himself. Still unwilling to retract his statement, he shamelessly sighed, "I didn't expect it either."
"..."
Wen Yifan didn't argue further with this shameless man. After all, this was completely different from previous situations—utterly absurd and requiring no evidence to disprove.
The two locked eyes for a few more seconds.
Wen Yifan managed to squeeze out four words, "Then I must be..."
"..."
"Quite the man."
Sang Yan hummed in agreement and tried to pull her back into his arms to sleep.
Mentioning the word "man" reminded Wen Yifan of their first meeting. Her mind went blank, and she inexplicably wanted to bring it up, "Other than my name—"
Sang Yan glanced at her.
Wen Yifan continued, "My strength seems manlier than yours too."
"..."
It was almost time to get ready for work.
After saying this, Wen Yifan immediately regretted it. Afraid Sang Yan would hold it against her, she quickly scrambled up, tossed out a sentence, and ran toward the bathroom.
"I'll make breakfast. You keep sleeping."
By the time Wen Yifan finished washing up, Sang Yan was no longer in her room. The blanket had been neatly folded and spread out on the bed. She stared at it for a few seconds, still unable to figure out why he had appeared in her room.
She felt her last guess was the most plausible.
But based on Sang Yan's personality, Wen Yifan didn't think he would do something like that.
Unable to make sense of it, Wen Yifan decided to ask him later. She changed her clothes and headed to the kitchen. After rummaging through the fridge and surveying the ingredients, she decided to just cook some noodles.
Just as she took out the vegetables, Sang Yan entered the kitchen and habitually grabbed a bottle of ice water from the fridge.
Their eyes met.
Wen Yifan's gaze dropped to the bottle of ice water in his hand, then lifted again. After a few seconds of silence, she walked over to grab a pot and asked gently, "Is noodles okay for breakfast?"
Sang Yan paused. After a moment, he silently put the ice water back.
"Sure."The night passed, and Wen Yifan's bad mood had mostly dissipated. As she poured water into the pot, she kept an eye on his movements. Seeing this, the corners of her lips curled up, inexplicably amused by this small gesture.
Sang Yan walked over to her side and began washing the side dishes and meatballs.
The two chatted intermittently.
Originally, Wen Yifan had intended to prepare breakfast, but in the end, most of it was done by Sang Yan. She sat at the dining table, sipping her soup, about to ask Sang Yan again why he had woken up in her room.
But Sang Yan spoke first: "Wen Shuangjiang."
Wen Yifan: "Hmm?"
Sang Yan lifted his eyes, casually mentioning, "That man who claimed to be your uncle yesterday—I think I’ve seen him somewhere before."
"..."
Wen Yifan’s expression froze for a moment as she recalled Che Xingde from last night. She slowly averted her gaze, took a bite of noodles, and answered honestly, "Yeah, you saw him when you came looking for me before."
"At the time, you said," Sang Yan chose his words carefully, "that you didn’t know him."
"Right." Wen Yifan nodded gently. "Because I don’t like him. I avoid him every time I see him and want nothing to do with him. No matter who asks, I say I don’t know him."
"..."
Wen Yifan smiled. "What’s wrong?" Sang Yan’s gaze lingered on her face, as if studying her expression. His demeanor was unreadable, giving no hint of his thoughts, but he didn’t seem to doubt her words: "Has this guy been bothering you?"
"No." Wen Yifan lowered her head and continued eating. "I haven’t seen him since starting university. I thought he was still in Beiyu. No idea when he came to Nanwu."
Sang Yan kept watching her but said nothing this time.
Noticing his gaze from the corner of her eye, Wen Yifan looked up. After a moment’s thought, she could roughly guess what he was thinking and added, "I never expected to run into him again. I’ve been doing just fine all this time."
Sang Yan smirked slightly. "Good."
With that, silence fell over the table.
Wen Yifan wasn’t sure what to say next. She considered last night’s incident just a minor episode, not worth bringing up again. But she also didn’t know the current situation with her uncle’s family.
She didn’t know if they were still living with Zhao Yuandong, if they had settled in Nanwu, or if they would return to Beiyu.
Wen Yifan felt that Nanwu was a vast city.
If it was just a chance encounter, they might not cross paths more than a few times in a lifetime.
Yet, she couldn’t shake a faint unease.
She didn’t know if the person Mu Chengyun had mentioned earlier was Che Xingde, nor whether Che Xingde, now aware of Sang Yan’s existence, might use that connection to seek her out.
She didn’t know why they had suddenly moved back to Nanwu.
She didn’t know if they would pester her.
Even though Wen Yifan saw no reason for it.
The mere possibility filled her with dread.
At this thought, she looked at the man across from her again. Remembering how Che Xingde had caused trouble at his bar last night, her lips pressed into a tight line before she spoke: "Sang Yan."
Sang Yan: "Hmm?"
Wen Yifan wasn’t really worried about anything, nor did she fear these people could disrupt her life. No matter what, she was no longer that helpless child who had to rely on others, powerless to change her circumstances.She didn't think these people could cause any real trouble.
But she was afraid it might affect Sang Yan.
Wen Yifan met his gaze and earnestly instructed, "If that guy from yesterday comes to 'Overtime' to find you again, no matter what he says or wants, just ignore him."
Sang Yan looked at her, noticing her expression, and chuckled softly. He raised his hand and roughly ruffled her hair, his tone laced with amusement, as if completely unfazed by the matter. "What are you worried about?"
"..."
"You even dug up something from a year ago to nitpick at me—how would I dare to casually talk to anyone now?"
At his words, Wen Yifan instantly recalled the drunken incident where she had mentioned, "You smiled at four girls in one night." Her attention was immediately diverted, and she felt a little embarrassed.
If not for that drunken remark, she wouldn't even have realized she'd noticed such a thing back then.
"Besides," Sang Yan laughed, "other than you, who do you think could actually get anything from me?"
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