A small and monotonous mechanical sound rang out.

Yuri was placing the laptop on his lap, slightly raising his head. When looking at the clock that rings every hour on the dot, he realized he had passed dinner time at some point. He had probably been distracted for a while, but time passed quickly.

“……”

Yuri looked towards the doorway devoid of any figure. He stared intently at the entrance, not seeing Ling Xinlu’s shoes for a moment, then looked at his phone. There were no messages at all. Surely, Ling Xinlu would be back soon.

Ling Xinlu usually goes back to his parents’ house for dinner every weekend, so today he also went home quite late.

Normally Yuri would go along as well, but because his health condition hasn’t improved yet, he stayed home alone. Yuri had said that he could move around at this level and wanted to go along, but Ling Xinlu shook his head decisively and told him to rest because he would quickly return.

If he dined and chatted with his relatives for a while, he might come back late, but if he only had dinner and came back right away, then it should almost be time.

And although Ling Xinlu didn’t say exactly when he would be back, Yuri guessed he would return soon.

There wasn’t any specific reason. But the contract expiration date was tomorrow. More precisely, the contract would end at midnight tonight. Therefore, before that – tonight itself – Yuri had to answer Ling Xinlu’s question, like an assigned task, regarding: Whether to continue the contract or not?

He didn’t know if it was because of that, but Ling Xinlu seemed to have been distracted since morning.
It wasn’t that he acted strangely or lost focus, but like someone about to have important business to attend to outside, he couldn’t sit still in one place and seemed restless.

“…….”

Could it be that Ling Xinlu was behaving like this entirely because today was the contract expiration date?……

From early this morning, he went out to the balcony to look down below for a long time, then went back into the bathroom to bathe for the second time that day. He went to make tea midway while drinking coffee. Read a few pages of a book, then took out another book to read…… Witnessing such a Ling Xinlu, Yuri thought: ‘Could it be?’

Then, around mid-afternoon, Yuri suddenly remembered that today was the weekend.

“Mr. Ling Xinlu.”

Thinking that he was about to have to get ready to go home, Yuri called out to Ling Xinlu, who was standing absentmindedly looking down below from the balcony.

Immediately, Ling Xinlu visibly startled, flinched, and turned his head around as quick as a flash. With a *Whoosh*, before the call: “Mr. Ling Xinlu” could finish, his sparkling bright eyes were looking directly at Yuri.

Worry, restlessness, expectation, yearning, all those emotions seemed to blend together in those eyes, making Yuri silent for a moment.

He seemed to understand why he had been restlessly pacing back and forth in the house since morning. At the same time, he felt guilty for calling him at this moment, as if he had done something very bad.

“Yes? Did you call me?”

Ling Xinlu quickly walked from the balcony into the living room and sat down opposite Yuri. In front of Xinlu, who was sitting up straight, hands placed on his knees, and obediently looking at Yuri, as if unconsciously mimicking Yuri’s posture, Yuri was momentarily speechless.

“……, …… You have to go home today, right?”

When Yuri said that, just as he predicted, Ling Xinlu’s face darkened. It seemed that it wasn’t what he wanted to hear, the disappointment clearly showing on his face, but he tried to hide it and nodded gently:

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then you should get ready to go.”

Yuri put the book down and made a motion to stand up. But then he had to stop because of a sharp pain in his lower back and sighed softly.

A few days ago, he had bumped hard against the edge of the table while sitting on a chair and it still hurt. In addition, his physical strength had also declined, making it difficult for his body to recover.

Although he could move around now, that day he had to lie in bed all day.

As soon as Yuri placed his hand on his back and sighed, Ling Xinlu immediately jumped up. He quickly and gently pushed Yuri back down to sit.

“I will go myself, you just rest. You don’t need to go anywhere, Mr. Gable.”

“It’s just going to eat, Mr. Gable doesn’t need to come along, anyway, you’ll just have to wait outside.” – Ling Xinlu said, but Yuri shook his head.

“No, I’m fine now. I also promised to lend Fei a book the other day and planned to meet him today, moreover, moving around is not a problem.”

Yuri even waved his hand, claiming that he really was fine. These past few days, Ling Xinlu had been treating Yuri as if he were an invalid, to exaggerate a bit, not letting him walk around on his own.

These past few days, Ling Xinlu had been truly very gentle with Yuri. He always smiled, always indulged him.

His considerate gestures were always polite. His tone when conversing with Yuri was always soft.

Only his fervent gaze couldn’t conceal his inner feelings, always directly and frankly facing Yuri.

“……Fei?”

The smile on Ling Xinlu’s face seemed to disappear for a moment as he tilted his head and asked again, but only for a fleeting instant.

He smiled gently: “I will bring that book to him on my way. You just rest,” then placed his hand on Yuri’s thigh, pressing down to prevent him from getting up.

Looking at Xinlu’s attitude, it seemed as if he was determined to go alone, so Yuri could only look at him with a troubled expression and nod.

Perhaps he should send a short text message to Fei later.

After that, Ling Xinlu lingered beside Yuri for a while longer before leaving the house later than usual.

“I will just eat and come right back,”

Ling Xinlu said as he stepped out the door, but then he stopped at the doorway and stared intently at Yuri.

His face showed a hint of worry and anxiety about tonight after returning—the approaching deadline.

Every possible thought was flashing through Ling Xinlu’s mind—maybe, what if, could it be, but anyway…… but Yuri didn’t say anything to him. He looked at Yuri for a moment then said: “Then I’ll be going”, and closed the door. Yuri sighed.

He hadn’t done it intentionally.

Yuri knew that Ling Xinlu had been discreetly observing him since morning—no, actually, since a few days ago—and every time he called him over, he would look at his lips with an expectant gaze mixed with anxiety.

How would he answer? Would he sign the contract with a permanent term? Or, impossible, surely not……

Yuri knew the worry and hope were burning him every day.

Even so, the fact that he hadn’t answered until now wasn’t intentional.

“But I don’t want to promise anything when I’m not sure I can keep it.”

Yuri looked at Ling Xinlu’s empty seat and whispered to the empty space.

Actually, he already had the answer. Yuri knew how he would answer him.

He didn’t want to see Ling Xinlu suffer. That was the answer.

He didn’t know if he could love him the way he wanted—a way that greedily and yearningly craved all of him, desiring to possess him completely. No, perhaps Yuri couldn’t do that.

Human nature couldn’t be changed, and Yuri understood his own personality well. The part that Ling Xinlu called ‘bland’ ultimately wouldn’t change.

But……

“——Try, even if you have to force yourself.”

“——Keep your promises after you’ve made them.”

Ling Xinlu’s pleas echoed in his ears. In the end, he wanted to fulfill all of Ling Xinlu’s wishes and didn’t want to see him disappointed or in pain, so the answer he would give him was already predetermined.

However, the reason he delayed his answer was because it was his effort. He had been and was still trying to love Xinlu more, to look at him the way he wanted in every moment. He didn’t know when this effort would bear fruit, but he would continue to try.

But now Yuri had made his decision, the only thing left was to wait for Ling Xinlu to return…… then he just needed to sign the contract and give it to him, that was all. Doing so meant that, at least for a period of time, he would stay here, stay by Ling Xinlu’s side. A few years, or more, perhaps longer than he imagined.

Yuri confirmed the [Completed] mark on the laptop screen and closed the window. Once he had decided, he wouldn’t hesitate in arranging and handling the necessary tasks.

After closing the laptop and looking at the clock once more, Yuri thought that if he only ate and then came back, it should almost be time, and he suddenly realized that perhaps he himself was also a little anxious.

Only now did he become aware that he had been continuously looking at the clock and thinking about Ling Xinlu.

“……”

Yuri picked up his phone. He fiddled with the phone that still hadn’t received any calls or messages informing him that he would be late, and briefly considered calling Ling Xinlu.

He was curious to know where he was and when he would be back. And he felt that Ling Xinlu would be very happy if he asked those things.

Thinking that perhaps the ‘effort’ wouldn’t be as difficult as anticipated, Yuri started to dial the number.

But right before he pressed the call button after entering Ling Xinlu’s number, the phone suddenly rang.

“……”

At that very moment, he thought it was Ling Xinlu, but the number displayed on the screen belonged to someone else. The familiar long string of digits indicated it was an international call.

[“Yuri. I heard you called earlier.”]

The man who got straight to the point as soon as he answered the phone was James, who was always busy because of a bad boss.

“Yes, James. I left a message with Lucy, didn’t she tell you?”

[“She did. What do you mean you want to clear out your house?”]

He could almost see James frowning on the other end of the line.

“Exactly that. I want to sell my apartment in Berlin and wanted to ask you to handle it for me.”

[“Why so suddenly? Are you not planning to come back?”]

“I don’t think I’ll be coming back. At least not for a while.”

The other end of the line became silent. Yuri quietly waited for his reply.

[“For a while, how long?”] – James asked curtly. His voice sounded more irritated when he asked “how long”, as if he sensed something was amiss.

“I’m not sure. It’s a long-term contract, anyway.”

[“LONG-TERM?!”]

The volume of his voice suddenly tripled. Yuri pulled the phone slightly away from his ear and replied: “Yes.”

[“Why suddenly long-term? You don’t sign long-term contracts?!”]

“Yes, but coincidentally, this time I will.”

[“Then why didn’t you sign with our company from the beginning! Where is it, did you renew the contract with the Ling clan?”]

“Yes.”

To be precise, it should be with Ling Xinlu individually, not the Ling clan, but Yuri didn’t explain in detail. In any case, they would meet soon, he didn’t need to have a long conversation on the phone.

[“What the heck. I thought you would return to Germany after finishing the current contract, so I had prepared some tasks to assign to you.”]

“I contacted you first for that very reason.”

Yuri added: “I just made the decision.”

James grumbled as if he had just been betrayed by a close colleague: [“If you wanted to sign a long-term contract, you should have prioritized the side you’ve signed contracts with multiple times”]; [“So, is there still a possibility of signing short-term contracts in the future?”] and so on and so forth, he kept complaining and asking questions.

James seemed truly regretful. Not just because of losing a talent like Yuri Gable, but Yuri quickly realized that perhaps most of the tasks James had prepared to assign to him after his return were related to dealing with the aftermath caused by Kyle.

“Anyway, if I do that, I will also have to go back there for a while to arrange things, including the apartment. But I won’t stay long, so I want to ask you to sell the apartment for me.”

[“Alright. I’ll find a suitable buyer or broker. What price range do you think is reasonable?”]

James sighed and changed the subject as if he had accepted that there was no way to hold him back.

“The price, just set it at the average……”

Yuri was speaking when he suddenly stopped.

“……”

He thought he had just heard something at the entrance, so he turned his head to look.

But it seemed he had misheard because there was no one there, and after waiting a while, there were no further sounds. Perhaps it was a noise from the next house.

“Ah, by the way…… it’s not very convenient to talk at length on the phone, let’s meet and talk more later……”

[“When are you planning to come back?”]

“I’ve booked a flight for tomorrow.”

Yuri tapped lightly on the laptop he had just closed after confirming the flight ticket.

He had checked for tickets as soon as he thought of it and booked the earliest possible flight because after next week was a holiday period, plane tickets were quite scarce now.

[“Tomorrow? That’s lightning fast.”]

“Yes, my contract expires at midnight tonight. Once I’ve decided, there’s no point in delaying. If I have to go back, I might as well go back early and get it over with.”

Although he knew that arranging a life of more than ten years there couldn’t be accomplished in a day or two, he still wanted to complete everything within a few days and return as soon as possible. After settling everything there and returning here, he didn’t know when he would go back again.

“I’ll be on the morning flight, so I’ll see you tomorrow evening. Around afternoon Berlin time. I’ll come to the company.”

[“Afternoon. Alright. I have something outside tomorrow afternoon, I probably won’t be back at the company until four o’clock. You just time it and come then.”]

“Okay. I’ll call you when I arrive.”

[“Alright. Although this isn’t the reunion I was expecting.”]

It seemed the shock about the long-term contract still lingered, James didn’t forget to grumble until the very end of the call.

Yuri chuckled softly and hung up. Done, he had contacted the necessary people. There was nothing else to do at the moment. If there was anything else to do…… Yuri looked at the clock again.

If Ling Xinlu had just eaten dinner and come back, he should have been here by now, but he still hadn’t returned, perhaps he was chatting with his family.

But this was a little unexpected. He thought he would rush back even if he hadn’t finished his dinner.

Yuri thought for a moment, then redialed Ling Xinlu’s number, which he had just typed in before talking to James. He pressed the call button.

“……”

Yuri tilted his head. Ling Xinlu’s phone was off.

That’s strange, Ling Xinlu rarely turned off his phone except for very minor instances like when watching a movie or on a plane.

Maybe the battery died. Or maybe he was having an important conversation with the adults in his family—this also explained why he hadn’t returned yet.

He hoped he would come back soon.

He wanted to see his face when he received the signed contract. How radiantly happy that face, currently mixed with anxiety and anticipation, would smile.

Yuri sighed contentedly.

He felt a little restless waiting for Ling Xinlu to return.

Had he been experiencing this feeling for the past few days?

Yuri put his phone down; he thought he should apologize to Ling Xinlu for making him wait so long for an answer.