I missed you

"Zhou Xinyi, don't disappear on me again. Please..."

Xin's eyes slowly widened in shock and he looked at Wang GuiYing in disbelief. He gulped, not knowing how to react to that. Had his secret been found out already or was Wang GuiYing simply testing him?

Should he own up to it and confess everything right here and now or should he act as if he has no idea what the man is talking about?

Zhou XinYi's thoughts were in turmoil and he panicked.

"I didn't mean to-" He was about to say something but suddenly, his mouth was forced shut by Wang GuiYing who leaned in and gently kissed the man's lips.

This kiss confused Zhou Xinyi even more.

"Don't say anything," Wang GuiYing whispered as he pulled back from the kiss for just a second, "I don't want to hear your lies and if you aren't ready to say the truth, don't bother saying anything."

Zhou Xinyi gulped as he looked at Wang GuiYing.

Wang GuiYing had always looked handsome but for some reason, the man was now silently crying with tears staining his flushed cheeks and this sight made Zhou Xinyi realize just how much he had missed this beautiful face.

Why did he run away?

Why did he hide?

Why did he never try to reach out to Wang GuiYing?

Why did he lie to him?

Why did he pretend to be somebody else?

He knew Wang GuiYing was waiting to ask him all those questions.

The answers to them were pretty simple but at the same time, he could not say anything.

No, it wasn't that he couldn't say them, it was simply that he didn't want to.

In the end, anything he would say would all be just an excuse.

He didn't want to say anything right now.

He pulled Wang GuiYing closer and tightly embraced him in a hug as he whispered in the man's ears, "I missed you a lot."

Wang GuiYing tried to sniffle back his tears as he heard this but this one sentence was enough to make him cry even more.

For the last four years when Zhou Xinyi had been missing, presumed to be dead, Wang GuiYing hadn't shed a single tear and now that the man was hugging him like this, he couldn't help but cry out to his heart's content.

The tears that he had kept in for those four years finally came pouring out uncontrollably.

"I missed you too, you asshole." Wang GuiYing cursed the man with a soft chuckle as he continued to cry on his shoulders, "I missed you so much that I felt like I was about to die."

Zhou Xinyi chuckled as he heard this and asked, "This reaction is quite different from what you had said, don't you think? I thought you were going to beat me up when you found out."

Wang GuiYing had indeed said that he would kick him if he were ever to find out that Xin was the real Zhou Xinyi, but right now, he didn't have the energy to kick the man.

"Shut up or I'll really kick you," Wang GuiYing playfully threatened.

Zhou Xinyi chuckled but didn't say anything. He hugged the man and Wang GuiYing continued to silently cry.

They stayed in that position for quite some time.

When Zhou Xinyi was sure that the man had stopped crying, he finally opened his mouth to speak, "When we find those two artifacts, let's leave this place together."

"You better not run away again," Wang GuiYing warned.

"I won't."

"Hmm," Wang GuiYing hummed and slowly fell asleep, still clutching tightly onto Zhou Xinyi.

Zhou Xinyi smiled as he noticed that the man had fallen asleep. He gently laid him down on the bed and rested next to him.

He looked at the man's face and in his mind, he suddenly wondered, 'What happens now?'

They were best friends who liked each other but neither of them had ever dared to confess not because they were afraid of being turned down but because they were afraid of breaking the friendship that they had built.

However, with everything that had happened, they could no longer go back to how it used to be.

In the end, he was left with a choice and he was a bit scared of himself, knowing that he would always choose Wang GuiYing.

The next morning, Wang GuiYing woke up early, remembering that they were still supposed to follow that suspicious black cloaked man living right next door. However, as soon as he opened his eyes and looked around, he frowned with a bit of disappointment and anger, assuming the worst.

Zhou Xinyi was nowhere to be seen and Wang GuiYing couldn't help but come to the conclusion that the man had once again ran away.

With a displeased frown evident on his face, Wang GuiYing pushed himself off the bed and went to pee.

When he opened the door of the bathroom, he saw Zhou Xinyi taking a shower and he immediately froze up.

"..." The two stared at each other blankly in shock, neither moving nor saying anything.

An awkward moment of silence passed and Zhou Xinyi gulped as he asked, "Do you wanna join?"

Wang GuiYing's ears immediately flushed red as he heard this suggestive question but instead of refusing the offer, he asked, "Can I?"

"No."

"..." Wang GuiYing pursed his lips into a thin smile and looked at the man with a pitiful expression that was begging the man to reconsider his decision.

"I'm almost done. Wait outside," Zhou Xinyi added with a sigh.

Wang GuiYing pouted and looked to be sulking as he whined under his breath, "You ask me to join you and then refuse when I agree. If you keep teasing me like this, don't blame me for jumping on you...!"

Although he had said it under his breath, Zhou Xinyi could still hear the man and hence, he chuckled softly as he added, "Close the door after you leave."

Wang GuiYing slammed the door shut.

"..."

Instead of waiting around for the man to come out of the shower first, Wang GuiYing went ahead and spied on the man living right next door.

It sounded like somebody was talking inside the room so the man was probably still here.

Wang GuiYing got a bit bolder and put his ear right next to the door as he tried to listen in on the conversation.

He couldn't quite grasp the topic of the conversation but from the number of voices he had heard, he could guess that the man wasn't alone.

There were atleast four other people in that room, excluding the people who hadn't talked yet.

His eyebrows furrowed together as he tried to focus more on their words. For some reason, he couldn't help but feel that some of those voices sounded quite familiar. He could recall hearing it before but he couldn't quite pin point where he had heard those voices nor could he guess the identity of the people.

He was sure that he knew them but from where.....?

"Are you sure it's going to be there?"

"I can swear it on my life."

"Do you think your life is expensive?"

"In that case, I can swear it on your life instead."

"..."

"Would you be personally attending?"

"We need to see it with our own eyes."

"Your only job is to get us in. As long as we get what we want, you'll be paid."

"You can trust me! I've already booked the seats. I even booked an extra seat just in case of any problems! I'll make sure that you can attend the auction tomorrow."

"Good."

Before Wang GuiYing could listen in any further, he felt someone tapping on his shoulder and that almost gave him a heart attack.

"I'm done," Zhou Xinyi spoke as he looked at Wang GuiYing's horrified expression.

"It was just you," Wang GuiYing sighed in relief.

"What were you doing?" Zhou Xinyi asked as he looked at the door and then back at Wang GuiYing.

Wang GuiYing's lips suddenly curled up in a wicked smile and he pulled Zhou Xinyi back inside the apartment as he spoke, "I found some great information."

Zhou Xinyi raised his eyebrows but didn't ask anything.

"Tomorrow is the third day and tomorrow, that man would be attending a secret auction. The dragon said to follow him for three days and he would lead us to the next artifact. So the next artifact has to be at the auction!"

Zhou Xinyi frowned as he heard this and asked, "So we need to attend the auction?"

Wang GuiYing shook his head, "No way."

"Huh?"

"If we attend the auction, we might not be able to make sure that we win the bid for the artifact. We need to be more creative if we want to create a more concrete plan."

"Creative?" Zhou Xinyi repeated with a bit of confusion and asked, "What do you mean?"

"It means we ambush him and get more information on this auction. Instead of attending the auction, we'll go ahead and steal the artifact before the auction!"

"..."

Zhou Xinyi wasn't sure whether they could call that a 'concrete plan'.