This was truly ironic, making He Lezhi's long-held, unwavering trust extremely fragile.

Warm sunlight streamed in through the window, but the room only felt desolate. He Lezhi said, "I won't ask anymore. You can tell me yourself."

Zhou Muyao was flustered, finding it very difficult to speak.

He had always been a pure boy; the things he liked, he would always like. He was unwilling to adulterate his affections, for instance, for Iron Man, or for He Lezhi. He Lezhi had always thought so, at least until yesterday.

"Just a regular friend," Zhou Muyao said.

He Lezhi hummed in acknowledgment and reminded him, "Think it through."

Zhou Muyao repeated once more, "He's a regular friend."

He Lezhi nodded and asked, "How regular?"

Zhou Muyao paused for a few seconds before answering, "We were in contact quite a bit for a while, playing games together, and sometimes going out to eat, but there were other friends with us too."

He Lezhi frowned slightly. His tone wasn't sharp as he just said, "I said I don't want to ask anymore. You tell me."

Startled by his cold tone, Zhou Muyao looked up at him and pleaded, "Lezhi..."

He Lezhi gestured for him to continue.

Zhou Muyao was genuinely scared now.

On the surface, it seemed like He Lezhi was the one who indulged and gave in to him in their relationship, but in reality, He Lezhi had always been the one in control over the years. He Lezhi had a more stable personality and a clearer mind, and he would teach him many things. Zhou Muyao would listen to him, and when he made a mistake, even if He Lezhi didn't say anything, he would still be quite afraid.

This fear wasn't about He Lezhi being angry; it was about truly losing him.

Zhou Muyao recounted the entire process of how they met, including how the guy had given him a figurine and how he had treated him to two meals in return.

He spoke in great detail, as if he were sincerely baring his soul to He Lezhi.

Finally, he said, "I was really wrong, Lezhi. I shouldn't have kept these things from you."

He Lezhi had been calm the whole time, and even now, he only asked faintly, "Is there more?"

"That's all," Zhou Muyao replied, his expression utterly sincere.

He Lezhi looked at him for a while. Even though the room was filled with sunlight, He Lezhi still felt very cold on this July day.

His gaze pierced through Zhou Muyao's eyes, and he could intuitively feel something inside him collapsing, piece by piece.

His never-before-shaken trust, his perception, his feelings from all these years.

He Lezhi had the absurd feeling that he had been wrong. There wasn't that much purity in this world, and because he had trusted too much, he now looked like a joke.

He Lezhi reached for Zhou Muyao's phone. When his fingers touched Zhou Muyao, Zhou Muyao felt how cold his hand was.

He Lezhi looked down and tapped the screen a few times. The chill from his fingers spread from his heart to his throat, causing a slight, almost unnoticeable tremor in his voice when he spoke, "You thought you deleted everything, didn't you?"

Zhou Muyao looked at the phone in He Lezhi's hand.

"I always thought you couldn't lie. I was wrong." He Lezhi's fingers were trembling too, perhaps from excessive disappointment, or perhaps from sheer disbelief. He held the phone screen in front of Zhou Muyao's face and said, "You forgot to delete this."

On the screen, in the transaction details, was a 520 yuan transfer Zhou Muyao had sent to the other person on May 20th of last year.

Zhou Muyao froze on the spot. He Lezhi took the phone back, tapped it a few more times, scrolled for a moment, and once again held it in front of Zhou Muyao. "Three in the morning on February 14th. How do you explain this 520 red envelope?"

He Lezhi tossed the phone aside and said, "If I remember correctly, I was downstairs at your place by six-thirty in the morning. I had spent the whole night on a plane. Because at eleven o'clock, you were unhappy, saying everyone else was in a relationship and you weren't."

He Lezhi's expression was one of confusion as he continued, "I coaxed you for half an hour, you said you were going to sleep, and I went to the airport right after hanging up."

"Lezhi, listen to me," Zhou Muyao grabbed He Lezhi's wrist and said in a panic, "I really couldn't sleep then, so I went to play games. It's not what you think..."

"I'm not thinking anything. I truly can't figure it out," He Lezhi cut him off. "You know better than I do."

Zhou Muyao was speechless, only calling out "Lezhi" repeatedly.

He Lezhi said, "Last night, you were drunk and said you had hooked up with someone. I didn't believe it at first. My Xiao Hei wouldn't do something like that." After saying that, he gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Going through a phone to find evidence like this is the most disgusting thing I can think of, and you just had to make me do it myself."

"Lezhi..." Zhou Muyao's eyes turned red, and he moved to hug him.

He Lezhi stood up and looked down at Zhou Muyao.

"You've thoroughly disgusted me." He Lezhi's eyes were red too. He took a deep breath and said, "I've told you before, if you ever had other intentions, just tell me directly. We can part on good terms."

Zhou Muyao shook his head forcefully and reached for He Lezhi's hand. "I don't! I don't have other intentions. I made him leave then..."

"I didn't sleep with anyone. My mind was just muddled, Lezhi." Zhou Muyao looked extremely pitiful as he said to He Lezhi, "I don't know how it happened. At first, we were just friends, and then I realized it had gone a bit too far... Give me one chance. Just watch how I behave from now on!"

He Lezhi turned around and said, "I'm so disgusted. Let's just leave it at that. You don't have to tell anyone the reason. If anyone asks, just say we drifted apart over time. Don't spread this stuff around. I don't want to be a joke on other people's lips."

"Lezhi!" Zhou Muyao gripped his arm tightly, standing up to try and hug him.

He Lezhi was someone who deeply disliked arguing and getting entangled. Physical struggles like this repulsed him even more.

"I was drinking then too. I went to the hotel with him on impulse, but I didn't do anything. I really can't accept anyone else... Lezhi, believe me, I really didn't. Don't go."

Zhou Muyao clutched He Lezhi fearfully and said in a hoarse voice, "I'll say it again. This time, I'll tell you everything, in detail. Just don't go..."

He Lezhi was trapped in place, forced to listen as Zhou Muyao meticulously recounted the details with that guy, starting from when they first met.

It had actually started a long time ago. To sum it up, they played games together, occasionally met up for a meal, and once got drunk and almost got a room but didn't actually sleep together. They had been flirting back and forth for a long time.

The word "flirting" was He Lezhi's own mental summary. Perhaps Zhou Muyao wasn't lying. During that period, he hadn't thought too much about it. At first, he didn't realize he had crossed a line, and only after he did so did he understand the gravity of his sin. After that, he kept it to himself, growing more and more afraid, repenting for his mistake. He wanted to confess and ask for forgiveness but was afraid of losing him.

And whether it was because of the long distance or because he was too trusting, He Lezhi had never noticed anything unusual, neither during that time nor afterward.

A sharp, acidic nausea began to churn inside him. He hadn't slept a wink since last night, and naturally hadn't eaten anything either. At this moment, bile was aggressively burning his stomach and esophagus, and He Lezhi felt a searing, painful sensation from his throat downward.

He Lezhi was held in place by Zhou Muyao, unable to move a single step.

Everything before him felt like an absurd play. The room and the person in it had become mere props. All the emotions that had once filled this space were now just fleeting illusions, their only purpose to add a touch of irony to the current scene.

A sudden, muffled thud, like the blast of a whistle, brought the unbearable melodrama to a halt.

Zhou Muyao's head was knocked to the side by He Lezhi's slap. When he turned back, his eyes were filled with disbelief.

He Lezhi had held nothing back with that slap. It was the first time in his life that this person, who detested arguments and trouble, had ever raised a hand, and it was against the face of the boyfriend he had loved for eight years. Lacking experience, he didn't know why the sound of the slap wasn't crisp.

"I've really spoiled you rotten." He Lezhi gritted his teeth and forced out the words, "Shut up, you bastard."