“I’ll just tell Sun Yue that Xingyu is being a pain in my ass and that I’m staying in my room for the night.”

“I thought you said that that wasn’t a good enough excuse.”

“It isn’t, not if I’m using it often for hours at a time. She and Liu Baiyan are going out for a meeting or something, anyway. Poor Xingyu,” he added blandly. “Little thing will be left all alone.”

Weiran snorted. “You’re such an asshole.”

Xiaokai went for the door again. This time, Weiran didn’t stop him.

“I’ll let you know either way. Just get some work done in the meantime.”

“Okay.”

The door opened. Xingyu turned to face Xiaokai as he came out. Weiran heard the start—and possibly end—of a terse conversation just before the day closed after him.

“Is everything okay?”

“Shut up,” said Xiaokai. “I told you to go home.”

18

THE NEW YEAR

“HEY.” SOMEONE WAS slapping Weiran’s face, but he still came out of consciousness slowly. He squinted up at the figure above him. “You know someone could just kill you in your sleep and you would never know.”

“That’s…what happens to most people who get killed in their sleep.” Weiran pushed himself upward, rubbing at his eyes. “What are you doing here? I thought you said you wouldn’t be able to come.”

Xiaokai was still in a suit. He looked tired. “I made time. I couldn’t sleep.”

“Oh. Did you want to sleep—”

“I don’t want to sleep here, no. You know I’m not here to cuddle.”

Weiran didn’t know what to say to that. This tired, the thought of folding Xiaokai into his arms and going right back to sleep was extremely tempting.

“Don’t give me that look. Are you too tired? I’m not going to force you.”

“No, I’m—” Weiran rubbed at his face again and yawned. “Let me take a shower real fast.”

“Okay.” Xiaokai moved out of the way so Weiran could roll out of bed and trudge into the bathroom. He was glad he hadn’t done anything embarrassing before he went to bed—he would have no idea how to explain it to Xiaokai if he’d jacked off in his bed and then fallen asleep with his pants off. Xiaokai wouldn’t poke fun at him for long, but the memory would be stuck in Weiran’s head forever. “Don’t fall asleep in there.”

Five minutes later, when Weiran was finished with his shower, he came out to find Xiaokai lounging stomach-down on the bed. He was doing something on his phone, scrolling through a big block of text.

“Hey,” Weiran said, “are you getting undressed this time?”

“No,” said Xiaokai.

“Seriously?”