Xiao Yao just watched Li Yi from afar.
He saw Li Yi burst out of the elevator like a carefree kid, flailing his arms as if he was full of joy, then suddenly slammed on the brakes, stopping right in front of the elevator and getting bumped from behind.
Occasionally, people passed through the lobby, their footsteps and voices mixing with the early summer cicadas outside.
That height, that build—there was no way he could mistake him.
It absolutely had to be his childhood friend who was now fully tied to a short little guy.
And the shorter one in front of him, putting sunglasses on Xiao Yao—wasn’t that the little guy?
Li Yi looked at Xiao Yao, Xiao Yao looked at him, then he glanced over at Ti Xiao, who was standing with his back turned, looking down at something.
Ti Xiao was looking down at his phone, sending a message to Guapi. Xiao Yao glanced at him and poked his cheek. “Xiao Xiao, turn around and look.”
“Wait, I’m sending this message first.” Ti Xiao puffed his cheeks and flicked Xiao Yao’s meddling fingers away. “I’m telling Guapi what I’m wearing.”
Back at home, Ti Xiao had already talked to Xiao Yao about this meet-up and about Guapi.
After sending the message, Ti Xiao finally looked up. “What did you just say?”
At the same time, Li Yi received a message and looked down at it.
Brilliant and brave Achi: I’m standing right here in the lobby, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans. There are two people here with me—I’m the shorter one. Don’t mistake me for someone else!
When Li Yi looked up again, the short guy in the white T-shirt and blue jeans had already turned around to look at him, still holding his phone.
Then he gave an awkward yet polite smile and even coughed lightly.
Earlier, Guapi had heard Xiao Yao asking—his neighbor was an artist who had a book called CP100 Style, which was obviously for comics, right? Later, the two neighbors became lovers, and they’d even met at the cemetery.
No wonder they found each other’s voices familiar before! After meeting that many times, how could they not?
They had even given each other nicknames—“the malicious villain” and “the little shorty.”
This was honestly the most awkward meet-up scene in history.
“Ahem,” Li Yi cleared his throat awkwardly. “What a coincidence… I didn’t expect you to be A…” He hesitated and couldn’t finish saying “Achi.”
“Coincidence,” Ti Xiao also felt awkward and simultaneously felt like the world had shrunk from a whole square meter to half that size.
Good old Guapi, who constantly joked around and had built a three-year-long revolutionary friendship—just by saying “malicious villain,” that nickname suddenly stuck.
Xiao Yao stood nearby, witnessing the awkward moment and shrugged as if to say it wasn’t his problem.
“Let’s head to the reception room; standing here isn’t very practical,” Li Yi said, scratching his head as he handed Ti Xiao something like an access badge.
The reception room was right next to the lobby. The walls were covered with original comic manuscripts, many authors Ti Xiao recognized and was even familiar with. There were also some of Ti Xiao’s own originals displayed.
Gugu Platform was a newcomer that had only started gaining attention in recent years. It was only four years old. The comics department was pretty unknown in its first year. In its second year—when Ti Xiao joined—they also recruited a bunch of BL genre creators like Kuankuang, gradually growing until it became the thriving company it was today.
“Coffee or water?” Li Yi asked, holding two paper cups.
“Coffee, please,” Ti Xiao answered on behalf of Xiao Yao too.
While Guapi went to fix the coffee machine, Ti Xiao nudged Xiao Yao’s elbow and whispered, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier that Li Yi is Guapi, my editor?”
Xiao Yao was putting the suitcase in the corner. He paused, puzzled, “How would I know? I didn’t know he was Guapi either, though he’s pretty ‘Guapi’.”
Ti Xiao rephrased, “Why didn’t you tell me Li Yi worked at Gugu Platform?”
Xiao Yao was puzzled again. “You never asked.”
He’d already been surprised several times in just a short while, looking completely innocent.
“Well, fine then,” Ti Xiao sighed.
“Careful, it’s hot—drink slowly,” Guapi brought the two cups over. Ti Xiao quickly stood up to take them.
The atmosphere was still very awkward.
Ti Xiao bit the rim of the paper cup, eyes darting nervously. Li Yi leaned on the table, staring at the ceiling.
Both seemed a little unable to accept the reality of this face-to-face meet-up.
What should they say? Ti Xiao racked his hamster brain, trying to find something to break the ice. After all, he and Li Yi had things to talk about before meeting in person—though not as much as with Wenyingying—but still better than this awkward silence.
Clearing his throat, Ti Xiao said, “If I’d known you were Guapi earlier, I would’ve…”
Li Yi shifted his gaze to Ti Xiao and waited for the rest.
“… delayed my submissions even more.”
He slammed his fist on the table immediately, “You dare! Then I’ll come to your house to collect manuscripts—it’s not far anyway!”
“Xiao Yao, this guy says he’s coming to collect our manuscripts,” Ti Xiao laughed.
Xiao Yao rolled up his sleeves.
Gradually, laughter and chatter filled the reception room, and everything returned to normal.
“If I’d known you were the procrastinating Achi, I would’ve given you a few good whacks the first time we met—let’s see if you’d still dare to delay your manuscripts,” Li Yi raised his fist.
“Then I guess I’d just delay even more, haha,” Ti Xiao replied.
After their relationship was restored, everyone switched back to the familiar mode and started acting completely uninhibited.
Ti Xiao shook the cup in his hand. “Why is your company’s coffee so bitter? Add some sugar for me.”
“Go away, go away. Let your old top boyfriend add it for you,” Li Yi replied. Unlike Xiao Yao, even though he was staff, he refused Ti Xiao’s request.
Xiao Yao happily went over to add sugar to the hamster ball’s coffee and came back asking, “Is it sweet enough?”
“It’s sweet enough,” Ti Xiao took a sip. “But not as sweet as you.”
Li Yi: “Ugh!”
The reception area wasn’t just this one room—other reception rooms were already packed with four or five people, some even with most seats taken.
But the room where Ti Xiao and company were sitting still only had three people from start to finish.
Outside, a staff member knocked on the door and called out to Guapi, apparently with more work to do. Li Yi responded, then said to Ti Xiao and Xiao Yao, “I’ll take you guys to the hotel first. If you wait here much longer, it’ll probably be afternoon.”
The hotel the company booked for the authors was right nearby, just a short walk away. The rooms were singles, but the beds were big—enough for two people to share.
“You can rest here for a bit now, and it’ll save you the cost of booking a room,” Li Yi said at the door. “Lunch can be handled at the hotel, and the company will cover the cost. Delivery food will be at your own expense.”
“The hotel booking is for seven days straight. If you want to stay longer after that, you’ll have to book yourself. I’ll have time to show you around too,” Li Yi added.
As he was explaining this to Ti Xiao, a man suddenly dashed out from down the hallway, shouting, “Little Guagua, you sneaked here without telling me?”
Little Guagua?
Ti Xiao and Xiao Yao both looked at Li Yi, who was turning red and white in the face.
The man, who stood at least six feet tall, wrapped his arms around Li Yi’s waist and rubbed his face against him, saying, “Didn’t you say you’d be at the company?”
“Let go!” Li Yi was red from head to toe. “Do you think I’m a travel frog or something?”
The man kept rubbing him, beaming with happiness.
“Go away, you’re annoying. Didn’t I tell you to stay in the room?” Li Yi struggled to push him away. “There’s someone here! Chang Qi, you’re not allowed to rub against me anymore!”
“I just heard your voice, so I wanted to come out,” Chang Qi finally let go.
Ti Xiao and Xiao Yao gawked at the scene.
This guy was almost as tall as Xiao Yao, with a sunny, cheerful face. He looked like he should be a strong, masculine type, but gave off a surprisingly strong vibe of a girlish bottom.
This must be the real Duck Neck.
The fierce Duck Neck, who once made Guapi collapse for a whole day just for love.
Chang Qi had met Xiao Yao before at a bar. Now, politely nodding, he looked at Ti Xiao and asked Li Yi with curiosity, “Who’s this? Another author?”
“This is the mentally challenged… brilliant and brave Achi,” Li Yi said.
“Oh, it’s Achi’s wife,” Chang Qi’s tone shifted, as if he suddenly became that girlish Duck Neck chatting with Ti Xiao.
Wife?
Xiao Yao’s cat ears twitched as he narrowed his eyes at Chang Qi.
“Stop, stop, don’t call me wife. My name’s Ti Xiao,” Ti Xiao hurried to correct him. “Or you can just call me Achi.”
“Why didn’t you tell me Achi was your tall friend’s boyfriend?” Chang Qi asked.
“…” Li Yi shot him a glare. “I only found out today too. Enough, enough—don’t bother the young couple.”
“Then come back to my room with me,” Chang Qi grabbed Li Yi’s hand, trying to pull him toward his room.
“I have work! I have to go back to the company,” Li Yi struggled to buy time for himself. “Hey, Ti Xiao, remember to come to the company this afternoon—same reception room as before. Chang Qi, let go of me!”
After the Guapi couple left, the world returned to quiet.
Ti Xiao yawned—since they’d gotten up early, he was naturally a little sleepy now.
“Sleepy?” Xiao Yao, having finished putting away the luggage, stretched out both hands toward him. “Want to rest for a bit? I’ll wake you up in the afternoon.”
“Yes,” Ti Xiao immediately threw himself into his arms, burying his face in Xiao Yao’s chest. “Remember, 3:30 sharp. Don’t forget.”
“Go ahead and sleep,” Xiao Yao gently kissed him on the forehead.
By almost three o’clock, Xiao Yao was woken up by the vibration of his phone. Ti Xiao shifted in his arms and mumbled a few words.
It was a message from Guapi. The gist was that some author ladies were just too far away and had encountered bad weather, causing train and flight delays. The afternoon event was canceled, but authors who had already arrived needed to come pick up a small gift.
“What’s up?” Ti Xiao asked groggily. “Is it time already?”
“No,” Xiao Yao whispered. “I’ll go to the company and grab something for you. You keep sleeping.”
Meanwhile, several author ladies were already sitting in the reception room, chatting with Guapi.
“All set. I’ve told Achi to come pick up the souvenir. You’ll see him soon,” Li Yi put down his phone, suddenly feeling an itch on his thigh. “Chang Qi, try touching my thigh again!”
Chang Qi reached out and touched him once more.
Because of work, the authors didn’t know about Chang Qi and Guapi’s relationship—they just assumed it was the usual editor-author thing.
Even so, with Chang Qi rubbing Guapi’s thigh like that, everyone couldn’t help but giggle.
Author 1: “Aww, honestly watching you two is kinda… hehehe.”
Author 2: “Hehehe, didn’t expect there’d be a male author besides Achi, and he’s so close to our Guapi…”
Author 3: “Hehehe.”
Li Yi: “…”
Trying to divert their attention, Li Yi said, “Achi should be here soon. Get your phones ready.”
No sooner had he said that than there was a knock on the door, and someone pushed it open.
“I’m here to pick up the stuff for the authors,” came a deep male voice.
The giggling authors immediately turned toward the voice, their expressions shifting in an instant. The room fell silent.
One second later—
“OMG, is this Achi? Ahhh, so handsome! So tall!”
“Too handsome, I declare Achi as the next top in my comic!”
“Ahhhh, I took a photo! I’m posting it on Weibo right now!”
“No way, no way! Is this really the Achi we tease every day? Master Ball! Master Ball! Anyone got a Master Ball?!”
The authors went wild, while Xiao Yao just stared, totally dumbfounded.
“No, I’m not—” Xiao Yao started to protest.
But he was drowned out by the girls’ screams of “Ahhhh!”
“I didn’t—” again interrupted by their excited shouts.
Xiao Yao frowned.
Ti Xiao was already awake, sitting up to drink some water and scrolling through Weibo, when he came across something incredible.
Author 1: “Ahhhh this is your Achi’s wife! Fans, what are you waiting for? Show yourselves! [Photo] @BrilliantBraveAchi”
The photo was of Xiao Yao, right as he had just pushed open the door. His face showed surprise, handsome with a rare touch of adorably goofy charm.
Ti Xiao sprayed water out of his mouth.
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