Flight Traces

Less than a hundred meters away from the parking lot, on a high-rise building, Yan Ankuo didn't wait for a reply before grabbing his coat and pressing the button for the elevator to descend.

Huang Xiaoxiao noticed he was leaving and asked curiously, "Leaving work so early today?"

"Early?" Yan Ankuo glanced at the electronic clock on the wall, showing a glaring "Sunday," almost doubting whether he was working in a parallel universe where weekends also required him to work. "I've already put in five hours of overtime."

Huang Xiaoxiao expressed her surprise, "Oh, you also keep track of your hours?"

"Of course, they're all money," Yan Ankuo said half-jokingly. "For billing purposes."

In the midst of their brief exchange, the elevator doors opened. Before stepping inside, Yan Ankuo received a new message from Bian Ji.

Bian Ji imitated Yan Ankuo's accent, using broken Shanghainese: "It was you who first mentioned 'tomorrow,' and you promised me a chance; you have to keep your word." A heavy smile suddenly appeared on Yan Ankuo's face, so much so that Huang Xiaoxiao outside the elevator found it strange. She squinted at him for a long time until the elevator doors closed.

As Yan Ankuo replied, "[I'm conveniently near the airport, I'll swing by to pick you up]," he pressed the elevator buttons.

This building's elevators were old and had several inconveniences, such as losing signal once the metal doors shut, making it impossible for calls or data to go through in the cabin.

Therefore, Yan Ankuo didn't receive the latest WeChat message until the elevator doors opened. Almost simultaneously, the phone of the passenger outside rang with the same notification sound.

Yan Ankuo opened his phone and saw that Bian Ji had sent him a new message one second ago: "[I'm downstairs at your company.]" Surprised, Yan Ankuo looked up and saw Bian Ji standing right in front of the elevator, greeting him.

"Good afternoon," Bian Ji lifted his head from the screen, pretending not to have seen the recent message. "Mr. Yan... are you heading out?"

Yan Ankuo tried to cover his tracks, saying, "Just got off work."

"Off... work?" Bian Ji held up his phone, pointing at the words "conveniently near the airport," teasingly familiar. "I thought Mr. Yan was going on another business trip."

"Ah... yes, that's right," Yan Ankuo said without changing his expression. "Almost."

Yan Ankuo didn't explain too much, only saying he lied about being nearby because he was worried about Bian Ji having to rush. Bian Ji didn't mind; these were trivial matters not worth dwelling on.

Bian Ji rarely drove his own car out, and apart from Nie Hang and a colleague who was about to give birth, no one else had sat in the passenger seat. The former got out after ten minutes, while the latter, due to the urgency of her impending labor, didn't have time to adjust the seat. As a result, the passenger seat remained at the width it was when the car was purchased.

After Yan Ankuo got in the car, due to the small space, his knees nearly touched the front panel. Seeing this, Bian Ji reminded him, "You can adjust it however you like."

Yan Ankuo fumbled around with various buttons for a while, eventually accidentally popping out the door switch. Bian Ji: "?"

"Sorry," Yan Ankuo said without any guilt. "Not very familiar with your car."

Because blue plates for Shanghai registration were hard to obtain, green-plated new energy electric vehicles had become one of the most popular commuting options for young white-collar workers in Shanghai. Several cars of the same model as Bian Ji's were parked in the BFC parking lot, yet Yan Ankuo claimed unfamiliarity.

Bian Ji blamed himself for not anticipating this, quickly saying, "No problem, don't touch anything. I'll help you."

The adjustment button was on Yan Ankuo's right-hand side. Bian Ji unfastened his seatbelt, leaned between them, and stretched his left hand to press the correct button for Yan Ankuo.

Their palms overlapped over the man's hand, like an iceberg covering a stone warmed by the spring sun.

"How much further back?" Bian Ji estimated the distance between Yan Ankuo's legs and the boundary, gauging his most comfortable angle. "Do you need it raised?"

Yan Ankuo said "yes," and Bian Ji assisted with the adjustment.

Bian Ji's face fell beside Yan Ankuo's second button, able to hear a faint, chaotic, and rapid heartbeat, unsure whose it was.

The lawyer was wearing a suit for work today, his shoes polished to a shine. The well-fitted trousers, draped over his bent legs, made the fabric appear soft and outlined the shape of the man's thighs. To judge the extent of the adjustment, Bian Ji inevitably saw Yan Ankuo's crossed legs and the shallowly grounded leather shoes.

Powerful and sexy, casual yet enticing.

"..." Knowing he was feeling guilty, Bian Ji didn't linger too long on the buttons, quickly adjusting the position. He asked, "Is this good?"

"It's a bit too far back," Yan Ankuo stared at his chin, swallowing. "Maybe slightly forward, thank you."

"Alright." When Bian Ji did so, he felt Yan Ankuo's breath getting closer, causing his earlobes to itch and his face to turn slightly red.

Just as he was about to escape, Yan Ankuo suddenly said, "That's good."

"Then let's get going," Bian Ji immediately turned around, fastening his seatbelt. "To Nanjing Road?"

"Yes."

Ever since learning that Yan Ankuo was single, Bian Ji had grown bolder.

For instance, he would buy tickets first and only tell the other party after they were already on the inner ring road: "By the way, the company gave us two movie tickets, just at the Grand Cinema. Mr. Yan, do you want to watch together tonight?"

Yan Ankuo looked at him without exposing the obvious lie: "The company's benefits are that good?"

"Yes, they often issue things like movie tickets and shopping vouchers, but usually only valid for this week," Bian Ji added.

"Perfect, I'm free today," Yan Ankuo said. "I haven't watched a movie in a long time either."

In reality, this was also true for Bian Ji. Work divided his life into countless cycles of forty-eight and one hundred twenty hours, his rest periods revolving around set times, making it difficult to find someone to quietly enjoy a two-hour movie with. In the past, even when dating, he preferred more efficient choices rather than doing things that he might have been patient enough to cultivate in his twenties.

But Yan Ankuo could be an exception he was willing to adjust his schedule to patiently wait for.

Yan Ankuo didn't often sit in the passenger seat of others' cars, so with his hands free, he couldn't resist replying to many work messages. Bian Ji focused on driving, not deliberately looking for topics to chat about.

When entering Yellow River Road, Bian Ji's phone rang. Because there was someone else in the car today, he hadn't connected to the car audio and wore headphones instead.

Bian Ji glanced at Yan Ankuo, seeing that he was still working, and confidently tapped his headphones twice.

Without caller ID, Bian Ji could only determine who it was based on the caller's voice. Their call frequency wasn't very high, causing him to pause for a moment before recognizing it.

"Mom," Bian Ji said, the unfamiliar tone making Yan Ankuo subconsciously look up at him. "What's up?"