The ride already lasted almost 5 minutes, during which all three men were silent, until Yibo cleared his throat and said: "Because of earlier, you both must understand that I speak in the interest of the company and not as a private person. Work is work, so in the position of department head, I must act as such. But that doesn't mean I'm attacking you personally because of that."

Yu Bin nodded. "Yes, understood sir." He replied.

"Zhan? Do you understand? I'm not doing this because I want to annoy you. But because it is required of me, in my position." Said Yibo.

"Yes sir." Replied Zhan calmly and continued to look out the window. He didn't feel like arguing or getting more annoyed. Besides, he was far too busy trying to keep his old feelings for Yibo in control. Because here with Yibo in this car, where everything smelled like him, the scent Zhan loved so much back then, it wasn't at all easy for him to suppress his feelings.

"We're not at work anymore and you don't have to call me sir. We are both the same age and know each other. So we might as well talk normally."

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"Zhan please. Don't be mad anymore okay? I wasn't attacking you personally. I was just concerned about work."

"I understood it Mr. Wang. There is no need to explain it to me again."

"Okay, so you want to keep being mad. Are you free this weekend? I would like to talk to you about something."

"No I don't."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. It's my wife's birthday and that's why my in-laws are coming to visit." Replied Zhan. He would have loved to see Yibo's expression when he said that. However, he didn't dare to take his eyes from the window and look at Yibo.

"Your wife?" Yibo asked almost stuttering.

"Yes, our Zhan is married to the most beautiful woman in the whole world." Explained Yu Bin with a grin. Unlike Zhan, he had seen Yibo's shocked look when Zhan told him about his wife. And Yu Bin wanted to top it off.

"I see. But it would still be good if we could talk." Yibo finally said after three or four seconds of apparently searching for words.

"If it's about not telling anything about the past, don't worry. Except for Yu Bin, no one knows and no one will know." Explained Zhan.

"I um..."

"You don't have to say anything about it. I fully realize that you don't want anyone in the company to know. And Yu Bin won't tell anyone either. Right?"

"No, I won't tell anyone." Replied Yu Bin.

"Zhan, it's not really about that. I wanted to talk to you about something else." Again, Yibo just blanked on what Yu Bin was saying.

"There's nothing else we need to talk about. No one in the company will know that I know you from school. There' s nothing else to talk about."

"Xiao Zhan! You really don't want to talk to me about anything else? Is there really nothing else we need to talk about?" Yibo asked almost angrily.

"No. There's nothing else." Replied Zhan. It was far from his intention to provoke Yibo. He just didn't want to talk to Yibo. Because he was afraid of what Yibo might say. Yet he had no idea what this conversation was supposed to be about at all.

When Zhan began to freeze and shiver because of his damp clothes, Yibo turned on not only the heater, but also the seat heater for Zhan. Yu Bin watched Yibo very closely and also how he kept looking at Zhan. He did not detect any hatred in his gaze, but rather despair and concern.

To tilt the increasingly stifling mood in the car, Yu Bin said to Zhan, "You Zhan, maybe you should try that publishing house you told me about earlier again."

Zhan turned to Yu Bin and shook his head. "No, I can't do that already because of Lana. She has her job here as a personal assistant and she loves her job. I wouldn't want her to lose her job and have to move because of me."

"Yeah right. She's worked hard to get to this position. But wasn't there also that modeling agency that showed interest in you?"

"You don't seriously think I want to be a model and then maybe sign a contract at my mother-in-law's modeling agency. Do you?"

"Well, your mother-in-law loves you and has wanted you to model for her for three years."

"And I've been telling her for three years that I don't want that. I didn't go to university for that. And I'm not interested in seeing my picture in any magazines either."

"Mhhh, Lana does it too, doesn't she?"

"Lana hasn't been doing it for a long time. She hasn't modeled since she started working at that big company."

"Really?"

"Oh man Yu Bin, I thought we were good friends. Then how could you not know?"

"Sorry. I can't remember everything either. Or you work for your father-in-law."

"As what? He owns a TV station. What could I do there?"

"Yes well okay, I'll stop already." Replied Yu Bin with a smirk. He only brought this up to see how Yibo would react when he heard Zhan was looking for another job. But, unfortunately, Zhan didn't play along. But, Yibo still reacted. And just as Yu Bin expected. Because he looked irritated.

Zhan sank into his thoughts for a moment, trying to remember when he first really noticed Yibo and began to develop feelings for him. Since this was before they were both sitting next to each other in the bus and Yibo told him that he looked cute with the big glasses.

Then, when he remembered, Zhan had to smile. At that time, he had just come out of the art room. He had wanted to finish his artwork before going home. As so often, Zhan was more fixated on everything else than on his own steps.

And so he entered the stairwell in the school and wanted to take the first step, but somehow stepped too far forward and almost fell headlong down the stairs. But fortunately for him, Yibo had noticed in time.

Yibo threw both arms around Zhan and pulled him back from the stairs. With such a force Yibo pulled him back, they both fell backwards and landed on the floor. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment before Zhan hastily got up, apologized and thanked him before running down the stairs, his cheeks bright red. That was the moment when Yibo made Zhan's heart race for the first time.

And as soon as it came back to Zhan, he immediately had to think about how it ended on a Monday night at the snack bar and he got angry again. When Zhan thought of the end like that, he thought that Yibo had ripped Zhan's heart out of his chest and taken it with him. Maybe that was the reason why he couldn't fall in love again. Without a heart, no love.

"Zhan?" Unthinkingly, Zhan turned his head around and looked Yibo straight in the eyes for a moment, and sensed that his heart was still there. Because it was beating so fast, he was afraid it was about to come leaping out of his chest.

"Yes?" He finally asked after two seconds.

"Please think about it, if you really don't want to talk to me." Said Yibo.

"There's nothing more to talk about. Um, you can stop just up ahead, there's my house." Replied Zhan, pointing to the house in the middle of two small houses. Yibo looked at him thoughtfully, but finally nodded.

When Yibo stopped the car, Zhan politely thanked him for driving and got out of the car. Yibo also got out and stood in Zhan's way as he tried to walk up to the house. "I really want to talk to you." He said again.

"And I don't want to." Answered Zhan. In the next moment, the front door opened and Lana waved at him. "My wife is waiting for me. Have a good day Mr. Wang. I'll see you at the office tomorrow." Said Zhan, already almost running to Lana.

Zhan gave Lana a kiss on the cheek, which confused her. Even though the two are married, the wedding wasn't and isn't real and they are just best friends helping each other with the marriage. "What was that about?" She asked Zhan as she closed the front door.

"Sorry, I just had to do that."

"Why? Who was that guy?"

"My new department head. Wang Yibo!"

"Oh shit what?"

"Yeah, it's great isn't it?"

"So when did he get back from overseas? Did he say anything about back then?"

"Lana, I didn't ask him about it and I'm not going to ask him. I don't want anything to do with him."

"But now that he's back and you're working together, you can ask him anything you wanted to know then."

"Oh God no way. I'm certainly not going to embarrass myself like that and bring up that old story again. I admit, I was confused today and had a lot to think about back then and yes, my emotions were on a roller coaster because everything from back then came up again. But, I'm certainly not going to fall in front of Yibo and ask him to explain anything to me."

"Mhhh, so you don't care by now?"

"Yes. At least, I should be. I have to find a way to block out my memories when I'm working with Yibo. Fortunately, he has his own office and I don't have him under my nose all the time." Zhan intentionally hid the fact that Yibo wanted to talk to him. Because if Lana knew, she would persuade him to agree to talk to Yibo. And that, for Zhan at least, would probably only lead to old wounds being reopened.

"It won't be easy, though, Zhan. Even if he's in his office most of the time, at some point you're going to run into each other."

"Yeah, maybe. But since I also have to work three days in the field starting next week, the risk of seeing him is less than you think. Oh, and I'll have to work Saturdays, too."

"What, why is that?"

"Long story. I have to take a shower first and then I want to rest in my room. Say, what are you doing home anyway? Weren't you supposed to go on a date with your girlfriend?"

"Yeah, but she canceled it. Something came up."

"When are you going to introduce her to me? You've been dating for 6 weeks now and you haven't even brought her here yet."

"I hope I can introduce her to you soon. Right now, though, it doesn't look good. She's always limited in time and the time she has, we use to go out."

"I see. Have you ever been to her house?"

"No. I kind of get the impression she doesn't want to. I tried to drive her home three days ago after our date, but she refused and said she'd take a cab."

"Maybe she has a secret."

"And what is it?"

"How should I know? Maybe she's married and doesn't want her husband to find out about you. Or maybe she doesn't dare tell you. Either way, I need to get out of these wet clothes and take a shower."

"All right. Are we having dinner together later?"

"I don't think so. I want to get some rest a bit and then I want to do something."

"Okay, have fun with that then." Replied Lana.

Zhan went upstairs to his room, removed his wet clothes, and then went into the bathroom to take a shower. He wondered if he should really start writing applications today. Or rather wait another week and see how the collaboration with Yibo works out before applying somewhere else.