Silently, Yibo and Youn waited for the cab Zhan had ordered, and silently they drove back to the campus. It wasn't until they got there, with the protective walls of their university around them, that Youn turned to Yibo and asked, "What do you think Zhan will do with us now?"

Yibo, who was far too confused to think and far too scared of what Zhan might do to him, shrugged and replied, "I don't know. I guess it depends on who he works for."

"Mhhh, I'm really glad right now that I don't have to share a room with him like you do."

"Oh great. So you don't care what he does to me?"

"I didn't say that. But you're the one he loves and I'm sure he would never hurt you."

"I'm not even really sure about that right now. We were spying on him and got caught hiding in a garbage container."

"Like I said, I don't think he would hurt you. At least not here at the university. I'm going to go upstairs to my room now. Seoki is probably wondering where I am by now."

"Mn. Feel free to leave me alone."

"I'm sorry Yibo. I don't know what else we can do right now. Zhan is not here yet and I can only repeat myself, he will not hurt you. He loves you and even saved us. So don't worry about it. Talk to him later and explain why we followed him."

"Okay."

"Are you coming upstairs?"

"No, I'm going to stay outside in the fresh air for a bit. Maybe it will help calm me down."

"Don't stay out too long. It's pretty cold today and we don't want you to get sick like you did last year."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of myself."

"Okay. I'll see you later then Bo."

"Mn. See you later." Replied Yibo and waited until Youn had left. Then he called his big brother and asked him if he could pick him up. He really needed to talk to him and besides, he would feel safer with his brother than alone in his room.

His brother picked him up from campus half an hour later and they drove to his brother's apartment. Yibo didn't even have to say that something was bothering him, because Haikuan had noticed it long ago and asked Yibo several times to finally tell him what had happened. And finally Yibo told him everything that had happened in the last weeks and that morning.

Haikuan looked at Yibo questioningly and shocked at the same time. "You mean Zhan and my Cheng are in some organization?" He asked.

Yibo nodded. "Yes, they went there together."

"I can't imagine that at all. My Cheng? My angel?"

"Your angel? I would have many descriptions for Cheng. But angel is not one of them."

"You don't know him like I do either."

"And you don't know him like I do brother. Cheng can be pretty moody."

"That may be so. But he's always an angel with me."

"Anyway. In any case, he and Zhan are in this together."

"But what is this thing?"

"I have no idea. We got caught before we could find out more."

"So Zhan caught you guys and now you're afraid to face him? And you think if you're with me, you can avoid what might be an awkward conversation?"

"Yes. Besides, I don't know what he's going to do to me."

"Running away is not the answer. I think you need to face it. Explain to him why you did what you did. And honestly, I don't think he'd save your life first and then do anything to you. Neither your Zhan nor my Cheng are like that. Trust in your boyfriend's love."

"Zhan also told me before to trust in his love. But how can I, with all his secrets and lies?"

"I know it's hard. But has it ever occurred to you that maybe he's just protecting you with this?"

"Protecting? From what?"

"Maybe from Alessia or what she's involved in. Because from what you've told me, he's obviously after her, isn't he? You said he told you he didn't like her. So there must be an important and valid reason why he's always by her side."

"Mhhh, could be."

"You're emotionally involved and biased because of Zhan. You only see with your heart. You don't have any distance from it, so you can't see what might really be going on."

"I guess you're right."

"The only advice I can give you is to explain to Zhan why you did what you did and talk it out."

"Okay. I guess you're right. Running away is probably not the answer either."

"Right."

"Can I still stay here for a bit?"

"Sure. You can stay as long as you want."

"Just until the evening."

"Good, then I'll drive you back tonight. And until then, let's have a good time. I'll order a pizza now and then we'll watch a movie. Agreed?"

"It's against my diet, but yeah. I love pizza and I haven't watched a movie with you in ages." Yibo replied with a smile. He was glad he had his brother and he calmed him down again. He now knew that there was no way around talking to Zhan and he would have to face it. But Yibo also realized something else.

When his brother had driven him back to the university that evening, it had already been just before 10 pm. Yibo, after saying goodbye to his brother, slowly walked to the dorm and up to his room. Zhan still hadn't returned, so Yibo first went to take a shower and then sat on his bed, where he waited for Zhan.

But when the clock showed 11 pm, Yibo realized that Zhan once again was spending the night somewhere else. And being alone with his thoughts again, only strengthened Yibo's resolve he made after his conversation with his brother. But would he really have the strength and courage to tell Zhan what Yibo had decided for himself?

Around midnight, Yibo finally fell asleep and woke up in the morning when the bell rang for breakfast time. He sat alone at a table in the cafeteria, kept looking out the window lost in thought, and went back to the dorm after his breakfast. He talked to his parents on the phone, as he did almost every Sunday, telling them about his busy week, and no sooner had the conversation ended than the door opened and Zhan came back.

"Hey, sorry I didn't make it back yesterday. I'm going to take a quick shower and then we'll talk, okay?" Said Zhan.

"Mn. Okay." Replied Yibo, turning around to his laptop as Zhan went to give him a kiss.

"Okay, what was that now?"

"Go take a shower first."

"You're mad at me, aren't you?"

"Go take a shower Zhan. Because I have something to say to you too."

"No, no. The showering can wait now. What's the matter? Why are you mad? Shouldn't it be me who's mad because you spied on us?"

"Maybe, or yes. Of course you should be mad. Or, no actually, you shouldn't. Because in a way, I guess it's also normal that we did that."

"Oh yeah?"

"Well, when you love someone who keeps so many secrets and lies so much, you want to know why that is. And when the person you love won't tell you, you have no choice but to find out for yourself."

"And what did you find out?"

"Nothing. At least nothing conclusive. You and Cheng are probably working for some organization and are after Alessia. Why, I don't know. And I suppose it's against the rules to tell anyone else about your work."

"True, it's against the rules."

"That's what I thought, Zhan. And rules are important. I've come up with some rules now too because of that."

"And what would they be?"

"Well, the most important rule is. Never be with a man who has so many secrets and lies all the time..."

"What are you..."

"Please let me finish, Zhan."

"Okay, keep talking."

"I've tried, but I just can't trust you. So that brings us to another rule. Don't be with someone you can't trust and who doesn't trust you. You know Zhan, I had a lot of time to think yesterday and I realized, a lot of things. Like, what's obvious to me now, you're not who you say you are. Maybe your name is real, but everything else is fake. I actually don't know you at all and have only let myself be blinded by my feelings. But that's over now. I can no longer be your secret lover, especially when my own life could be in danger. From today on, and I mean this absolutely seriously, we are just roommates! Everyone sleeps in their own beds and don't expect me to say more than good morning or good night to you. I really love you very much and wish there was another solution. But as long as you can't be honest with me, share your secrets with me and I can't trust you, there is no other way. And don't even try to talk me out of it. Because I'm completely serious about this. And now I'm going to go train and you can do whatever you want to do. It's none of my business anymore and I'm not interested in it. Take care." Said Yibo and left the room. He didn't turn around to Zhan again, but just walked away.

When Yibo was finally in the locker room at the training center, he began to cry. He was heartbroken to end this with Zhan. But he simply saw no other way out. Love and trust belong together for him. 

And without trust, he can't be with Zhan. And Yibo hopes that Zhan will use this breakup as an impulse to think about everything and finally see and understand Yibo's side as well.

Besides, Yibo still hasn't given up trying to find out the truth about Zhan and Cheng. But to do that, he needs distance from Zhan, so that Zhan doesn't notice what Yibo is really up to. And he can't tell anyone else about it. Not even Youn. Nevertheless, the separation from Zhan hurts him a lot, of course. But maybe the separation is not permanent?

Later, when Yibo was almost done with his training, Youn came up to him and curiously wanted to know what Zhan had said and if Zhan was mad because they had followed him. Yibo shrugged and told him, "I didn't ask him about it and we didn't talk about it."

"Why not?" Youn wanted to know in amazement.

"Because he just came back this morning and we didn't talk about yesterday then. Because I ended it with him."

"What? Why?"

"Because it's the best thing for him and me."

"But..."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore right now. I'm going to talk to the house father in a minute and ask him to let me switch my room. Cheng can move into Zhan's room and I can move into Cheng's room."

"So you're really serious?"

"Yes. Although I feel like my heart has shattered into a million pieces and a huge rock has buried me under it. But I will recover. Soon I will feel better. I just need some time. And I hope you can give me that time. I'd rather be alone right now and not talk anymore."

"Okay, if that's what you want. But you know you can always come and talk to me."

"I know and I'm grateful for that. So, I'm going to take a shower and then I'm going to talk to our house father. I'll see you later." Said Yibo. He grabbed his clothes and went to take a shower. He then went to the house father and asked him to change rooms. He told him that he and Zhan just didn't get along anymore and he needed distance from Zhan. To his astonishment, the house father agreed immediately and arranged for the room switch right away.

Right after lunch, Yibo went back to his room, packed his belongings, and moved into Cheng's room, while Cheng moved into Zhan's room. As Cheng was getting the last of his belongings out of the room, he turned to Yibo and asked him, "What happened between you and Zhan? You both look like the world has fallen upon you."

"I suggest you ask Zhan about that. I don't want to talk to you about it."

"But what's the matter? You do love each other."

"Love alone is not enough, though. There's more to a relationship than that. And now I don't want to talk about it any further."

"Are we still friends?"

"I think right now it's better if we stay out of each other's way. That's all I can tell you."

"Okay. But..."

"Please Cheng. Accept that I don't want anything to do with Zhan or you right now. I'm really fed up with your secrets and lies. I need distance and now please leave."

"I think you're making a mistake. But you have to know that for yourself. All I can tell you is that Zhan truly loves you and ... oh never mind. Take your time and think about how you feel about each other and whether that might not be more important than anything else."

"Without trust, even the strongest love is useless."

"You do realize that Zhan is only like this because of our mission, right?"

"Maybe. But I don't want to think about that now. And I'd be grateful if you left now. I want to rest a bit more. My training had been hard."

"I'm going." Cheng replied and left the room.

Yibo waited a few more seconds and then grabbed his cell phone. He called his uncle and said to him, "We have to and meet uncle. Maybe I have an assignment for you."

"Okay. I'll be there in two hours." Replied his uncle, who is a former high-ranking secret agent.