Since Sun He left his job, he had been getting busier and busier. He and Gu Liwei moved into their new apartment at the beginning of the month, however they had not spent much time together after moving. When Sun He was not running around finalizing everything he needed in order to open his studio, he was out helping Tang Jing plan out his and Cao Zhiqiang's wedding. Tang Jing and Cao Zhiqiang's wedding was scheduled for late September. They wanted to have a small ceremony with only their friends and families present. Tang Jing's parents were not able to come to Country C to help with the wedding planning, and Cao Zhiqiang had lost his mother a few years after he and Tang Jing had met. Therefore, all the planning was left to Tang Jing and Cao Zhiqiang.
The preparations needed, even for a small wedding, were beyond what Tang Jing and Cao Zhiqiang could do alone, so they had enlisted the help of Sun He and his family. When Gu Liwei came back from his business trip a week ago, only the moonlight was there to welcome him. Sun He had texted him that he would be gone for a few days helping Tang Jing and only came back a day ago. Most of their interactions over the last month had been through video calls, text messages, and brief cuddles before they both fell asleep. Therefore, Gu Liwei had been looking forward to spending some more time alone with Sun He, and Sun He had expressed the same. Gu Liwei thought that they rarely had a day where they were both home. He thought they would be spending the night as they usually do: cuddling while watching a movie. However, Sun He had guiltily looked at him before uttering he had an appointment tonight.
Gu Liwei was surprised. His surprise deepened when Sun He told him he was going to be having dinner with Ye Dingxiang. Sun He had looked very nervous while telling him this news and he had returned to his previous habits of playing with his fingers whenever he was restless. Gu Liwei frowned. He had not seen Sun He in such a state for a long time. He glanced at his fidgeting lover and wondered why Sun He was so worried. Sun He had been working on being forthcoming with him and rarely had he ever hid anything from Gu Liwei, unless it was to work on a surprise for him. A surprise?
"Am I invited?" Gu Liwei asked. Sun He bit his lips and looked at everywhere but him.
"… No." Sun He whispered.
Gu Liwei watched as the door closed behind his lover. His gaze fell on the unlit TV. For Sun He to be having an appointment alone with one of his best friends, it definitely was to prepare something for him. However, it was not his birthday any time soon. What could Sun He be possibly preparing for? Gu Liwei grabbed his phone and looked through the calendar, his fingers lightly tapping on a certain day in August. Oh? He smiled, his dark eyes shining bright. He also needed to prepare a gift. Gu Liwei chuckled happily, expectations feeling him up.
Sun He was sitting down facing Wu Peizhi, staring at him nervously, afraid that he would say no. Both Wu Peizhi and Ye Dingxiang had been staring at him for the last five minutes after hearing his request. Sun He tried to gauge their thoughts by observing their face, however Ye Dingxiang's face was always paralyzed and Wu Peizhi for the first time since they have met was not smiling. Sun He fidgeted and when he thought he could not handle it anymore, Wu Peizhi smiled.
"Did you tell Liwei you would be meeting with me?"
"No… He only knows I was meeting with Brother Dingxiang. He is already suspicious and I want to surprise him."
Wu Peizhi laughed heartily. The little rabbit dared to lie to the big wolf. Wu Peizhi wondered how Gu Liwei would react if he knew what his treasure was preparing for him. Wu Peizhi was briefly disappointed that he would ne be able to observe Gu Liwei's facial expressions. Should he ask for a video of the moment? Wu Peizhi stared at Sun He's blushing face and felt that if he asked for a memento, Sun He would probably die of embarrassment. He felt more and more that his friend had a good partner. His eyes met Ye Dingxiang's and at the latter's nod, Wu Peizhi knew for sure that he could do nothing else but agree, not that he had ever thought of disagreeing in the first place.
"Don't worry. Dingxiang and I would be more than happy to help."
A relieved sigh escaped from Sun He's lips. He felt tired and resisted the urge of plopping down on the table to catch his breath. He was so nervous that he hardly dared to breathe. Sun He thanked both Wu Peizhi and Ye Dingxiang. Their help meant a lot to him. Sun He explained what he intended to do in more details to them and outlined where their help would be most needed.
"Did you tell Changming?" Wu Peizhi asked while rubbing his chin.
"Not all the details."
"Smart decision." Ye Dingxiang said, uttering his first sentence since Sun He spoke his request.
Sun He laughed thinking of Wei Changming. He had developed a great relationship with Wei Changming over the last few weeks. They had played quite a few games together and had discovered that they had a lot more in common that they had first thought. Wei Changming was a great friend but he was a blabbermouth. He could not keep a secret at all, not even to save his life. Sun He had felt guilty keeping him out of the loop, therefore he had only told him he was preparing a surprise for Gu Liwei and with Tang Jing's help, he had gotten Wei Changming the signature of one of his favorite actresses to compensate for not being able to tell him all the details.
When Sun He came home that night, he could not endure Gu Liwei's inquisitive eyes. Gu Liwei was smiling at him with one eyebrow raised, making him blush with every second of staring. Sun He solved his nervousness the only way he could: dragging Gu Liwei for a well-deserved round of exercise.
The day of their anniversary came faster than Gu Liwei expected. Gu Liwei had prepared a gift for Sun He; a gift he knew would definitely make Sun He happy. The morning of their anniversary, Gu Liwei woke up as soon as Sun He crawled out of bed. He wondered if he should pretend to still be asleep as he watched Sun He tiptoeing to the bathroom, turning around every five seconds to make sure he was still asleep. Gu Liwei heard something fall and Sun He froze for a minute before resuming his path after not hearing Gu Liwei move. Gu Liwei restrained his urge to laugh. If he were not awake, Sun He would have woken him up long ago with the ruckus he was making "sneaking" away.
It took Sun He more than half an hour before he came back to bed. Gu Liwei could feel him staring at him and evened out his breathing. Sun He kissed him "waking" him up. Gu Liwei frowned slightly. He could smell a light scent from Sun He. A scent that was both familiar and unfamiliar to Gu Liwei. Gu Liwei deepened the kiss, ignoring the messy thoughts in his head. He lightly caressed Sun He's face, his fingers slowly stroking downwards towards his lover's hips. Coincidentally, the phone rang right as he was about to remove Sun He's top. Gu Liwei looked down at the dim figure of his lover and sighed. He grabbed the phone and turned on the bedside light.
Wu Peizhi was on the phone screaming for help. According to him, there was supposed to be an important cover shoot today but the photographer who was supposed to work that day was in the hospital with appendicitis. Wu Peizhi had reached out to a few photographers that were still in the country, however they all had other assignments and were unable to help. There was no one else Wu Peizhi could find to replace the sick photographer besides Gu Liwei. Gu Liwei listened to his friend's panicked tone while staring at Sun He. He asked Wu Peizhi for some more details before agreeing him to meet him at the shooting location within an hour.
"I have to go help Peizhi out." He said, his eyes observing every expression on Sun He's face. Sun He looked disappointed. The blush, that he was waiting for, never appeared which made Gu Liwei second-guess his suspicions. He kissed Sun He, muttering an apology against his pouting lips before heading to the bathroom. The moment Gu Liwei closed the bathroom door, Sun He's hands flew to his face and he covered his head excitedly.
Gu Liwei turned on the shower and his gaze fell on the back of his hands. He stared at the streak of makeup on the back of his hand and a chuckle escaped him. He was really looking forward to today.