In the cold winter month, at night, a newly built large hot spring resort in Paris was brightly lit, with a faint mist hovering around. On the second floor of the accompanying hotel, in the entertainment room, well-dressed and elegant young men and women were frolicking and having a blast.

"Buzz buzz…"

On the Pai Gow table, a phone vibrated. The eldest son of the Reed family glanced at the caller ID, picked up the phone, and stood up, apologizing with a nod, "Sorry, you guys play first, I need to take a call."

"Oh, isn't it Reed's little darling checking in?" 

"Hahaha, everyone knows Reed's phone only has contacts of business partners, how could there be any little darling."

"Well, you never know…"

Several youths teased the eldest son of the Reed family. He chuckled, "It's my brother."

"Go on, hurry up and come back to win Gale's money with us. Tonight, we must make him lose till he's left with nothing but his underwear, hehehe…"

The man sitting in the main seat lazily lifted his eyes, his indifferent gaze lightly sweeping over the boastful one, and chuckled, pushing the cards in front of him, his deep and sexy voice carrying a hint of nonchalance, "Jack Smith, how about you do a striptease for everyone to spice things up?"

Jack Smith looked at his cards and screamed in despair, "How come I lost again!"

"Hahaha, strip one, strip one…"

"Strip one…"

The eldest son of the Reed family saw their high spirits, his lips slightly curving, and left the room with his phone. In less than ten minutes, he returned.

Jack Smith had already taken off his jacket, rolled up his shirt sleeves high, squatting on the chair without any image, and even had an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

Seeing him return, he teased, "Is the brother supervising Reed for his future sister-in-law?"

The eldest son of the Reed family sat back down, shaking his head helplessly, "Supervise what? I texted him in the morning, and he didn't reply all day. He just remembered he had a brother and made a perfunctory call."

Jack Smith chuckled, "Speaking of which, I hardly remember anything about your second brother, only that he used to fall ill often when he was little, thin and small, not talkative, and didn't like going out. Is he still the same?"

The eldest son of the Reed family sighed, "He's been seeing a lot of traditional Chinese medicine doctors these past few years, and he's gotten a lot better, but he still catches a cold easily when the seasons change. He was hospitalized for a couple of days due to a temperature drop recently."

"Tsk tsk tsk, an elder brother like a father and mother," Jack Smith clicked his tongue, "Lucky it's Reed, who can still take out time to care for his brother amidst his busy schedule. If it were me, Gale, having such a sickly brother, I wouldn't know where to dump him to fend for himself, more peaceful and saves effort, right, Gale?"

Alexander Gale, with a lazy demeanor, casually uttered, "Hmm, hard to raise, too lazy to bother."

This caused everyone to burst into laughter. Despite Alexander Gale's scholarly and gentle appearance, he could also take a joke with friends, but in reality, he was indifferent and detached, not wanting to be involved in troublesome matters.

The eldest son of the Reed family glanced at him, his lips curving, but not annoyed. After playing for another half hour, with Alexander Gale's chips piling up like a small mountain, losing interest, he picked up his jacket and stood up, saying, "You guys play, I'm going out for a smoke."

Jack Smith, who lost the most, relying on his close relationship with him, unwillingly shouted, "Hey! Gale, don't scare us, you're just going to smoke and then leave, right?"

He waved his hand and walked straight out of the room. The room burst into even more intense revelry as if a seal had been broken.

Alexander Gale lit a cigarette in the corridor, finished it, and then headed towards the elevator.

"Ding!"

The elevator doors slowly opened, revealing a young man inside wearing a blue coat, wrapped in a scarf, head slightly lowered.

He didn't pay much attention, stepped in with his long legs, and when he was about to press the floor button, he noticed the button for the 28th floor was already lit, and he let his hand fall.

As the elevator ascended, the narrow space was very quiet. Alexander Gale, who was initially looking down at his messages, inadvertently looked up and caught a glimpse in the reflective elevator doors of the young man squeezing himself into the corner, silent and motionless.

He slightly raised his eyebrows, measured the distance between them with his gaze, probably the furthest distance in the elevator, and found it somewhat amusing. He then assessed the young man's height, reaching only up to his chin, hmm... he was too tall, probably scared the guy?

Perhaps sensing the gaze on him, Essen Reed looked up, meeting a pair of deep black eyes.

Through the elevator's reflective surface, their eyes met, and Alexander Gale was momentarily stunned, the first thought that crossed his mind was: Do all boys from the south look this beautiful?

The boy in the mirror had a fair and delicate face, a high nose bridge, slightly plump lips tinted with a hint of pink, a pair of clear, tranquil eyes like glaze, exuding a serene and distant aura, his chin hidden under a khaki scarf, looking very obedient.

Alexander Gale couldn't help but turn to look, Essen Reed had already lowered his head, his hair color was light, looking very soft, probably felt nice to touch too, and those long eyelashes casting small shadows on his cheeks, inexplicably tempting...

"Ding!"

The elevator reached the 28th floor. He withdrew his gaze, stepping out first, and for some reason, slowed his pace, vaguely paying attention to the movements behind him.

Essen Reed also exited the elevator, walking slowly, lowering his head to send a voice message, his voice clear and cool, "Brother, I'm back at the hotel, I'll go to bed early, no need for you to come up and check…"

Alexander Gale took out his room card from his pocket, swiped it to open the door, hearing his words, roughly guessing his identity. Was this the difficult-to-raise younger brother of the Reed family?

He had just entered when Essen Reed also reached his room door, swiped his card, and before entering, glanced back at the closed door diagonally opposite, lightly pursing his lips, then went inside.

…

The next morning, after Essen Reed had breakfast, he entered a medicinal bath room, the steamy pool emitting a herbal scent, not exactly pleasant.

However, he was used to it, undressed, and submerged himself into the warm water, pressed the timer, and closed his eyes.

As he was about to doze off, he heard the resort staff introducing the place outside, followed by the unlocked door being pushed open.

Essen Reed frowned, opened his eyes to look, his pupils slightly shrinking, silently sinking lower, letting the hot spring water cover his fair shoulders, leaving only his head above the water.

Alexander Gale, standing at the door, witnessed all his movements, his gaze lingering on his face steamed to a rosy hue, hesitating to withdraw, then saw him purse his lips, those misty eyes looking over, seemingly silently shooing him away.

"Ah! I'm so sorry, so sorry!" the staff panicked and exclaimed, "Young master, I didn't know you were in here, I'm so sorry, Mr. Gale, I… I'll take you to another one…"

Alexander Gale's Adam's apple moved slightly, pulling his gaze from the half-exposed fair neck, and turned to leave.

The staff kept apologizing, leading him to the next room, also a medicinal bath room. These small pools were built like thatched huts, with only a wooden board separating each room, breathable but not soundproof.

While Essen Reed's ears were still red, he heard the staff's voice from the next room, then the door closing, followed by the rustling of fabric, and finally, the sound of water... 

He pressed his lips tightly together, slowly moved to the other side of the pool, farther from the next room, leaned on the edge, the redness slowly spreading to his neck.