GT chapter 1

As the southernmost city, G City was already unbearably hot and sticky by March. Even the air felt heavy and humid. The floor-to-ceiling windows, designed to provide a scenic view during the renovation, had completely lost their value—curtains were drawn tight all day to keep even a sliver of sunlight from sneaking in.

The moment Luo Jin stepped into his office, he tugged off his tie, unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt with one hand, and used the other to grab the remote and lower the air conditioner’s temperature.

If it weren’t for the mandatory morning meeting, there was no way he’d be wearing a full suit in thirty-degree weather.

Lin Beibei, seeing her boss clearly in a foul mood, carefully set the freshly brewed coffee on his desk and was about to slip away quietly when—

“Come back.”

Luo Jin’s voice called out behind her.

She froze, turned around stiffly, and stood before him with utmost respect. “Yes, Mr. Luo?”

“My dad told you to pass on some message, didn’t he?”

“The chairman said… that I should tell you tonight. He wanted to give you a, um, surprise.”

Luo Jin rolled his eyes. “Tell me now. With him, I’d be lucky if it’s not a shock.”

Lin Beibei muttered inwardly, Honestly, it might just be a shock. She looked conflicted—caught between her direct superior and the chairman, neither of whom she could afford to offend.

“Mr. Luo, I’m just the messenger, please don’t—” make my life hard.

“Say it. I won’t tell my dad.”

“Alright, but you asked for it… The chairman agreed to Mr. Duan’s request and said you’ll be taking care of his son—the one who just returned to the country!”

Lin Beibei blurted it all out in one breath, speaking so fast that Luo Jin almost thought he’d misheard her.

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“It’s not nonsense—it’s exactly what the chairman said.”

“Why should I take care of him?”

“Well, your families are close. Mr. Duan’s family business is overseas, and since they don’t have any relatives here, they could only ask you.”

Luo Jin had heard of the Duan family’s young master before—but only in passing.

The only male of the Duan family’s third generation, cherished by everyone—a real treasure of the household. And now he was supposed to take care of him? What if he didn’t do it well?

Besides, they had never met. He didn’t know the boy’s age, looks, or habits. Living under the same roof could easily turn into a headache.

“How old is this kid?” Luo Jin frowned, lifting his coffee.

“Eighteen—just became an adult—”

Before she could finish, the coffee Luo Jin had just sipped sprayed out of his mouth. The expensive suit he wore was instantly stained, but he didn’t even bother wiping it. He stared in disbelief. “How old?”

“Eighteen…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Luo Jin looked completely thrown off. “An eighteen-year-old still needs me to take care of him? Doesn’t his family own multiple properties? Can’t they just give him one to live in?”

“You know how it is—the young master’s delicate, spoiled, never done chores or cooked for himself. Besides, he’s just come back to China; he doesn’t know his way around.”

Luo Jin’s expression grew complicated. He chewed over every word carefully until the full meaning sank in.

“So basically, this young master of the Duan family is moving into my house… and I’ll be acting as his babysitter, right?”

Lin Beibei nodded earnestly. “As expected of you, boss—perfect summary, very precise.”

She gave a dry laugh, then shrank back under Luo Jin’s sharp glare and fell silent.

“But, Mr. Luo, you don’t have to worry too much. He’s only staying until he takes the college entrance exam. Once he gets into university, he’ll live in the dorms.”

Luo Jin glanced at the calendar—it was March. The exams were in June, and university started in September. That meant at least half a year.

But since his dear father had already agreed to it, there was no way to back out now. He’d just have to endure it.

Luo Jin rubbed his temples. “When’s the flight?”

Lin Beibei coughed lightly. “Tonight at eight. You’ll probably have to pick him up.”

“…” Luo Jin’s face darkened. No wonder his dad called it a “surprise.” He didn’t even give me time to prepare.

His head was a mess, irritation bubbling up like heat waves. He waved a hand. “Alright, go. I get it.”

The airport was quite far from the city, and since the plane landed at eight, Luo Jin left work early at five to head home first.

Everyone said the Duan family’s young master was pampered and precious, so he couldn’t be made to suffer. To make a decent impression, Luo Jin switched cars—choosing a ridiculously flashy pink Ferrari.

Just as he was about to get in, his father, Luo Hui, called.

“Son, have you gone to pick up Xiao Chi yet?”

“Xiao Chi?” Luo Jin started the car. “Yeah, I’m on the way.”

“I’ll send you his photo.”

“Alright.”

As soon as Luo Hui said that, he was about to hang up. Luo Jin gritted his teeth. “Dad, you really know how to give me trouble.”

Knowing he was in the wrong, Luo Hui just chuckled and said nothing.

Not long after, Luo Jin received a message from him — four or five photos. He flipped through them one by one and raised his eyebrows. The kid actually looked pretty good.

Below the photos was the name: Duan Xingchi.

“Duan Xingchi,” Luo Jin read aloud. Even the name sounded nice.

By the time he drove all the way to the airport, the sky had already turned dark. He parked in the lot and waited at the gate for Duan Xingchi to come out.

The young man’s looks were striking, so he wasn’t hard to spot — Luo Jin could see his head above the crowd from afar.

He muttered under his breath, “What are kids eating these days to grow so tall?”

Duan Xingchi was walking forward with his head down, not looking around at all, seemingly unaware of where to go or that someone was there to pick him up.

Just as he was about to walk past, Luo Jin cleared his throat and called out, “Duan Xingchi?”

The young man lifted his head at the sound. Luo Jin waved. “Over here.”

When Duan Xingchi noticed him, he pulled his suitcase over.

As the distance between them closed, Luo Jin finally realized the height difference — he was 1.83 meters tall but only reached the young man’s nose. This kid had to be at least 1.90.

Luo Jin wasn’t used to looking up at people while talking. He instinctively took a step back to give some space, then noticed Duan Xingchi staring at him. He introduced himself, “I’m Luo Jin.”

“I know.”

Duan Xingchi withdrew his gaze. “Where are we going?”

“Let’s grab some food first.”

“Okay.”

Luo Jin walked ahead, and Duan Xingchi followed behind. Luo Jin had met Duan’s father, Duan Cunshan, a few times — the man was smooth and eloquent. But clearly, Duan Xingchi hadn’t inherited that trait. In the few minutes since they’d met, he hadn’t shown any awkwardness toward a stranger he was about to live with, but he also hadn’t made any effort to be friendly. Not even a polite smile.

Luo Jin decided he must just be shy from meeting for the first time. This little block of ice—wonder how long he’ll take to thaw.

They walked one after the other to the parking lot.

Duan Xingchi immediately spotted the bright pink Ferrari. Just as he frowned in visible distaste at the color, Luo Jin pulled out the Ferrari keys.

“…”

“Get in.”

Duan Xingchi didn’t move.

“?” Luo Jin was puzzled, thinking maybe he hadn’t heard. He repeated, “Get in the car.”

Only then did Duan Xingchi lift his eyes to look at him, and Luo Jin could swear he saw a hint of disbelief on his face.

“You came to pick me up?”

“Yeah.”

Duan Xingchi glanced at his suitcase, then at the car. “Does this car even have a trunk?”

“…”

Luo Jin forced an awkward laugh. He’d been so focused on impressing the young master with a nice car that he completely forgot the young master might have luggage.

“…”

“Uh, I forgot. How about you wait at the McDonald’s in the terminal for a bit? I’ll go swap cars.”

“How far is your place?”

“…A little over an hour’s drive.”

Luo Jin pinched the bridge of his nose, wishing he could crawl into a hole. When he looked up again, he caught a faintly sympathetic look in Duan Xingchi’s eyes.

The young man sighed quietly. “I’ll just leave my luggage in storage and come back for it tomorrow.”

“Then at least take out what you’ll need tonight.”

“No need. I’ll wear the same clothes again, and I didn’t bring any toiletries — I’ll just buy some before we get home.”

“Alright, that works.”

Luo Jin accompanied Duan Xingchi to the luggage storage counter. This time, Luo Jin followed behind him. The young man’s back was straight, his proportions perfect — long legs, broad shoulders, narrow waist — he was young but clearly athletic.

Luo Jin wasn’t in the habit of scrutinizing another man’s physique, but he found himself momentarily distracted. Then suddenly, Duan Xingchi turned around after dropping off his luggage—

He’d followed too closely, and they nearly bumped chest-to-chest.

Duan Xingchi tilted his head down slightly, as if to ask with his eyes, What’s wrong?

Luo Jin rubbed his palms on his pants twice and took a step back. “Let’s go.”

Back in the car, Duan Xingchi’s long legs looked cramped. Luo Jin opened the sunroof to give him more space.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Anything’s fine.”

Luo Jin figured the young master had just returned from abroad, so he probably shouldn’t take him somewhere too casual. Growing up overseas, he’d likely prefer Western food.

Just as he was about to head to his favorite steakhouse, Duan Xingchi added calmly, “Except Western food. I’ve had enough of that.”

“Ah… got it.”

“It’s late. Anything simple will do — don’t go to any trouble.”

“How about noodles, then?”

Duan Xingchi closed his eyes and nodded slightly, saying nothing more. Luo Jin figured he was probably tired after the long flight.

Luo Jin hadn’t really planned where to go — the saying “dumplings when you arrive, noodles when you leave” came to mind. Even though the young master came by plane, it seemed fitting enough, so he casually suggested noodles. He just hoped Duan Xingchi wouldn’t think he was being careless.

But it turned out the young master wasn’t picky about food at all.

They stopped at a noodle shop Luo Jin often visited — though it was called a “noodle shop,” the décor was actually quite upscale.

“Duan Xingchi? We’re here.”

Duan Xingchi was a light sleeper; he opened his eyes as soon as Luo Jin called. Luo Jin jingled the car keys in his hand, waiting for him to get his bearings.

Since it was too hot, they ordered two bowls of cold noodles. As they ate, Luo Jin asked, “Do you have any food allergies or things you don’t eat?”

Duan Xingchi shook his head.

“I’m actually a pretty good cook, so don’t worry — I won’t mistreat your taste buds, haha… ha… ha.”

“Oh.”

Luo Jin had wanted to lighten the mood between the two of them, but Duan Xingchi’s single “oh” completely threw him off. Embarrassed, he shut his mouth and focused on eating his noodles.

However, a minute later, he suddenly realized there was only the sound of his eating. Duan Xingchi was chewing slowly and quietly—he didn’t even make a sound while eating noodles.

For the first time, Luo Jin felt that making noise while slurping noodles was somehow… improper. He stirred the soup in his bowl twice with his chopsticks and began to eat more carefully, trying his best not to make any noise.

He lowered his head, and Duan Xingchi also had his head lowered.

Just as Luo Jin was internally complaining that eating noodles this quietly made it lose some flavor, he suddenly heard a soft chuckle from across the table. But when he looked up, Duan Xingchi’s lips were perfectly straight—no trace of a smile.

He thought he’d imagined it and lowered his head again to finish the last few bites of noodles.

After they ate, Luo Jin took Duan Xingchi to a nearby mall. He actually had plenty of spare toiletries at home, still unused, but he didn’t mention that. He was worried Duan Xingchi might not be comfortable using them.

Toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, body wash… After buying all those, they left the toiletries section. Duan Xingchi looked around as they walked, and Luo Jin asked, “Do you need anything else? I’ll take you there.”

“Underwear.”

“Alright.”

Luo Jin led the way while Duan Xingchi followed with the shopping cart, carefully picking through rows of underwear.

Seeing how serious he was, Luo Jin assumed he was checking for size and asked casually, “What size did you used to wear?”

Duan Xingchi pointed at the row in front of him.

He knows his size—so why’s he taking so long to choose? Luo Jin thought. He himself always bought the same brand, grabbed it, and left.

Duan Xingchi seemed to guess what he was thinking and explained in his usual concise way, “Worried it’ll be tight.”

“The size has nothing to do with that.”

Duan Xingchi paused, then said simply, “In the morning.”

Luo Jin thought for a moment—ah. He probably meant in the morning, when certain things tend to… well, rise. So he wanted looser ones.

Fair enough, Luo Jin thought. That was a reasonable concern.

He waited patiently while Duan Xingchi made his final decision. A few minutes later, the young man finally picked some out and placed them in the cart.

“Where do we check out?”

“Don’t you want to grab some snacks?”

Luo Jin figured a kid his age would love snacks, but Duan Xingchi shook his head.

They paid and drove home. The pink Ferrari stood out vividly under the night sky.

Once they got home and changed into slippers, Luo Jin suddenly remembered that he’d found out about Duan Xingchi’s arrival at the last minute. When he got home earlier, he hadn’t had time to prepare the rooms. Other than his own bedroom, the other two hadn’t been cleaned in quite a while.

He usually came home, washed up, handled a bit of work, and went straight to bed—he barely even entered the other rooms.

They might be dusty…

That was definitely poor hospitality on his part.

He pointed to his own room. “I stay in this one.”

“Then where do I stay?”

“The other two rooms haven’t been used, and they haven’t been cleaned for a while. Everything happened a bit suddenly today, so…”

“So?”

Luo Jin thought about how Duan Xingchi had fallen asleep in the car—he must be exhausted. It was already late, and they were both men. Even if it was their first meeting, it should be fine—

“So why don’t you just sleep with me?”

The expression on Duan Xingchi’s face finally changed, though Luo Jin couldn’t quite read it.

The young man stared at him for several seconds. Luo Jin hadn’t thought there was anything wrong with his offer, but under that long gaze, he started to doubt if it was really a good idea.

After a pause, Duan Xingchi looked away. “It’s 4 p.m. in Country Y right now. I haven’t adjusted to the time difference yet—I can still clean a room.”

“…Oh.”