FIO CH35

Chapter 35: Would I Be a Disturbance If I Followed You?

The young man on the bed suddenly opened his eyes, rolled over and sat up in one swift motion, reaching for the phone on the bedside table. He lit up the screen and saw it was 8:50. Phew, the plane was scheduled to depart at 10:30; if he hurried, he should be able to make it.

Lu Fangchi quickly got out of bed and rushed to the bathroom to wash up. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, shaved, and even used hair gel to style his hair in a neat 30-70 parting. After finishing, he went to the closet and opened his suitcase, quickly packing a few sets of clothes into his travel bag. The entire process took no more than fifteen minutes.

Unlike his usual casual attire for work, today Lu Fangchi was dressed in a grey suit with a white shirt, its buttons fastened all the way up to accentuate his slender neck. He wore a sapphire blue tie as an accent and swapped his usual watch for a much more expensive one, exuding an air of refined restraint.

He took a matching grey overcoat from the closet and draped it over his arm, then pushed his suitcase and strode out with his long legs. As he turned around, he met Zhou Zheng’s gaze, who was leaning against the door of the closet with his hands in his pockets, looking at him lazily and tilting his head. It was unclear how long he had been watching.

Lu Fangchi stopped and reached out to feel Zhou Zheng’s forehead, but the alpha lifted his chin and dodged. His eyes were dark and deep, his lips pursed into a straight line, silently questioning Lu Fangchi’s actions.

Lu Fangchi was in a hurry to get to the airport, and his phone was ringing urgently in his pocket, a series of “ding-dong” sounds like a death knell. He had no time to deal with Zhou Zheng’s odd behavior at the moment.

“Uh, I’m heading to the airport,” Lu Fangchi said, ending the call before looking up to explain to the alpha, “I forgot to tell you yesterday. It’s Lightland’s tenth-anniversary celebration, and I need to go to City B to meet with clients and discuss investments. It’ll take about three days.”

As Lu Fangchi spoke, he reached out again to feel Zhou Zheng’s forehead. The alpha stiffened his neck and let him check the temperature. The palm felt warm, but the temperature was normal.

It seemed Zhou Zheng was recovering quickly.

Lu Fangchi withdrew his hand, “Good, no fever. I’m running late. I have to go.” With that, he started to walk away.

Zhou Zheng moved, stretching out his leg to block the way.

Lu Fangchi raised an eyebrow, puzzled, “Hm?”

“Why aren’t you taking me with you?” Zhou Zheng frowned slightly, a hint of displeasure in his tone.

Lu Fangchi was taken aback for a moment before replying, “Forgot.” It was the truth.

However, the alpha had a point. As partners, Zheng Technology should also be on the invitation list, so there was no issue with Zhou Zheng attending.

“Are you coming with me then?” Lu Fangchi asked, taking out his phone to arrange another ticket and check with Assistant Liu about their company’s arrangements.

“It’s too late to book now, isn’t it?” Zhou Zheng’s originally dark eyes deepened, and his tone was cold.

Lu Fangchi, busy typing messages, replied without looking up, “Yeah, the next flight. We’ll meet up later.”

“Ding—”

“Ding—”

Assistant and Liu Assistant sent messages almost at the same time.

Assistant: There are still tickets for the 12 o’clock flight. Shall I book now?

Liu Assistant: Is Mr. Zhou going? Sure, I’ll just let the business side know.

Lu Fangchi looked up at Zhou Zheng and asked again, “Are you coming? The next flight is at 12, not much of a difference. I’ll wait for you at the airport, and we’ll go to the hotel together.”

Zhou Zheng’s eyes flickered as if he was conflicted. After a while, he replied, “Forget it.”

Hearing Zhou Zheng’s refusal, Lu Fangchi nodded without pushing further, “Alright, I’ll wait for you when I get back. I really have to go now, baby.” With that, he reached out and pressed a kiss on the alpha’s cheek.

Only then did Zhou Zheng reluctantly move his leg, slowly creating a small gap to let him pass.

Lu Fangchi didn’t mind the alpha’s little act and cooperated by sidestepping out.

While Lu Fangchi was sitting on the entrance stool to change his shoes, Zhou Zheng went to the kitchen and packed a breakfast, placing it on top of the young man’s suitcase. He looked down at him changing his leather shoes, the ankle exposed between the shoe and the trouser leg, wrapped in a black sock, was quite alluring.

Zhou Zheng suddenly spoke up, “Would I be a disturbance if I followed you?” His tone was quite sour.

The phone “ding-dong”ed, the screen lighting up with a WeChat message from Assistant: Mr. Lu, are you almost here?

The time in the top-left corner read 9:30. With a thirty-minute drive and ten minutes for security check, it was just enough to make it.

Lu Fangchi hurriedly finished changing his shoes and prepared to leave. Zhou Zheng once again reached out and pressed on the doorknob, blocking his way.

“What now?” Lu Fangchi was about to exclaim in frustration.

“You haven’t answered me yet,” Zhou Zheng tilted his head.

“What? I didn’t hear you just now, say it again,” Lu Fangchi looked down at his phone again; it was 9:31.

“I said,” Zhou Zheng’s voice intensified, enunciating each word clearly, “Would it disturb you if I came with you?”

“No, it wouldn’t. If you want to come, you can. If you don’t, you don’t have to. It’s up to you. But I really have to go now,” Lu Fangchi kept glancing at his phone; the passing time was making him anxious, and his tone unconsciously became somewhat perfunctory, even cold.

Zhou Zheng pursed his lips, the dark color in his eyes flickering as if something was shattering. “I’m not going,” he said, enunciating each word.

“Mm-hmm,” Lu Fangchi nodded absentmindedly; it was 9:35!

Seemingly displeased that the young man’s attention was entirely on his phone, the alpha reached out and covered the phone, attempting to take it away.

Lu Fangchi also exerted some force on the phone he was holding, preventing him from succeeding, and raised an eyebrow, questioning with a “Hm?”

The alpha was silent for about twenty seconds before finally speaking: “Since you’re going to City B, which is so far away, I need to turn on a location tracker to feel at ease.”

“Sure,” Lu Fangchi readily agreed to this form of checking up, but added, “Can we do it after the flight? The plane takes off at 10:30, and I really have to go now.”

Zhou Zheng ignored him and remained motionless.

“Can you be a good boy?” Lu Fangchi patiently coaxed.

Zhou Zheng blocked the doorway, silently refusing with his actions, answering with a “No.”

Lu Fangchi frowned. Setting up the location tracker would take at least seven or eight minutes. He was already cutting it close with time, and this delay would surely cause him to miss his flight.

His lips pursed tightly, and a hint of irritation began to rise in his heart. He took out his phone, unlocked the screen, and sent a message to Assistant: I won’t make it. I’ll catch the next flight. You go ahead.

He sighed, his eyes filled with helplessness, “You do it.” He handed the phone to the alpha.

Lu Fangchi hadn’t deliberately hidden the message. Zhou Zheng, being tall, could easily see the entire message with a glance down. However, upon receiving the phone, he showed no sign of guilt. He began to fiddle with it, seemingly nonchalantly asking, “Have you ever done this with him?”

“No,” Lu Fangchi shook his head in denial; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been in this situation.

Zhou Zheng’s lips curled up slightly, then pursed again as he began to set it up.

The idea of checking the location was a sudden impulse; he didn’t know how to use this function. He had to take out his own phone and search how to turn on the location. Following the tutorial step by step, it took him more than ten minutes to successfully enable the shared location.

Current distance: 0 km.

The time in the top-left corner: 9:55.

Seeing this indicator, Zhou Zheng finally handed the phone back to the young man with a sense of satisfaction.

Lu Fangchi took the phone, picked up the packed breakfast from the suitcase, and walked to the living room. He sat on the sofa, chewed his bread slowly, and began to check his flight ticket on his phone.

The alpha, seemingly belatedly feeling guilty, bit his lower lip and gradually moved to sit on the sofa, getting closer and closer.

Finally, he took advantage of the situation by pressing against Lu Fangchi’s side, lowering his head to rest on the young man’s shoulder, and reflecting in a low voice, “Am I being too much of a fuss?”

Lu Fangchi glanced at him sideways and retorted, “What do you think?”

“I don’t know,” the alpha shook his head, not admitting it, and added, “Are you angry?”

Not angry, just a bit helpless.

But seeing the alpha’s eager expression now, it was fine.

Lu Fangchi reached out and pinched the alpha’s handsome face, pinched it until it turned red, then let go, and commented, “You have such a small mind. You just had to make a fuss and cause me to miss my flight because you forgot to tell me.”

Lu Fangchi was spot-on. Zhou Zheng haughtily let out a nasal “Humph.”

Now that they weren’t in a rush, Lu Fangchi recalled Zhou Zheng’s earlier words and sensed some insincerity. He had locked two seats when booking the tickets. He waved the phone screen in front of Zhou Zheng and asked, “Do you want to come with me?”

Zhou Zheng’s gaze flickered, and he licked his lips, saying, “But I haven’t packed my luggage.”

“I’ll help you. It’ll be quick,” Lu Fangchi said.

Zhou Zheng’s expression changed slightly, and he began to feign reluctance: “Are you trying to get me to go with you?”

Lu Fangchi never indulged in such verbal banter. He reluctantly smiled and nodded, “Yes, yes, yes.”

“How much do you want me to go?” Zhou Zheng blinked his eyes.

“Come on,” Lu Fangchi reached out and pinched his cheeks, forming an O shape with his mouth. What a silly face. He let go and said, “Are you going or not? The order will expire soon.”

“Although I really want to go with you,” Zhou Zheng sucked in his cheeks, creating a hollow in his face, and then changed his mind, “I have some things to do, so I won’t go this time.”

Hearing this, Lu Fangchi nodded without pressing further or asking what the matter was, “Alright.”

The takeoff and landing were in popular cities. Misfortune never comes singly, and he was a bit unlucky. After the noon flight at 12 was canceled and immediately snapped up, there was only one ticket left for 10:30 in the evening, and it was in economy class.

This meant that Lu Fangchi would have to sit in a cramped seat for over two hours without being able to stretch his legs, and he would land around 1 a.m.

Seeing Lu Fangchi’s indifferent expression and his unwavering actions as he booked the ticket, Zhou Zheng’s lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing. He nuzzled his head against Lu Fangchi’s neck, using his actions to silently express his apology.

Lu Fangchi sensed the alpha’s complex emotions and reached out to smooth his back.

The warm, moist breath on his neck spoke volumes as he mumbled, “I’ll drive you to the airport tonight.”

“Sure,” Lu Fangchi nodded, then remembered, “But don’t you have something to do?”

“I’ll come back later,” Zhou Zheng said.

“No need, it’s too much trouble,” Lu Fangchi waved his hand, “I’m not a girl; I don’t need you to see me off.”