Try as he might to control his emotions, Bai Ruyi’s eyes still began to tear up as he followed the men’s progress across the courtyard.
How could he have let this happen? This was never how it was supposed to be. All he wanted was for Qing Xue to open up to him so that he could be of help. Qing Xue’s rejection of his offered hand as he chose instead to bottle everything up had been making Bai Ruyi feel so incredibly worthless, so he’d kept applying pressure on the younger man to make him give in.
But he’d failed to account for how stubborn Qing Xue could be—how much he could disregard his personal wellbeing to achieve his own ends. And now it had come to this.
Bai Ruyi’s tears fell silently as he stood there, torn up over what he’d done and what he should do next.
Then a movement outsi
