Gong Qin didn’t say another word. He left the bedroom and walked toward the entryway.
When he reached for his coat, he hesitated for a moment. The trench coats were identical—same style, same color, same size.
He used to get annoyed by this and had once complained to He Ling, “Can you stop buying the same ones? I can’t even tell which one is mine.”
He Ling had nuzzled his ear and whispered, “What does it matter? Isn’t it nice to wear my clothes?”
Back then, Gong Qin would grumble that it wasn’t, but he’d still end up wearing He Ling’s coat anyway.
His hand paused, then he took the one on the left.
He’d come home early that day, so his coat was on the left. The one on the right was He Ling’s.
But what did it matter now?
This coat was his for just this one day. For countless days before, he could never really tell which was whose.
But from now on, he’d know the difference.
Gong Qin made his way down to the underground parking garage. He looked at all the cars lined up, but felt no urge to drive any of them.
All his cars had been bought by He Ling.
All of He Ling’s cars had been bought by him.
This garage wasn’t just filled with cars—it was packed with memories.
Gong Qin let out a quiet breath and walked straight past the cars, heading outside.
It was freezing. The snow that had just fallen hadn’t melted yet, piled up along the roadside and mixing with the mud, looking especially ugly.
Gong Qin shoved his hands into his coat pockets. The pockets were icy cold, like little ice caves.
He remembered how He Ling used to always tuck his hands into those pockets for him.
Gong Qin used to hate being that affectionate out in public. “We’re two grown men. What will people think?”
He Ling would just laugh and say, “Who cares? We’re legally married. Nobody can say a thing if we kiss right here.”
Back then, they’d just gotten married. He Ling loved to say it—“legally married.”
Seven years had passed already.
Gong Qin could barely remember how he and He Ling had met, but every little moment from those seven years had already seeped into his blood, become part of his bones.
But people change.
Just as he had fallen more and more in love with He Ling,
He Ling had fallen more and more out of love with him.
Gong Qin let out a self-deprecating laugh, leaned against the wall, and slid down into the darkest corner, feeling utterly helpless.
Maybe there had been signs all along.
These past few months, He Ling came home later and later, grew colder and colder.
When He Ling stopped talking, Gong Qin couldn’t even find a topic to start a conversation. Silence was all that filled the house.
With just the two of them and no words between them, the place felt unbearably empty.
But what could he do?
Love is the most unreliable thing—it comes out of nowhere, and leaves just as mysteriously.
He’d never understood why He Ling had fallen for someone as boring as him in the first place.
And now, he couldn’t understand why He Ling had stopped loving him.
Divorce was probably for the best.
After all, he’d always been alone.
Chapter 02
*