Li Ming quietly sat next to Duan Zhi Hao, just letting him continue to drink. Anyway, that matter, he felt like Duan Zhi Hao would be able to get over it on his own. He couldn’t help but wonder if currently, it was only that his ego was a little bruised or if maybe he had a problem with this in general. But even though he really wanted to know, he didn’t dare to ask.

Duan Zhi Hao quietly nursed his drink before finally putting down the glass. Only then did he turn to Li Ming, giving a hum before he nodded toward the corridor to the back. "So, how did things go?"

Li Ming slowly nodded, even though he wasn’t sure how to explain. "Well, I apologized for how I treated him the other day, and then we talked a bit. I asked about how things were for him breaking up with my … his ex. And I guess hearing that helped a bit. He … he also knows him better since they’ve been friends since their breakup so I guess just knowing his perspective was helpful."

Duan Zhi Hao nodded, feeling that while Li Ming might put it so simply, it seemed that he really was doing better. At the very least, after this talk, he didn’t look quite as bad as he had after the talk with that photographer. That had to mean something, right?

After a while, he reached over and patted his shoulder. "Well, so that’s done now. I guess it’s time to just look forward to the future. Unless you still have some other things to do to finally be done with that chapter?"

Li Ming gave a hum and then waved for Yao Chen to give him a drink as well, turning around to look at the restaurant and the table where they had been sitting with everyone back then. "You know, one of the first things that happened after we met was that we came to this place. It was after he started working at the same railroad station as me. He … invited everyone to go out and grab a few drinks. By the end, he was pretty much blackout drunk and I settled the tab and took him back home with me."

Duan Zhi Hao’s brows shot up and he gave Li Ming a doubtful look. If this was coming from anyone else, he would’ve been wondering if they had been trying to take advantage. But since this was Li Ming, he really didn’t think so. He really was the type of upright guy who would never even think of something like that. So in that case, he couldn’t help but think in the other direction. "That matter … do you think that was also arranged?"

Li Ming sighed at that question. "That is what I will always ask myself about every instance of this relationship, isn’t it? Honestly, I’d like to think that that wasn’t the case. I mean, most people wouldn’t be able to pretend to be drunk. At least not to that degree. It was hard enough to get him out of here, not to mention into my apartment. I really don’t think he could have acted that out. By then, he was hardly responding anymore. And he genuinely seemed confused when he woke up the next morning. Although I guess at the beginning, he might’ve exaggerated some things."

Yes, he still remembered how worked up Mo Fang had seemed about his breakup with that Lan Heng. But actually, that hadn’t been the case, right? The fact how frequently Mo Fang had changed partners probably should’ve clued him into that.

Mo Fang was somebody who easily got together with others but also broke up just as easily. Yes, maybe Lan Heng had given him more reason to do so than others and he had genuinely hated that guy’s guts, but that didn’t change the fact that he had probably gotten over that breakup much faster than he had let on. Yes, he had been milking the situation.

If he tried to look at it from another perspective, it was probably a bit flattering. Somehow, looking at him, Mo Fang had felt that it was worth it to go through all that trouble. He still would have preferred it if he hadn’t done it but he couldn’t deny that originally, the thought had probably been quite sweet and innocent. It was just that over time, it had morphed into something that wasn’t anymore. And now, he would never be able to see these two things separately.

He grabbed the drink that Yao Chen had put in front of him and sighed deeply. "Honestly, I’ve done what I absolutely needed to do. But that doesn’t mean I’m magically over everything that happened. No, this will still take time. And I guess it’s not wrong to give myself that time.

"When I am finally done healing from that, I’ll know. And if I find somebody that I can trust again — in a relationship I mean — I’ll also be able to realize it. But until then, I’ll just live my best life outside of relationships."

Duan Zhi Hao nodded slowly. "Well, you’re still young."

Li Ming couldn’t help but smile. "I’m pretty sure you’re not that much older than me. How much could that be? Four years? Five?"

"Oh, five years are half a decade. Half a decade is really pretty long." He pushed his glass to the side, feeling that he had had enough, and then turned to Li Ming, not sure what to say. Anyway, it seemed that while he had made some progress, this was really one of these matters where only time would be able to help. Pushing further wouldn’t change anything so he didn’t want him to dwell too much on it. In fact, not constantly thinking about it was probably part of the process.

Trying to find something else that he could bring up, he looked around, only to slowly blink his eyes. Come to think of it, most of the people here seemed quite a lot like they were couples. And coincidentally, more than half of them were like the couple that he had unwittingly disturbed before.

He just wanted to speak up and ask, when suddenly, he couldn’t help but furrow his brows. Actually, thinking of what that photographer had said before … most likely, that ex had never been a woman, right?