（卫非）成灰 第25章 第 25 章

The engineering department Wei belongs to is on the fourth floor. Since it’s a tour, Han suggests taking the spiral staircase instead of the elevator, so they can get a better view of the company’s layout.

Climbing the spiral staircase that ascends through a large geometric sculpture spanning two floors, Han walks ahead, discreetly using the sculpture’s reflective surfaces to observe the new colleague’s face as they round the stairs.

The new colleague appears to be of mixed race, with rarely seen silver hair. His features are well-defined and deep-set, yet he still looks quite young. His physique is so impressive, which seems almost unreal, like a model on the cover of a famous fashion magazine:

Broad shoulders, slim waist, long legs, small head-he has it all.

In a word, he is Han’s ideal type.

To be precise, Wei’s physique is Han’s ideal type. Han swears that in his twenty-eight years of life, someone as handsome as Wei can only be encountered once every twenty-eight years.

Arriving on the fourth floor, Han averts his gaze and suppresses the thought that ‘the chest muscles under his shirt are quite nice.’ He turns to Wei and says, “This is your department. Your working position will be decided after Wilson returns.”

Wei stares at Han. In his memory, Han, the manager who was three years older than him, had mature feature and a composed demeanor. But seeing him again now, the person in front of him looks so young and fresh.

Han notices Wei’s distraction and calls softly, “Wei?”

“Yes.” Wei snaps back to reality. “Thank you for leading me here.”

Han notices Wei’s nervous expression and smiles, leaning on the railing behind him. “What do you think of this place?”

Wei recalls that in his previous life, Han’s death was ruled by the police as an accidental fall from a decayed balcony railing. His fingers tighten as he forces himself not to think about it. “It’s good, I really like it.”

Han laughs out. “There is no others. ” He winks at Wei, “You can tell me the truth.”

“It’s true.” Wei looks into Han’s smiling eyes and murmurs, “Really. This place is nice…”

“Alright.” Han clearly doesn’t believe him, but Wei’s serious expression amuses him. Walking over, he pats Wei’s shoulder, “I belong to the marketing department, so I won’t stay with you. Go ahead and introduce yourself to your colleagues.”

He said this and walks towards the elevator. Wei looks at Han’s back, inexplicably feeling a sharp pain, and calls out, “Wait!”

Han turns around. Not sure if it’s his imagination, but Wei’s tone seems somewhat anxious, “What happened?”

“I…” Wei quickly walks up to Han, his heart pounding heavily, like a roaring fire, making his throat dry and his face slightly hot.

Han, a bit surprised, notices the redness in Wei’s face and asks, “Are you okay?”

“I just want to ask….” Wei struggles to speak clearly, “Are you available this weekend?”

Han looks at him for several seconds, with a faint smile, “Are you asking me out on a date?”

Wei feels a bit uneasy, sensing that something might be wrong.

Although Han is the person he loves most in this world, to Han, he is just someone he met a few minutes ago. Such an invitation might seem a bit presumptuous. However, having already said it, he cannot take it back.

Wei raises his head, “I studied in New Jersey and moved here last week. If you don’t mind, this weekend-”

“Thanks for your invitation,” Han said, glancing at his watch, “unfortunately, I have a meeting soon. How about we have coffee in the canteen at noon? Of course, I’ll pay.”

Wei’s heart rate begins to calm down. Han didn’t accept his invitation, which is quite normal since they are just colleagues. Normal colleagues, of course, wouldn’t spend time together after office hours. Moreover, they just met for the first time, and his invitation was made without much thought…

Wei makes a series of excuses for himself, trying to rationalize Han’s rejection, but he cannot fool his heart.

Looking at the closed elevator door, Wei admits he is disappointed.

Very disappointed.

The reason is ridiculous, since in this life, they just met. He has no reason, not even the standing, to expect Han to respond to him any differently than any other colleague.

Wei uses the reflection in the glass to quickly arrange his hair—a habit he learned from Han in his previous life. He takes a deep breath, stopping himself from recalling the story of his past life.

The past is past. What he needs now is to recognize his current role and think about how to bridge the distance between Han and him.

Staring at his crisp suit in the glass, Wei knows his plan—in this life, he will only be Han’s friend.

This is the boundary Wei has set for himself.