The thought 'pretend during the day, break inside at night' echoed in Wen Qinxi's mind as he climbed down the stairs in heavy footsteps. He used his long hair to cover up his bloodshot eyes and the mask hid his flushed cheeks. Though he hid his face from the world, at a glance one could clearly see something was weighing him down.

He pushed the emergency door open on the ground floor and walked slowly out of the hospital with his head lowered. He was stuck in his own world that he didn't see Machu walking alongside Qie Ranzhe's mother, Dai Yu and Shao Lan towards the elevator.

Machu naturally noticed him but the aura surrounding Wen Qinxi was so heavy that he couldn't bring himself to talk to him. Deciding to discuss it with Qie Ranzhe he moved on half-listening to the conversation between the three.

Wen Qinxi exited the hospital and stood in a deserted corner along the pavement. His eyes stung so much but he sucked back those tears as much as he could. He hadn't stood there for long when a hand suddenly wrapped around his shoulders.

"Let's go," said Wen Danzhe through gritted teeth. He placed Wen Qinxi's head on his shoulder and pulled him along to the hired car. The two brothers were silent the entire time with Wen Danzhe patting his brother's shoulder letting him know he was here for him.

While Wen Danzhe was cleaning up Qie Ranzhe's mess, Qie Ranzhe was being embraced by his mother to the point of suffocation. Her tears had already soaked his hospital gown but he couldn't bring himself to stop her. He was her only child so it made sense she would be this distraught.

Qie Ranzhe thought this hug would go on for an hour that is until his mother's attention was grasped by Dai Yu sitting on her husband's lap disregarding the environment. That had Dai Lee (her maiden name) let go of her son and change target.

"Super, you are in public for heaven sake. Go home if you want to do such things," she chastised her niece but her scolding went in through one ear and out the next.

Dai Yu smirked cosying up on Shao Lan's lap and said, "His lap is the only comfortable seat in this room. Ran-ge, do you have a problem with it?" feeling rather smug.

Qie Ranzhe just shook his head unwilling to involve himself in their business. He wanted to have a private discussion with Machu and pry out some information from him.

The last thing he remembered was him entering Flagship to run a trial. He might be the CEO but he prefered a hands-on strategy. He trusted his subordinates as he only hired the best of the best but who would have thought that he would wake up a couple of months later.

He had invested a lot of funds into Flagship for it to fail. This is why he was anxious to know what was going on. If it were up to him he would have gone to work already and arranged a last-minute progress meeting.

After much struggle he finally got the three to leave the hospital and once they were gone he began to interrogate Machu on the past months' events. "What happened to me?" he asked as Machu poured out some water into two glasses for the both of them.

Machu handed him one of the glasses as he explained that Qie Ranzhe got stuck in Flagship and how they had to send a couple of people in to guide him back.

"Why didn't you enter the game then when you are the closest person to me?" asked Qie Ranzhe before taking a huge gulp to quench his dry throat from all the talking earlier.

"You don't remember I was in Greece around that time? I was attending a Medical and Pharmaceutical conference so I couldn't get back in time," he explained feeling rather grateful that he wasn't the one who got into the game otherwise he might have lost his patience in there. Dealing with such a stubborn person there is only one other person in this world that can tolerate it.

"So who brought me out?" he asked trying his hardest to recall what happened in that game but they were all futile attempts.

Machu paused with his glass on his lips while carefully observing Qie Ranzhe. He then placed the glass on the side table and chose a roundabout way to approach this. "Did Gecko come up to see you today?" asked Machu staring straight at him not willing to miss any slight change in Qie Ranzhe's expression.

As expected Qie Ranzhe's eyes lit up though his expression remained unchanged. "Why would he come here? I haven't seen him in years..... Wait, why the hell are you bringing him up?" he said but the pulse oximeter attached to his finger began to show a slight increase in heart rate selling him out.

Machu scoffed with a throaty chuckle moving his gaze away from his friend's face. Qie Ranzhe seemed to figure out why he was laughing so he took off the pulse oximeter clipped on his finger. Talk about being sold out by your own body.

"Okay, then let me ask you this," he said taking out his cellphone. He swiped and tapped on the screen a couple of times before displaying Wen Qinxi's picture and pointed the screen at Qie Ranzhe. "Did this guy come by today?" asked Machu with a stern look on his face.

Qie Ranzhe took the cell phone out of Machu's hand and examined it closely. It was a picture of a clean face with soft features wearing a sweet smile. His brows creased feeling an overwhelming sense of familiarity but the most recent memory was of this face under his secretary's desk.

"It's the pervert from the research department. Why would he come here? The only person who had the audacity to waltz in here today was Zhao Huangzhi... Which reminds me, how the fuck did she get in here in the first place?"

Machu almost facepalmed. This man just called his benefactor a pervert. He didn't bother responding about Zhao Huangzhi choosing to focus solely on the wronged nerd.

"Is that the way to talk about your benefactor? Didn't auntie teach you manners?..... For the past months, it was this guy who endured whatever nonsense your head conjured in Flagship. You should have been kowtowing before him right now swearing to serve him for the rest of your life. And....," said Machu before a chilling aura directed at him made him stop scolding Qie Ranzhe.

"Okay, okay.... don't be mad. I took things too far but seriously you owe him big time," continued Machu ready to deliver the final blow.

Qie Ranzhe looked at the picture again while zooming it in and said, "I will pay him..... but there is something oddly familiar about him but I can't.... can't remember," feeling rather vexed.