Li Ming didn't look back.
After the argument with his mother, the slap still echoing in his mind, he quietly packed a bag and left. His heart was heavy, but not broken. Not when he had someone waiting for him.
He showed up at Wang Yang's apartment late at night, hoodie over his head, expression unreadable.
Wang Yang opened the door, surprised. "Li Ming?"
"I didn't know where else to go," Li Ming muttered.
Without another word, Wang Yang pulled him into a hug.
"Stay as long as you want."
---
The next morning at university, it didn't take long for the rumors to start.
"Did you hear? Li Ming moved in with Wang Yang!"
"They're totally dating now—no way two playboys live together and stay 'just friends'."
"Pfft, everyone knows Wang Yang's rich. Maybe Li Ming's just with him for the money."
Wang Yang heard it. Li Ming heard it. Everyone heard it.
But neither of them reacted.
Wang Yang would glance at Li Ming and smirk. Li Ming would casually throw an arm around his shoulders, and walk through campus like he owned the place.
The truth?
It didn't bother them. Not really.
Let them talk.
Still, it was funny to Li Ming—how people assumed so much. The whispers about him being with Wang Yang "just for the luxury," that he was "using" him for shopping, cars, and convenience… it was all nonsense.
He'd chuckle to himself, sitting on Wang Yang's expensive leather couch, wearing designer clothes Wang Yang insisted on buying for him.
If only they knew.
Li Ming wasn't some poor kid clinging to a rich boyfriend. He was the heir of one of the most powerful business families in the country. A hidden billionaire, choosing to live simply with his mother, far from the high-class world he came from.
Even Wang Yang didn't know.
And that's how Li Ming liked it.
He didn't want to be liked for his name. He wanted to be loved for who he was. And Wang Yang? He liked him before the shopping sprees. Before the rumors. Before anything else.
That was enough.
But secrets don't stay buried forever.
Not in a world full of jealous eyes and dangerous curiosity.