Divorce and Desire: Love with My Boss

Until New Year's Eve, apart from the occasional updates on the sales figures through Messenger, he and Ethan hadn't seen each other since that night.

Noah thought to himself, he must have thought it through, probably discouraged by his own words.

"Shawn, tomorrow is the first day of the new year, and I plan to close the store for three days."

After spending so many days together, the two had grown closer.

Shawn, with a lollipop in his mouth, said, "Noah? Are you not going home? If not, we can spend the New Year together."

"Sure, I'm not going home. It'll be nice to have you as company. How about we go pick some groceries after work?"

Noah initially planned to just grab a pizza for himself, but with Shawn around, things couldn't be so simple.

They went to the supermarket and ended up with quite a bit of food. Shawn put the items in Noah's backseat, politely declined his offer to drive him home, and left.

While they were at the supermarket, Shawn's phone had been ringing constantly. To avoid disturbing anyone around him, Shawn had put it on silent.

He casually found a corner, looked at the caller ID on his phone, and picked up.

"So, you do know how to answer my calls — you're not planning on coming back home, are you? You've changed your phone number, changed your place of residence. Who are you running from?"

Shawn's hair was tousled by the wind. His tone was calm, even indifferent, "Don't you already know? Why are you asking?"

"Shawn, let me tell you, I raised you, and whether you want to or not, you're getting married! You think you can run away for the rest of your life?"

The tone on the other end of the line grew more and more intense, like a balloon that kept inflating, on the verge of bursting.

"Mom, I don't want to get married. The engagement was arranged by you. What era is this? Why are we still doing this arranged marriage thing? As long as you don't let go, I won't go home."

Shawn's face was cold, his tone firm. "If you keep being so stubborn, I can't do anything about it."

With that, he hung up the phone, blocking the number in the process. He wandered over to a phone store, used his ID, and got a new SIM card.

Shawn sighed. He was really tired of living this way. Another escape was needed.

He looked at the gray sky, feeling like he was looking at his own life.

"New Year's Specials! New Year's Specials! Buy three boxes of tissues, get one free!"

Hearing the electronic speaker's advertising, he remembered that tomorrow was the first day of the New Year. He had promised Noah he would spend the holiday at his place.

At first, they had agreed on this, but now, if he didn't show up, Noah would definitely be disappointed. How lonely would he feel?

Hearing the phone ring, Noah wiped the flour off his hands. "What's up?"

It was the end of the month, so Shawn decided to tell a small lie. "Noah, my landlord is asking for an unreasonable amount of rent, and I can't find a place to stay for now."

"That's really awful. If you don't mind, you can stay with me for a while. You can move out whenever you find a place."

Noah's apartment was a two-bedroom, so one more person would be no problem at all.

"As for rent, I'll charge you the market rate. Where are you now?"

Shawn sniffled. "I'm outside with my luggage."

"I'll send you my location, just come over." Noah could hear the strong wind through the phone. He set aside his work and sent Shawn the location.

After putting the vegetables away in the fridge and cleaning the table, Shawn arrived.

It hadn't been long since they last saw each other, but Noah looked at Shawn's face, which was red from the wind. "Your landlord is really unreasonable, raising the rent like that?"

Shawn smiled casually. "It's fine, after all, I have Noah to help me out." He looked at his black suitcase. "Where should I put this stuff?"

Noah glanced at the suitcase and couldn't help but admire how, despite Shawn having a baby face, he seemed to have the vibe of a cool guy on the inside.

"This is a guest room. There's a bathroom outside. I usually use the one inside, but you can use the one here, no problem." Noah pointed at the bed with its set of three pieces of bedding. "This room hasn't been used. You can change the bedding when you sleep at night. Just put the used ones in the bathroom."

After explaining everything, Noah turned and headed back to the living room. He switched on the projector, planning to watch a movie for a while.

He felt the couch sink slightly next to him. "Noah, what are you watching?"

"A horror movie."

Shawn's expression stiffened for a moment. Looking at Noah's face, he thought he'd prefer artsy films, but it seemed like people couldn't always be judged by their appearance.

"Alright, let's watch together then."

In winter, the days are short, and it was already completely dark outside.

The volume wasn't too loud, but with how quiet the living room was, it was just right.

The movie started with a focus on the plot, introducing the main character, a police officer, who was investigating a horrific family massacre.

He and a colleague pushed past the police tape. Both were holding bright flashlights, one ahead of the other.

The colleague felt uneasy, though it was summer, there was an overwhelming sense of cold.

Shivering, he said, "John, maybe we should head back. I just feel like this place is cursed."

The main character gave his head a quick tap. "You're a police officer and still believe in superstitions? I'm not afraid of ghosts; it's just people pretending to be spooky."

Seeing that the main character wasn't backing down, the colleague stepped closer.

Who could have expected that as he moved closer, he took an elbow to the chest. "What's that for, John?"

"You better stay away from me, I like soft and delicate omegas, don't get too close."

Shawn couldn't help but laugh. "Isn't this guy just your typical 'average guy'? He's scared but thinks someone is interested in him."

Noah replied, "Yeah, he's quite confident."

But soon, Shawn's laughter faded.

For some reason, the two of them suddenly got separated. The colleague was left alone to fumble around, muttering to himself, "I'm a good person, I'm a good person, don't look for me, don't look for me."

Suddenly, he found a reflective object. Standing at the door, he swallowed nervously and kept mentally reassuring himself.

He kneeled on the floor, stretching his body out, trying to reach something under the bed.

"Why can't I touch it?"

Suddenly, the camera zoomed in on something under the bed—a six-year-old girl with grayish-blue skin, dark, hollow eyes, and stitching marks on her lips.

"Ah—ghost!—" Both the colleague on the screen and Shawn screamed in unison.