Strawberry Pop Pop Pop chapter 2

It was Friday, and Gu Nuan only had half a day of classes. The leisure time felt incredibly drowsy, especially since he had insomnia last night. During the thirty-minute drive back home, Gu Nuan surprisingly fell asleep with a magazine in his hands.

Uncle Zhang thought he was just resting his eyes. During a red light, he struck up a conversation with him, “President Gu was still talking about the young master this morning, saying he wants young master to adapt to the company as soon as possible.”

The “President Gu ” he referred to was Gu Nuan’s alpha father, Gu Yuanchen, who was also the current CEO of the Gu family’s company.

A whole minute passed without a response from Gu Nuan.

All Uncle Zhang heard was Gu Nuan’s steady and even breathing, as he was sound asleep.

Uncle Zhang couldn’t help but smile and muttered to himself like an affectionate elder, “This child, he can’t seem to change his habit of loving sleep since he was young…”

The red light seemed to last forever, so Uncle Zhang increased the car’s air conditioning a bit to prevent Gu Nuan from getting cold. He looked at Gu Nuan through the rearview mirror, still asleep with his eyes closed, and couldn’t help but sigh at how time had flown by.

Just a few years ago, he was just a little boy. Now, in the blink of an eye, he was already in college.

In the rearview mirror, the eighteen-year-old Gu Nuan had shed the childishness he used to have and had quietly transformed into an “adult.” But if you looked closely, you’d still find countless traces of youthful vigor in his eyes.

The boundaries of his growth were becoming clearer, and Gu Nuan’s maturation was speeding up.

And his handsome appearance actually inherited all the advantages of his parents.

…

After a while, the red light turned green, and the private car continued towards the villa area in the north of City C.

September’s summer carried an early hint of autumn, and the rains this month always seemed to hang in the clouds, reluctant to fall, leaving behind an inexplicable sense of oppressiveness.

Gu Nuan was dozing off in the back seat of the private car. In his semi-conscious state, he vaguely heard someone calling him.

“Xiao Nuan, Xiao Nuan…”

“…”

“Gu Nuan?”

That voice that called his name was identical to the person who called him in his dream. It abruptly woke him up.

“Brother!” He exclaimed.

Soon, his forehead was gently touched by a hand, and he realized it wasn’t the person from his dream but his omega dad, Ji Mu.

“Did you have a tiring day at school today, or did you not sleep well last night?” Ji Mu asked him to get out of the car, touched his forehead again to ensure he didn’t have a fever, and then said, “Get out of the car quickly; Uncle Zhang is about to finish his work shift.”

“I didn’t sleep well last night,” Gu Nuan’s voice was a bit hoarse, and it sounded soft.

Being awakened like this made him feel uncomfortable. He pinched his legs and mumbled, “Why are my legs numb?” Then, he rubbed his eyes and, still half-asleep, yawned. As soon as he got out of the car, he leaned against Ji Mu and acted spoiled, saying, “dad, it’s been a week since I last saw you and Father. The school food isn’t as delicious as at home, and the bed is uncomfortably hard. Since I didn’t attend military training, I’m not close to anyone at school…”

This innocent appearance was quite different from his image at school. Ji Mu listened to Gu Nuan’s complaints with an indulgent smile on his face. He held Gu Nuan’s hand as they walked inside and said, “Then come back home to stay. I’ll arrange for a driver to pick you up and drop you off every day.”

Gu Nuan, who had just woken up, was now wide awake. “Great! I also have a driver’s license now, so I can drive myself too.”

The coffee table in the living room was already set with plenty of afternoon tea and snacks, and there were some of Gu Nuan’s favorite snacks. The orange juice on the table was still full; Gu Nuan took a few sips but couldn’t finish it, and he hadn’t even touched the rest of the desserts.

Outside the French windows, the gloomy sky still wore a heavy and oppressive shade. The rain that was about to fall refused to do so, leaving a stifling atmosphere.

“Your brother, he’s something else. He changed his flight today without telling us in advance. He took the airport shuttle bus and has already arrived at the station. Luckily, I made a phone call to check, and your father just went out to pick him up.”

Seeing that it was about to rain, Ji Mu rubbed his temples, no longer in the mood to work.

Gu Nuan felt a bit down because he couldn’t go to the airport to pick up his brother. “My brother has never liked causing trouble for you guys since he was little,” he said, looking a bit embarrassed, his cheeks turning red.

Ji Mu took another brief break, then picked up his work again without looking up. “They’re just stuck in traffic; don’t worry. They’ll definitely arrive before dinner.” Gu Nuan didn’t move and pressed his palm against the French windows. He was caught in the act, but he tried to defend himself, blushing, “You’ve got it wrong; I’m not in a hurry at all.”

But then, he quietly sat down next to Ji Mu. “dad, how did you know they were stuck in traffic?”

Ji Mu replied, “…”

Ji Mu said, “You can send messages on your phone.”

“Then why didn’t they message me?”

“I asked them myself. Why didn’t you ask?”

Gu Nuan was speechless. He took small sips of orange juice while squirming around on the couch like he had grease on his butt. Although he hadn’t slept for long during his nap on the way home, he had indeed slept enough. Once a person is well-rested, they tend to overthink things, and Gu Nuan was a typical example.

Unfortunately, Gu Nuan’s appearance resembled Ji Mu’s, giving off an overall chilly demeanor. So, Gu Nuan was wearing an expression that clearly warned people not to approach him in his anxiety.

“Xiao Nuan?” Ji Mu looked at Gu Nuan, who seemed particularly impatient, and couldn’t help but step closer. “You haven’t seen your brother for two years, right?”

He referred to Han Yang as Gu Nuan’s “brother,” and Han Yang was also the “Young Master” mentioned by Uncle Zhang.

The new nanny, Xiao Meng, who had recently arrived last month, was passing by and slowed down her steps when she heard the words “Han Yang.” In the circle related to the Gu family, everyone knew that this four-year-older Han Yang was considered Gu Nuan’s brother, even though they weren’t related by blood. Even though this Han Yang was just a “foster child” who had been living in the Gu family since he was little.

Gu Nuan was momentarily stunned, counting the days. It had indeed been two years since he last saw Han Yang during Christmas.

During the four years Han Yang studied abroad, in the first two years, he still came home for holidays. However, in the next two years, he was busy with internships and graduation, while Gu Nuan was in the crucial period of his junior and senior years of high school, so Han Yang stopped returning.

Moreover, Han Yang had a part-time job as an alpha male model for a foreign fashion magazine. His schedule was even busier, to the point where he rarely contacted Gu Nuan on his own or was too busy to answer Gu Nuan’s calls.

“I haven’t seen him for so long, it’s so strange. How did I endure it?” Gu Nuan couldn’t help but admire himself.

“But every time you had a day off from studying, you would video call Han Yang all the time.” Ji Mu said.

“He got busier later on, so I stopped calling!” Gu Nuan replied helplessly, sipping his orange juice. When he noticed his backpack, he remembered the newly bought magazine. He put down his glass, carefully covered the magazine with a transparent book cover, and placed it in his bookshelf.

Over the past two years, Gu Nuan had been buying that particular fashion magazine every month whenever he passed a convenience store. Ever since he discovered that Han Yang’s photos were published in the magazine, he bought one every month.

Twelve months a year, that meant he had collected twenty-four magazines over two years, all carefully stored in his bookshelf.

For the convenience of flipping through them, he even bought an extra copy every month.

Whenever friends came to his house, Gu Nuan could always be seen pulling them over to the bookshelf, chatting for an hour, and then taking out a spare magazine, flipping to the page with Han Yang’s photos and confidently handing it to his friends. “I’m not bragging, but my brother is even in a magazine. Isn’t he handsome?”

He said it with pride, as if Han Yang had already debuted, become an award-winning actor, and won a Golden X Award. He was so boastful that he would continue with, “Do you want his autograph?”