Pei Cangyu was stunned again. Then, just like before, Bai Shi simply smiled and let the moment pass, moving on to the next topic.
"I have some things to attend to today and won't be back tonight. Will you be alright staying there by yourself?"
Pei Cangyu’s attention was quickly diverted. He grew tense. "You’re not coming back? Why? Did something happen?"
Bai Shi reached out and brushed his hand against Pei Cangyu’s shoulder. As his hand neared the neck, Pei Cangyu felt a slight itch and instinctively shrunk his neck away. His stubbly hair grazed Bai Shi’s hand before Bai Shi withdrew it.
"No, just some family matters."
"Oh." Pei Cangyu breathed a sigh of relief. "You didn't have to make a special trip just for that. You could have just called."
Bai Shi smiled. "I wanted to drop by and see you while I was at it."
Pei Cangyu’s expression turned a bit awkward. He decided to ignore the occasionally over-the-line concern from the person providing him with food and shelter.
Bai Shi walked past him to the checkout counter and raised the cola to pay. Feifei put down her pen and walked over to help him.
Once he had paid, he left immediately, not even saying goodbye to Pei Cangyu.
Pei Cangyu watched him step into the Continental parked at the door and only then realized there was no driver this time; Bai Shi had driven himself.
Feifei stared at Bai Shi’s departing figure until the exhaust fumes dissipated before leaning in toward Pei Cangyu. "You have friends like that?"
Pei Cangyu sat down. "Junior high classmate."
Feifei twirled her pen. "I feel like he has a certain aura..."
*Was he found out?* Pei Cangyu looked at Feifei. Was a woman’s intuition really that sharp? Then again, women did have a knack for spotting gay men.
Feifei continued, "Doesn't he have the aura of a real big shot?"
...
Pei Cangyu turned his head back. So that’s what she meant.
Feifei nudged his shoulder. "What are you brooding about?"
What was Pei Cangyu brooding about? He felt he finally understood why he always felt so awkward around Bai Shi. He had always thought he didn't care about other people's sexual orientations, but now everything was clear.
He, Pei Cangyu, was being crushed on.
Pei Cangyu propped up his forehead and let out a long, melancholy sigh. *Why am I so charming?* Obviously, this kind of distress was impossible to share; those who weren't handsome men wouldn't understand. This left him unable to answer Feifei’s question.
*Sigh.*
The "handsome man" lamented to himself before turning to Feifei. "What do you think of me?"
Feifei was startled. "What do you mean, 'what do I think'?"
The handsome man explained, "My charm and all that."
"Average," Feifei answered honestly.
The handsome man’s smile froze. While being admired by the same sex gave him a bit of pride, being shot down by the opposite sex bothered him more. Dejectedly, he turned away, dropping the "handsome man" act.
But in all honesty, he really wasn't prepared to play for the other team. He hoped Bai Shi would see that and let him off the hook.
Feifei watched him from the side and suddenly chimed in, "You don't actually think that guy likes you, do you?"
Pei Cangyu jumped. "How did you know?"
"Everything you're thinking is written all over your face." Feifei rolled her eyes at him. "Do you really think he likes you?"
Pei Cangyu didn't like discussing such topics openly. Even saying the word "like" made his teeth ache with embarrassment, so he gave a vague "mm-hmm."
Feifei chewed on her lollipop. "Don't think like that. I don't think he has that intention at all."
Pei Cangyu’s narcissism took one hit after another. "Alright, alright, I get it..." Then, out of a strange sense of curiosity, he asked, "But why do you think that?"
"Intuition."
Pei Cangyu still didn't understand what that "intuition" referred to by the time he headed back. However, he felt that digging for an answer would make it seem like he cared too much—not very "real man" of him—so he dropped the subject. Besides, what Bai Shi thought didn't really matter, and whether he liked him or not was irrelevant. Once the situation at his own place was mostly cleared up, he would move back, at the latest by winter break. At that point, they would both return to their respective orbits. If the young master wanted to drive to Zone Z at night for a hookup, that was his business; it would never have anything to do with him again.
Even though he was mentally prepared, the Bai mansion at night still gave Pei Cangyu a chill as he looked up at it. It was pure darkness. The surrounding trees made a faint moaning sound in the wind, and no other estates were in sight. Although Bai Shi had said guards would arrive within two minutes of pressing the alarm, there wasn't a soul to be seen now.
Pei Cangyu steadied his nerves and pushed open the main gate. Not even the streetlights were on inside the grounds. He had to turn on his phone's flashlight and slowly approach the house.
Everywhere the light touched was neatly manicured lawn. When the wind blew, the grass swayed in perfect unison, looking like it was lunging at him all at once, which gave Pei Cangyu a fright.
He really didn't like the dark; it always gave him heart palpitations. Maybe he had some kind of heart condition related to a fear of the dark; he should get that checked out when he had time. Thus, Pei Cangyu kept his flashlight pointed straight ahead, trying not to shine it to the sides to avoid upsetting himself.
When he reached the door, he fumbled for the keypad, only to hear a low growl at his feet. He nearly dropped his phone. Looking down, he saw the dog.
The dog was quite obedient now. It lay on the ground with its ears drooping, even reaching out a foreleg to hook around Pei Cangyu’s leg, rubbing its head against his trouser cuff.
"Oh, so you're acting capable now?" Pei Cangyu continued entering the code, sparing it a glance.
Once the code was entered, Pei Cangyu pulled the door open and stepped inside. The dog didn't follow, looking up at him pitifully.
Pei Cangyu ignored it. Once inside, he spread his hands at the dog. "You can sleep outside. That's what you get for biting me."
With a *thud*, he shut the door.
The Blackback whimpered and lay on the ground, scratching its face with a front paw before lowering its head and curling into a ball. The night wind was picking up. It huddled closer to the door. Just as it settled, the door behind it opened. The Blackback alertly whipped its head around to see the pale golden light of the fireplace spilling out from the house, coating the ground in a warm hue. Pei Cangyu, with a stern face, let out a whistle, and the Blackback joyfully bounded inside.
Pei Cangyu sat in the chair Bai Shi usually occupied. He felt a wave of warmth that made his face flush. He took a deep breath and leaned back against the chair, lounging comfortably.
He idly picked up a book Bai Shi had left there and flipped through it. It was in a foreign language he didn't understand, so he put it back.
He sat forward and rotated the vertical wine rack, pulling out a long-necked green bottle. Not knowing what kind of alcohol it was, he found an opener, twisted it off, and poured some into a square glass.
He took a sip.
*Ugh, bitter.*
Pei Cangyu was glad he had only poured a little. He downed it in one gulp, decided not to drink any more, leaned back into the seat, and fell asleep just like that.
He slept until dawn.
When he opened his eyes, he reached for his phone on the table. It was already nine o'clock. He tugged at the blanket that was slipping onto the floor and sneezed; the fireplace had long since gone out.
Fortunately, he didn't need to head over until Sunday afternoon. Pei Cangyu stood up, folded the blanket, and set about finding something to eat.
As he was tidying up, he heard the doorbell ring.
Pei Cangyu walked toward the door. Was Bai Shi back so soon?
He opened the door and looked out. Standing at the gate in the distance wasn't Bai Shi, but the girlfriend he had broken up with.
"What are you doing here?" Pei Cangyu asked in surprise as he ran over to open the gate for her. "How did you know where I was?"
"I can't come?" His girlfriend pushed past him, chewing gum, and walked inside as if she owned the place.
He had met his ex-girlfriend, Fyer, at a bar. She was a beautiful, passionate woman. At the time, Fyer was already a somewhat famous bar singer, juggling three men at once—four, if you counted Pei Cangyu. After a brawl, Fyer eventually chose Pei Cangyu. This was something Pei Cangyu found very confusing. He hadn't even been a primary participant in the fight; the other three had insisted on fighting and insisted on dragging him into it. Besides, they were all drunk; winning wasn't exactly a grand feat. Most importantly, Pei Cangyu had discovered last month that his girlfriend hadn't actually cut ties with the others. When Pei Cangyu questioned her about it, she had gently touched his face and said, "Do you really think this is like grabbing an object where the winner takes all? Besides, you're a perpetual repeater student; don't take things so seriously." Pei Cangyu figured she was right; he hadn't gotten involved with Fyer looking for a romantic, undying love anyway.
But they should still break up. His studies had reached a critical point where every second counted! Yes!
Fyer walked in and stood on the steps, her bag slung over one arm while her other elbow rested on it. That hand held an extremely slender lady's cigarette. Fyer’s eyeshadow was a "starry sky" color, shimmering whenever she blinked. On her fair wrist was a tattoo of a red magnolia that extended all the way to her neck.
"What are you standing there for? Come here."
With that, she stepped into the house in her high heels, swaying as she went.
Pei Cangyu closed the door and followed. "So, how did you find this place?"
Fyer stood in the center of the room, looking up at the spiral staircase. "Wow—I wanted to say this last time I came, but this place is fucking luxurious—"
Pei Cangyu grabbed her, looking unusually serious. "Are you here to see me?"
Fyer crossed her arms and tilted her beautiful head. "I went to your place to find you last time. Speaking of which, your house got burned down. Anyway, I ran into... what was his name... Zhou... Zhou something at the door. He was very handsome, but too tall, didn't look like a good person... Anyway, he gave me an address and said you were here."
"Zhou?" Pei Cangyu was puzzled. "Who?"
Fyer shrugged. "No idea. I came yesterday too and met the owner of this house. He asked who I was, and I said I was your girlfriend." Fyer smiled and leaned in close. "Speaking of which, that Young Master Bai is quite interesting..."
Pei Cangyu tilted his head at her. "What do you want from me?"
"Didn't we break up?" Fyer spread her arms and spun around. "Let's have a breakup hookup."
"Huh? You came all this way just for that?" Pei Cangyu could hardly believe it.
Fyer tilted her head. "You don't want to?"
Pei Cangyu hesitated. "It's not that I don't..."
"If you don't want to, forget it. I just wanted a souvenir." Fyer swung her bag behind her. "Considering we got along pretty well. Honestly, I really did like you."
Pei Cangyu struggled internally.
Fyer looked up at the house. "I wanted to do it at your place, but I didn't expect a place like this. Hurry up, do you want to or not? If not, I'm leaving."
Without another word, Pei Cangyu stepped forward, wrapped his arm around her waist, and kissed her.
Fyer laughed and pushed at him slightly, biting his ear and blocking his hands as they tried to lift her skirt. She asked urgently in a breathy voice, "Where do you sleep?"
"Upstairs," Pei Cangyu answered between kisses.
Fyer pulled back slightly, took his hand, and led him running upstairs. Her heels clicked cheerfully on the ancient staircase. Pei Cangyu followed behind her, leaving a trail of laughter in the desolate old house.
Laughing, they squeezed into the room where Pei Cangyu slept and collapsed onto the bed together, tangling the sheets into a mess.
They didn't close the door.
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
大佬 | Big shot / Boss | Refers to someone with a powerful, commanding aura or high social status.
分手炮 | Breakup hookup / Breakup sex | Slang for having sex one last time after a breakup.
万年复读生 | Perpetual repeater | A student who retakes the college entrance exam (gaokao) year after year.
白玉兰 | White Magnolia | A type of flower; used here to describe Fyer's tattoo.
欧陆 | Continental | Refers to the Bentley Continental car.
