Here to Catch a Cheater

Lightning split the sky, and rain poured down. Ten minutes earlier, Pei Yang had been sheltering under the eaves of his office building, calling his boyfriend, but no one had answered before the call ended.

Yet ten minutes later, he had somehow "run into" his boyfriend out on the road.

The rain was even heavier than Pei Yang had expected. He held his briefcase over his head, but icy water streamed off its edges and into his cuffs, leaving his whole body cold as ice. He couldn't suppress a shiver, his teeth chattering miserably.

Honk, honk-

The street was deserted, but a blinding white light suddenly flashed behind him. Pei Yang instinctively dodged aside as a Porsche swept past him, its tires hitting a puddle and splashing mud all over him.

Pei Yang swore and glared at the Porsche's window. His long lashes had kept the rain out of his eyes, and his eyesight was excellent. Under the light of the streetlamp overhead, he could make out the driver.

That build, that profile, that hand on the steering wheel-so fucking familiar.

"Song Yixiao!" The name burst out before Pei Yang could think. His body reacted faster than his brain.

The Porsche showed no sign of stopping. It sped away, gradually disappearing from view.

Pei Yang narrowed his eyes and ran after it, but all he could make out was the make.

A Porsche.

Song Yixiao's company had only just gotten off the ground. He was so broke he practically had to stretch every dollar into two. Where had he stolen a Porsche from?

"Song Yixiao!"

Pei Yang's reason short-circuited. Without considering whether his legs could possibly keep up with a car, he ran forward like a madman, his voice swallowed by the downpour.

"Ah-"

He tripped over a stone hidden in the darkness and fell. His briefcase flew several meters away, and a tearing pain shot through his ankle.

However handsome, however beautiful Pei Yang's face was, the rain and mud had reduced it to a pitiful sight. Biting his lower lip, he reached for his briefcase, shielded his phone from the rain, unlocked it, and called Song Yixiao.

Ring, ring, ring-

Ring, ring, ring-

In the rainy night, the ringing from his phone sounded especially hopeless. He called several times, but Song Yixiao never answered.

Pei Yang knelt in the pouring rain, dialing the number again and again. Only when a black Maybach stopped beside him did he turn his head slightly.

What a rarity-two luxury cars passing through somewhere this remote within a few minutes.

Pei Yang paid it no mind. He gave it a cursory glance, then returned his attention to his phone.

An uneasy premonition rose inside him, and the endless ringing only fueled his anger. Giving up in frustration, Pei Yang furiously hurled his phone down. Its screen shattered against the curb.

The next second, the rain stopped.

Water still dripped from the hair at his temples, running along his jaw and into his collar. Pei Yang breathed hard, wrinkling his nose as a faint scent of men's cologne drifted around him.

He looked up. The rain was still pouring down; someone had tilted an umbrella over him.

"Do you need help?" The cool, sharp voice came from the man holding the umbrella over him.

The man stood there expressionlessly. From Pei Yang's angle, his face was striking enough that a simple "handsome" no longer did it justice. Pei Yang had exacting tastes. When curating exhibitions, he could always pinpoint a flaw with a single remark, tearing even the most perfect things to shreds. Yet he couldn't find a single fault in the man before him. He was practically... a work of art.

Pei Yang wrestled with himself for a moment. Proud as he was, even with a sprained ankle, a smashed phone, and miserable conditions all around him, even at his most wretched, he refused to let a stranger so handsome he stole his breath pity him.

Just as "No need" was about to leave his mouth, the man spoke again. "Hesitate any longer, and you won't catch up."

"?" Surprise flashed in Pei Yang's eyes.

He got into the car after all, taking the passenger seat.

The contrast between their appearances was brutal, leaving Pei Yang unusually ill at ease.

The accelerator was pressed to the floor, and the car was going fast enough to frighten Pei Yang a little. The driver, however, remained perfectly calm. His well-defined fingers tapped lazily against the steering wheel, his eyes fixed ahead, as though the passenger seat were empty.

The luxury car was so well insulated that even the downpour outside was barely audible, leaving the cabin eerily quiet.

Only after they had driven a little farther and his emotions had settled did Pei Yang's brain come back online. He finally began to think. How did I get into this car? Why did I just leave with a stranger? How did he know I was chasing someone? Where is he driving? Why are we getting farther and farther from everything? My brain really short-circuited. What if he's a trafficker who harvests organs? Wouldn't I be doomed? Though his looks and bearing didn't exactly suggest a human trafficker.

But appearances could be deceiving. Perhaps he had simply concealed the smell of blood on him.

The more Pei Yang thought about it, the bleaker things seemed. His hand slowly crept toward the door, and he was already preparing to jump out when the man, who had been driving in silence, spoke abruptly, as though he had installed a surveillance camera on him. "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"..."

Pei Yang slowly withdrew his hand and ventured, "How did you know I was chasing someone?"

"I heard you shouting," Feng Wanting said.

"..." So he saw all of it-me chasing after the car like a wreck, yelling, falling flat on the ground, and smashing my phone in a rage! Deeply conscious of his dignity, Pei Yang struggled to draw a breath, then probed again. "You stopped just because you heard me shouting? Why? Give me a reason."

Feng Wanting didn't answer. Pei Yang could feel the car picking up speed.

"Don't tell me you felt sorry for me." Pei Yang looked at him. "You don't seem like a kind person."

"I liked what I saw." Without a blush or a flicker of embarrassment, Feng Wanting asked him, "Do you like that reason?"

"..."

It was downright insulting.

Pei Yang didn't need a mirror to know how ugly he looked right now. He pinched his thigh and was about to say something when the wipers swept across the windshield, and he finally spotted the Porsche again.

His heart leaped. He asked another question. "Why did you come somewhere so remote? Hardly any cars pass through here."

Let alone a Maybach.

Song Yixiao made it through the traffic light. Feng Wanting switched on his turn signal and pulled over to the side of the road. "To catch a cheater."