We meet again

Pei Yang rented a new place.

The place he had shared with Song Yixiao had been in a good location with pleasant surroundings. They had split the rent, so the burden had been fairly light overall. Now that he was living alone, though, he had to cover it all himself. Pei Yang rented somewhere cheap. It was small, even a little shabby, but he wasn't particularly demanding about such things. A roof over his head was enough for him.

That night, Pei Yang stood on the balcony looking down and sighed three times without realizing it. He knew perfectly well that, having been with a man, he could never marry and have children like ordinary people. And with his personality, he was destined to be alone.

The next day, Pei Yang got up early. The group's headquarters was in the city center, so he had to head over ahead of time to make sure he wasn't late.

It was just a big meeting, and with so many people there, no one would be taking attendance. Yet his coworkers, who usually loved slacking off, were surprisingly enthusiastic. By the time Pei Yang arrived, they had already claimed seats in the tiered conference hall.

Pei Yang went over and sat down. As far as he could see, every seat was taken.

Just as he had imagined, there were thousands of people there. Looking down from above, they seemed as tiny as ants. A few of his coworkers were so excited they nearly jumped up. "Headquarters really is on another level. Even their meeting room is this grand. If I could work here... my ancestors would have to be smiling down on me."

"Who says you can't? Didn't Lan say a while ago that she'd secured a spot for one of us at headquarters?"

"Just one. There are over a dozen of us in the Exhibition Planning Department, and they're only picking one. Isn't that a little brutal?"

"Shh... stop talking." Someone glanced toward Pei Yang and lowered their voice. "Boss Lan values Pei's exhibitions the most, but personality-wise, she likes Fangfang. Do you really think she'd consider people like us, who never catch her eye? Chances are she'll pick between Fangfang and..."

"Me and who?" Yin Sufang caught the tail end as he squeezed through the jostling crowd, arriving late. There was a black stain on his dark blue suit, and it gave off a strange smell, like ink.

"Fangfang, why are you so late?" His coworkers hurried to stand and make room for him. After all the shuffling, he ended up beside Pei Yang.

"Don't even ask." After sitting down, Yin Sufang rubbed at his stained suit, getting black all over his hand. "Some asshole splashed whatever he was holding all over me. My new suit!"

"That suit wasn't cheap, was it? Why didn't you make him pay?"

"I was afraid I'd be late. Didn't Lan say this meeting was important? Besides, when I got here, I heard the headquarters staff saying... FK's chairman would be giving a speech too."

"So what? The chairman of a group like this is probably seventy or eighty. His speech is bound to be boring and stiff. He might as well not bother."

"True..." Yin Sufang muttered. Someone placed two tissues from a travel pack into his raised, blackened hand. They carried a faint scent of floral tea.

He blinked and looked at the person who had given him the tissues in surprise.

Pei Yang put the remaining tissues away. Feeling Yin Sufang's gaze on him, he said, "Wipe it off. Don't get any on me."

Yin Sufang paused, then said, "Oh."

The meeting began right on time.

The people who could take the podium in headquarters' tiered conference hall were none other than FK's founders, core personnel, and senior executives-universally acknowledged success stories. They spoke at length, but there really was plenty to learn. Pei Yang filled an entire large page of his notebook.

Halfway through the meeting, an inexplicable stir began in the front rows. Amid the jumble of voices, he could make out that some big shot seemed to have arrived.

Pei Yang looked over curiously too. Several people in suits and polished shoes escorted a tall man through the doors. The rising and falling sounds of breathing seemed to scatter in the air stirred by his steps. For an instant, Pei Yang forgot how to breathe. He froze in his seat, watching the "chairman of FK Group" move from the doors to the steps, then onto the stage where everyone looked up at him.

Pei Yang's fingers tightened around his meeting notes until they turned pale. Instinctively, he wanted to hide his face, but he had always been composed. Besides, with so many people present, Feng Wanting might not even see him. Covering his face for no reason would only draw more attention.

Feng Wanting looked outrageously flashy today. That was Pei Yang's first reaction upon seeing him.

His carefully styled hair, his exquisitely tailored yet informal suit, those silver accessories and chains-who would believe this was how the chairman of a publicly listed group dressed?

Feng Wanting briefly introduced himself. The commanding tone of his voice made people afraid to meet his eyes.

Pei Yang and the others were seated quite far away. Knowing the chairman wouldn't see them, his coworkers grew bolder, grabbing the arms of the people beside them and shaking them wildly. "That's fucking Chairman Feng?! He's that young?!"

"Who cares about young... the point is he's so fucking hot! Holy shit."

"Hot and rich. What window did God even close on him?!"

Feng Wanting's good looks were immediate and unfair enough to outrage gods and men alike. The very first thought Pei Yang had had upon first seeing him was that his face was ridiculously gorgeous. Only, back then, he hadn't known this man was his boss's boss's boss.

He had no idea what idiot planner had arranged for Feng Wanting to summarize FK's performance for the first half of the year at this meeting. With a face like that, who could focus on his words instead of his looks?

There were exceptions, though. Yin Sufang beside him, for instance, seemed completely unaffected. Even with the coworkers on his right chatting up a storm, he didn't join in. He kept taking notes.

Pei Yang swallowed and decided he would swallow his pride later and borrow Yin Sufang's meeting notes.

Because he genuinely couldn't make out what Feng Wanting was saying. All he could see were those lips opening and closing, and all he could hear was his own pounding heartbeat.

Pei Yang stared, entranced. Suddenly, the man onstage lifted his gaze. As though he had fitted Pei Yang with a GPS tracker, he found his eyes in a single glance.

Pei Yang's heart thundered. His brain short-circuited, and he whipped his meeting notes up to cover his face.

The movement stirred a gust of air. Puzzled, Yin Sufang turned toward it and saw that Pei Yang had inexplicably hidden his face. Meanwhile, the chairman's soft chuckle sounded through the conference hall's four large speakers.

Yin Sufang watched the tips of Pei Yang's ears turn red.

"?"

Puzzled, he looked from Pei Yang to Feng Wanting, then from Feng Wanting back to Pei Yang.

"That concludes the meeting. Thank you all for your hard work."

As Feng Wanting finished speaking, thunderous applause rose from the audience. Once again, several assistants surrounded him as he left.

The deafening noise eased the tension in Pei Yang's body. He exhaled and stared blankly at the door Feng Wanting had left through.

"Hey." Yin Sufang nudged him. "Are you leaving or not?"

Pei Yang lowered his eyes. For some reason, a faint disappointment welled up in his chest.

It was only a one-night stand... he's probably forgotten all about it.

Pei Yang forbade himself from dwelling on it any longer and followed Yin Sufang and the others out of the conference hall.

When they reached the elevators, he instinctively looked around. Feng Wanting was nowhere to be seen.

"Pei Yang." Yin Sufang had been watching him the whole way. "Don't tell me you're into that type."

"No," Pei Yang denied flatly. "I'm not."

"I haven't even said what type yet," Yin Sufang said. "Why are you in such a hurry to deny it? Feeling guilty?"

"..." Pei Yang tightened his grip on his pen and brought out his all-purpose response once again. "What does it have to do with you?"

The elevator doors opened. A figure flashed past the glass revolving doors in the lobby, looking remarkably like Feng Wanting. Pei Yang's eyelid twitched. Without a word, he broke away from his coworkers. He had only just stepped out of the elevator when he turned and went straight back in, pressing the button for the first basement level.

...Better to avoid running into him if I can.

The high-speed elevator chimed. In just two seconds, it had descended from the ground floor to the first basement level.

The elevator doors slid open to either side, slowly revealing a face before him. Pei Yang was so startled that he dropped the fountain pen in his hand.

The pen rolled a few times across the floor and stopped at the man's feet.

Feng Wanting lowered his eyes, bent slightly, and picked up the pen. Holding it out, he said, "We meet again."