On the afternoon after his argument with Xia Jingmo, Xia Jingmo took the initiative and sent Pei Yang two WeChat messages.
[Yangyang, I thought about what happened yesterday. I owe you an apology. I listened to someone else without knowing the truth. We've been good friends for so long. I should have trusted you and taken your side unconditionally.]
[Please don't be angry anymore, okay? I've booked a hotel room and let the front desk know. Come straight over after work, and I'll make it up to you.]
The moment Pei Yang saw the messages, he set aside all his work and replied: [I'm not angry.]
Feeling that sounded a little flat, he quickly typed another message and sent it: [I wouldn't be angry with you, Jingmo. I'll head straight over as soon as I get off work.]
Xia Jingmo soon sent back an "OK" sticker.
Pei Yang's delight was so obvious that Yin Sufang, seated across from him, couldn't resist running his mouth. "What's got you so happy? Got a date?"
Before Pei Yang could get a single word out, Yin Sufang beat him to it with a snide remark. "None of my business, right? There, I said it for you. Don't trouble yourself."
Pei Yang's lips curved slightly. He remembered how Yin Sufang had arrived just in time at the headquarters parking lot that day and taken him away. Without Yin Sufang, he wouldn't have known how to get out of that situation. He owed him a favor and, for once, didn't feel like trading barbs, so he told the truth. "A friend invited me out."
Yin Sufang grew wary. "Boyfriend or girlfriend? Did you get back together? Or... is it the guy from the parking lot?"
"None of those," Pei Yang said. "A friend from college. A... very close friend."
"Who would've thought..." Yin Sufang muttered. "You actually have... friends."
Pei Yang, who always put work first, actually joined his habitually slacking coworkers in waiting by the time clock three minutes early that day. His coworkers were so shocked they thought the sun must have risen in the west.
They probably couldn't understand how Pei Yang felt. After Xia Jingmo left, Pei Yang had spent the entire night anxious and panicked. Just when he thought he was about to lose their friendship, Xia Jingmo had actually apologized first and invited him over to sort things out. It made him even happier than getting back something he'd already lost.
Pei Yang drove to a florist, bought a bouquet of Xia Jingmo's favorite jasmine flowers, and carried it into the hotel.
Pei Yang gave his name at the front desk. The receptionist immediately understood and handed him a key card.
Pei Yang thanked her, took it, and headed toward the elevator.
He had barely taken two steps when his sharp ears caught the two receptionists whispering excitedly. "They're really going all out... three people..."
"Guess the handsome ones really do get wild..."
"Hahahahaha!"
"Oh, stop. I think he heard us."
Pei Yang glanced at them when he heard that, but didn't give it much thought. He pressed the elevator button and went upstairs.
"1608..." he murmured the room number as he walked.
Finding the right room, Pei Yang swiped the card and opened the door. Inside was a small sitting room. He looked around but saw no sign of Xia Jingmo.
"Jingmo?" Pei Yang called tentatively. Getting no answer, he continued farther inside. He was so eager to see Xia Jingmo, so happy, that he hadn't even noticed the two pairs of men's dress shoes by the door.
As he approached the bedroom door, he heard muffled moans from inside. They came in fits and starts, too indistinct for him to tell whether they were sounds of pleasure or pain.
Pei Yang frowned and put his hand on the handle, intending to open the door. He had already pushed it down a centimeter when he reconsidered; barging into the room didn't seem right. He curled his fingers and was just about to knock when the panting inside grew louder, spilling through the gap around the door. This time, Pei Yang could tell. It was pleasure.
"Xiao... Xiao! Go easy... ah..."
In an instant, Pei Yang's body went as stiff as a cold corpse.
He still held the fragrant jasmine flowers in his arms. His legs stood numb and rooted to the spot, his expression frozen as though encased in ice.
His trembling hand twisted the handle and flung the door open. The bed faced the doorway, and the two naked men on it turned at the sound. Xia Jingmo screamed in fright. "Aaaaaah-"
"Yangyang...?!" Song Yixiao was drenched in sweat. At the sight of Pei Yang in the doorway, all the blood in his body rushed to his head. Realizing what had happened, he shoved Xia Jingmo out from beneath him and slapped him across the face. "Xia Jingmo! You're fucking pulling this on me?!"
"Xiao! I didn't..." Xia Jingmo clutched his slapped cheek in terror, shaking his head desperately as he sobbed. "I didn't know Yangyang would come here."
The jasmine petals, like fragments of jade, slid across the grain of the sandalwood floor, resembling crumpled scraps of foil. Even after being thrown to the ground, they stubbornly gave off their delicate fragrance.
Pei Yang began to shake. His throat felt clogged with sand. He wanted to curse, to spit out the foulest words in the world, but found he couldn't utter a single one.
"Yangyang! Let me explain!" Song Yixiao frantically pulled on his clothes, quickly covering the marks all over his body. "That bitch Xia Jingmo set me up!"
Xia Jingmo said nothing and wrapped himself in a hotel bathrobe. On his beautiful face, the distinct handprint looked like a flower in bloom.
Pei Yang's nails dug into his palms. His teeth bit through his lower lip uncontrollably, and the rusty taste of blood spread over his tongue. Everything in his vision trembled violently.
Get away... get away... leave, run...
Those words repeated in Pei Yang's mind on instinct. With reddened eyes, he turned and stumbled away.
"Yangyang!" Song Yixiao pulled on his jacket and started after him, only for Xia Jingmo to seize his arm.
"Xiao." Xia Jingmo's voice was dull, without a trace of his earlier frightened sobbing. "What's the point of chasing him? You've already broken up."
"Fucking bitch!" Song Yixiao slapped him again. "What the fuck are you trying to do, Xia Jingmo? I'll deal with you when I get back."
"Song Yixiao, you've broken up. Pei Yang dumped you! Can't you understand plain words?" Xia Jingmo roared, pinning Song Yixiao firmly to the bed. "I'll go after him. I'll tell Pei Yang the whole truth about all these years. I'll tell your precious Yangyang everything!"
"Xia Jingmo! Don't you fucking dare!" Song Yixiao shouted, his voice cracking.
"Why wouldn't I dare?" Xia Jingmo smiled and kissed Song Yixiao on the lips. "Only when there's absolutely no chance of you and Pei Yang getting back together can you truly belong to me, Xiao."
Xia Jingmo turned and left the room, stepping on the jasmine petals scattered across the floor. He took out the key he had hidden in his bathrobe pocket earlier and deftly locked Song Yixiao inside the bedroom.
"Xia Jingmo! Open the door! Open the fucking door!" Song Yixiao pounded relentlessly on the bedroom door, his voice suddenly rising. "Xia Jingmo-"
The bedroom key spun once around Xia Jingmo's index finger before returning to his bathrobe pocket. He put on a different expression and went after Pei Yang.
All the color had drained from Pei Yang's face. After getting out of the elevator, he felt nausea surge through his chest. Covering his mouth, he ran to a trash can and vomited into it.
Once he had nothing left to throw up, Pei Yang straightened, his eyes brimming with tears on the verge of falling.
"Yangyang." Xia Jingmo had appeared behind him at some point. Smiling, he offered him a tissue. "What's wrong? Why did you throw up? Here, wipe your mouth."
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