Was That Mommy?

Morning light spilled through the high windows like melted gold leaf.

Pei Yang felt a little hot and kicked off the covers. Three seconds later, he realized he wasn't wearing anything. Absolutely nothing.

An ominous feeling swept over him. Instantly wide awake, Pei Yang opened his eyes in dread.

Once he registered what he was seeing, he immediately closed them again.

A horror movie.

A handsome face lay before him.

Like him, the man was undressed, his shoulders exposed.

Pei Yang kept his eyes tightly shut and tried moving his legs.

Sore. Aching.

Okay. He'd had another, another, another, another, another, another one-night stand.

It's okay, it's okay. Pei Yang took two quick breaths, then desperately tried to reassure himself once he'd calmed down. It's not the first time anyway, and... at least it's always been the same person. That-that shouldn't count as sleeping around, right? Isn't there a word for this... what was it again?

Fuck buddies! Right, fuck buddies.

Fuck, but having a fuck buddy isn't exactly something to be proud of either.

This was already the second time, and Pei Yang was fairly resilient. He soon devised an escape plan in his head.

He slowly opened his eyes, inched across the bed, and climbed out, picking up the robe from the floor and draping it over himself.

Once he straightened up and got a proper look at the room's furnishings, Pei Yang was even more dumbfounded.

...They were all bespoke pieces from high-end luxury brands.

What hotel would splurge like this? Last time was sixty-eight hundred. How much would this time cost?

Drinking ruins everything. Drinking ruins everything...

Pei Yang tightened the long sash around his waist and crept toward the door like a thief.

He hadn't taken two steps when a cold, hard voice sounded behind him. "Running away again?"

Pei Yang jolted in fright, his heart hammering beneath his ribs. He briefly closed his eyes, trying to replay everything that had happened last night-how, for instance, he'd ended up in bed with Feng Wanting again. But the more nervous he became, the less he could remember. His brain felt clogged with paste, nothing in it but a vast blank.

"...Director Feng." Pei Yang forced himself to turn around and meet the eyes of the equally naked Feng Wanting on the bed. "Wh-what a coincidence."

"A coincidence?" Feng Wanting smiled. "Quite a coincidence, yes. I just happened to sleep in the same room as you, in the same bed." After a pause, he added, "And our bodies just happened to fit together again."

"..."

...Pei Yang couldn't make sense of that sarcastic tone. Was Feng Wanting blaming him?

But one person couldn't do this alone. It had clearly been an impulse they'd both acted on, so why did Feng Wanting always make himself out to be some innocent, pitiful victim?

Pei Yang couldn't afford to offend him, either. He murmured, "I promise this is the last time."

Feng Wanting: "?"

How did Pei Yang manage to become an entirely different person once he sobered up? A split personality?

His face darkening, Feng Wanting asked, "Do you really take me for a rent boy at your beck and call?"

At my beck and call?

A little of Pei Yang's memory seemed to return.

He'd lost his mind and gone drinking at a bar, then unwittingly drunk a little too much. And then? Then, apparently, that server had told him to call a friend.

Pei Yang drew a deep breath. "I called you?"

"Remember now?"

"..."

How had this happened... The only two times he'd fallen apart, he'd somehow run into Feng Wanting both times.

"Director Feng." Pei Yang held four fingers together beside his ear and said earnestly, "I swear it wasn't intentional. Maybe... maybe I misread it. I meant to call a colleague, but I got it wrong. I'm truly very... sorry."

"Got it wrong?"

He certainly had plenty of reasons and excuses.

Feng Wanting threw back the covers and got up.

Pei Yang instinctively averted his eyes.

But Feng Wanting was wearing long pants.

He got out of bed and approached Pei Yang, step by step, then caught his wrist and guided his hand to his shoulder.

Pei Yang's hand was cold, and it recoiled a little at the touch of warm skin.

Only then did he notice the clear bite mark on Feng Wanting's right shoulder.

Feng Wanting's thin lips were sharp as blades, the corners of his narrow eyes tilted upward. There was something indefinably seductive about his expression. "If you meant to call a colleague, why did you keep calling out Feng Wanting?"

"Why did you say, 'Don't leave me' and 'Don't leave me alone'?"

"..."

"Hmm? Answer me."

Pei Yang genuinely didn't know what to say. His heart was about to leap out of his chest.

He'd forgotten every last thing.

Feng Wanting continued guiding Pei Yang's hand over the bite mark. Its slightly raised edges were faintly crimson, and tiny spots of blood showed beneath the skin along the neat outlines of teeth, like a mark of savage possession.

Pei Yang asked uncertainly, "...I bit you?"

"Or did I bite myself to extort you?"

"That's not what I meant..." Pei Yang's eyes wandered. "Biting your own shoulder is such a difficult maneuver... I don't think even you... could manage that, Director Feng."

"Since you can't remember, let me refresh your memory." Feng Wanting leaned closer and closer, his lips almost brushing Pei Yang's ear. "Let me tell you how you cried out that it hurt and sank your teeth into me. How you clamped around me and wouldn't let go. What your voice sounded like when you said don't... stop..."

"Sorry for the trouble." Pei Yang clenched his hand into a fist and abruptly raised his voice, the flush on his neck slowly climbing into his cheeks. "Please stop talking."

"Aren't you going to give me an explanation?" Feng Wanting's eyes shone brightly. "Were both times accidents, then? The next time you call me, should I answer or not?"

Pei Yang was just about to speak when the room's smart speaker issued an electronic announcement. "It is now ten a.m., Northern Continent time. An Evaluation Meeting is scheduled for ten thirty. To ensure you arrive on time, we recommend departing immediately."

Pei Yang froze.

What time?

Ten!?

He had to go to work!

"Director Feng, I have a very important meeting this morning that will determine whether I get the General Operations project. You have a meeting too. Can we discuss our situation later?" Pei Yang said calmly.

Feng Wanting: "..."

Pei Yang no longer dared look Feng Wanting in the eyes. Following his sixth sense, he found the bathroom, and sure enough, his clothes and phone were inside. He changed faster than he ever had in his life, splashed water on his face, and headed for the door with his head lowered, avoiding Feng Wanting.

Smack-

Feng Wanting braced his long arm against the door. "Planning to pay me off again?"

Pei Yang stared blankly. "I..."

"Then I ought to give Curator Pei a little reminder," Feng Wanting said. "Since this is the second time, my skills must have improved since the first. Consider paying me a little extra?"

"...?" Was the FK Group actually still turning a profit? Pei Yang blinked apprehensively. "I'll consider it."

He pulled Feng Wanting's arm down, opened the door, and slipped out.

He hadn't quite escaped yet. Stranded on the second floor, Pei Yang stared dumbfounded at the living room below, looking left and right without knowing how to get down.

Leaning against the bedroom doorway, Feng Wanting pointed him in the right direction. "The elevator's over there. Your legs are shaking. Don't take the stairs."

"..." How considerate.

Pei Yang gave Feng Wanting a stiff smile and slowly entered the elevator under his gaze.

When the number on the elevator changed to "1," Feng Wanting moved to the top of the stairs and watched Pei Yang fumble with the front door, then hurry out, impatient and anxious to leave.

He lowered his eyes and let out a soft breath, feeling a trace of reluctance to part. When he turned around, a little boy was looking up at him.

"..."

Feng Wanting pinched his brow, wanting to punch himself. Lust had truly robbed him of his senses. He'd completely forgotten that Xile had slept here last night.

Wearing miniature pajamas and holding a rag doll, Feng Chuxun blinked his big eyes and asked, "Was that Mommy?"