A new day

The sight of Song Yixiao's face made Pei Yang sick. He ignored him and tried to walk around him.

"Yangyang!" Song Yixiao shamelessly blocked his path. "Will you please let me explain? What happened at the hotel-I really didn't know you'd come! Xia Jingmo was setting us both up. You're so smart. Can't you see through such an obvious scheme?"

"Did any of this ever have anything to do with whether I went to the hotel?" Pei Yang stopped and demanded, "Would you two not have slept together if I hadn't gone? Did Xia Jingmo force you to sleep with him?"

"You still like me. You still care about me, don't you, Yangyang? Otherwise, you wouldn't care so much about who I sleep with... Yangyang, stop making a fuss, okay? I swear I'll treat you twice as well. Come home with me, please?" There wasn't a trace of shame on Song Yixiao's face. His words made Pei Yang want to throw up everything in his stomach.

"Get out of my way."

Pei Yang shoved him aside, but before he could take two steps, Song Yixiao grabbed his clothes and yanked him back. His voice turned sinister. "Even if I slept with Xia Jingmo, it happened while we were broken up. Yangyang, you have no right to blame me."

"..."

Pei Yang's hands shook with anger. He hated his past self. He must have been blind and brainless to fall for a piece of trash like this. His voice trembled, turning cold and hard. "Song Yixiao, let go."

"Yangyang, stop lying to yourself." An unnatural smile tugged at Song Yixiao's lips as he said confidently, "Six years. Can you really bear to throw it all away and cut me off?"

"Yes." Pei Yang looked straight into Song Yixiao's eyes, his gaze proud and distant. "Forget six years. Even if I were over fifty, the moment my partner showed any sign of cheating, I'd kick him to the curb without hesitation."

Song Yixiao snorted. "Pei Yang, stop being so idealistic. Even married people cheat, and we can't even get married. Xia Jingmo and I only slept together after you and I broke up. You can't blame me!"

In truth, resentment only existed when you still expected something of someone. Without those expectations, the heart became a pool of stagnant water, incapable of stirring a single ripple.

Pei Yang hadn't quite reached that point, but he felt no resentment either. All he felt was disgust, anger, and regret.

He shook off Song Yixiao's tight grip, his expression as icy as ever and his voice edged with ruthlessness. "Song Yixiao, I wish you and Xia Jingmo a long, lasting relationship."

"You're the one I love! Why would I want a lasting relationship with him?" Song Yixiao roared. Two tears actually spilled from his reddened eyes. His brows knitted together, making him look utterly pitiful. "Yangyang, you're the only one I want to spend my life with. Xia Jingmo and I just... got carried away after drinking. There are absolutely no feelings between us."

"He likes you. You didn't know?" By now, Pei Yang felt nothing at all. He only wanted to see how much longer the man before him could keep up this act, whether his skin really was thicker than a city wall.

"He-he does like me. And he was the one slutting around and seducing me that day. So you really can't blame me for this, Yangyang!"

Pei Yang sneered. "He's liked you since we were in school. You knew that too, didn't you?"

Song Yixiao was at a loss for words. "..."

"If you knew back then, why did you never mention it to me? Why did you let me watch you two acting so intimate under the guise of friendship like an idiot?"

"Could I have told you? Would I have dared?! Xia Jingmo was your only friend back then. You told me yourself how happy you were to have him chattering away in your ear. The three of us were getting along so well, and you wanted me to tell you Xia Jingmo liked me? How were you supposed to face him after that?" Song Yixiao took a deep breath before continuing, "Yangyang, not everything can be said out in the open. I kept it from you to protect you."

"You just enjoyed having two people revolve around you," Pei Yang said, cutting straight to the truth. "Xia Jingmo thinks he finally got you, but he's just as pathetic as I was. Pathetic enough to fall for you."

The sun slowly sank, and the cool evening breeze lifted Pei Yang's hair. Brilliant light and shadow fell across his cheeks. For a moment, Song Yixiao seemed to see him as he had been when they first met. It had been sunset then, too, the glow spreading across the vast sky. At the freshman welcome party, as the music began, he had caught sight of a quiet, aloof face that took his breath away.

From then on, he had been hopelessly drawn in. Every night, he would think of that man sitting alone in the café-bar, reading.

-He couldn't lose Pei Yang.

The thought surged through Song Yixiao's mind.

"Yangyang, take me back. I swear I won't touch him again. You can block his number and his WeChat. I've known Xia Jingmo for six years too, but I'll give him up! I can give up everything! You're all I want, Yangyang. I'll do anything for you."

Pei Yang's expression didn't shift in the slightest. His eyes could even have been described as hollow. He walked straight past Song Yixiao. "Fuck off."

"Pei Yang-" Still refusing to give up, Song Yixiao growled, "You don't want Xinji anymore either?"

Pei Yang paused.

"We named it Xinji back then to mark the beginning of our new life together." Song Yixiao choked on his words, his face already twisted with spasms. "Do you really... not want me or Xinji anymore?"

"It's just a dog." Pei Yang kept walking.

Song Yixiao froze in place, his whole body beginning to crumple. When he realized Pei Yang really might never turn back, his pupils constricted. Cold sweat trickled down his temple to his lips.

"I don't believe it! Pei Yang, I don't believe you're really this heartless! Xinji's sick, do you know that?" Song Yixiao screamed like a madman, hurrying after him. "It's been depressed since you left and barely eats anything. When I got home last night, it had collapsed in the entryway. It even threw up blood."

Pei Yang frowned. "Song Yixiao, if you're a man, don't use a dog as an excuse."

"I'm not lying!" Song Yixiao hurriedly pulled out his phone, found a photo in his gallery, and showed it to Pei Yang. "Acute gastroenteritis. It's still at the hospital on an IV."

In the photo, Xinji's eyes were shut tight. Its usually fluffy curls hung limply, and its pink nose had turned an unhealthy pale shade. It lay listlessly on a pet bed, painfully thin and seemingly at death's door.

Pei Yang's neck went rigid. His heart ached so badly that even his breathing grew faint. "Song Yixiao! This is how you've been taking care of it?"

"I... you know how busy I am with work. It-the main reason it got sick was because it missed you."

"Busy? Too busy to take care of a dog, but you had time to fuck someone?" The fingertips beneath Pei Yang's sleeves turned slightly white, betraying his anger. "Give me the hospital's location."

"I'll drive you there, Yangyang." Song Yixiao's eyes lit up as though he had found hope. He hurried to open the car door for Pei Yang. "I was going to visit it anyway. Get in, Yangyang. Xinji will be so happy to see us together."

Pei Yang hesitated for a moment. In the end, he couldn't bear the thought of Xinji sick and alone in a cold hospital, so he got in.

As though afraid Pei Yang would change his mind, Song Yixiao slammed on the accelerator.

Meanwhile, not far away, Feng Wanting hit the brakes. Through his windshield, he saw Pei Yang bend down and climb into the Porsche's passenger seat.

He knew all too well who owned that car and who was driving it-Pei Yang's ex-boyfriend.