You have a crush on me?

His phone was broken, and he had given Feng Wanting every last bit of cash he had, leaving Pei Yang without even cab fare. Worse still, his injured ankle throbbed. After last night's vigorous activity, it had swollen to an alarming size.

He was bound to be late. Pei Yang calmly accepted his current predicament. So he had to limp all the way to work-what was that compared to seeing Song Yixiao kiss someone else with his own eyes last night?

After enduring countless strange looks from passersby, Pei Yang finally limped his way to the office.

He swiped through the entrance and stepped into an empty elevator. The moment he stopped walking, his ankle hurt even more.

The time displayed in the elevator was 10:38. He was an hour and a half late.

That was faster than he had expected. Pei Yang almost wanted to give himself a thumbs-up. He had been drenched in a downpour, taken a fall, witnessed his boyfriend cheating, and spent an entire night getting fucked by a man who claimed to have no sex drive but was actually a sex maniac-and he had still made it to work alive.

His throat was painfully dry. Pei Yang found his way to the break room, hoping to get a glass of water. Just his rotten luck: he happened to walk in on a group of people slacking off inside.

"Fangfang, did you get another new boyfriend? The guy who dropped you off this morning looked unfamiliar."

"Of course he looked unfamiliar. How could you possibly get used to their faces as fast as Fangfang changes men?"

Pei Yang's sworn rival, Yin Sufang, stood in the middle of the group, holding a white porcelain cup. He took an elegant sip. "Yes, I got a new one. With men, you have to switch them up to keep things fresh."

Before anyone else could speak, Yin Sufang smiled and added, "Don't call me a player, now."

"As if we would. We'd like to switch boyfriends too, but we don't have what it takes."

"Exactly! Fangfang's so good-looking. What's wrong with changing boyfriends all the time? What did Fangfang ever do wrong? He just wants to give every man a home!"

"-Hahaha!"

Laughter broke out. Standing outside the door, Pei Yang knew this tedious exchange of flattery would not end anytime soon. He might as well stay thirsty. Just as he turned to leave, the people inside changed the subject.

"Oh, right. Is Curator Pei skipping work today? Look at the time, and he's still not here."

Yin Sufang snorted. "It was pouring yesterday, and he didn't drive. He probably couldn't find anyone to pick him up and walked home in the rain. Maybe he caught a cold and has a fever?"

His sworn rival really did know him-he had guessed most of it right. Pei Yang's mouth twitched.

"I don't know what he was trying to prove. I asked if he needed my boyfriend to give him a ride, and he said no with this icy expression. His voice was cold enough to scare you. Hmph. If he'd just let my boyfriend take him home, he wouldn't have ended up unable to come to work today." Yin Sufang rolled his eyes.

"That's just how Curator Pei is. Who could put up with him?"

"His bad temper must be why he's still single, right? He's been here two years, always alone and never fitting in. I've never seen him date anyone or make any friends."

"Even his sexuality is a mystery. Hey, do you think he likes men or women?"

"He's probably gay. He dresses pretty gay... Besides, there aren't many straight men in our line of work, are there?"

"...Pei Yang might not have a likable personality, but he really is good-looking. With that face, does it matter whether he likes men or women? If he could rein in his temper just a little, people would be all over him."

The moment those words were spoken, Yin Sufang's face fell.

The atmosphere in the break room froze. Several seconds of silence passed before someone spoke again. "If you ask me, Pei Yang's face is about all he has going for him. How could he compare to Fangfang in any other way? Fangfang has who knows how many times more admirers than he does..."

With a bang, the break room door swung open.

Everyone turned at once, their relaxed bodies instantly tensing.

Pei Yang leaned against the doorway with his arms folded. He raised an eyebrow, his expression unreadable, and said coolly, "If someone's worth is defined by how many admirers they have, that's pretty pathetic."

Was there anything more awkward than getting caught bad-mouthing someone behind their back by the person himself?

Everyone except Yin Sufang looked uncomfortable.

"Move. You're in the way."

Pei Yang pushed past them and went to fill his cup.

As he passed the colleague who had been the most enthusiastic participant in the conversation, the man spotted something and his eyes widened. He asked quietly, "Curator Pei... what's that on your neck?"

Once again, everyone looked toward Pei Yang's collar in unison.

Pei Yang tipped his head back to drink. His Adam's apple bobbed a few times, and his dry throat felt much better. Puzzled, he asked, "What's wrong with my neck?"

Noticing their odd expressions, Pei Yang looked down, but he could not see anything.

The colleague at the far end helpfully, if awkwardly, held up a small mirror. Pei Yang instinctively glanced into it, and his face instantly turned livid. He hastily covered his neck with his hand.

That little gesture only made things more obvious. One quick-tongued colleague covered his mouth and laughed. "So Curator Pei has a sex life too. You're usually so cold and aloof, I thought you didn't have the same worldly desires as us ordinary people..."

"...That hickey, tsk, tsk. Doesn't really look like a girl bit you."

At that remark, memories of last night came flooding back, and Pei Yang stiffened. He had not actually been all that drunk. He still clearly remembered just how intense things had been between him and Feng Wanting when that bite mark was left-and how it had felt.

He had left in such a hurry that morning that he had forgotten to check a mirror. Irritated, Pei Yang swatted aside the mirror in his colleague's hand and strode toward the door, tossing out, "Mosquito bite."

The others exchanged glances, looking as though they had stumbled upon some juicy gossip. Only Yin Sufang's frown kept deepening. He snapped, "Shut up, all of you!" and stormed out of the break room.

In the hallway, Pei Yang had just turned up his shirt collar to cover his neck when someone behind him grabbed his wrist. He looked back. Yin Sufang, half a head shorter than him, was glaring up at him with furious eyes.

"Do you need something?" Pei Yang pulled his hand away coldly.

"Pei Yang," Yin Sufang said, "you know someone from our department will be transferred to headquarters in three months, right?"

"Doesn't everyone know that?"

"So you know everyone knows." Yin Sufang snorted. "I don't consider anyone else a threat. Only you. You, Pei Yang, are the only rival I acknowledge."

"..." Utterly speechless, Pei Yang kept his expression cold. "Are you done?"

Ignoring Pei Yang's indifference, Yin Sufang continued his monologue. "There are only three months left. With so little time, instead of finding a way to beat me and win the chance to go to headquarters-"

As he spoke, he suddenly reached out and yanked open Pei Yang's collar. Pointing at the glaringly obvious hickey on his neck, he shouted, "You actually have time to sleep around!"

Pei Yang: "..."

Yin Sufang was standing in front of him, red-faced and ranting, all because he was hung up on this?

"I'll say it again. It was a mosquito bite."

"I know better than you whether that's a mosquito bite!" Yin Sufang said urgently.

Pei Yang found this utterly baffling. Then a nasty idea suddenly occurred to him.

He lifted his slender, pale neck slightly, deliberately tugged his collar down to his collarbone, and took a step closer to Yin Sufang. "Yin Sufang," he said,

"Do you have a crush on me?"