Chapter 5

Pei Ran's heart was beating fast, but he couldn't tell whether it was because Luo Qingshan was kissing someone else or because of the lingering heat on his eyelid.

"What do you want to do?" Yan Zhun pulled him over to the wall, out of Luo Qingshan and the others' line of sight, and asked.

Under the dim light, Pei Ran's face was very red. His skin was fair, and any heat or nervousness showed clearly.

Pei Ran said blankly, "What?"

"Catch them in the act," Yan Zhun said, "or leave?"

Pei Ran had never imagined that one day he would have anything to do with "catching someone cheating."

He finally came back to his senses and stiffly parted his lips. It took him a long time to say, "Forget it... let's go."

It was Luo Qingshan's birthday, and so many of his friends were there. Pei Ran didn't want to make an ugly scene.

Yan Zhun paused. "Okay."

Back at the door to the private room, Pei Ran lowered his head and was just about to go in when Yan Zhun suddenly turned back. "Wait here. I'll go tell Lin Kang."

Pei Ran looked at him blankly.

Yan Zhun asked quite naturally, "Aren't we leaving?"

So Pei Ran waited quietly outside for a while. He even considered what he should say if he ran straight into Luo Qingshan and Su Nian.

But Luo Qingshan still hadn't returned by the time Yan Zhun came out.

Yan Zhun emerged with his coat in hand. "Let's go."

Only after they left the karaoke place and the cold late-night wind hit him did Pei Ran fully come back to his senses.

Pei Ran lowered his head, raked a hand through his hair, and let out a long breath.

Yan Zhun glanced at his expression out of the corner of his eye. He pressed his lips together several times before asking, "Do you want to cry?"

Pei Ran said, "No."

"You look like you're about to."

Pei Ran didn't want to cry, but he did feel somewhat unsettled.

He said, "I'm fine. Thanks for coming out with me. Let me buy you some milk tea."

There happened to be a milk tea shop right beside them. Pei Ran's thought was that once they bought their drinks, they could go their separate ways. What had happened tonight had shaken him quite a bit, and he needed some time to process it.

Yan Zhun said, "Too sweet. I don't drink it."

Pei Ran nodded. "Then I'll just-"

"Make it coffee," Yan Zhun said. "The place across the street. Freshly ground and brewed."

Yan Zhun seemed to be friends with the coffee shop's owner. The two had been chatting at the counter for quite some time.

Pei Ran sat alone, his gaze drifting aimlessly out the window.

The soft clink of a cup touching the table drew his attention back.

"I told him not to make it too sweet." Yan Zhun sat down.

"Thanks." After saying it, Pei Ran realized he seemed to have been thanking Yan Zhun constantly lately. "You know the owner?"

"Yeah. A friend, a few years ahead of us at school," Yan Zhun said. "We met through gaming."

Pei Ran wasn't sure whether he had really listened. He merely nodded.

He tried a sip of coffee. It was bitter with a hint of sweetness, and it really did taste much better than those cloyingly sweet milk teas.

After a moment, he set down his cup. "Have you known about this for a long time?"

Yan Zhun stirred his coffee. "No. I don't know them well."

He didn't know them well, yet he'd come to the birthday party?

Pei Ran took it as covering for a buddy. He tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Right."

Pei Ran caught sight of the tissues by his hand. Yan Zhun had just brought them over and pushed them toward him along with the coffee.

Pei Ran couldn't help saying, "I really wasn't going to cry."

"Mm." Yan Zhun asked, "Is the coffee bitter?"

The change of subject was so abrupt that Pei Ran paused before answering, "A little, but it's really good."

Yan Zhun took a piece of candy from his pocket and placed it in front of Pei Ran.

White Rabbit milk candy. It was Pei Ran's favorite milk candy, and he always had to keep a few beside his computer.

"How does your pocket manage to produce everything?" Pei Ran unwrapped the candy and put it in his mouth without saying thank you again. The moment it touched his tongue, his mood eased considerably.

Unfortunately, he hadn't been relaxed for long before his phone rang. It was Luo Qingshan.

Pei Ran looked down at it for a few seconds, then rejected the call. But Luo Qingshan didn't give up. He called twice more, and Pei Ran still didn't answer. Finally, after the fifth call was cut off, Luo Qingshan stopped calling.

Just as Pei Ran was about to breathe a sigh of relief, his phone lit up again. This time, it was Lin Kang.

Pei Ran hesitated for a while, but answered.

"Pei Ran, where are you?" It was noisy on Lin Kang's end. He was probably still in the private room. "Hey! Turn the music off for a second. I'm talking to Pei Ran!"

Instead of answering, Pei Ran asked, "Do you need something?"

Lin Kang froze for a moment. "Oh, yeah... Luo Qingshan's drunk. He keeps asking for you."

On the other end, Luo Qingshan had been slumped against the sofa, half-asleep. Suddenly, he jolted upright and flung himself at Lin Kang. "Pei Ran? My baby? Where's Pei Ran? Pei Ran... why won't he answer my calls?"

Lin Kang laughed and swore. "Right here, right here. Here's the phone. Talk to him yourself."

Without warning, Pei Ran found himself on the phone with Luo Qingshan.

"Baby? Baby?" Luo Qingshan called twice, then raised the phone and squinted at it to make sure the call was connected. "Pei Ran, talk to me."

Judging by his tone, Luo Qingshan seemed quite drunk.

There was nothing to discuss with a drunk. Pei Ran sighed very softly. "You're drunk."

"I know..." Luo Qingshan slurred. "I know. I'm drunk, and you're upset. I won't drink next time... baby, come take me home."

In the background, Pei Ran could hear the people around Luo Qingshan egging him on. Lin Kang was even shouting that he wanted to record Luo Qingshan in his drunken state.

Pei Ran said patiently, "I'm not coming back. Put Lin Kang on."

"Why?" Luo Qingshan rambled drunkenly. "No. If you don't come back, I'm going to die."

The background noise grew louder and louder, giving Pei Ran a headache.

He didn't want to let everyone else keep watching this spectacle, so he could only soften his tone. "Are you going to listen to me?"

With both hands in his pockets, Yan Zhun leaned back in his chair and watched him.

Luo Qingshan thought for a moment. "Yes."

"Then give the phone to Lin Kang," Pei Ran said. "Be good."

Finally, Lin Kang got the phone back. Pei Ran explained that he wouldn't be coming back tonight and hoped Lin Kang could help take Luo Qingshan back to the dorm.

As he hung up, he could still hear Luo Qingshan calling his name.

"Be good?" The corner of Yan Zhun's mouth lifted mockingly. "Are you coaxing a child?"

Pei Ran said, "There's not much difference between a drunk and a child."

"There's a big difference," Yan Zhun said coolly. "Children don't cheat."

Pei Ran frowned slightly. He wasn't sure whether he was imagining it, but he felt that Yan Zhun's tone had changed after his phone call.

Although Yan Zhun wasn't wrong, saying something like that now was no different from tearing at Pei Ran's wound.

Pei Ran tugged at the corner of his mouth. "True."

The phone on the table suddenly vibrated. It was a voice message from Luo Qingshan.

Pei Ran played it. Since he didn't get it to his ear in time, most of the message played aloud. It was all incoherent nonsense.

More importantly, behind Luo Qingshan's voice, he could faintly hear Su Nian's, calling "Qingshan" over and over in an intimate, cloying tone. It sounded as though the two were very close together.

"What is he now?" Yan Zhun said. "A child who can't find his toy?"

Many people who had been cheated on liked to confide in their friends about what had happened, eager to hear their friends criticize the cheater and stand up for them.

But Pei Ran wasn't like that. He didn't like displaying his wounds to other people. He was used to processing and working through things alone.

Besides, in Yan Zhun's analogy, he was a toy. Although Yan Zhun might simply have spoken without thinking, and it wouldn't ordinarily have been a big deal, under these circumstances, Pei Ran still felt somewhat averse to it.

Only then did he suddenly remember that he and Yan Zhun weren't close. They didn't even count as casual friends.

"Maybe." Pei Ran put away his phone and stood up. "It's late, so I'll head back. We'll talk another time. Thank you for helping me tonight."

Pei Ran went to the counter to pay. The owner handed him the receipt, and he casually stuffed it into his pocket.

He pushed open the coffee shop's door and had only taken two steps when he heard the wind chimes over the door ring again. Immediately afterward, someone caught his arm.

Yan Zhun's palm was very warm. Pei Ran froze at his grip.

"I'm sorry." Yan Zhun's face was still cold, but his words admitted fault. "I said the wrong thing."

Pei Ran blinked, somewhat bewildered by this sudden turn. "It's okay. You don't have to apologize..."

Yan Zhun grabbed all the White Rabbit milk candies from his pocket and put them into Pei Ran's palm.

"You can have all of these," he said. "Don't be mad."

When Pei Ran returned to his dorm room, he emptied all the milk candies from his pocket beside his computer.

His roommate heard the noise, turned around, and laughed. "White Rabbit's really gone downhill. They're selling it loose now?"

"No. Someone gave them to me."

His roommate drew out an "Oh." "Why's Luo Qingshan so stingy? He only bought you a few."

Pei Ran wasn't keen on showing off his relationship. Usually, when his roommate mentioned Luo Qingshan, he worried the topic would drag on forever, so he would brush it off with a few noncommittal sounds.

He headed toward the bathroom with his pajamas and explained, "They're not from him. Another friend gave them to me."

"I see. Oh, right, I'm staying out tonight." His roommate was grinning practically from ear to ear. "Since it's Luo Qingshan's birthday, I thought you wouldn't be coming back either."

Pei Ran smiled without saying anything.

By the time he finished showering, his roommate had left. Only after lying down on his bed did Pei Ran discover that messages had flooded his phone.

Luo Qingshan had sent him countless voice messages, some long and some short, along with several stickers.

Luo Qingshan was different from other people when he was drunk. Others fell straight asleep, but he only grew more energetic.

Pei Ran idly scrolled across the screen, not wanting to play a single voice message.

He didn't want to hear Luo Qingshan's voice, or Su Nian's. He still wanted to get a peaceful night's sleep.

Pei Ran left the chat and was about to close WeChat when he spotted a big "1" on the friends icon.

[Approved has requested to add you as a friend. Additional message: Yan Zhun]

They had mutual friends all around them, so Pei Ran didn't dwell on where he had gotten his WeChat ID. He accepted the request and changed his contact name while he was at it.

[Yan Zhun: [Voice message]]

In the glow of his phone, Pei Ran pressed his lips together and played the two-second voice message.

"Don't be mad. Get some sleep."

Yan Zhun's voice was low and deep, with the sound of water mixed in. He was probably showering.

Pei Ran suddenly found it funny. Luo Qingshan was the one who had cheated, so why was Yan Zhun the one who kept apologizing?

Besides... Yan Zhun hadn't really done anything wrong.

[Pei Ran: I'm not mad. You get some sleep too.]

Meanwhile, Yan Zhun stood under the showerhead, reading the message over and over.