The man who had brought Yan Heqing home last time.
He had looked into his identity.
Feng Zhixian, the Feng family's youngest son. He worked in real estate, and his family had a bit of money.
Lu Muchi's gaze was inscrutable. He had found a very good reason for investigating Feng Zhixian's identity.
Yan Heqing was his possession. No one else could touch him.
Feng Zhixian sized Lu Muchi up. He had gone to the bar to ask questions, but the manager had only said that Xie Yunjie had booked the entire place the night before last and claimed to know nothing else. He had also dropped a bombshell.
"Xiao Yan quit."
Feng Zhixian had gone home and slept for a whole day, then rushed over to find Yan Heqing as soon as he woke up.
Instead, he had run into Lu Muchi at the entrance to the apartment building.
Bespoke designer clothes, a Patek Philippe-a man who had no business being in a residential complex like this.
Feng Zhixian was almost immediately certain that Lu Muchi had come for the same reason he had: to see Yan Heqing.
What was their relationship? Was he the one who had come to pick Yan Heqing up last time?
"He's not here." Lu Muchi spoke first. He took out a cigarette and bit down on it irritably. "But you'd better not come looking for him again."
Feng Zhixian sneered. "Says who?"
"Says-" Lu Muchi flicked open his lighter, its pale blue flame bringing forth the smell of cigarette smoke. "He's mine."
Feng Zhixian's expression shifted slightly. So it was true. He clenched his fists, unwilling to accept it. "You... you're dating?"
At the word "dating," Lu Muchi blew out a smoke ring. "What else?"
Feng Zhixian clenched his back teeth. Had it been anyone else, he would not have cared whether they were dating or married. If he wanted someone, he would steal them. But one look at Lu Muchi told him he was rich or powerful, with better connections than his own. He could only give up.
No wonder Yan Heqing was so good at darts. His boyfriend turned out to be a wealthy young master.
Feng Zhixian turned and left.
Lu Muchi puffed on his cigarette. Thinking of the untouched cat food cans piled outside Yan Heqing's door, he felt nowhere near as calm as he appeared.
If Yan Heqing had gone along with him from the start and done as he was told, he would have tired of him after a few days of playing around.
But now...
He was growing more and more interested in Yan Heqing.
Feng Zhixian circled the complex several times without finding the exit. "Fuck!" He slammed a hand against the steering wheel and simply stopped driving.
Resting his forehead against the steering wheel, Feng Zhixian had never felt so miserable. He closed his eyes, wanting nothing more than to fall into a dead sleep right there.
Knock, knock.
Through his daze, he heard someone tapping on the glass.
Full of anger with nowhere to vent it, Feng Zhixian abruptly sat up straight, lowered the window, and started swearing. "What the fuck are you knocking-"
He fell silent.
He was overjoyed. "Xiao Yan!"
In the darkness, Yan Heqing stood quietly outside, backlit, holding a paper cup.
Wild with joy, Feng Zhixian moved to get out, but Yan Heqing handed him the cup first. "The coffee I owed you."
Feng Zhixian froze. He tugged at the corners of his mouth several times before managing a smile. "What do you mean?"
"Don't come looking for me again." Yan Heqing was brief and to the point. "I won't fall for you."
Feng Zhixian's expression instantly turned ugly. "Because of your boyfriend?"
He could not stop himself from confessing. "I really like you. I've never liked anyone this much in my life. Can't you give me just one chance?"
Yan Heqing neither confirmed nor denied it, merely saying quietly, "You challenged me to darts once at the bar."
Feng Zhixian did not understand what Yan Heqing meant. "What?"
"If I lost, I had to kiss you." Yan Heqing's expression was calm.
Feng Zhixian's heart suddenly sank with a thud. He was visibly starting to feel guilty. "That was just playing... I'm used to playing around. It wasn't..."
He could not go on.
Yan Heqing waited until Feng Zhixian had finished before saying one last thing. "Sorry. I never play."
Then he said, "Drive about ten meters ahead and turn left. That's the exit."
Feng Zhixian stared fixedly at Yan Heqing and wanted to say more, but Yan Heqing turned and left.
The lights in the dark stairwell came on one floor after another. Just before reaching the third floor, Yan Heqing stopped.
Lu Muchi was crouched outside his door with a row of opened cat food cans. Hearing footsteps, he did not look up, speaking slowly around his cigarette. "I was just passing by today. Take me to feed the cats. I'll leave once we're done."
Yan Heqing turned and went downstairs.
Holding a box of canned cat food, Lu Muchi followed Yan Heqing, neither too close nor too far behind.
In fact, he absolutely hated cats.
Lin Fengzhi's cat had scratched him once. It had been utterly ungrateful: he had fed it meat, and it had turned around and bitten him.
But Lu Muchi really wanted to see Yan Heqing as he had been feeding the cats that night again.
The sky was very dark, and the boy's silhouette was suffused with the dim lamplight
, hazy and ethereal. He walked farther into the complex for a while, then stopped beside a garbage bin.
"One, Two, Three..." he called softly.
Lu Muchi was still wondering what One, Two, Three meant when he heard faint rustling, and several stray cats darted out.
Those cats were named One, Two, Three...
Yan Heqing did not turn around. "Go ahead and feed them," he said mildly.
Lu Muchi stared hard at him. "Looking at someone when you speak is basic courtesy."
Yan Heqing did not react. He crouched down and gently stroked a kitten's head.
From where Lu Muchi stood, he could see only the back of Yan Heqing's head. Almost urgently, he strode over to Yan Heqing's side.
He looked down. The boy's brows were faint, like the light from this streetlamp with its meager few watts.
Yan Heqing still did not smile.
Lu Muchi could not help asking, "Do you not know how to smile?"
Yan Heqing looked up, their eyes meeting. There was clear puzzlement in his gaze. "Who could smile while facing you?"
The corner of Lu Muchi's eye twitched violently several times. More than Yan Heqing's words, it was his attitude that displeased him.
He was genuinely puzzled as to who could smile at him.
Lu Muchi's temper flared. He did not know whether Yan Heqing had dimples, but he knew Yan Heqing was very good at angering him. Just a few words could ignite his fury.
Lu Muchi abruptly flung the box aside. The entire box of cat food cans crashed and clattered across the ground. Several more cats darted out of the darkness, and all the cats rushed toward the cans.
The cat Yan Heqing had been stroking ran off too. Lu Muchi bent down, clamped his hands around Yan Heqing's shoulders, and hauled him up hard, sneering in a low voice. "Have I been so friendly that it's given you the illusion you can ignore me?"