Yet Yu Cheng did not know that these few brief words would so easily overlap with a certain moment from nine years ago.
Yu Cheng had been just like this back then.
His soft, light voice carried a faint, unsteady breath, transmitting straight into Chu Hanfeng’s ears along with the noisy and chaotic background noise in the receiver.
The young master, who was usually accustomed to being arrogant, had grown rare and docile. Coupled with his slurred, low, and husky voice after drinking, it inexplicably carried a bit of a spoiled, coy tone.
Therefore, those scattered points of light buried deep within his memory lit up with a faint, weak shimmer once again the moment he inadvertently clicked open that voice message. Just like that chilly breeze that suddenly swept in as the evening lights first flickered on, it rushed right past.
Yet, putting up a false front, it only whipped up a layer of insignificant, tiny dust.
It was just a pity that Yu Cheng’s message had arrived too suddenly, and he was not the only one who heard it.
This near-ambiguous tone aroused Xue Ji’s immense interest, prompting him to get to the bottom of it. After facing Chu Hanfeng’s repeated cold glares, Xue Ji suddenly had a flash of insight and bantered teasingly, “Is that the younger brother who used to run around chasing after your back back in school? It has been all these years, I thought you two lost touch.”
They truly did not have much contact.
Later on, when Chu Hanfeng went abroad to study, it was even more so.
Until:
Last year at a certain film premiere, he had hurriedly glanced at the handsome, delicate profile in the audience, whose eyes were filled with earnestness. Although it still retained the familiar childish shadow from back then, it was also quite different; the sharp beauty that emerged once his facial features fully matured was obviously even more eye-catching than it had been initially.
It probably could not be considered liking him all that much.
Yet it genuinely struck right on his aesthetic preferences.
Otherwise:
Back then, after supporting the young man into the room, he would not have just let the person in his arms act up, ultimately indulging the other party into dragging him down onto that bed together, allowing the ambiguous-seeming aura to gradually spread between them.
Nor should he have truly feared that this naive young master might get casually picked up and taken advantage of while drunk just because of Xue Ji’s teasing joke, prompting him to patiently coax the person into his own car right at the hotel entrance.
It was just that Yu Cheng was truly capable of making a huge fuss.
The moment before, he had been kicking chairs and rolling up his sleeves ready to beat someone up; the very next moment, he was muttering and mumbling nonstop, cursing and complaining about Tong Shi the entire way.
In those brief seconds, many things flashed through Chu Hanfeng’s mind.
Including that distant night when the young man’s scorching fingertips touched his Adam’s apple, lightly pressing against his neck as if playing a game. Along with their intertwined body heat and breath, even his throat lingered with a kind of astringent, burning sensation.
As well as the face of that heavily intoxicated person from a short while ago, who was close enough to touch.
Yu Cheng was gripping his coat sleeve tightly and refusing to let go, only for Chu Hanfeng, pushed to the limit of his patience, to pinch his flushed cheeks and threaten that if he did not let go, he would be thrown out the window into the river to feed the fish.
Whether it was because he found Chu Hanfeng’s tone too fierce or because he truly felt a bit of pain, the person’s beautiful pupils revealed a few traces of bewildered and slightly sullen emotion. After thinking for a brief moment, his brows furrowed even more tightly in dissatisfaction.
Suddenly, Chu Hanfeng heard Yu Cheng’s exceptionally awkward voice fall, “Is it okay if I say I was wrong?”
Chu Hanfeng quietly looked at the person before him. The two of them were standing and sitting respectively. As Chu Hanfeng’s gaze fell, his eyelashes drooped slightly as well, casting a pale shadow in his eyes and making his dark pupils look completely devoid of warmth.
Yu Cheng said, “It was my fault before.”
Although he could not remember what kind of disgraceful thing he had actually done, as long as his speed of kneeling and surrendering was fast enough, he would definitely gain another glimmer of survival.
“But all of that is in the past,” Yu Cheng declared firmly. “I have already seen through the mortal world and am ready to take refuge in Buddhism.”
Chu Hanfeng’s expression did not shift; he did not utter a word.
Yu Cheng held up three fingers, aligning them with his ear, “Really! I promise I will never harass you again!”
There was a moment of silence.
Chu Hanfeng finally shifted his gaze away from Yu Cheng’s face and glanced down at the area in front of him.
Not only was the table covered with fine wine and good meat, but the variety of desserts was also quite complete, even the self-serve small cake that had been used to feed Pei Yan in the photo had two extra portions taken.
If he had to state it clearly, Chu Hanfeng did not quite understand what that trace of displeasure welling up inside him at this moment actually meant either.
Still, there was no need to dwell on it.
The corners of his mouth curved into an imperceptible arc, his expression dark and inscrutable, “What kind of game are you playing again?”
As he spoke, he leaned down. The image of the other person’s face instantly falling after being pinched by the cheeks flashed through his mind once more, yet because of the mild defocusing in his eyes from drunkenness, the other looked both naive and mischievous, stubbornly refusing to let go of that sleeve of his that had been clenched tightly for so long.
Chu Hanfeng’s gaze swept across Yu Cheng’s profile, and he lowered his head to draw close to the other’s ear, “Would it be okay if I go a little lighter next time?”
This voice was as alluring as coaxing, hiding a few implications that invited deep thought, and it brushed past Yu Cheng’s earlobe just like that.
Yu Cheng: “? ? ?”
Yu Cheng, who was just about to stretch out his arm with the intention of taking off his clothes, paused abruptly and jerked his head up to lock eyes with Chu Hanfeng.
Lighter? What?
Aside from that thought-provoking voice message and the clothes that had inexplicably appeared in his house, could there be other unspeakable, bizarre developments?
No way, right?
Did he pick up the wrong script?
What happened to dying rather than submitting?
All of Yu Cheng’s shock was written across his face. His lips parted and closed again, and he truly had no idea how to voice the full belly of questions he had.
Amidst the stalemate, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure in the distance.
Song Feiwan walked over briskly on high heels, her steps agile, sizing up the two of them as she walked, “Xiaofeng?”
Yu Cheng: “…”
Song Feiwan narrowed her eyes, “The hotel manager just said you had arrived and I didn’t believe it. Why did you come here again?”
Yu Cheng’s gaze darted back and forth between Song Feiwan and Chu Hanfeng. Holding his breath, he could even hear the sound of his own pounding heartbeat.
Although he did not even know where his own guilty conscience was coming from, Chu Hanfeng showed no sign of pulling away whatsoever. Unafraid and emboldened, he still kept his waist curved, staring unblinkingly at Yu Cheng’s face, not even moving the palm pressed against the edge of the table by so much as half an inch.
In a rush of anxiety, Yu Cheng gritted his teeth and pushed Chu Hanfeng’s shoulder. Taking advantage of the other’s momentary looseness, he slid out from the confinement of the other’s embrace, hugging the wall.
As soon as he raised his head, he met Song Feiwan’s suspicious gaze.
Yu Cheng’s nerves were on high alert, and within seconds his brain had already spun through several rounds of how to face Song Feiwan’s cross-examination.
Unexpectedly, Chu Hanfeng stepped in before him and answered, “I suddenly had free time.”
Yu Cheng: “…”
That was indeed quite sudden.
Hearing this, Song Feiwan nodded, seemingly thinking of something, “Did you come specifically to see Yu Cheng?”
Yu Cheng: “?”
Chu Hanfeng did not reply, and Song Feiwan did not mind either, continuing on her own accord, “Aren’t you also very curious about the friend Yu Cheng brought?”
Yu Cheng: “? ?”
Song Feiwan smiled, “You two match very well.”
Yu Cheng: “? ? ?”
Wait no, how did the conversation shift to matching?
Yu Cheng hurriedly said, “Did you misunderstand something?”
Song Feiwan said matter-of-factly, “Isn’t that guy chasing you, and posted on Weibo saying he wants to be with you?”
Yu Cheng: “Huh?”
Chu Hanfeng chimed in coldly, “Not bad.”
His cold, aloof gaze drifted over from the dim and bright lighting in the corner. After pausing his gaze in Yu Cheng’s direction for a fleeting moment, Chu Hanfeng looked toward Song Feiwan instead and said indifferently, “It is just that someone said earlier they had already seen through the mortal world, so I suppose that person probably does not have much of a chance left.”
Yu Cheng: “…”
Ultimately, after a rather strenuous explanation by Yu Cheng, Song Feiwan managed to force herself to believe Yu Cheng’s story.
After all, those words on the internet were extremely harsh, and Yu Cheng had never wanted to taint Song Feiwan’s eyes. He only explained that someone had spread rumors about Pei Yan and him having an impure relationship, and since he was unwilling to expose his personal life and family situation too much, things had gotten more and more outrageous, leading netizens to misunderstand.
However, what mattered most right now wasn’t what Song Feiwan thought.
Rather… how on earth did he manage to strip those clothes off Chu Hanfeng’s body?
What the hell!
Waiting helplessly as Sun Can pulled up the surveillance footage outside the apartment, Yu Cheng watched as Chu Hanfeng, who had still looked utterly disgusted just moments before, wore a rather headache-induced expression as he looked down at the person leaning against his front. After freezing for a few seconds, Chu Hanfeng unfriendlily shoved the person’s head, attempting to dislodge them from the crook of his neck.
Yet clearly, this method did not work.
Yu Cheng watched with his own eyes as his intoxicated self rubbed against Chu Hanfeng’s chin, wrapped both arms around Chu Hanfeng’s waist, and hugged him even tighter. Poor Chu Hanfeng still had to maintain his consistently good manners and virtue under such circumstances, refraining from simply tossing him away.
He only wore a cold face, slowly and methodically fished the keys out of Yu Cheng’s jacket pocket, tried them a few times, and while unlocking the door, grabbed the hand that was taking the opportunity to grope around. Driven past the limit of his patience, he hoisted the person straight into the house over his shoulder.
The aloof and detached young master persona from everyday life vanished into thin air in an instant.