Chapter 54
The familiar, reassuring scent and embrace surrounded him.
It was strange—whenever Pei Zhi held Xie Ning, he always held him very tightly, with enough force that it felt as though he wanted to fuse the two of them into one.
Xie Ning had noticed this long ago, but at first he had not thought much of it, assuming it was just one of Pei Zhi’s little habits. But now, this domineering way of holding him, so full of possessiveness, seemed to hide something deeper.
“Pei Zhi,” Xie Ning suddenly called.
Once again, he asked the question he had asked before.
“Have you seen me somewhere before? Or—”
“Did we know each other in the past?”
Had Pei Zhi seen him a long time ago and then developed a bit of fondness for him? But that did not seem quite right either. Pei Zhi’s birthday password, and some of the little details, gave him a different feeling.
A feeling that Pei Zhi had known him long ago, and that the two of them had been fairly close.
The more Xie Ning thought about it, the more likely that possibility seemed. But he was sure that before switching dorms, he did not know Pei Zhi, and probably had not seen him more than a few times. The man they had run into at the bar had said that Pei Zhi had also been among the volunteers for the wall-painting event, but Xie Ning had not had much of an impression of him then.
Hearing this, Pei Zhi lowered his eyes to look at Xie Ning’s face. His lips parted slightly. At the same time, messages in the group chat began vibrating one after another again.
“Go fill out the form first,” Xie Ning said.
“I’m not going,” Pei Zhi replied.
Pei Zhi rarely ever contradicted Xie Ning. When it came to Xie Ning, he could practically be said to obey his every word.
But this time, he truly did not want to listen.
This exchange program looked impressive on paper and was supposedly great for future prospects, but to him, it really was just so-so. He had won countless awards since childhood. In his eyes, this exchange was nothing special.
To put it more bluntly, if he wanted credentials, he could simply throw money around and pile up plenty. He had many options, and every one of them was no worse than this exchange. There was really no need for him to obsess over it.
Xie Ning understood this too. Pei Zhi’s professional ability and family background were both outstanding. In Pei Zhi’s eyes, this exchange really was not something indispensable—it was something he could give up.
But…
He reached out and touched Pei Zhi’s face. “If you didn’t know me, or if we weren’t as close as we are now, you would go, wouldn’t you?”
The touch of his palm was warm and soft, like a tuft of cotton brushing over him. Pei Zhi looked down at Xie Ning and instantly understood what he meant, so he said nothing.
Xie Ning was right. Although this exchange was something optional to Pei Zhi, if Xie Ning had not existed, he still would have gone.
He had no real thoughts about these exchange activities to begin with. The only reason he would go was because he had nothing better to do.
Pei Zhi was not interested in socializing, nor was he planning to go traveling with friends or do anything else. Going to this exchange program would only have been a way to kill time.
Pei Zhi’s expression already answered the question. Xie Ning’s palm slid downward, across Pei Zhi’s chest, until it settled into Pei Zhi’s hand. Softening his voice, he said, “This exchange has a lot of value. It may not be that important to you, but it still matters, doesn’t it? I also understand what you mean—you want to spend more time with me and stay with me. But those two things don’t actually conflict. Maybe this exchange will bring some unexpected opportunity. I don’t want the future you to regret missing it.”
“I won’t regret it,” Pei Zhi said. But when he said the word regret, he suddenly paused, as if something struck him. He fell into thought.
Then he slowly closed his hand around Xie Ning’s fingers, and his tone sank. “I don’t want to go. I’m a little scared.”
“Scared?” Xie Ning asked, confused.
“I’m afraid that when I come back, you won’t be here anymore,” Pei Zhi said. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to find you.”
Xie Ning tugged lightly at the corner of his lips. “Why would I disappear? Even if I’m not here, that just means I’m abroad. You’d only be unable to find me for a little while. Once you endure a flight of a bit over ten hours, you’ll be able to see me again.”
Pei Zhi bent slightly at the waist and looked into Xie Ning’s eyes with unusual seriousness. “You won’t disappear? You won’t make it so I can’t find you?”
“I won’t disappear,” Xie Ning said, “and I won’t make it so you can’t find me.”
Then, after thinking for a moment, he added, “Didn’t you ask me before if you could install a tracking app on your phone? Or rather—you could install one on mine. That way, even if you can’t find me for a little while, you can still use technology to know where I am.”
Install a tracking app on Xie Ning’s phone?
For a moment, Pei Zhi’s eyes went still, then filled with a restless, excited intensity.
He really had thought about it—and many times at that. He wanted Xie Ning to manage him at all times, and he wanted to know where Xie Ning was and what he was doing at every moment. His control issues and possessiveness had almost reached the point of obsession, which was exactly why he had always held himself back.
But those thoughts he had suppressed were now being brought up by Xie Ning of his own accord.
Pei Zhi gripped Xie Ning’s hand tightly, while the arm around his waist drew him closer. He wanted to act a little more restrained, but his excitement still showed very clearly. “Really?”
“Mm, really,” Xie Ning said.
He only ever went to a few fixed places each day, and Pei Zhi already knew them all. Even if location sharing was turned on, it would not really matter much.
“But first,” Xie Ning added, “you need to go fill out the form.”
After circling around and around, the conversation had returned to the very beginning.
Originally, Pei Zhi had wanted to muddle through and avoid the topic entirely. The time window for filling out the form was limited, and once it passed, the submission would be impossible. That was why Gu Nian and Chen Xi had been so anxious, repeatedly @-ing him and sending voice messages in the group.
Pei Zhi looked carefully at the end date of the program. It would finish on Christmas Day itself, and the timing was awkward—there would be no way to catch a flight and arrive that same day. No matter what, he would not be able to spend Christmas with Xie Ning.
He did not want to fill it out, but in the end he still submitted his information.
He did not want to make things difficult for Xie Ning. Xie Ning did not like people changing their choices because of him, and he did not want to carry that psychological burden.
Although that had never really been Pei Zhi’s intention. He had not meant to use this to please or manipulate him. He had simply wanted to stay by Xie Ning’s side a little longer.
After finishing the form, the coach needed to organize a brief meeting, so Pei Zhi had to return to school. But before he left, he still clung to Xie Ning without letting go.
“I don’t want to go,” Pei Zhi said. “I want to stay by your side all the time.”
Xie Ning let him hold on, though the constant rubbing had already made his body feel heated through. His face, however, remained calm. “Pei Zhi, you really are clingy.”
Pei Zhi did not deny it. He gave a soft “mm,” then added, “I’m only clingy with you.”
After saying that, he asked cautiously, “If the meeting ends early, can I stay the night at your place?”
“You can,” Xie Ning said. “But you’d better head out early. If you go early, maybe the meeting will end earlier too.”
He paused, then turned his head slightly. “That way… you can also get to my place earlier and stay the night.”
As he said this, several traces of unnatural redness appeared at his ears. Pei Zhi looked at him for a moment, and a kind of satisfied look surfaced in his eyes. He lowered his head and lightly kissed Xie Ning’s forehead.
“Baby.” Pei Zhi’s lips were still resting against Xie Ning’s forehead, so his voice came out slightly muffled as his breath moved between them. “Wait for me to come back.”
…
On the drive back, Xie Ning spent some time on the phone with Xie Yan, then prepared to take a shower.
Pei Zhi sent him many messages.
[Promise me: Traffic jam. So annoying. [photo of traffic]]
[Promise me: Miss you, baby. [tilting head and tearing up jpg.]]
At some point, Pei Zhi had changed his WeChat name again.
What had the previous one been? Something like Immature Ghost, maybe. As for the one before that, Xie Ning could not remember anymore. Pei Zhi had changed it too many times.
[Ning: Focus on driving. Don’t look at your phone.]
A call came through.
Xie Ning had barely answered when, from the other end, he heard the faint sound of a car horn. Then Pei Zhi’s somewhat low voice came slowly across the line.
“Baby.”
Perhaps it was because Pei Zhi was wearing earphones. The way he said baby through them made it sound as though he were speaking right at Xie Ning’s ear.
Xie Ning was wearing earphones too. The vibration of the voice inside his ear made the sensitive skin there tingle with an itchy numbness.
He touched his ear and pulled the earbud slightly out. After a moment’s thought, he put it back in. He answered with a quiet “Mm.”
“Miss you,” Pei Zhi said. “Miss you so much.”
This kind of clinging conversation right at the beginning made Xie Ning genuinely unsure how to reply. After a long pause, all he managed was, “Oh.”
“Baby, you’re so cold,” Pei Zhi said. He sounded pitiful, but the tone underneath was clearly cheerful. As long as he could talk to Xie Ning, he was happy. It did not matter whether Xie Ning answered in fewer words or ignored him a little—just hearing his breathing was enough. As he turned the steering wheel, he asked, “Going to shower?”
“Mm.” Xie Ning thought for a moment, then added, “I was just about to.”
“Then I’ll hang up first?”
“Don’t.” As if afraid he would really do it, Pei Zhi spoke at once.
After a few seconds of silence, he continued, “Can you not hang up? Let me listen.”
“?” Xie Ning’s brows drew together slightly. Not hang up—what exactly did that mean? He asked, “Listen to what? Listen to me showering?”
“Mm.” Pei Zhi’s Adam’s apple shifted once. Just the thought of it made him excited. But nothing unusual showed in his tone. “I want to.”
Xie Ning tried to understand the logic behind this, but no matter how carefully he thought it through, he could not figure out what benefit there was in listening to him shower.
Some parts of Pei Zhi’s thought process really were baffling.
“What’s there to listen to?” he asked.
While showering, there would only be the steady sound of running water, or perhaps the faint friction of body wash against skin. Other than that, there would be nothing. It was not as though he had a habit of playing music or humming while bathing.
Wouldn’t Pei Zhi find it boring?
“It sounds good.” Pei Zhi said, “If you won’t keep the voice call on, then can we do a video call?”
If even the voice call needed to be considered, then video was even more impossible. “…No,” Xie Ning said.
“All right,” Pei Zhi replied. “Then just leave the voice call on so I can listen. Is that okay?”
His tone sounded as if he had made an enormous concession.
“Pei Zhi, focus on driving first,” Xie Ning said. He genuinely did not understand why Pei Zhi’s mind could be so active. He was also afraid Pei Zhi’s wandering thoughts might cause an accident. “When you get there and finish your meeting, we can video call.”
At the very least, they did not need to keep talking about this topic right now.
The moment he heard the words video call, Pei Zhi became instantly energetic. Then, emboldened, he asked, “When we video call, will you be wearing pajamas?”
It was a slightly pointless question. Of course Xie Ning would be wearing pajamas during a video call. “Mm,” he said.
“Can I choose them now, and then you wear the ones I pick for the call?”
“…All my pajamas are more or less the same,” Xie Ning said.
He switched the voice call to video. The video connected quickly. He pointed the camera toward his wardrobe to show it to Pei Zhi. On one side, a row of pajamas hung in neat lines, all on matching hangers, and nearly all in the same style.
His pajamas really did all look almost the same.
When it came to designing clothes, Xie Ning was extremely serious, always adding all sorts of creative elements. But when it came to himself, he cared much less.
He rarely put effort into his own styling. At most, he paid attention to the fabric. Comfort and simplicity came first.
The clothes hanging neatly in the wardrobe looked crisp and smooth, as though not a single wrinkle marred them. While waiting at a red light, Pei Zhi leaned closer to the screen. Under the light, the soft fabric gave off a faint sheen.
He did not know if it was just his imagination, but Xie Ning’s pajamas looked fragrant. Just like Xie Ning himself.
“The black one,” Pei Zhi said. “Can I pick that? The second one from the left.”
“This one?” Xie Ning asked, taking it out on its hanger.
“Mm.” Pei Zhi said, “That neckline is lower. Feels like I’ll be able to see farther inside.”
“Pei Zhi, you…” Xie Ning froze for a moment, then sighed helplessly. “Do you really have to say your thoughts out loud?”
In the past, Pei Zhi would at least put on a bit of an act. But now, it felt as though he had given up pretending altogether.
His long fingers curled slightly as Pei Zhi tapped the steering wheel, producing a crisp sound. Looking at the screen, at the way Xie Ning appeared a little awkward and flustered, Pei Zhi smiled. “Embarrassed?”
“How is your face so thin-skinned?”
It really was strange. When it came to more direct things, Xie Ning, though embarrassed inside, would still do his best to cooperate. Sometimes he even said things that were unexpectedly blunt, using the most innocent, unknowing expression to say the most indecent things.
But when it came to this kind of small flirtatious teasing, he always showed something close to shyness.
Clearly, they had already done things far more intense than this, and yet Xie Ning would still avert his eyes because of just a few ambiguous words.
Pei Zhi seemed to laugh again. The teasing in the sound came through the device and into Xie Ning’s ear, making him feel inexplicably embarrassed.
“It’s not embarrassment,” Xie Ning explained. “It’s that the way you talk is strange.”
“All right, I’ll listen to you, baby. I’ll hold back more in the future,” Pei Zhi soothed.
Then he said, “Baby, lift the phone a little. Let me see your face.”
From this angle, he really could not see it properly, and Xie Ning had noticed that too. He slowly straightened the phone toward his face. His brows were slightly knit, and a faint flush lingered across his cool, beautiful features.
“I’m going to shower. Focus on driving,” Xie Ning said as he started walking. “I’m hanging up.”
“Can’t you really video while showering?” Pei Zhi asked.
Xie Ning cast him a light, emotionless glance and refused without hesitation. “No.”
…
Xie Ning stayed in the bathroom for a long time.
There was a large mirror inside. The moment he took off his clothes, he saw the marks on his body. The ceiling spotlight washed over skin like white porcelain and lit up every little red mark with startling clarity.
Xie Ning’s waist was very slim, beautiful from any angle. His thin belly looked as though it could not hold much, and the curves at both sides dipped inward dramatically. When he turned just a little, both sides of his waist were covered in exaggerated finger marks.
All of them had been left by Pei Zhi.
Staring at the sight, Xie Ning was stunned. Had Pei Zhi really used that much force at the time?
He knew Pei Zhi’s hands were strong, and that he was very possessive too. Whenever Pei Zhi kissed more deeply and Xie Ning tried to hide or retreat, Pei Zhi would tighten his fingers and clamp down on his waist, pinning him firmly in place with a force that allowed no refusal.
But Xie Ning had not expected the marks to be this obvious.
And today, on the Ferris wheel, Pei Zhi had not only held his waist.
After hesitating for a moment, Xie Ning turned his body a little farther and looked down with some difficulty. Sure enough, there were also very obvious finger marks on the round, pale skin below.
What had once been smooth, sunless white skin was now covered in layered overlapping marks. Many of the finger prints crossed over one another, making the visual effect even more shocking. It also revealed, from the side, just how obsessed Pei Zhi had been with touching him.
From the hollows of his waist downward, the sight was almost unbearable. Just looking at it with the naked eye was enough to make one’s heart jump.
Compared against the pale, flawless skin beside it, that patch of Xie Ning’s body looked as though it had been brutally beaten.
Xie Ning: “……”
It was fortunate he was not some glutinous rice dumpling. Otherwise, he really might have been kneaded until he burst.
His shower itself went smoothly. He had originally thought that hot water would sting those areas, but although the marks looked dramatic, there was actually no pain at all. Even when the hot water washed over them, it caused no real discomfort.
He even washed his hair as well. By the time he stepped out of the bathroom, nearly an hour had passed.
When drying his hair, Xie Ning did not usually look at his phone. Instead, he listened to the BBC. His silent-mode blow dryer was not very loud, and he was listening so attentively that his mind wandered for a moment.
By the time he came back to himself, his eyes were suddenly caught by the scene outside the window.
His apartment had an excellent location and a wide-open view. His floor, in particular, was an ideal one—not so high as to feel excessive, but still high enough to overlook the river in a prime position.
Snow was drifting down in thick, fluttering flakes like soft spun sugar. Beyond the glass, the river shimmered with rippling lights, and the image of snow falling in the night naturally made itself into a view.
Was it snowing?
For a moment, Xie Ning stood there in a daze.
This year had not been as cold as the last, and the snow had come late. He had heard the weather report at the amusement park, but had not thought much of it. There had been many forecasts of snow before, yet not once had it actually fallen.
He had thought it would not snow at all this year.
His hair was only half dry now, with a few drops of water still clinging to the ends. Beside him, the electric fireplace glowed orange. Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, Xie Ning quietly watched the snow outside drift down. A few tiny clumps of snow stuck to the glass, and when he reached out to touch them, they were not cold.
Through the window, the snowflakes slowly melted under his fingertips.
It looked as though they had melted from the warmth of his body.
Just then, his phone screen lit up. Only then did Xie Ning remember to check his messages. He opened WeChat and found that Pei Zhi had sent him many messages.
From the parking garage, from the road, from school, from the stadium, at the start of the meeting, while sneaking moments in the middle…
In short, Pei Zhi reported everything he did, filling the entire screen with dense rows of updates.
The final message read:
[Promise me: Did you see it?]
[Ning: See what?]
[Promise me: It snowed. The first snow of this year.]
[Promise me: I miss you so much.]
[Promise me: I want to see you.]
[Ning: We’ve been apart for less than two hours.]
[Promise me: Two hours.]
[Promise me: That’s so long.]
Xie Ning had only spent around an hour showering. The total time they had been apart could not have been more than an hour and a half. Would Pei Zhi really think even that was long?
[Ning: Do you want to spend twenty-four hours a day with me?]
[Promise me: Can I?]
Of course not.
No one could stay with another person every hour of every day. Everyone had their own things to do. Like Pei Zhi now—he had only just finished his meeting, and though he was technically free now, they still could not immediately meet and spend time together.
[Promise me: Do you want to see me?]
[Ning: Right now?]
[Promise me: Right now.]
[Ning: But didn’t you just finish your meeting?]
The school was some distance from the apartment. Even if Pei Zhi came straight here after the meeting, it would take at least forty minutes, and that was only if traffic was clear.
A call popped up, then ended automatically after a few seconds.
A few seconds later, another voice call came through. Xie Ning answered it, and in his ear he heard Pei Zhi breathing heavily.
“Do you want to see me?”
Suddenly, Xie Ning had a premonition. His heart began pounding wildly. “Where are you?”
“At the bottom of your building.”
Pei Zhi’s side was full of noise, as though he were running, the wind loud around him. His voice was broken up by it, but still clear enough for Xie Ning to hear.
“Wait for me.”
He said only those two words, but the wind howled so wildly that it scattered Xie Ning’s thoughts too.
“You should still be at school right now…” Xie Ning began.
Then he stopped abruptly.
Through the floor-to-ceiling window, he saw a familiar black car below. A building attendant was opening the door and getting inside, about to move it to park.
Part of the view was blocked by the structure of the building, so he could not make out the plate number. Nor could the distance let him see it clearly. Yet he had an unshakable feeling—
It was Pei Zhi’s car.
“Yes, I should be at school. Then why am I downstairs at your place?” Pei Zhi’s side was still noisy, his breathing uneven and his voice unstable. “Maybe because… I lied to you?”
“My meeting ended half an hour ago. I just didn’t tell you.”
Then Pei Zhi added, “Dummy. Why do you believe everything I say?”
Xie Ning froze.
In some ways, he really was a little too easy to fool. Whatever Pei Zhi told him, he believed. Whatever Pei Zhi coaxed him to do, he ended up doing.
The loud breathing on the line never stopped. Neither did the sound of running footsteps.
“Are you in the elevator? Or running?” Xie Ning asked.
If Pei Zhi were in the elevator, his voice would not be shaking like this, and his breathing would not be this bad. The answer was obvious. “You’re taking the stairs?!”
Turning away from the floor-to-ceiling window, Xie Ning started walking. The neckline of his pajama top slipped lower, revealing half of one smooth shoulder. The pajamas were black and V-necked, and he casually tugged the collar back up. Then he opened the door.
No one was there.
The voice in his ear cut off at once. Pei Zhi stopped talking, but the footsteps and heavy breathing never did, making it obvious that Xie Ning had guessed right.
Pei Zhi really was climbing the stairs.
But Xie Ning lived on the thirty-sixth floor—the top floor.
The apartment building prided itself on privacy. The elevator went straight up, and there was Wi-Fi in the elevator as well. Why was Pei Zhi running up the stairs? Xie Ning realized he understood Pei Zhi less and less. He truly could not comprehend the man’s thought process.
The hallway had warm air blowing through it twenty-four hours a day. Xie Ning stepped out in slippers. He had only taken two steps when the heavy breathing in his ear overlapped with the hot air in real life. A large hand covered his eyes, and he was pulled into an embrace from behind.
One of his earbuds fell out, but he could still hear the breathing clearly—strong, urgent, close. Startled, he said, “You really did come up by the stairs? This is the thirty-sixth floor…”
Pei Zhi’s breath was uneven. With his lips close to Xie Ning’s, the hot air of his voice fell directly over his mouth. “No. At first I took the elevator. But when I called you, the signal got bad. I was afraid the line would cut and I wouldn’t hear your voice anymore, so I switched to the stairs halfway up.”
“I didn’t run that much. Just a little over ten floors. It’s nothing. Don’t worry.”
Pei Zhi had run up more than ten floors while talking to him on the phone. Even for someone with extraordinary athletic ability, that was too much.
All the breathing control he had learned over the years was useless right now. Every bit of his training and professional knowledge had flown out of his head, and he was breathing in ragged, chaotic gulps like a complete beginner.
His breathing was heavy and urgent. At Xie Ning’s ear, it felt like a pebble thrown onto frozen water, cracking a thin line across the ice.
“Let’s play a little game.” Pei Zhi kept his lips by Xie Ning’s ear. “Guess who I am.”
Knowing full well who it was, Xie Ning still played along. “The property staff?”
“Wrong,” Pei Zhi said, lowering his voice on purpose.
“Then… maintenance? A plumber?”
“Also wrong.”
Pei Zhi took Xie Ning’s phone away and slipped it into his own pocket. At the same time, he removed the remaining earbud from Xie Ning’s ear. Hugging him tightly from behind, Pei Zhi covered his eyes with one hand. Where Xie Ning could not see, Pei Zhi’s warm gaze slowly drifted to the neckline of his pajamas.
Just as he had imagined, the V-neck made Xie Ning’s collarbones look especially beautiful. The line of his shoulders and neck was perfect, and the cut of the shirt only emphasized that. The arm around his waist moved lower, guiding Xie Ning’s hand upward until it settled around the collarbone.
The rough palm brushed Xie Ning’s collarbone lightly. Xie Ning gave a faint shiver.
Because he could not see, his body seemed to become even more sensitive.
“Baby, that’s already two wrong guesses,” Pei Zhi said.
His hand was still firmly guiding Xie Ning’s, making him trace his own collarbones and shoulder line. The sensation was very strange, especially with his eyes still covered.
Lifting his chin a little, Xie Ning asked, “If I guess wrong, what happens?”
“Is there a punishment?”
You look so pretty today, wife. Those beautiful collarbones are going to kill me.
How are you so obedient? I’m covering your eyes and you’re not even resisting.
You even?? mentioned punishment.
Let me think. What should the punishment be?
The punishment is lifting your pajama hem right here with your eyes covered and doing you at your own front door.
Xie Ning’s lashes trembled sharply.
And Pei Zhi’s thoughts kept going.
These pajamas are beautiful, but I want to tear them apart even more. I also want to lick wife—from his lips to his Adam’s apple, not missing anywhere, leaving my scent all over his body. Especially wife’s little mouth. I’d lick it hard, lick it open all the way, until it’s steaming hot.
You’d definitely cry. When you cry, your stomach would tighten again and again. How can you be this pitiful, wife? You’re so thin-skinned. You’d definitely bite your lower lip and try not to make noise, but in the end you still wouldn’t be able to hold back the crying. Maybe you’d even cry and beg.
Your place has great privacy. No neighbors would come to help you. Then wife could scream and no one would answer. You’d cry with your face all wet with spit, and still have no way to escape.
In the end I’d only have to grab your ankle and drag you back. You’d cry even harder.
Xie Ning’s fingers curled tighter.
He knew these were only Pei Zhi’s thoughts, but they still gave him a strange feeling. His eyes were covered by a burning hot palm. Pei Zhi said nothing out loud, which only made the thoughts ring louder.
His thoughts were wild beyond belief, yet all he said was, “If you guess wrong, there’ll be a reward.”
“If I guess wrong, there’s still a reward?” Xie Ning asked.
“Of course.” Pei Zhi guided Xie Ning’s hand in that almost teasing way, still playing with his Adam’s apple. He lowered his head slightly and coaxed, “It’s my fault for not giving you enough clues to guess right. If I’d given you a little more, you would’ve gotten it.”
Xie Ning was silent for a moment, then said, “You really are…”
“What am I?” Pei Zhi asked.
“Like an idiot.”
“I am.”
“Like a fool.”
“I’m a fool.”
Then he added, “Anything else?”
“No.”
“Really nothing else you want to say to me?” Pei Zhi asked.
“Such as?”
“For example—”
Pei Zhi turned Xie Ning around and lifted him up face-to-face, wrapping an arm around his waist. That placed Xie Ning higher up, both hands braced on Pei Zhi’s shoulders.
Under the overhead light, Pei Zhi’s pupils shone as brightly as the sun.
As their eyes met, their gazes built a silent bridge between them.
Looking up at him, Pei Zhi asked:
“Did you miss me?”
