Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Zhou Yan didn’t take me home.

Halfway there, I said I didn’t want to go back.

He asked, “Then where do you want to go?”

I said, “Anywhere.”

So he took me back to his place.

It was a very standard single man’s apartment.

Black, white, and gray.

No unnecessary decor.

There were two pairs of slippers by the entryway. One was clearly men’s, and the other was clearly still unopened.

I glanced at them as I changed shoes.

“Who are these for?”

“Guests.”

“Do you get guests often?”

“Not often.”

He handed me a glass of water.

I took it, but I didn’t drink.

“Then what am I?”

Zhou Yan stood beneath the light.

He didn’t answer right away.

That was what annoyed me most about him.

He was never pushed into losing his cool.

One sentence from me could set Liang Xu off.

Zhou Yan wouldn’t.

It was like he’d known from the start that I would bite, so he couldn’t even be bothered to raise a hand.

“You’re someone who’s had too much to drink.”

I gave a cold laugh.

“Is this how you take care of Liang Xu’s ex-boyfriend?”

“I didn’t take care of him.”

“Then who are you taking care of?”

“You.”

The glass in my hand wobbled.

The water nearly spilled.

Zhou Yan reached out and steadied the bottom of the glass.

His fingertips brushed the back of my hand. They were cool.

I instinctively wanted to pull away.

But he withdrew first.

Cleanly, as if he’d never touched me at all.

That annoyed me even more.

I set the glass down and stepped closer to him.

“Zhou Yan, do you know why I came to you tonight?”

“I do.”

“I want to use you to piss Liang Xu off.”

“Mm.”

“I might do something even more excessive.”

He looked at me.

“Such as?”

I raised my hand and touched his collar.

Zhou Yan didn’t dodge.

The buttons of his shirt were hard beneath my fingers.

My fingertips paused there for a moment, and all at once, I felt like a joke.

I wasn’t actually good at this.

I just wanted too badly to make myself look like I didn’t care.

Wanted too badly to make Liang Xu regret it.

Wanted too badly to prove that just because he didn’t want me, it didn’t mean no one else did.

But Zhou Yan saw through it too clearly.

So clearly it humiliated me.

I pulled my hand back.

“This is boring.”

I turned to leave.

But Zhou Yan caught my wrist.

Not hard.

But steady.

“Shen Que.”

I didn’t look back.

“If you want to put on an act, fine.”

His voice fell close behind me.

“But don’t lose yourself in the role.”

I jerked free of him.

“Who do you think you are?”

Zhou Yan didn’t get angry.

“Someone you’re using.”

“Then why are you warning me?”

“Because you’re bad at using people.”

I laughed from sheer anger.

“You’re pretty picky about it.”

“Mm.”

He actually agreed.

The fire in my chest flared up all at once.

I stepped right up to him.

“Then teach me.”

Zhou Yan finally fell silent.

I lifted my head to look at him.

We were very close.

Close enough for me to see that little something he’d pressed down in his eyes.

It wasn’t coldness.

Nor was it indifference.

It was more like someone who had been standing outside a door for too long and had finally heard someone inside call his name.

Suddenly, I felt a little panicked.

The next second, my phone rang.

Liang Xu.

I looked at the two words on the screen.

Zhou Yan saw them too.

I deliberately answered and even put it on speaker.

Liang Xu’s voice was very low.

“Where are you?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Shen Que, don’t mess around with Zhou Yan.”

I looked at Zhou Yan.

His face was expressionless.

Liang Xu continued, “He isn’t someone you can play with.”

I laughed softly.

“You can play with him, but I can’t?”

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.

“Do you have to be this cheap?”

In that moment, the smile on my face nearly cracked.

Zhou Yan reached out and took my phone.

Into the call, he said, “Liang Xu.”

Liang Xu clearly froze on the other end.

Zhou Yan said, “He’s with me tonight.”

“Zhou Yan, don’t touch him.”

Zhou Yan glanced at me.

His gaze was very calm, yet it made my heart slam hard in my chest.

He said, “Didn’t you throw him away?”

The call was ended.

Only the sound of my breathing remained in the room.

I stared at him.

“Are you insane?”

“Maybe.”

Zhou Yan handed the phone back to me.

“The guest room is on the left. If you can’t sleep, drink some water. The stomach medicine is under the coffee table.”

I froze.

“How did you know my stomach is bad?”

His movement as he turned away paused for a moment.

“Liang Xu mentioned it.”

He was lying.

Liang Xu never remembered that.

I didn’t expose him.

That night, I slept in Zhou Yan’s guest room.

After the door closed, I sat on the edge of the bed and heard no movement outside for a long time.

I thought Zhou Yan had left.

Later, when I got up in the middle of the night to drink some water, I saw him sitting on the living room sofa.

The lights were off.

Between his fingers was an unlit cigarette.

Like someone keeping vigil through the night.