So Good
Seeing that they were already inside, the man showed no intention of leaving.
Qi En was getting a little anxious; he still needed to go to the station to collect his supplies.
If the man wasn’t leaving, perhaps they were going the same way.
So Qi En followed him for a while.
Passing through the crowded area, Qi En was jostled until he could barely stand steady.
These people seemed blind to Qi En, swaying to and fro. Some were playing finger-guessing games with large gestures, nearly hitting Qi En several times.
Qi En was pushed around crookedly, bumping into several people.
He was getting a little tired of walking.
Looking up at Cheng Xun, who had brought him in, he saw the man looking completely at ease.
Qi En puffed up his cheeks in anger.
But he had no choice; he could only murmur apologies while pushing away the man blocking his path.
The man, currently in high spirits, was shoved. He cursed unhappily, but upon turning back and seeing Qi En, the nasty profanity got stuck halfway in his throat.
Qi En was frightened by the man’s appearance and quickly said, “I’m sorry.”
The man, seemingly drunk, murmured, “T-Thank you.”
Qi En gave him a strange look, then turned to continue following Cheng Xun.
Cheng Xun felt a small tug on his clothes and looked back—
It was Qi En.
Qi En was panting slightly, his skin faintly flushed.
The already thin white short-sleeved shirt was dampened by a bit of sweat, vaguely revealing the graceful contours of his waist and chest, rising and falling with the rhythm of his breathing.
Cheng Xun raised his eyes. “What’s wrong?”
He didn’t remind Qi En that he was still grabbing his clothes, simply letting Qi En hold on.
He didn’t rush Qi En for an answer, waiting until Qi En caught his breath before the boy asked, “Where are you taking me?” Qi En’s face seemed covered in a misty haze, humid and warm.
Cheng Xun said indifferently, “I was following you.”
Qi En froze for a moment. “I was following you.”
“I wasn’t copying you. I thought you were taking me somewhere.”
Following a stranger so easily?
Too trusting.
Even that friend of his is probably a liar who covets his body.
Qi En didn’t know what Cheng Xun was thinking. He continued, “You were walking in front of me just now.”
Cheng Xun: “Because I thought you wanted to go this way, so I walked ahead to clear the path for you.”
Qi En: “…” He didn’t know what to say.
Since it had come to this, they might as well part ways here.
He let go of Cheng Xun’s clothes. “Thank you for bringing me in. I’m going to find my friend now. You go have fun too.”
After speaking, Cheng Xun didn’t move.
Qi En tightened his grip on the milk tea bag strap. Receiving no answer from Cheng Xun and assuming he hadn’t heard, he stood on his tiptoes, leaned close to Cheng Xun’s ear, and said it again.
“Thank you for bringing me in. I’m leaving.”
Why isn’t he calling me Brother anymore?
Cheng Xun’s eyes darkened.
As if losing his balance, he leaned slightly towards Qi En.
Qi En was still close to his ear, and with this movement, his lips accidentally brushed against the other’s earlobe.
“Ah…” Qi En immediately covered his mouth, then instinctively supported Cheng Xun. “Did someone push you?”
“Thank you. Mn, yes.”
Qi En looked in the direction of Cheng Xun’s gaze and indeed saw a man standing very close to them.
The man saw Qi En frowning and felt baffled:
“W-What?”
What happened? I didn’t do anything. Why am I getting glared at as soon as I turn my head?
“Do you know where your friend is? I’ll walk you there,” Cheng Xun said.
Qi En quickly let go of his arm and waved his hands. “No need, I’ll find him myself.”
Cheng Xun glanced at Qi En’s hands, then asked casually as if he didn’t care, “Can you find your way? There are a lot of bad people here.”
“A lot of bad people…?” He hesitated a little.
“Mn, they like your type.”
“What type am I…”
“Great figure, very fair, tiny, cute, innocent, obedient. Just tie your hands with a rope and stuff your mouth, and even if they let you run, you wouldn’t get far.”
“N-No way.”
Qi En’s voice became smaller and smaller, until he didn’t quite dare to look at Cheng Xun.
He’s not scared. Why is this person trying to scare him?
He is a professional hitman.
Those bad guys should be the ones afraid.
Cheng Xun changed the subject. “How about you message your friend to come pick you up, and I’ll keep you company while you wait somewhere?”
He added slowly, “To prevent any bad people from approaching you in the meantime.”
Qi En felt this man seemed more like a bad person, very weird.
“Okay…”
“Cheng Xun, why are you here? Not going up?” Not far away, a voice cut through the crowd.
Qi En was suddenly interrupted.
He paused for a moment, realizing what he had almost agreed to, and quickly pursed his lips.
In that moment of distraction, the man who spoke had already walked over.
Cheng Xun frowned, wanting to ask Qi En what he had just said, but was called by his friend again:
“Cheng Xun, Boss Cheng, President Cheng!”
Cheng Xun brushed him off with a couple of sentences. When he turned back to speak to Qi En, he found the space beside him empty.
The person was gone.
His face instantly darkened, startling his friend.
“Are you looking for that little cupcake just now? Was he someone you brought?”
“I think I saw him running over there.”
Qi En didn’t understand why he was so scared. He didn’t dare stop. After passing through the crowded and noisy crowd, he ran all the way along a corridor with fewer people. Even when he saw the elevator at the end of the corridor, he didn’t relax.
“Wait, for, me!”
At the very last moment before the elevator doors closed, he successfully squeezed in.
Not being on the same floor as that strange man just now made Qi En feel a little more relieved.
He wanted to let out a breath, but there were too many people inside; the air was stifling.
Even the air conditioning couldn’t clear the air in that moment.
It was unclear whether it was because the AC was old or because there was one extra person.
Qi En’s panting was very light and rapid. He was trying to restrain it, but it was amplified by the quiet environment, sweeping across everyone’s eardrums like a feather.
Once he recovered, his breathing gradually slowed, like the tide receding, with lingering ripples.
But influenced by him, other people’s breathing became a bit unstable.
Hotter, heavier, and more urgent than usual.
Qi En found it strange. Did they all run in here too?
He looked up slightly, observing the reflection in the elevator’s mirror, and discovered the elevator was full of men.
And these people’s gazes were surprisingly consistent.
Qi En felt a bit uncomfortable, thinking he had squeezed them by forcing his way in.
The atmosphere in the elevator had indeed changed because of him.
But not for that reason.
Qi En was a head shorter than them. These people were crowding towards him, and in front of Qi En were the elevator doors; he had nowhere to stand.
Yet through the reflection, Qi En clearly saw there was space in the rear corner of the elevator.
“Which floor?”
A cold voice sounded from the front right.
Qi En was startled and looked up—
The man standing in front of the elevator buttons looked surprisingly like the man who brought him in just now.
No, this was that man.
The lighting in the elevator was good, and Qi En could see his face more clearly.
Cheng Xun was unsmiling. His pupils were like two bottomless pools of deep water; the surrounding lights cast into them vanished silently, unable to stir a single ripple.
His gaze merely swept over lightly, yet the air touched by it seemed to freeze into frost.
Qi En was instantly soaked in a chill, his body trembling involuntarily.
Seeing Qi En’s reaction, Cheng Xun’s unchanging expression finally loosened a fraction.
And a slight frown from him made Qi En step back uncontrollably.
This step landed on the person behind him.
Qi En snapped back to reality, using this chance to look away from Cheng Xun.
He twisted his body and whispered to the person behind him, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to step on you.”
He kept his head down, not seeing the person’s instantly flushed face, only hearing the little stutter say: “Cough, you c-can step on my shoes.”
“It’s okay, I’ll just stand further forward,” Qi En said softly.
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the sharp intake of breath from someone behind him.
Qi En thought it was because the guy whose foot got stepped on was in too much pain.
Until he heard another person whisper:
“So good (smelling)…”
Qi En didn’t pay it any mind.
He recalled how that man tried to scare him just now, saying there were many bad people here.
Liar.
Where are they?
He hadn’t been here long and had already met a very understanding guy.
He thought the man who deliberately scared him was the real bad guy.
“Which floor?” Cheng Xun asked again.
His voice was slower, but also colder.
Qi En hid his thoughts. He pursed his lips and said cautiously, “You press the floor you’re going to first.”
Cheng Xun didn’t answer. Qi En stole a glance upward.
Only to meet Cheng Xun’s eyes again.
Qi En’s eyelid twitched. He quickly looked away and continued looking up, pretending to check which floor the elevator was on, then gave a small nod and hurriedly lowered his head.
Cheng Xun: “…”
Qi En didn’t get out, and neither did Cheng Xun.
Eventually, everyone else left the elevator, leaving only the two of them.
And Cheng Xun still hadn’t pressed a floor button.
Qi En became more uneasy, suspicion growing in his heart.
This man was unwilling to help him at first; why is he now unwilling to let him go?
At first, Qi En thought he was a kind person.
He was blind.
He should have listened to D Gege.
Regret was useless now.
Cheng Xun remained silent, so Qi En had to break the deadlock: “Why are you in the elevator too?”
Like a ghost, scary.
“Because I’m going upstairs,” Cheng Xun answered.
Qi En muttered internally, Liar. You didn’t leave even when we reached the upper floors; you just wanted to block me here.
Cheng Xun gazed at Qi En’s brows and eyes. Instead of pressing Qi En about which floor he was going to, he softened his voice and said, “Why did you take the long way?”
“Ah?”
For a moment, Qi En even forgot to be afraid.
He looked up at Cheng Xun.
Cheng Xun: “The elevator was right next to where we were just now, just around a corner. You ran a full circle around here?”
Qi En froze on the spot, his lips slightly parted as if to speak but not knowing what to say. “I…” He could only gently bite his lip, looking cute and pitiful, making one want to bully him a little more.
Seeing someone about to enter the elevator, Cheng Xun held Qi En’s shoulder, intending to lead him out.
In a moment of desperation, Qi En took something out of his “small satchel.” Moving very fast, as if afraid of being seen, he quickly stuffed it into Cheng Xun’s suit pocket.
Cheng Xun was stunned for a moment, thinking about taking it out to see what it was.
But he glanced at the person about to enter the elevator and lowered his hand.
And the person preparing to enter, seeing the strange atmosphere between them, consciously walked away to take another elevator.
Cheng Xun looked at Qi En, whose head was buried very low, and an indescribable feeling surged in his heart.
Why dare not look at him?
What did he give?
Business card? Room card? Or…
Qi En: “I really have to go, don’t follow me.”
“Going?” Cheng Xun frowned.
The elevator doors were about to close. Qi En quickly squeezed out. Before Cheng Xun could react, he turned and got into the adjacent elevator, frantically pressing the close button.
“Excuse me, which floor are you going to?”
Hearing the voice, Qi En turned his head and saw it was the passerby from just now.
Qi En glanced at the first-floor button that was already lit. He said, “Second floor, thanks.”
The elevator ride down was very quiet.
Qi En hadn’t caught his breath yet, his mind full of worry that he might see that elusive man again when he got out.
But fortunately, after reaching the second floor, he didn’t see the man.
He gripped his bag tightly, lowered his head, and walked quickly for a distance.
Only when the surrounding noise died down and the elevator was out of sight did he stop.
He patted his chest, opened the seal of the milk tea bag, and took out his wallet.
He counted; only three bills were left.
He had just pulled out five bills at once—that was five hundred yuan.
Sure enough, after receiving the money, that person didn’t come to block him anymore.
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