Deluge

Upon seeing that strand of hair, Xu Juan’s smile faltered and he froze on the spot.

They were too close to each other, even if he only harboured a sliver of avoidance in his eyes, it would be nearly impossible for it to escape Pei Yu’s gaze. 

To be frank, Xu Juan had never been caught before. Firstly, there was no one to catch him. Second, he was too practiced and skilled at evading surveillance. As long as he had no intention of getting caught, then it was generally difficult to expose him.

He truly had been too careless today.

Although, he felt slightly wronged this time. He hadn’t done anything that bad, had he?

Then again, if he were to ask himself honestly, had he really been wronged? 

It didn’t seem so.

Xu Juan felt a little guilty, but he was ultimately still a veteran actor when it came to affairs of the heart. He would never freeze up on such a tiny stage. Matching Pei Yu’s actions, he stared at that strand of blue hair and schooled his expression, not revealing a single trace of his true feelings.

“Whose is this?” Pei Yu’s tone had become graver, and he stared at him with a frown.

Abruptly, Xu Juan remembered what Pei Yu had told him before: “I don’t have a good temper”, “you just haven’t seen me lose my temper”. Back then, Xu Juan had thought he was joking, but now he suddenly felt that it might have been the truth.

His scalp went numb, heartbeat quickening a little: “Uh, it probably fell off someone’s head and onto me, I don’t know either.”

This wasn’t a very intelligent answer and as expected, Pei Yu didn’t buy it. He stared at him, his gaze near scorching: “How did it fall? How close to you did they have to be for it to fall into your collar? Do you think I’m an idiot, Xu Juan?”

“But I really don’t know.” Xu Juan refused to come clean. Coming clean was the real dead end.

He took the strand of hair from Pei Yu and randomly tossed it somewhere: “Maybe it happened during the meeting earlier. Someone was messing around with me and deliberately put it on me. I mean, our employees are on the livelier side and enjoy playing pranks. You shouldn’t lower yourself to their level.” 

“Is that so?” Pei Yu suddenly pushed him away and sat up on the sofa. While fastening his belt, he said, “Then I’ll head out for a look. Which employee of yours could be so lively, dyeing their hair such an audacious colour, even daring to play pranks on Director Xu.”

He stood up, his face icy. Hurriedly, Xu Juan hugged him and dragged him back onto the sofa: “Come on, don’t be like this. You’ve to leave them with some dignity.”

“——Xu Juan!” Pei Yu grabbed his hand. Rather than being angry, Pei Yu seemed a little more panicked, “Whose hair was that, really? Are you lying to me?”

People in love tend to be more sensitive. The sense of security that Pei Yu had just established over the past two days was easily rattled by that unidentified strand of hair. He kept Xu Juan’s hand in a death grip: “What you’ve promised me, do you still remember?” 

“What?” Xu Juan wasn’t sure which promise he was referring to.

“You said, you wouldn’t bully me.” Pei Yu said, “You know I don’t have much experience when it comes to dating. We won’t fight and scheme against each other, I like you, and you like me as well. Something as simple as this, can’t we not complicate it? No matter what happened, just tell me directly and don’t lie to me. I’m not unreasonable, I won’t argue with you over just anything.”

“……” Xu Juan’s throat tightened, suddenly finding it difficult to speak, “It was nothing, don’t overthink it.”

He didn’t want to cause a misunderstanding over a strand of hair, but if he were to come clean about Li Mengzhou, then it wouldn’t be just a misunderstanding. It would become a very real, and very literal crack. 

There was no way Pei Yu wouldn’t mind.

Also, Xu Juan realized all of a sudden, that now, he no longer wanted to deceive and lie to Pei Yu like before. He didn’t derive pleasure from doing such a thing, but he didn’t have the guts to tell the truth either.

Though their relationship seemed to have slowly solidified into something real, it was founded on pretense after all —— In Pei Yu’s eyes, he was still someone promiscuous.

“It’s really nothing, I don’t know what’s going on. It could also be from when I was taking the subway this morning, it was too crowded.” Xu Juan hugged Pei Yu, smothering his face against the other’s neck, “Why are you making such a big deal out of it? Did you watch too many dogblood dramas, Pei laoshi? Why did you overreact like that?” 

Xu Juan tried to sound as natural as possible. Pei Yu didn’t say a word, only silently looking at him for a few seconds. Then, he suddenly averted his gaze and stood up, leaving the sofa.

“……”

Pei Yu ignored him. He probably didn’t want to pay him any attention for at least a while.

Pei Yu just kept standing there, his silhouette resembling a tall pine tree as it was ravaged by the wind in silence. Xu Juan knew that to Pei Yu, he was the wind. To have fallen in love with him was truly eight lifetimes of bloody misfortune for Pei Yu. 

Xu Juan didn’t want to be suffocated by this feeling any longer.

He took the initiative to walk over, wrapping Pei Yu up in a back hug. His fingers reached for Pei Yu’s stomach, curling into the corners of his shirt.

“Pei laoshi, don’t be angry anymore.” Xu Juan whined in a small voice, “I know I was wrong, don’t ignore me.”

“How were you in the wrong?” 

“I was wrong to be stupid. I didn’t even notice an extra strand of hair on me. I made our Pei laoshi sad, I deserve to die ten thousand times for this crime of mine.”

“……”

Pei Yu frowned: “You have no idea what you did wrong.”

“I do, how could I not?” Xu Juan lightened his tone of voice and kissed the back of Pei Yu’s neck. 

He pressed too close, deliberately lowering his guard and being coquettish in hopes of pleasing Pei Yu, just like a disobedient little animal writhing around against the other. Pei Yu was unable to withstand his torture, but he was still angry, so he got even more annoyed: “Xu Juan! Behave!”

“No.” Xu Juan was this close to getting onto Pei Yu’s head and acting up right there. As he kissed him, he reached over to undo Pei Yu’s belt. At the first moment of opportunity, his hand slipped right in.

Without waiting for Pei Yu to lose his temper, Xu Juan complained: “I really was in the wrong, please don’t be angry? What am I supposed to do if even you ignore me?”

“……” 

“It’s not like you don’t know, I have nothing left. I only have you.” Xu Juan said, aggrieved, “Do you not want me anymore, too? Will you chase me away the way my mom did, Pei Yu?”

Pei Yu choked: “When did I say I wanted to chase you away?”

“But you’re ignoring me, isn’t that you basically wanting to chase me away?”

“It’s not.” 

“Then what did that mean?” Xu Juan accused. His hand never stopped moving, frustrating Pei Yu to the limit of his endurance.

Xu Juan continued: “You’re charging me with a crime based on that single strand of hair, I feel so wronged. I think you just don’t want me anymore and are looking for excuses.”

“……”

Pei Yu was both embarrassed and annoyed, his anger rushing straight to his head: “Don’t speak nonsense! What sort of person do you take me for?” 

He held Xu Juan’s hand in a fierce grip and escaped the demon’s claws. Then, he turned around and tugged, trapping Xu Juan on the windowsill——

“Don’t be too unreasonable, Xu Juan! Are you torturing me like this, without an ounce of conscience, because I’m in love with you and you think I won’t do anything to you?”

“I’m not…”

Xu Juan had just parted his lips when Pei Yu’s phone abruptly rang. 

That sound came from his pants pocket. Since Xu Juan was currently pressed up against Pei Yu’s thigh, he could feel the vibration too.

He immediately swallowed his words. When Pei Yu answered the call, he glanced at the screen and saw that the caller was “Aunt”.

Xu Juan had some recollection of this aunt, Pei Yu had mentioned her before. He had said that this aunt was basically like a benefactor to him and his mom. When mother and son were struggling back then, she had given them a lot of help.

As such, Pei Yu was very obedient and respectful in front of her. 

Once the call went through, Xu Juan sharpened his listening ear.

“Xiao Yu, are you not at school?”

Pei Yu made a noise in acknowledgment: “Yeah, I’m attending to personal matters outside. What’s the matter, auntie?”

“Personal matters?” It seemed the person on the receiving end sounded a little displeased, “What kind of personal matter can be more important than a major life event? When I told you to get along well with Huang Ting, you said you were busy with work and didn’t intend to deal with personal matters. Look at you now, the girl has come to intern at your school. I asked you to guide her, but you actually ran outside to attend to personal matters? What kind of personal matters do you have, Pei Yu?”

“……”

Pei Yu cast a glance at Xu Juan: “I have a significant other now, auntie.” 

“Is that so? Where is your significant other? You always say you have a significant other, but I haven’t seen even a shadow! I’m telling you, Pei Yu, don’t try to hedge me with this excuse. If you really do have a significant other, then bring them over for me to meet. If you don’t, then listen to me and get along with Huang Ting —— Look at her, where is she lacking? She’s pretty, has a good personality, and is outstanding. Her parents are also prominent individuals and well-respected. Where is she not worthy of you? Why are you so fussy?”

After being lectured, Pei Yu’s voice softened considerably: “All right, I got it.”

His aunt continued: “You should go back now. Ting Ting has some work that she’s unsure of, go and teach her. She’s thin-skinned and embarrassed to take the initiative to ask you for help. How can you be so oblivious?”

“……” 

The call ended, and Xu Juan could no longer remember what the two of them had been talking about before that.

He looked at Pei Yu, and Pei Yu looked right back at him. It suddenly got quiet, but Xu Juan was the one to break the silence: “Who is Huang Ting?”

Pei Yu said: “She’s the one I went on a blind date with the other time.”

“So the two of you actually kept in contact after that?” 

“No, I never contacted her. She just suddenly came to Hong Uni for an internship. Since she’s a rookie, she doesn’t know anything, so my aunt told me to be her guide.”

“Oh.” Xu Juan paused, then couldn’t help but ask, “Are you going back to school now? To teach her?”

Xu Juan saw very clearly how Pei Yu’s gaze flickered. After a moment of hesitation, he said: “I can’t refuse.”

“……” 

Can’t refuse? Xu Juan didn’t quite understand what that meant. If he couldn’t refuse this now, then in the future, if his aunt wanted him to marry that girl, would he be able to refuse?

Xu Juan felt that Pei Yu was doing this deliberately. He was still angry and wanted to take revenge on him.

Xu Juan had a little heart attack.

Indeed, upon seeing the awful expression on Xu Juan’s face, the air of fury surrounding Pei Yu settled down slightly. 

Pei Yu rarely felt such an emotion. Both sour and sweet were essential components of a relationship. Seeing Xu Juan unhappy suddenly made Pei Yu happy. Even though, he knew that this kind of behaviour where they “hurt each other” was childish and that a reasonable adult shouldn’t engage in such things.

But dating Xu Juan made him dizzy. He kept a tight grasp on that bit of sweetness; He desperately wanted Xu Juan to die from jealousy. Only that could compensate him for the panic and anxiety he had gone through earlier.

Pei Yu straightened out his clothes and pointed to the food on the coffee table he had brought over earlier, bidding Xu Juan farewell: “You should eat something. I’m heading back to school first, I’ll call you tonight.”

“……” 

Xu Juan didn’t say a word, merely staring at him.

Pei Yu was almost convinced to stay from his staring.

But in the end, he still left.

The sound of the door closing echoed in Xu Juan’s ears, and for a while, he stood alone by the window in a daze. 

Xu Juan disliked this feeling. Although he knew that Pei Yu had done it deliberately, he still felt unhappy, and was unwilling to accept this feeling of being unhappy.

He was a very rebellious person.

After enduring for a long time, he went back to his desk. He wanted to hurl something but suddenly remembered that he was currently in a messy situation and that the company was in danger. He no longer had any capital left to squander away.

Clenching his right hand, Xu Juan reeled in the urge to hurl his phone —— he had no money to replace it with a new one. 

The feeling of being wronged and having to suppress his ire weighed heavily on his heart, with nowhere to vent.

Xu Juan kicked his chair. It wheeled quite a distance away, coming to a screeching halt against the floor that grated on his ears. He calmed down for just a moment but was unable to completely regain his composure. He sensed that Pei Yu had changed.

Pei Yu was no longer as obedient, adorable, ignorant, and naive as before. Pei Yu had begun to take the initiative, trying time and time again to dominate him.

“Fine, then.” Xu Juan felt a little miserable. He had suppressed it for too long, and couldn’t help but open Wechat, scrolling until he found Li Mengzhou’s profile picture—— 

“Where are you? Come over and keep me company.”