Chapter 8

Chi Mo's mother had wanted her to stay at home, but she'd already booked a hotel nearby, so after dinner Chi Mo walked over alone.

By the small hours, she was deeply grateful she had. At three in the morning, Song Huaiyu showed up.

Compared to the last time he'd roared into Huaicheng in a sports car, the SUV he arrived in tonight was practically understated.

Chi Mo went downstairs, not quite believing it, and her first words were: "Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

Driving five hours in the middle of the night, just to come to Huaicheng and sleep in a hotel with her?

She spread her hands. "No rooms left. Go find your own hotel."

The corner of Song Huaiyu's mouth ticked up. He slung an arm around her shoulder and steered her toward the stairs.

No elevator, and the staircase was the old-fashioned kind. At three in the morning, just walking up made the back of Chi Mo's neck prickle, never mind with him beside her.

The moment the door opened, she turned on him. "Look at this place. Can you actually stay here?"

Song Huaiyu, for his part, looked pleased. He tossed his phone onto the table, jerked his chin at the bed—which looked hard as a board—and said, "It's fine. Just one bed."

Chi Mo thought she'd rather be having a nightmare.

She and Song Huaiyu were not that close.

The problem was, they weren't exactly strangers either.

A sudden, reckless what-the-hell weariness came over her.

She dropped onto the bed. "Fine. Fine. Sleep. You sleep."

Song Huaiyu didn't move. He just crossed his arms and stood at the bedside, looking down at her.

Chi Mo drew a deep breath.

She hated that she knew things about Song Huaiyu.

Which was why she had to get up again.

He was a germaphobe. He wouldn't lie down on a bed like this. Tossing his phone on the table was already the biggest concession he could make to this hotel.

She looked up at him. "So what do we do? There's no five-star hotel in Huaicheng. Four-star at best. Can you stay in one of those?"

Song Huaiyu narrowed his eyes. In the dark, that face was startling.

He and Guan Yizhou were nothing alike.

If Guan Yizhou was the classic playboy type, then Song Huaiyu was a flower blooming on some snow-capped peak.

They didn't look alike either.

When Guan Yizhou smiled, it was gentle, his eyes curving like a clear spring.

Of course, that was only because he couldn't be bothered to deal with things, so he just played dumb and smiled. People across from him got flustered easily and stopped giving him grief.

But Song Huaiyu...

Even his smile carried a chill.

Chi Mo remembered a stretch when he'd worn his hair buzzed short. Paired with that sharp jawline, he'd been genuinely frightening.

Whether other people were scared, she couldn't say. She definitely was.

So when Song Huaiyu lifted a hand in the middle of the night, Chi Mo scrambled out of the way...

Satisfied, Song Huaiyu sat down—perched on the very edge of the bed, refusing to go an inch further in.

He said, "Chi Mo, I don't do it on beds like this."

!!!???

Who wants to do it with you!?

Chi Mo nearly choked on her own breath.

So high and mighty. So above it all. You open your mouth and assume everyone wants to sleep with you!

"...Just leave. Please. I'm begging you, leave..."

Song Huaiyu pressed his lips together, then lifted his eyes. "How many days are you staying in Huaicheng?"

Chi Mo was running on fumes. "...I'm going back tomorrow."

He checked his watch. "It's only a few hours till dawn. Is there any point waiting for tomorrow?"

"What do you mean?"

"Pack your things now. Come back with me."

Chi Mo was speechless. Her mouth actually fell open, and she stared at him, dumbstruck, for a long moment.

"...I'm scared of you, Song Huaiyu. I'm genuinely scared of you. What do you even want?"

Song Huaiyu said, as if it were obvious, "To take you back."

"...Even if I go back, I shouldn't be going back with you, should I?"

"Then who should you go with? Want me to call Guan Yizhou for you?"

"If it comes to that, just call the police for me..."

Song Huaiyu raised an eyebrow. "And say what?"

"That I'm guilty. That I shouldn't have been drinking..."

"No need to make it that complicated." Song Huaiyu reached out and brushed her cheek, his fingertips trailing past her ear. "Guilty's a stretch. Just drink less from now on."

"Let's go. Right now." Chi Mo dodged his hand and was off the bed in two moves.

She hadn't brought much to begin with. She grabbed her bag, and she was already at the door.

Satisfied, Song Huaiyu rose. "What are you looking at me for? Open the door."

*

The pure black SUV tore through empty streets and merged onto the highway in under twenty minutes. Leaning against the window, Chi Mo sighed. She'd been trying to work out why she was sitting in this car, and she still had nothing.

So she turned and asked, "We've only done it that one time. Just level with me—what are you actually after?"

"I'm after it."

"......" Chi Mo swore silently. "Stop joking around, will you? If you really think it's fine, then just tell them about us."

"Fine." And Song Huaiyu actually reached for his phone, which scared Chi Mo into grabbing his hand.

"Don't mess with your phone while driving. It's dangerous."

Song Huaiyu glanced at her sideways, the corner of his mouth curling into a faint, ghostly smile. Even his voice carried a chill. "Chi Mo, I'd have thought ten years would've grown your courage a little."

Chi Mo pulled her hand back and shot him a resentful glare, muttering, "I'd have thought ten years would've made your mouth a little less poisonous..."

"Oh? Which of my remarks did you take issue with?"

Chi Mo crossed her arms and turned to lean against the window, saying nothing. Before long, though, she couldn't hold it in. "The year Xu Yicheng had his birthday, I wore a white dress. You were on the phone by the door. You saw me coming and didn't even hang up—just said, 'Don't tell me the theme tonight is A Chinese Ghost Story.'"

Song Huaiyu raised an eyebrow, giving no sign of whether he remembered. "Is that so? What did you say back?"

"Was I supposed to dare say anything?" The memory still made her furious.

She'd saved up for months to buy that dress. Even Guan Yizhou had said it looked good. Only him, with that snide remark—she'd nearly convinced herself she'd worn the wrong thing and hadn't dared walk in.

Song Huaiyu laughed softly. "You were never suited to white anyway."

"...Thanks so much." Chi Mo rolled her eyes at the window.

She and Guan Yizhou had broken up, so it was only right to air out all these years of grievances.

"And another thing!" The more she thought, the angrier she got. She sat up straight and turned to glare at him. "When Zhao Yunfei invited you all to go abroad, why did you call Guan Yizhou and tell him not to bring me?"

"When was that?"

"My senior year!"

"Oh. Did you have the time?"

"I was interning my senior year! Why wouldn't I have time!?"

Song Huaiyu clicked his tongue softly. "We went surfing in Hawaii. You know how?"

"Couldn't I learn?!"

"You didn't know Zhao Yunfei's crowd was waiting to laugh at you?" Song Huaiyu's hand rested on the wheel as he shot her a scathing look. "Then you'd get your pride hurt and go hide somewhere and cry."