Before Mo Fei could gather enough sense to resist, the door was already open and Chen Yu had dragged him inside.
Straight into Zhang Yichen's apartment.
For one horrifying second, Mo Fei felt his soul leave his body and hover near the ceiling in disbelief.
The first thing he noticed was the silence in the living room, three heads turned toward the entrance at the exact same time.
Sima Li.
Zhang Yichen.
Nil.
All three pairs of eyes landed first on Chen Yu. Zhang Yichen's expression relaxed just slightly when he recognized him. Then his gaze shifted and landed on Mo Fei.
Mo Fei swallowed immediately, then he leaned half a step behind Chen Yu. In a quiet, deeply uncertain whisper, he asked, "…Are we in the wrong place?"
Chen Yu laughed as though bursting uninvited into Zhang Yichen's home while dragging him behind was a perfectly normal evening activity, he tugged Mo Fei farther inside and proudly announced to the room,
"Nil, look! I brought Mo Fei."
The way he said it made it sound less like he had brought over a person and more like he had successfully hunted a rare animal. Nil, who looked far too unsurprised by this entire situation, merely nodded once. He reached out and patted Chen Yu lightly on the head.
"Mm." Then he looked at Mo Fei. "Hi."
Mo Fei smiled back. The smile of a man who had no idea what was happening but was trying his best to stay alive through politeness. "Hi."
Inside his head, his thoughts were racing so fast they were beginning to smoke.
What was this? Why was he here? Who exactly was Nil? Why did Chen Yu sound proud? Why was Sima Li grinning like this was the most entertaining thing he'd seen all week?
And most importantly
Why was Zhang Yichen sitting there like he owned not only the apartment, but also the oxygen itself?
Before Mo Fei could recover from the shock, Sima Li had already moved. He slid off the sofa easy and immediately crossed the room. Then he planted himself in front of Mo Fei, grabbed him by both shoulders,
"You live next door?" he said in disbelief. "How did I not know that?" He turned his head toward Zhang Yichen demanding an explanation for this personal betrayal.
Zhang Yichen's face, however, clearly said: I do not care. Move on, Sima Li.
Mo Fei smiled politely. "Hello."
At the same time, his eyes darted desperately toward Chen Yu in silent plea.
Help me.
Chen Yu, unfortunately, looked far too pleased with himself to be trusted. Mo Fei suddenly had the awful realization that he had not been invited into a normal social gathering. He had been delivered like a tribute.
Zhang Yichen's gaze remained fixed on him. Cold and deeply dissatisfied. Standing under that gaze, Mo Fei once again felt that perhaps if the earth opened up and swallowed him whole, it wouldn't actually be the worst thing that could happen today. After all, the last time they had met, he had looked Zhang Yichen straight in the face and calmly told him he didn't know who he was.
Mo Fei scratched the back of his head awkwardly. I really do know how to ruin an atmosphere.
Before the awkwardness could grow any thicker, Chen Yu suddenly marched forward and slapped Sima Li's hands off Mo Fei's shoulders. "Hands off, frog man. He's mine!" He bared his teeth fiercely, like a tiny, expensive house cat.
Sima Li took two whole steps back and raised both hands. "Alright, alright," he said. "No need to become territorial."
Zhang Yichen finally spoke. "Why is he here?"
Chen Yu turned toward him without even a trace of fear. "Because I dragged him here," he said, as if that alone settled the matter completely. "You two are practically neighbors. Yichen, be polite."
Then, having delivered this judgment like a magistrate passing sentence, Chen Yu calmly walked back to Nil and took his hand as though he had just completed an act of great diplomacy.
Nil let out a quiet sigh. Honestly, why wasn't he even half as brave as his little bun bun?
Mo Fei noticed the hand-holding, the softness in Chen Yu's face and that Nil didn't pull away. But since his brain was already dangerously overloaded, he made the wise decision to ignore that mystery for the moment.
"I was just leaving…" Mo Fei said carefully, taking one cautious step backward toward freedom.
"Eh... Feifei, wait!" Chen Yu stopped him immediately. "Ignore him!" he said, throwing a mean glare at Zhang Yichen.
Zhang Yichen rolled his eyes, even existing in the same room as this conversation was beneath him.
Meanwhile, Sima Li had resumed hovering around Mo Fei like a beautifully dressed hawk with no understanding of personal space. "I saw your latest shoot," he said brightly. "Really impressive." Then he gave him a thumbs-up.
Mo Fei smiled awkwardly. "Hehe…" In truth, he wanted to leave. Very badly.
But Sima Li was clearly not a man who respected the invisible signs of distress. "Do you recognize him now?" Sima Li asked suddenly.
Mo Fei looked confused until Sima Li pointed directly at Zhang Yichen.
"Ah," Mo Fei said quickly, his soul trying to escape again. "Yes. The other day I didn't mean... I was just... I mean, I…" He gestured vaguely, but the sentence died before it could become anything useful.
Sima Li burst into laughter. "Oh please," he said, waving a hand. "I don't think he minds." Then he leaned in and lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Truth be told, I'd like to wipe my memory of him too."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Chen Yu had immediately moved closer, his curiosity lighting up like a lantern.
Nil, who had far better survival instincts, quickly caught him by the arm pulling him back. "Let it go," Nil said under his breath. "Let it go."
He could already feel Zhang Yichen's death glare gathering strength in the room.
But Sima Li was not done. "Oh, if he wants to know, let him know," he said shamelessly. Then, with a smirk, he added, "Chen Yu, your beloved friend here said he didn't know Zhang Yichen."
Chen Yu blinked. Then looked at Mo Fei, then at Zhang Yichen and back at Mo Fei.
"Really?" he said. Mo Fei's smile became the expression of a man being publicly executed. But before he could explain, Chen Yu frowned thoughtfully and said, "Well, I don't think they've actually met before, have they?"
He took Mo Fei's side instantly and completely, without waiting for context, evidence, or logic. Mo Fei nearly teared up. What loyalty, was this true friendship?
Zhang Yichen, however, was not moved. "No one cares," he said coldly. Then his gaze shifted to Nil. "If you're done, throw your boyfriend and his grotesque-looking friend out."
Mo Fei turned his head. His gaze moved from Nil to Chen Yu. Boyfriend? His brain replayed the past ten minutes. The clinginess, hand-holding. Everything clicked. Ah, that's it. So Chen Yu liked men.
Mo Fei shivered internally, but not out of judgment. Who was he to stand in the way of love? Love was love. He nodded to himself in solemn acceptance.
Meanwhile, Chen Yu had exploded. "What? No way! It's not like I came here to see you!"
Mo Fei's face twitched. Came? Bold words for someone who literally dragged me across the hallway like kidnapped luggage.
But Chen Yu was already too angry to stop. "You have terrible manners, Yichen! This is why no one likes you, bad, terrible, rude, arrogant son of a... "
Nil lunged forward in horror and slapped a hand over Chen Yu's mouth before the final word could escape and have all of them buried in the nearest mountain. "There, there," Nil said quickly, trying to coax him back to sanity. "Take a breath. Calm down."
Chen Yu struggled indignantly under his hand, glaring at Zhang Yichen like a tiny demon in designer clothes.
The moment Nil loosened his grip, Chen Yu escaped again and ran straight back to Mo Fei's side. "We don't even want to be here, right, Feifei?" he demanded.
Mo Fei, who had no understanding of how this day had become this day, stood there blankly and offered no useful response.
"Keep behaving like that," Zhang Yichen said coolly, "and I'll take Nil away for a month."
Chen Yu gasped. "You wouldn't dare!"
Zhang Yichen gave a cold, dangerous smile. "Try me."
Nil immediately put a hand to his forehead. If Chen Yu didn't stop talking, Zhang Yichen was absolutely going to make his life miserable and he was very attached to his current level of suffering. It was already enough.
"Alright, enough," Sima Li said at last, lifting both hands as though he were mediating a peace negotiation between unstable countries. "Let's not behave like animals in front of Mo Fei." Then he turned, all brightness again. "Are we still going to the party or what?"
"Party?" Mo Fei repeated, like a man hearing bad news in a pleasant tone.
Chen Yu, entirely unaffected by all prior threats and emotional destruction, immediately nodded. "Yes! There's a club party tonight, and we're going." He smiled brightly. "Mo Fei, it's been a while since you stepped out, right?"
Mo Fei stared at him. First, this pale, fine-skinned weirdo had nearly crushed him to death with a hug. Then he had dragged him into enemy territory.
And now he was casually inviting him to a party?
Mo Fei stood there in silence, wondering whether his second life had perhaps been written by a chaotic god with too much free time.