Sima Li's car rolled to a smooth stop in front of Club Secret, one of the biggest and most exclusive clubs in the city. The place practically dripped money.
Lights across the polished entrance, luxury cars lined the driveway, and the queue outside was filled with a lot of people still waiting for the chance to get in. Only the top elite came here and even among the elite, not everyone got in easily.
Mo Fei stepped out of the car with the others and followed them toward the building. Naturally, Sima Li, Chen Yu, and Nil did not head toward the regular entrance where the crowd was packed shoulder to shoulder. Instead, they walked straight toward the VIP entrance.
The guards bowed slightly and let them through at once. Mo Fei glanced once at the line still twisting outside and nodded to himself. Perks of being rich and famous,
He had to admit it, this world knew how to live.
The moment he stepped inside, his attention was completely stolen by the club itself.
Club Secret was stunning.
The interior glowed with low golden lighting, crystal and mirrored surfaces catching flashes of movement from every direction. Music pulsed through the air, heavy and intoxicating, while laughter and conversation rose and fell beneath it. The whole place felt like a world designed for temptation, money, beauty, alcohol, and bad decisions all dressed in expensive clothes.
Mo Fei's eyes moved slowly across the room, Sima Li looped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him along.
"Your face says you've never been here before," he said, amused.
Mo Fei shook his head honestly.
Ahead of them, Chen Yu turned around just in time to see Sima Li hanging all over him and immediately shot him a murderous glare.
"What are you still doing here?" Chen Yu shouted over the music. "Go away! Leave him alone!"
Nil lifted one hand slightly. "I'll go get drinks." And with that, he disappeared toward the bar.
"But I don't want to leave," Sima Li said with exaggerated innocence. "This is clearly Mo Fei's first time at Club Secret. Who else is going to make it unforgettable?"
He winked at Mo Fei.
Mo Fei smiled weakly, though in truth he wasn't sure whether that was comforting or threatening.
Chen Yu immediately slapped Sima Li's arm off Mo Fei's shoulder. "You!" he snapped. "You're the worst of the worst. I would rather eat hot needles than let him stay near you!"
Sima Li looked offended. "You say such hurtful things to a pure-hearted man."
Chen Yu made a face that said pure-hearted my foot. Before their bickering could escalate any further, a sweet, clear voice rang out behind them.
"Sima Li gege!" then soft laughter.
Mo Fei turned and saw four girls hurrying toward them, all glamorous, beautiful, and very obviously delighted to see Sima Li. They surrounded him almost immediately, each one attaching herself to him with practiced ease.
"It's been so long," one of them purred.
"You really came," another said brightly.
"Ladies, ladies," Sima li said with a dazzling smile, "relax. There's enough of me to go around."
The girls giggled even harder.
Chen Yu rolled his eyes very aggressively with irritation at hearing those voices. Sima li was quite popular among women and he's never turned down pretty women.
Sima Li, clearly having abandoned any responsibility toward the group, looked back over one shoulder and said cheerfully, "Mo Fei, this big brother will be right back."
Then he walked off with the girls hanging from him, not even pretending to resist.
Chen Yu clicked his tongue sharply. "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." He folded his arms in disgust. "Shameless, I tell you."
Meanwhile, Mo Fei's eyes followed the group for a second too long he had clearly been paying attention to each of the beauties in Sima Li's hand and making mental notes to snag one or two this night.
Before he could stop himself, he muttered under his breath, "When will it be my turn to be surrounded by beauties like that?"
Chen Yu turned slowly to stare at him.
Did he hear that correctly? Had Mo Fei, his Mo Fei, just... did he hear that right or has the loud music damaged his hearing?
Before he could ask, Nil returned from the bar carrying three glasses of whiskey.
He handed one to Chen Yu and one to Mo Fei. "Here." Then he pointed toward a quieter corner with a low seating area that had just opened up. "I found an empty spot. Let's go sit there."
Chen Yu took the drink and nodded.
Mo Fei accepted his glass too, though his gaze drifted one last time toward the direction Sima Li had disappeared with the girls.
Then, with mild regret and growing curiosity about what kind of night this was about to become, he followed Nil and Chen Yu deeper into the club.
They had barely settled into the seats before Chen Yu, who clearly lacked the ability to sit still for more than three consecutive minutes, suddenly brightened. "I'm going to dance."
Nil opened his mouth, perhaps to object, but Chen Yu was already pulling at his sleeve. "Come with me."
Whenever it came to Chen Yu, Nil had no will of his own, with a sigh he accepted knowing resistance was pointless and just like that, the two of them were gone.
Mo Fei was left alone. He sat back against the plush seat, twirling the whiskey slowly in his hand and staring into the amber liquid with quiet betrayal.
Those crazy bastards, why had they even dragged him here if they were going to abandon him five minutes later? He sighed. At this point, what he really needed was not friendship nor even emotional support, he needed a beautiful person to sit beside him and improve the atmosphere.
Mo Fei took a slow sip of his drink and glanced around the club. The lights were low, the music loud, and almost everyone looked too rich to have human problems. Maybe no one would recognize him here.
That thought had barely formed when...
"Eh?"
A voice cut through the music nearby. "Isn't that Mo Fei?"
Mo Fei turned his head. A young man stood there, around his age, holding a drink and smiling down at him as if he had just stumbled upon something unexpectedly interesting.
"It's definitely you," the man said.
Mo Fei looked him over once, cautious. "Do I know you?" The last thing he needed tonight was a hostile fan, an anti, or another crazy stranger with unresolved opinions about his scandal.
"Not really," the man said easily. "But I've heard a lot about you."
Of course he had. Everyone, apparently, had heard a lot about him.
Mo Fei frowned slightly.
The man moved closer without being invited, still smiling. "What are you doing here all alone?" the stranger asked. Then, as though remembering basic manners halfway through the conversation, he stretched out a hand. "Ah. I'm Zach."
Mo Fei looked at the hand. This one seems to like smiling a lot like an idiot, Mo Fei thought but didn't say anything, he shook his hand "Hi"
"Hi. "Zach's smile didn't dim. "Well?" He tilted his head. "Why are you alone?"
Mo Fei glanced around "I came with friends," he said at last.
"Friends?" Zach repeated, glancing meaningfully at the empty seats around him. Then he looked back with a grin. "Clearly they abandoned you."
Mo Fei's eyes rolled internally. Yes, thank you, Detective, what a dumb person. He lifted his glass slightly "If you don't mind, I'd rather...."
But Zach cut in before he could finish. "If you don't mind," he said brightly, "you can come sit with me and my friends instead. We'd be more than happy to have you."
Mo Fei paused. "Your friends?"
Zach nodded. "Mm."
"Where?"
Zach raised a finger and pointed upward. Mo Fei followed the gesture, a section above the main floor, a more secluded level overlooking the club, guarded just enough to make it obvious that not everyone could go there.
When he first entered, he had seen people up there but hadn't paid much attention.
Now, however, his curiosity stirred. What exactly was in that special section?
And more importantly… Who was in it?
Mo Fei turned back to Zach. "Alright then," he said after a beat. "If it's not too much trouble."
Zach smiled wider. "Oh, it's no trouble. Come on."
He turned immediately, Mo Fei rose from his seat, took one last glance toward the dance floor where Chen Yu and Nil had disappeared into their own world, then followed Zach toward the staircase. As they walked, Zach kept talking casually over the music.
"I haven't seen you out in public in a long while."
Mo Fei only nodded softly in response.
That was true enough. And something about the way Zach said it made it sound less like judgment.
Still, Mo Fei kept his guard up as he followed him upstairs.
He had come to this club expecting noise, lights, and pretty women.
He had not expected to be collected off a sofa and led toward a mysterious upper floor by a smiling stranger named Zach.