The group didn’t stay too late. They finished eating the hotpot and then left after cleaning up and saying their goodbyes to Liang Xi.
Liang Xi was busy with the call about the dog so he didn’t pay attention to their movements; he only thought that they didn’t like talking. He thought they were trying to be reserved, so when he sent them off, he explained, “I had some matters to take care of today. I don’t find you guys annoying. Usually, I like being lively too. Tell Wang Chao to bring you guys over again another time.”
Once they left his house, Yan Jiajia hailed a taxi and left without saying a word.
The boys all looked at each other in dismay. Ever since Wang Chao mentioned the two had broken up, they’ve been awkward till now. The reason why they were quiet at Liang Xi’s place was because they didn’t know what to say.
Xie Zhuxing also kept a blank face the whole time. Anyone could tell he wasn’t happy.
Wang Chao vaguely felt like he had done something wrong, but he thought again and felt that there was no way Xiao Xie would be this petty. After he pondered for a while, he decided that he’ll bring everyone to get hyped. After the tension in the atmosphere eases up a little bit, he’ll take advantage of that and crack a joke with Xiao Xie. Xiao Xie had such a good attitude, he definitely wouldn’t mind.
He sneaked a glance at Xie Zhuxing as he suggested, “It’s only 9 something. Let’s go play a bit more. Do you guys wanna do karaoke or go clubbing?”
The members all didn’t want to go anywhere at this hour, so they all tried to find an excuse to not go.
“Then let’s go drink a cup or two. It’ll be my treat,” Xie Zhuxing said.
He was usually very kind to others, so they didn’t feel it was right to reject him. In the end, they all said they would go.
Gao Siyuan drove his car here. As usual, Xie Zhuxing and Wang Chao would ride together while the rest would go in Gao Siyuan’s car.
But today, Xie Zhuxing hopped in Gao Siyuan’s car without a word.
Ji Jie and Yang Xiaomu could tell right away something was off about the situation. They hurriedly got in the car to occupy their seats.
Cheng Yao, who couldn’t get a seat in time, could only cry sullenly as he looked at Wang Chao.
Now Wang Chao knew for sure Xiao Xie was upset. He said gloomily, “Alright, alright. You think anyone can get in my car as they wish? Keep crying and I’ll beat you up.”
Cheng Yao felt very wronged. He sat upright the whole ride there, not daring to let out a sigh that was too loud.
At the bar above the garden.
Gao Siyuan and the four who sat in his car arrived first. When Wang Chao and Cheng Yao got there, they had already started ordering their drinks.
Ji Jie was sitting peacefully next to Xie Zhuxing when Wang Chao walked over and said without reason, “Bun-face, let me sit here.”
Ji Jie replied rudely, “Who’re you calling Bun-face, you big ass?”
Wang Chao resisted the urge to talk back as he thought of ways to ease the tension between him and Xie Zhuxing.
Ji Jie eventually scooted over.
Wang Chao squeezed in the seat next to Xie Zhuxing and looked at the menu in his hands. Although he had good intentions, his way of speaking didn’t reflect that. “You guys order whatever you want. No need to look at the price. If Xiao Xie doesn’t treat, then I will.”
He snapped the menu shut and threw it at Wang Chao.
Wang Chao, “…You order. Why are you throwing it to me?”
Ji Jie cut in, “You still have the nerve to say you’ll treat us? You said you were going to pay for the barbeque yesterday, but in the end, it was still Xiao Xie who settled the bill.”
Wang Chao had already forgotten that matter. He was embarrassed as he said, “I had something to do, so I forgot.”
“What could possibly be so important that the leader would forget to pay the bill?”
Ji Jie didn’t know what really happened. He had just said that casually because he wanted to slander Wang Chao.
Wang Chao looked at Xie Zhuxing, embarrassed. Xie Zhuxing was also currently looking at him from the corner of his eye. He quickly turned away when their eyes met.
Wang Chao was a brainless person who solely followed his instincts. When their eyes met, he thought it was a sign Xie Zhuxing wanted to make up. He ignored Ji Jie and clung onto Xie Zhuxing’s shoulder, asking, “How much was the bill yesterday?”
“Not that much,” Xie Zhuxing replied.
“As if. There were about 30 people. You don’t have that much money anyways. How much was it? I’ll transfer the money to you.”
The veins on Xie Zhuxing’s neck were about to pop out. He stood up and said, “I’m going to the bathroom. You guys can order first.”
Once he walked away, Ji Jie said to Wang Chao, “Stop making Xiao Xie-ge even more stressed.”
Wang Chao felt unsatisfied as he asked, “What did I do?”
“He had parted with his girlfriend with no hard feelings. What are you doing messing around?”
Wang Chao looked at them and said, “He told you guys everything?”
Everyone nodded except for Cheng Yao, his expression out of place.
Yang Xiaomu said, “I think Xiao Xie-ge didn’t want to mention this matter to us anyway. To be honest, we already know how his personality is. He was probably worried that if we heard about it, we would think he dumped his girlfriend right as he was about to debut. He probably thought we would think he’s Chen Shimei.” Wang Chao immediately got angry when he heard of this speculation. “Who the fuck is that bored? If Xiao Xie is Chen Shimei, then there’s definitely no more faithful guys in this world.”
“I think Xiao Xie-ge isn’t happy. One because our leader cares too much about affairs that are not his own and two, our leader has now made it hard for his ex-girlfriend to get out of the spotlight.”
“Impossible. Xiao Xie had lost feelings for that girl a long time ago. I’m so close with him. How could he blame me over a girl? Keep blabbering,” Wang Chao said unhappily.
“Ha! The two are a couple with long lasting feelings. Even if they break up, they’re still closer than he is with you.”
Wang Chao felt especially irritated when he heard that phrase. “Stop instigating me. I sleep with him every day. How can we not be close?”
Ji Jie clicked his tongue. “Be quiet. Is that sleeping the same as that sleeping?”
Wang Chao was getting extremely angry now. He insisted, “I’ll make it so that they’re the same today!”
Ji Jie, “….How are you going to make it the same?”
When Xie Zhuxing walked out from the bathroom, he discovered no one had ordered yet. The members were all silently chewing on melon seeds.
Wang Chao had a stern expression as he hugged his elbows. “Xiao Xie, come here.”
What was he up to now? Xie Zhuxing was too lazy to pay attention to him. He called out to the waiter, “We’re ready to order.’
The waiter hurried over and Xie Zhuxing ordered two beers. When the waiter walked away, he went back to his own seat and sat down.
He had already calmed down from most of his anger. He thought about it and concluded that Wang Chao was an idiot from the start – there was no use in wasting anger on him. There was no point in bickering with him. He might as well forget about it.
He reached out to grab some melon seeds, only to have his hand grabbed suddenly by Wang Chao.
The members also stopped chewing on their melon seeds, staring at the two.
Xie Zhuxing, “….What?”
Wang Chao took two deep breaths.
Ji Jie couldn’t watch anymore. He opened his mouth and said, “Just forget it…”
Wang Chao didn’t understand his good intention and mistook it for Ji Jie provoking him. He scowled, “Forget what? Watch!”
Wang Chao turned his head around and rapidly closed in on Xie Zhuxing, landing a kiss on his mouth.
After he finished kissing him, Wang Chao felt immediate regret. He didn’t dare look at Xie Zhuxing’s face, so he tried to act as if nothing had happened. He waved his hand at the members. “I kissed him. Come, come, come. Give me the money. Everyone give me a hundred.”
Cheng Yao was the only one who took out his wallet obediently. But when he saw no one else had made any movement, he hurriedly put his wallet back under the table.
Wang Chao continued being brave. “What? If you agree to bet, then you must accept your loss. Don’t avoid paying if you lose.”
Xie Zhuxing’s face was frozen.
“Who placed a bet with you? You’re the one who came up with all this. You said you were going to kiss him no matter what…” Ji Jie glanced at Xie Zhuxing, and then changed his tone. “You insisted you were going to do it. No one even wanted to be with you.”
Just as Wang Chao was going to speak, the waiter arrived with their beer. He shut up and looked at Xie Zhuxing warily; he couldn’t tell if he was mad or not.
Yang Xiaomu felt that the atmosphere was too awkward. He took a bottle of beer and started talking, “Since we’re here to drink, then we should have some fun. Should we play dice or poker?”
The rest of them gathered and went to play dice.
“Are you really angry?” Wang Chao nudged Xie Zhuxing’s side as he asked quietly “You’ve been ignoring me this whole night. I was so irritated. They also had bad intentions, they kept provoking me.”
Xie Zhuxing, “…” How can you say they had bad intentions? Are you not ashamed?
Wang Chao saw he wasn’t speaking, so he started to narrate systematically and in full detail. “Ji Jie said that you were upset because you still cared for Yan Jiajia. He even said that you two were a couple with lasting emotions and that your relationship with her was closer than your relationship with me. I was so bitter, so I wanted them to see just how close we were.”
Xie Zhuxing smiled from rage. “So you used me as a wager? I’m only worth 400 dollars?”
Wang Chao was astonished. “You’re angry that I bet so little?”
Xie Zhuxing, “…” He didn’t want to say anything else – he just wanted to beat him up.
Wang Chao felt extremely wronged. “I really didn’t deliberately use you as a bet! I just wanted to show off our relationship. If we’re close, then a kiss is nothing!”
Xie Zhuxing, “…” Give up, I give up!
Wang Chao couldn’t coax him properly, so he started acting shameless again. “Then what do you want to do? Since I already kissed you, there’s no point in getting angry anyways. How about you kiss me back?”
He couldn’t describe the emotion he was feeling. He felt a bit angry, but he also thought it was a bit funny. There was also a little nameless fire inside.
Wang Chao could see his expression had softened as he started rambling again. “I’m not stingy like you, getting angry over one kiss. Come, come, come. Kiss however you want to.”
Xie Zhuxing pinched his face and turned it a full 360 degrees.
It could be said it hurt a lot. Wang Chao’s scream was very attention-attracting.
The members all stopped playing with the dice and started clapping.
Xie Zhuxing released his hands and said, “Everyone give me a hundred. Hand it over.”
The members were speechless. “…”