Chapter Text
"I want to thank Wang Zhen, my idol, the goddess in our hearts..." Jiang Xiaoshuai collapsed face-first onto the table.
Wang Shuo, sensing chaos incoming, tugged at Chi’s sleeve. "Hey. You have to hear this."
"You’re the meteor that never falls in my life, always surprising me. The aromatherapy table made from scrap, the steel-needle heart in the sandbag, the phone number written through an apple, the tiny basketball transformed from the big one... I remember everything."
"You’re the sun in my sky, warming me endlessly. The lollipop in my ear when I felt sick, the one you brought when my mom was ill, the giant shell you gave me when Chi was locked up... I’ll never forget it."
Wang Zhen’s cold face softened into a fleeting smile....Chi Cheng saw it. Wu Suo Wei, now totally sloshed, patted Chi’s shoulder. "Wang Zhen! I hid the big shell and the little basketball! Don’t worry....I’ll never let Chi Cheng find them!"
"..."
At that moment, Chi Cheng knew that Wu Suo Wei's heart was not fully with him. Maybe he already knew this deep down—he just didn't want to acknowledge it.
Because he was afraid.
Afraid that the moment he admitted it, Wu Suo Wei would realize it too…
That his feelings weren’t just admiration, weren’t just about idolizing him anymore.
That he had found something steadier, warmer—his safe place—in Wang Zhen, and would choose to stay with him instead.
Chi Cheng clenched his jaw, forcing his face to stay unreadable. Wang Shuo and Guo Chengyu looked at him with concern but Chi Cheng only took a deep breath, a very deep one. One that filled his chest and left a tight burn in his throat. He didn’t say anything.
What was there to say?
After the banquet was over, Chi Cheng dragged the drunken Wu Suo Wei into the room and slammed the door shut behind them. His movements were rough—not out of anger, but out of helplessness, out of something he couldn’t name.
The tiger cub stared at Wu’s flushed cheeks and said nothing for a long time. The wine had made Wu Suo Wei bold, and he stared straight at Chi Cheng. Normally, just a glance at Chi Cheng’s expression would have sent him diving under the bed in fear.
"You didn’t drink all that for nothing, did you?" Chi Cheng sneered. "Is every word straight from the heart?"
But the person he's talking to was far too drunk to even understand the question. Wu Suo Wei just blinked slowly, his eyes glassy, a faint smile on his lips—completely unaware of the storm he’d stirred in Chi Cheng. Later that night Chi Cheng stayed up to take care of Wu Suo Wei drunk and mishap after he threw up all the food he ate.
After cleaning up, Chi Cheng poured himself a glass of wine. A “vinegar-mixed” wine, bitter and burning.
He gulped it down, chasing silence.
Chasing numbness.
He didn’t want to think. Didn’t want to feel.
He wishes to never hear anything so he doesn't have to think about it.
Didn’t want to imagine what Wu Suo Wei’s heart sounded like when it beat for someone else.
He wished sleep would come to him sooner, so he just gulped down half of a bottle then finally lay down beside Wu Suo Wei and fell asleep as well.
Chi Cheng drowned himself in work, making himself busy. He took on every meeting, said yes to every invitation. He went to every company dinner he was invited to and stayed until the very end—even when there was no real reason to.
He barely called Wu Suo Wei, but didn't have the heart to completely ignore him either, so he still texts him from time to time, telling he'll be coming home late. The dinner itself never really ended that late. Chi Cheng either went to play basketball or went to a bar to drink alone. He just want these thoughts to completely disappear from his mind.
Just like tonight, he make sure to text Wu Suo Wei beforehand
"I’ll be home late."
"Don’t wait up. Go to sleep first"
"Ok, don't drink too much" the reply came in, Wu Suo Wei probably thought he was still at the company dinner. Chi Cheng stared at that message for a moment longer than he should.
Suddenly, a hand circled around his neck.
It was Guo Chengyu.
This was their usual bar beside the club—frequented enough to be familiar, but quiet enough to disappear into. Which meant someone must’ve tipped him off, telling him that Chi Cheng has been drinking late these few days here. Chi Cheng didn’t even need to ask.
They said nothing. They just sit there in silence, nursing their drinks, listening to the acoustic band playing in the background, soft and mellow, as if they somehow understood the clouds inside his chest. Chi Cheng kept his eyes on the performance, silently emptying his countless glass
"Go home. Just say you didn't see me here," he muttered without looking up.
Guo Chengyu sneered beside him. "Who are you worrying about? No one knows i’m here"
Actually, yesterday Guo Chengyu had been looking for him to talk about some business. He’d called Wu Suo Wei, asked if Chi Cheng had come home, but Wu Suo Wei said he had company dinner. He then called Gangzi to ask about the dinner’s location, but Gangzi told him it had ended hours ago—at 8 p.m.
Something didn’t sit right with him.
Guo Chengyu looked at his watch. It was already 11 p.m. Chi Cheng should’ve been home.
But he wasn’t.
Guo Chengyu then called the club they usually went to, even though it's been years since they both went there.
"Mr. Chi? haven't seen him for ages now. Does he say he'll come visit?" said his man there.
So not there either.
Chi Cheng was never the type to wander aimlessly. Now that he didn’t have his snake anymore, the list of his likely hiding places grew even shorter.
Guo Chengyu already suspected this might have something to do with Wu Suo Wei’s confession from a few days ago. So he called that one pub he and Chi Cheng used to go to.
As he thought, the owner confirmed that Chi Cheng had been there for two days straight. That make Guo Chengyu can relax a bit after knowing his brother's whereabouts and asking his man to keep an eye on him.
Today Guo Chengyu's man informed him that Chi Cheng is at the pub again and he decided to come himself now. Knowing his chatterbox boyfriend, he just said to him that he has some business to attend to.
When he arrived, Chi Cheng didn't look good.
His eyes, rather than cold or full of anger, it looks empty. To be honest Guo Chengyu is somewhat angry at him, he once again let others stirring his emotion out of his control. But he also knew—when it happened, it was always because Chi Cheng had fallen too deep. Gave too much. And, well… him being constipated all the time is not helping at all.
Guo Chengyu moved to sit beside him, leaning his weight lightly against Chi Cheng’s chest, just enough to feel close. He raised his glass,
"To the last one. Then we go home" he said, tone light but firm.
Chi Cheng didn’t respond, but he didn’t resist either. He knows when Guo Chengyu comes after him, it means he'll drag him home. No amount of protest would work, no matter what he said, just like how he used to be. That’s how it’s always been between them.
No matter if there's a cold war or not, even when things were rough, they were always watching over each other’s backs. Just like what they did at Liu 's birthday party, sending their own man to keep an eye on the other. Gangzi and Li Wang used to joke that the two of them may as well be twins with how in sync their feelings were.
"You worry too much," Chi Cheng finally muttered, standing up. Guo Chengyu followed, moving beside him, holding him steady.
"Sleep at my other house tonight if you're not ready to go home, I'll make an excuse later" he said, casually reaching into Chi Cheng’s pocket and taking his car key, signalling his man to drive it back.
"No need," Chi Cheng replied "He’s afraid of sleeping alone."
"You still have the energy to think about that?"
Chi Cheng let out a low laugh.
"What to do? He occupies all of my thoughts."
Guo Chengyu could only shake his head.
They arrive at Chi Cheng’s home at 3am. Guo Chengyu helped him quietly into the house, careful not to make a sound. He took Chi Cheng to the other room instead of his own bedroom, afraid of waking up Wu Suo Wei.
He gently eased Chi Cheng onto the bed, took off his shoes, and unbuttoned a few of the tighter buttons on his shirt. Then he pulled the quilt over him, tucking it just enough so the cool air wouldn’t make him uncomfortable.
For a moment, Guo Chengyu just stood there, staring down at him. He sighs, Chi Cheng’s face is calm now, but that blank look from earlier still lingered in his mind.
Just as he was standing up and ready to head out, he saw Wu Suo Wei standing at the door, his hair a little messy, eyes dim with sleeplessness.
"...You’re still awake?" he asked, slipping past him and heading toward the front door as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
Wu Suo Wei trailed after him, rubbing the back of his neck. “No… I just heard noise. Thought Chi Cheng was back.” His voice was low, hesitant, like he wasn’t sure if he should admit it.
From what Guo Chengyu knew, both master and disciple could sleep through a thunderstorm without stirring. For Wu Suo Wei to be standing here in the dead of night, there was only one explanation—he’d been waiting. Waiting for Chi Cheng to return and can't sleep well because of that.
"Guozi…what happened to him?" Wu Suo Wei asked, his eyes searching, almost pleading.
"What do you mean?" Guo Chengyu chuckled lightly, as sleek as ever dodging the question. But when he lifted his gaze again, Wu Suo Wei’s expression stopped him for half a beat—those furrowed brows, the restless worry in his eyes that he couldn’t quite hide.
"Don't worry," he said then, his tone turning calmer, more deliberate. "I needed him today to talk about some business stuff and we haven’t had a good drink or chat in ages, it’s my fault for letting him drink too much."
"I swear we didn't go to the club!" he added again putting his mischievous smile
That earned a small smirk from Wu Suo Wei. The tension around his shoulders eased as he leaned against the doorframe, a flicker of playfulness breaking through.
“Aaah… I almost called my master,” he said, half-teasing, half-relieved.
“Both chatterboxes,” Guo Chengyu muttered, though his eyes softened when he finally caught that smile. He gave Wu Suo Wei’s shoulder a light pat, a wordless reassurance. “Alright, I’m heading out. Go back to sleep. Good night.”
After Guo Chengyu left, Wu Suo Wei quietly walked to the other bedroom. Chi Cheng was fast asleep, his chest rising and falling slowly under the quilt. He slipped under the quilt, moving closer to Chi Cheng.
He looked at Chi Cheng in the dark. His face was so quiet now, peaceful, like nothing had happened. Like he didn’t disappear for hours into the night. Wu Suo Wei closed his eyes again, letting the steady rhythm of Chi Cheng’s breath soothe the twist in his chest.
Just for now, this was enough.