Chapter 28 Battle Royale

Chapter 28: A Minefield

"Your roommate says he's my fan... but he doesn't seem to like me much."

If anyone else said this, regardless of their tone, it would sound a bit passive-aggressive. But when Pei Zhi said it, it sounded like he was one second away from wiping Lin Jichuan off the face of the earth.

Good riddance—then nobody'd be competing with me for the heir spot.

— Just kidding. Even if Lin Jichuan were here, he couldn't take it from me.

"Whether he likes you or not doesn't matter." Lin Xishan's sweet talk rolled off his tongue without a second thought. "All that matters is that I like you."

The two of them hung out at the coffee shop a bit longer, shooting the breeze. Pei Zhi mentioned he had an important performance next week—investors were gonna be there, and if it went well, he'd have the funding for his next album locked in.

Lin Xishan said the school anniversary was next week, and since he was on the student council, he'd been given some stuff to handle and might be swamped for a few days.

As they talked, Pei Zhi suddenly asked, "That guy you mentioned before, Ji Huaixu—you two close?"

Lin Xishan was mid-sip on his latte and nearly choked. "Cough... How do you know Ji Huaixu?"

Pei Zhi's gaze landed on his face, with that familiar, laser-focused look he got when sizing up prey. "You mentioned it before. He's the one who helped you track down that forum poster."

Lin Xishan set down his cup and wiped the corner of his mouth. "We're not that close. He's just a classmate. I did him a small favor once, and he paid me back with this. Why do you ask?"

Pei Zhi didn't answer immediately. He slowly traced a circle around the rim of his coffee cup with his finger. "I've been meaning to ask—doesn't he like you? Why else would he go to all that trouble to help you?"

Lin Xishan laughed helplessly. "Here we go again. First it was Senior Shen, now it's Ji Huaixu. Do you think everyone who gets near me is into me?"

Pei Zhi didn't say anything, but his face clearly said, "obviously."

Apparently, the fallout from getting caught 'hanging out' with Ye Jiaonan was worse than he'd expected—now even people in the most random corners were being dragged out for questioning.

Lin Xishan said, trying to sound sincere: "Ji Huaixu is just a regular classmate."

Though even he didn't fully buy his own words.

Pei Zhi's voice came out flat: "Oh."

He didn't buy it anyway—Lin Xishan didn't even sound convinced himself.

Whatever. As long as he kept a close eye on him, that was enough.

Lin Xishan was about to say something to smooth things over when he caught a glimpse of someone walking in through the coffee shop door.

Dark blue hoodie, black-rimmed glasses—it was Ji Huaixu.

Speak of the devil.

Lin Xishan instinctively sat up straighter.

It wasn't that he felt guilty—he just never properly thanked Ji Huaixu in person for the forum thing. They hadn't run into each other since, and now that they had, basic politeness meant he should say thanks.

The problem was, Pei Zhi had just asked "doesn't he like you?" and now Ji Huaixu shows up out of nowhere. Talk about bad timing.

Ji Huaixu had clearly seen Lin Xishan too.

After grabbing his coffee, he walked over and said, "Lin Xishan, what a coincidence."

"Hey, Ji Huaixu." Lin Xishan stood up, smiling naturally. "Hey, about the forum thing—I never properly thanked you for that."

"No worries. It was nothing." Ji Huaixu's gaze slid past Lin Xishan and landed on Pei Zhi, lingering for a second. "Is this your friend?"

Before Lin Xishan could answer, Pei Zhi was already on his feet.

He came over and stood next to Lin Xishan, shoulder nearly brushing his, and fixed Ji Huaixu with a calm but unmistakable look of finality.

"I'm his boyfriend," Pei Zhi stated.

Ji Huaixu's face went blank for a second.

He looked at Pei Zhi, then at Lin Xishan.

Lin Xishan didn't deny it.

He just stood there, shoulder pressed against Pei Zhi's, with a helpless but indulgent smile, like he was saying, "That's just how he is, bear with him."

Ji Huaixu lowered his gaze and adjusted his glasses. The look behind those black frames was unreadable, but his voice stayed steady: "Got it. I'll head off then."

When he walked out, his steps were a little quicker than when he'd come in.

The wind chime on the door jingled once, then went quiet.

Lin Xishan turned to look at Pei Zhi.

Pei Zhi's face hadn't changed, but Lin Xishan noticed his hand was shoved in his coat pocket, the outline suggesting a clenched fist.

"Pei Zhi," Lin Xishan called.

Pei Zhi pulled his gaze away and met Lin Xishan's eyes, his voice tight: "He likes you. The way he looks at you is different."

Lin Xishan opened his mouth to argue, but the words died in his throat.

Yeah, he'd picked up on that too.

Pei Zhi stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly reached out and caught his wrist. "You really are popular."

It sounded like a complaint, but Lin Xishan could hear something more complicated underneath—something laced with unease and possessiveness.

"So it's safest for you to just stay by my side." Pei Zhi's voice dropped, as if talking to himself, or perhaps to Lin Xishan. "Don't go anywhere. Don't see anybody."

"Pei Zhi." Lin Xishan reached out and held his hand back. "I won't go see anyone else. And I won't let anyone get close to me. But you have to promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Remember that whether you're worthy is for me to decide, not you."

Pei Zhi's lashes fluttered. His lips parted, but in the end, he said nothing. He just squeezed Lin Xishan's hand tighter.

A barista walked past with a tray, accidentally catching a glimpse of their intertwined fingers. Their steps visibly hitched, then they quickly looked away and kept walking, pretending they hadn't seen a thing.

Lin Xishan watched the barista's hasty retreat and couldn't help but laugh.

"Let's go." He let go of Pei Zhi's hand, then took it again—this time just holding it instead of lacing their fingers together. "If we stay any longer, they're gonna kick us out."

Pei Zhi hummed in acknowledgment. The two of them walked out of the coffee shop hand in hand, winter sunlight spilling over their shoulders with a lazy warmth.

Lin Xishan thought, this must be what people mean by "peaceful days."

Even though things with Pei Zhi weren't fully figured out, even though he still had that black card Pei Zhi had shoved back into his pocket. But right now, with Pei Zhi walking beside him, it didn't feel half bad.

Then he saw Ye Jiaonan.

This guy just won't stay gone!

Although Lin Xishan knew he would have to face this sooner or later, did he really have to run into all of them in one day—Lin Jichuan, Ji Huaixu, and now Ye Jiaonan? This is seriously exhausting!

The moment Ye Jiaonan saw Lin Xishan, his eyes lit up and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Then he saw Pei Zhi beside Lin Xishan, and their fingers laced together.

The smile froze on his face.

...It felt like this wasn't the first time he'd seen this scene. Every time Pei Zhi appeared next to Lin Xishan, Ye Jiaonan always looked like the sky was falling.

Though this hit probably stung more than the last times, since in previous encounters, Lin Xishan and Pei Zhi's relationship had been somewhere between strangers and a sugar daddy arrangement, whereas now they were clearly mutually in love.

Oof, saying it like that feels a bit like patting myself on the back.

Lin Xishan stopped mid-thought.

Not that he wanted to.

It was because Ye Jiaonan was standing in the middle of the road, blocking their way.

The road wasn't even that narrow—he could've just walked around.

It wasn't that controlling force either—that didn't work when he was with Pei Zhi.

He stopped because of the way Ye Jiaonan was looking at him.

He couldn't really put that look into words.

It wasn't anger or sadness—more like a betrayed, lost, bewildered confusion, like he had no idea what he'd done wrong to end up here.

Like Lin Xishan was supposed to be his all along, like Pei Zhi was the homewrecker who'd stolen him away.

This time, he needed to cut ties cleanly while Pei Zhi was here. If they kept dragging this out, he was pretty sure Pei Zhi would actually snap.

"Xishan." Ye Jiaonan spoke, his voice a little shaky. "You two... you two are..."

He pointed at their joined hands, his finger trembling in the air before he pulled it back.

Lin Xishan didn't let go of Pei Zhi's hand.

"We're together now," Lin Xishan said, his tone flat but firm.

Ye Jiaonan's face went white in an instant.

"Together?" Ye Jiaonan repeated the word, his voice trembling. "What do you mean together? When did you two get together? Didn't you say before that you two had nothing going on? You lied to me?"

Lin Xishan furrowed his brow slightly.

In Ye Jiaonan's mind, Lin Xishan was supposed to be the one waiting for him forever.

Whether he liked Lin Jichuan or not, no matter how he used that affection, Lin Xishan would never leave.

Because he was the "simp second male lead" in a book, his whole purpose was to make Ye Jiaonan's protagonist aura shine brighter.

But now, this "simp second male lead" not only stopped simping, but had also gotten together with someone else.

To Ye Jiaonan, this was probably as hard to accept as the Earth suddenly stopping spinning.

—But hadn't he already been blocked like a dozen times? He'd even officially cut ties with the guy once. Why was he acting like the sky was falling for the first time?

Guess when he was being controlled, he'd been way too nice to Ye Jiaonan, making him dead sure Lin Xishan didn't care about being slandered by him.

Probably thanks to the sense of security from having Pei Zhi next to him, Lin Xishan still had the energy to roast him internally.

Lin Xishan answered flatly: "I didn't lie to you. Before, we really had nothing. Now we do."

Ye Jiaonan's eyes reddened, tears welling up, but he bit his lip and refused to let them fall.

Ye Jiaonan's gaze shifted to Pei Zhi, sharp enough to drill holes through him: "Is it because of you? Do you know what Xishan was like before? He was kind, gentle, good to me. After you showed up, he changed—became cold, stopped paying attention to me, became—"

"He was never yours to begin with." Pei Zhi spoke, concise and cutting. "He's mine."

Lin Xishan smiled, leaning his head against Pei Zhi's shoulder: "Yeah, that's right."

"But you've been with me all these days, agreeing to everything I asked. How am I supposed to believe you just turned around and got together with someone else?" If Lin Xishan hadn't known Ye Jiaonan's true character from the plot, he might have actually been fooled by this sincere act.

"None of that was my true heart." Lin Xishan said. "I was being controlled."