If he really did like someone… Zhou Yanxing wasn’t sure what he might end up doing.
Chu Xingxiao didn’t even lift his gaze.
“My apartment flooded. My ge was kind enough to take me in. I don’t see how that concerns you, President Zhou.”
Zhou Yanxing replied coolly, “Then get a new place. Have your agent submit a request.”
Chu Xingxiao shot back, “I like staying at ge’s place. I’m happy here. Aren’t you overstepping, trying to control where I live? That level of possessiveness is a problem—you should get that checked out.”
His tone was openly provocative. The tension at the table skyrocketed.
Chi Zhan paused mid-bite. Partly due to their escalating exchange… and partly because—
His leg had been nudged again under the table. This time, the touch was more brazen, almost climbing along his ankle. Even if he’d been slow to realize it before, now there was no doubt: it was deliberate.
And they were still at the dinner table.
Chi Zhan glanced discreetly at who could’ve reached him. Only Cen Chi and Zhou Yanxing were seated directly opposite. Zhou Yanxing sat farther away and was mid-argument with Chu Xingxiao—there was no way it was him.
Which meant… it had to be Cen Chi.
“……”
Cen Chi remained calmly focused on his food, eating zhajiangmian with the elegance of someone dining on steak. When he felt Chi Zhan’s glare, he looked up and raised an innocent brow, as if asking, “What’s wrong?”
Dr. Cen could certainly play the innocent well—but under the table, his foot hadn’t stopped. Even through Chi Zhan’s lounge pants, the touch was unmistakable, and now it had even slipped inside his pant leg.
Zhou Yanxing didn’t take the bait. If a few words from this brat could rattle him, he wouldn’t be Zhou Yanxing.
“Maybe you’re just freeloading at Chi Zhan’s place, and he’s too polite to kick you out,” Zhou said coldly. “I heard you were already packing your things a few days ago. What’s left of yours in this apartment?”
“……”
Chi Zhan tried to shift his leg, attempting to escape the teasing contact. But multitasking—dodging under-table flirtation while listening to a tense argument—was pure torment.
“…Cen Chi.” Chi Zhan uttered the name with a warning laced into his voice.
Cen Chi gave him a mild smile. “What is it?”
What is it, my ass.
Chi Zhan couldn’t exactly say, “You’re touching me,” so he picked up his phone, preparing to text Cen Chi and tell him to knock it off.
But before he could, that damn foot pushed further into his pant leg again.
“What business is it of yours? Ge hasn’t said anything.” Chu Xingxiao’s patience was finally cracking. “I’m telling you, ge doesn’t like you. Even if you were the Jade Emperor, it wouldn’t matter!”
Chi Zhan’s hand trembled, and he immediately jerked his leg back. Before Cen Chi could follow, he stomped down on his foot—firmly—warning him to stop.
The next second, Zhou Yanxing narrowed his gaze at Chu Xingxiao and asked icily, “And who exactly are you to say that? Just because you’re his ‘boyfriend’?”
The table went dead silent.
Qi Song, who had been sipping water, froze mid-motion. He slowly set the glass down and turned his deep, obsidian eyes toward Chi Zhan, then asked in a quiet voice.
“—Boyfriend?”
***
Cen Chi’s lips curled, his gaze brushing meaningfully over Chi Zhan—as if he’d long seen this moment coming.
“……”
The car crash came like a tornado—sudden and catastrophic.
Zhou Yanxing’s question was like a pause button for reality. Chu Xingxiao’s expression stiffened briefly before he quickly recovered, retorting, “Isn’t that enough?”
Pretending not to hear the implication behind Zhou’s words.
His response was fast. When Zhou tried to provoke him, Chu Xingxiao had already thought of a counter, showing no cracks in his defense.
But inside, Chi Zhan’s mind was in chaos—wave after wave of panic crashing over him, dragging him under.
…He was screwed.
Of the four men at the table, two had been used as shields in his elaborate web of white lies. Zhou Yanxing’s blunt question had just shattered it all.
Yet strangely… no one followed up.
Qi Song only asked that single question. After that, he returned to his meal in silence, calmly eating noodles. The only sounds left were the faint clinks of utensils against bowls.
Somehow, this eerie calm made Chi Zhan even more anxious.
“Ah-Zhan.”
Cen Chi suddenly spoke, his pale gray eyes watching him through the gleam of his glasses, his voice laced with a faint, amused helplessness.
“…Do you like stepping on me that much?”
Chi Zhan had only been stepping on him to keep him from moving. But distracted by Zhou and Chu’s verbal sparring, he’d frozen in place, never changing posture. Now that Cen Chi had pointed it out, the whole thing took on a charged, suggestive undertone.
Chi Zhan quickly retracted his leg and shot him a warning glare. Cen Chi, ever the picture of elegance, remained unbothered.
But Chu Xingxiao couldn’t take it anymore.
He’d known from the start that this doctor was trouble.
“Ge, switch seats with me,” Chu said coldly, his presence suddenly assertive. “Some people clearly have ulterior motives. Better to be cautious.”
He stared pointedly across the table, leaving no doubt who he meant.
Cen Chi merely smiled, unfazed.
“If you two switch seats, someone might be even happier.”
Zhou Yanxing shot him a cold glance.
“All right,” Chi Zhan said wearily. “Can we just eat, please?”
His mind was a mess. He’d thought he could hold out a little longer—but life had a way of throwing chaos at you exactly when you weren’t ready.
Fortunately, everyone at the table—barring Chu Xingxiao—still knew how to save face. For now, Chi Zhan could manage him, and the awkward dinner barely held together.
But eventually… he’d have to explain.
Why, despite already having a “boyfriend” named Qi Song online, he suddenly had an idol boyfriend too.
