AFAILIAST CHAPTER 7

Chapter 7 — A Different Kind of Peak in Life

After they finished registering the marriage, Pei Ji rode back to the hotel in Chu Tinghan’s car.

Before parting, Chu Tinghan lowered the window, arched his brows, and, in a rare good mood, told him, “See you tomorrow.”

Pei Ji, however, was not swept up in that cheerfulness. He looked preoccupied and only gave a slow, lukewarm nod.

Watching Pei Ji’s heavy back as he walked away, Chu Tinghan frowned slightly. He had the feeling the man wanted to go back on his word.

Backing out was impossible. What Pei Ji felt now was regret.

It was strange. Before meeting Chu Tinghan, he could keep a clear head. Ever since then, everything had bolted like a wild horse, completely beyond his control.

Marriage had been Chu Tinghan’s idea. Moving in together seemed to have been gently coached by Chu Tinghan as well.

He had actually agreed to live with a man he barely knew after a flash marriage. Even thinking about it now felt unbelievable.

Pei Ji opened the door to his room, tossed his jacket aside, and rubbed his hair in frustration.

Why did he agree?

Yes, he had wronged the other party and there was a child involved. Getting married was taking responsibility.

But moving in immediately was a step he could not digest yet.

Just then, his phone started ringing.

He glanced at the screen. Of course, it was the source of all his current distress: Chu Tinghan.

His head was a mess, and he was in no state to talk.

But the ringtone went on and on, knotting his thoughts even tighter.

He stood up, paced around the bed once, took a deep breath, and finally answered.

He did not speak right away. He wanted Chu Tinghan to go first so he could think before replying.

He waited a long time, but there was only silence.

Puzzled, Pei Ji checked the top of the screen.

Full bars. It should not be a signal issue.

“…Hello?” he tried.

Chu Tinghan’s voice came instantly. “Why didn’t you say anything just now?” he asked, unhurried and relaxed.

He sounded normal, even in a decent mood.

Why didn’t he speak? Because he had no idea what to say, obviously.

But Pei Ji did not dare admit that. Staring at the full signal, he said calmly, “I did. Maybe the signal was bad and you didn’t hear me.”

“Did you need something?” he added.

Chu Tinghan seemed to buy it and did not press him. “Can’t I call you for no reason?”

A response he had not expected.

For a moment, Pei Ji had no idea how to answer and stood there awkwardly.

Before he could think of anything, he heard a soft, barely-there chuckle over the line.

Then Chu Tinghan said, “I’ll pick you up tomorrow afternoon. I’m calling to remind you to pack.”

And to hear his newlywed husband’s voice.

A pity that this person was stingy with words; a ten-minute call yielded only three sentences.

It was as if speaking one more line would cost him his life.

Still, since Chu Tinghan was in high spirits, those three sentences were enough to keep him mulling over them all night.

The call ended quickly after they settled the time.

The next morning, Pei Ji packed his luggage and sat on the edge of the bed pondering life.

There was no turning back after drawing the bow. He could not keep retreating.

He had promised to take responsibility, and he would shoulder it.

Marry one person or another, live with one person or another, it was all the same in form.

Besides, the other party was apparently a lovestruck music god who adored him to death.

From any angle, he had lucked out.

Golden sunlight streamed through the window and spilled over him with gentle warmth.

He lifted a hand to touch that invisible light without thinking.

There was no medicine for regret. He could not back away; he had to move forward.

Once he convinced himself of that, his chest felt lighter.

That afternoon, Chu Tinghan arrived half an hour earlier than planned.

He parked near the hotel and sent a message that he was there.

When the message came in, Pei Ji walked to the window in surprise and looked down. Sure enough, he saw the familiar black car.

Even married, he still could not read Chu Tinghan’s odd temper.

Afraid that the temperamental sponsor would flare up, he grabbed his jacket in one hand and his suitcase in the other and rushed downstairs, worried that Chu Tinghan might change his mind and leave him behind.

At the hotel entrance, he scanned around with his coat over his arm, but there was no sign of the black car.

It had been there three minutes ago. How could it vanish?

It had not been that long. Surely he was not that impatient.

Refusing to believe it, Pei Ji hauled his suitcase in a circle around the hotel.

Turning a corner, the familiar black car slid back into view.

He let out a breath.

Thank goodness he had not left. If he had, there would be no coaxing him back a second time.

As he approached, he saw the car was empty. No sign of Chu Tinghan.

Maybe it was stuffy inside, so he had gone elsewhere to wait.

Pei Ji set the suitcase beside the car and was about to look for him when he heard a very faint meow.

It sounded young, probably a tiny stray.

His feet stopped moving of their own accord.

For as long as he could remember, maybe out of sympathy for the weak, he had no defenses against small, fragile creatures.

He hesitated between looking for Chu Tinghan or feeding the kitten.

After checking the time, he clenched his teeth and followed the sound.

They were early anyway.

Saving a kitten along the way was not unreasonable.

The sound came from behind the car.

Afraid of scaring it off, he slowed his steps and crept closer.

When he rounded the back, he froze.

It was not a kitten he saw, but a person.

It was actually Chu Tinghan.

Chu Tinghan was kneeling on one knee with his back to him, head lowered as if watching something on the ground.

Then he saw Chu Tinghan pull out a cat treat from somewhere and start to tear it open.

Pei Ji shifted sideways and craned his neck to see.

Earlier the angle had blocked his view, but now he clearly saw a little calico fluff ball curled at Chu Tinghan’s feet.

The tiny cat was nibbling the treat in small, slow bites, and Chu Tinghan did not rush it. He simply bent over and waited patiently for it to finish.

The sight made Pei Ji’s feelings go a bit odd.

In his mind, Chu Tinghan was proud and cold, the kind of person who would never pause for an insignificant stray.

Reality said otherwise. He had not only stopped; he was patiently feeding it.

He was even kneeling on the grass with a bit of dirt on his hem, without the slightest superstar airs.

Who was this, if not the Chu he thought he knew?

Raising his brows in surprise, Pei Ji took two steps forward and called, “Chu Tinghan.”

His voice was soft, but kittens were twitchy by nature. At the same moment, the little one dropped the treat, bolted past Chu Tinghan, and vanished from sight in a blink.

Chu Tinghan had not even gotten the chance to pat its tiny head.

“…”

Pei Ji stood there, mortified.

Was he really that scary? One word and he frightened a kitten away?

Scratching his head, he said sheepishly, “If I say I didn’t mean it, will you believe me?”

Chu Tinghan stood, brushed the dirt from his clothes, and his expression settled back into cool indifference, as if the patient, gentle man feeding a kitten moments ago had never existed.

“So, uh…” Pei Ji racked his brain for a way to break the awkwardness. “Where’s the driver?”

Chu Tinghan glanced at him, mildly surprised. “I am.”

Pei Ji choked on his own words.

He should not have asked.

What had he done to deserve the great Mr. Chu acting as his chauffeur?

Avoiding his gaze, Pei Ji braced himself and shoved the suitcase into the trunk.

Closing it, he walked to the driver’s side and offered, a bit feebly, “Maybe I should drive.”

“You can?” Chu Tinghan sounded doubtful.

Pei Ji’s hand froze on the handle.

After the college entrance exam, he had started driver’s training and passed the written test, but in the week before he “crossed over,” he had just begun practicing side parking.

His driving skills extended to backing into a space. That was all.

Silently withdrawing his hand, he went to the passenger seat and gave a wry smile. “You should drive.”

And so, the “big scumbag” Pei Ji sat once more in the passenger seat while the sponsor drove.

On the road, he watched the scenery streak backward and thought, utterly hopeless, that if being a kept man could be done to this degree, maybe that was a different kind of peak in life.

---

After Pei Ji moved into Chu Tinghan’s home, the first person beaming with joy was Aunt Zhang.

Maybe people like to see “lovers finally united” when they get older.

She started prepping at dawn and laid out a table heaped with dishes.

She called it the first reunion dinner the house had seen in months.

Reunion dinner?

At that word, Pei Ji choked on his water and coughed for a long time before he recovered.

Reunion felt very far from his life, and the number of reunion dinners he had ever had was next to none.

He had not expected the next time he heard that word to be after a flash marriage and in his sponsor’s house.

It felt unreal.

Given the state of things between him and Chu Tinghan, calling them a family was a stretch, never mind a reunion.

But Pei Ji was not one to spoil other people’s moods. He simply went along with Aunt Zhang and smiled.

Chu Tinghan, on the other hand, clearly liked the term. His expression brightened visibly, and he even ate half a bowl more than usual.

Pei Ji had little appetite and picked at his rice.

“Don’t like the dishes?” Chu Tinghan set down his chopsticks and glanced across the table.

How could anyone be unhappy with a spread like this?

“It’s not that,” Pei Ji explained. “I’m just not that hungry.”

And he had some things on his mind.

Chu Tinghan stared at the table for a moment, then lifted his chopsticks to place a dish into Pei Ji’s bowl.

Pei Ji panicked.

Having the sponsor drive him was one thing. Letting the sponsor serve his food was a death wish.

He moved faster, slipped a shrimp into Chu Tinghan’s bowl, and even tried to curl his lips into a polite smile so it would not look rude.

“By the way, how did we get along before?” he asked.

At that, Chu Tinghan paused.

He studied Pei Ji for a beat.

Paired with his action and tone, the question sounded an awful lot like: how did he used to freeload off him?

Before Chu Tinghan could answer, Pei Ji piled more food into his bowl, almost building a small hill.

“Uh… hey?” Pei Ji’s hand stopped. He set down his chopsticks and plucked out a white hair from the dish.

Chu Tinghan’s gaze shifted, his fine brows tightening almost imperceptibly.

“What’s this?” Pei Ji asked.

A thin white strand, neither short nor long.

“Probably Aunt Zhang’s hair fell in while cooking,” Chu Tinghan said without changing expression.

Pei Ji frowned. “Really?”

“Mhm,” Chu Tinghan replied blandly, as if this was nothing new.

Though skeptical, Pei Ji could not think what else it might be, so he let it go for the moment.

But even after dinner, the white hair lingered in his mind.

He felt it was important.

Was he forgetting something?

He thought and thought, and then a spark lit up.

It did not look like human hair. It looked more like an animal’s.

At once he thought of the stray cat from earlier.

A tiny, furry ball, pitiful and small.

He could not bear to leave it hungry and shivering outside. After weighing it for a moment, he asked, “About that cat today—”

“No time to raise one,” Chu Tinghan cut in coolly.

Even with the refusal, Pei Ji slipped out later to look for the lonely little stray.

He searched the area for an entire afternoon and did not see a trace.

Dark thoughts crept up despite himself.

It had only been a short while. Surely nothing had happened to it.

The sun was sinking. Bathed in the dim light, his strength seemed to drain away, and a low mood wrapped around him.

He drifted home.

Besides the kitten, another small figure surfaced in his mind for no reason.

The child he had never met, the two-year-old he had with Chu Tinghan.

He wondered how the kid was doing.

With a father as unreliable and scummy as him, life could not be easy…

When he got back, Pei Ji stood in the doorway and looked at Chu Tinghan, his face unreadable. His voice was low. “Chu Tinghan, do we have a two-year-old child?”

Chu Tinghan set down his work and sat up straighter on the sofa without thinking. A flicker of alarm flashed in his eyes.

It faded quickly. In the blink of an eye, his calm returned.

Before he could respond, he heard Pei Ji speak again, soft and distant. “Can I see him?”

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