LIAH 29. Knew You Were the Best

On Friday afternoon, Pei Siyin’s troupe won first place in the drama competition, and as promised, he made good on his word.

Yao Lu and a few girls huddled around him, giggling with a sense of mystery. One of them held an unopened package and nudged his waist lightly with her elbow. “Senior, go on.”

Pei Siyin finished the last sip of his bottled water, then resignedly took the package from Yao Lu’s hands. He gave it a light bounce in his palm. “It’s not anything weird, is it?”

“No, no.” Yao Lu waved both hands frantically, her eyes gleaming with excitement. She gave him a firm assurance. “Totally, totally proper.”

Pei Siyin went into the dressing room. After changing, he spent a few moments in front of the mirror, turning side to side to get a look.

It was technically proper, just a little short for his taste.

He tucked the pants he had just taken off into his backpack, opened the dressing room door, and stepped out. Yao Lu had been waiting right outside, crouched at the entrance, gazing up at him with hopeful anticipation. Pei Siyin knocked her lightly on the head from behind, then took a couple of steps forward and spun around in front of her. “Well?”

Yao Lu stayed crouched in a daze. Pei Siyin caught her jaw with a hand. “Careful, you’re about to drool.”

The sunlight outside the building was blinding. Pei Siyin wore a light purple short-sleeved shirt on top, a fox-shaped pendant hanging from his neck down to his chest. On the bottom, he had on a black pleated mini skirt, just short enough to barely cover his ass.

He had never trained seriously, but his arms were far from soft. There was a faint tightness to the muscles, not overly defined but just enough to be attractive. The short sleeves covered his upper arms and left his pale forearms exposed. Because his skin was so fair, the veins running just beneath it stood out clearly, making him look unbelievably sexy.

His legs were long and straight. With the skirt on, they were even more eye-catching.

As he bent down to lock the door, a sliver of his lower back peeked out from beneath his shirt. The curve of his waist was a perfect, elegant arc. Yao Lu snapped her gaze away and, sneaking a glance around, quickly raised her phone to take a photo of him from behind.

The shot was angled slightly from above. It captured the slender, pale nape of his neck, the exposed strip of waist beneath his shirt, and the long legs extending from under the hem of the pleated skirt.

The dozen or so members of the drama club gathered around. The boys all teased Pei Siyin, saying he had spoiled the girls too much. “You could’ve just brushed it off. Why go through all this just to keep a promise?”

Pei Siyin didn’t even lift his head. “A promise is a promise. I said I’d do it, so I have to.”

“Exactly, exactly,” the girls chimed in all at once, their eyes glowing with sincerity as they looked at him. “Our Senior Pei is the absolute best.”

The group laughed and chattered until they finally decided to celebrate their win at a KTV—the perfect spot to party after dinner.

With the weekend ahead, no one was in a rush to head home. They played hard into the night. Over a dozen beer bottles littered the table, plus two crates the servers had just hauled out. After opening the last bottle, Pei Siyin collapsed in a drunken daze on the couch, dozing off.

When their reservation time ran out, the screen cut off mid-song, and the room fell silent.

The phone on the couch rang three or four times, but Pei Siyin didn’t stir at all. In the end, it was Yao Lu who picked it up for him.

The girls hadn’t drunk much, so they were the ones helping carry Pei Siyin out. Just as they stepped through the main doors, a man in a black tie-dye shirt approached them. His sunglasses were hooked backward on the back of his head, and his open collar exposed the chain around his neck, the exact same fox-shaped pendant as Pei Siyin’s.

When Song Shengyang saw Pei Siyin, he paused for a couple of seconds in surprise. Then he smiled warmly, greeted the drama club members, and slid an arm around Pei Siyin’s waist to take him off their hands.

Yao Lu watched them walk away, then quickly raised her phone to snap another photo.

One of the girls beside her asked, “Is that Senior Pei’s boyfriend?”

Yao Lu was not completely sure, but she vaguely remembered the hickey on Pei Siyin’s neck, the one she had helped him cover with makeup. “Looks like it.”

The girl looked at the two of them disappearing down the road, then glanced at the photo Yao Lu had just taken. “They look perfect together.”

As they walked, Song Shengyang kept his eyes on those long, pale legs next to him. He stuffed Pei Siyin into the passenger seat and bent down to fasten his seatbelt. The cool metal of his pendant brushed against Pei Siyin’s cheek. Pei Siyin opened his eyes, caught the chain with a hooked finger, and gave it a tug.

“What is it?” Song Shengyang asked. “Drank too much and now you’re acting out?”

Pei Siyin didn’t answer. He just smiled at him and pulled Song Shengyang’s hand onto his thigh, his eyes gleaming. “I wore a skirt. Does it look good?”

Song Shengyang’s heart began to pound uncontrollably, like it was about to burst from his throat. Even though he had already done everything there was to do with Pei Siyin, he still couldn’t help reacting to this kind of casual teasing.

He glanced at Pei Siyin, Adam’s apple bobbing, and answered honestly, “It looks good.”

A hand reached up to the back of his neck, pulling him down. Pei Siyin tilted his head up, closed his eyes, and kissed the corner of Song Shengyang’s mouth.

“I want to go home,” Pei Siyin said.

He didn’t say which home. So Song Shengyang made the decision for him and brought him back to his own apartment.

Since it was not a good idea to shower while drunk, Song Shengyang dampened a towel and wiped Pei Siyin down thoroughly, inside and out. He didn’t bother putting any clothes on him afterward, just wrapped him in the blanket.

The floor lamp was still on. Pei Siyin was deeply asleep from the alcohol. After Song Shengyang finished his own shower, he got into bed, pulled the blanket over them, and turned to face him. He looked at Pei Siyin’s peaceful sleeping face and reached under the blanket, hand drifting downward to brush over his bare skin.

His body was even more sensitive when drunk, and considering how often they had been in bed together lately, every inch of him already bore Song Shengyang’s imprint.

Pei Siyin trembled slightly, but Song Shengyang only gave his waist a gentle squeeze and did nothing more.

He kept looking at him, gaze like a brush outlining every detail of that face. Then he smiled, with something like a sigh. “I really did fall for a man.”

Then, speaking to no one in particular, he took Pei Siyin’s hand and clasped it between them. Propping himself up, he kissed the tip of Pei Siyin’s nose and whispered, “Wife.”

A moment of dazed silence passed before his mind cleared. Song Shengyang hesitated, then flopped back onto the pillow, visibly pleased for reasons even he couldn’t explain.

He reached for his phone on the bedside table, opened the camera app, and started recording a video. A solo performance began, one where he spoke and Pei Siyin, fast asleep, didn’t need to say a word.

“Wife, can you wear a skirt next time we’re in bed?”

In the video, Pei Siyin’s sleeping face was calm and serene, only the faint sound of his breathing audible. Song Shengyang leaned in close, their heads nearly touching, staring at the image of the two of them on screen. “Since you’re drunk, I’ll answer for you. I agree. You can.”

Then he turned his head and kissed Pei Siyin on the cheek, utterly pleased. “Knew you were the best. I’ll buy the skirt for you.”