He turned around and found the air hazy under the dim, shifting lights. She was smoking, and the glass in front of her was still filled to the brim with liquor.
"Good smoke?" Song Feng wiped his hands dry, crossed the room to the sofa in a few strides, and pinched out her cigarette along the way.
"Not bad." Shu Dong didn't seem upset that he had snatched it away; she just gazed lazily at the television.
"Why are you smoking?" The cigarette was a slender women's brand with a very mild scent. Song Feng tossed it into the ashtray.
"Nothing to do and nowhere to be." Shu Dong took a sip of her drink.
"..." Song Feng froze, having expected some profound answer. "Then do you want to do something?"
As his voice trailed off, the noises started up again from next door.
Shu Dong shifted her gaze from the TV screen to Song Feng's face and suddenly smiled. "Song Feng."
"Your big brother's here."
"You're quite a flirt."
"..."
Song Feng took off his baseball cap, revealing his whole face. He wondered if this girl had a split personality—sometimes she really was like a piece of wood, and other times...
Like right now, the piece of wood had turned into a spirit and learned how to stick a knife in your back.
"You're very pretty." Song Feng's mouth, likely warped by Chen Hui's daily earfuls, spoke the words before he even thought about them.
Having never been complimented like this by anyone else, Shu Dong felt a slight stiffness in her face, though she believed she would soon build up an immunity to his nonsense. "When are you leaving?"
Song Feng glanced at the time. "Not even ten yet. Tired?"
A sudden gust of cool wind blew in through the window. Shu Dong stared out into the night without speaking.
The brainless idol drama continued on the television, but Song Feng hadn't absorbed a single minute of it all evening. If he left now, he knew she would just drink herself into a stupor all alone.
Yet what did that have to do with him?
And yet, tonight was filled with too many whys that had no answers—like why he had come to her place in the first place.
"Keep me company and have a drink." Shu Dong got up from the sofa, opened the fridge, and brought out a few cans of beer, setting them on the coffee table.
Song Feng smiled. Little Wood was feeling a bit proactive today. "How much can you hold?"
Shu Dong: "I don't know."
Song Feng: "What a coincidence, neither do I."
Both of them were dressed in black. Shu Dong wore something light and thin, while Song Feng was bundled up from head to toe, neat and tightly sealed.
Shu Dong had never gone out drinking with friends because she didn't have any. If Song Feng hadn't kept actively provoking her on ordinary days, they would never have sat here drinking together. She only ever drank a little by herself at home and had never had very much, so she had no idea what her tolerance was.
As for Boss Song, he frequently went out drinking with a bunch of deadbeat pals and had never once been drunk, so he had no idea what his tolerance was either.
"Got any dice? Just drinking straight is a bit boring, isn't it?" Boss Song looked like an old hand at this.
"No."
Out of Shu Dong's line of sight, the corners of Song Feng's mouth twitched. He had been waiting for her to say that exact thing.
"We can use the dice on WeChat. Add me." Song Feng took out his phone and pulled up his QR code.
Shu Dong didn't suspect a thing. She picked up her phone from the coffee table and scanned it. The contact info popped up almost immediately, and when she saw his profile picture, she let out a laugh.
It turned out to be a photo of himself—a profile shot in a black hoodie with the hood up, taken when Chen Hui hadn't been paying attention. Song Feng had thought it looked pretty good, so he had changed it to that.
"What are you laughing at? Isn't it better looking than your little train?" The photo had been taken by Chen Hui when he wasn't looking, and Song Feng thought it looked pretty sharp, so he switched to it.
"Mhm, it's nice."
Shu Dong wasn't wearing shoes; she sat cross-legged, curled up in the corner of the sofa. She used to think he was arrogant, excessive, and thoroughly bad, but after getting to know him, she realized he was quite childish and not all that bad after all.
"Whoever rolls lower drinks."
"Fine."
With that, Song Feng tossed a die into her chat box.
A 2.
"Damn it!"
Shu Dong laughed and sent one out as well. It slowly rolled to a stop: a 6.
"Not bad luck." Song Feng popped open a can of iced beer with one hand and polished off half of it. "Again."
Song Feng: a 2 again.
Shu Dong: a 1.
"And you still win!" Song Feng let out a laugh.
Shu Dong reached for her glass, but Song Feng blocked her path. "We're not drinking for this round."
Shu Dong: "What are you doing?"
Song Feng: "Changing profile pictures."
Shu Dong raised her eyes in confusion. "Aren't we drinking?"
"No. Whoever wins gets to make the loser do whatever they want." Song Feng talked nonsense without batting an eye.
"..."
Shu Dong clearly remembered him saying "the lower roll drinks" just a moment ago, but she didn't feel like arguing with him. Besides, there were a few things she wanted to ask him anyway.
With a crisp *click*, Shu Dong received a photo immediately afterward.
Song Feng: "Change your little train."
Shu Dong clicked on the image and stared at the familiar yet strange girl inside...
Song Feng was also admiring his own work. Anything looks good when you snap a picture of a pretty person on a whim. She was curled up on the sofa like a cat, her head tilted slightly, her long hair draped over her shoulders and veiling her collarbone. She was holding a wine glass, looking a bit melancholic and somewhat languid.
"Can I not change it?" The person in the photo looked too good; Shu Dong barely recognized herself.
Even so, she had to recognize who she was.
"No." Song Feng was cold and ruthless.
With her eyelashes drooping low, Shu Dong stared at the photo, lost in thought. After a moment, she switched it.
"Done."
"Mhm." Catching her out of the corner of his eye, Song Feng wondered if he was bullying her again.
Another round: Song Feng rolled a 3, Shu Dong rolled a 6.
"What happened between you and Yu Zhiyi?" Shu Dong looked straight into Song Feng's eyes, and she clearly caught the imperceptible shift in his expression the moment she finished the question.
The autumn weather was growing steadily cooler. Song Feng gripped his canned beer, which still held the chill from the refrigerator. "We got into a fight."
"Why?"
"That's your second question." Song Feng flashed his roguish smile again.
Curiosity began to creep through her heart. Shu Dong watched his smile, and the gloomy darkness from a moment ago seemed like nothing more than her own illusion.
Shu Dong threw a die: a 5. Song Feng followed with a 6.
Song Feng smiled with malicious intent. "Meow like a cat."
Shu Dong froze. She lifted her eyes to look at Song Feng and didn't say anything.
Song Feng: "Hurry up."
Extremely reluctant, Shu Dong gave a perfunctory, "Meow."
Song Feng: "Too quiet, can't hear you."
"..." Shu Dong's irritation began to flare up. She wanted to kick him off the couch, but instead she gave another half-hearted, "Meow-meow."
Song Feng held back a laugh. "Softly."
Shu Dong let out a long breath, picked up the throw pillow beside her, and hurled it straight at him.
Song Feng leaned back at the waist and caught it. "Why are you getting physical?"
Shu Dong didn't want to deal with him; she just wanted to pry answers out of his mouth. She quickly rolled the dice again: a 6.
Song Feng chuckled, followed with a 1.
"Why did you fight?"
Unlike Song Feng's teasing, harmless questions, Shu Dong was direct. She wanted to get to the bottom of the questions that had lingered in her mind without answers for so long, and it was rare for her to look this impatient.
"He bullied me." Song Feng put on a pitiful, aggrieved expression.
Exhaling a long breath, Shu Dong leaned back powerlessly against the sofa, picked up her glass, and drank it down in one gulp. He had no intention of answering her at all.
"Mad? I'll tell you later."
Boss Song seemed to realize he had gone a bit too far; once he finished bullying her, he started trying to coax her. But Shu Dong ignored him and poured herself drink after drink.
The room was dead quiet. Then, the phone on the coffee table suddenly buzzed.
The screen lit up. It was Yu Zhiyi.
Shu Dong stared blankly at the name. In an instant, everything that had happened during the day crashed into her mind—a fierce, silent collision. It hurt so much it felt as though her heart was tearing apart.
That boy who always looked so clean and gentle had contemptuously trampled on her feelings and her life.
The phone rang until it disconnected on its own, but Shu Dong never picked it up.
Watching her devastated state, Song Feng cracked open another can of beer. "Do you see him clearly now?"
Her eyes welled up with tears; with just the slightest blink, they would fall. Shu Dong didn't speak, staring silently at the darkened phone screen.
"Want to make life miserable for him?"
His slender legs crossed, Song Feng leaned lazily against the sofa, completely at ease yet radiating hidden danger. From the moment he spoke those words, he had already mapped out countless curtain-call exits for his prey.
Shu Dong was momentarily stunned. She had never entertained such a thought. Wiping away her tears, she looked at Song Feng.
"Be with me, and he'll come looking for you." Song Feng dangled the temptation further.
The images from the daytime and Yu Zhiyi's past gentleness tore violently against each other in Shu Dong's mind. It was so ironic.
Shu Dong looked at Song Feng. She had never wanted Yu Zhiyi to come back and look for her, nor had she ever thought of taking revenge on him. But the miserable taste in her heart—she really, truly wanted to make him taste it too.
Be with Song Feng?
"Why?" Yu Zhiyi was such a selfish person, and she had zero utility value left to him. Shu Dong didn't believe he would ever look back at her again.
"Because as long as it's mine, he'll try to steal it." A dark smile suddenly broke across Song Feng's face.
Time seemed to stall in the heavy silence of the room. Shu Dong's fingers clenched together uncontrollably. Her life was just like this—devoid of hope, the end visible at a single glance. She didn't want to exact revenge on anyone anymore; she was simply too tired.
Yet the grief of being deceived churned over and over in the depths of her heart, threatening to drown her.
"Fine." Shu Dong's eyes settled into a calm born of fierce struggle.
Song Feng was about to take a drink, then paused. He lifted his head. "Do you know what you just agreed to?"
"I know."
Song Feng gazed at her face for a long time, his expression turning serious in a way it never had before. "But remember this: I don't like you."
He might have been a bit wild before, but initially, he had only been toying with her because of Yu Zhiyi. Later on, there had been a flicker of pity... but no matter what, it was still a long way from liking her. Song Feng was crystal clear on that, and he didn't want her to misunderstand.
Shu Dong turned her head and gave him a cold look. "Fine, I don't like you either."
***
If anyone else had said they didn't like him under these circumstances, Song Feng would have assumed they were sulking or playing hard to get. But if that person was Shu Dong...
He believed her. She truly didn't like him. Song Feng smiled, quite satisfied with her attitude.
Just as the two of them had mutually declared their lack of affection for one another, the phone rang again...
It was Yu Zhiyi.
This time, it was a video call.
On the sofa, the two of them were seated very close together. Though they weren't pressed against each other, all it took was a slight tilt of the head for their shoulders to brush.
Shu Dong shifted her gaze away from the phone screen and glanced at Song Feng.
Song Feng smiled, slung an arm around Shu Dong's shoulders, and pulled her into his embrace before accepting the call.
A relationship could be settled with a single word, but feelings couldn't be resolved quite so easily. Shu Dong was startled by the sudden intimacy, but a moment later, she found him a bit childish and couldn't help a small smile.
Yet this scene, which looked warm and sweet on the surface, was captured in full by Yu Zhiyi the moment the video connected.
From shock and disbelief to a gradually hardening, vicious glare as his knuckles whitened around the phone, Yu Zhiyi's eyes turned sinister. "What are you two doing?"
Only then did Shu Dong realize the video was connected. Her smile slowly froze on her face, and she instinctively tried to pull away from Song Feng, but the moment she shifted upward, his arm tightened around her even more.
"You can see, can't you?" Song Feng smiled with harmless innocence, holding the phone in one hand while his other hand gently stroked Shu Dong's hair.
Though Shu Dong was still inexperienced, Boss Song was thoroughly wild.
A fire was brewing in Yu Zhiyi's chest, right on the verge of exploding.
A fury like he had never known before.
He had wanted to ask Shu Dong how her preparations for the money were going tonight, but when he called her via voice chat, she hadn't picked up. He had found it a bit strange because throughout the time they had been together, whenever he called or texted, she always replied right away, carrying a sense of cautious reverence.
Yet half an hour later, Yu Zhiyi saw that she had changed her WeChat profile picture. He knew she was pretty, but the seductive allure captured in that photo was something he had never seen before.
She hadn't answered his call, but she had changed her info. And when he called back, he was met with this exact sight: her smiling, radiant and charming, nestled against Song Feng's chest...
Even Yu Zhiyi himself didn't know whether it was Song Feng's smile that infuriated him more, or Shu Dong's betrayal that he found even harder to accept. Even if he didn't like Shu Dong, he was the only one who could discard her—she had no right to betray him.
Especially when the other person was Song Feng.
The person he dreamed day and night of trampling beneath his feet.
"Dongdong, look at me." Yu Zhiyi used what little patience he had left to say Shu Dong's name. He didn't want Song Feng to look so smug, and he still believed in Shu Dong's infatuation with him.
He didn't want to lose, and he wouldn't lose.
But Shu Dong didn't turn her head. From the moment the video connected until now, she hadn't cast a single glance at the person on screen. The mere thought of him brought all those betrayals rushing to the forefront of her vision, followed closely by the bleak, lightless dullness of her life.
"Baby, want to look at him?" Song Feng's voice was very soft, like someone tending to a small animal, as he affectionately kissed the crown of Shu Dong's head.
Shu Dong shook her head. Like a wounded cat, she quietly burrowed deeper into Song Feng's arms.
Thoroughly pleased with her reaction, Song Feng hadn't expected her to be so cooperative. Completely ignoring the person on the other end of the video, he looked down at Shu Dong with eyes full of doting affection.
Yet Shu Dong wasn't acting. She only felt as though all the strength had drained from her body, leaving behind only a pale emptiness. Song Feng wouldn't let her get up, so she didn't get up; but not wanting to see Yu Zhiyi—that was entirely real.
On the other side of the video, Yu Zhiyi looked ready to crush his phone to pieces. He couldn't believe Shu Dong had shaken her head. He knew Song Feng wanted to make him miserable, but... Shu Dong clearly loved him so much!
Why?
The sight of the two of them glued together made the fire inside Yu Zhiyi's chest threaten to tear him apart. He took a deep breath. "Dongdong, tell me what happened. Did he force—"
Before Yu Zhiyi could finish, Song Feng hung up the phone.
And turned it off for good.
Silent stillness was what left the most room to the imagination. For someone consumed by rage, the best way to handle them was to drive them out of their mind.
Setting the phone down beside him on the sofa, Song Feng looked down at the person still curled up in his arms. She hadn't stood up even after the call was cut, but from his angle, he could just make out a tear slipping down the corner of her eye.
"You liked him that much?" Song Feng looked at the cigarettes and lighter on the coffee table and suddenly felt a strong urge to smoke one, but he picked up his beer instead and finished off the remaining half-can.
Shu Dong pulled away from him. "I don't like him anymore."
Song Feng grabbed another can of beer, hooked his index finger through the pull-tab to pop it open with one hand, and lazily swirled his wrist as he drank half of it.
He didn't call her out on it. If emotions really had an on-off switch—where you could flip it to "like" and then switch it off when you didn't want to anymore—how nice that would be.
After that, there were no dice, and no games. A heavy silence settled between them, neither of them speaking again as they simply drank cup after cup.
Shu Dong fetched all the remaining alcohol from the fridge. Soon, empty beer cans and glass bottles were scattered all over the coffee table and the floor.
Song Feng watched her movements grow increasingly sluggish. He said nothing and didn't stop her, letting her indulge in bottle after bottle. He wasn't drinking any less than she was, yet he remained perfectly clear-headed.
The tattoo artists he had seen all had heavily stylized ink; Brother Lin, too, had two full sleeves of elaborate tattoos. But the person in front of him... Song Feng's gaze drifted from her collarbone down her arms to her legs. He didn't see any tattoos.
Her glass was empty again. Shu Dong bent forward to grab a can of beer from the table. As she leaned over, the straps of her top hitched upward, revealing a slender expanse of waist...
Before Song Feng could get a clear look, she had already slumped back against the sofa, her clothes shifting down to cover herself once more. He only caught a blurry glimpse.
The bottled beer was completely gone. Shu Dong clutched a canned beer, half-collapsing onto the sofa. Her fingers fumbled with the pull-tab, but she couldn't get it open. Then her wrists went entirely limp, unable to hold the weight of the can anymore as it slipped from her grasp and rolled onto the floor.
Shu Dong's consciousness had completely faded into a haze.
Setting his glass down, Song Feng slowly leaned in toward her until there was only a ten-centimeter gap between them. He stared into her dazed eyes and long eyelashes. "Asleep?"
Shu Dong stirred slightly. "Not... yet..."
Surprised that she was still capable of speaking, Song Feng smiled, the urge to tease her flaring up once more. "Do you know who I am?"
Shu Dong's voice was thick and slurred. "Don't know..."
Song Feng tapped the tip of her nose. "Can I bully you?"
"No..."
Shu Dong closed her eyes, her voice trailing off into a long, soft hum.
"I'm not leaving." Song Feng let out a roguish laugh.
But Shu Dong made no further sound. Her head lolled to the side against the sofa, her breathing even. She looked as though she had fallen asleep—ignoring the faint tear tracks still lingering on her face, she seemed to be resting quite peacefully.
Song Feng chuckled. If he didn't know her wooden nature, he would have thought she was playing dumb just to seduce him.
.
A dozen minutes passed, and Shu Dong still hadn't moved; only her steady breathing remained. The late-night air turned quite chilly, and Song Feng picked up a blanket from nearby, tossing it casually over her.
After finishing the last bottle of alcohol, Song Feng scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom. She was remarkably light, as if she had no weight at all.
Guided by the light spilling in from the living room, Song Feng laid her down on the bed, switched on the bedside table lamp, and pulled the quilt up over her...
Once everything was settled, Song Feng sat on the edge of the bed, still wide awake.
So, should he leave?
He cast a glance at the sleeping figure and smiled. "I'm leaving?"
Shu Dong kept her eyes closed, completely unresponsive.
Song Feng: "I'm not leaving."
Shu Dong remained fast asleep.
Song Feng amused himself with his own thoughts, finding it hard to comprehend his recent behavior. Why was he acting more foolish by the day?
Chatting with a drunken lightweight in the middle of the night?
Still, this little drunkard was quite pretty.
A wave of sleepiness suddenly hit him. Song Feng checked the time: two in the morning. It was time to go home. But just as he took two steps toward the door, something crossed his mind...
Song Feng turned back, moving with hushed steps as he sat back down on the edge of the bed. He lifted a corner of the quilt and, after a moment of hesitation, slid her camisole up...
In the dim, warm light of the lamp, Song Feng saw it clearly, and his brows involuntarily furrowed.
On her left flank, winding around from her back, was a line of tiny black train cars—fading from deep to light, rendered with startling realism. Song Feng almost fancied he could hear the wind at a station platform and the sound of a whistle blowing.
It roared past, coming from nowhere, heading to nowhere.
Song Feng's brows drew tighter and tighter together. Her profile picture had been this exact thing, as if she were trying to remind herself of something every single second... After staring at it for a long time, Song Feng pulled her clothes back down and neatly tucked the quilt around her once more.
He left the bedside lamp on. After tidying up the living room, Song Feng left.
.
Early the next morning, Yu Zhiyi woke up very early—or rather, he hadn't really slept at all the entire night.
He had thought he left Song Feng far behind long ago, believing Song Feng was destined to rot in that wretched city, forever unable to catch up to him. But now, Song Feng was using these dirty tactics to bite back at him.