PD Chapter 19: Seeking Shelter (Part 2)

Wen Xunchuan walked straight to the door, lifted his hand to push He Linzhou away from the entrance, took out his key, and started unlocking the door.

He Linzhou stood behind him, looking eagerly at the door, waiting for it to open. Wen Xunchuan paused his key-turning, turned his head slightly, and said with an indifferent expression, “We’re not that close, are we?”

“What do you mean we’re not?” He Linzhou looked at him with a surprised expression, “We’re already calling each other husband and wife; how are we not close?”

With that, he chuckled, placed his hand on Wen Xunchuan’s shoulder, and leaned close to whisper in his ear, “What, you want us to be closer? Like… you know… sleeping together?”

Wen Xunchuan slapped his hand away, spitting out one word coldly, “Scram.”

“Not scramming.” He Linzhou sidestepped to block the door again, wiping away his previous playful look, and said seriously, “I came out to my family.”

“Wow, how rare,” Wen Xunchuan folded his arms, looking at him with a hint of disdain, “So what?”

“I got kicked out.” He Linzhou said, “No money, no phone, nowhere to go.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“I came out because of you.”

He Linzhou looked at him, speaking in a tone that sounded absolutely justified, “If you hadn’t gone on that blind date, I wouldn’t have gone there to mess it up. If I hadn’t messed it up, my dad wouldn’t have seen me. If he hadn’t seen me, I wouldn’t have come out. And if I hadn’t come out, I wouldn’t have been kicked out and wouldn’t have come looking for you.”

Wen Xunchuan almost laughed out of sheer disbelief at He Linzhou’s shamelessness. He nodded, tone dripping with sarcasm, “So, it’s all my fault now, huh?”

“Of course, it’s your fault,” He Linzhou responded without a second thought.

Wen Xunchuan was at a loss for words, and he wasn’t in the mood to waste time arguing. He pushed He Linzhou away from the door, ignoring his presence entirely.

Just as Wen Xunchuan pulled the door open a crack, a hand came from behind, pushing the door shut again. He turned around, weary, and said to He Linzhou, “I worked all day; I don’t have the energy to deal with you right now. Go wherever you want, okay?”

He Linzhou raised an arm, pressing it against the door, trapping Wen Xunchuan in the small space between himself and the door. In the dim light cast by Wen Xunchuan’s phone, he stared at him, “Do you really want me to go stay with someone else?”

Wen Xunchuan leaned back uncomfortably, frowning, “Get off. Where you go has nothing to do with me.”

He Linzhou pouted slightly, nodding, then suddenly leaned down, moving closer to him.

In the dim, quiet environment, as He Linzhou moved closer, Wen Xunchuan felt a strange prickling sensation on the skin of his neck. Images, slightly hazy and bewildering, popped into his mind. He tilted his head, unconsciously holding his breath, and surprisingly, didn’t push him away.

But He Linzhou didn’t make any further moves; he just leaned close and whispered in his ear, “Fine, but remember, you said it.”

Then he straightened up and headed towards the elevator.

Wen Xunchuan let out a small breath, glanced at him inexplicably, then turned to open the door.

He turned on the lights, but the sight that met his eyes froze his half-lifted leg in mid-air—

Chun Mei lay on her back in a mess of shredded paper, front paws wrapped around a chewed-up, barely recognizable leather shoe. She looked at him with an innocent face. Just as Wen Xunchuan’s scalp tingled, the stench from inside the house made his nerves tighten abruptly.

Slowly, his gaze shifted to the fabric sofa in the living room, which he’d just bought at the beginning of the year. In the center of the light-gray cushion, a faint yellow stain was glaringly visible…

He took a sharp breath, but the terrible smell was already assaulting his senses, making him a bit dizzy.

With a swift motion, he slammed the door shut, stood outside, pressed his forehead against the door, and took a few deep breaths, silently praying that what he had just seen was all a hallucination.

Maybe, if he opened the door again, everything would look different.

Yeah.

He pushed the door open again.

Bang! It closed once more.

“What… are you doing?” He Linzhou, waiting by the elevator, stared at him in bewilderment.

Upon hearing the sound, Wen Xunchuan turned around abruptly, lifting his hand to shine his phone’s flashlight directly on He Linzhou’s face.

He Linzhou squinted, slightly irritated by the light, and raised a hand to block it, “What are you doing?”

Wen Xunchuan looked at him like he’d found a lifeline, a glimmer of hope lighting up his eyes.

He cleared his throat and called out, “Hey, He Linzhou.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to stay at my place?”

He Linzhou paused, then asked, “But didn’t you just…”

Before he could finish, realization dawned on him.

So, Wen Xunchuan’s whole back-and-forth act with the door was him trying to figure out how to ask him to stay?

A smile almost broke through his expression, but he quickly held it back, knowing that laughing right now would make Wen Xunchuan lose face after all his internal struggle.

The elevator ‘dinged’ open just then.

Wen Xunchuan, clearly getting impatient, urged, “Are you staying or not?”

Looking around with mock disdain, He Linzhou made a show of clicking his tongue, then walked over to Wen Xunchuan, saying with a pretend tone of reluctance, “Well, your place may be a bit small, but I guess I can make do.”