PD Chapter 9: Rejection
by Eexeee“Ding–”
“Ding–”
“Ding–”
Wen Xunchuan cracked open his sleepy eyes, reaching out to grab the phone on his bedside table that was rudely interrupting his slumber. He glanced at the screen:
[1 friend request. Note: ?]
[1 friend request. Note: Are you crazy?]
[1 friend request. Note: Why did you delete me?]
He hit “reject” without hesitation and shoved the phone under his pillow, closing his eyes to sleep again.
“Ding–”
“Ding–”
Having only slept for two hours since returning from the hospital, Wen Xunchuan was getting more and more irritated as his sleep kept getting interrupted. Frowning with frustration, he reached under the pillow for his phone again. Sure enough, He Linzhou’s friend request appeared on the screen:
[1 friend request. Note: Accept it!!!]
[1 friend request. Note: If you don’t accept in five minutes, go fish your car keys out of the river around the city.]
Car keys?
Wen Xunchuan was puzzled. His car was still in the repair shop; how did He Linzhou get his keys?
Annoyed, he threw He Linzhou’s WeChat into the blacklist and set his phone to silent mode.
Finally, peace.
He closed his eyes again, and just as he was about to sink back into his slumber, his eyes suddenly snapped open.
Car keys!
Wen Zhixu’s car.
After finishing his IV at the hospital early this morning, he’d been so exhausted that he called a cab home and promptly passed out, completely forgetting that Wen Zhixu’s car was still in the hospital parking lot.
He fought against the drowsiness, sat up, dragged He Linzhou’s WeChat out of the blacklist, and accepted the friend request. Before he could say anything, a voice message popped up.
He made sure to hold the phone at a distance and lowered the volume before playing the message.
As expected, He Linzhou’s furious shouting came blasting through, “Are you out of your mind, Wen Xunchuan? Adding and then deleting? Are you bored? I’ve already thrown the keys; go fish them out yourself from the river!”
Wen Xunchuan replied with a text: Sorry.
[The other party has enabled friend verification. You are not their friend yet. Please send a friend request, and once verified, you can chat.]
…Childish.
It took five friend requests before the other party finally accepted. Wen Xunchuan couldn’t help but think he’d called it too soon with that “childish” remark.
As soon as the friend request went through, He Linzhou hit back with one word: “Scram.”
Wen Xunchuan held down the voice message button. His voice, low and husky from just waking up, carried a nasal tone, making him sound lazy yet polite, “Sorry, I was half-asleep. Thanks for taking me to the hospital yesterday.” He paused, remembering he needed a favor, so he softened his tone and added, “Um… where are you? Can we meet up?”
After sending the voice message, he watched the [typing…] indicator for a while.
Growing a bit impatient, he tossed the phone back onto his pillow, thinking that if He Linzhou responded with a stream of curses, he’d just go to the dealership and get Wen Zhixu a new car lock set.
Moments later, a WeChat notification chimed. He picked up the phone to see a voice message from He Linzhou.
For some reason, Wen Xunchuan felt like He Linzhou’s voice had an odd tone to it. “Uh… send me your location.”
##
Wen Xunchuan got up, took a shower, and didn’t bother to dress up since he had no plans for the day. He just threw on a plain white sweater, some loose lounge pants, and a pair of knitted slippers before heading out.
Reaching the gate of his apartment complex, he checked the time and saw that he still had twenty minutes before his 8 o’clock meeting with He Linzhou. So, he made a detour to an old bun shop in the back street, where he finally had time to queue up for the chicken soup dumplings he’d been craving.
Holding a bag of freshly steamed soup dumplings, he yawned lazily, ambling back to the entrance of the complex.
Across the street, a black Maybach G650 honked twice as he approached.
As he walked over, the car window rolled down.
The person inside had clearly gone all out. His hair was styled back, and he wore a flashy black leather jacket. A faint sweet cologne smell emanated from him—over-the-top for sure.
Wen Xunchuan flashed a gentle smile and greeted him, “Morning.”
He Linzhou took off his sunglasses, his annoyance fully visible now that his face wasn’t hidden. Wen Xunchuan instinctively checked his phone for the time—7:58.
Noticing the bag of buns in his hand, He Linzhou’s expression suddenly turned complex, his tone filled with disbelief, “Did you… buy those for me?”
“…” Wen Xunchuan looked at the buns in his hand, sighed inwardly, and handed them over through the window with a forced smile, “Yeah, thanks for coming out so early.”
He Linzhou’s cheeks flushed faintly. He took the buns and placed them on the dashboard, awkwardly muttering, “Thanks.”
When he didn’t get a response, he turned to look at Wen Xunchuan, only to see him still standing by the car, staring at the buns with an almost yearning look. Not wanting to dismiss his gesture, He Linzhou hesitated a moment before taking a small, delicate soup dumpling and eating it in front of him.
The thin, bouncy skin burst with rich, fragrant broth as he took a bite—a flavor both savory and satisfying.
Watching the glossy broth on He Linzhou’s lips made Wen Xunchuan’s stomach growl softly, having been empty since last night. He held his breath and watched intently as He Linzhou finished the entire dumpling.
“These buns are actually pretty good,” He Linzhou praised.
Wen Xunchuan thought, Of course, I spent ten minutes in line for these first thing in the morning. How could they not be good?
With some effort, he pulled his gaze away from the bag of buns, ignoring the enticing aroma of the chicken broth, and forced a smile, “Yeah, they’re pretty famous. So… my keys?”
“Oh, right, I have them here.” Only now did He Linzhou seem to remember, quickly grabbing a wet wipe to clean his hands before digging into his pocket and pulling out Wen Zhixu’s car keys.
“Thanks.” As he reached for them, his fingers accidentally brushed against He Linzhou’s palm. Before he could grab hold, He Linzhou jerked his hand back as if shocked, and the keys fell to the ground with a soft thud.
Wen Xunchuan blinked, a bit confused, “What’s wrong with you?”
He Linzhou’s gaze drifted, hesitating before speaking in a halting tone, “Uh, I have something I need to tell you. It might sound harsh…”
Wen Xunchuan: “?”
With a flushed face, He Linzhou cleared his throat and folded his arms over his chest, declaring seriously, “I don’t do yellow, I don’t gamble, and I don’t do 1·1 relationships with other men.”
Wen Xunchuan froze mid-motion, nearly thinking he’d misheard.
He lifted his gaze, his expression complicated, his throat dry, “You… said what?”
“I said, I don’t do relationships with 1s.” He Linzhou replied with a straight face.
Wen Xunchuan raised an eyebrow and stared at him for a moment but couldn’t detect any hint of a joke, only making He Linzhou shift uncomfortably under his gaze.
He Linzhou looked away, his tone casual, “But if you’re okay being on the bottom, maybe we could give it a shot… Although your personality’s not great, your looks and build are pretty satisfying.”
Wen Xunchuan shot him a cold glare, “Well, thanks so much for recognizing my looks.”
Watching his expression darken, He Linzhou cleared his throat and added, “No need to feel any pressure. Personality doesn’t matter to me; I only care about looks.”
Wen Xunchuan stifled a snicker, bent down to pick up the car key from the ground, and held it delicately with two fingertips. “Give me a tissue.”
He Linzhou pulled a tissue from the compartment and handed it to him. Wen Xunchuan took it, carefully wiping the key, then walked over to the trash can and tossed the crumpled tissue inside.
Back by the car, he leaned on the Maybach’s open window, squinting, and motioned for He Linzhou to come closer with a finger.
He Linzhou hesitated, leaning over, “…What?”
As soon as he was close, Wen Xunchuan hooked an arm around his neck, pulling him face-to-face. The key in his hand flicked out, pressing the cold metal edge against He Linzhou’s throat.
He Linzhou’s face turned pale, and he yelled angrily, “Damn, all I did was say your personality wasn’t great! Can you be any pettier?”
He tried to pull Wen Xunchuan’s arm away, but the icy edge against his throat slid to his carotid as he struggled.
His pupils contracted, and he instinctively leaned back, but Wen Xunchuan didn’t give him a chance, pressing the key firmly against his neck.
Starting to panic, He Linzhou’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he lowered his voice, “Actually, you have a great personality!”
Wen Xunchuan chuckled. He slid the key slowly down to He Linzhou’s waist and gave a light nudge.
“Again!” He Linzhou groaned, exasperated, “Is this some kind of occupational habit of yours?”
“Hey, I just thought of something,” Wen Xunchuan leaned in, his voice soft by He Linzhou’s ear, “If I were to be on the bottom, wouldn’t we end up like Plato?”
With that, he straightened up, watching He Linzhou’s face change colors, his eyes dropping down with a concerned tone, “You okay? Feeling better?”
The car window shot up, cutting off Wen Xunchuan’s view as the Maybach quickly disappeared from sight.
Turning toward the entrance of his complex, Wen Xunchuan thought: As expected, you can’t be too nice to brainless idiots.