"Don't tell me he finally managed to get himself drugged. I never thought I'd cross paths with a celebrity who is constantly on the edge of getting drugged." Chen Jing sighed and then the corner of her lips lifted into a sardonic smile.

'To go or not to go is the question,' Chen Jing thought. Then she made up her mind. "I'll just take a peek. If he's really there, I'll grab him and run. If not, then I'll just come back here."

Chen Jing was no Mary Sue. But, she always remembered to be nice to people who were nice to her. Li Xueyi was one of them. Besides, he was her celebrity crush. He just couldn't leave her idol in such danger, could she?

Even though she would very much love to not meddle, the angel on her shoulder managed to brainwash her into helping him.

Before she could fully convince her brain, it was as if her legs had a mind of its own and started moving towards the direction of the voices.

Above the bar was a hotel. Although Chen Jing never came here, she had heard of it. She quietly followed the waiter and the woman.

The woman whispered something in the writer's ear before taking the key from the waiter.

Chen Jing did not watch further. She hoped that Li Xueyi wasn't inside the room. She made way to the bar despite her headache.

Li Xueyi was sitting there watching his friends groove to the beats. Her eyes shifted to Yang Chen. He was doing the same. He also kept asking the bartender for more shots.

Chen Jing made her way towards Li Xueyi and asked him, "Is the seat taken?"

Li Xueyi was stunned. "N-no," he stammered.

Chen Jing took her seat opposite him.

"Mr. Li," she said, "I have a wild suggestion tonight."

Li Xueyi raised his brow. 'She's not suggesting what I'm thinking, right?' He only raised his brows in response. The smile on his face deepened.

Chen Jing smiled. She took a deep breath and said, "I suggest you go home today. Don't ask me why. You'll be thankful to me tomorrow."

Li Xueyi stiffened. Why did it not follow what he had in mind? Then he remembered that she had a boyfriend.

Chen Jing smirked seeing Li Xueyi's surprised face. Then she strutted off in her sneakers. Li Xueyi almost fell down seeing the choice of her shoes.

Li Xueyi closed his eyes and replayed her words in his mind. He had half a mind to heed her advice and half a mind to take a chance and see what happens.

But the loud music indeed did not suit his taste tonight.

"Forget it. It's better to go home tonight. After all, I have to go to the airport tomorrow." Lu Xueyi muttered to himself.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Chen Jing found Yang Chen dozing off in his seat. She went ahead and poked him.

"Hey, wake up. Did you have enough fun? Time to go home now. Otherwise, I'll be bound to call your dad to pick you up. Yang Chen, I'll count to three. Stop feigning sleep. 1…2…3…"

Yang Chen opened his sleepy eyes to stare at the woman. She was his love. Of course, she knew his weaknesses.

Yang Chen slowly got up. Chen Jing slid her hand behind his back to support him. He pulled his free hand over her shoulder and dragged him out.

It was not wise to hail a cab with a drunk man. So, she had wisely called up Yang Chen's driver. As she waited for him, she saw Yang Chen trying to vomit. Was it too late to take him to the washroom? Chen Jing pondered for three seconds. She pulled out the bottle of water from her purse and passed it to Yang Chen. He stopped trying to vomit. Chen Jing heaved a sigh of relief.

She vowed to never set foot in this place from this day onwards. Suddenly, she heard two male voices. They seemed to be arguing. The footsteps and the voices became louder but the footsteps suddenly stopped. Yang Chen dozed off on the stairs of the fire exit of the bar. Chen Jing peeked outside.

"Would you please stop behaving like this?" She heard the man in the green suit say.

She seemed to have seen these people earlier. Weren't they with Li Xueyi? If they saw her, she did not know what to say. As if the embarrassment from earlier was not enough, God was testing her. Chen Jing wanted to scream, but had no guts to do so. Instead, what fell on her eyes made her mind spiral. In fact, she felt very touched.

At the center of the walkway, the shorter man clutched onto the taller man's windbreaker, refusing to let go.

"Why? Are you ashamed of me?" The man who was half a head shorter than the former emquired. He scowled and angrily pushed the green-clothed man away.

"Weiwei, you're drunk," the man cladded in green said. He pinched the bridge of his nose impatiently but held the other man tightly in his embrace. Even though he tried his best to push him away, the taller man did not let go, afraid that the other would fall. When his tantrums grew, he said in a slightly cold voice, "Behave."

The shorter man, on being rebuked, grew silent. He even pouted a little.

Chen Jing saw all these and did not know whether to laugh or cry. Although she did not like this place, the people here were interesting, especially after drinking. 'What a cute couple,' she thought.

Seeing them reminded her of Li Xueyi. She did not know whether Li Xueyi heeded her warning. She hoped he did. Chen Jing mused, "If this followed the normal novel plot, he should've slept with that girl and be forced to marry her or worse, have scandals in his spotless career." She wondered whether this incident had anything to do with that incident on New Year’s Day.

Yang Chen's driver finally arrived. Chen Jing dragged him off the stairs and crossed the couple. She pretended not to see them, hoping they wouldn't notice her either. But the drunk man named Weiwei called her, "Pretty Lady, what's your relationship with Little Yi?"

"Shut up. I'm sorry, Miss. Excuse us." The taller man gave Chen Jing a deep look and apologized even though his gaze told her he was equally interested.

Chen Jing nodded but offered them no explanation. She acted as if she had not heard the question. She pushed Yang Chen inside the car before getting in and instructing the driver to take them home.

The people who were ignored looked at each other and burst into laughter. They were none other than Li Xueyi's friends, Gu Wei and Tang Lang.

"Little Yi definitely likes this girl, but she seems to have a boyfriend." Gu Wei slurred. His drunk body slumped into Tang Lang's arms as he refused to move.

"Take me to a hotel nearby. I don't wanna go home. Ma will scold you."

"She won't. Let's go." Tang Lang pulled Gu Wei to a lowkey black car. He pushed Gu Wei inside before buckling his seat belt. Then he got into the driver seat himself.

Gu Wei started singing…

As the nights pass, I long to hold your hands…

But you, my dear, fear the world…

His voice was mellow, filling Tang Lang's ear. It has been a long time since Gu Wei sang.

The tiredness between Tang Lang's brows melted and a gentle smile graced his usually cold face.

He remembered the time he had seen this young man on stage singing, making the crowd grow awestruck.

Thinking about the day made his heart go crazy till this day. It was one of the darkest nights in Gu Wei's life, but it was one of the brightest nights in his life.

They avoided mentioning that night as if it never happened. But Tang Lang could never forget. Nor would he ever forget it.

Gu Wei continued singing:

I want to be yours as you're mine,

But…

Then he stopped. He did not know why he chose this song. Maybe deep in his heart he knew. He wanted answers.

He pouted, all of a sudden. Tears formed in his misty eyes, as if the whole world had wronged him.

The outside world zoomed fast. The road was desolate. Only the whooshing of the wind and inconsistent sobs could be heard.

Tang Lang was stunned. He came to a realization. So this was bugging Gu Wei. But Tang Lang did not console him. He let Gu Wei cry. 'Serves him right for thinking nonsense all the time,' Tang Lang thought.