Chapter 7

Ten years later.

It turned out that Mu Chi really did take good care of the keychain. After all these years, the keychain had traveled with him to many places. Although it had worn down and could no longer be recognized in its original form, it was still intact. The cheap basketball charm that had originally been attached to it had also been replaced with a pure silver one by Mu Chi, the big boss.

Sometimes, when he thought about it, it was quite amusing. Mu Chi had once told Song Wenzhou that he had gone to a cocktail party by car, and when he handed his car keys to the valet, some of the other CEOs had laughed at the old keychain that seemed out of place with his expensive appearance.

But Mu Chi didn’t feel insulted. He had lowered his head and smiled shyly, casually boasting, “That’s the first gift my partner gave me. I treasure it dearly.”

The faces of those older CEOs, who were involved in extramarital affairs, had been quite amusing at the time.

After that, Mu Chi seemed to have discovered a new world. From time to time, he would take out the keychain and show it off—placing it on the dinner table during business meals, putting it on the conference table during company meetings… If it weren’t for Song Wenzhou stopping him, he probably would have attached it to his waistband and worn it everywhere so that everyone could see it.

Whenever someone asked out of curiosity, he would use his usual line: “It’s a gift from my partner. It marks the beginning of our love.”

“Because I often lose my keys, my partner gave it to me to keep my keys safe, and in the process, he also kept my heart.”

—

Song Wenzhou didn’t know what Mu Chi was thinking when he did those strange things, but now that Mu Chi had given him the keychain, which was supposedly a symbol of the beginning of their love, carrying it around these past few days made him think about all the moments they shared.

Sweet but also bittersweet.

In the morning, Song Wenzhou still walked out with a frown, holding the now meaningless symbol of love.

It had been nearly a week since their breakup, and he found himself missing the gentle yet assertive goodbye kisses Mu Chi used to give him before work. The more he missed them, the more frustrated he felt!

So, his frown deepened, and his eyelids drooped in displeasure.

When he walked out the door, he casually unlocked his car, but when he looked up, he froze.

The apartment he was living in had originally been bought by his parents for him as a wedding gift after he graduated. However, after graduation, he moved in with Mu Chi, and the apartment had mostly remained unused. Therefore, he hadn’t purchased a parking space for this building.

This time, when he hurriedly moved out from Mu Chi’s place, he had only rented a parking spot within the community, and now there was a black Audi parked behind his car.

It was Mu Chi’s.

Song Wenzhou could probably guess that Mu Chi had secretly rented the parking space next to his. A few nights ago, he had noticed Mu Chi’s car parked behind his when he looked out the window before going to bed. But by the time he left in the morning, the car was already gone.

Last night, when he checked the window before sleeping, there was only his car parked alone on the street. He had even had trouble falling asleep because of it and had forced himself to sleep until the early hours of the morning.

When did Mu Chi come here?

As he walked past the Audi, Song Wenzhou pretended to stretch his neck, glancing inside the car… but he couldn’t see anything.

Oh, right. He remembered that Mu Chi had added an extra layer of privacy film on the tinted glass.

At that time, Mu Chi had whispered in his ear, teasing, “With this, no matter what we do inside, no one can see us from the outside.”

Song Wenzhou, feeling guilty, looked around and pretended not to understand. “What… what do you mean?”

Mu Chi gave him a flirtatious look, “You know what I mean. Of course, it’s for doing the things you love the most.”

Song Wenzhou’s ears turned red. He quietly pinched Mu Chi’s waist and stammered, “Go away, you’re the one who loves doing that.”

“I do love it,” Mu Chi laughed, admitting it. A few days later, he had the privacy film added to his car windows as well.

That film really worked. On several occasions, traces of the two of them had been left inside the Audi.

Cough, Song Wenzhou blinked, silently chastising himself for being influenced by Mu Chi over the years. How could he be getting aroused just looking at a car this early in the morning?

He quickly quickened his pace toward his own car.

Just as his hand touched the car handle, the passenger door of the Audi behind him opened, and Mu Chi stepped out, urgently calling, “Zhouzhou.”

Clearly pretending not to hear wasn’t realistic, so Song Wenzhou turned around and asked indifferently, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m waiting for you,” Mu Chi, eager to prove that he had a legitimate reason and wasn’t just “bothering” him, quickly added, “I have something for you.”

“What?” Song Wenzhou asked.

Mu Chi patted the pocket of his trousers, then reached back into the car to retrieve his suit jacket, which had been draped over him while he was sleeping. After a moment, he pulled out something he had specifically searched for at home.

“This,” Mu Chi walked over to Song Wenzhou and showed him a small box in his hand. “You left this behind when you left.”

Song Wenzhou lowered his gaze and noticed that Mu Chi was holding a black box about the size of a ring box. However, his attention wasn’t entirely on the box. He scrunched his nose, realizing that there was a faint smell of alcohol on Mu Chi.

Mu Chi had been watching Song Wenzhou’s expression closely. Seeing his reaction, he quickly explained, “I had a private gathering last night. I drank a bit and didn’t have time to change my clothes.” He then tugged at the collar of his shirt and sniffed it. “Does it smell that bad?”

It had always been like this. Song Wenzhou didn’t drink, but Mu Chi, due to work reasons, couldn’t avoid social drinking. Every time he came home after drinking, he was always afraid that the smell would bother Song Wenzhou.

In fact, Song Wenzhou had never minded the alcohol smell on Mu Chi. When he wasn’t busy, he would go pick up Mu Chi, who couldn’t drive after drinking.

Sometimes, when Mu Chi was tipsy, he would forget about the whole “don’t smell like alcohol” thing, and as soon as he saw Song Wenzhou, he would rush over and practically throw himself onto him. With Mu Chi’s 1.86-meter height, Song Wenzhou, who needed to lie about being 1.80 meters tall, almost couldn’t hold him up. Mu Chi would only settle down after Song Wenzhou scolded him a few times.

But it wouldn’t last long. As soon as Song Wenzhou’s attitude softened, Mu Chi would climb higher up, continuing to nuzzle against him, kiss him, nibble on his ear, and bite his neck, making use of that little bit of drunkenness to act even more shameless.

When Song Wenzhou was in a good mood, he would let Mu Chi do whatever he wanted, as long as he didn’t stick his tongue in his mouth while kissing.

Because once, when the two of them kissed too passionately, Song Wenzhou was stopped by a traffic cop on the way home after driving Mu Chi back, and was accused of drunk driving.

Song Wenzhou would never forget the look the cop gave him after hearing his explanation. It was… indescribable.