Chapter 9: Looking for the Car Keys

Someone nearby added with a complicated expression, “I seem to have heard similar rumors. They say that back in high school, Lin Hexi was a school bully who was always getting into fights and causing trouble.”

Zhou Xuan dropped the cards in his hand and turned to look at You Chong, who hadn’t said anything. “Shall we go find him now?”

You Chong, who was clearly not in a good mood either, frowned and asked Yang Juan, “How did the car keys end up with him?”

Yang Juan, who had been lost in the image of Lin Hexi as a school bully, finally remembered the main issue at hand. He quickly waved his hand to clarify for Lin Hexi, “It’s not what you think. He didn’t hit me.”

After a brief explanation to everyone, he finally said to You Chong with an embarrassed look, “He locked the car and took the keys with him. He probably forgot to give them back to me, and I forgot to ask him for them.”

Despite Yang Juan’s intention to speak up for Lin Hexi, it was clear that everyone’s poor impression of Lin Hexi was deeply ingrained. They didn’t take his words to heart.

In fact, they even advised him not to get too close to Lin Hexi, believing that whatever actions Lin Hexi took were clearly ill-intentioned.

Someone else complained to Lin Tong, “If you ask me, you shouldn’t have agreed to let him come along.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Tong’s expression darkened a bit. “Do you think I wanted him to come? It was my dad who—”

Realizing his words were inappropriate, Lin Tong abruptly stopped talking.

However, someone with keen ears caught it. “Your dad? Why does your dad insist on having him come along?”

Lin Tong didn’t want to expose Lin Yuanwei’s motives in front of You Chong, so he quickly came up with an excuse to brush it off. “Probably because he saw that I don’t get along well with him and wanted me to take him out to have some fun.”

None of the people present knew the internal affairs of the Lin family, so Lin Tong’s excuse was plausible to outsiders. Everyone nodded, putting away their curiosity and refraining from further questions.

Since there was nothing serious, Zhou Xuan called everyone to sit back down. “Let’s continue playing.”

You Chong dropped the cards in his hand and said, “Yang Juan, take my place. I’ll go get the car keys back.”

Yang Juan looked hesitant. “I’m not very good at this game.”

“The rules are simple. If you don’t know how to play, let Zhou Xuan and the others teach you,” You Chong said.

Only then did Yang Juan sit down in You Chong’s place.

When You Chong arrived at the private room, Lin Hexi was lying on the sofa, resting his head on a giant bear he had won from the go-kart race, playing on his phone. His knees were draped over the armrest of the sofa, and his long legs hanging casually off the edge, swaying gently.

When he heard the door open, he didn’t even lift his eyelids, and remained focused on the game on his phone screen.

You Chong closed the door behind him, walked over to Lin Hexi, and stopped in front of him. He looked down at him from above and asked, “Where are the car keys?”

Lin Hexi was busy controlling his game character to clear out some minions. After a moment, he replied absentmindedly, “What car keys?”

Assuming Lin Hexi was doing this on purpose, You Chong’s expression turned cold. “You don’t know if you have something that doesn’t belong to you?”

Lin Hexi paused for two seconds, then nodded in the direction where You Chong was standing, and said with a somewhat dismissive tone. “Wait until I finish this round.”

Growing increasingly annoyed by Lin Hexi’s lazy demeanor, You Chong had no patience to wait. He bent down to grab the phone from Lin Hexi’s hand.

With a slight flick of his wrist, Lin Hexi avoided You Chong’s hand. In the midst of his busy game, he took a moment to look up, and with a natural expression as if they had never had any conflict, he smiled at You Chong. “Just wait two minutes.”

Caught off guard by his smile, You Chong’s movements paused.

Then he thought about Lin Tong’s explanation half an hour ago, and the harsh words he had said to Lin Hexi that morning, You Chong realized he had indeed misunderstood him first. He genuinely sat down on the opposite sofa, waiting a full two minutes for him.

Those two minutes were neither too short nor too long, but the facts before him made it clear that Lin Hexi’s words were utterly unreliable.

Seeing that Lin Hexi was still lying on the sofa in the same position, You Chong finally grew impatient and walked over to him. “The two minutes are up.”

Lin Hexi, still fixated on his phone screen, put on a slightly annoyed expression. “I thought I could finish in two minutes. Wait another two minutes.”

You Chong interrupted him, “Where did you put the keys? I’ll get them myself.”

“Then go ahead and get them yourself.” Lin Hexi nodded with a smile, as if he was happy with the suggestion. “They’re in my pocket.”

You Chong’s gaze briefly skimmed over Lin Hexi’s white T-shirt, and his expression darkened. He bent down and reached into Lin Hexi’s jeans pocket.

The summer jeans had thin fabric, and the pockets were designed to fit snugly. You Chong’s long, strong fingers squeezed into the edge of the pocket. Through the thin fabric, his knuckles inevitably brushed against Lin Hexi’s thigh.

The slight warmth from You Chong’s fingers seeped through the fabric, spreading slowly across Lin Hexi’s leg, carrying with it the restless heat unique to a summer day.

Lin Hexi moved his leg slightly, and finally shifted his attention from the game on his phone. He glanced at his pocket that was now slightly bulging with You Chong’s fingers inside, and then looked at You Chong’s face, which was handsome but wore an unpleasant expression.

He stared at You Chong’s face for a couple of seconds, and a hint of mischievousness flickered in his eyes.

The next moment, Lin Hexi reached out and placed his palm over You Chong’s hand through the pocket, and asked with a subtle and suggestive tone. “Don’t you know my sexual orientation?”

You Chong pinched the object in the pocket with his fingers, and narrowed his eyes at Lin Hexi’s restless hand. “Take your hand away.”

Lin Hexi ignored the command, leaned against the giant bear and tilted his head to look at You Chong playfully. He spoke in a teasing manner, “Do you know that when you put your hand in my pocket, it means—”

Seemingly uninterested in his words, You Chong’s expression remained indifferent, with a hint of derision on his lips. He raised his left hand and pried away Lin Hexi’s fingers that were pressing down on the pocket.

He paused, his smile deepening as he continued with a suggestive lilt, “It means you’re making a sexual advance toward me?”

As he said this, he flipped his wrist, and his fingertips glided up the back of You Chong’s left hand, and the soft, warm pads of his fingers brushed against You Chong’s skin.

You Chong shook off his hand abruptly and stepped back. With a hint of anger in his eyes, he threw the lighter he had retrieved from Lin Hexi’s pocket onto the table and grabbed Lin Hexi’s chin, and warned coldly, “Don’t use the tactics you use on those men on me. Even if you stood naked in front of me, I wouldn’t have any reaction.”

Lin Hexi obediently settled down. “I understand.”

You Chong scrutinized him sharply for two seconds before releasing his chin. He held Lin Hexi’s hands down with one hand and reached into the other pocket with his other hand.

After a moment, he threw the earphones he had taken out from Lin Hexi’s pocket onto the table behind him, and looked at Lin Hexi with irritation as he asked, “Where are the keys?”

Meeting his gaze without flinching, Lin Hexi lightly scratched his chin, slowed his speech and murmured to himself, “I need to think about it.”

You Chong reached out, ready to pull him up from the sofa.

However, Lin Hexi raised his eyes which were full of amusement, and, under You Chong’s angry gaze, he raised his arms, stretched slowly, and casually repeated You Chong’s question, “Where could the keys be?”

As he stretched, his T-shirt lifted, and gradually revealed his jeans and a small strip of pale waistline.

With the shirt no longer covering, You Chong could clearly see the familiar car key hanging on the waistband of Lin Hexi’s low-rise jeans.

Lin Hexi, the instigator, let out a slow “ah,” his tone laced with feigned surprise and innocence, and said lightly, “So that’s where they were.”

You Chong, who was standing beside the sofa, his face darkened like the bottom of a pot as he stared at his car key.