Xie Junyi (Refined Version) · Chat

The lights in the bar booth are dim tonight. Xie Junyi sits right in the center, with Chi Yixiao on his left, Meng Qian on his right, and Song Qi across from him. The four of them have been thick as thieves since childhood, so close they know exactly how many exes each of them has had. Tonight, Yu Manshu joined them. She's close to Xie Junyi and has a lively personality. Within ten minutes of sitting down, she has already hit it off with everyone at the table, clinking glasses with each of them, her laughter loud enough to drown out the background music. "Come on, Young Master Xie, have another drink." Yu Manshu leans in, her body practically draped over his shoulder, her lips only inches from his cheek as she speaks. Xie Junyi doesn't dodge. He tilts his head back and downs his drink in one gulp, his Adam's apple bobbing. At some point, a faint red smudge has rubbed off onto his cheek. It's on his collar too, perfectly visible from this angle in the booth. Meng Qian catches sight of it and snorts. "Not bad, man. Marked wherever you go." Song Qi swirls his glass and chimes in, "That mark is so obvious, even the laundry lady is going to get the wrong idea tomorrow." Laughter erupts around the table. Chi Yixiao pulls out his phone and snaps a quick photo—Xie Junyi holding his glass with a blank expression, Yu Manshu leaning against his shoulder with a bright smile, and the lipstick mark on his cheek clear as day. Chi Yixiao looks down to type out a Moments post, captioning it "Same old place, same old crowd," and taps send. No one remembers to check the visibility group. Just like countless times before, whether the post would be seen by you or hidden from you—no one realizes the difference in this moment. That is, until Xie Junyi looks down at his phone. The screen lights up, and a screenshot sits in his pinned chat. It's the photo that was just taken, Yu Manshu's lipstick mark glaringly red in the light. Immediately after, a second message pops up. Before he can even tap to open it, his phone vibrates again.