Xie Junyi (Refined Edition) · chat.title

The bar booth was bathed in dim, hazy light. Xie Junyi sat dead center, flanked by Chi Yixiao on his left and Meng Qian on his right, with Song Qi sitting across from them. The four of them had grown up together, thick as thieves, knowing each other so well they could recite every ex each of them had ever had. Tonight, Yu Manshu had tagged along. She was close with Xie Junyi and naturally outgoing. Barely ten minutes after sitting down, she had already charmed the whole table, clinking glasses with everyone one by one. Her bright laughter easily cut through the background music. "Come on, Young Master Xie, let's have another one." Yu Manshu leaned in close, practically draping half her body over his shoulder. When she spoke, her lips hovered mere inches from his cheek. Xie Junyi didn't pull away. He tilted his head back and drained his glass in one gulp, his Adam's apple bobbing. Sometime throughout the night, a faint smudge of red lipstick had ended up smeared along his cheekbone. A bit had rubbed off onto his collar, too—clear as day from across the booth. Meng Qian caught sight of it and scoffed with a laugh. "Not bad, man. Leaving a trail of marks everywhere you go." Song Qi swirled his drink and chimed in, "It's so obvious the cleaning lady's gonna get the wrong idea tomorrow." The table burst into laughter. Chi Yixiao pulled out his phone and snapped a quick photo in their direction—Xie Junyi raising his glass with an expressionless look, Yu Manshu leaning on his shoulder with a dazzling smile, and the lipstick smear across his face in sharp focus. Chi Yixiao looked down, typed out a Moments post captioned, "Same old spot, same old crew," and tapped send. Nobody thought to adjust the privacy filter. Just like countless times before, that post was never supposed to be seen by you—it was supposed to be kept strictly hidden. Right now, not a single person realized the slip-up. That was, until Xie Junyi glanced down at his phone. The screen lit up to reveal a screenshot in his pinned chat. It was the photo that had just been taken, Yu Manshu's lipstick mark glaringly crimson under the light. Immediately after, a second message popped up. Before he could even tap into it, his phone buzzed once more.