One-way Passage

The auto-repair shop was on the outskirts of town, and from the company, they almost had to cross the entire city.
Despite the fact that it was a Saturday and the traffic was laxer than it typically is on weekdays, it still took Ming Luchuan over half an hour to get there.

Xia Wennan had practically collapsed in the passenger seat when they arrived at their destination.
He feebly muttered, “Help, I’m so hungry…” All he could think about at that moment was the bowl of noodles he didn’t get to finish eating.

The customer service manager approached their car and opened the door for them.
When he heard Xia Wennan say that he was hungry, he immediately called for someone to bring a plate of cupcakes to his office.

Ming Luchuan and Xia Wennan sat inside the after-sales service office.
The customer service manager brought out the repair form and explained the repairs they’d made to Xia Wennan’s car.

Xia Wennan stretched out a hand, reaching towards the plate.
Right as he touched the cupcake in front of him, Ming Luchuan’s hand darted out from his side and snatched it away.

Xia Wennan looked at him, and when he thought how it was his fault that he didn’t get to finish his delicious big bowl of noodles and now had to make do with gnawing on bread, Xia Wennan’s heart flared up with rage, and he couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Ming Luchuan.

And yet Ming Luchuan didn’t spare him the slightest glance.
He was sitting upright, the picture of grace and calm as he ate the cupcake.

Meanwhile, the customer service manager was apologising nonstop, saying that the repairs took so long because they had to wait for a component to be imported.

Xia Wennan however, was unconcerned about this—all he cared about was the fact that there were too few cupcakes.
After they finished off the cupcakes, Xia Wennan purposefully pushed the empty plate towards the manager, hoping that he’d get someone to bring out more.
However, he didn’t know if the manager was unaware or if he intentionally ignored it; the manager merely took out more repair forms and gave them a run down of the maintenance and costs before asking Xia Wennan to sign his name.

“How much does everything cost?” As Xia Wennan took the pen and sought out the figures on the repair form, he heard the customer service manager quote a price.

The customer service manager immediately followed it up with, “It’s been settled by the insurance company, please rest assured.”

Xia Wennan breathed a sigh of relief and signed the documents.

The customer service manager escorted them to the car.

This was the first time Xia Wennan saw his car; it was a black sedan that cost a little over 300,000 RMB and appeared more low-key than he’d anticipated.

The manager returned the car keys to Xia Wennan.

Right then though, Xia Wennan hesitated.
“How are we going to bring it back?” he asked Ming Luchuan.

Ming Luchuan said, “You’re not going to drive back yourself?”

Xia Wennan shifted his gaze to the car.
He knew he could drive, and he also knew that his memory loss was due to a car accident with him behind the wheel, but from the moment he awoke, it had already been a long time since he even touched the wheel.
Furthermore, his memories were locked in a time when he was still in university and had yet to obtain a driver’s licence.

Ming Luchuan suddenly held his hand and said, “I’ll have someone come and collect it.
You sit tight.”

“Mm?” Xia Wennan was slightly taken aback—he was just wondering if he should get in and go on a test drive.
After all, driving wasn’t that big a challenge.

Ming Luchuan was firm.
“Don’t drive.
If you really want to drive, you’ll have to relearn it from the beginning.”

“Do I have to?”

“Yes.”

That night, as he laid on his bed, he recalled Ming Luchuan’s words and had a sudden realisation—Ming Luchuan was probably afraid that he’d get into another car accident, wasn’t he? He rolled over to lie on his stomach and couldn’t help but smile, secretly planning that as soon as this hectic period at work was over, the first thing he’d do is learn how to drive from scratch.

When he returned to work on Monday, Xia Wennan caught sight of Yin Zejing standing in the corridor outside his lab, waving at him.

In lieu of putting his things down, he merely turned to Dong Liqing next to him and said, “Go ask him what he wants.”

At his word, Dong Liqing exited the lab.

A moment later, Dong Liqing returned and told Xia Wennan, “He came to give you two tickets to Li Xin’s concert.”

“What’s this now?” Xia Wennan wasn’t particularly interested.
He looked up and glanced out of the lab, only to discover that Yin Zejing had already left.
He then lowered his head and resumed the work on his laboratory counter.

Yet Dong Liqing took his question to heart and answered, “He said Li Xin’s agent sent some tickets to the marketing department.
These two VIP tickets are reserved for you.”

Xia Wennan thought back to when he heard Li Xin singing on the TV of the breakfast restaurant, and unenthusiastically replied, “Pass.
I probably sing better than him.
Just take them and—” Xia Wennan paused midway through his sentence.
He lifted his head and, as he gazed out at the deserted corridor, he suddenly wondered if Lu Wenxing would attend Li Xin’s concert.

“Put them in my office first.
I’ll think about it,” he said to Dong Liqing.

“Sure thing, Manager Xia,” Dong Liqing responded.

When he returned to his office, Xia Wennan sat down and picked up the two tickets with one hand while tapping the tabletop with his other hand’s fingertips.

At lunchtime, Xia Wennan brought his meal tray over to Ming Luchuan’s table.
It had been a long time since he took the initiative to sit and eat with Ming Luchuan.

Ming Luchuan gave him a sidelong glance.
“What’s wrong?”

“I saw that you were lonely, so I came to eat with you,” said Xia Wennan.

Ming Luchuan took a napkin and gently dabbed at his bottom lip, not saying a word.

“Hey!” Xia Wennan called out.
“Do you have any plans on Saturday night?”

“I’ll have to ask Xu Feng,” said Ming Luchuan.
He brought a piece of bok choy to his mouth and swallowed it before asking, “What’s the matter?”

“If you’re free, can you go to Li Xin’s concert with me?” said Xia Wennan.

“Who’s concert?” Ming Luchuan stopped eating.

Xia Wennan said, “Li Xin’s.”

The moment these two syllables left Xia Wennan’s mouth, Ming Luchuan said, “No.”

“He gave us tickets,” Xia Wennan said carefully.

Yet Ming Luchuan’s face remained frosty.
“No.”

Xia Wennan took his chopsticks and mixed the rice and veggies in his bowl, inwardly wondering if he should keep trying to persuade Ming Luchuan to go.

After a while, he said to Ming Luchuan “Nevermidn then, I’ll find someone else to go with.”

Ming Luchuan looked his way.
“You shouldn’t go either.”

“Why?” Xia Wennan asked curiously, “He already gave us the tickets.”

“He can’t sing.”

A laugh escaped Xia Wennan’s mouth upon hearing Ming Luchuan’s remark.
“Then why did you invite him to be the spokesperson of your fall products?”

“I said that he can’t sing, I never said anything bad about his looks or personality.”

Xia Wennan recalled the photoshoot for the shower gel ad.
Li Xin was, without question, a sweet and lovely omega who’s image perfectly suited Ming Yan’s shower gel line, but his singing and dancing skills were totally subpar, and all he had going for him was his good looks.

This Li Xin was world’s away compared to Ming Qin in his youth.

“What’s on your mind?” Ming Luchuan asked out of nowhere.

Xia Wennan snapped out of his reverie and turned to look at him.
“It’s nothing.
I just think that we’d better go… The tickets are already in my hands anyway, and I’ve never been to a concert before.” He had grown up poor; he didn’t even have the money and energy to chase stars, let alone attend a concert.

Ming Luchuan was silent for a moment.
“I won’t necessarily be free on Saturday.”

“That’s fine,” said Xia Wennan.
“I’ll ask Lin Shuqiu to go with me.”

“Lin Shuqiu? You mean Dr.
Lin?”

“Mm,” Xia Wennan nodded.

Ming Luchuan was holding his chopsticks, his gaze fixed at his plate.
“Go ahead then.”

Xia Wennan gave him a baffled look.
“Go ahead? ‘Course I will.
I wasn’t asking for your two cents.”

Ming Luchuan’s face froze over.

Seeing that he was a little unhappy, Xia Wennan shifted closer and said, “I invited you first—you’re the one who declined.
Can’t I ask someone else to go with me?”

“Do whatever you want.” After Ming Luchuan uttered these four words, he said nothing further.