Disobedience To Control chapter 15

Nineteen

It started snowing outside, and the two of them finally returned to the hotel.

Yang Xiaobei entered the room, hung his expensive jacket neatly, and then hugged his backpack containing the cash, searching around the room.

After a while, he finally found a safe hidden in the cabinet beside the TV.

Yang Xiaobei zipped up his backpack tightly and then put it into the safe, locking it. Only then did he relax.

Song Siheng stood behind him, watching his every move.

Yang Xiaobei clapped his hands and turned around with a satisfied look. “I’ve lived for nineteen years, and it’s the first time I’ve seen so much cash.”

Just as Song Siheng was about to retort, he suddenly realized something. “Wait a minute, how old are you?”

Yang Xiaobei shrugged. “Nineteen.”

“You’re only nineteen?!”

Since their first meeting, Song Siheng had always thought that the person in front of him was at least twenty-one or twenty-two. Later, when he learned that Yang Xiaobei was still in school, he naturally assumed that he must be in his third or fourth year, close to graduation.

“I thought you already knew. Didn’t you help me book a flight ticket?”

“…Never really cared.”

Indeed, on the day they reached an agreement, Song Siheng got Yang Xiaobei’s ID number. But he never thought about checking his date of birth.

“Hey, are you regretting it now?” Yang Xiaobei peeked at his expression.

“It’s fine.” Song Siheng shook his head, thinking it was fortunate that he hadn’t gotten involved in any illegal activities.

Song Siheng crossed his arms and observed the person opposite him again. “Doesn’t look like it.”

“Doesn’t look like what? Don’t I look nineteen? I’m full of youth.” He fluttered his thick eyelashes, and his dark eyes gleamed mischievously, making Song Siheng feel like he was being teased by a cat’s paw scratching his heart.

Then his gaze fell below Yang Xiaobei’s waist. “Indeed, doesn’t look like it.”

•  

The next morning, Song Siheng had a short meeting, while Yang Xiaobei stayed in the hotel room and slept in until noon.

When Song Siheng swiped his card to enter the room again, Yang Xiaobei happened to be brushing his teeth, wearing only a pair of boxers.

“Sleeping in so late.” Song Siheng felt a chill all over his body, took off his scarf, and rubbed his hands.

“I can only sleep in once a year.” Yang Xiaobei replied with a mouthful of toothpaste foam, his words unclear.

“Do you have a lot of classes? Can’t even afford to sleep in for a day…” Song Siheng’s words trailed off, and he didn’t continue probing. Since Yang Xiaobei had insisted on drawing a line between their private lives last night, he didn’t need to pry into that bit of privacy.

Yang Xiaobei didn’t respond either. He picked up a towel to wash his face, with water droplets still hanging on his face as he came out of the bathroom.

Then, with a bang, he threw himself onto the bed. “I need to air myself out a bit more.”

Water splashed all over the pillow. Although Song Siheng didn’t have any particular cleanliness habits, he still wanted to beat him up for making such a mess.

“Can you dry yourself off before lying down?! There’s water everywhere.”

Yang Xiaobei rolled over, his eyes curved with a smile. “Now you’re worried about water getting on the bed? What about the other night when you…”

Before he could finish, Song Siheng grabbed a nearby white pillow and smothered him with it, pressing it down firmly.

Yang Xiaobei quickly pounded the bedsheet with all his might, his veins bulging on his back.

“Damn it, are you trying to kill me?” He finally managed to gasp.

“Just giving you a lesson.” Song Siheng threw away the pillow, grabbed Yang Xiaobei’s neck from behind, and made a twisting motion with his hand.

The message was clear: If I want to mess with you, you can’t escape.

Yang Xiaobei immediately put on his usual playful smile. “Boss, boss, you’ll always be my boss.”

Only then did Song Siheng release his grip and set him free.

“Do you have plans for this afternoon?” Yang Xiaobei sat up, rubbed his neck, and asked.

“What’s up?” Song Siheng was adjusting his cuff.

“I’m taking you out for a stroll.” Yang Xiaobei gestured with his eyes towards the window.

“Oh, you’re familiar with this place?” Song Siheng asked.

“I stayed here for several months before.” Yang Xiaobei stood up without elaborating further.

Song Siheng checked his schedule for the day and found nothing urgent. Earlier in the year, he had purchased a new office building near the northern city loop, which was to be renovated into a new research and development center. It was a good opportunity to take a look at the site.

“Alright.” Song Siheng nodded after a moment.

Yang Xiaobei was somewhat surprised to see him agree so readily.

It was even colder outside today in the northern city after last night’s snow.

At noon, Li Ke called to ask if Song Siheng needed company to the new office building in the afternoon, but he declined, saying he could manage alone.

Around one in the afternoon, the sun came out. Song Siheng led Yang Xiaobei out of the room.

He declined the business car arranged by Li Ke and hailed a taxi to the office building.

Sitting on the right side, Yang Xiaobei leaned against the window and looked outside. As the car passed by the stadium they had seen last night, Yang Xiaobei’s gaze lingered for several seconds until the building disappeared from view.

The office building was a half-hour drive from their hotel. When they got off the car, Yang Xiaobei still seemed a bit dazed.

“You’re not planning to buy me a suite here, are you?” Yang Xiaobei looked up at the towering building in front of them, then squinted at Song Siheng.

Song Siheng couldn’t be bothered with his thoughts and walked straight ahead. “Wait for me downstairs, I’ll be down in five minutes.”

And so, Yang Xiaobei was left on the ground floor.

He didn’t feel uncomfortable at all and simply chose a comfortable sofa in the lobby to relax.

After completing several levels of a game, Song Siheng finally came down from upstairs, his expression not particularly good.

Without asking him the reason, Yang Xiaobei closed the game and stood up from the sofa, following behind him.

“Let’s go, I’ll take you for a stroll.” Yang Xiaobei casually hung his arm around Song Siheng’s shoulder and pushed him outside.

Soon, they hailed a taxi from the roadside.

Song Siheng got into the car first, and Yang Xiaobei turned to ask, “What do you want to do?”

“It’s too cold outside, I’m fine with anything else.” Song Siheng replied casually while looking at his phone.

Yang Xiaobei nodded and said to the driver, “Sir, go to the Inner Ring World Trade.”

Twenty minutes later, the car stopped by the roadside, and the two got off.

Song Siheng originally thought Yang Xiaobei would take him to a bar. After all, they had first met in such a place. However, after getting off the car, he found himself in front of an indoor amusement park.

“You think I’m a three-year-old kid?” Song Siheng turned to leave.

“You’ve never played here before, right? Give it a try.” Yang Xiaobei turned around and found a basketball shooting machine. “Come on, get twenty tokens, and I’ll help you break the record.”

Snowflakes were falling outside again, and Song Siheng took a quick look before giving up on going out and leaving it to Yang Xiaobei.

Soon, the two of them were shuttling through the crowded amusement park with a basket full of game tokens.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“COMBO!”

The machine rang out with continuous hits, creating a lively atmosphere.

Song Siheng crossed his arms and watched as Yang Xiaobei took off his coat, leaving only a T-shirt, and started shooting baskets, raising his arms, slamming the hoops, and scoring.

His arm muscles flexed, tightened, relaxed, and tightened again.

Yang Xiaobei’s profile was attractive, with thick eyelashes, long eyes, and a curve on his nose and forehead that wasn’t overly sharp.

However, they had almost always met at night. It was the first time Song Siheng had seen him like this during the day, in a crowded place, which was somewhat novel to him.

It was quite rare to see him looking a bit like a nineteen-year-old.

In 60 seconds, with thirty basketballs, he had already scored twenty-nine in a row, breaking the record with an animation on the screen. Two mosaic figures danced excitedly on the screen.

“Quick! You take the last shot!” Yang Xiaobei grabbed Song Siheng’s hand, pulled him in front, and directly handed him a basketball.

“Hurry up, shoot!” Yang Xiaobei tightened his grip on Song Siheng’s hand, his arm around his body almost encircling him, his palms holding his hand back, his chest pressing tightly against his back.

The warmth from behind enveloped him tightly, and the youthful and bold breath trapped him.

The next moment, Yang Xiaobei held his hand, tightened his grip on the basketball, raised his hand, bent his elbow, and rotated his wrist.

Bang!

“It’s in!” Yang Xiaobei exclaimed excitedly.

The screen started scrolling, and Yang Xiaobei’s heartbeat seemed to be pounding Song Siheng’s back.

Three seconds later, Song Siheng pushed the person behind him away and relaxed his shoulders.

“That’s enough.” He said softly, then walked straight out.

“Hey, where are you going?” Yang Xiaobei called from behind.

Song Siheng walked out of the amusement park quickly. There happened to be a convenience store outside. He walked over, and the automatic door opened with a sound.

Song Siheng looked around, then pulled out a pack of cigarettes from the shelf at the entrance and threw it onto the counter, signaling the cashier to scan it for payment.

It was almost evening outside, and the pale blue sky was tinged with light gold. Snowflakes were still falling, and the breeze blew them into the store, where they quickly melted into a trace of water on the heavy curtain.

Smoking wasn’t allowed indoors, so Song Siheng also bought a lighter. Half a minute later, he leaned against the cold glass wall outside the convenience store.

Click, click. He pressed it twice, and a golden flame burst out of the lighter.

The snowflakes were a bit blinding, so he lowered his eyelids slightly, his gaze fixed on the burning sparks.

Song Siheng took out a cigarette, held it gently between his teeth, then leaned his head forward slightly. The tip of the cigarette was quickly ignited, emitting a faint glow.

The wind picked up, accelerating the burning of the cigarette. In just a few minutes, it burned almost halfway. Song Siheng didn’t have a smoking addiction and rarely smoked on ordinary days. It was only occasionally, when he was feeling restless, that he would have one like this.

But within five minutes, someone ran over, their footsteps sounding somewhat urgent.

Soon, that person stood in front of him, panting heavily, “Hey, there are still a dozen tokens left.”

Without looking up, Song Siheng, for some reason, extended his right hand and offered the cigarette butt to the person’s lips.

“Do you want a drag?” Song Siheng asked softly.

But as soon as the question came out, he regretted it. Quickly, he raised his head, and his fingers instinctively retracted.

But the person in front of him grabbed his right wrist, turned his face sideways, lowered his head, and took the half-smoked, still-warm cigarette butt into his mouth.

Whoo—

Snowflakes fluttered down, some landing on Yang Xiaobei’s eyelashes.

Then, a delicate puff of smoke emerged from his lips. Snow and smoke, both white.

In that instant, Song Siheng realized that he couldn’t see anything clearly.