Calling your ex mid-reunion and inviting him to come drink?
Xia Xinghe felt like this whole situation could be submitted to Douban’s “Ultimate Social Death Moments” forum.
His face flushed instantly. Holding the phone in one hand, he rushed to explain to Bai Qingzhou, “No, no—it wasn’t like that. They’re drunk. They were joking. Don’t take it seriously.”
“You must be busy over there, right? I won’t bother you anymore. Sorry again. I’ll just hang u—hey! Don’t take my phone!”
He was both flustered and cautious, but before he could even finish his explanation, his phone was snatched away again.
“999 Zhu Gong Road, Congyuan Hotel, 9th floor, Room 9.”
The dorm leader rattled off the address without hesitation, crystal clear—even his pronunciation became articulate, as if he weren’t drunk at all. Little Fatty chimed in, checking the time on his watch and shouting, “You’ve got half an hour! If you’re not here by 9:30, you’re not sleeping with Xiao Xia tonight!”
Xia Xinghe: “…?”
Why did that sound like they were planning to sleep together that night?
Wait—that’s not the point. The point was… Bai Qingzhou was actually coming?
Startled, Xia Xinghe reached out again to snatch his phone, but before he could, the “beep beep” tone sounded—the call had ended.
And right before the line disconnected, Bai Qingzhou’s cool voice came through once more.
He said: “Okay.”
Xia Xinghe: “……”
“Social death” didn’t even begin to describe this. At this rate, someone needed to deep-fry his corpse and serve it up again.
They had been broken up for years. And now, in the middle of a gathering, he’d called his ex, asked him to come drink—and someone had even threatened that if Bai Qingzhou didn’t, he wouldn’t get to sleep with him…
Fearing things would spiral into even more embarrassment, Xia Xinghe quickly tried to explain to the others.
“No—listen, just let me explain!”
The dorm leader gave him a side-eye. “Explain what? Later we’re making your boyfriend drink. Don’t you try and stop us.”
Little Fatty added, “Yeah, and don’t make excuses for him. No taking his place either!”
Seeing the conversation go off the rails again, Xia Xinghe steeled himself and decided to be honest.
“We broke up,” he said seriously, looking at the two of them. “We’ve been broken up for years.”
“What? Broke up?”
The private room fell into sudden silence.
Little Fatty, who was in the middle of pouring a drink, overflowed the glass. The dorm leader’s expression turned complicated.
Yan Cai, who knew the truth, opened his mouth to try and ease the tension, but before he could say a word, Little Fatty slammed his glass on the table.
“Xia Xia! That’s not cool of you!”
Xia Xinghe froze. “Sorry, I…”
“How could you side with an outsider like that?!”
His expression faltered. He didn’t understand what they meant. Then he saw the dorm leader also frown deeply.
“Yeah, Xia Xia,” the dorm leader said, “We’ve always treated you well, haven’t we? It’s just a few drinks—we just want your boyfriend to drink a little. And you’re already making excuses?”
Little Fatty nodded, “Exactly! And you lied to us to cover for him? Really?”
“No, I…”
Xia Xinghe tried to explain, but Little Fatty cut him off, “Forget it! He’s drinking whether you like it or not. No excuses! We don’t believe you anyway!”
“Yeah! If you two really broke up, I’ll do a handstand and have diarrhea!”
Xia Xinghe: “…”
Please don’t do that.
His friends were all drunk. No one was listening to his explanations. Xia Xinghe was speechless. He turned to Yan Cai with pleading eyes, hoping for help—only for Yan Cai to pat him on the shoulder and give him a solemn look.
“…Good luck, bro.”
“……”
These days, telling the truth just means no one believes you.
There was no reasoning with his friends, so Xia Xinghe could only pin his hopes on Bai Qingzhou. He opened WeChat and quickly sent him a message:
[Little Bamboo]: Sorry, my friends are drunk and just joking around.
[Little Bamboo]: You must be busy, I won’t bother you anymore.
The message sat there for a long time with no reply. Xia Xinghe couldn’t figure out what Bai Qingzhou was thinking. Every two minutes, he glanced down at his phone, which led the dorm leader to tease him several times: “What, can’t wait already?” Finally, Bai Qingzhou responded.
[Bai]: It’s fine.
The moment Xia Xinghe saw the reply, he let out a huge sigh of relief.
He thought the crisis was finally over and was about to silently praise himself for being calm and in control—but before he could be happy for even a minute, Bai Qingzhou’s next message arrived:
[Bai]: I’m already downstairs.
Xia Xinghe: “…”
Xia Xinghe: “???”
Was it too late to run now?
….
Three minutes later, a steady knock came at the door.
Xia Xinghe sat at the table, looking like he had nothing left to live for, while the dorm leader and Little Fatty lit up instantly.
They exchanged a meaningful glance. Little Fatty straightened up and cleared his throat theatrically before calling out toward the door: “Come in!”
The door creaked open, and Bai Qingzhou stepped inside with his long legs, striding over.
He seemed to have deliberately dressed up—his hair was neatly slicked back, his suit pressed to perfection, and those gold-rimmed glasses gave him a cold and distant aura. He didn’t look like he was coming to a friendly reunion—more like he was attending an international summit.
“Whoa, long time no see, senior!” the dorm leader chuckled, sizing him up with a grin he couldn’t hide. “Looking sharp! Got all dressed up just for this?”
“Of course—look who he’s meeting,” Little Fatty raised an eyebrow and added teasingly, “Don’t worry, senior, you made it in twenty-eight minutes. Xiao Xia is definitely going home with you tonight.”
It was a callback to the earlier joke about getting there within thirty minutes. Xia Xinghe’s face flushed, and he quickly stood up to smooth things over, but Bai Qingzhou just gave him a light glance and said, “Mm.”
What did “Mm” mean?
Friend, I know you love saying “Mm,” but tossing it around recklessly is dangerous!
Xia Xinghe had already had quite a bit to drink. Now, in his flustered state, the dizziness rushed to his head and he felt like he might burst into sparkles. But the other two were still far from satisfied. After teasing, they now insisted on making Bai Qingzhou drink.
The dorm leader raised his glass and said, “Come on, senior. It’s not easy being with Xiao Xia all these years—I toast to you.”
Little Fatty joined in, “Xiao Xia is the baby of our dorm. That makes you our brother-in-law—cheers to our brother-in-law!”
“And another one…”
Together they brought out five or six shot glasses, filling each one to the brim. Xia Xinghe wanted nothing more than to slap their mouths shut.
It’s one thing for friends to joke in private, but saying all this in front of the man himself—this was peak awkwardness.
Xia Xinghe didn’t even dare to imagine what Bai Qingzhou must be thinking. That he was hung up on the past? Still clinging to old feelings? They’d been broken up for years, and yet his friends still thought they were dating.
Just as the glasses were pushed in front of Bai Qingzhou, Xia Xinghe quickly tried to intervene. “Wait, let me just say something, I—”
“Shut it.”
Little Fatty cut him off angrily, then turned to Bai Qingzhou. “Would you believe this guy? Just to stop you from drinking, he told us you two broke up. Like that’s even possible!”
The dorm leader chimed in, “As a man, could you tolerate that? Don’t you owe us another drink just for that?”
“That’s right! If you don’t want to break up, drink more!”
“The more you love him, the more you drink!”
Xia Xinghe: “…”
He was speechless.
He knew Bai Qingzhou disliked alcohol. If this misunderstanding kept going, and Bai Qingzhou really got upset, no one would be able to save face.
Thinking this, Xia Xinghe decided he might as well drink on Bai Qingzhou’s behalf. Just as he reached out, Bai Qingzhou suddenly picked up one of the shot glasses, tipped his head back, and downed it in one go.
One drink. Then another.
All five or six glasses were emptied. Bai Qingzhou set down the final one with a dull thud against the table.
“Is that enough?” he asked.
Bai Qingzhou looked up calmly at Xia Xinghe. Their eyes met—and Xia Xinghe’s heart skipped a beat.
He was stunned. Why would Bai Qingzhou drink all that? Wouldn’t it have been easier just to explain?
…He couldn’t figure it out.
Then again, he never really understood him.
Bai Qingzhou’s tone was cool and distant, and his pale eyes gave nothing away—yet somehow, it felt like all those drinks had gone straight to Xia Xinghe instead, making him feel dizzy and unsteady.
His mind was turning to mush. He didn’t know what to say or do. Meanwhile, the dorm leader and Little Fatty dragged Bai Qingzhou over to sit with them, chatting and drinking, while Xia Xinghe sat numbly on the nearby couch, drinking glass after glass along with them.
The table soon descended into drunken chaos. Though they claimed to be chatting with Bai Qingzhou, they were loud enough for Xia Xinghe to hear every word.
They talked about everything—from the early days when Xia Xinghe ran errands, brought food, and saved seats for Bai Qingzhou (caught in secret photos by the dorm mates); to later when they studied together and shared Bai Qingzhou’s key exam notes with the whole dorm; and then when they moved in together and became the target of endless teasing…
Xia Xinghe was forced to relive their relationship through these memories and had to admit—those moments were still sweet in hindsight.
Maybe it was just a pity.
No matter how hard he tried, he’d only scratched the surface—he’d never truly entered Bai Qingzhou’s world.
Meanwhile, at some point, Yan Cai had joined in the drinking too. But unlike the other two who kept joking about Xia Xinghe and Bai Qingzhou, he simply drank with Bai Qingzhou, shot after shot, like he was trying to challenge him.
Unfortunately, the group had already drunk quite a bit before Bai Qingzhou arrived. The three of them took turns trying to get him drunk but failed. Perhaps Bai Qingzhou was just terrifyingly calm and rational—able to maintain control when he knew he shouldn’t indulge.
In the end, the other two collapsed at the table, completely unconscious, leaving only Yan Cai in slightly better shape. Drunk and glassy-eyed, he clutched Bai Qingzhou’s collar and muttered:
“Bai Qingzhou!”
His speech was slurred, but he still held tightly to Bai Qingzhou’s collar with surprising strength.
With the other two passed out, he dropped the act. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Bai Qingzhou.
“Don’t think your polished appearance fools me. You’re such a damn bastard.”
“You’re not even a man!”
“You son of a…”
Bai Qingzhou sat there calmly, knowing he was drunk and watching him like it was mildly amusing. He let Yan Cai curse him without resistance. After who knows how long, Yan Cai finally ran out of steam, panting heavily, and then, like a balloon deflating, mumbled softly:
“Xiao Xia is really a good guy… don’t make him cry again.”
Cry?
Bai Qingzhou’s brow furrowed sharply. All his calm composure disappeared in an instant.
After those words, Yan Cai slumped onto the table, out cold. Bai Qingzhou frowned deeply, his gaze involuntarily shifting to where Xia Xinghe was.
At that moment, Xia Xinghe had already fallen asleep curled up on the couch beside the table. He was huddled in the corner, arms wrapped around his knees like a lonely little animal.
Bai Qingzhou walked over and stood beside him. His eyes lowered slightly as he quietly observed Xia Xinghe’s closed eyelids and the small shadow cast by his lashes.
Strands of soft golden hair clung to his cheek. Bai Qingzhou’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. His long, jointed fingers brushed gently across his skin, pushing aside the fine strands, tracing from his cheek and the side of his nose down to his slightly parted lips.
“You cried because of me?”
Bai Qingzhou’s thumb pressed gently against Xia Xinghe’s lips, his expression unreadable. “When?”