‘February 13th’ 

Chen Jinxuan reminded himself mentally all the way to the building’s basement parking lot. Like a recitation of sutra, it looped in his mind, carving into his bones. Of all months and of all seasons, he would never forget the winter in February because it was when he found just how cold-blooded he could be.

Chen Jinxuan’s ink black chelsea boots clicked as he sauntered towards his roadster motorbike in navy blue. He unlocked and removed the safety chain before mounting the vehicle. He quickly put on a helmet and started the engine, riding out of the area. He drove towards the gate of Taohua all-girls college.

Approaching the gate, he spotted a young woman standing next to the gate. The woman had short black hair, and she was donned in a yellow dress that did not match her cold expression. Perhaps, it was due to their age gap, the two siblings did not look alike except for their cold countenance. She raised her eyes and saw her brother pulling up right in front of her.

Chen Jinxuan could not help but smile sarcastically. “You look great.”

Chen Ling pulled out her smartphone and took a few pictures of her brother from various angles. “I am selling your photos to the gay club.”

“I do not mind meeting more friends, but as much as I want to, I don’t even have time to check my emails, let alone visiting gay clubs. I’m afraid you will lose the business.” Chen Jinxuan handed her a helmet and tilted his head towards the back seat, beckoning her to get on. “I am entitled to at least 70% of the profit if you ever do put them on sale.”

‘Click’, Chen Ling fastened the helmet and jumped on the back seat.

“Aren’t you supposed to sit sideways because you are wearing a dress?” Chen Jinxuan added.

“Shut up, will you? I wear shorts under, alright? I am already wearing this unwillingly because our parents just won’t stop prying into my fashion choice!” Contrary to her protest which showed discomfort, Chen Ling circled her arms around Chen Jinxuan’s waist in a familiar manner.

Chen Jinxuan rolled his eyes and started driving towards their parents’ house.

The journey was filled with the sound of wind and other than that, none of them spoke. Chen Ling’s hands on Chen Jinxuan’s stomach fidgeted. She pressed her lips together as she threw a few glances at her brother through one of the mirrors attached near the hand grips.

“Jin-ge, are you still… with him?”

Chen Jinxuan threw her a glance through the mirror and said nothing.

Chen Ling knew how attractive her brother was and she also knew her brother deserved someone who loved him wholeheartedly, but towards Fang Yaowei… She just could not agree. She only found out about their relationship a month ago when she saw them in the cinema. By chance, she was also watching the same movie in the same studio with her classmates and by chance, she sat just three rows above them. When flashes came from the action scenes, she caught the image of them kissing.

After the movie ended, Chen Ling lied to her friends that she had a tummy ache and that she was going back to the dorm first. She followed Chen Jinxuan and caught them off-guard when they were sitting down in a restaurant. She joined their table, staring coldly at Fang Yaowei.

That day, she was acquainted with Fang Yaowei and found out that his brother had been dating him for years. Fang Yaowei came off as a very warm and kind boyfriend, but she could not wrap her head around the fact that her brother was in a relationship with a man. It was not as if she could not accept what she had witnessed. It was just… Fang Yaowei seemed too much of a push-over and he seemed like a man who begged instead of working to achieve her brother—though her impression could be wrong.

She stayed by the table for five minutes. She ordered nothing and she did not react to Fang Yaowei’s greetings. She expressed her disapproval through her cold stare outwardly.

Chen Ling recalled that day and had to admit that they looked good together. What was better than her handsome brother? Her handsome brother standing next to an equally handsome man.

“Jin-ge… Do you really like him?”

“I do.”

“Are you happy?”

Upon Chen Ling’s question, Chen Jinxuan could not help but ponder. Was he truly happy? If it was a year ago, perhaps, he could reply ‘yes’ without even an ounce of hesitation. He never needed time to answer questions like this, but now his heart was a mix of every emotion; the positive and the negative. Even he himself had no idea how to define what he felt inside.

“I don’t—” Before Chen Jinxuan even answered, he pulled the handbrake and stopped his bike abruptly. Chen Ling was not prepared and due to the impact, she hit face-first onto Chen Jinxuan’s back.

“What’s the deal?!” Chen Ling complained as she held her nose. She poked her head over Chen Jinxuan’s shoulder to see what made them stop.

There was only one route to reach their parents’ house. As it was slightly farther from the central city, the road was often clear without any traffic jam. Unfortunately, the street was jammed today. It was obstructed by a group of delinquents. In each of their hands were metal bats.

No wonder they saw no other vehicles on their way here. They must have turned around.

There were about sixteen of the delinquents and there was one man whose face was covered with a white medical mask. Five delinquents were ganging up against that masked man while the rest watched. Although he was outnumbered, the masked man seemed to evade their attacks with ease.

When the other crooks saw Chen Jinxuan and Chen Ling, they started marching over.

“Hold tight.” Chen Jinxuan said as he spun the handle, gearing up the engine. He sped forward and with one leg as a pivot on the ground, he made a sharp turn. Chen Ling yelped as she clung close to her brother.

Brusquely, a metal bat was hurled over towards Chen Ling. Chen Jinxuan had not managed to speed forward and he had to somehow protect Chen Ling from the zooming bat. Chen Jinxuan spun his handle and still with one leg as pivot, he made another sharp turn back to his original position. Then, in the nick of time, he raised an arm to tackle the metal bat.

The metal bat fell with a loud ‘clunk’ and rolled a few steps away from Chen Jinxuan.

Expecting that Chen Jinxuan would pull this stunt, a dozen delinquents had surrounded them as well as the masked man who was still busy avoiding strikes.

“What do you want?” Chen Jinxuan asked indifferently.

“You look strong. Fight and win that dude over there and we will let you go.” One of the delinquents answered, pointing at the masked man with a thumb.

Chen Jinxuan turned his gaze to that masked man. His hair was dyed light brown with black roots showing from the top of his head. He had a fit build, dressed in an untidy white t-shirt, and black trousers with the blazer tossed aside by the sideroad.

“If I refused?”

“That miss will pay the price.”

Out of nowhere, a delinquent caught Chen Ling in a chokehold and dragged her off the bike from behind. Chen Ling struggled to free herself, but clearly, she was no match for the delinquent whose body was twice her size. Her helmet was tossed aside.

“Jin-ge!” Chen Ling cried out. “Don’t worry about me! Beat them up!”

Chen Ling was not worried about her brother at all. Although she did not find the situation pleasant, she knew her brother would come up with a solution. Chen Jinxuan used to be a delinquent himself… more than a decade ago. She had been in the same situation a few times before, so it was not anything novel. This was one of the contributing factors why Chen Zhuoheng trusted Chen Jinxuan less. He could not get the image of this troublemaking second son away from his mind. The impression was so deep that it made his studious oldest son, Chen Junhuan, appear so much more favourable.

Chen Jinxuan removed his helmet. He bent down and picked up the metal bat that was flung towards him and Chen Ling earlier. He tapped the metal bat a few times on his other palm, contemplating. “Is no one among you strong enough to fight on par with him or are the sixteen of you not strong enough to handle one man?”

Mixed disagreements rang from the crooks; some booed, some spat cusses and some spat saliva on the street.

“Listen or this lady will get the shorter end of—Argh!!”

Chen Ling bit the arm of the crook. Hard. Fortunately, there was only one of them holding her captive. Chen Jinxuan took the opportunity to take two quick steps forward and in the next moment, the metal bat in his hand flew out and hit the crook that held Chen Ling hostage right on his forehead.

The situation erupted and all of the crooks rushed over to overpower them.

Upon Chen Jinxuan’s successful attack, the man with mask stopped avoiding and in a few strikes, he knocked three of the five plaguey flies down. Soon enough, he ran next to Chen Jinxuan.

Chen Jinxuan had no obligation to help this brown-haired man at all, but he knew the principle of ‘the enemy of my enemy is a friend’, so he cooperated. The situation could have been caused by this man, but his sister’s safety was his top priority. In addition to that, he could not go all out when he had to protect Chen Ling. Having another hand was literally a lifesaver.

However, they were still outnumbered. Being defensive was disadvantageous and a rogue snatched a loophole to lay a hand on Chen Ling. Chen Jinxuan wanted to rush over and beat that rogue into pulp, but he was occupied and could not free himself from the siege.

Chen Ling was once again pulled away and when a fully swung fist was about to land on her face, the masked man plunged in and took the hit.

The crook was astonished, but what astonished him was the fact that the masked man remained standing after taking the strike. The masked man glared at the crook and quickly, in the next moment, his hand seized two of the crook’s fingers and broke them with one yank.

That man howled in pain as he knelt down, yielding to the masked man.

When other crooks were distracted due to the ear-piercing cry from their comrade, Chen Jinxuan lost no chance to land his fist on their abdomens. After adding a few kicks to make sure they could not climb up for a while, Chen Jinxuan rushed to Chen Ling.

The remaining few crooks knew that they were no match now that they lost their number. Exchanging looks of uncertainty, they fled immediately with their tails between their legs.

“Thank you for covering for me.” Chen Ling looked at the masked man with worry.

That man made a light nod. He reached a hand to his temple and saw that there were blood stains on his fingers.

“Chen Ling, are you alright?” Chen Jinxuan grabbed Chen Ling by her shoulders and scanned her from top to bottom. Thankfully, there were only scratches and there were no severe injuries.

“Jin-ge, I am alright. He is the one bleeding. We should take him to the hospital.” Chen Ling removed her brother’s hands and went to have a look at the masked man. At this time, the masked man lost his footing and sat on the ground.

“Hey!” Chen Ling crouched next to the man. She turned to Chen Jinxuan. “Jin-ge!”

“There is only one motorbike. I can’t leave you alone lest these remaining delinquents get up.” Despite having said so, what made Chen Jinxuan worry was exactly this man who wouldn't remove his medical mask. They did not know what or who provoked the delinquents. The fact that this man could easily avoid getting injured while being outnumbered by five men was already a red flag in Chen Jinxuan’s opinion.

“Your brother is… right. I am alright. I can take care of myself.” The masked man spoke as he raised his head, meeting Chen Jinxuan’s suspicious gaze. His peach blossom shaped eyes shook and the sunlight that poured from above made it look as if there were glitters in his eyes.

Chen Jinxuan frowned.

“Jin-ge! Please!”

No matter what, the masked man had taken a heavy strike on behalf of Chen Ling. There was no reason for Chen Jinxuan to refuse. In the end, Chen Jinxuan agreed to drive Chen Ling to the nearest bus stop first before driving back and taking the masked man to the hospital.

Chen Jinxuan went to the reception with the injured man. After briefly telling the nurse what had happened and getting a registration form, he asked, “I have a family matter to attend. You only need to fill the form and have your wound treated. No worries about the medical fee, I have paid them.”

A moment had passed and there was no response from the brown-haired man. Chen Jinxuan turned his gaze over and caught the man staring at him. When their eyes met, the masked man shifted his eyes immediately.

“Here is my name card, let me know when you are available. My sister will want to thank you properly.” Chen Jinxuan took out his name card from his wallet and passed it to the younger man. It was nothing but a courtesy. The phone number and email stated on the card would be directed to his secretary and unless it came from people of importance to Xiuyan Real Estate, it would be deleted. He did not actually want to maintain contact with this potentially dangerous man.

“Chen Jinxuan… A CEO?” That man looked at Chen Jinxuan with disbelief. Of course, who would have expected a CEO to dress like a racer?

Chen Jinxuan made a knowing smile. “How old are you? You look like you are a managerial level officer.”

“Oh, I just resigned, and I am meeting with a friend who is working in Human Resources for advice. I’m twenty-seven. So… Jin-ge?”

“Just call me Xuan—” Chen Jinxuan took over the form and was about to hand it over when his hand paused. Chen Jinxuan sighed, mocking himself mentally. “Never mind, Jin-ge it is then. How may I call you?”

The younger man received the form and raised his head, looking at Chen Jinxuan with his peach blossom eyes. His eyes curved and it was evident that he was smiling in spite of the mask. Unblinking, reflected in his clear black eyes was Chen Jinxuan’s image.

“Qiyu. You can call me Qiyu.”

Art by @nalangs_