"WOOOOOOOO!"
The BMW tore down the road. Chen Yu had both hands in the air, screaming like he was on a rollercoaster.
"FASTER!"
"DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!" Sima Li screamed.
Mo Fei grinned behind the wheel as the engine roared.
Sima Li's soul left his body. "MO FEI! THE SPEED LIMIT! WATCH THE SPEED LIMIT!"
Mo Fei changed gears and the car surged forward.
Sima Li slammed back into his seat. "AHHHHHHH!"
Chen Yu was having the time of his life. "THIS CAR IS FUCKING AMAZING!"
"I KNOW!" Mo Fei yelled back.
"I CAN SEE GOD!" Sima Li shrieked from the back.
Chen Yu twisted around. "ASK HIM IF HE LIKES YOUR MUSIC!"
"FUCK YOU!"
Music blasted through the speakers, 'All the Smoke by Tyla Yaweh' filling the car.
Mo Fei immediately turned it louder. "Fast cars, I want all the smokeeee!"
The bass shook the seats.
Chen Yu slapped a hand against the dashboard in time with the beat, joining him. "Porsche 911 can't see me no moreeee!"
Sima Li was still clutching his seat belt. Then the chorus hit.
All three of them— started singing
"In a BMW, yeah, new one, make it roar, yeah—"
Including the man currently fearing for his life— "Tell a bitch throw it back like it's all yours!"
Loudly and badly. With absolutely no concern for dignity.
Mo Fei drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, shouting along. "Speeding in BMW, living life fast, going all round the course!"
Chen Yu was performing like he had personally been invited onto the track. "Ain't no competition, got the ball in my court!"
Sima Li, an actual professional singer, somehow sounded the worst because half his performance consisted of screaming whenever Mo Fei accelerated. "Dip and—AH!—dodging in a—FUCK!—new BMW!"
The road opened ahead. Mo Fei's grin widened.
Sima Li caught it in the rear-view mirror. His singing stopped. "Oh, sweet Lord on high."
Mo Fei pressed down. "Fly, baby, flyyyyy!" The BMW launched forward.
"WOOOOOOO!" Chen Yu threw his head back, laughing.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Sima Li grabbed the overhead handle.
"MO FEI, I HAVE THINGS TO LIVE FOR!"
Mo Fei burst out laughing. Wind rushed past the car as the city blurred around them.
Sima Li released the handle long enough to clasp both hands together. He shut his eyes. "Dear God…"
Chen Yu looked back. "Are you praying?"
"SHUT UP!" Sima Li squeezed his hands tighter. "Dear God, I know we haven't spoken recently, but I have reflected on my behaviour."
"You're negotiating with God?" Mo Fei yelled.
"I AM REPENTING FOR EVERYTHING!"
The car swept through another bend.
Sima Li tilted sideways. "AHHH! I'M SORRY FOR MY SINS!"
Mo Fei was crying with laughter. Chen Yu nearly folded over.
"I'LL BE A BETTER PERSON! I'LL DONATE MORE TO CHARITY! I'LL STOP ARGUING WITH PEOPLE ONLINE!"
Chen Yu wiped beneath his eyes. "You argue with people online?"
"THAT IS NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW!"
The music continued blasting.
Somehow, within thirty seconds, Sima Li went from pleading for salvation straight back to singing.
One hand remained locked around the overhead handle. The other became a microphone.
"All the smoke, yeah, yeah, I'll be up high like I want some more!"
Eventually, after what Sima Li would later describe as the longest journey of his life, the BMW slowed to a stop. Mo Fei switched off the engine.
Silence.
Sima Li slowly opened his eyes. "…We're alive?"
Mo Fei nodded.
The seat belt flew off and Sima Li launched himself out of the car.
He stumbled several steps away, bent over and braced both hands on his knees.
Fresh air. Beautiful fresh air. Solid ground. Wonderful, reliable ground.
He inhaled deeply. Behind him, the car doors opened.
Mo Fei and Chen Yu stepped out. One look at Sima Li— and both burst out laughing.
Sima Li slowly straightened. His hair was dishevelled. His dignity was gone. His faith had been renewed. He pointed at Mo Fei. "Never."
Mo Fei's laughter worsened.
"Never, ever, ever again." Sima Li jabbed a finger towards the BMW. "I will never enter a vehicle you are driving for the rest of my natural life."
Mo Fei folded his arms. "You looked like you were having fun."
"I SAW MY ANCESTORS!"
That finished Chen Yu. He grabbed the side of the car for support.
Sima Li rounded on Mo Fei. "You are insane. You should not have a driving licence."
Mo Fei looked offended. "I am an excellent driver."
"You are a public threat." Sima Li pointed at him. "A stylish public threat, but still a threat. I give you two weeks before the authorities confiscate your licence."
Mo Fei scoffed. "Please. You're just jealous because I drive better than you."
Chen Yu finally recovered enough to straighten. "I think my Feifei drove brilliantly."
Sima Li's mouth fell open. He looked between them.
Mo Fei and Chen Yu exchanged a glance. Then high-fived.
Sima Li stood there in silence. These people were insane, completely, irreparably insane. He pointed firmly at Mo Fei. "When they confiscate your licence in two weeks, I want an apology."
Mo Fei patted the bonnet of his BMW. "That won't happen." His gaze drifted towards the driver's seat. A dangerous little grin appeared.
Sima Li immediately stepped backwards. "Oh, hell nah."
Chen Yu was already opening the passenger door. "Round two?"
Mo Fei grinned. "Round two."
Sima Li clasped his hands together again. "God, give me better friends."
💜~~~~~
The drive home was considerably calmer. Mostly because Sima Li had threatened to jump out of the moving car if Mo Fei tried anything again.
So Mo Fei behaved.
Music still blasted through the BMW. Chen Yu sprawled comfortably in the passenger seat, while Sima Li sat in the back with his seat belt firmly secured. Very firmly.
At some point, Chen Yu pulled out his phone. "Oi."
Mo Fei glanced over. "What?"
"Nothing, keep driving." Chen Yu lifted his phone, angled it towards himself and snapped a picture.
The shot caught all three of them.
Chen Yu in the passenger seat. Mo Fei behind the wheel, one hand resting casually on it, violet hair falling around his face and Sima Li in the back looking like a traumatised hostage.
Gorgeous.
Chen Yu immediately opened Instagram.
Captioned the photo: Hello, new baby whip!
He tagged Mo Fei and Sima Li.
Post.
Sima Li's phone buzzed. He checked it and his expression changed immediately. "Delete that."
Chen Yu locked his phone. "No."
Within minutes, the comments started pouring in.
Thousands.
Then tens of thousands.
Fans flooded Chen Yu's page.
💜~~~~~~
Mo Fei dropped them off first.
Sima Li climbed out. The moment both feet touched the ground, his entire body seemed to relax.
Mo Fei lowered the window. "Same time tomorrow?"
Sima Li turned around. "Go to hell."
Chen Yu burst out laughing. Mo Fei drove away extremely pleased with himself. By the time he reached home after dropping Chen Yu off, his apartment was quiet.
Clean, too.
Courtesy of Zhang Yichen's hard-earned money.
Mo Fei showered, changed into comfortable clothes and climbed into bed. His hair was still slightly damp when he reached for his phone.
Instagram.
Notifications.
Mo Fei blinked. "Fucking hell."
Chen Yu's post had exploded. He opened it. Hundreds of thousands of likes.
Comments moving faster than he could read them.
Fan pages had already reposted the picture. Someone had zoomed in on his hand gripping the steering wheel.
Someone else had identified the exact BMW model. Another account had apparently begun calculating the price.
Mo Fei stared at the screen. "Do you people have jobs?"
Naturally, he reposted it to his story.
Then returned to the original post and left a comment.
MoFeiOfficial: My beautiful baby finally arrived. Please congratulate me appropriately.
The replies came instantly.
THAT'S MO FEI DRIVING???
CONGRATULATIONS, YOUR HIGHNESS. HE CALLED THE CAR HIS BABY.
Sir please look at me the way you look at that steering wheel
THE VIOLET HAIR IS BACK WE WON
Why does Sima Li look like he just survived war
NEW CAR???
Mo Fei behind the wheel is doing something to me.
SIMA BLINK TWICE IF YOU NEED HELP
Our gege got himself a new whip.
Never knew our Mo Fei could drive, congratulations gege.
Damn, the car is sleek, the man is fiiine. Hold me please.
THE THREE MENACES ARE TOGETHER AGAIN
WAIT IS THAT AN M5 COMPETITION???
PRINCE OF THE RUNWAY IS NOW PRINCE OF THE HIGHWAY
Mo Fei liked that one. Then another familiar name appeared.
SimaLiOfficial: I nearly died. Rule 1: never get in a car Mo Fei drives.
Three seconds later—
ChefYu: Coward.
SimaLiOfficial: YOU WERE SCREAMING TOO.
ChefYu: From happiness, tsk.
Mo Fei laughed into his pillow. Another comment appeared.
Aria_lin: Eh, Our car arrived. Yippee.
XiaoMeiOfficial: FEIFEI-GEGE TAKE ME FOR A RIDE!!!
SimaLiOfficial: In your dreams.
XiaoMeiOfficial: Nobody asked you.
Mo Fei was thoroughly entertained now.
Then—
Kaito: I call second dibs on a test drive.
Mo Fei immediately liked it.
MoFeiOfficial: I booked it for Sima Li again.
A new comment appeared beneath it.
VelvetChidi: Ahh, the smell of a new car. Congratulations.
Then Chen Yu joined again.
ChefYu: Thank me first, people. I made this possible too. Taught him how to drive and shii.
Mo Fei laughed so hard he nearly dropped his phone. The comment section had stopped being Chen Yu's post ten minutes ago.
It was now a public group chat.
Fans were losing their minds beneath every exchange. Screenshots were already spreading.
Hashtags were appearing.
Mo Fei spent another fifteen minutes causing problems before deciding he had done enough public service for one evening.
He yawned. "Alright. Time for bed." He was about to close the app when the comment count refreshed.
One new comment appeared near the top.
Mo Fei's thumb stopped. His eyes narrowed as he leaned closer.
No way.
He rubbed one eye and looked again, it was still there.
Mo Fei sat upright. The verified account remained beneath the post.
"…What?" He refreshed the page. The comment remained.
A purple heart emoji, from Zhang Yichen.
Mo Fei clicked the account.
Verified.
211 million followers.
Zhang Yichen.
He went back. The heart was still there. Mo Fei slowly lowered the phone, raised it again. Still there.
This was strange.
Very strange.
Zhang Yichen barely existed online. His account was mostly professional announcements, endorsements, film promotions and the occasional carefully selected photograph.
He rarely commented. Rarely interacted. Rarely appeared beneath anyone else's posts at all.
And now—
Mo Fei stared at the tiny purple heart. "It's just an emoji."
A completely normal emoji. One of several perfectly ordinary warm-coloured emojis available to humanity.
Nothing suspicious, nothing worth thinking about.
Mo Fei nodded firmly. "Yup." His phone refreshed again.
The replies beneath Yichen's comment multiplied so quickly the number looked broken. Mo Fei made the mistake of opening them.
????????????????
ZHANG YICHEN????
EXCUSE ME SIR
HE COMMENTED????
A PURPLE HEART????
EVERYBODY STAY CALM. NOBODY MOVE.
HE DOESN'T EVEN COMMENT ON HIS FRIENDS' POSTS WHAT IS HAPPENING
Mo Fei immediately closed the replies. He put the phone face-down. Then, very slowly, pulled the blanket over his head. "Zhang Yichen…"
Across the internet, millions of people were asking the exact same question.
Just how close were Zhang Yichen and Mo Fei for Zhang Yichen to comment at all?