Si Tao actually didn’t think that Mo Fang was being troublesome. Even if he was, he wouldn’t have minded. No, since Mo Fang didn’t want to stay out any longer, he simply shrugged his shoulders and dropped the idea. “Well, if you’ve had enough for today, that’s alright as well. Let’s go then, I’ll drive you home!”

Mo Fang looked at him in a daze, not having expected that response.

Si Tao had already gotten to his feet and was on his way to the door when he realized that Mo Fang wasn’t following. He turned around and raised his brows, wondering if he had forgotten something. It shouldn’t be though?

Mo Fang finally pulled himself out of his daze and smiled faintly. “You don’t have to drive me back.”

Si Tao clicked his tongue and waved for him to come over. “I know I don’t have to but I want to. Since Xiao Lan mentioned it, I can’t help but think that I’ve really not paid enough attention to you recently. That’s going to change now!”

He waited for Mo Fang to come over and then reached out, putting an arm around his shoulders. “I’ll drive you back and then I’ll come in and take a look around your apartment. I have to make sure it’s livable, after all. Who knows if you’ve just been sleeping on a mattress on the cold floor in an otherwise empty room otherwise?”

Mo Fang shook his head. “Yu Ting already had the apartment furbished long ago. How could any of the rooms be empty?”

Si Tao sighed. “Who knows? I still have to make sure. Also, even if the rooms are alright, I have to look into your fridge. If I find that it’s empty or that you’re hiding any spirits in there, I’m going to send my housekeeper over to you every second day from now on to make sure you’re eating well.”

Mo Fang simply gave a hum but didn’t argue further. The two of them had reached the main room of the restaurant and he couldn’t help but glance at the table where he had sat before. He didn’t see Li Ming and glanced around. Of course, he didn’t want to bother him so maybe he shouldn’t care. Still, he would have liked to see that Li Ming was sitting somewhere with his friends and having fun despite running into him.

After looking in all directions, the only familiar person he managed to spot was Linghu Jiahao though. He was still at the bar, his gaze brushing through the room as if he was looking for somebody else to chat up.

Mo Fang hesitated and then pulled at Si Tao’s sleeve. “Hey, is it alright if we go and say goodbye to Jiahao first?”

Si Tao looked over to the bar and immediately nodded. “Sure!” In fact, he was happy to see Mo Fang take the initiative to walk up to somebody no matter who it was. Since he seemed to have been mostly holed up at home recently, this could probably be counted as progress? Well, at least it felt like it.

He happily marched over there with him, even slapping Linghu Jiahao on the back with a bright smile as if it was all thanks to him that Mo Fang had opened up. “Jiahao, you’re still here!”

Linghu Jiahao gave Si Tao a puzzled look but then simply hummed. “I am. Things didn’t work out before.” He motioned over to the table where the guy he had tried to chat up before was still sitting.

Mo Fang sighed. “I’m sorry about that. Maybe you’ll have better luck next time.”

Linghu Jiahao gave another hum. “I hope so.” Most likely, his chances would go up a lot if Mo Fang wasn’t around. Although then again, with the way that Si Tao still had an arm around his shoulders that might take care of any previous misunderstandings.

He didn’t dwell on it and instead raised his brows at them. “Are the two of you leaving?” He had thought that they would stay for several hours at least but now, it seemed that he had been completely wrong. Apparently, nobody was getting what they had wanted out of this evening.

Mo Fang nodded and reached over to pat Si Tao’s chest. “Ah Tao said he wanted to bring me home and look into my fridge.”

“Your fridge?” Linghu Jiahao looked from one person to the other, wondering if there was some joke he wasn’t getting. Surely, you wouldn’t bring anyone home to see what was in their fridge? But Si Tao was engaged so this shouldn’t be a euphemism either.

Mo Fang chuckled. “Well, don’t ask me. He seems to think it’ll tell him something interesting.” He shook his head and then glanced through the room again. “Li Ming left already?”

Before Linghu Jiahao could explain, Yao Chen already leaned over the counter. “He did. He even came up to the bar and asked whether I could tell the two of you that he did.”

“I see.” Mo Fang really couldn’t say that he was surprised. Anyway, he hadn’t seen him when he looked and it wasn’t tough to imagine that he would feel awkward around him. Really, he was more surprised that Li Ming had been able to sit at the same table as him for a while and that he had even done so of his own volition. “Then … did he seem very upset?”

Yao Chen pondered for a moment. “I wouldn’t say so. Maybe a bit awkward. I asked him whether the two of you were trying to rekindle something but seems like I thought too much.”

Mo Fang smiled wryly. “Yes, that’s … well, it’d be good if we could just be …” He wasn’t sure what to say. Li Ming had said he could see them as acquaintances but really, he had probably rather meant something along the line of ‘polite strangers’. Not that he could fault him. “Anyway, I just wanted to make sure. The two of us should leave now.”

Yao Chao nodded and waved before returning to his work.

Si Tao simply nodded at Linghu Jiahao to say goodbye and then turned around, walking to the entrance with Mo Fang. Now, it really was time to go home.