The boys were saying their goodbyes in small groups.

Matthew Clark stood under the streetlamp, his face flushed, his eyes glistening in the light.

Samuel Harris glanced at him a few times, then hesitantly asked, "Uh... Matthew ge, can you walk home by yourself?"

Matthew Clark frowned inwardly.

One after another, do they all look down on me?

He nodded firmly. "I'm perfectly sober."

His tone sounded as if he were saying, "I'm in great mental shape, I'm in great mental shape..." The group couldn't help but glance at him sideways, wanting to say something but stopping themselves.

James Bennett fell silent for a moment, then turned toward the shared e-bikes by the street.

"Uncle, let me give you a ride home."

"?" James Bennett is the one who's not sober!

Matthew Clark warily grabbed his arm. "Riding an e-bike counts as drunk driving too."

He felt his logic was especially clear.

He didn't even wait for James Bennett to speak again before he logically made up a news headline: "Residents of Huayun Community, Jian and Xie, both caught drunk driving."

Everyone: ......

James Bennett: ............

The chilly night breeze blew by. James Bennett looked at the serious Matthew Clark and spoke softly:

"Uncle, you can't call it 'both' drunk driving unless there are two sets of handlebars."

Chapter 4 Living Together

In the end, the two of them took a cab home.

Matthew Clark was still secretly brooding over the "both drunk driving" issue even as he walked into the apartment building.

The two went upstairs one after the other.

After a few steps, Matthew Clark finally spoke. "That was a slip of the tongue just now."

"..." The person in front stopped. James Bennett chuckled, turned his head and said, "Mm, got it."

Matthew Clark stood where he was and looked over.

What's so funny, does he not believe me?

The hallway light shone down from the front at an angle.

James Bennett stood one step above him, his shoulder half leaning against the wall, looking even taller and more upright. Matthew Clark had meant to explain further, but suddenly lost his train of thought.

They stared at each other for two seconds, one up and one down. Suddenly, James Bennett casually smiled and reached out his hand,

"What's wrong, do you need me to hold your hand going up, uncle?"

Outside, the leaves rustled and bent. The quiet hallway was empty.

The hand extended in front of him was dry and broad.

Matthew Clark snapped back to his senses and glanced at it, rationally thinking: This isn't a BL comic.

He slowly pushed it away. "No need."

...

James Bennett probably just asked casually. After withdrawing his hand, the two of them continued up the stairs with their circular conversation: "You don't seem to believe me." "...I do."

"I'm really sober, Xiao Jing."

"But earlier you were fighting with the lobster shells..."

"See, you just don't believe me!"

"...I do."

After a few rounds of this back and forth, Matthew Clark felt his attention was really starting to scatter!

Finally, they made it up the stairs and reached the door. He took a deep breath, pulled out his keys, and unlocked the door.

"Hold on a sec... we're home."

James Bennett obediently stopped talking, standing behind him.

Click—the key turned, but didn't unlock.

He'd bought this apartment a long time ago, and the lock was a bit old; sometimes the key would get stuck.

Matthew Clark frowned slightly, added his other hand, and twisted hard to the side—the lock finally made a crisp sound, click.

The hallway was quiet for two seconds.

James Bennett looked down at the person in front of him, who hadn't moved. "Uncle?"

"Bad news—" Matthew Clark took two steps back, turned around, and tried to sound calm. "The key broke off in the lock."

James Bennett, "..."

"And there's even worse news."

"...What?"

Matthew Clark took a deep breath. "I think this is someone else's door."

James Bennett, "!"

-

Twenty minutes later, the locksmith arrived as promised.

After seeing the broken key, he was amazed! When he learned it was stuck in someone else's lock, he was even more impressed:

"Well, that's like being buried in a foreign land..."

Matthew Clark, "........."

Don't make his door key sound like some kind of hero.

Fortunately, the dramatic locksmith was skilled and quickly removed the remains of the key. The neighbor downstairs was familiar with him too. After opening the door and hearing his apology, she burst out laughing:

"Xiao Zhou, even you can make this kind of mistake~"

Neighbor Aunt Morgan laughed so hard she bent over, then noticed James Bennett standing to the side. "Oh, who's this handsome young man? Haven't seen him before!"

Matthew Clark introduced, "He lives with me."

James Bennett politely said, "Hello."

They exchanged a few words, and soon Aunt Morgan's husband's voice came from inside, "It's so late, let Xiao Zhou go home and rest!"

Aunt Morgan hummed twice and stopped talking.

As the door closed, Matthew Clark could still faintly hear her happily saying to someone inside,

"What do you know, there are two handsome guys!"

"......"

After all that, it was almost ten o'clock by the time they got home.

The earlier circular conversation didn't continue. After tidying up, the two went to their own rooms to sleep.

Matthew Clark slept straight through to noon the next day.

When he woke up and checked his phone, there were several missed calls, plus a message—

[cc小鹿]: My dog's life is in danger! Matthew please save me!!!

"......"

He already said, don't call him like some kind of snack.