“Slap!”
A crisp sound rang out.
Jiang Lian’s head tilted to the side. A faint numbness quickly surfaced on his left cheek, followed by a burning, unavoidable pain.
He was stunned.
Jiang Lian had been born a favored son of heaven, growing up bathed in the awe and flattery of others. The weight of the surname “Jiang” was enough to make most people instinctively adjust their breathing the moment they heard it.
In all his life, no one had ever dared to lay a finger on him, let alone slap his face.
He slowly turned his head back. The habitual, careless languor that usually resided on his face had completely vanished.
He let out a cold laugh, his gaze pinning itself inch by inch onto the person who had dared to strike him. In his mind, he considered ten thousand ways to make this person regret that slap.
And then…
He dazed for a moment.
Standing before him was a youth who looked… rather delicate.
His soft black hair lay flat, with messy bangs slightly covering his eyebrows. Paired with a plain, slightly disheveled academy uniform, he looked excessively well-behaved, even a bit easy to bully.
His skin was a warm ivory, and his cheeks were flushed with a faint crimson—whether from anger or something else.
Most striking of all were his eyes—they were honey-colored, like two pieces of translucent amber washed in water. They were shimmering and clear, currently filled with obvious shame and indignation as he glared fiercely at him.
the hand that had just struck him was still suspended in mid-air, trembling slightly. It looked as if he wanted to pull it back, yet didn’t dare to move under Jiang Lian’s dangerous gaze.
Even though he was the one who had struck first, his expression made it look as though he was the one who had suffered a great grievance.
Jiang Lian was almost moved to a cold laugh by the absurdity.
What a bizarre dream.
In this dream, there was a bizarre youth who had started things off by giving him the only slap he had ever tasted in his life, and then had the audacity to look aggrieved himself.
He was no saint who would swallow an insult after being hit. The irritability of having his sleep disturbed, mixed with the anger of being slapped, caused him to instinctively take a step forward.
The thought of hitting back whirled sharply in his mind.
However, as he looked at that face—flushed like spring blossoms and eyes brimming with tears—that urge to strike back inexplicably sputtered out.
He couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Even he found it surprising.
But Jiang Lian never took a loss.
His gaze shifted, landing on the other’s trembling hand that hadn’t quite been pulled back. Without hesitation, he reached out and grabbed that slender wrist in a tight grip.
“!”
The other person seemed startled by his forceful movement. His honey-colored eyes widened in shock, and he instinctively tried to shrink back. The moisture in his eyes wavered, strangely causing the fire in Jiang Lian’s heart to surge even hotter, mixed with an indefinable itch.
Jiang Lian instinctively tightened his grip.
He had engaged in strength training for years, and his power was far from ordinary. He didn’t hold back this time, and the excessively fair wrist beneath his large palm was instantly encircled by a clear red mark.
“Ugh…” A very soft whimper of pain and fear escaped the youth’s throat. The tears that had been lingering in his eyes were now on the verge of falling.
Jiang Lian knitted his brows tightly.
His own face was still burning. He was the one who got slapped, yet here this boy was, getting red-eyed from a mere touch?
Was he really this fragile?
He cursed inwardly, but his body uncontrollably moved another step closer. His deep gray eyes took on a scrutinizing look as they landed on the youth’s tearful face, wanting to see if these crystalline tears were real or fake.
As the distance closed, he could even see the youth’s long eyelashes trembling like butterfly wings and his slightly hurried breathing due to his heightened emotions.
He was completely unaware of how predatory his gaze was at that moment, like a beast eyeing its prey. Correspondingly, the strength in his hand tightened a few more degrees unconsciously.
This approach seemed to completely ignite the other’s rage.
“Let go of me!” Perhaps anger had overcome cowardice, or perhaps the pain had muddled his mind. The youth’s previous fear vanished. His free hand came up to push at Jiang Lian’s chest. Seeing that he couldn’t budge him an inch, his fingers futilely tried to pry open the iron-like hand. His voice trembled with exasperation:
“Let me go!”
That bit of strength was no more than an itch to Jiang Lian.
He didn’t move an inch. Instead, he looked down with a gaze that mixed interest and provocation, coldly watching the other struggle. He watched as the youth’s cheeks grew redder from the effort, and those amber eyes burned bright with fury, as if actual flames were dancing deep within his pupils.
When he was angry…
He was actually quite pleasant to look at.
Just as this thought emerged, before he could do anything, he was interrupted by an emotionless electronic voice.
[Detected a rapid increase in the Capture target’s negative emotions.]
[Task evaluation in progress…]
[Task failed.]
[Entering Rewind countdown…]
[3, 2, 1.]
What the hell?
Before Jiang Lian could react to what that eerie voice was, the scene before him, along with the youth, lost focus and gradually blurred.
The next second—
Slap!
A familiar crisp sound.
A familiar force.
A familiar burning sensation on his left cheek.
…
His head was knocked to the side.
The cold mechanical voice rang out again.
[Your little lover seems a bit angry. Try to coax him.]
[Current task completion: 0%]
[Number of rewinds: 1/3]
…
To hell with “coaxing him”!
He took a deep breath, a vein in his temple throbbing slightly.
Before him was that familiar face.
Under his soft black hair and slightly messy bangs, those honey-colored eyes were wide and glaring. This time, they held more anger than panic. The motion of his raised hand seemed even more resolute than the last time; even that slight trembling had disappeared.
After being slapped twice in a short period, his extreme rage instead birthed a kind of calm.
He didn’t lash out immediately. He just stood there, his gaze falling heavily upon the youth.
This wasn’t an ordinary dream.
The burning pain on his face couldn’t be faked. One wouldn’t feel such vivid pain in a dream.
So what was the situation now? And where did this “little lover” the system mentioned come from?
The youth’s breathing was slightly labored from the full-force slap he had just delivered. His chest rose and fell slightly, and a more pronounced flush spread across his warm white skin, reaching all the way to the tips of his ears.
That color was like rouge, making his skin look like the finest white porcelain with a top-tier glaze.
He still held his hand up in a defensive posture, his eyes staring warily at Jiang Lian like a startled but fiercely posturing small animal. His lips were pressed tightly together, as if he were waiting for Jiang Lian’s reaction after being hit.
He’s afraid. Afraid of my anger.
And yet, he still threw that slap.
Jiang Lian calmed down and began to seriously observe the youth before him.
In all fairness, this was indeed a youth who looked exactly to his liking. If he were a “dream lover,” everything about him was surprisingly to his taste, except for the bad temper.
His gaze slid from the youth’s reddened cheeks to his slightly trembling hand, and then down to the slightly disheveled academy uniform.
The top button of the uniform had popped off for some reason, revealing a section of his neck.
His gaze swept over the beautifully lined neck and finally settled on the slightly open collar—
There was a mark there, not a small one, particularly conspicuous on the warm white skin.
That wasn’t a mark that could be caused by an ordinary bump.
Tooth marks were clearly visible, carrying a certain punitive tone, sinking deep into the flesh with the force of extreme possessiveness.
The surrounding skin showed a crimson hue as if it had been ravaged, creating a breathtaking contrast with the snow-white base.
The edges were even slightly broken, with a tiny bit of dried dark red blood, looking like evidence left behind after repeated biting and licking, signifying a recent bout of uncontrolled and intense intimacy.
Jiang Lian’s gaze froze unconsciously.
This bite mark looked like a brand that had been roughly applied.
Savage, blunt, and filled with an unspeakable implication.
His gaze followed the smooth line of the collarbone, sliding toward the skin hidden beneath the clothing.
He could even imagine how the person beneath would tremble uncontrollably when teeth sank into that soft skin, and what kind of tearful whimpers would escape his throat.
What a… moving sight that must be.
This injury seemed to trigger certain forgotten memories of his, making his own teeth feel a bit itchy.
He didn’t notice that he had swallowed.
“This place,” Jiang Lian finally spoke, “what is it?”
There was something wrong with this dream. After being briefly dazed by “beauty,” he wanted to confirm his environment first, and confirm the background of this “little lover” mentioned by the system.
The youth didn’t seem to expect him to ask this. He froze for a moment, the wariness in his eyes intensifying, mixed with a hint of dissatisfaction. He snapped back irritably, “What are you acting dumb for!”
Jiang Lian could hear that his voice should have been very clear, with some lingering boyishness, but now it was slightly hoarse as if he had cried. Thus, even though he was angry, he didn’t seem very threatening.
His eyes slowly swept over his surroundings.
Only then did he realize that this was a familiar lounge—exactly the place where he had been resting before he fell asleep.
The same layout, the same cold color tones.
The furnishings were exquisite and elegant, with green plants in the corners blooming with small white flowers. However, on that black leather sofa, there was now an incongruous, soft, warm yellow blanket.
The air was filled with a very faint, sweet scent that was hard to identify as either floral or fruity, similar to the scent on the youth.
—This was his lounge, yet not entirely his.
It had clearly been deliberately altered, forcibly crammed with another person’s living habits.
His gaze returned to the youth, carrying a quiet probe: “Why did you hit me?”
“?”
The youth’s anger seemed to be completely ignited by these words. He seemed to view them as a provocation. The rage in his honey-colored eyes burned even hotter, as if the moisture were about to be dried up, leaving only the indignant shame of being offended.
“You have the nerve to ask! If you hadn’t… hadn’t…” He seemed unable to voice it. He sputtered for a long time, and finally just glared at him fiercely. Bound by his good upbringing, he only squeezed out a few harmless insults: “You shameless bastard!”
Bastard?
Jiang Lian raised an eyebrow, not at all hurt by the other’s harmless attack.
He caught the shame and indignation in the youth’s hesitant words.
The looming mark on the collarbone, the “little lover” in the system’s words.
Jiang Lian formed some conjectures that made him feel a bit displeased.
The “Jiang Lian” in the dream had done something transgressive to this “little lover” before he arrived.
In the end, he was the one who had to bear the anger, getting slapped twice before he had time to do anything.
Well done.
He swore he used his gentlest tone, even though from the other’s expression, it had little effect: “Why are you so angry? Is it because I did something?”
The youth, however, seemed completely enraged by his “act.”
Perhaps it was his gaze, which still carried a condescending scrutiny, or perhaps it was his poorly concealed impatience—both made the youth feel that he had no remorse.
“You’re asking the obvious!” The youth’s eyes reddened again with anger, not from grievance, but from pure indignation. He abruptly lowered his aching hand and pointed at the door. “Get out! I don’t want to see you right now!”
Seeing this stubborn attitude, where the youth could only throw a temper and kick him out, the irritability Jiang Lian had just suppressed welled up again.
He had never been known for having a good temper.
The Author has something to say:
Jiang Lian: Got slapped for no reason, not happy.
Stares at wifey, happy.
Got slapped again, f*ck, is there no end to this?
Stares at wifey again, happy again.
PS: In this story, all MLs fall in love at first sight, whether the first meeting is in reality or a dream. They just have stubborn mouths.
[To prevent misunderstanding, this story’s perspective is “Shou-centric” (MC)! The first few chapters use the Gong’s (ML) perspective to facilitate the dream sequence (shifts gaze).
Afterward, whether in dreams or reality, it will be the Shou’s perspective.
Also, using the Gong’s perspective makes it so easy to objectify the Shou, ahhh. I’m really controlling myself not to focus too much on physical descriptions, but staring at the Shou is just so satisfying.]