◎ Cannot Drink Anymore. ◎
Their voices weren’t loud, but Su Yun saw that there were other colleagues nearby also waiting for the elevator, and his face turned bright red: “I do not like looking at handsome guys.”
The elevator arrived right on time, putting an end to the topic.
The team-building event was scheduled at a restaurant specializing in private-kitchen cuisine. Because of the large headcount, the entire second floor had been booked out.
This was the first team-building event for Su Yun and the others after joining KG, as well as the first group dinner for the entire design center. To liven up the atmosphere, the heads of the two centers discussed and decided to have a little alcohol to liven things up.
“We still have to work overtime tomorrow, so no drinking too much,” said Sandy, the head of the modeling center.
He was tall and thin. Due to long hours hunched over his desk, he had a slight slouch. When he walked, his upper body remained motionless, making him look as though he were floating.
Su Yun had no idea how he had managed to mistake him for Si Yan that day.
Sandy’s remark drew a chorus of groans: “Brother San, don’t mention something as a buzzkill as working overtime at a time like this.”
The two departments usually had plenty of contact during work anyway. After forming a unified front over the overtime issue, they quickly mingled into one group.
Su Yun liked lively environments, but wasn’t too used to actively participating in the hustle and bustle. He sat in his seat, smiling as he watched everyone joking around and playing.
Yang Ximing had already run into the crowd to banter and mingle.
Halfway through the meal, with everyone’s spirits lifted by alcohol, the topic of overtime was intentionally cast to the winds.
Because Su Yun was relatively quiet, very few people came over to toast him. He didn’t decline either, nor was it easy to refuse, so he drank one cup for every person who came, and his cheeks began to flush a rosy pink.
When he worked at Huan Fang Equation before, there hadn’t been many dinner banquets, so he had no idea what his alcohol tolerance was. At the moment, he only felt a slight buzz, which didn’t affect his thinking or judgment.
He was planning to drink some mineral water to flush down the alcohol buzz when Shi Yingchuan walked over with five people from Group 2, the exact group of people Yang Ximing had mentioned earlier as being difficult to deal with.
“Elliot, you’ve been here for a while now, but we haven’t really interacted much. Since it’s rare for us to have a group dinner tonight, I’ll toast you,” Shi Yingchuan raised the glass of foreign liquor in his hand.
Knowing he couldn’t escape, Su Yun put down his mineral water, picked up his red wine glass, and was just about to clink glasses and say some polite pleasantries when Shi Yingchuan pulled his hand back and joked, “This isn’t fair, is it? If we drink, we should drink the same thing.”
“Fine by me.” Su Yun didn’t humor him either. He grabbed an empty red wine glass from the nearby prep table, poured an equal amount of red wine into it, and handed it over: “Now they’re the same.”
The few people behind Shi Yingchuan let out speechless, snorting laughs.
Su Yun felt that some things could be accommodated, but he was someone brought over by Fang Ko. If he acted too soft, not only would he suffer losses himself, but he would also make Fang Ko lose face.
“Drinking red wine is good, it doesn’t harm the body,” he pushed the red wine glass forward a bit more.
Seeing the situation over here, Yang Ximing quickly scurried over, several colleagues from Department 1 also geared up for action, and Jiang Yiyi, who sat closest to Su Yun, had already stood up.
Su Yun waved his hand behind his back, signaling them not to be nervous.
Since quite a few people were watching, Shi Yingchuan couldn’t pull any more tricks. He had no choice but to take Su Yun’s drink, clink glasses casually, and down it in one gulp.
Su Yun also quite boldly tilted his head back and finished his.
Taking the lead, Yang Ximing started applauding, drawing the attention of the entire room.
Su Yun was good-looking, and since he looked quite young, he usually gave off an obedient and sensible vibe. Right now, because of the alcohol, his porcelain-white skin was flushed with a sunset-like pink, and his eyes had also grown exceptionally bright, as though covered in a thin layer of moisture, enough to win over everyone’s heart.
Not just the people from Group 1, but even the colleagues from Group 3 and the modeling center followed along, applauding and cheering.
Under these circumstances, Shi Yingchuan had no possibility of making any more trouble. He prepared to leave with his own people, but Yang Ximing called out to stop him: “Hey, why aren’t the colleagues in the back drinking? Are you planning to toast him one by one?”
The people who had been called out looked at Shi Yingchuan. They had indeed planned to go up one by one, with the sole purpose of plying Su Yun with alcohol and giving Group 1 a sobering reality check. But with so many people watching, if they still pulled that stunt, it would be glaringly obvious that they were trying to bully someone.
“Group Leader Su has already finished his drink, why aren’t you guys drinking yet?” Shi Yingchuan said with some displeasure.
Those people had no choice but to down the drinks in their hands.
Instead of successfully pranking anyone, they had ended up suffering a loss themselves; looking at it now, they almost seemed like they had come as a group to suck up and curry favor with Su Yun.
It was right at this moment that Fang Ko casually remarked, “Our Elliot is just that popular.”
This only deepened the impression of currying favor.
Sandy wasn’t aware of the underlying grievances and chimed in, “You said it. Everyone in our department says Elliot has a great temper, is easy to get along with, and is super professional. If every person coming for integration were as meticulous as Elliot, we wouldn’t have to revise our deliverables every single day.”
Shi Yingchuan’s face was pitch black when he returned to his seat.
Su Yun didn’t have time to mind Shi Yingchuan’s expression. Because of that little interlude earlier, he had become the protagonist, and quite a few people came over to clink glasses with him. Most of them were well-intentioned, letting him drink as much or as little as he liked. Even so, he ended up drinking a lot. By the time the dinner ended, the dizzy feeling was much more pronounced, though his consciousness was still relatively clear.
Yang Ximing had to help him and Fang Ko block drinks, so he had drunk even more than Su Yun. By this point, his eyes were wide open as he drifted in outer space.
Jiang Yiyi took Su Yun as his role model in all things, but his alcohol tolerance was too poor. After just a little bit, he couldn’t tell north from south anymore.
Not feeling at ease, Fang Ko wanted to take the three of them back to his place to stay for the night.
Feeling that he wasn’t drunk yet, Su Yun declined.
In the end, Fang Ko still took Yang Ximing away, saying he couldn’t take care of two drunkards by himself.
Su Yun called a designated driver and helped a practically sleeping Jiang Yiyi into the car. Only then did he feel that Fang Ko’s decision had been the right one, intoxicated people were simply too heavy.
The driver drove very steadily, but looking at the streetscapes rapidly receding outside the window, Su Yun felt his head growing dizzier and dizzier. By the time he realized the alcohol buzz was fully kicking in, the car had already stopped in the basement of Jiuzhang Yazhu. Bracing himself with the last shred of clarity, he dragged Jiang Yiyi into the elevator.
“What floor do we live on again?” Bending over, he leaned against the elevator’s floor buttons, seeing double of everything. “Oh, oh, oh, I remember now, it’s the 25th floor.”
The elevator doors opened. He dragged Jiang Yiyi out and left him by the doorway, reaching out to unlock the door with his fingerprint, but no matter which of his ten fingers he tried, the door simply wouldn’t open.
“Huh?” His mind was in complete chaos, and he couldn’t recall what the passcode was.
With a ding, the elevator doors opened, and someone walked out from inside.
Su Yun turned his head and caught sight of an exceptionally handsome yet familiar face.
The man had a tall and sturdy build. The closer he got, the stronger the sense of oppression, yet Su Yun didn’t feel afraid at all.
“Su Yun, why are you here?” The man’s voice had a superior timbre, carrying a hint of incredulous, deep slowness.
“Me? This is my home, you see,” Su Yun spoke as though he had fallen into the whirlpool of a dream, feeling a strong sense of unreality. “Si Yan, why did you come to my house?”
“This is…” Si Yan opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but noticed that Su Yun’s legs were so weak he was about to slide down to the floor, so he immediately reached out to steady him.
Su Yun had no strength left in his body and leaned his entire weight against Si Yan.
“Oh, you came to ask if I’m free, right?” Lifting his head to look at Si Yan, he pouted and said impatiently, “I already told you, I’m not free, not free.”
Catching the scent of wine radiating from the person in his arms, Si Yan let out a soft laugh of amusement and asked, “So you were busy drinking alcohol, then.”
“Wasn’t busy drinking alcohol,” Su Yun shook his head. “Just didn’t want to pay attention to you.”
Because he had already slid halfway down before Si Yan caught him, he was currently tilting his head back with his body curved backward into a C-shape, looking thoroughly unbothered and stubborn.
Fearing he might be uncomfortable, Si Yan supported his waist with one hand and hoisted him upward, asking with mild displeasure, “Why didn’t you want to pay attention to me?”
Su Yun now burrowed his entire person into Si Yan’s embrace.
With his eyes half-closed in a haze, he reached out a finger to poke Si Yan’s chin, then traced along his jawline toward his earlobe. “You really do look good, though. I want to draw a portrait of you.”
Si Yan’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he averted his face to dodge that wandering finger: “Stop messing around. Where on earth is your home? I’ll take you back.”
“My home?” Su Yun shook his head, and as he shook it, he buried his face in Si Yan’s chest, his tone sorrowful: “I don’t have a home.”
Forbearing, Si Yan closed his eyes for a moment, then gritted his teeth as he opened them again: “Tell me quickly, or else I’m going to dump you at the doorway.”
Su Yun continued shaking his head, rubbing against him like a cat because he lacked strength: “You’re so noisy.”
Si Yan shut his mouth and let out a heavy breath.
“Why is it getting louder?” Su Yun muttered discontentedly.
“I didn’t say anything.” Si Yan felt a headache coming on.
Su Yun jerked his head up, his almond-shaped eyes seeming to shimmer through a layer of misty water, hazy yet alluring.
He firmly poked Si Yan’s chest with his finger: “It’s noisy right here, thump, thump, thump.”
Si Yan: “My apologies, then, for disturbing you.”
“It’s fine.” Su Yun suddenly burst into a smile. “I like listening to it.”
Si Yan felt that if this kept up, his heart couldn’t possibly take much more.
Bracing Su Yun’s waist with one hand, he unlocked apartment 2601 with his fingerprint. Once the door pushed open, he scooped the person up horizontally, preparing to carry him inside. But the moment one foot crossed the threshold, his trouser leg was grabbed by a hand.
Even as an atheist, Si Yan was startled.
“L-Let go of my Big Senior Brother,” a trembling voice said.
Si Yan lowered his head and noticed the curly hair on the floor, only then remembering that there was still another person out here.
That guy was also heavily intoxicated, opening his eyes only by a tiny slit, looking as though he might pass out completely the next second.
“L-Let go of my Big Senior Brother. If you have the guts, come at me.” The curly-haired guy was still struggling to keep his eyes open.
Quite loyal, at least.
Si Yan appreciated this person’s character, then gave a sharp tug, ruthlessly pulling his trouser leg free from that person’s grasp. He strode into the apartment, placed Su Yun onto the sofa, and covered him with a blanket.
Su Yun had already closed his eyes, muttering under his breath: “Cannot drink anymore.”
Si Yan was amused to the point of laughter, softly echoing: “Right, you cannot drink anymore.”
After taking care of Su Yun, he walked back to the entrance, intending to haul that curly-haired guy inside as well. To his surprise, the curly-haired guy had already crawled inside from the doorway on his own, though due to exhaustion, he only made it halfway before falling fast asleep.
Massaging his temples with a headache, Si Yan dialed the building manager’s phone: “There’s a drunkard collapsed at my doorstep, could you come up and handle it?”
Two minutes later, the manager arrived. Looking at Jiang Yiyi, who had been propped up to sit against the entryway wall, the manager said, “President Yan, this is your downstairs tenant, the very tenant you asked Vice President Zhang to arrange.”
Si Yan was stunned. The tenant he had arranged, weren’t they just Fang Ko’s three precious subordinates?
[Author’s note]
Si Yan: Isn’t this a happy coincidence? One step closer to abducting my wife home.