Yu Lang’s slender body bounced with each violent thrust of Chi Jianqing’s chest.
Exposed skin felt every contour, every muscle trembling, writhing and seething beneath his touch.
His mind was entirely overloaded.
Amid the flashing cameras, his embarrassment vanished; his thoughts weighed like stones, pressing all reason to dust.
The bar’s cold air swept through, snatching what little control he had left.
“So lewd,” Chi Jianqing murmured.
The same words slipped from Yu Lang’s lips unconsciously.
So hard.
That was his second realization.
Each punch meant to suppress Chi Jianqing’s desire had instead fueled it further, igniting an unquenchable flame.
It took Yu Lang a long moment to choke out the words: “Get off.”
Supposed to be fierce, they instead came out soft, almost like a plaintive whine.
Yu Lang smashed a bottle to threaten Chi Jianqing. Onlookers rushed in to separate them, confiscating the shards and wiping Yu Lang’s hands.
Chi Jianqing was pushed to the edge of the crowd, told to move away.
Yu Lang sat in the booth, dazed. Suddenly, the bar’s music stopped, as if cut out of existence.
Only the endless ringing remained in his head.
He poured a drink, tilting back, letting the champagne colored liquid roll down his throat like pearls.
Fingers traced over the beads, slipping from throat to collarbone, wet with alcohol and a hint of blood.
“Yu Shao, who’s that guy?” someone asked, eyeing Chi Jianqing’s battered face, teasing: “Pretty boy?”
Yu Lang responded flatly, “Don’t know him.”
“Don’t know him but hit him so hard? Looks like he really likes you, haha, didn’t make a sound even beaten like that.”
The person, emboldened, leaned closer, nearly sitting beside Yu Lang.
“For a pretty boy like that, no interest but for a man like me? I guarantee satisfaction.”
Yu Lang clicked his tongue in irritation, caught between the cigarette and the candy. He chose the candy.
His forked tongue flicked out, wrapping around a pale green mint and drawing it into his lips, pressing it against the roof of his mouth.
His head turned slowly and out of the corner of his eye, through the gaps in the crowd, he caught sight of the small, pale face isolated on the outskirts, battered and bruised.
The pale boy stared back at him.
His eyes were heavily bloodshot, the whites barely visible, replaced almost entirely by crimson. The black of his irises had shrunk to tiny pinpoints.
It was as if the eyeballs themselves had been crushed.
Yu Lang’s arm extended lazily, a hand hovering in the air, fingertips pointing between the small boy’s eyes. His gaze flicked back to the man beside him who had offered himself up.
His fingers followed like a knife, hovering sharply toward the man’s brow, slicing the air with precision.
“Take one more step closer and I’ll let him kill you.”
The man laughed uproariously, assuming Yu Lang was teasing or flirting. He leaned forward, emboldened.
The temperature in Yu Lang’s face plummeted. Without hesitation, he spat the mint straight into the man’s face, then swung his leg up and kicked him. The man tumbled across the floor, rolling a few times before coming to a humiliating stop.
“Get lost.”
The man’s face turned beet red, not with embarrassment but with the searing fury of public humiliation.
He snapped upright, fists clenched at his sides, a surge of toxic masculinity wounded and flaring with rage.
He wanted to strike back but he dared not, wary of the small, pale boy’s feral, dog like malice. As he left, he muttered under his breath, cursing Yu Lang as nothing more than an amusing plaything.
It was exactly how Yu Lang saw the world.
Those who outwardly expressed fondness for him, once confronted with his true cruelty, would turn that admiration into intense, multiplied hatred.
Yu Lang slowly turned his head, casting a glance at Chi Jianqing.
The look in his eyes seemed to say:
“You won’t be an exception either.”
He had no intention of giving Chi Jianqing any more of his attention. He lifted his drink and gestured toward the women swaying on the DJ stage, raising his cup in a casual toast. Then, feigning sophistication, he pretended to drink, letting himself sink back into the sofa, hands nudging those gathered around him.
“Drink, keep drinking.”
Yu Lang was not the type of villain who truly indulged in smoke and alcohol. He simply followed the stereotype of a classic bad boy, smoking, drinking, behaving recklessly.
The cigarette rested between his lips, unlit. A few sips of liquor, just enough to go through the motions.
Yet, inevitably, his gaze drifted again toward Chi Jianqing.
Chi Jianqing had cleaned himself up. That mangled, bloodied face now bore only traces of bruising beneath the skin; the visible stains of blood had been wiped away.
Yu Lang clicked his tongue, biting on the cigarette filter, tasting the dry, bitter aroma of unlit tobacco.
To be honest, he liked Chi Jianqing’s face very much.
Though pale almost to the shade of a bloodless corpse, the pupils lifeless, the contours of his features were sharp enough to transform the deathlike pallor into a vague, mechanical precision, like an unfinished android whose skin had yet to be filled in.
Perfectly symmetrical features, proportioned exactly according to the classic standards of beauty: three sections of the face, five eye measurement, a face so precise and handsome it could meet anyone’s aesthetic, even for the hardest to please.
Unconsciously, Yu Lang found himself scrutinizing and appreciating every detail of Chi Jianqing’s face, unaware that for a fleeting moment, he genuinely found it pleasing to look at.
Then a delicate, effeminate boy appeared, walking straight to Chi Jianqing’s side, draping a hand over his shoulder with no regard for boundaries.
Seeing the shyness on the boy’s face, the subtle seductive movements, Yu Lang didn’t need to lean in to guess the whispered content of the conversation.
His eyelids twitched sharply, jaw tightening. The cigarette between his teeth snapped.
Snap. The broken fragment exploded in his mouth, the bitter, acrid smoke of the unlit tobacco surging in an instant.
Yu Lang watched, waiting to see when Chi Jianqing would push the boy away.
His gaze fixed on him, unblinking, relentless, as if Chi Jianqing had become an object of observation rather than a living person.
Chi Jianqing rejected the boy’s advances.
No confrontation erupted, contrary to Yu Lang’s expectations. The boy shrugged in regret and walked away.
Yu Lang finally relaxed, returning his attention to the offerings of drinks, cigarettes and flowers from admirers nearby.
He chose a Mojito, discarding the broken cigarette and bit a floating mint leaf in the cup, drawing it into his lips.
But then his brows furrowed again.
Damn it, why were there so many people around Chi Jianqing, men and women alike?!
Competitive fire surged within Yu Lang. He counted his own followers, then Chi Jianqing’s.
Too even. That made him even angrier.
A bold young man tilted Chi Jianqing’s chin, half teasing, half forcing a drink into him.
Chi Jianqing, focused solely on Yu Lang, didn’t react in time. He choked, his pale face tinged with a flush of embarrassment.
The awkward scene elicited sweet, teasing laughter from the crowd, while others gained courage, sending flirtatious glances and words.
“Handsome, what’s your relationship with Yu Shao?”
Chi Jianqing considered his standing with Yu Lang and answered truthfully:
“Not even friends.”
The bar’s music thumped relentlessly, the bass shaking Yu Lang’s chest with each pulse.
Annoyance, rage and betrayal exploded in his chest.
Chewing the mint, it felt like someone else’s stale gum, bitter and tasteless, making his jaws ache.
Furious.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The translator sacrificed sleep for this chapter. A coffee offering seems reasonable.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Dead HusbandChapter 2 · Ghost ChaseChapter 3 · I’ve been fooled againChapter 4 · I need lots and lots of loveChapter 5 · I’ll kill you!^^Chapter 6 · Haha, really!Chapter 7 · This is what it means to be love-struck.Chapter 8 · We meet again, my loveChapter 9 · The little snakeChapter 10 · I’ve been fooled againChapter 11 · The daily routine of sasaeng fans following othersChapter 12 · Inferiority complexChapter 13 · It hurtsChapter 14 · Want to go out? Sure!Chapter 15 · Damn it!Chapter 16 · My wife hitting me is a reward for meChapter 17 · Licking sweatChapter 18 · The vinegar was friedChapter 19 · What a clever tactic, Chi Jianqing!Chapter 20 · Loving me is a very painful thing.Chapter 21 · The words may be rough, but the principle is soundChapter 22 · It wasn’t just two hitsChapter 23 · Turns out I’m not 3, I’m 1!Chapter 24 · Easy To CoaxChapter 25 · Confessing loveChapter 26 · DearChapter 27 · Honey, it felt so good when you scolded me.Chapter 28 · Let’s go after tearing off the human skinChapter 29 Part 1 · Honey, I caught you!Chapter 29 Part 2 · Honey, I caught you!Chapter 30 · Little Blind CrippleChapter 31 · How could I give up? I’ve given you my heart.Chapter 32 · The gloomy CEOChapter 33 · X-harassmentChapter 34 · Little third wheelChapter 35 · I am Chi JianqingChapter 36 · I am his husband, and you are?Chapter 37 · CarChapter 38 · Broken carChapter 39 · I want to kiss youChapter 40 · Silly babyChapter 41 · Chop off hands and feetChapter 42 · Ships and DeathChapter 43 · Chi Jianqing participated in the battle royale and finally obtained a ticket to meet Yu Lang.Chapter 44 · You bastard, get out of here!Chapter 45 · Bad cats can only be forced to love.Chapter 46 · Circle the fox’s tail and rub it back and forthChapter 47 · It hurts so muchChapter 48 · The Second World EndedChapter 49 · Brainless and grumpyChapter 50 · I don’t like you anymoreChapter 51 · I haven’t thought of a title yetChapter 52 · You smell so good, let me hug you and pet youChapter 53 · A big dog bit a kitten’s muzzleChapter 54 · Captive canariesChapter 55 · Male Ghost StrikesChapter 56 · I told you to be quiet!Chapter 57 · I have decided to bestow upon you the title of my wife.Chapter 58 · We’re talking about loveChapter 59 · I really, really like you!Chapter 60 · I want to eat your noodlesChapter 61 · Don’t abandon your puppy!Chapter 62 · What a blissful ending!Chapter 63 · Extra 1Chapter 64 · Extra 2Chapter 65 · Extra 3