Liao Ran’s vision went black as he sank into a quagmire.
His body fell endlessly, replaying flashes of every event he had experienced since birth, before being devoured by flying insects.
Until his memory rewound to the age of eight, when a woman’s face appeared, watching those black mists rush toward her.
Anxious, Liao Ran opened his eyes and cried out, “No!”
He sat up. The surrounding bed curtains were pulled back, and dazzling, scorching sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Natural-wood furniture was neatly arranged, and countless potted landscapes bloomed on corner flower stands, with various floral species exhaling a natural, fresh fragrance.
It was a comfortable living room; its clever decoration showed that the owner had a precise grasp on the quality of life.
The door was pushed open. This scene felt strangely familiar.
“Who are you?”
“All done.” Bai Ji stroked Liao Ran’s cheek, using his fingers to comb through the soft hair beside his ear. “I am your husband, Bai Ji.”
Such an unfamiliar title. Liao Ran frowned, looking down to check his chest. It was completely flat. He was a man.
Bai Ji placed the prepared documents on his lap. “This is our marriage certificate. We took our vows and completed the ceremony at a church in Greece.”
Liao Ran lowered his head, his thumb rubbing over his own name.
After a long silence, he suddenly looked up. “This is fake. Greece only reformed its laws in February ’24 to officially recognize same-sex marriage, yet the marriage date registered on this certificate is in ’23. Furthermore, the texture and material of this paper is Jingxian Xuan paper, which is unique to our country.”
Sharp. Even when forgetting who he was, he would instinctively find flaws from the slightest clues. He truly lived up to his reputation as the most renowned forensic doctor in the West.
Bai Ji snatched the document back from his hands and placed it on a nearby cabinet.
He leaned in eagerly.
An unfamiliar male scent washed over him, and Liao Ran used his hand to block Bai Ji’s cheek. “What are you doing?”
“Fulfilling our husband-and-husband duties.”
Bai Ji’s tongue licked the palm of Liao Ran’s hand, sticky and scalding hot. Terrified, Liao Ran pulled his hand back, his entire body trembling uncontrollably, clearly unaccustomed to such physical contact.
“The certificate is fake. We aren’t yet married.”
Bai Ji placed his hand over Liao Ran’s hand resting on the bed until their fingers intertwined. “Even though that piece of paper is fake, we are real. You actually doubt the love between you and me. I’m hurt. I’m really so heartbroken.”
As he spoke, a single crystal-clear tear slid down the corner of his eye, sincere and pure, enough to evoke pity in anyone.
It felt as though it had dripped directly onto Liao Ran’s heart. His pulse skyrocketed, beating in a chaotic rhythm like a frightened little rabbit leaping and crashing blindly through unfamiliar paths. Was this the feeling of a heartbeat? With hormones surging and his cheeks burning hot, perhaps he really did like the person before him.
After a brief internal struggle, Liao Ran opened his arms and leaned forward to wrap them around Bai Ji’s neck. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
Bai Ji rested his face against Liao Ran’s ear and made a wiping motion with his hand in his blind spot. The tear instantly transformed into thousands of Gu worms, infiltrating Liao Ran’s skin.
Every single one could be recycled; none could be wasted.
The man’s chest was warm. The simple embrace was peaceful and comforting; the feeling of being close to someone like this felt entirely unfamiliar to Liao Ran.
He desperately wanted to know everything.
“What is wrong with me?”
“Your old ailment flared up again. The doctor said there is fog in your brain affecting your memory function, causing you to periodically forget certain people and things. It doesn’t matter; I will tell you over and over again and stay with you.” Bai Ji’s voice was clear with a trace of a grayish undertone, sounding gentle yet powerful like a classical musical instrument.
“Then where is this?”
Bai Ji wrapped an arm around Liao Ran’s shoulder, pointing toward the White Causeway at the end of the coastline outside the window. “Our home, Quzhou Island. Aside from this residential area, there is also a resort for tourists to relax and entertain themselves. I’ll take you there to have fun another day.”
He somehow felt his life wouldn’t be this leisurely and carefree. Liao Ran looked around. “Then don’t I work?”
“You are a forensic doctor, but you’re sick, so you’re on leave.”
It was a barely acceptable explanation. Liao Ran noticed a circle of bruises around his wrist, scuff marks from a hard, circular object, which he deduced to be soft tissue contusion caused by something like metal handcuffs.
Judging by the depth of the wounds, it had been no more than three days. “What is this?”
Bai Ji picked up his hand and gently rubbed his thumb against it. “Foreplay.”
Liao Ran looked bewildered. “I don’t understand.”
Bai Ji leaned over, fished a pair of silver handcuffs out of a drawer, and swiftly locked Liao Ran’s hands.
Before Liao Ran could react, Bai Ji’s hand slipped in from the hem of his shirt to stroke his flat lower abdomen.
With a sudden burst of force, Liao Ran was knocked backward against the pillows, dazed for a single moment. Bai Ji leaned over, propping himself up with one knee as he pinned Liao Ran beneath him.
Liao Ran’s arms were suddenly lifted and pinned above his head.
In this completely undefended posture, Liao Ran instinctively clamped his legs together and curled them up, accidentally bumping into a sensitive spot.
Bai Ji winced in pain. “It’s fine, it still works.”
As he spoke, Bai Ji’s hand began to wander, tracing Liao Ran’s ribs as a tingling itch spread outward.
Bai Ji’s breathing grew heavier. He lowered his head and bit Liao Ran’s collarbone. The skin was as tender as tofu and exuded a cool fragrance, tempting one to salivate; the dense kisses indeed left behind traces of moisture, blooming large and small red flowers above his shoulders.
Terrified, Liao Ran arched his back, lifting his waist unnaturally.
He curled into a ball like a hedgehog, shrinking back within the shadow of Bai Ji’s embrace with nowhere to hide.
His pants were somehow pushed down to his ankles.
Just as Liao Ran wanted to say something to stop him, a soft tongue suddenly invaded, blocking his words. A violent ravaging swept away the few sweet drops of saliva left in his mouth, leaving only their rough panting as they tangled together.
The rhythm of the entries and exits in his mouth resonated in sync with the person behind him.
It wasn’t until a low growl escaped that Bai Ji finally let him go.
“Sorry, I messed you up.”
Liao Ran breathed heavily as a bout of tinnitus set in. He couldn’t clearly hear what the other person had said.
He felt a hand pry his knees apart.
This position of violation felt like an insult to him. “Don’t treat me like this, Bai Ji!”
Though it wasn’t particularly harsh, the reprimand spoken in Liao Ran’s voice carried an inexplicable pressure that shook the soul.
Bai Ji paused for two seconds, released his grip, and helped him pull his pants back up.
Lying down, Bai Ji pressed his lips tight against Liao Ran’s auricle. “What’s wrong? We do this all the time. Don’t you remember?”
Liao Ran had no such memories. “It’s too bright. I’m not used to the daytime. Let’s talk tonight.”
After removing the handcuffs, Bai Ji pulled Liao Ran into his arms.
Cuddled together quietly, Liao Ran gradually relaxed.
One thing he could prove was that he didn’t hate this person.
Two weeks passed, and Liao Ran began to get used to life here.
Bai Ji would spend a significant amount of time in the laboratory and did not wish to be disturbed. With plenty of time on his hands, Liao Ran spent it in the study reading books and analyzing cases. The distance between them, unlike typical lovers, felt more comfortable to him.
Occasionally, Bai Ji would bring over some coffee and desserts like this; afternoon tea break was considered their sweet time together.
Bai Ji kneaded his shoulders and noticed a handwritten piece of paper beside him.
“Is this a map of Quzhou Island? Did you draw this?”
Liao Ran said casually, “Only the residential area around here is accurate. The other areas are estimates based on descriptions from neighbors, so the margin of error is quite large.”
Bai Ji knocked the coffee out of his hand, crumpled the map into a ball, and threw it viciously onto the floor.
“Why are you doing these things? Are you trying to leave me?!”
Liao Ran stood up, slowly shook his head, and looked at Bai Ji with a strange gaze. “As I guessed, this really is a cell restricting my freedom of movement. We aren’t lovers at all. You’re a liar.”
“You were testing me?” Bai Ji suddenly realized.
He pressed forward step by step, and Liao Ran retreated defensively.
Bai Ji suddenly lunged forward, grabbed his wrist, and gritted his teeth. “What a pity. It failed. I have to plant the Gu again.” The pitch-black pupils gradually faded, turning turbid.
Memories rushed in instantly like a breached dam. Remembering everything, Liao Ran began to struggle.
Countless small bugs flew out of Bai Ji’s body, converging into a black mist that wrapped in a circle around Liao Ran’s limbs.
His movements suddenly slowed, his fingertips grew stiff, and the sound of tearing fabric rang in his ear.
Bai Ji cast aside the tattered shirt, eagerly seizing the opportunity to part Liao Ran’s legs.
He lifted them and thrust forward.
Liao Ran’s back slammed against the bookshelf again and again, shaking a stack of A4 paper from the top shelf down to the floor.
Forcefully penetrated, Liao Ran hurt so much that sweat dripped from his forehead and into his eyes, blurring his vision. The white sheets of paper fluttering all over the room looked like pristine snow. On the sheet that landed at his feet, a plum blossom bloomed, its bright red color radiating outward.
Bai Ji aggressively bit down on the sun shape over his ribs, and the dark energy dissipated from there into Liao Ran’s bloodstream.
Like a withered banana leaf, Liao Ran couldn’t even stand.
Bai Ji bent down to hoist him over his shoulder, trampling over an open book titled Hormones Do Not Equal Love.
A boundless whiteness was even more despairing than darkness. When Liao Ran woke up again, an unfamiliar man was sitting before him.
Gazing at each other in silence, the bedroom fell into dead stillness.
Bai Ji spoke first. “Good morning. Is there anything you want to ask?”
Liao Ran’s gaze flickered like a newborn cub. “I am hungry.”
Hearing this, Bai Ji nodded and pointed toward the door. “There is milk and steamed buns in the dining room. Go eat by yourself.”
Upon hearing this, Liao Ran immediately kicked off the covers and stood up. A sharp pain gripped his abdomen, and his legs felt weak and sore, but the aroma of food lingering in the air lured him out step by step.
Looking at the naked body, Bai Ji sneered savagely.
Liao Ran’s guard was gone.
He didn’t care who the person sitting opposite him was, nor did he care about his own name. He simply buried his head in eating, completely devoid of human shame.
After finishing breakfast, Bai Ji placed an oversized shirt in his hands.
Liao Ran studied it for a moment before looking up at the man.
Mimicking the man’s actions, he successfully put the shirt on, but couldn’t get the buttons right; he was always off by one.
Annoyed like someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder, his fingers trembled with urgency, and his cheeks flushed red.
“Help me.”
Bai Ji scooped him up from the chair and bent down to smooth out the shirt. “Does this help you figure out where you went wrong?”
After buttoning it up himself, Liao Ran happily bear-hugged the man in front of him.
The tips of his toes brushed against the man’s calves intentionally or not.
His tongue chased after Bai Ji’s breath, kissing blindly with his eyes closed.
Bai Ji patted his rounded hips. “What is it?”
“Thirsty. Give it to me.”
Pulling at the back of Bai Ji’s neck, Liao Ran kissed him back passionately while walking through the living room and kicking open the bedroom door.
Once reason is lost, humans are no different from animals.
Desires overflowed every moment, engraved in every corner of the room and simultaneously left upon Liao Ran’s body.
As the Gu worms eroded him, Liao Ran grew thinner day by day.
Lazy all day long, he wouldn’t even step out the door.
The resort was hosting an art exhibition, and the community was holding a resident meeting. Bai Ji had only been gone for an hour when Liao Ran already missed him.
Ding-dong.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.