Hot and swollen.
Lu Shangyan’s vision blurred again. This time, he distinctly felt someone touching his waist.
A large crowd of men and women surrounded him. He wanted to find the culprit, but his legs were weak from alcohol.
He could only steady himself against the pole used for pole dancing in the center of the stage, but as his body swayed, the pole began to spin.
After a few attempts, most of his shirt was disheveled. He still had not found the person, his head felt even dizzier, and his body was growing hotter by the second.
How strange.
Yet, someone in the corner was acting even stranger.
Watching Lu Shangyan walk a few steps like a drunkard, the man gritted his teeth, his eyes turning red. “What a seductive trick!”
His breathing grew heavy, and he turned to look at his bewildered good friend right beside him.
Then, leaning in secretively, he muttered, “Chenzi, do you believe in love at first sight?”
“It feels like Cupid’s arrow struck me today. My heart is beating so fast, and my body is starting to feel completely out of control, as if the red thread tied by the Matchmaker is pulling taut, and I cannot help wanting to get closer to him and close the distance between us.”
Hearing this, Tang Suichen placed a hand on his forehead for a split second. “Are you running a fever? I am taking you to the hospital.”
Pei Yumin sighed, his expression filled with grief. “I am indeed in heat. Otherwise, why would the lower half of my body, which has not reacted in nearly thirty years, suddenly react today?”
Hearing this, Tang Suichen grew even more excited. “Damn! So you are not impotent after all!”
His voice was so loud that, despite the deafening music in the gay bar, it still drew the attention of everyone around them.
As soon as those words dropped, all the cute bottoms who had been planning to strike up a conversation with Pei Yumin scattered.
Of course, Pei Yumin only had eyes for the person still twisting their waist on stage, leaving him with no time to care about anyone else.
Even so, the commotion caused the area nearby to quiet down considerably.
Pei Yumin also overheard the gossip from a group of people sitting behind him.
“Brother Shuo, that move of yours was truly vicious. Once this guy is pinned down as gay, let alone Goddess Xia, every girl on campus will probably steer clear of him. With your looks and family background, Brother Shuo, will you not be able to chase whoever you want on the first try?”
“That is right! This brat acts like he owns the school and steals other people’s girlfriends. He totally deserves a beating!”
“I do not even know what is so great about him. He went on stage to twist and jump around just for two hundred yuan. If you added another hundred, I bet he would strip-dance in public!”
The person called Brother Shuo had a buzz cut. He looked honest yet carried a hint of fierce cruelty, a rather strange combination.
Pei Yumin could not help glancing at him a few more times.
Then, he heard the man say, “I spiked the drink he had earlier. Look at all these guys staring at him; he will definitely be carried off by a man soon. When that happens, we will follow them and capture even juicier footage!”
“First thing tomorrow morning, I am posting it online. That will teach him not to ignore warnings and stop entangling himself with my Xiaxia. This time, I am getting him expelled once and for all to prevent any future trouble!”
Pei Yumin frowned as he watched the man pick up his phone, grinning despicably as he aimed the camera at the figure constantly twisting on stage.
Unable to sit still, he stood up and walked straight over to the buzz-cut man. “Has not anyone told you that secretly filming someone else’s spouse is very impolite?”
Looking utterly bewildered, Tang Suichen slammed a palm against his own forehead and hissed, “Are you out of your mind?!”
His voice was drowned out by the buzz-cut man’s shocked shout: “You are Lu Shangyan’s partner?!”
The lackey beside him followed up in disbelief: “Lu Shangyan is actually gay?!”
“Then dragging him to a gay bar was not a punishment at all?! With so many men around, this is clearly a reward for him!”
Pei Yumin took a deep breath, feigning deep contemplation as he picked up a glass of wine on the table to toy with, and then, under the watchful gaze of everyone present, drank it all in one go. “So his name is Lu Shangyan.”
Buzz-cut man: “…”
Is this guy insane?
Pei Yumin added, “Delete all the videos on your phone right now, or I will make you know what it feels like to face a wrath you cannot bear!”
Tang Suichen pulled him back by the arm, feeling deeply embarrassed, and forced a smile. “He is drunk. His mind is not clear.”
The tension in the buzz-cut man’s chest slowly subsided.
He figured the guy was just a crazy lunatic who got wasted and went around acting unhinged.
However, President Pei, who had thoroughly studied web novels about domineering CEOs across major websites in search of that romantic feeling, did not think he was drunk at all.
He smashed the wine glass in his hand and glared fiercely at the buzz-cut man’s group. “If you do not believe me, just wait and see!”
With that, Pei Yumin turned on his heel and walked away.
After all, the most important task right now was to rescue Lu Shangyan.
And then propose to him directly.
Yet, before he could even reach Lu Shangyan’s side, he began to feel a dry throat and weakness in all four limbs.
A moment later, he abruptly realized that the half-cup of wine he had just consumed had been sitting right in front of an empty seat.
It was not hard to guess that it was the very glass of spiked wine meant for Lu Shangyan.
Now, forget about rescuing Lu Shangyan; it seemed he had become the one who needed saving!
Still, under the gaze of everyone behind him, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to push through to Lu Shangyan’s side.
He reached out with a scorching palm and grabbed Lu Shangyan’s feverish arm.
Startled, Lu Shangyan blinked through eyes hazy with moisture and mumbled drunkenly, “Were you the one secretly touching my waist just now?”
Pei Yumin glanced down. The buttons of Lu Shangyan’s translucent, worn-thin shirt were already practically undone.
He reached out to pull the fabric closed, quickly giving his waist a firm squeeze. “This is what you call a proper touch.”
Lu Shangyan had absorbed the effects of the drug for a while. Not knowing the reason and assuming he was simply drunk, he had been enduring it.
Now, touched by Pei Yumin like this, a jolt like an electric current surged through his entire body, making him go completely numb.
Especially his waist, which could barely support him standing upright anymore.
Pei Yumin’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he supported Lu Shangyan by the arm, dragging him away from the crowd. “Wake up. I am taking you somewhere safe.”
Jeering laughter erupted behind them, and Pei Yumin suffered so intensely that the veins on the back of his hand bulged.
Once the noise quieted down, he pulled out his phone and frantically called Tang Suichen.
Tang Suichen did not pick up.
So, he began bombarding him with messages.
[m: Hurry up and bring the antidote! I have been hit too. If this keeps going, both Shang-shang and I are going to lose our minds!]
[m: Even though many bone-deep love stories start with a one-night stand, I want to be the unique one, and I need to stay sober!]
Hanging limply against him, Lu Shangyan began restlessly rubbing his heated body everywhere due to the overwhelming fever.
Terrified of causing a scandal in front of so many people, Pei Yumin had no choice but to take him to Tang Suichen’s private VIP room on the premises.
Aside from Tang Suichen occasionally bringing people over to hang out, no one else ever stayed there.
Furthermore, it was cleaned daily and disinfected with alcohol, making it very sanitary.
He laid Lu Shangyan down on the bed and pulled out his phone again to resume calling Tang Suichen.
This time, the call actually went through. With a wine glass between his teeth, Tang Suichen’s speech was slurred. “Just give in to it. It is rare for you to have a reaction; seizing the moment for pleasure is what matters most.”
“Besides, Young President Pei, you have been under for so long. Even if you can wait for the antidote, your Shang-shang cannot. If you drag this out any longer, the doctor will not even arrive before he bursts a blood vessel from holding back and turns into your eunuch husband!”
Hearing this, Pei Yumin involuntarily looked back.
On the bed, Lu Shangyan had somehow stripped off all his clothes and was currently locked in a fierce battle with his old, frayed underwear whose threads had been coming undone for years.
After failing to pull them off several times, he simply rolled over onto his stomach and began writhing directly against the mattress.
Pei Yumin’s breathing hitched as he stepped closer and brushed a hand over his waist.
Though it looked slender enough to be easily spanned by one hand, the tactile feedback surprised Pei Yumin with its resilient strength.
It was also at that exact moment that Pei Yumin noticed a small black mole on Lu Shangyan’s shoulder, flanked by two red ones.
With the owner’s elevated body temperature, the red moles looked strikingly like drops of fresh blood.
They resembled bite marks from fangs, tempting Pei Yumin to sink his teeth in and taste what this person truly tasted like.
Sensing his touch, Lu Shangyan turned his hand over, grabbed Pei Yumin’s wrist, yanked him onto the bed, and flipped over to straddle his waist.
Regaining a shred of sobriety, Pei Yumin shouted into the phone, “I really do not think this is going to work! He does not even know me yet; I cannot sleep with him without any context.”
Tang Suichen did not reply, and Pei Yumin realized he had somehow hung up the phone.
Lu Shangyan’s hands wreaked havoc across his chest. After fumbling around for a bit, he collapsed forward onto Pei Yumin’s body, pressing tightly against him and rubbing everywhere.
Stroking his hair, Pei Yumin uncontrollably blurted out, “Little puppy.”
Too hazy to hear clearly, Lu Shangyan only knew that touching the person in front of him felt good. “I feel like I am burning to death.”
Pei Yumin let out a long, heavy sigh. “And I feel like I am burning with lust.”
He picked up his phone again, intending to dial someone else for help.
However, Lu Shangyan was deeply displeased by his sudden movement to sit up.
Seemingly drawing strength from nowhere despite his weakened limbs, he pinned Pei Yumin firmly beneath him, sending the phone crashing to the floor beneath the bed.
Frowning in dissatisfaction, Lu Shangyan rubbed his chapped, dry lips against Pei Yumin’s cheek. “Eat you up, and maybe then I will feel better.”
The phone hit the carpet by the bedside with a muffled thud.
Yet, Pei Yumin heard the sound of his own reason shattering completely.
The intensity between two people who had both been drugged can easily be imagined.
When Lu Shangyan woke up, he saw someone sitting on the edge of the bed. That person was covered from head to toe in purplish-blue bruises, with scratch marks covering his back and arms, and bite marks adorning his shoulder.
The air was heavy with a peculiar scent, the exact one he often smelled during his morning solo sessions locked in the bathroom.
Taking a deep breath, before he could process the details, he locked eyes with the blood-red eyes of the person before him.
His brain short-circuited, and on an uncontrollable whim, he blurted out, “Bro, why is my butt all wet?”
Pei Yumin: “Huh?”
Lu Shangyan: “…”
Lu Shangyan’s face instantly exploded into a bright crimson. Lowering his head, he coughed heavily several times before managing to recover from the mortification. “Um, did you help clean me up?”
The atmosphere only grew heavier after those words left his mouth.
Pei Yumin, who had previously been at a loss for how to face the waking Lu Shangyan, froze in place.
Even though he was the one taking advantage of the situation.
Hearing Lu Shangyan’s words, he suddenly felt like he had performed a good deed.
Scratching his head, Lu Shangyan possessed a unique talent for making awkward situations even more agonizing. “Umm, do you want money?”
He grabbed his clothes off the floor and fished out a crumpled two-hundred-yuan bill from the pocket. “I do not know the market rate for your line of work, but is all this enough?”
Pei Yumin closed his dropped jaw, slammed down onto the floor with a heavy thump, wrapped his arms around Lu Shangyan’s thigh, and wailed, “No way! You have to take responsibility for me!”
“You stole my first time! If you do not stay with me, my dad is going to beat me to death!”
Flustered, Lu Shangyan tried to steady him as his mind spun in chaos.
Clearly, he was the one whose backside was wet, and he was even offering payment, so he could not fathom why this guy was still clinging to him and demanding accountability.
Did he think the money was not enough?
Pressing his lips together, he offered what he thought was a tactful rejection. “But I do not have any extra money left.”
Pei Yumin continued to fake a pitiful cry while roaring internally: I would pay you to let me stay!