After the two of them finished their instant noodles, Qi Shun washed the bowls while Fei Qinan could only sit on the sofa and watch TV.
“Hey..I’m taking you somewhere in a bit,” Qi Shun announced, once again making unilateral executive decisions without consulting anyone.
“Where to?”
“You’ll see when we get there. Stop nagging.”
“Oh.” Without another word, Fei Qinan went back to flipping through the channels.
Once everything was tidied up, Qi Shun left the motorcycle keys behind and led Fei Qinan out the door. The two walked in silence along the shaded mountain path. Moonlight filtered down through layers of leaves, casting a gentle glow that, accompanied by the chirping of insects and croaking of frogs and the caress of a light breeze, felt extraordinarily soothing.
“How tall are you?” Fei Qinan broke the silence first.
“One eighty-six,” came the crisp, direct reply.
“How much do you weigh?”
“81 kg.”
“How old?”
“17.”
“What’s your birthday?”
“July 31st.”
“Favorite color?”
“Black.”
“What…”
“If you ask one more damn question, see if I don’t toss you straight down this mountain.”
“…”
Ceasing his cross-examination, Fei Qinan continued strolling beside him. Before long, they reached a clearing overlooking a panoramic view of the city in the distance, where the dazzling neon lights sketched out a breathtaking, intoxicating scene.
“Look over there…” Following the direction of Qi Shun’s pointing finger, Fei Qinan raised his gaze upward.
The moon cast a steady, soft radiance across the serene, ink-black sky, which was sprinkled with countless twinkling stars. Every single one of them shone as hard as it could, radiating its own brilliance in remote harmony with the city lights spread out below.
“Sit down,” Qi Shun said, gesturing to a double bench nearby.
“This place is truly beautiful. It’s been so long since I last looked up to appreciate the night sky.” He had forgotten how long it had been since he last took a moment to gaze at the evening views.
“Hmph, didn’t you want me to send you back earlier?” Lacking any concept of romantic ambiance, the guy didn’t miss a chance to throw in a couple of teasing digs.
“Luckily I didn’t leave. If I had, I probably would never have had the chance to see this.”
“Not necessarily. I can bring you here anytime you want.”
“…”
“Qi Shun, do you like me?” After a moment of silence, Fei Qinan turned his head to look at the person beside him.
“…… Holy crap! You….how did you figure that out? Was….was I being that obvious!?”
He had sworn he was keeping his impulses under control! Feeling somewhat disgruntled at having his inner thoughts seen right through, Qi Shun stuttered slightly.
“But I’m a man.” Fei Qinan turned to face him fully.
“Tsk! Do you think I care about that? Whether you’re a man, a woman, or fucking Spider-Man, even if you’re a vengeful ghost crawling straight out of hell once I, Qi Shun, fall for someone, that’s it.” Delivering his very first confession at this age with such overbearing bravado, Qi Shun was almost moved to tears by his own romantic prowess.
“But I can’t like you back.”
“Can’t? Then… if you need to like women first, I’ll just keep working hard at it. Anyway, we’ve got plenty of time ahead. I’ll just stick around until you finally fall for me.” Though a flicker of frustration crossed his mind, Qi Shun never gave up easily on things he set his mind on or wanted to claim.
“That’s not what I meant.” Seeing him misunderstand, Fei Qinan didn’t quite know how to explain.
Ever since the moment he was cast aside, his destiny had never truly belonged to him. There were still too many debts left for him to pay off in the future, and none of those obligations left room to reciprocate anyone else’s romantic feelings.
“Then what do you mean? Let me tell you, under the current circumstances, you only have two paths you can take.” Unwilling to get bogged down in circles, Qi Shun simply decided to make the choice for him.
“Which two paths?”
“Path number one: you choose to like me first, and then I take you.”
“…… And what’s path number two?”
“Path number two is: I take you first, and then you choose to like me.” Qi Shun privately decided he was an absolute genius.
“Do you honestly think there’s any difference between those two?” Fei Qinan desperately wanted to crack open the guy’s skull to see what kind of material it was stuffed with.
“Of course there’s a difference! Letting you like me first before I take you, that’s the ‘frictional spark of love’ after two people are already on the same page. But taking you first and then making you like me? That means making you surrender completely beneath my fierce, heroic might, conquering you through sheer overbearing force. Personally, I feel like the second option has a lot more flavor, but to show my utmost sincerity, I’d still be thrilled if you picked the first one.” Hearing him lay out his logic with complete and utter gravity left Fei Qinan in a daze.
Good grief… How on earth can this man come up with thoughts that are simultaneously so terrifying and so utterly endearing?
Suddenly, Fei Qinan burst out laughing, doubling over in a fit of helpless, uncontrollable mirth. Catching himself just as tears threatened to well up, he forced his laughter down upon seeing Qi Shun’s thoroughly disgruntled expression.
This was probably the only time in many years he had ever allowed himself to laugh so freely and recklessly.
“Was what I just said that funny?”
“No, not really. Heh…” Fei Qinan cleared his throat.
“Then why the hell are you laughing so loud, dammit! Tsk!”
“Qi Shun, has anyone ever told you that you’re actually a very kind and endearing person?” A rough-hewn exterior hiding a total softie at heart.
“Ugh! If anyone ever dares use those two words to describe me, I’ll send them straight to see King Yama on the spot.”
“All joking aside, despite everything we’ve said, a relationship between us is genuinely impossible. There are still far too many things I have to do…”
“Damn it!! Impossible again? I’ll show you what ‘impossible’ actually means!” With that, Qi Shun roughly cupped his face and crashed his lips down onto his.
Offering neither resistance nor compliance, Fei Qinan watched as Qi Shun’s tongue pried open his teeth to plunder the space within with unbridled dominance. Within moments, both of them pulled apart, breathing heavily.
Leaning in close to his ear, Qi Shun murmured, “You can forget about ever escaping me in this lifetime,” before releasing him. Flashing a wicked, crooked smirk, he pulled Fei Qinan to his feet and led him back toward the house.
As soon as they stepped inside, before Fei Qinan could head for the guest room, Qi Shun dragged him straight upstairs and pinned him down onto the bed the moment they crossed the bedroom threshold.
With a blend of overbearing roughness, Qi Shun captured those slightly cool, thin lips, while his hands began restlessly exploring the slender contours of Fei Qinan’s body.
Rationality caused Fei Qinan to offer a brief, instinctive struggle at first, but under the heat of Qi Shun’s onslaught, he gradually abandoned his defenses and began responding in kind.
Their shirts were swiftly ripped off and tossed aside, and the bandages freshly wrapped around Fei Qinan’s torso loosened under Qi Shun’s vigorous movements.
The moment Qi Shun’s hand slipped beneath the gauze to brush against the dense web of scars crisscrossing his back, he snapped back to sobriety instantly. Pulling back from all forward motion, he forced down the surging tide of desire, grabbed a nearby blanket to cover Fei Qinan, scratched his head, and bolted out of the room, returning a moment later with the first-aid kit in hand.
“Turn around and lie down on your stomach. I rubbed off all the ointment on your back. I need to reapply it.”
Without a word, Fei Qinan obediently turned over and settled onto his stomach. Closing his eyes, he offered a bitter, self-deprecating smile. How is anyone supposed to say no to a man like this?
Once everything was tended to, seeing that Fei Qinan appeared to have drifted off to sleep, Qi Shun softly clicked off the lamp, pulled back the edge of the blanket, and slipped into bed beside him.
Naturally sliding an arm around his sturdy waist and resting his head against that warm, solid chest, Fei Qinan murmured a quiet “Thank you” before drifting off into peaceful slumber.
Gently pressing a tender kiss to his forehead, Qi Shun whispered into the dark:
“Sleep. Next time, I won’t let you off this easily.