The V1 private lounge was filled with familiar faces. The moment Jiang Yuan stepped inside and saw Qiao Song sitting leisurely in the center of the sofa, he felt a wave of nausea, as if he had swallowed a fly.
This was the first time the two had met since their confrontation.
Seeing that the newcomer was Jiang Yuan, the person sitting next to Qiao Song proactively stood up to offer his seat. Jiang Yuan, however, merely cast a cold, indifferent glance in that direction before sitting down in a corner without a word.
The people in the lounge let their eyes wander, exchanging tentative glances, unable to grasp the current situation.
Jiang Yuan lowered his gaze and poured himself a glass of wine, planning to quietly have a few drinks while waiting for Xie Chengnan to pick him up.
Qiao Song, acting as if nothing had happened, moved to sit beside him. He raised a slender bottle in his hand as a gesture of goodwill. "Fang Yuan brought a few bottles of ice wine today. It’s very sweet; I’m sure you’ll like it."
Jiang Yuan ignored him.
Qiao Song didn't get angry either, meticulously lighting his cigarettes and pouring his wine with attentive care.
Jiang Yuan hadn't expected that this man, who had been shamelessly rolling around with Jiang Shiyi just half an hour ago, could now lean in and curry favor with him without so much as a blush or a skipped heartbeat.
Even Zhang Siyi felt that Qiao Song was being over-the-top today. He nudged Jiang Yuan’s arm and whispered, "Did something set Brother Qiao off?"
"Who knows." Jiang Yuan brushed back his hair, feeling utterly annoyed.
The lounge door was pushed open, and Jiang Shiyi—whose embarrassing moments Jiang Yuan had witnessed repeatedly tonight—walked in, followed by his recently cuckolded boyfriend. Both of them looked terrible; it was unclear if their talk had ended in a breakup.
Jiang Yuan noticed that the moment Jiang Shiyi entered, his eyes immediately locked onto Qiao Song, his expression one of dejected exhaustion. Qiao Song, however, merely lifted his eyelids and shot him a warning look, clearly telling him to keep his mouth shut.
The young master took it all in and couldn't help but marvel at the spectacle. However, he had no intention of getting involved in their messy affairs. He busied himself with rolling dice and drinking, treating the attentive Young Master Qiao as if he were invisible.
Qiao Song didn't lose his temper either, remaining planted there like an unshakeable pillar. To outsiders, it simply looked like the young master was throwing another tantrum and Young Master Qiao was trying to coax him out of it.
When the clock struck twelve, Xie Chengnan finally arrived to pick him up.
Jiang Yuan’s eyes lit up the moment he saw him. He stood up and lunged forward, calling out clingily, "Chengnan~"
The older man was startled by the youngster's sudden enthusiasm. He quickly reached out to support Jiang Yuan’s backside to keep him from falling, saying nervously, "Don't play around, you'll fall."
The young master hooked his arms around the man's waist, putting on a show of sweet affection for the crowd, but he buried his face against Xie Chengnan's ear and hissed through gritted teeth, "Carry me out of here, quick. Qiao Song is disgusting me to death."
Between the breath tickling his ear and the long legs wrapped around his waist, Xie Chengnan was far from composed. He gave a wry smile. "Can't you just walk out normally?"
"No," the young master refused. "I can't walk anymore. I'm dizzy."
He was starting to act spoiled.
Xie Chengnan had no choice but to nod to the crowd, who were all craning their necks to watch the show. He said politely, "He’s had too much to drink. I’ll take him home first."
"Go ahead, go ahead," Zhang Siyi said with a sly grin. "Take good care of my brother."
And so, Xie Chengnan carried the youngster, who was clinging to him like a koala, all the way to the hotel entrance, garnering a flurry of meaningful looks along the way.
The older man was thin-skinned. Jiang Yuan, leaning on his shoulder, watched as the man’s blush spread all the way down to his neck, making Jiang Yuan shake with suppressed laughter.
"Is this fun?" Xie Chengnan asked, his voice strained.
Jiang Yuan death-defyingly replied, "It's great fun." The words had barely left his mouth when he received a smack on the rear.
The older man looked solemn, thinking that after a swat on the backside, this brat would finally settle down.
To his surprise, the young master straightened up, his face flushed as he accused him, "Xie Chengnan, you're so lecherous."
The steady-footed man stumbled, nearly dropping both himself and the "koala." He said with a wooden face, "Shut up."
Jiang Yuan condemned him, "You sneak a feel and then tell me to shut up."
Xie Chengnan: "..." He decided to stop talking and just get the boy into the car as quickly as possible.
But Jiang Yuan had no intention of letting him off. He began to discuss the matter with great earnestness. "How did it feel?"
Xie Chengnan: "..."
Jiang Yuan: "Do you like it soft, or with a bit of muscle?"
Xie Chengnan reached the end of his patience and cast him a cool glance. "Weren't you the one who wanted to be on top?"
The young master was stunned. *Oh right, I'm a man determined to be the '1,' so why am I discussing my own backside? Wait, no, I don't even like men, so why am I considering the question of being a 0 or a 1?* The young master was plunged into confusion and instantly became as quiet as a mouse.
Xie Chengnan breathed a sigh of relief. Enduring a wave of internal heat, he tucked the boy into the car. But just as they both sat down, the little demon started causing trouble again.
The young master reached out a "devil's claw" and gave Xie Chengnan’s backside a feel, even giving it a squeeze for good measure. He commented disdainfully, "Why is it so hard?"
It was the first time the older man had ever been teased like this; his 180-IQ brain completely stalled.
Having reclaimed his dignity, the young master hummed a happy tune. As he hummed, the alcohol finally caught up to him. He closed his eyes and leaned against Xie Chengnan, muttering, "Wake me when we get home. I'm going to nap for a bit."
"Mhm." Xie Chengnan adjusted his posture to make him more comfortable.
"Xie Chengnan," the young master, eyes still closed, suddenly asked, "Why are you so good to me?"
Xie Chengnan didn't know how to answer. In the end, he settled for a half-truth. "I promised your mother I would take good care of you."
Jiang Yuan was quiet for a long time. Just when Xie Chengnan thought he had fallen asleep, he heard a low, soft "Oh."
The boy’s quiet profile flickered in the light and shadow of the speeding car. Xie Chengnan looked down at him, his gaze deep and silent, like an old silent film—no dialogue, yet his eyes spoke volumes of tender affection.
Jiang Yuan wasn't asleep; he just didn't want to sit up. He listened to the steady thrum of the heartbeat in Xie Chengnan’s chest and thought about the restlessness he’d felt earlier. Finally, he began to understand the flavor of it. *Oh, it seems I’ve developed a crush on this old man.*
When they arrived home, Jiang Yuan continued to feign sleep. Xie Chengnan had no choice but to carry him to the master bedroom. He took off the boy's jacket, shoes, and socks, carefully tucked him in, and then turned off the light to return to the guest room.
Once the door was closed, the young master opened his eyes in distress. He thought to himself that even though he was drunk and lying flat, inviting a move, the old man had managed to hold back without stealing even a single bite. It seemed he was a "steel-straight" man through and through. He silently lit a candle for his own suddenly "bent" sexuality.
Feeling listless, the young master took a hot bath.
Perhaps because he had seen so much of it in his social circles, his ability to accept liking a man was quite high. It was just that falling for a straight man on his first try was a bit problematic.
The misty steam in the bathroom surrounded him. Jiang Yuan braced his hands on the sink and looked straight ahead. In the mirror, the wet, beautiful youth had a slight curl to his lips—cold yet alluring. His slender waist led down to firm, upturned glutes, tracing a heart-stirring curve that looked particularly striking.
The young master slowly wrapped a towel around himself, thinking: *If the mountain will not come to me, I shall go to the mountain.* That guy had somehow turned him gay; there was no reason for him to remain standing there as straight as a pole. It was better to be "bent" together than to be "bent" alone.
Thus, when Xie Chengnan emerged from his own bathroom, he found an unidentified creature had somehow burrowed into his bed.
Xie Chengnan: "..."
Hearing the noise, the young master poked half his face out from under the covers. He squinted his peach-blossom eyes and said softly, "My bed smells like alcohol."
Xie Chengnan sighed silently. Thinking the boy had woken up and was having a bout of germaphobia, he didn't think much of it and coaxed, "Go to sleep. I'll go get another quilt."
Ever since he had glimpsed his own unspeakable, secret feelings, Xie Chengnan had begun to maintain a proper distance from Jiang Yuan, fearing he might accidentally act like a beast and scare his youngster.
How could he have known that the youngster was currently harboring wicked intentions to seduce him, determined to bend this long-term vegetarian into a pretzel?
Xie Chengnan had originally been wearing a bathrobe, the belt tied loosely, revealing a large expanse of firm chest and abdominal muscles. Before getting into bed, he felt it wasn't safe enough, so he went to the dressing room to change into a set of long-sleeved pajamas.
Jiang Yuan curled his lip and chuckled, "Mr. Xie, are you afraid I'm going to ravish you?"
"Ahem." Xie Chengnan cleared his throat and said solemnly, "It's cold."
"Oh, is it?" The young master reached a bare arm out from under the covers to test the air. "Isn't the heating quite strong?"
Xie Chengnan: "!!!"
"I'll go get you some clothes..." The older man felt his blood rushing, yet he had to maintain a calm facade. "Don't catch a cold..."
The young master yawned and said lazily, "I don't want to. I like sleeping naked." After saying that, he stuck a bare leg out, resting it conspicuously on top of the quilt.
Xie Chengnan closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before finally walking over, step by step.
Before the young master could let his heart race with secret joy, he was rolled up in the quilt, turned into a human sushi roll.
Jiang Yuan: "..."
Xie Chengnan circled his arms around both the person and the quilt, his voice strained as he coaxed him, "Go to sleep. Stop acting up."
The young master stopped struggling. He thought to himself that there was plenty of time ahead. Following the rhythm of the gentle pats on his back, he drifted into dreamland. He had no idea that the older man he had been teasing all night was now harboring a fire, suffering from a bout of insomnia...
***
