Xie Quan stared at Lu Nanyang for several seconds, then suddenly cupped his face and kissed him fiercely.
Their staggering bodies banged against the elevator walls, creating loud, jarring noises. For a moment, Lu Nanyang was genuinely worried that they might shake the elevator loose.
Luckily, the elevator held firm—but their kiss showed no sign of stopping.
Xie Quan kissed like an enraged cat, claws out, desperate to leave marks wherever he could.
Lu Nanyang’s lips were the first to get bitten, the pain making him hiss and instinctively pull back, but Xie Quan only pressed closer, leaving bite marks along his jawline, neck, and collarbone with ruthless intensity—some of them breaking skin.
Just as Lu Nanyang tried to escape, Xie Quan sealed his lips again, tangling their tongues together in a messy, heated kiss.
Just as he started to get lost in it, the sharp pain brought him crashing back to reality.
…It genuinely felt like he was about to get devoured.
When Xie Quan finally bit down hard on his tongue, Lu Nanyang couldn’t take it anymore and shoved him away.
“You trying to give me a mouth ulcer so I can’t eat tomorrow?”
Xie Quan tilted his chin defiantly, looking at him out of the corner of his eye. “If I can’t eat well, you don’t get to either.”
Lu Nanyang laughed helplessly and gave him a shove. “You’re crazy. Quit messing around.”
Xie Quan glared at him fiercely, but the redness in his eyes made his light-colored irises shimmer with tears. He looked more fragile than threatening.
“Who’s messing around? You or me?” Xie Quan shouted. “Lu Nanyang, you’re seriously such a bastard! Is messing with me really that fun for you?!”
Lu Nanyang lowered his head and smiled lightly. “Do you want the truth?”
Xie Quan looked at him.
“…Actually, it was pretty fun.”
Xie Quan immediately bit down hard on Lu Nanyang’s neck.
Today, he finally saw Lu Nanyang’s true colors.
What sunshine boy, warm puppy—lies, all lies. Cut him open and he’s filled with black water inside.
While he had been tangled up with conflicting emotions, Lu Nanyang had already seen through everything and just sat on the sidelines, waiting for him to walk straight into the trap.
Thinking about it made Xie Quan furious. He wanted to leave bite marks all over Lu Nanyang’s body, draw blood everywhere.
“Ow, ow! It hurts!” Lu Nanyang cried out, “I was joking! Come on, can you stop assuming the worst of me? I’m not a mind reader—how could I possibly know what you’re thinking?”
Xie Quan paused and looked at him.
“You never say anything. You hide everything you’re thinking. What was I supposed to do?” Lu Nanyang said helplessly. “All I could do was take a gamble. Bet that you cared about me. Bet that you’d want to hold my hand.”
Xie Quan quietly looked at him. “I’ve never been in a relationship. Never even considered being in an intimate relationship with anyone.”
Lu Nanyang hummed in acknowledgment.
“What if your gamble didn’t pay off?”
Lu Nanyang looked up at the empty ceiling, thinking for a moment. “I don’t know. I never thought that far.”
“You didn’t think about it?” Xie Quan found that answer ridiculous.
“I’m not like you,” Lu Nanyang said, leaning against Xie Quan. “You always make careful plans, calculate risks and benefits before taking action. I just do what I feel like doing. If I think it’s worth it, I take the gamble.”
Lu Nanyang turned his head to look at Xie Quan, giving him a faint smile. “I thought you were worth it.”
The sound of a skipped heartbeat echoed clearly in the quiet space. Xie Quan turned his head away, using his arm to cover the blush creeping across his cheeks. After a moment, he mumbled, “You’ll regret this.”
No one knew better than he did what kind of person he was.
Selfish, deceitful, manipulative—using anything and everything to get what he wanted.
He wasn’t worthy of anyone’s love, least of all a gamble like Lu Nanyang’s.
One day, Lu Nanyang would see that.
One day, he would definitely regret it.
“Then I’ll deal with it when I regret it,” Lu Nanyang said, extending a hand toward Xie Quan. “I’m not stupid. If the day ever comes where I can’t stand you anymore, I’ll be the one to break up with you.”
That actually made Xie Quan laugh.
“People live for the present, not for some vague future,” Lu Nanyang said. “Don’t you think so, boyfriend?”
He waved his outstretched hand.
Xie Quan looked up at Lu Nanyang’s eyes. In the dim light, his gaze was like unpolished obsidian—reflecting something pure and clear.
He didn’t know why, but at that moment, Xie Quan suddenly realized—without a doubt—that Lu Nanyang liked him.
The thought crashed down like a wave, and Xie Quan could barely hold back the sting in his eyes.
When had it started?
How long had he liked him?
They’d clearly liked each other for a long time—so why had they hurt each other so much, so many times?
The always-rational, self-controlled Xie Quan suddenly wanted to cry. He wanted to grab Lu Nanyang by the collar and demand to know why he didn’t say anything earlier, why he let him suffer for so long.
But at the same time, he knew—this was his punishment. He deserved it.
Lu Nanyang gave him a puzzled look, and Xie Quan quickly lowered his head, blinking away the tears. He took a deep breath, pulling himself together.
Then he looked up, grabbed that outstretched hand, and sighed, “Yeah, you’re right. Boyfriend.”
Lu Nanyang couldn’t help but burst out laughing, grinning so wide he couldn’t stop.
The feeling was surreal.
Just a second ago, he thought they were about to have a knock-down, drag-out fight in the elevator. Now, the person in front of him was his boyfriend.
In just a few breaths, he’d gone from single to taken.
“Idiot,” Xie Quan muttered.
He pulled Lu Nanyang’s hand and stood up, but in that moment, his head spun and he stumbled forward uncontrollably.
“Hey!” Lu Nanyang stepped forward quickly and caught him.
Xie Quan looked pale, clutching Lu Nanyang’s arm tightly. He retched several times but couldn’t throw up.
His body had already reached its limit. During the emotional outburst, he hadn’t felt it. But now it was like the backlash had hit him all at once—every bit of pain and fatigue came crashing back.
“Xie Quan? Xie Quan? Hey, what’s wrong…”
Lu Nanyang’s voice sounded farther and farther away as Xie Quan’s consciousness blurred.
In the last moment before everything went dark, Xie Quan thought: Just my luck—finally got a boyfriend, and now we’re going to die together in an elevator.
….
In the hazy darkness, Xie Quan had a series of wild dreams.
First, he dreamed of being chased by a group of strangers. Lu Nanyang picked him up and started running, and the strangers pulled out some kind of high-tech weapons that only existed in sci-fi movies—blasting red lights and noise as they fired.
Then Lu Nanyang ducked into a house made of bread with him. Not long after, the house grew legs and started running—faster and faster, until they finally escaped the armed pursuers.
Xie Quan was baffled and asked Lu Nanyang what was going on. Lu Nanyang held his hand solemnly and said, “To have love, you also need bread. It was love that helped our bread escape to freedom.”
Luckily, right after hearing that absurd line, Xie Quan woke up.
There were no sci-fi weapons in front of him, nor a house made of bread. It wasn’t the cold, stark ceiling of a hospital either—it was a familiar room.
Lu Nanyang’s apartment room.
Brilliant morning sunlight streamed through the gap in the curtains, spilling onto the corner of the bed and casting a warm golden glow over everything in the room.
He turned his head and looked toward the bedside, unsurprisingly saw Lu Nanyang’s helpless face.
Lu Nanyang tiredly smiled and said, “I thought about it all night… I still can’t believe I actually got fucked by someone as frail-looking as you.”
Xie Quan grabbed the pillow next to him and smacked it right onto Lu Nanyang’s forehead.
“Hey, hey! Why are you hitting me without warning?!” Lu Nanyang laughed and backed away, snatching the “weapon” from Xie Quan’s hand and putting it back on the bed.
“You deserved it,” Xie Quan said bluntly.
“Fine, once you’re better, hit me however you want.” Lu Nanyang pulled the blanket over Xie Quan, and when he saw him fumbling around on the sheets with a frown, he timely handed him his glasses and watched him put them on.
Then, like a magician, he pulled out a piece of bread.
“Want something to eat?”
A faint smell of baked goods lingered in the air, and Xie Quan realized—so that’s where the bread house came from.
“No,” he murmured, “no appetite.”
His stomach was still churning, and a wave of nausea lingered.
Lu Nanyang didn’t press the issue. He just nodded and placed the bread aside.
“What time is it?” Xie Quan asked, pressing on his throbbing temple and slowly leaning back against the headboard.
Lu Nanyang glanced at his watch.
“Six-thirty. Want to sleep a little more?”
Xie Quan remembered they’d been stuck in the elevator around seven the previous evening. They’d argued, almost fought, kissed, and even confirmed their relationship…
Confirmed their relationship?
He suddenly turned his head and stared at Lu Nanyang’s face.
Bathed in the soft morning light, Lu Nanyang’s features glowed. The golden hue lit up his high nose bridge and gently curved eyes, which were filled with a warm smile. Even the trace of fatigue in his expression couldn’t dull his radiant good looks.
“Lu Nanyang,” he called.
“Yeah?” Lu Nanyang answered.
“Lu Nanyang,” he called again.
“I’m right here,” Lu Nanyang said, leaning forward with an elbow propped up, smiling.
“What’s up, boyfriend?”
Xie Quan felt like he was doomed.
He couldn’t control the urge to smile.
It must be that he caught the idiot virus from Lu Nanyang. It had to be.
