Xue Bao Tian sat before the arcade machine, smoking sullenly. Cigarette butts littered the floor around his feet, earning several eye rolls from the elderly woman cleaning nearby.
Almost unconsciously, he touched the spot beneath his collarbone and remembered the cigarette Yan Ye had held terrifyingly close to his skin the night before.
A gust of cold wind slipped through the ill-fitting windows of the stilt house. Xue Bao Tian shivered and pressed his back against the wall.
“Brother Chi, I never properly apologized for that cigarette burn, did I?” He slapped his forehead, feigning remorse. “I was fooling around and didn’t know my limits. When we get home, I’ll throw you a banquet to make it up to you.”
Clouds swallowed the moonlight. Yan Ye’s expression disappeared into shadow, leaving only the white smoke curling from his cigarette.
The smoke stung Xue Bao Tian’s eyes. He deliberately squeezed out a few tears and put on his most sincere expression.
Yan Ye either didn’t notice or didn’t care. Holding the cigarette between his fingers, he moved closer. “How could Master Xue forget? Don’t you always look at it a few extra times whenever we’re in bed?”
When Xue Bao Tian tried to lean away, Yan Ye pressed him down. “Don’t move. If I miss the spot, should I try again?”
Xue Bao Tian had extinguished cigarettes with his fingertips before. It hurt, but the pain had always been tolerable. This time, however, the ember hovered over the tender skin beneath his collarbone, and every nerve in his body tightened.
He knew Yan Ye well enough to understand that the man might actually do it. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed Yan Ye’s wrist.
“Brother Chi, the burn may have been caused by Master Xue, but you brought it on yourself too. If you want payback, I won’t chicken out. Burn me if you want.”
He leaned toward the glowing ember. “It’s just a scar. I’m a grown man. What do I have to be afraid of? Worst case, I stop wearing low-cut shirts.”
When Xue Bao Tian kept his mouth shut, he really was attractive. Yan Ye liked seeing him in loose, low-cut clothes, especially when he sat in the sunlight drinking beer, looking almost catlike—as long as he didn’t speak.
Yan Ye was always kissing his collarbones and the hollow of his throat. Xue Bao Tian simply didn’t believe he could bring himself to leave another scar there.
He leaned closer.
Sure enough, the cigarette retreated.
Secretly pleased, Xue Bao Tian moved closer still. “Brother Chi, how about Master Xue gives you a kiss as an apology?”
Soft lips settled over the old scar. He kissed it repeatedly, then brushed his tongue lightly across it.
Yan Ye lowered his eyes to him. After a long moment, he extinguished the cigarette. The loneliness in his gaze faded as he reached out and ruffled Xue Bao Tian’s hair.
“I was joking, Master Xue. It’s late. Go to sleep.”
With that, Yan Ye let the matter go.
Ordinarily, Xue Bao Tian would have buried him alive for pulling something like that. Tonight, however, he didn’t dare make a scene. He obediently let Yan Ye hold him and closed his eyes, though his thoughts continued churning.
Deep into the night, Xue Bao Tian turned his back to Yan Ye and unlocked his phone. In the narrow glow of the screen, he hesitantly searched:
Why does a straight man feel pleasure when forced to sleep with another man?
“Fuck! Closeted gay? Get the hell out of here!”
He glanced back. Yan Ye was still asleep. After letting out a breath of relief, he changed the search terms.
It’s normal for a straight man to feel good sleeping with another man, right?
His eyes skimmed the dense blocks of text. Beneath the blanket, he muttered, “Were these answers written with a damn 2B pencil?”
After struggling through several pages, his confusion only deepened. Finally, determined to prove something, he dug out an adult film he had saved long ago.
Beautiful figures, flawless bodies, spectacular curves.
Xue Bao Tian only grew more anxious.
The bamboo bed creaked in the silence. Yan Ye turned over, presenting his back to him.
Guiltily, Xue Bao Tian put away his phone and pinched himself hard. “What the hell is wrong with me?”
The cigarette burned down and scorched his fingers. Lately, he had become unusually sensitive to that kind of heat. Snapping back to himself, he cursed and tossed it away.
“Handsome, you’ve been playing this game for days. Is it really that fun?”
The heavily accented Mandarin was soft and coquettish. Xue Bao Tian turned his head and saw a young woman standing beside the arcade machine in an unmistakably flirtatious pose.
“Handsome, where are you from? I’ve never seen you around here.”
The question immediately put him on guard. Smiling lazily, he adopted the air of a rich young master. “Got tired of the big city. Came here to stay for a while.”
“I get it,” the girl said. “Taking a vacation to clear your head.”
She leaned over the arcade machine, pulled out a rhinestone-covered phone, and held it toward him. “Add me on WeChat. If you get lonely, we can hook up.”
Xue Bao Tian froze. His fingers curled tightly as he glanced across the street at Yan Ye.
Yan Ye was still sitting with his back to him, playing chess with someone.
“Not adding me?” the girl asked after a moment. “Forget it, then.”
“…”
Just before she put her phone away, Xue Bao Tian stopped her.
“I’ll add you.”
The inn door swung open, and the young woman emerged looking displeased. Seeing him crouched against the wall, she asked in clumsy Mandarin, “Handsome, why are you sitting out here? I’ve been waiting inside forever. I thought you weren’t coming.”
Xue Bao Tian pushed himself upright and cursed inwardly.
Since when had the Ruixiang heir, a man who once passed through countless flowers without a single leaf sticking to him, become this timid over a hookup?
He relaxed his shoulders and hips, forcing himself to look carefree. “I stayed out here to smoke. Come on. Let’s go inside.”
The inn door slowly closed, separating the noisy bustle outside from the ambiguous entanglement within, as though dividing them into two entirely different worlds…