Futile Devices Scans

The blue and purple spotlights in the KTV private room rotated slowly across the ceiling as Ren Yu adjusted his sitting position once again.

The decorative studs embedded in the corner of the leather sofa were digging painfully into his lower back, but compared to moving closer, he would rather endure the discomfort and maintain the greatest possible distance from Fu Chun Shen.

In the entire private room, Ren Yu occupied the southern end while Fu Chun Shen sat at the northern end, with a whole line of people separating them.

He Ze was one of those people. Shaking a dice cup in his hand, he leaned close to Ren’s ear and whispered, “Manager Fu has already looked over here three times.”

Only then did Ren Yu properly glance at Fu Chun Shen. At the moment, the man was shelling pistachios, and a small pile of shells had already accumulated in the white porcelain ashtray beside him.

The atmosphere in the room was somewhat strange, entirely because of Fu Chun Shen’s presence.

Fu Chun Shen had arrived uninvited and wore his usual unsmiling expression. Whether drinking or smoking, he carried himself with an air of elegance, as though he had carved out a separate world for himself amidst all the noise and excitement.

A few of Ren Yu’s friends occasionally forced themselves to strike up conversations with him, and Fu Chun Shen always responded. His answers were brief—neither cold nor warm.

“How come he’s here celebrating your birthday? Back when you worked together, wasn’t he the one who disliked you the most?”

Unable to explain the frustration bottled up inside him, Ren Yu could only suppress his temper and give a vague answer.

“We’ve had some work interactions recently. I’m the client and he’s the contractor, so naturally he’s being more attentive.”

He Ze grinned and slapped Ren Yu on the shoulder.

“So you finally got a chance to stand above him. You’d better enjoy it and put on plenty of airs.”

Before he could finish speaking, his leaning body was suddenly straightened by someone.

Looking up, he found Fu Chun Shen standing over him with one hand on his shoulder.

“Please move over.”

It took He Ze a moment to react before hurriedly lifting himself out of the seat.

Fu Chun Shen sat down smoothly and placed a small dish of shelled pistachios in front of Ren Yu.

Ren Yu loved pistachios.

Fu Chun Shen neither said anything nor tried to claim credit. He simply picked up the bottle on the table and refilled Ren Yu’s drink.

Having shifted one seat over, He Ze could not conceal the shock in his eyes. He found himself thinking that being the client really was wonderful—it could transform a former superior who always looked down at others into an entirely new breed of sycophant.

Ren Yu continued giving him the cold shoulder. He neither touched the nuts nor drank the alcohol, merely shifting farther into the corner of the sofa to increase the distance between them.

The standard nightclub trio consisted of singing, drinking, and games.

At that moment, someone shook a dice cup and pushed a bottle aside to clear some table space.

“Come on, come on, Truth or Dare.”

The response was far less enthusiastic than usual, largely because Fu Chun Shen was present.

Although he was wearing two wool sweaters beneath his suit, Fu Chun Shen still looked impeccably dressed. Sitting in one corner of the sofa with a drink in hand, speaking little and maintaining an aloof demeanor, he did not look like someone who would participate in this sort of game.

Still, unwilling to exclude a single person, someone cleared his throat awkwardly and cautiously asked,

“Manager Fu, are you playing?”

Fu Chun Shen leaned slightly farther back into the sofa. It was a posture that ordinarily signaled reluctance, but after glancing at Ren Yu, he calmly replied,

“Sure.”

The game began, and the atmosphere gradually grew lively.

After several rounds, the dares became increasingly outrageous, and the truth questions became more and more provocative.

During the course of the game, Ren Yu lost a round as well.

Since he was the birthday celebrant, nobody intended to let him off easily.

The question was immediately thrown at him.

“Does our talented Ren currently have someone he likes?”

Ren Yu’s answer came instantly, without the slightest hesitation.

In fact, he even raised his voice.

“No.”

Sitting nearby, Fu Chun Shen lightly traced the rim of his glass with his fingers.

He had deliberately unbuttoned his suit jacket, revealing a somewhat broader physique beneath.

Inwardly, he offered his own evaluation:

Ren Yu is simply thin-skinned.

After a few more rounds, even Fu Chun Shen finally lost.

Unlike before, the room suddenly fell silent.

Everyone looked at one another, seemingly unsure what sort of question would be appropriate to ask him.

Seeing the awkwardness, He Ze quickly picked up a container of question sticks, shook it, and handed it over.

“Manager Fu, draw one.”

Long fingers casually selected a stick.

Someone beside him peeked at the question and read it aloud.

“When was the first time you had sex?”

The question was already pushing boundaries, and the atmosphere immediately became lively again.

“I’ve never had sex.”

The calm and clear response instantly silenced the laughter.

The answer was far too formal, delivered with all the seriousness and rigidity of the solution to a mathematics problem.

He Ze hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over, awkwardly patting Fu Chun Shen on the shoulder.

“That’s normal, that’s normal. Manager Fu has always been devoted to his career. In the future—”

Before he could finish, Fu Chun Shen interrupted him.

“But I have kissed someone.”

Then he solemnly added,

“Twice.”

Everyone exchanged glances.

Twenty-seven years old. Two kisses. And he said it with faint pride.

Was that really something worth bragging about?

Just as everyone was happily ridiculing him in their minds, the sharp sound of a glass being set down interrupted their thoughts.

Ren Yu heavily placed his glass back on the table, abruptly stood up, and announced,

“I’m going to the restroom.”

…

Inside the washroom, two exceptionally tall men stood facing one another.

Fu Chun Shen lowered his head slightly and looked at the clearly irritated Ren Yu before softly asking,

“You’re angry?”

After a brief pause, he added,

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought up our situation in front of everyone.”

“Our situation?”

Ren Yu let out a cold laugh.

“What situation do we have?”

The mocking curve of his lips deepened.

“Oh, right. We do have something between us. Why don’t you tell everyone about the time I called the police and reported you for harassment?”

Fu Chun Shen’s brows drew together slightly. His expression remained calm, but there was now a hint of pressure in his tone. “Ren Yu, it seems you’ve forgotten again—it was you who pursued me back then.”

Ren Yu’s expression darkened further, the veins at his temples faintly throbbing. Clenching his teeth, he finally let some of his suppressed anger leak out. “How many times do I have to fucking tell you? It was a misunderstanding!”

“Did you pursue me or not?” Fu Chun Shen pressed the matter relentlessly. Taking a step forward, his tall frame nearly enveloped Ren Yu in its shadow. “Wasn’t it your mistake that caused me to waste ten years of my feelings on the wrong person?”

Ren Yu choked on his words and found himself unable to answer. He looked away, and only after several seconds did he say quietly, “What happened back then was my fault, but Fu Chun Shen, I’m really not gay.”

“Neither am I.” Fu Chun Shen reached out and turned Ren Yu’s face back toward him, forcing him to meet his eyes. The distance between them was so small they could almost feel each other’s breath. Looking directly into Ren Yu’s eyes, he said word by word, “Do you know why it took me so long to accept your pursuit back then? Because you were a man, and I wasn’t gay.”

Ren Yu’s pupils contracted violently. “Then why did you still—”

Something cool was suddenly pressed into his hand.

Looking down, he saw a harmonica mouthpiece.

“A birthday gift.” Fu Chun Shen spoke slowly, as though opening a chapter of the past that had long been sealed away. “Although I found the things you stuffed into my desk amusing, and I liked them, when I discovered you were a man, I wanted to reject you.” He paused briefly. “Until one day, I heard you playing the harmonica.”

Ren Yu looked up at him in surprise, only to discover that Fu Chun Shen’s gaze had already drifted elsewhere, as though he had become lost in a distant memory.

“You were sitting on top of a wall, playing the harmonica.”

Fu Chun Shen once again saw his younger self from that evening—pushing a bicycle, standing at the corner of an alley, gazing from afar at the boy sitting atop the wall. The glow of the setting sun fell upon the boy, softening the outlines of his figure. The harmonica’s melody drifted through the breeze, gently plucking at Fu Chun Shen’s heartstrings. In that moment, he felt as though his otherwise complete soul was missing a piece, and only that lingering harmonica melody could fill the emptiness within him.

“You looked like someone suffering for love. I felt that such sincere and beautiful feelings shouldn’t be let down, so I stopped dwelling on the issue of gender. The very next day, I accepted your pursuit.”

After hearing that, Ren Yu was completely stunned. He opened his mouth, and after a long moment finally squeezed out a response.

“I climbed onto that wall to play the harmonica because I was showing off, not because I was suffering for love.”

Before he could finish speaking, voices from outside the restroom suddenly became clearer. He Ze and the others were approaching while chatting.

Ren Yu’s mind instantly went blank, and his heartbeat accelerated sharply.

Fu Chun Shen was standing far too close to him—well beyond the boundaries of normal social distance.

Panicking, Ren Yu instinctively grabbed Fu Chun Shen by the wrist and yanked him into one of the stalls.

The stall was cramped, their bodies almost pressed together. One of Ren Yu’s hands covered Fu Chun Shen’s mouth while the other quickly locked the door.

The footsteps outside drew closer and closer, and the sound of He Ze and the others talking and laughing carried clearly into the narrow stall.

Sweat had already begun forming in Ren Yu’s palm. He could feel Fu Chun Shen’s breath brushing lightly against his fingers, warm and damp.

Then, suddenly, Fu Chun Shen pulled away the hand covering his mouth. His long fingers curled around the back of Ren Yu’s neck, applying slight pressure as he drew him closer.

The next second, Fu Chun Shen’s lips came down in a sudden kiss.

After several seconds of blank shock, Ren Yu abruptly came back to himself. The hand hanging at his side clenched tightly into a fist.

Part of him wanted to fight back. Part of him wanted to shove Fu Chun Shen away.

But he was afraid any noise they made would alert the people outside.

And so, helplessly, he could only endure Fu Chun Shen’s unexpected kiss.

Fu Chun Shen’s kiss was nothing like his orderly, disciplined personality. Ren Yu’s breathing gradually grew uneven, and the pounding of his heart thundered in his ears as though it might burst from his chest.

Only when the footsteps outside had gradually faded away and silence returned to the restroom did Fu Chun Shen finally loosen his hold and bring the kiss to an end.

Ren Yu immediately swung a punch, only to have his arm effortlessly restrained by the man holding him.

Fu Chun Shen looked at him quietly. The hand resting on his waist slowly moved upward, gently brushing across his reddened lips and wiping away the lingering moisture there.

Leaning in slightly, he spoke in a low voice.

“Ren Yu, you turned me gay, and now you want to walk away. How could there possibly be such a good deal?”

His gaze remained fixed on Ren Yu’s.

“This debt—you have to repay it.”

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