Su Haiqing could not quite understand how things had ended up like this.
Right now, a complete stranger had dragged him straight from outside the changing room into the showers and pinned him against the wall. He had nothing on but a pair of swim trunks; skin that had only just dried was soaked all over again, and he could feel the small of his back pressed against the hot-and-cold water control. The inevitable result was that the showerhead began spraying, drenching both their shoulders.
The man reached toward Haiqing’s lower back. Haiqing instinctively flinched, only to realize the other man was merely trying to turn off the water.
The man leaned closer, staring at him from a distance where, if one of them wanted it and the other did not object, a kiss would take almost no effort at all. His pupils were very dark, very deep. Haiqing instinctively wanted to look away. Something in him warned that if he kept staring into those eyes… he might fall under their spell.
“You…” Haiqing narrowed his eyes, intending to ask what the man wanted, but between the other man’s overwhelmingly aggressive posture and the hot, humid air, breathing suddenly became difficult. A strange pressure tightened in his chest, making even a single word tremble on his tongue. It was mortifying.
The man looked at him, then laughed. Haiqing could not tell whether he was laughing at how flustered Haiqing looked or because… he thought Haiqing himself was ridiculous.
After that, Haiqing lost the ability to think altogether, so he never learned the answer. Instead, he discovered that the man’s lips were unexpectedly soft, tasted faintly of honey, and that the tip of his tongue, slipping out to tease him, seemed to have a mind of its own. Haiqing could not help parting his lips slightly and responding.
“Thanks for helping me just now. What’s your name?” The man licked his lips as he spoke, then continued stealing little kisses from Haiqing as though amusing himself.
A low sound escaped Haiqing. For the first time in his life, he discovered that saying his own name could be so difficult. His gaze drifted and caught on a field of deep blue, vast and strangely calming. When he lifted his eyes to look at the man again, his ability to speak finally returned, though he still could not hide the nervous tremor beneath it.
“Su Haiqing…” He bit his lower lip lightly, long lashes fluttering, beautiful enough to look like an illusion.