Sharing a room, and then telling me to shower first. What is that supposed to mean?
Qi Mu did not dare keep thinking about it.
Woodenly, he walked into the bathroom on stiff legs.
He turned on the water, and the shower poured down over his head and body. The longer he stood under the water, the clearer his head became.
Steam quickly filled the bathroom. Frosted glass blocked the view from outside, but the hotel bathroom did not even have a lock. A mere sheet of glass offered no real sense of security, and the moment Qi Mu remembered that Jiang Shao was right outside, he felt constantly on edge.
He was terrified that a certain someone might suddenly barge in.
Hesitation and struggle flickered through Qi Mu’s eyes. A shower that usually took him ten minutes still had not ended after half an hour this time.
The water had been running over him for so long that his skin had started to redden and itch. After hesitating for a long time, Qi Mu finally closed his eyes.
I can’t hide in here all night. I’ll have to face him eventually. Qi Mu wrapped the bathrobe tightly around himself, then cautiously opened the door and walked out.
Jiang Shao was sitting on the sofa playing with his phone and did not look over.
Qi Mu walked lightly to the washbasin counter, picked up the hair dryer, and started drying his hair while his mind spun furiously.
He knew this day would come sooner or later, and it was not that he was unwilling to take that step with Jiang Shao. It was just too sudden, and he had not prepared himself… He still had to meet County Head Wang tomorrow. Tonight really was not an appropriate time.
Should I talk it over with Jiang Shao? Ask to do it another day?
Jiang Shao seems to have been in a pretty good mood lately. Surely he can be reasoned with?
Qi Mu was absentmindedly drying his hair when, all of a sudden, someone snatched the hair dryer from his hand.
A man’s presence enveloped him from the back.
Qi Mu’s entire body instantly went taut.
He did not dare turn around. His lips moved. “I…”
But he had only managed a single word when Jiang Shao’s lazy laugh sounded behind him, his slightly rising tone full of teasing. “I’m only helping President Qi dry his hair. What were you thinking?”
Qi Mu: …
If the enemy doesn’t move, neither do I.
Qi Mu silently stood there and let Jiang Shao dry his hair.
Jiang Shao held the dryer in his right hand and lifted Qi Mu’s hair with his left. Freshly washed, it was still dripping wet. He watched a bead of water fall from the ends of Qi Mu’s hair and settle into the elegant hollow of his collarbone. The water slowly pooled there, crystal clear and trembling, before a thin trail slipped beneath the opening of his robe.
His skin, softened by the bath, carried the faint fragrance of body wash. Because he had stayed under the water for so long, a lingering flush remained where the stream had gently washed over him…
Jiang Shao’s eyes darkened slightly. Without changing expression, he switched on the hair dryer and began drying Qi Mu’s hair.
After all, he might catch a cold if he left it wet.
Jiang Shao had at least this much patience.
Warm air blew through the strands in his hand. Before long, the damp hair grew dry and soft, fluffy strands fluttering between his fingers and bringing a faint ticklish sensation that traveled from his fingertips all the way to his heart…
Jiang Shao lowered his head and breathed lightly against the side of Qi Mu’s neck, the tip of his nose brushing Qi Mu’s earlobe.
He really smells good.
The spot he brushed went numb for an instant, but Qi Mu did not dare move, afraid that if he startled Jiang Shao, the man would turn into a demon in the next second and devour him.
Jiang Shao’s breath fell against the side of his neck.
Qi Mu caught the faint scent of alcohol.
Jiang Shao had drunk some wine today, all of it on Qi Mu’s behalf. But it had not been much. Surely he was not drunk?
He looks pretty normal right now…
Jiang Shao lowered his gaze to the whorl at the crown of Qi Mu’s head. His freshly dried hair was especially soft and fluffy, nothing like the meticulously groomed style he usually wore. It was tousled and irresistibly touchable, so Jiang Shao casually ruffled it several times, enjoying the sensation so much that he was reluctant to stop…
Qi Mu was nearly speechless.
Looking at his hair, now thoroughly mussed in the mirror, he wondered, What is so fun about this?
Jiang Shao kept ruffling his hair, then lifted a lock and held it beneath his nose to smell it. Only after a long while did he reluctantly let Qi Mu go.
Qi Mu breathed a sigh of relief.
He said stiffly, “Thanks. I’m going to sleep.”
Then he pretended to be calm as he walked toward his bed.
The standard twin room contained two 1.2-meter-wide single beds.
They were not especially spacious, but each was more than enough for one person.
He tentatively took a few steps. Seeing no reaction from Jiang Shao, he quickly lay down, placed both hands properly at his sides, closed his eyes, and began pretending to sleep.
Jiang Shao folded his arms and watched Qi Mu with amusement.
Qi Mu resembled a small animal targeted by a beast, his hair still a fluffy mess as he cautiously edged onto the bed, imagining that if he closed his eyes and played dead, he could escape being hunted. It reminded Jiang Shao of the last time Qi Mu had pretended to be drunk… He really was as cute and naive as ever.
What makes him think
that playing dead will save him from being eaten?
If it does…
it will only be because the beast suddenly showed mercy and couldn’t bear to swallow him in one bite.
Qi Mu kept his eyes closed.
But he was not sleepy in the slightest.
His ears practically stood on end as he listened for movement in the room…
There was none.
No footsteps, no sound of showering, no sound of someone drinking water…
It was so quiet that it seemed as if he were the only person in the room.
What about Jiang Shao? What is he doing?
Why isn’t he moving?
Qi Mu felt his heartbeat accelerate. It was like knowing there was something dangerous in the room, only for that danger to conceal itself, leaving him unable to detect any trace of where it was or what it was doing.
The unknown was the most frightening thing of all.
Because danger could descend at any moment.
Suddenly…
Cool air touched his skin as someone lifted the hem of his bathrobe. Qi Mu nearly sprang upright in fright. Why doesn’t Jiang Shao make any sound when he walks?!
Qi Mu barely managed to remain composed and kept his eyes shut, continuing to pretend he was asleep. Even so, he could almost clearly feel Jiang Shao’s scrutinizing gaze resting on him.
It raised goosebumps all over his skin.
He tensed every nerve as he waited for Jiang Shao’s reaction. Just as the silence was about to drive him insane, a quiet laugh suddenly sounded above him.
“So beautiful.”
Qi Mu felt blood rush straight to his head and could not help opening his eyes.
Jiang Shao stood beside the bed, looking down at him, seemingly unsurprised in the slightest that Qi Mu had not been asleep.
He looked into Qi Mu’s beautiful eyes, bright with anger, and the corners of his lips lifted. “I’m complimenting you. You don’t like it?”
Like it, my ass!
Qi Mu was about to be driven to death by this man. He was a grown man. Why would he like being described that way?
It’s practically an insult!
Jiang Shao looked at Qi Mu’s face, flushed red with anger, and seemed to ponder for a moment. Then he suddenly bent one knee onto the edge of the bed, leaned over with one hand braced beside Qi Mu’s neck, and, as if reflecting on his mistake, lowered his head and tentatively asked, “Then… cute?”
Qi Mu: …That’s even worse.
But Jiang Shao’s next movement quickly made Qi Mu forget all about being angry.
Because Jiang Shao’s other hand touched him.
Qi Mu’s entire body instantly went rigid. His face, already red from holding his breath, flushed even deeper, and he could not suppress the panic rising inside him.
Jiang Shao’s voice was unusually soft and low. He gave a quiet laugh. “Don’t be nervous. I just want to take a proper look at you.”
The man’s sharp, cold features remained calm as his dark eyes looked down at him. Even that gaze alone was enough to make Qi Mu burn with embarrassment…
Qi Mu turned his face away.
His chest rose and fell slightly.
But very soon, he realized just how ridiculous it had been to believe Jiang Shao when he said he only wanted to look.
＊
Although something like this had already happened once in the parking garage,
Qi Mu still found it unbearably embarrassing this time.
Because Jiang Shao did not merely touch and scrutinize him. Every so often, he would even let out a low, hoarse sigh: “So beautiful…”
Qi Mu’s entire body flushed scarlet with embarrassment. He struggled, trying to twist away, but Jiang Shao pressed one hand firmly on his shoulder while bending a knee to pin down both of his legs, forcing him to lie flat and leaving him no room to escape.
Jiang Shao’s gaze was impossibly dark.
Deep desire was hidden within it.
He had wanted to take a proper look at Qi Mu for so long. Now, at last, he could see everything clearly.
The sheets and bathrobe were already in disarray. Qi Mu lay on his back, his head tilted to one side, his long, slender neck stretched like a swan’s. His two fair, slender legs were exposed, the jade-like skin flushed red from within. The flesh of his thighs was soft as jelly, trembling shyly at even the lightest touch.
Jiang Shao’s gaze lingered on the fingerprints left on those thighs.
How could someone’s skin be this tender? He didn’t think he had used much force, yet the clear red marks stood out starkly against the pale skin, like some kind of spark stirring the violence inside him.
Jiang Shao drew a deep breath, barely managing to suppress the flicker of emotion rising inside him.
Qi Mu’s mind was almost completely blank. It took him a long while before his thoughts slowly returned. He began to struggle restlessly again, but Jiang Shao only needed to apply a little more pressure to easily suppress all his resistance.
Jiang Shao’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His breathing had grown heavier at some point, and his voice was low and rough: “Don’t move…”
That low, hoarse voice rasped across his eardrum like sandpaper, making him shiver slightly. Instinctively sensing danger, he immediately froze.
Jiang Shao wasn’t planning to…?
Qi Mu spoke in a flustered rush, his lashes trembling. “T-today isn’t a good time…”
Jiang Shao looked down at him from above. Those pitch-black eyes were like an endless deep sea, ready to swallow everything in sight.
He watched Qi Mu’s panicked, uneasy face…
and forced down the surging desire roaring inside him, clinging to his already precarious self-control.
After a moment,
Jiang Shao finally spoke slowly, word by word: “Since I helped you… then, as a matter of reciprocity, shouldn’t President Qi help me in return?”
Qi Mu’s face instantly turned bright red.
Like… like the way Jiang Shao had just done to him…?
But…
He really couldn’t do something like that!
Jiang Shao didn’t get angry. He only lowered his eyes to look at Qi Mu, his tone mild: “If President Qi is unwilling to help me, I can take care of it myself. That’s fine too.”
Qi Mu: !
His expression shifted rapidly as he struggled internally, weighing the pros and cons.
In the end, between letting his hand suffer and letting his butt suffer, he made his choice.
Qi Mu squeezed his eyes shut and slowly reached out.
But the moment his fingers touched it,
he nearly exploded on the spot.
You really couldn’t tell when Jiang Shao was dressed… how could it… how could it be this terrifying…?
Qi Mu panicked and tried to pull back.
But Jiang Shao caught his wrist in one swift move and forced his hand down. And then Qi Mu discovered that the thing could still swell even more!
How can Long Aotian be so Long Aotian even here?!
Is this even reasonable?!
Qi Mu: ……Just let me pass out already.
He had originally thought that doing that with a man wouldn’t be such a big deal. He was an adult, after all. He wasn’t that delicate…
And in second-generation circles, people got up to all kinds of wild things. Even if he had never done those things himself, he had at least seen and heard enough about them.
He had thought he could handle it…
But right now, Qi Mu realized just how wrong he had been.
He had overestimated himself and underestimated Jiang Shao.
This really wasn’t something you could just do casually.
After all, he still didn’t want to die.