Wang Cheng went straight back to the apartment without calling anyone. His mind was full of what was happening in Guanjia Village, and he completely forgot about Chu Yifeng. Chu Yifeng must have assumed he was avoiding him. When no call came, he called Wang Cheng himself. The moment that familiar voice sounded in his ear, Wang Cheng realized it was already six-thirty. He sprang off the sofa, shoved his feet into slippers, and ran to the door. The door flew open, and he nearly jumped at the sight of the man standing outside. Chu Yifeng had not expected such perfect timing either; his hand was still raised toward the doorbell.
“Hi, Boss.”
Feeling guilty, Wang Cheng raised a hand in greeting.
Chu Yifeng silently put away his phone. With his other hand, he tugged at the tie around his neck, pushed open the half-closed door, and walked inside.
Wang Cheng immediately backed up two steps.
Chu Yifeng advanced until the two grown men blocked the entryway.
Wang Cheng realized he had backed himself into a corner. Chu Yifeng stood in front of him, with a wall on his left and another on his right. Unless he shoved past the man, there was nowhere to go. But… remembering their last fight, his chances were not exactly great. At best, he might manage a draw.
“Boss Chu, what exactly do you want?”
“Your answer?” Chu Yifeng raised an eyebrow.
Wang Cheng pulled a long face, though his tone tried to stay casual. “So that’s what this is about. Well, we can sit down and talk it over slowly. Move aside first.”
“No need. This is fine.”
Who cares whether you need to? I do! Wang Cheng had the urge to punch him regardless of the consequences, but he forced down his temper and took a deep breath. Fine. He would try something practical instead.
“What do I get out of dating you?”
At least he was willing to talk. “What do you want?”
“Hey, that’s not how this works. How am I supposed to know? The point is what you can offer me. I keep getting the feeling that if I date you, Boss, I’m going to come out of it at a serious disadvantage.”
Wang Cheng did not mean anything particular by it. He was purely making trouble because he did not want to let Chu Yifeng have things too easily. Chu Yifeng, however, misunderstood. His gaze traveled over Wang Cheng from head to toe before finally settling lower, and a faint curve appeared at the corner of his mouth. “You probably will lose out a little.”
Wang Cheng followed his gaze downward. A vein practically popped in his forehead. He swung a fist at him. “Damn it, what are you looking at?”
Chu Yifeng caught his fist with one hand, his expression turning a little suggestive. “Something worth looking at.”
Because Wang Cheng had trained in martial arts with the old monk since childhood, his physique was unusually well developed. The old monk had been a reclusive martial artist with some historical connection to Wuyin Temple, and as his disciple, Wang Cheng had been expected to learn. If he refused, he got the ruler. Apart from the two of them, no one in the village knew about his martial arts training. Wang Cheng was seriously tempted to swear.
“Hurry up. My patience is limited.” Chu Yifeng had no intention of dragging this out any longer.
Wang Cheng raised an eyebrow. With that kind of patience, you still want to date me? Not a chance. Just as he was about to snap back with a firm no out of pure spite, Chu Yifeng showed him exactly what “no patience” looked like. By the time Wang Cheng realized what was happening, his mouth had already been firmly sealed in a kiss.
This kiss was nothing like the last one. That time had been brief; he’d been too stunned to process it, so it barely registered. This time was different. Chu Yifeng’s tongue pushed deep, almost down his throat, possessive and devouring, like it wanted to suck the soul right out of him. Wang Cheng’s lips went numb. His head filled with nothing but Chu Yifeng’s presence. He hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol, yet he felt drunk. Without realizing it, the hands Wang Cheng had been using to hold Chu Yifeng back shifted into a grip on his shoulders instead.
After a long while, Chu Yifeng finally released his mouth.
Wang Cheng gasped for air, glaring at him. His lips still tingled with a faint ache. Chu Yifeng had even bitten him before letting go. Was this guy a dog or what?
“How did that feel?”
“Terrible,” Wang Cheng answered without hesitation.
Chu Yifeng laughed softly. “But that intoxicated look on your face just now clearly told me you enjoyed it too.”
Well, that did seem to be true. But would Wang Cheng admit it? Of course not.
“You saw wrong.”
“Is it really that hard to admit you’re attracted to me?”
Wang Cheng kept feeling as though Chu Yifeng had another line waiting behind that one: Are you even a man? Ahem, that was beside the point. The truth was, Wang Cheng did not know why he could not bring himself to say it. He had never dated anyone in his life. He had never thought much of that before, but only now did he realize there really were some things that were not so easy to say aloud. Of course, he was not naturally the coy type. He had only meant to play coy for a moment, but somehow he had gone too far and now could not quite twist himself back into shape… that was all. He would never admit something like that even if you beat him to death.
“Actually, it’s not that I can’t be with you. It’s just… forget it. You could never understand the concerns of an ordinary little guy like me.”
Chu Yifeng truly thought Wang Cheng was a walking treasure. “If you’re a man, then be decisive.”
Did he have any choice but to be?
“All right, I’ll agree to be with you, but we’re only trying it out. If we turn out not to be compatible, then we break up cleanly. You have to agree to that condition first.” Wang Cheng decided to stop fighting it. He had to admit he got along quite well with Chu Yifeng.
“Fine.” Chu Yifeng answered with a man’s decisiveness.
Wang Cheng let out a sigh of relief, only to be slung over Chu Yifeng’s shoulder the next second. He nearly jumped out of his skin. “Hey! What are you doing? Put me down!”
“Fucking you.”
“…” Did he really have to be that blunt?
In the second it took him to process that, he was already tossed onto the bed. This wasn’t Chu Yifeng’s first time in his apartment, so he knew exactly where Wang Cheng’s bedroom was.
Wang Cheng hadn’t even managed to sit up before Chu Yifeng was on top of him, quickly pushing his shirt up. Wang Cheng’s solid abs were clearly the result of regular exercise. His waist wasn’t particularly slim, but it felt good under Chu Yifeng’s hand. The rough palm moving over his skin made Wang Cheng itch, and he braced both hands against Chu Yifeng’s chest to keep him from going any further.
“Boss Chu, don’t you think we’re moving a little too fast?”
“No.”
“We only just started dating. Shouldn’t we spend some time getting to know each other first before considering this kind of thing?”
“I figured after spending all those days together, we already know each other pretty well.”
They ate breakfast and dinner together, sometimes lunch too. They went to and from work together most of the time. If theirs really had been nothing more than a boss-and-employee relationship, the amount of time they spent together had gone far beyond normal. Yuan Xia’s suspicions hadn’t been wrong after all. Wang Cheng finally realized it.
“That’s not the kind of ‘knowing’ I meant.”
Chu Yifeng stared deeply at him. Wang Cheng nearly lost his nerve under that gaze, and then he heard Chu Yifeng say, “Chu Yifeng, thirty years old, one hundred eighty-nine centimeters tall, eighty kilograms, of mixed heritage, English name Leon. I’ve spent more time living abroad. My parents are divorced and now live in separate places. There are quite a few people in my family, and it’s a little complicated. If you want to know, I can tell you about them one by one. Now, is there anything else you want to know?”
“No…” Wang Cheng’s earlier momentum immediately weakened. Did he really have to be that thorough? Was Wang Cheng supposed to recite all his own information the same way? Idiot!
“Then let’s continue.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the rest of the clothing below Wang Cheng’s waist was gone, leaving only the gray underwear. Beneath it, his backside was just as firm and pert as Chu Yifeng had guessed. Wang Cheng looked up and caught the calm, deep eyes above him now burning with unrestrained heat. If he let this keep going, he was going to be completely devoured.
“No!”
Wang Cheng clutched the last remaining piece of underwear like it was his final line of defense. The two of them started wrestling over it, but even the best-quality briefs couldn’t hold up against two grown men’s strength. With a sharp rrrip, the fabric tore.
The desire in Chu Yifeng’s eyes flared like a fire doused in gasoline. With a yelp, Wang Cheng was pounced on and pinned down. At first he still struggled, but perhaps Chu Yifeng really was that skilled; before long, Wang Cheng was feeling so good that muffled moans of pleasure escaped him. He stopped resisting, though every so often he still let out a few loud cries that completely ruined the mood, earning him a few smacks from Chu Yifeng.
“Can’t you stop ruining the mood?” Chu Yifeng asked, caught between laughter and exasperation.
Wang Cheng stubbornly carried on. “What do you mean, ruining the mood? I’m about to lose my first time. Can’t I at least leave myself with a few unforgettable memories?”
“Fine. Yell all you want.”
Wang Cheng snorted. That’s right, I’m this cruel, this heartless, this unreasonable. What are you going to do about it?
He found out soon enough exactly what Chu Yifeng could do about it, and the feeling was not pleasant. Wang Cheng gritted his teeth to keep from kicking him off the bed; the truth was, he no longer had the strength. Flipped back and forth like a pancake on a griddle, he had twenty-five years’ worth of pent-up reserves squeezed dry before the night was even over. In the end he had no choice but to surrender and beg for mercy, shouting until his mouth was dry and his voice hoarse. He had no intention of literally dying from being drained dry, so in a moment of desperation he made a promise he never should have made. Later, whenever he remembered it, he wanted to slap himself a few times.
Chu Yifeng followed through and, in the end, left him with a truly unforgettable memory. Every time Wang Cheng thought back on it afterward, he felt he had brought it entirely on himself. It was nothing but bitterness and tears. People really should not go looking for trouble.