Captain Xue wandered out of the bedroom in loose shorts, bare-chested and barefoot, and poked his head into the living room.
Liang Youhui’s roommate, unbelievably, still had not left. There was no chance of sleeping now. He sat bolt upright on the living-room sofa clutching his blanket, his hair standing on end as if blasted straight by sparks and ash.
Xue Qian showed his face and grunted, “Sorry. We woke you up.”
The roommate met Captain Xue’s eyes, shuddered all over, and seemed to wake from a dream as he jumped down to put on his shoes and clothes. “No, no. You two keep talking. I’m going to class…”
Xue Qian gave a cold laugh. “We talk pretty loudly. We might be talking all night.”
The roommate’s worldview had just been thoroughly overturned by what he had heard. Looking close to collapse, he said, “I, I’ll study in the lab tonight.”
It was a cheap apartment with wooden walls that blocked almost no sound. Young Master Liang’s cries had risen wave after wave: “Brother, that feels so good,” “Give it to me, Brother,” and all sorts of other nonsense. It must have made for quite the exciting soundtrack.
The roommate grabbed his bag and fled at top speed, as though afraid that if he ran any slower his own backside might not be safe. Even his running posture looked as if he had something clamped between his legs.
Xue Qian watched the bookworm’s panicked retreat and let out a low chuckle.
Now the entire apartment belonged to this shameless pair of lovers reunited after a long separation. It was as if the lawless Monkey King had seized the whole Heavenly Palace and set dry kindling ablaze until everything burned out of control.
Liang Youhui lay on the bed wriggling like a big pale caterpillar, plainly trying to lure his Brother Xue over so he could tease him.
Xue Qian walked over with a smile at the corner of his mouth and gave that trembling ass a light smack. It was not hard, more fond than anything. Young Master Liang really was well built there, round and enticing, exactly to Xue Qian’s taste.
“Big peach, get up,” Xue Qian said.
“The peach split open,” Liang Youhui replied, fluttering his seductive eyelids.
“Split open, did it? Want me to pry it apart for you?” Xue Qian eyed him.
Liang Youhui pushed himself up on the bed and twisted his neck as far as it would go, trying to inspect his lower back and thighs. “Ow, that thing was too big. It tore me open.”
Xue Qian could not resist bending down, spreading Young Master Liang’s cheeks, and planting a kiss there. “If it split open, I’ll patch it back up for you.”
“Get up. Take a shower.”
……
The two squeezed into the apartment bathroom together, and Captain Xue began curiously examining the things Young Master Liang used every day.
He took the items from the little cabinet above the sink one by one, inspecting each of them.
Liang Youhui said, “What are you doing, collecting evidence?”
Xue Qian said, “Mm. Looking for suspicious evidence.”
Liang Youhui laughed with complete honesty. “What evidence could I possibly have? Everything I’ve got here is for the face, nothing for the chrysanthemum. I swear!”
Xue Qian held up a pale orange tube filled with translucent gel. “What’s this for?”
Liang Youhui said, “A hydrating mask. Brother, want to try it?”
Xue Qian could not read any of the foreign lettering that looked like fly legs, but he trusted Youhui. He hummed, “I’ll smear some inside you too. Hydrate you properly.”
Liang Youhui grinned. “I’ve already got plenty of water down there. I come with my own fountain, so no need to hydrate.”
The two traded nonsense and jokes until, inevitably, they ended up clinging to each other again. The cramped bathroom was the perfect place for desire to flare. Their bodies pressed close, their skin tones and builds strikingly different, outwardly mismatched yet somehow powerfully drawn to each other.
Liang Youhui ran his hands over Captain Xue’s chest, appreciating the solid muscle beneath his palms.
Captain Xue picked up Liang’s electric razor and tried to tidy his face, only to discover the fancy gadget was harder to use than expected. Liang took it from him and shaved his chin, then let the razor wander down his neck toward the sparse hair on his chest.
Xue Qian blocked him with one hand. “Where do you think you’re shaving?”
Liang Youhui put on a flattering smile. “Fine, I won’t. I want to keep it. It’s sexy.”
Xue Qian moved sharply, easily snatching the electric razor, then pinned the little rabbit against the sink and forced one leg open. “Shave? Brother will shave it for you.”
Liang Youhui panicked and started babbling. “No, no, no, Brother, Brother, Brother! Don’t shave me bald. This is the last good stuff I’ve got left!”
Xue Qian was only fooling around. He gripped the shameless brat’s hips and gave them a rough kneading. Liang Youhui yelled, “Don’t, don’t,” and “Don’t turn me into a girl,” but it was pure teasing. The louder he shouted, the more he wanted his man to have another go at him.
They tangled behind the glass door of the shower, washing away one set of traces only to leave fresh dirty ones all over again. They stayed in there forever and still couldn’t get clean… Xue Qian pinned Liang Youhui against the slick shower wall. Liang pressed his forehead to the slippery mosaic tiles, water streaming down his face as he kept gasping roughly…
After that brief indulgence, someone else entered the apartment.
The students all had different class schedules and came and went at different times. This time, the two roommates from the next bedroom wandered back in, dragging their bags and sealing themselves into their own worlds with headphones.
Captain Xue poked his head out of the bathroom to inspect the situation, then turned back and demanded, “Why didn’t you rent a place by yourself?”
Liang Youhui shrugged. “Living alone is too lonely.”
Xue Qian said, “Your dad left you a place in Los Angeles, didn’t he? Why insist on living here?”
Liang Youhui opened those peach-blossom eyes of his, a clear sheen gathering in them. “There are people here. It’s lively. What’s the point of living all by yourself?”
Xue Qian said, “…Lonely?”
Liang Youhui said, “Mm.”
The sadness vanished from Liang Youhui’s face almost immediately. He had never been the type to wallow in self-pity. Smiling again, he said, “I’m not lonely now. Now I think there are too many people in this apartment!”
Xue Qian lifted an eyebrow. “Change locations?”
Liang Youhui brightened at once. “Come on, Brother. I’ll take you somewhere interesting.”
……
The two dressed properly and wandered back out onto the street.
Xue Qian wore a clean set of Liang’s clothes, though the cut was a little tight across his chest and made his build obvious. They were even wearing matching cropped trousers, shamelessly couple-like.
As they walked, Liang Youhui occasionally reached over to touch his man’s chest. “Brother, are you a D cup?”
Xue Qian sneered. “Bullshit. A D cup means a pair of real bombshells.”
Liang Youhui grinned. “Haven’t you got a pair of your own?”
Xue Qian stopped in the street with his hands on his hips and looked down at his own chest. “…Do I look like it?”
Liang Youhui caught Captain Xue by the ear and whispered a private joke meant only for lovers. “I said balls. B-a-l-l-s. Swinging around and making me itch…”
Xue Qian felt overheated all over again and badly wanted to devour the man in front of him.
Right beside them stood a spacious, stylish Victoria’s Secret store. Liang Youhui affectionately looped his arms around Captain Xue’s neck, hanging from him like a koala. “Brother, I’ll buy you a D-cup set. We can see whether it fits.”
Xue Qian threatened, “Tired of living?”
Then he shot back, “What if I buy one for you? Would you wear it?”
Liang Youhui gave him an ambiguous look with those big eyes. “Well, well. Who knew you were into that?”
Xue Qian said, “Fuck…”
They walked on with their arms around each other’s shoulders, watching the sun slowly sink behind the skyline and disappear into reflected light from the distant buildings. The final wash of gold outlined the easy smiles on their faces, and both wished the road would simply never end.
They ate dinner at a small Western restaurant along the street, then went that night to a well-known local bar.
The bar was still operating at midnight, but by then it functioned almost like a movie theater with ratings. This was the adults-only period. Several security guards at the entrance checked identification carefully and enforced the age limit while customers queued in orderly lines. The moment they stepped inside, however, the place became an entirely different world, smoky, decadent, and chaotic.
The brutal punk music was loud enough to batter the eardrums and scramble the brain. Acrid smoke filled the air, enough to make even longtime smoker Captain Xue want to turn around at first. After a while he adjusted to the bizarre atmosphere. Shadowy figures moved through the dim bar, many dressed or behaving extravagantly, while glamorous bombshells twisted past like golden and silver snakes. The smell of marijuana reached the police officer’s sensitive nose.
Xue Qian frowned. “You don’t normally smoke that, do you?”
Liang Youhui said, “Smoke what?”
Xue Qian said, “Marijuana.”
Liang Youhui said, “I don’t even like cigarettes.”
Xue Qian ruffled Liang’s hair. “Good kid. Stay away from that stuff.”
Liang Youhui said, “Brother, I know what I’m doing. I’m well behaved.”
Xue Qian scrutinized him. “Well behaved, and you still come to a place like this?”
“I usually wouldn’t dare come out and mess around here alone,” Liang Youhui said with a grin. “Without an officer around to protect me, how could I?”
“Fuck,” Xue Qian said. “Today you can swagger all you like.”
And Liang Youhui really could swagger now. He would never have dared come here alone. Once inside, the little rabbit might have been skinned and devoured clean, without even bone scraps left. A large bald Black man covered in tattoos came into view, reeking of alcohol and marijuana, and deliberately bumped toward Liang Youhui as if assuming the slimmer East Asian man would be easy to push around. When Liang was knocked toward the wall, a strong arm caught him and shifted him safely behind Officer Xue. Xue Qian shoved the larger man back hard and coolly forced the surrounding onlookers to give them space through the rising smoke.
……
Liang Youhui ordered drinks for them, and the two sat facing each other at a small table in the corner. The live band’s noise kept exploding overhead like rolling thunder, raising goosebumps on their skin. In the middle of all that chaos, they leaned close and talked face to face.
Sometimes talking required shouting.
Even shouting was not enough to hear clearly. Their throats grew tired, so they simply stopped talking and used kisses instead. Kissing required much less effort.
Liang Youhui enthusiastically introduced Brother Xue to the different drinks. This was a field he knew well.
The alcohol began to show on Xue Qian’s face. He clearly was not used to mixing so many strange-tasting foreign liquors, vodka, rum, margaritas, and other cocktails. The red at the bottoms of his eyes deepened, and his gaze on Liang grew hazy.
“Brother, you’re really handsome,” Liang Youhui said.
He said it softly, yet somehow the words floated through the roaring drums and reached Xue Qian’s ears.
Liang Youhui was handsome too. Xue Qian studied his face. They had not seen each other for a while, and Young Master Liang’s tapered face had grown thinner, making his eyes look even larger. Those deep double eyelids kept fluttering temptingly, and the alcohol had left his lips moist and pink beneath the lights.
The world around them seemed to empty out. The noise no longer mattered. Each saw only the other.
Liang Youhui suddenly drained half a glass of liquor over ice and let the cold burn roll down his hot throat.
“Brother, I love you.”
Liang Youhui’s gaze suddenly deepened, and for once he did not look quite so childish or foolishly carefree.
The young master was not truly childish. That was partly his protective coloring. At last he had found someone he believed he could rely on.
Xue Qian thought, I already know you love me. Why bother confessing?
Liang Youhui smiled. His seriousness lasted less than three seconds before he suddenly snatched Xue Qian’s half-finished margarita, pushed back his chair, and ducked beneath the table.
Captain Xue blinked, and the seat in front of him was empty. He realized Young Master Liang had crawled under the table and was already pulling his zipper open.
Caught between the alcohol and the frantic, secret heat under the table, every pore on Xue Qian’s body stood on end. He muttered, “What the hell are you doing…”
It was dark enough that no one else would notice what was happening in their corner. This was a fully licensed adult bar; in fact, near the bar, the dance floor, and every table, bodies were already tangled together, openly stroking and kissing. A brown-haired man had already pinned a blond against the wall, yanked his pants down, and hoisted both legs. From their angle you could see the blond’s calves kicking shamelessly in the air. Lights swept out from the band’s stage in every direction…
Someone bit him right through the underwear. Captain Xue cursed, the curse turning into a string of rough breaths.
Liang Youhui swallowed him to the root with practiced ease, burying himself between the legs of the man he liked, sucking and teasing without restraint.
The feeling was insanely hot, right out in public. All Xue Qian could see was the little round table in front of him trembling slightly; he couldn’t see the person underneath. An empty glass still held some crushed ice that rattled with the movement. Right now Captain Xue desperately needed a whole chunk of ice to cool his skin. His cock was wrapped in the warm, devastating mouth under the table; he couldn’t stop wanting to push deeper, to be rougher, thrusting into the other man’s throat again and again. His hands slipped under the table to stroke Liang Youhui’s hair, full of liking and feeling…
Under the chaotic lights they released desire without a single scrap of shame. Suddenly Liang Youhui pulled off, lifted the half-glass of cocktail in his hand, and aimed it straight at Brother Xue’s flushed, twitching cock under the table!
Xue Qian couldn’t see a thing. He only felt his lower body suddenly plunged into a stream of cool liquid. The hot, sharp burn of the alcohol surged straight into his lower half, then flooded up his face and into his eyes. That weird mix of cold and spicy almost made him jump out of his seat. He grabbed the hair under the table hard, and got the hottest response possible. Liang Youhui pulled his cock out of the glass and wrapped it again in that warm mouth, sucking the liquor off it…
Young Master Liang had just hit him with the full “ice and fire” treatment. The chilly part was the first course; the second course was licking every drop of the wine he’d dipped Brother Xue in, one careful mouthful at a time…
Xue Qian was so overwhelmed with pleasure that he felt almost transported, unable to get enough.
Dipping in the wine, then taking him in and sucking, then dipping again, then sucking, Young Master Liang was about to draw the very essence of his soul out of him. In the end, Xue Qian came in one heavy rush straight into the glass…
He genuinely had never encountered a trick like that before. Who else had ever done something like this for him?
Xue Qian pulled Liang Youhui out from beneath the table, settled him on his lap, and kissed him for a long time before suddenly asking, “Where did you learn that?”
Still looking thoroughly pleased with himself, Liang Youhui looped an arm around his shoulders. “I heard people at Jinxiu Huangting talking about it. It’s one of their signature tricks. Customers apparently love it.”
Xue Qian looked at him. “You’ve done that with other people before?”
Liang Youhui said, “…What? No! I’ve never done that for anyone else.”
Xue Qian softened and kissed Liang’s neck. “…Really?”
Liang Youhui patted Captain Xue’s shoulder with exaggerated gravity. “Brother, have a little confidence in yourself, would you? You’re not like other people. You’re much better than them. I’ve never gotten on my knees for anyone else.”
Xue Qian smiled. Fine.
Xue Qian said, “I don’t care what happened with anyone before. From now on, behave yourself.”
Liang Youhui smiled and agreed. “As long as you treat me well, Brother, I’ll behave.”
The two remained cheek to cheek when another extravagantly dressed figure brushed past them in a feathered coat, so heavily styled that Xue Qian could not immediately tell the person’s gender. Blue glitter dusted the figure’s dramatic eyelids, and a D-cup bra showed beneath the half-bare costume.
Xue Qian frowned slightly and asked under his breath, “Man or woman?”
Liang Youhui glanced downward. “Go feel whether they’ve got balls.”
“I’m not checking anything.” Xue Qian withdrew his gaze in distaste and looked back at Liang Youhui instead. Liang’s naturally deep-set double eyelids gave him a slightly Western look too. Whatever else could be said about him, he was certainly stylish rather than provincial.
“Next time you can wear something like that. I’ll watch you wear it… and I’ll feel you up,” Xue Qian murmured against Liang Youhui’s ear.
“Heh… If you want to see it, I’ll wear it. Why wouldn’t I?” Young Master Liang laughed carelessly.
In their own little corner of the bar’s decadent atmosphere, they enjoyed the tenderness that belonged only to a couple. In a few casual sentences, they began planning to pack Liang’s things, buy return tickets, choose an apartment after going home and live together, and even stop at Victoria’s Secret the next morning to pick out a few things in Young Master Liang’s size and cup size.
Even when they went to the restroom, they kept their arms around each other’s waists and shoulders. Now that they were finally together, neither wanted to let go for even a moment.
Captain Xue pulled Young Master Liang into a restroom stall. He tried to lock the door, only to discover that the latch rattled uselessly and would not hold.
Someone without any sense yanked the stall door open from outside. Captain Xue shot the person a murderous glare. “Line up outside,” he said, then hauled the door shut again.
They finally parted before they completely ran out of breath, studying each other once more and feeling, with fresh certainty, that everything about the person in front of them suited them perfectly. They had found each other far too late.
Liang Youhui said, “Tomorrow morning I’ll pack my bags and give up the apartment. Brother, I’ll take you to our place in Napa Valley. There’s a vineyard there, and the scenery is beautiful, practically paradise. I’ve wanted to show it to you.”
Xue Qian nodded. “All right. Let’s go see it.”
……