CH 4

It was at university when I saw that terrifying man again.

Didn’t expect that, did you? I didn’t fucking expect it myself too.

This was how it happened. After final exams ended, the economics department organized an international exchange program, hosting a few famous business research teams from overseas. Originally, it was supposed to be such an exclusive event that had nothing to do with me or other juniors. But somehow, I was dragged into it by my senior from the finance department to help out as a volunteer.

Because I was the only one in the club who didn’t manage to snatch a discounted train ticket back home, I had no choice but to stay back in the university temporarily.

If I had known this volunteer trip would be where the grave of my last modesty as a straight man is built upon, I would have fucking flown back on a plane rather than a discounted train ticket.

…Unfortunately, even a thousand gold could not buy information on prior events. Neither can it buy my purity that had fallen and dragged through the mud.

I still remember that it was a sunny afternoon with clear skies that spread far and wide. I carried plastic display boards that were taller than myself, sweating buckets in front of the university building stairs and going up step by step. In the moment of absolute despair, I saw a beautiful female senior coming out of the building in high heels to greet me, “Xiao Xia, thanks for your hard work!”

My eyes lit up and I flashed her a bright smile of relief. Straightening my back, I slowly dragged my feet up a few steps. Just as I was about to hand over the display boards, my ears were blasted unexpectedly by a loud voice, “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

I almost tripped from the shock as I saw my senior retracting her hand to comb through her hair instead. With a soft smile, she flew past me quickly and started speaking in a string of fluent English.

I vaguely heard some words of welcome before I turned my head around with difficulty, spotting a few people in suits. It was fine if I didn’t see them, but with that one look, my young, innocent soul immediately got a second shock. I lost my footing then and fell backwards.

Then, it happened like those badly written, cliché novels – I was caught by someone around my waist from the back.

To be more exact, it wasn’t my waist. It was the spot slightly below my waist.

In that split second, I could smell the faint scent of men’s perfume. Emergency bells immediately went off in my heart. As I looked back, I was confronted by a familiar pair of beautiful eyes.

“Long time no see,” He said, “You’re so passionate right off the bat.”

…Passionate my ass! What is he talking about! Didn’t he see that I was going to trip? Where the fuck is he placing his hand at!!

I twisted my body around to stand up straight before glaring at him fiercely. I picked up the board on the ground while he wasn’t paying attending then escaped quickly up the stairs and entered the room.

What else should I have done if not escape!

The hour after that, I continued to hide in a corner far from the reception hall and do miscellaneous work. I’m not being cowardly. This is simply the right thing to do – a strategic, defensive retreat while I have yet to uncover my enemy’s background.

However, the floor wasn’t all that big after all so there wasn’t that much space I could hide in. When I could no longer hold it in and needed to use the washroom, I had to run into him again.

That guy slowly walked over to the spot beside me and slowly unbuckled the waistband of his suit pants. His movements were so elegant, as if his act of peeing was going to be judged in a beauty pageant.

Tsk, pretentious. What’s the point of putting up such an air? A real man shows what’s down there in an open and bold manner.

I disdainfully swept a glance to the side.

…What the fuck! It’s fucking huge!

My overly shocked reaction might have caught his attention. He turned his head back to look at me, curving the corner of his lips upwards into a teasing smile.

What is he smirking at! Does he have the right to laugh at others just because he’s huge? Superficial!

I pursed my lips together, zipped up my pants and quickly headed out.

“Xiao Xia.” He called out to me suddenly.

His voice was low and husky, yet it felt like there was a fishing hook in that two ordinary words. I couldn’t help but stop in my tracks, but quickly came back to my senses.

Xiao Xia? Is that a name you can say?!

I stopped and turned around, looking straight at him with a stern expression before gritting out each word, “My name is Xia Zhi! The ‘zhi’ in straight man1!”

He walked over to me and said, “My name is Shen Die.”

Shen Die? What a nice-sounding name…No! Who the fuck wanted to exchange names with him now? Did he not understand what I said as a warning?!

As expected, straight and gay men have different lines of thought. It’s useless to throw any hints at this guy. It’s best to just leave right away.

With that thought in mind, I looked around to make sure there was no one else in the washroom before closing every door in here.

While I did what I had to, that guy stared at me with an amused gaze. He didn’t ask a single thing and even came up to help me close the other doors.

I took in a deep breath, reached into the inside pocket of my jacket and took out a stack of bills, “Take them!”

He appeared to be quite surprised, “You carried these around every day?”

What else could I do? If it wasn’t due to the fact that I might not be willing to part with them after depositing them into my account and that I couldn’t sleep well with them under my pillow, do you think I’d happily bring them around every day?

I thought things would be settled after I returned the money, but he suddenly said, “What if I said I didn’t want them back anymore?”

I let out a cold ‘hmph’, glaring at him, “That’s not up to you.”

Who cares if he wants them back or not? He has to take it back anyways!

“I’m returning your money back, so forget about what happened between us! I’ll let go of the fact that you took advantage of me before, but you absolutely can’t tell anyone that I’m working in a gay bar!”

If word got around and everyone at school knew about this, I might not be able to get a girlfriend for the next two years anymore.

He showed an expression like he had gotten blackmail material of me before saying “That’s not up to you.”

Fuck! Threatening me and copying my exact lines too!

I was so mad and wanted to argue further, but then came the sounds of someone trying to open the washroom door.

For some reason felt like I was getting caught red-handed, so I jumped in shock before pulling him into a cubicle.

He followed me without a word, but his eyes showed a hint of laughter in them. He said, “You…”

I could hear the sound of many people entering at once, so I threw a hand over his mouth and covered it before he could say anything.

“Shhh—” I gestured at him.

He was surprised for a split second before he quickly calmed down. With downcast eyes and a sunken look, he parted his lips and licked the palm of my hand.

When I felt the top of his tongue sweeping through my palm, my whole body tingled and my brain instantly shut down.

Fuck! H-H-H-He, why is he such a flirt!

The people who came in eventually went out one by one. Only after that did I realize the danger I was in.

The man in front of me was only half a step away. He was almost half a head taller than me too. His looks were very mysterious and held no reservations. Most importantly, he’s gay and is interested in me.

What the fuck was wrong with me?! How could I have shut myself in here with this male vixen!

Considering how things might unfold, I immediately opened the door to escape. But he was one step ahead, grabbing my wrist and closing the door.

Seeing my only escape route get cut off, I felt like crying. Without any other choice, I helplessly flashed him a bitter, indescribable smile before humbly saying, “Ge, I was wrong…I didn’t mean to provoke you…I don’t want to dabble into this…”

Before I could finish my words, he suddenly reached out and cupped my cheek. His eyes darkened as he slowly leaned in closer, with only the distance of two fingers left between us as he whispered, “Didn’t you say you’re straight?”

“…Let me help you verify that.”