Li ZouXing walked into the bathroom and closed the door, splashing cold water on his face.
He looked at the mirror, and the person in the mirror seemed unchanged, but he knew that he was truly bewildered.
At the critical moment, he was completely taken aback by Gu WenCheng’s sudden step back.
Inside the bathroom, the sound of running water echoed. Gu WenCheng, who had been standing still, suddenly snapped out of his daze. He walked briskly to the bathroom door, intending to push it open. However, midway through, his hand suddenly froze.
He realized that his hand, which had stopped, was trembling slightly.
What did that mean?
What did he mean?
What did he mean by saying, “I actually hope that what you said, about liking me, is true”?
Every word Li ZouXing said was spinning in his mind, and the whole sentence seemed to convey the meaning he had been hoping for.
But he had started with, “Then I’ll say something wrong too.” Was that really a mistake?
How could that be a mistake?
Gu WenCheng felt like he was going crazy.
Recalling it for the first time, he thought it was Li ZouXing’s positive response to him. But as he thought about it a second and third time… he feared he might be overthinking it.
Li ZouXing finished washing his face, remained silent for about ten minutes, and then pushed the door open. Gu WenCheng was sitting on the living room sofa and immediately looked over as he opened the door.
The two of them locked eyes and neither of them said a word.
The sound of the door being unlocked came from behind. Li ZouXing turned his head to avoid eye contact, walked over, and sat on a single-person sofa.
Xi Nan and the others entered, carrying a strong aroma of food. “Why did you suddenly come back? Here, we brought some food for you. It seems like you haven’t eaten much.”
After they finished speaking, they hesitated, sensing that the atmosphere in the room was not right.
“What’s going on with you two?” Xi Nan asked.
The two seated individuals remained silent, showing no emotion on their faces.
Ji Yu and Ling Nian frowned, exchanged a glance, set down the food, and signaled for Xi Nan and Si Wo Lin not to speak. They took a seat beside Gu WenCheng and Li ZouXing.
They assumed a posture as if they were having an open meeting. “Did you guys have a fight?”
To be honest, they couldn’t believe that these two would have a fight.
Gu WenCheng stared intently at Li ZouXing, who, under his gaze, answered Ji Yu’s question, “No.”
No fight, just a retracted confession and an unsuccessful confession.
A sense of frustration hung in the air.
In the original story, Gu WenCheng had a casual attitude toward the various female protagonists. He could easily accept the affections of other women and express his liking for them without much thought. So why, at this moment, couldn’t he bring himself to say that he liked him?
It felt like he had become a completely different person.
He had said “no,” but the others didn’t seem to relax. Especially Gu WenCheng, he didn’t know what to do now, and what steps to take. Should he boldly reveal his feelings and take a chance, or should he wait and see, half-hidden, until he was sure of the other’s true feelings?
Gu WenCheng had never been so indecisive before. Because he cared too much, he felt restrained, unable to take risks.
“Well, what’s going on with you two?” Ling Nian spoke as if he wanted everyone to open up. He had a serious expression. “If something’s up, just say it.”
“Ling Nian is right,” Ji Yu chimed in. “We’re all here now, so if something has happened, we can solve it together.”
Xi Nan and Si Wo Lin, who weren’t very talkative, could only nod in agreement.
But it wasn’t as simple as just opening up.
“I…” Gu WenCheng began, but Li ZouXing interrupted him, “Aren’t you drugged?”
Li ZouXing furrowed his brow, still concerned. “How do you feel now?”
They had just been intimate moments ago. In the original story… damn it, in the original story, Gu WenCheng had spent the whole night with Ren Qingying. In the original story, he didn’t seem to have any romantic feelings for Ren Qingying, so why was he so hesitant now?
Gu WenCheng’s heart raced as he realized he had forgotten to keep up the act. Li ZouXing’s furrowed brow seemed to him like a sign that his lie was about to be exposed. He quickly stood up, leaning over the back of the couch next to Li ZouXing, and tried to salvage the situation. “I’m feeling uncomfortable.”
His complexion was far from pleasant, and there was a hint of redness in his eyes. He did indeed appear uncomfortable. Li ZouXing wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve but didn’t suggest going to the bedroom to help him with his discomfort. Instead, he said, “You can go take a shower.”
The atmosphere was really peculiar.
Their teammates exchanged glances and decided to quietly observe the situation.
It didn’t seem like they were angry or fighting, but there was definitely an awkwardness present, although their interactions still seemed harmonious.
Sigh.
These complex emotional changes were truly baffling for grown men.
Completely incomprehensible.
Gu WenCheng’s hand gripping the backrest revealed prominent veins, and he was on the edge of endurance.
If there hadn’t been the recent intimacy, if they hadn’t just exchanged sweet words, their current state might have been fine. But there were no “ifs.” Compared to just moments ago, the situation had turned cruel.
Both of them were on the verge of breaking inside, one waiting for the other to confess, and the other unsure about the other’s true feelings.
The author had requested that Li ZouXing maintain his straight-man persona, and Li ZouXing had reluctantly agreed. But now, he regretted it deeply. He couldn’t take the initiative to “bend,” so he had to wait for Gu WenCheng to “bend” him.
The initiative was entirely in the hands of the other person.
And now, the other person was retracting their words? Retracting them?!
In the midst of this emotional turmoil, their door was knocked on once again.
Ren Qingying had waited in her room with the door open for a while, not seeing any sign of Gu WenCheng. When the expected time had passed, she became suspicious and, still wearing a steamy appearance, went to Gu WenCheng’s room.
“Gu WenCheng?”
Li ZouXing couldn’t hold back and let out an exclamation, “Damn!”
This exclamation startled Si Wo Lin, who had been frozen halfway to the door, unsure whether to proceed and open it.
Gu WenCheng’s eyes darkened as his mental force unmercifully entered Ren Qingying’s mind through the door.
Ren Qingying’s vision blurred, and she turned back toward her own room.
“She’s gone,” Gu WenCheng couldn’t resist nuzzling his face against Li ZouXing’s, their foreheads touching, his cheeks flushed as if he were back in the state when he had been drugged, “ZouXing, Xing Xing.”
Li ZouXing held his face, “Don’t move recklessly.”
Their teammates were all there, and he wanted to confess without any reservations?
“Xing Xing,” Gu WenCheng said, “I feel so miserable.”
It wasn’t the physical discomfort he was talking about.
He wanted to hold Li ZouXing and express his love to him.
He wanted to tell him that he hadn’t been joking just now.
“You two—!”
Their teammates exclaimed in shock.
They stared at Li ZouXing and Gu WenCheng in shock, their foreheads touching. How could they be so intimate?
It looked like… it looked like a couple…
Li ZouXing turned his head slightly, and Gu WenCheng no longer cared how others perceived them. In his world, there was only Li ZouXing. He caught up to him, and their foreheads met again as they locked eyes, trying to see into each other’s souls.
There was a light in Li ZouXing’s eyes, so beautiful.
“He was drugged,” Li ZouXing said, “Ren Qingying drugged him with an aphrodisiac.”
His lips moved, ready for a passionate kiss, and suddenly, Gu WenCheng overwhelmed him, right in front of their teammates. He pressed Li ZouXing onto the couch and kissed him with all his might.
Li ZouXing’s pupils contracted, and he tried to push Gu WenCheng away with all his strength. The more he pushed, the more excited Gu WenCheng became. He kissed Li ZouXing fervently, biting his lips as if he had gone mad. Their legs tangled together, and their limbs intertwined as they poured all their unspoken words into the tangled kiss.
The teammates’ mouths gradually hung open as they watched their passionate kiss. Two men kissing each other with such intensity, no holds barred, lips molding into various shapes, and the physical contact resembling an attack. The sound and the threads of silver pulling apart left the other boys blushing, their hearts racing.
Gu WenCheng and Li ZouXing were locked in a passionate kiss, a deep, passionate kiss.
Oh my goodness!!!
Ji Yu blushed and stole several glances; he had never witnessed a real-life kiss before. He asked, “What should we do now? The effects of the drug made him kiss ZouXing so passionately.”
“Drugged?” Ling Nian scoffed, “What a foolish idea.”
Being a pampered young lady, only she could come up with such a plan. Such methods were truly contemptible. They didn’t want to speak ill of the girl, but Ling Nian didn’t care.
They were hesitant to speak ill of the girl, but Ling Nian didn’t care.
“Should we start by taking a cold shower?” Si Wo Lin’s face turned crimson, unable to watch the scene of Gu WenCheng passionately kissing Li ZouXing. “Let’s calm WenCheng down first.”
Xi Nan scratched his head awkwardly, feeling at a loss, and stuttered, “Should we pull WenCheng away first?”
Yeah! Let’s pull him away!
They suddenly realized the situation and hurriedly moved to separate Gu WenCheng from Li ZouXing.
Li ZouXing stood up, wiping his mouth. There was a small cut on his lip where Gu WenCheng had bitten him. The sight of blood staining his lips looked rather sensual, and Gu WenCheng’s intense gaze was quite intimidating.
Li ZouXing walked up to Gu WenCheng and pulled him toward the bathroom. With a stern expression, he addressed their teammates, “Leave it to me.”
Being led by Li ZouXing, Gu WenCheng didn’t resist at all. He obediently followed, and his teammates watched in surprise as they disappeared into the bathroom.
Ling Nian looked at them and furrowed his brows slowly. “We came back later than them for quite a while. Did Gu WenCheng do something to Li ZouXing while he was in an altered state of mind? Otherwise, why would they be in that state?”
What could they have done?
The teammates recalled the intense kiss they had witnessed earlier and blushed in silence. It was indeed quite thrilling, and for these inexperienced young men, it was too intense to watch.
“Are you sober now?” Li ZouXing maintained a calm demeanor in his expression and tone.
Gu WenCheng wiped the icy water off his face and lowered his head. He had the courage to passionately kiss Li ZouXing in front of everyone, but did he have the courage to admit it?
“How do you plan to explain it?” Li ZouXing raised Gu WenCheng’s head, waiting for his explanation. “Just normal, no big deal, mutual help, right?”
“You said the wrong thing,” Gu WenCheng looked into his eyes, his gaze burning with intensity. “What does it mean?”
He finally asked.
Li ZouXing felt a bit relieved. “So what does your ‘wrong thing’ mean?”
Gu WenCheng took a deep breath, and just when Li ZouXing thought he was about to speak, the main male character of the entire story, Gu WenCheng, unexpectedly retreated once again, stubbornly saying, “I don’t know.”
Damn it, he didn’t know!
Li ZouXing was furious to the point of exploding. He couldn’t find the words to express his anger. He turned around, intending to leave the bathroom and calm down.
He was afraid that if he stayed with Gu WenCheng any longer, he would lose control and end up fighting with him.
The word “like” was stuck in his throat and then pushed down into his heart.
Where had he not dropped hints to Gu WenCheng? Where had he failed to show how special he was to him?
But Li ZouXing knew deep down that, aside from his temper, he understood what Gu WenCheng was afraid of.
Gu WenCheng was afraid of that layer of “straight male” identity, afraid that Li ZouXing would leave him and despise him.
But he had confessed, wasn’t that statement clear enough?
Various complex emotions were intertwined, and among them, there was even a sense of pity for each other.
Who would have thought that Gu WenCheng, the protagonist of “On the Journey Ahead,” Gu WenCheng with his other identity as Walter, would also have moments when he couldn’t let go.
As he thought about it, the softer side of his heart overwhelmed the other.
“I’ll be waiting outside,” Li ZouXing opened the door. “See if you can sort yourself out.”
And if he couldn’t, there was no way Li ZouXing would go get Ren Qingying.
No way at all.
Gu WenCheng, who had never been drugged in the first place, didn’t need cold water, alone time, or anything else. What he needed was Li ZouXing. “ZouXing…”
Here it comes again.
He had pinpointed Li ZouXing’s weak point, but Li ZouXing felt that it was really not suitable to stay here right now; neither of them was thinking rationally.
Gu WenCheng closed his eyes, and his mental power followed his inner desires, spreading out, binding Li ZouXing’s limbs, closing the door he had opened, and locking it with a sound that was amplified several times, like a landmine.
Li ZouXing, “???”
He was dumbfounded, trapped in place.
Wasn’t he supposed to be the dominant one?
What was he supposed to do when faced with someone stronger, like a Level 1 compared to a Level 2?
Was it fortunate that the other person didn’t know anything?
Li ZouXing’s handsome face was tense as he watched Gu WenCheng approaching him.
The mental power that bound him was filled with restraint and desire, just like its owner.
Gu WenCheng reached Li ZouXing and, with their similar heights, they gazed into each other’s eyes.
They both wanted it.
He wanted Li ZouXing.
He also wanted Li ZouXing to want him.
They should belong to each other, and there was nothing that Gu WenCheng wanted that he couldn’t have.
However, his endless confidence and ambition had taken a big tumble in front of Li ZouXing.
“Let me bind you up first,” Gu WenCheng lowered his gaze, “so you can obediently listen to me.”
“Don’t run away, no fear allowed,” Gu WenCheng smiled briefly, “I don’t want to hear any refusal.”
Either extremely timid or extremely tough.
Li ZouXing’s fingers twitched, and Gu WenCheng glanced at his hand. Instantly, the other’s mental power locked onto his ten fingers, freezing them in place.
He invaded Li ZouXing’s entire space, revealing a sinister and wicked desire, and not allowing him to refuse.
“I like you.”
Gu WenCheng had figured it out. Regardless of whether Li ZouXing was afraid or liked him, he staked a fifty percent chance of success and forcefully prevented the other fifty percent chance of failure.
If he guessed wrong, he could just keep Li ZouXing by his side.
With his smile and his emotions, he would make Li ZouXing remember only him in each intimate moment.
“From here to here,” Gu WenCheng’s index finger moved from Li ZouXing’s forehead down, gliding over his nose, lips, and reaching his throat, “I like all of it.”
He circled around the throat a few times with his finger, then moved it downward again. His mental power followed his finger, tearing open Li ZouXing’s clothing as he moved.
His fingertips acted like a blade, leaving clean and even tears in the fabric.
Wherever he slid his finger, his mental power followed, and as he continued downward, the clothing on the front of Li ZouXing’s body had already torn apart.
Ironically, from behind, it looked like Li ZouXing was still wearing an intact outfit. A slightly cool sensation spread from the torn fabric to his entire body. Without needing to see it, Li ZouXing could imagine how provocative his current appearance must be.
Fortunately, his underwear remained intact, sparing him from facing Gu WenCheng in the nude.
Gu WenCheng’s gaze paused at his chest, and then he suddenly remembered that he had never tasted the flavor here on Li ZouXing.
When he pleasured Li ZouXing, did it feel pleasurable for the other as well?
As if possessed, he leaned in, took a tentative breath, and then sucked.
Li ZouXing’s scalp felt like it was about to explode: “!”
“Gu WenCheng—!”
“I just wanted you to experience my pleasure,” Gu WenCheng replied in a muffled voice. “Is it pleasurable?”
Li ZouXing could only feel sheer terror.
The sensation of goosebumps and a tingling scalp rushed through him in waves. Gu WenCheng’s ability to learn was astonishing, and as the male lead, he truly excelled in pleasuring someone, making them feel incredible.
“Go away,” Li ZouXing cursed, “Fuck!”
Gu WenCheng responded by intensifying the force of his lips and tongue.
“Damn…” Li ZouXing muttered, overwhelmed.
Like a piece of iron, bound here, dominated by Gu WenCheng. He had no room for any resistance at all, his mental strength blocked by Gu WenCheng’s overflowing mental power throughout the room.
Li ZouXing’s face turned pale, and his chest kept shrinking backward. “Stop!”
It was too terrifying, absolutely horrifying.
What was Gu WenCheng thinking? This feeling… damn it, he was extremely grateful at this moment! Grateful that the other party didn’t understand a thing!
Do you hate me this much?
Gu WenCheng didn’t miss any of his facial expressions, his gaze becoming darker.
He just wanted Li ZouXing to experience his joy, this joy that consumed everything. Wasn’t the other party enjoying it?
Or maybe his intensity wasn’t enough?
“——!”
Damn.
Li ZouXing reluctantly calmed down, his face ashen. “Speak if you have something to say.”
“I also like it here,” Gu WenCheng regretfully let go and kissed Li ZouXing’s lips again, his gaze sincere. “I like every part of you, absolutely everything.”
Li ZouXing could finally speak normally. “Nonsense or the truth?”
“The truth,” Gu WenCheng actually smiled, no longer afraid. “I was afraid you’d refuse earlier, but now I’m not.”
“I’ll give you a month at most,” Gu WenCheng leaned close to Li ZouXing’s ear, licking his earlobe. “Don’t reject me. I’m afraid I might do something terrifying.”
Gu WenCheng’s kisses were tender, but the possessiveness in his words sent shivers down his own spine.
He couldn’t be without him.
Could Li ZouXing fall for him in a month?
Li ZouXing, who had originally intended to make a decisive move and talk about dating: “…”
Damn it, are you that awesome?
You say one month, and if it’s a day early, I lose!
Author’s Note:
Even if Chengcheng understands some theory, Xingxing, you’re in trouble_(:з」∠)_
Xingxing is a strong attacker hahaha
In the original text, Chengcheng was drugged because he didn’t care, so he went along with it.
Translator’s corner:
Uhhmm… Finally…? ‘-‘
Didn’t expect that though ‘-‘
Yandere ML on the loose…? ‘-‘
