Chapter Text
Xiao Xingchen knocks on the wooden door and waits, a little overwhelmed under the heaviness of his raincoat and the haste of his circumstances. The rain is still mild and mostly innocuous, but a storm has been prognosticated and he doesn’t want to risk it.
The sliding door opens abruptly. Xiao Xingchen is expecting to be bathed with light from the inside, but there’s none, and he barely manages to distinguish a figure on the other side. Xiao Xingchen looks at the person there- he deduces he’s a man, judging by the shoulders, broad compared with his waist. He seems to be wearing a robe, and his hair is long, falling behind him like a curtain that adds shadows to his face, which seems to Xiao Xingchen more like a grey canvas grazed with strokes of water, barely recognizable as eyes and nose and mouth.
“Umh…” he doesn’t know how to begin, and the man is very still, and doesn’t ask anything, so Xiao Xingchen stutters: “I need a place to spend the night, and all the inns are full. Someone told me maybe I could find a room here?”
The man snorts, the curve of his mouth barely visible in the darkness.
“Go ask somewhere else. This is no place for you”.
And just like that, the door is slid closed in front of his eyes.
Xiao Xingchen is stunned dumb for a couple of seconds.
He has never been rejected so harshly before, from any place, so, first, he doesn’t know what to do or how to react. After a minute or so standing there trying to have his bearings back, he simply knows he can’t just stand there for the rest of the night. He’s standing under a shadow in the entrance of the house (inn?), but soon the little wooden ceiling will not be enough to cover him from the rain. He considers going back to the main street of the city, look for another inn, maybe he could find one he failed to notice before. It wouldn’t matter if all he finds is the humblest of places, he just needs a room to remain protected and dry. It’s not too late in the night, but with the rain and the impending storm over them townspeople seem to have retired early, so the streets make the place look almost like a ghost town. Every place around him seems to be empty, and he has asked in at least five buildings before the last inn’s manager that refused him service suggested him to go to the place where he’s now.
The building in front of him is big, like most inns are, but there’s something about it that makes it different. Most inns usually have the simplicity and impersonal air about them, but this place seems almost like a mansion, a little too obscure and old, but a mansion, nevertheless. The only thing that makes him think it’s not, it’s that the door is situated in a corner and it’s little and unassuming, like it’s supposed to be difficult to find. Xiao Xingchen found it because there was a lamp there, but otherwise, he knows it would have been difficult to locate.
He knows going back and try to find another inn will not go great for him, he doesn’t know the city too well and he’s carrying important documents with him- he can’t risk them get wet. But he also knows he can’t just stay here, so he considers going to the shrine that’s located at the outskirts of the town and wait there until morning. He thinks he’s not too far; he would have to run but he can get there in five to ten minutes. And he knows it’s going to be an uncomfortable night, but at least he will be dry and safe there.
He rearranges himself and his luggage under his raincape and prepares to go for a mad run when the door slides open rather abruptly, enough so he almost jumps at the sound of it.
“Oh, thank the gods, you’re still there”.
The voice he hears is different this time, so Xiao Xingchen reasons this is a different man, even when he can’t make much of him either.
“Please forgive my friend, he often takes on tasks that are not his. Please tell me, how can I help you?”
This man’s voice is much gentler, and he talks eagerly, seeming ready to help however Xiao Xingchen may ask him to. Xiao Xingchen bows a little and proceeds to explain, hope rekindled:
“I need a place to spend the night, and I was denied service in most of the inns in town. I told them payment is not a problem, but…”
“Yes, there was a lot of people hiding from the rain tonight, the inns must all be full by now”, the man reasons, and Xiao Xingchen nods:
“The last inn I went, the manager told me to try here. But forgive me if I was wrongly informed, I don’t mean to be a bother”.
“Oh no, you aren’t”, the man says as he steps to the side, allowing him entrance, “please do come in, I’m sure we can arrange something”.
Deeply relieved, Xiao Xingchen goes inside the building. The man closes the door behind him, and they are now in a corridor. It’s still dark, but the man lights a lamp and Xiao Xingchen can observe him in better detail. He’s short, and his figure is slim. There’s something very gentle about his disposition, his shoulders a little bowed, his face’s expression modest and timid. He’s got a pleasant smile on his face, perfect marble skin adorned with a pair of dimples, and he is fast on his feet once he indicates Xiao Xingchen to follow him.
Xiao Xingchen does so, and after walking down the long corridor they arrive to an office that he guesses is the reception. The man sits behind a desk and invites him to sit too. While Xiao Xingchen sits in front of him, the man takes out a big countability book and assesses him.
“Are you going to stay more than one night?”
“I don’t know. I would like to continue my travels as soon as possible, but considering the rain, I don’t know if I’ll be able to part tomorrow yet”.
The man nods, a pleasant smile permanent on his face.
“I see. Well, then I will just give you a room for this night, and tomorrow you may tell me if you will need to stay for longer, would that be alright with you?”
Xiao Xingchen nods and watches in silence as the man writes something down.
“May I know your name?”
“Xiao Xingchen…”, he answers promptly, and waits as the man continues to scribble what he understands now is a registry form.
“Another thing. Here, you will find our rooms are a little more expensive than the rest of the inns in town”. He names a fee, and Xiao Xingchen cringes internally. It’s at least a fifty percent more than the average cost of the inns he has ever visited, and he should had known, there was going to be a catch somewhere, “if the price is too high, maybe we could still try to work something out…”
“No, I can pay for it”, Xiao Xingchen answers because, well, at least he was traveling for work, and his expenses are being covered, so he has more than enough money to spend in accommodations. It’s just that he has never liked to spend in excess. If there wasn’t a storm about to break outside, he would have considered to camp somewhere until he could continue his travels.
He hands the money and the man nods and smiles, placing it inside a box and making some final annotation on his book.
“Then it is done, come with me, I’ll show you your room”, he stands up, closes the book and walks to the door. “By the way, my name is Meng Yao, and I’m the manager. Your room includes one service of hot water for a bath, if you want it right now, I’ll send some servants to set it up for you. The dining room is closed for the night but if you are hungry…”
“Oh, don’t worry, I had dinner earlier, I’m not hungry. I would like a bath, though”, he didn’t get too soaked under the rain but he’s feeling cold, and it just sounds lovely, a hot bath will surely help him to sleep peacefully after such a problematic evening. The man nods while they walk through the rest of the corridor.
“Very well. Still, I’ll see if I can send a serving of tea, it’s the least I should offer you. Tomorrow, you can have breakfast, lunch and even dinner here, but as I said, if you need to spend another night, I will need you to make a second payment”.
They finally come out of the long corridor, and the door opens to an inner garden that surprises Xiao Xingchen a little. Somehow, he hadn’t expected to find it here, but there it is: it has a little pond, a path made of rocks and some little bushes with different kind of flowers he can’t name. They all have a sweet, calm shimmer under the rain, and the fresh smell of rain filtered through leaves and earth fills his lungs. The building, from the inside, consists in four big corridors forming a square frame around this garden, connected to a fifth corridor that conducts to Meng Yao’s office and the entrance. Xiao Xingchen follows Meng Yao when he notices he has started walking when he was occupied staring at the garden.
“That door over there”, he gestures with his little, pale hand, “is the dining room. You can go there and ask for your breakfast tomorrow or a servant can take it to the room for you. And here,”, they arrive to another sliding door, and he opens it, “this is your room for the night. If you need something from me, you may use this bell over here”.
“Thank you”.
“You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy your time here. The servants that’ll set your bath for you will arrive in fifteen minutes”, he bows, offering another one of his unwavering smiles, “have a good night, young master”.
Xiao Xingchen bows too and waits until Meng Yao leaves. He closes the sliding door behind him, feeling immensely relieved now that he has a warm place to spend the night. He reaches with his hand and lights up one lamp-
And he stops right there.
He waits for a moment, looks around and tries to make sure this is not a mistake, or a prank, even.
The room… it is not a bad room, in fact, it looks comfortable. There’s something very attractive about the syrupy light of the lamp, the silky-looking bedding, and the faint smell of wood that surrounds him, but this place looks… lived in. This is not the typical, impersonal room one would be given in most inns. This room looks like it belongs to someone, and Xiao Xingchen feels like an intruder.
He takes one step back and considers- maybe this was a mistake. Maybe someone has already occupied this room, and that person will come back any moment now and Xiao Xingchen will need to be reassigned or maybe even kicked out if there’s no other room for him. He feels something settle uncomfortably in his stomach, and he jumps out of his own skin as someone knocks at the sliding door.
He turns around and slides it open to find a girl, seemingly a servant, is offering a tray with tea and little pastries.
“Our manager sent me to bring your tea, young master”, the girl says, and Xiao Xingchen moves to the side to allow her entrance. She enters the room and settles the tray on a low table, and Xiao Xingchen coughs a little to hide his uneasiness and calm himself.
“I… I think your manager made a mistake, miss. This room must be occupied already.”
“It is not, no need to worry”, the girl bows and smiles politely, then she walks to the door, “please enjoy your visit. The bath will be set for you in five minutes”.
Xiao Xingchen is still a little uneasy when he’s left alone again in that room, but he tries to relax. At least, he’s been somewhat reassured by the servant. He supposes, maybe this inn is more expensive precisely because the rooms are more comfortable and homey-looking than those in most inns. Yes, that must be it.
He takes his raincape off, finally, and lowers his luggage beside the bed. It’s big, and it looks inviting and comfortable. He wants to just lie down and close his eyes, but still, he decides to wait for the bath.
He’s just settled in front of the table, pouring himself a cup of warm, aromatic tea, when the door slides open abruptly, making Xiao Xingchen almost jump out of his skin again.
“Oh, so Meng Yao sent you here”.
.
.
.
Judging by the voice, he’s the same man that opened the main door for him the first time, when he arrived to this inn. Xiao Xingchen can now make up all of his details. He notices first, he’s probably a little shorter than himself. His body is slim, like he perceived before, but his shoulders are wider than his hips, so his general constitution suggests he’s decently strong.
“Well, do you have something in mind?”
Xiao Xingchen doesn’t understand this question.
“Would you like to do something first, or do you prefer me to do everything?” he seems to be assessing Xiao Xingchen, evaluating him. His pale skin glows under the warm light of the lamp, and his hair is long and black like the heaviest ink. Some of it is pulled up with hairpins, but most of it falls over his shoulders. It looks like a complicated hairstyle that fell down by itself, curl by delicious curl. “I know most men prefer to be pleased, but I never complain if they decide they want to be proactive”.
Xiao Xingchen is speechless. The man enters the room- his steps are fluid; he slides through the floor until he lands by his side in front of the low-table. He’s dressed in an emerald robe that falls a little around his shoulders, showing off his clavicles, and his head is tilted down, looking at him. All of him looks like he’s pouring down, like rain.
He kneels by his side, takes the teapot from his hands and finishes pouring his tea for him. Xiao Xingchen doesn’t lose sight of his hands: they’re long and pale, but his fingers look strong, like he’s used to do heavy work. His hair falls at one side of his head like a curtain.
“I… I’m sorry if I trespassed. I… I needed a room and was directed here”, he tries to stand up, but the man takes him by the arm and pulls him down, to sit back. He is smiling, but that smile is different from the permanent smile the manager had on his face; this man’s smile is wicked. His eyes, sharp and black like the deepest wells, are rimmed in red, but Xiao Xingchen cannot distinguish if he’s using make up or if it’s just that they are like that. His lips are red too, and he notices they are not covered in rouge, precisely, it’s more like they’re flushed, alive by themselves.
“Oh, no, of course you didn’t, sit back down. I’m here to please you, no need to be so shy”.
Before Xiao Xingchen can say more, there’s another knock on the door. The man stands up and opens the door, revealing some servants waiting outside. Two of them are carrying a bathtub, and the rest of them are carrying inside the room some buckets filled with warm water.
“Alright, this solves everything”, the man says, delightedly, his smile like that of a predator: “I’ll help you with your bath then”.
Xiao Xingchen stands up abruptly, scandalized, feeling his skin boiling, and observes as the servants bow and leave the room like this line of dialogue is the most normal thing they have ever heard. The man continues smiling at him, probably waiting for a reaction, but Xiao Xingchen is still like a statue. Seeing that he will not move from his place, the man undoes the sash around his own robes and let them slide from his arms, down to his elbows. Unthinkingly, Xiao Xingchen darts to him and takes him by the arms, trying to keep the robes from leaving his body completely. The man looks at his face and huffs, half amused, half surprised. Xiao Xingchen knows his eyes must look crazed. The man splutters a laugh, but it seems more like he’s incredulous by his rather erratic actions.
“Alright, calm down”, the robes come back to their rightful place and Xiao Xingchen huffs a little breath, “what’s the problem?”
“There… must be a mistake. I asked for a room to spend the night, and I wasn’t expecting another person to… I’m sorry, if this is your room, I’ll leave but please…”
“I see, will you just sit down and shut up?”, Xiao Xingchen gulps, but does as he’s told, he’s so anxious he is not even troubled after being talked to so freely by him. The man rolls his eyes and shakes his head, “relax, I won’t bite you. This is my room, you got that one right, but you are not trespassing. If you’re here, then that means I’m your host for tonight”.
Xiao Xingchen blinks, unsure of what to do or say about that. The man huffs and squeezes the bridge of his nose with his fingers. He looks exasperated, like he wasn’t expecting to deal with this when he came to the room, and he would prefer to be doing something entirely different in that moment. He sits in front of him and starts talking, and Xiao Xingchen feel’s like he’s been cooed at, like one would do to a toddler, but he tries not to mind it too much.
“The name’s Xue Yang. What’s yours?”
“Ah…Xiao Xingchen…”
“Oh well, young master Xiao, I assume you must know by now that this is not an inn, right?”
Xiao Xingchen blinks again. By this point he thinks he does, but he doesn’t dare to say too much.
“I… think I’m beginning to understand…”
“This is a flower house”, the man deadpans. Xiao Xingchen gulps, and blinks repeatedly in alarm, but he must still look confused, because Xue Yang’s shoulders move with his laughter as he explains:
“A brothel, you silly thing! Don’t come to say that I didn’t warn you, I told you to leave before, didn’t I?”
Xiao Xingchen has his mouth open, and it opens some more and closes and opens again until he is able to articulate something:
“Y…yes, you did. But I would have expected the manager to explain something like this to me instead of just giving me a room!”
The man is still laughing lightly. He shrugs:
“Well, people who comes here usually know what they’re going to find. I could tell when I looked at you that you were clueless, but Meng Yao would do anything to secure new clients”.
Xiao Xingchen nods, gulping, the reality of it all finally falling over him.
Oh gods… his name is inked in the register book of a brothel.
“So, you paid for one night”, the man… Xue Yang continues: “that means you get three meals, a bath, and free access to my room. And to me, of course” he adds teasingly at the end and Xiao Xingchen can feel the warm of all his body concentrate on his cheeks and his neck. Xue Yang lets out another laugh and starts undoing the pins on his hair.
“Come on, get in the bath. We won’t do anything if you don’t want to”, Xiao Xingchen gulps. There’s no privacy screen in here, and he supposes it’s only logical. When the man notices his apprehension, he rolls his eyes again and turns around where he’s sitting, now facing the table, his back to the bathtub.
“I’m… still not sure if this is appropriate, this is your room after all”.
“I’m supposed to share it with my clients. We don’t have to do anything, but I’m still expected to act like a good host”, Xiao Xingchen watches his back as he pours himself a cup of tea, “the alternative is for you to go somewhere else you feel your virtue will be safe. You’ll be soaked by the rain though, and Meng Yao will not give you your money back”.
Xiao Xingchen sighs. The anxiousness has made him speechless and almost completely unable to move. But then, he tries to take ahold of himself, this is his only chance tonight to have a decent place to rest and to have a bath, so he will not let it go.
He takes his clothes off as fast as he can, and he gets inside the bathtub.
It feels nice. His muscles relaxing little by little, his eyes closing almost by themselves. The last minutes have been so tense, he has almost forgotten how tired he feels, but it only adds up to his tiredness in the end, after a whole day traveling with a caravan after retrieving those documents he’s supposed to review and deliver. He tries to think about what he will do the next day- he has to find transport, only when he secures his place in another carriage, he will be able to plan his days so he can have at least a couple of hours to review the documents before he arrives to his destination.
He supposes that will be a problem for him to solve the next day.
In that moment, he allows himself to relax, as much as he can, inside the bathtub. Still, he can’t help to notices his host’s activities while he’s there: he finishes his tea and stands up. He moves around the room, seemingly careful not to turn to look at him, and when he inevitably does, he smiles one of those wicked smirks of his and covers his eyes with one hand playfully, making fun of him.
Xiao Xingchen finds soon, he can almost smile at this behavior. If nothing else, at least he feels this night will be calm, after all.
…
Xue Yang finally takes his robe off, and Xiao Xingchen can see trousers underneath, so his initial apprehension goes away. He folds the robe, and instead, he puts on a dark inner robe, from his spot Xiao Xingchen isn’t sure of the color, but he believes it must be dark blue or green. Xue Yang brushes his hair and braids it over his left shoulder. Then, he looks over that same shoulder at him.
“You must be all wrinkly by now. Do you have something to sleep on, at least?”.
“Mmm yes, it is… in my luggage”, he says doubtfully and realizes, he forgot to take his sleeping attire out before entering the bath. Xue Yang must notice because he smiles and goes himself to look for his things.
Xiao Xingchen finds there’s a little alarm inside his head that goes, he shouldn’t allow someone, specially someone he just met, to just touch his things and go through them, but the man just fishes his robes out and comes near the bathtub to hand them to him.
Xiao Xingchen feels, once more, the color assaulting his cheeks, so he tries not to make eye contact as he takes the robes from his host’s hands and allows himself a couple of minutes before getting out and change into them.
By then, Xue Yang is perched on the bed, reading in silence. He’s scooted over to the farthest side, by the wall, and Xiao Xingchen supposes it’s alright. If he’s supposed to share a bed with him, then he will. It would not be the first time he has to sleep in the same bed with someone- inns can be expensive, and he has always had respectful companions. This doesn’t have to be anything different, especially considering that this is supposed to be Xue Yang’s room first.
“Come on man, you look like you need some sleep”, Xue Yang urges, and Xiao Xingchen nods to himself. He can do this.
.
.
.
Alright, maybe he cannot do this. He stops just in front of the bed and finds he can’t make the simple, almost primitive move to lift the blankets aside to enter them. He thinks about this man and his mind goes, inevitably, to the people that has probably already shared this room and this bed with him. Will Xue Yang take his acceptance of going to bed as a signal that they’re going to have sex? That Xiao Xingchen has just… accepted, somehow?
Xue Yang must notice his apprehension, sparked anew, because he tosses his book aside and huffs.
“A-Chen, won’t you come to bed with me?” Xue Yang asks with a big teasing smile and singsong voice. Then, he just laughs: “come on man, I already told you, we don’t have to do anything. I mean, you’re handsome, but it’s not like I can’t resist you, you know?”
“But… you’re supposed to…” Xingchen signals rather uselessly at the bed, and Xue Yang laughs again.
“Only if you want to! What’s the point of forcing a client? Besides, there are many other ways I can try to please you, don’t you think so?”
“What do you mean?”, Xiao Xingchen asks again, his voice thin with anxiousness and helplessness.
“I don’t know, maybe you’d like me to give you a massage? Bring your breakfast to bed in the morning? Pet your hair, tell you a story?”, he removes the blankets himself as he speaks and pats the empty space on the mattress, inviting him to lay down. Xiao Xingchen gulps and climbs up the bed by his side. He is surprised when the man pulls the blankets back over them both, steadily and certain, like it’s a given, and turns off the only lamp that’s still alight, the one by his side. He curls up facing him, and once his eyes adapt to the darkness, Xiao Xingchen can see his eyes, and his smile.
“I just need some rest”, he manages, finally, a little murmur. Xue Yang huffs, and he sounds both endeared and exasperated, but he reaches with his hand and tucks a lock of Xiao Xingchen’s hair behind one of his ears.
“Good night”, he closes his eyes. He’s so tired, and he’s been so nervous, he falls asleep relatively fast once he manages to tell himself he will be alright. He notices the sound of the rain outside has reached them finally, pouring even harder over their roof, and it also helps him relax.
.
.
.
He’s abruptly awake, and he notices soon it’s not the sound of the rain what awoke him. It’s still night, he knows despite the room not having windows, and he assesses his own body and decides he must not have been asleep for more than one hour when he identifies the sound that forced him out of his dream.
Two voices. Moaning.
By his side, Xue Yang groans lowly, and he moves, and Xiao Xingchen soon notices he must be awake too.
“Fuck, that whore”, he grumbles in between clenched teeth, and Xiao Xingchen observes, a little alarmed, as he takes one leg from under the blanket and slams the wall by his side with his foot: “hey, keep it down!”
“Shut up Xue Yang!” comes the answer from the other side of the wall, a woman’s voice, accompanied by the huffs and groans of a man. The woman continues her concert of moans, and Xingchen feels the overwhelming need to cover his face with his hands, mortified. And well, he does. It is of course useless against the sound, but his cheeks are too warm, and he feels too thin faced to resist this situation gracefully. After some seconds, he finds it in himself to spy from the space between his fingers. Xue Yang makes eye contact, smiles at him and raises his voice:
“Come on Lingjiao, no need to make such a scandal, we both know Wen Chao has a small dick!”
Xiao Xingchen almost chokes on nothing.
“Xue Yang!” the woman cries, and the man lets out another raged groan.
“YOU SON OF A BITCH, I’M GONNA CUT YOU!” he screams, panting, and Xue Yang covers his mouth so his laugh can’t be heard. Xiao Xingchen is still looking at him, because, well, there’s not much else to do. And he’s not going to admit it right there, but the situation is not that mortifying anymore, not when his companion laughs like that. Xue Yang takes another look at him, and Xiao Xingchen notices the precise moment another idea comes to his mind. It’s easy to see, in the way his smirk grows, still mean, but joyful. His eyes sparkle.
“Just let me sleep” he whines, feigning a pitiful voice, “my A-Chen just fucked me really good and hard, I need to rest!”, Xiao Xingchen sits up, alarmed by this, and Xue Yang bites his lips as he closes his eyes, opens his mouth… and starts moaning too: “oh, A-Chen, again? Are you sure? Mmm, be gentle babe, you did me so good already…!”
“Xue Yang, shut up!” the woman complains this time, horrified, and the man’s screams of absolute disgust can be heard, but still, Xue Yang somehow manages to make his moans heard over their angered shouts.
Xiao Xingchen is shocked, scandalized… but at the same time, he feels an overwhelming amusement pulling at the corners of his mouth. He’s still covering it with his hand, and Xue Yang smiles up at him again. It is then that he notices; Xue Yang is sliding his hand up his own torso, and his long, pale fingers barely graze the fabric covering his chest. He still looks, as Xue Yang’s nipples harden until they’re visible, hard like pebbles under his robes. The same hand slides slowly down his torse until it reaches the inside of his trousers, and Xiao Xingchen doesn’t need the light of a lamp to understand… Xue Yang is now touching himself. He watches, mesmerized, at the movement of his hand, up and down, nice and slow. His knees bend up a little, and his legs open. He doesn’t take anything off, by all purposes he’s still clothed, but Xiao Xingchen can’t help the feeling he’s watching at a person who’s completely naked, vulnerable in front of him.
Xue Yang continues moaning, high enough to be heard, soft enough to keep it believable, and Xiao Xingchen is hypnotized, completely unable to look away.
They are still lying side by side, so when Xue Yang turns his face to him again, they’re looking at each other, neither of them breaking eye contact. Xiao Xingchen can perceive, from the corner of his eyes, Xue Yang’s chest is raising and falling at a fast pace, and the hand that’s not busy touching himself under his trousers is now abusing his hardened nipples. Xiao Xingchen didn’t notice, but he realizes when his mouth has gone dry: his lips have been hanging open for a while, mesmerized at the sight, by his side, in the same bed.
Xue Yang notices his interest, his attention, and after some seconds he’s not only rubbing his own member in his hand, his hips and his entire body are moving in the bed, up and down, up and down, as if someone was really fucking him.
He has not stopped moaning, saying his name, or darling, or sweetness, or love under his breath.
Xiao Xingchen is assaulted by a vision: he wants to kiss him, hard and deep, until he comes.
Xue Yang must notice the difficult way in which he breathes now, his trembling jaw, his hands that don’t know where to go, because his own hand darts from his nipples to Xiao Xingchen’s hand.
“Xue Yang!”, Xingchen exclaims, startled, and Xue Yang moans high one final time, arching on the bed beautifully.
Xue Yang remains unmoving for a while, his fingers braided around Xingchen’s, and Xiao Xingchen feels his heartbeat pulse in his own ears.
When Xue Yang comes out of it, his eyes flutter open, and he giggles, his breath troubled inside his chest. He turns his head to Xiao Xingchen and lets his hand go, a dangerous smirk in place.
“I bet that bastard couldn’t get it up again”, he whispers, like he’s sharing the most important of secrets with him. Xiao Xingchen sighs deeply as he observes him come down from the bed and then he understands why: he needs to find a clean pair of trousers.
Xiao Xingchen notices he’s hard under his own under robes, and he feels extremely mortified. While Xue Yang is out of the bed, he tries to think about things that’ll make it go away, but it doesn’t help that a beautiful man that just masturbated and came moaning his name is in the same room with him and they’re about to share a bed again!
Xiao Xingchen thinks he should have stopped him, done something, anything. He must admit it was fun in the beginning, but after their short interaction with the occupants of the other room, things escalated in a way he wasn’t prepared for.
He didn’t come to this place looking for sex. Xue Yang is attractive, and so far he’s been nice to talk to, but Xiao Xingchen is tired, and he doesn’t like the idea of casual sex nor he is the kind of man that would go to a brothel to satisfy his needs.
Hopefully, the next day he will just go and find a way to leave this town and continue his travels.
All he had wanted that night was a place to sleep, had that been too much to ask?
When Xue Yang comes back to the bed, he pretends to be asleep.
When Xue Yang leans in and deposits a warm, wet kiss on his neck, the shiver that punches a gasp out of his mouth gives him away.