Ye Ran froze.
“Whoosh—”
The curtains billowed, the clouds dyed a warm rosy hue by the setting sun.
A light breeze brushed his face. Ye Ran turned his head. “……Big Brother?”
From Shen Shi’s angle, he had his head tilted, his gaze pure, bewildered and confused. There was still paint from the brush smeared on his cheek. He pressed his lips together, thought for a moment, and said very obediently, “Then I’ll paint another one to submit.”
With a helpless sigh in his heart, Shen Shi felt inexplicably restless. He pressed down the darkness in his eyes and spoke lightly, “It’s fine. Didn’t you say you had no inspiration this afternoon? Why did you suddenly paint me.”
Hearing this, the heart Ye Ran had been holding high finally relaxed.
He had thought that Shen Shi’s current image couldn’t be casually put onto paper. Turns out that wasn’t what he meant.
“Because you played really handsome,” he smiled, just like when he was little, lavish with praise. “It’d be such a waste not to paint it. Big Brother, when the time comes I’ll frame the painting and put it in the studio, together with the medal you gave me.”
…Again like this.
Shen Shi closed his eyes.
The first time Ye Ran won an award in his life was at a children’s painting competition held by the Haicheng Calligraphy and Painting Association. The work Ye Ran submitted was called Friendship.
It depicted a vast, empty viewing stand. Two little kids, one above and one below, separated by a railing. A small boy in tennis clothes was putting a medal on the boy in the stands. Light spilled over them, like a flash frozen forever.
That year there were three gold medal winners in total.
Only Ye Ran’s painting sparked discussion within a small circle.
After winning the award, Ye Ran gave the gold trophy to him at the very first moment. His cheeks were red as he hugged him, his childish little voice brimming with excitement as he said, “Big Brother Little Shi, Ranran will always draw you!”
Ye Ran had a stubborn yet reserved personality.
Some things he would only say once, but he would fulfill them completely.
From age twelve until now, in the studio the Ye family built for Ye Ran, many paintings related to him hung on the wall, one each year. Though they only occupied a corner of the wall, they were carefully treasured and protected.
How could anyone withstand such undisguised favoritism and importance.
So many years already…
Ye Ran had grown from a young boy into a youth, still only knowing how to tease, never taking responsibility.
He even only regarded him as a close older brother.
How could he know the excessive things his brother did to him in dreams.
Ye Ran was still talking: “When this painting gets framed, I’ll hang it on the portrait wall. Big Brother, if you like it, I’ll paint another one for you, one of you wearing your tennis uniform…”
Shen Shi suppressed himself, licking his canine teeth, slowly lifting his gaze. His eyes were deep and gloomy. He looked at the fair, swaying flesh of Ye Ran’s neck before him, opened his mouth, and in the midst of Ye Ran’s soft words, bit down hard.
A moist sensation of licking instantly followed.
The jet-black hair was soaked through by saliva at the tips of his teeth.
Ye Ran’s back stiffened at once. He uncontrollably lifted his neck, his pupils trembling again and again before he forced out a sound with difficulty: “….Big Brother, Big Brother?!”
“Mm.” Shen Shi straightened up naturally, looking down at him from above.
As far as the eye could see, that delicate, soft patch of neck flesh, black strands entwined, sweat seeping out, covered in a thin, pitiful expanse of flushed red.
The chair fell with a “clang!”
Ye Ran jumped to his feet, clutching his neck, staring at him in shock.
Shen Shi, however, took a step back, calmly meeting his gaze, and asked him in an especially natural tone, “Going or not?”
Ye Ran completely lost the ability to speak, only able to stand there dumbly holding his neck as Shen Shi continued, “It’s time for dinner.”
That dinner, in the end, didn’t happen.
Shen Shi had returned to the country early without informing Coach Zhang. Coach Zhang was furious, calling him repeatedly like a life-or-death summons, ordering him to go to the stadium to find him immediately.
The sky had already darkened.
The restaurant was noisy with voices.
An Yu had informed Ye Ran in advance and came to the restaurant to find him. When he did, all he saw was Ye Ran scooping soup with a blank expression, his posture and movements carrying an abnormal stiffness.
“What’s wrong?” He carried his food over and sat beside Ye Ran, asking.
Hearing his voice, Ye Ran came back to himself. “……You’re here?”
“Mm. Today’s afternoon competitions were really boring. Other than swimming being somewhat worth watching, the rest would’ve been impressive if they could even gather fifty spectators.”
After all, it was club day. Everyone preferred more interesting activities.
An Yu was a member of the Western Pastry Club. That afternoon, the club had been making cakes in the classroom and handing them out for free. Though it was lively, An Yu, because of his little boyfriend’s cajoling, could only go watch the competitions with him. His mood still wasn’t great.
Ye Ran smiled and comforted him. “Seeing it at all is already a win. I wanted to go but couldn’t.”
“Oh right, where did you go this afternoon? I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
Ye Ran’s smile immediately turned unnatural. “……In the studio, painting.”
“You,” An Yu didn’t doubt his answer, “it’s club day and you still won’t relax a bit.”
“Hey, look over there,” An Yu pursed his lips and gestured for Ye Ran to look up. In front of the stir-fry counter stood three or four people, wearing cosplay outfits and colorful wigs, drawing plenty of attention. “You should join in our activities too. There’s a cosplay event at the small square tonight. I booked two outfits with the drama club, let’s go play together.”
Ye Ran was curious. “A cosplay event?”
“Yeah. The school allocated funds to support it. You didn’t participate last year; if you don’t this year, you’ll definitely regret it! Trust me, it’s super fun! Last year I played the God of Wealth, my boyfriend played a clown, and at exactly nine in the evening, there were fireworks, f*cking romantic.”
Ye Ran grew interested listening. Around this time last year, he seemed to have been sick and taken a week off. Shen Shi was competing overseas, and the two of them missed the event by sheer coincidence. Since there was a chance this year, he also wanted to experience it.
Seeing that he had been persuaded, An Yu immediately sped up his eating. “Later we’ll go pick outfits at the drama club together. If we’re late, all the clothes will be borrowed!”
Ye Ran nodded. After thinking for a moment, he took out his phone and sent Shen Shi a message.
– Big Brother, are you still training tonight?
There was a tennis tournament in two months. This time they had to fly to the U.S. Coach Zhang was increasingly anxious about Shen Shi’s training progress and managed him whenever he could.
Only after finishing the meal did Ye Ran receive Shen Shi’s reply.
– Yes. What’s up?
Ye Ran replied: [Nothing, train well.]
Shen Shi: [Don’t wait for me tonight. Go back and rest early.]
[You’re going to be late again today?]
[Mm. Need to review the match.]
At the mention of reviewing, Ye Ran thought of Coach Zhang’s thunderous, lion-like roar and terrifying expression. With lingering fear, he obediently replied: [Got it.]
The strange atmosphere in the studio was scattered by these brief exchanges.
Ye Ran’s flustered mood calmed accordingly. He held his phone happily, thinking that his earlier reaction had been over the top. It wasn’t the first time Shen Shi had kissed him, his fingertips, cheeks, forehead had all been kissed by Shen Shi before. This time it was just his neck instead. No big deal at all.
Moreover, it wasn’t even a kiss, it was a bite.
Right now, he still seemed to be able to feel that tingling, numb sensation.
…Alright.
With a strange expression, he straightened up in his seat.
It was still a bit hard to take. When he got the chance, he definitely had to have a proper talk with Shen Shi.
He couldn’t keep using that “little brother” way of treating him anymore.
An Yu ate very quickly. After finishing, he excitedly took Ye Ran to the drama club.
The drama club was near the small auditorium. As soon as they went in, it was a hubbub of voices, noisy beyond belief. The narrow classroom was crammed full of a dark mass of people, some already dressed in bizarre costumes, others still not changed, still picking outfits.
Relying on his outstanding crowd-squeezing ability, An Yu dragged Ye Ran to find a corner and picked through a pile of thick stage costumes.
The clothes still had wrinkles and marks from being worn and handled by others. Ye Ran fell silent for a moment, then finally chose only a jacket-style trench coat. The long coat had a playing-card emblem printed on it, the collar standing up, paired with a brand-new, unopened mask.
The mask only covered the upper half of the face, with gold-embossed patterns on a pure black base. It also came with a small Ace of Clubs sticker that could be placed under the eye, giving off a very phantom-thief-like sense of mystery.
An Yu picked a fluffy pink princess dress. Layers of lace edged it all around, like the transformed outfit of a shoujo manga heroine, and it came with a pink curly wig.
Ye Ran was greatly shocked: “Wait… this is?”
“A dress,” An Yu laughed wickedly. “Since we’re cosplaying, we’ve gotta cosplay something different. If someone comes up to flirt with me tonight, I’ll lift my skirt and let him see.”
Ye Ran was shocked again.
“Compare sizes with him, hehehe.”
Ye Ran suffered a triple shock.
Although people who study art tend to be relatively open, because Ye Ran had Shen Shi’s deterrent presence around him, no one dared joke around with him or seek trouble.
Now, caught off guard by this kind of impact from An Yu, Ye Ran took a full five minutes to recover. His strong ability to accept things made him, just like when he accepted Shen Shi kissing him, also conveniently accept An Yu’s behavior.
It was nothing serious.
Compared to Shen Shi kissing him, any behavior had its own logic.
Ye Ran secretly nodded, took the trench coat, and went with An Yu to the changing room to change.
It was already completely dark outside. Through the square classroom windows, one could see streetlights lighting up one after another. Beneath the streetlights were circling insects; on both sides, the woods were pitch-black and gloomy, shadows indistinct.
“Ranran, let’s change together, help me zip it up while you’re at it.” An Yu’s voice came from the changing room.
Ye Ran withdrew his gaze and walked in. “Okay.”
Ye Ran’s clothes were easy to change into, he just needed to put on the mask, stick on the sticker, then wear the trench coat. The difficult part was An Yu’s princess puff dress, which actually had a hoop skirt. The two of them spent ages just finding the neckline. After finally getting it on, they still didn’t know how to deal with the hoop skirt, and it was only after the drama club president came to help that it was sorted out.
Once the pink wig was on as well, An Yu was completely transformed. He was a little shorter than Ye Ran and shyly hooked his arm through Ye Ran’s, pinching his voice. It really did sound somewhat androgynous.
It was already getting late, close to seven thirty.
Ye Ran and An Yu set off for the small square. The small square was near the auditorium, not very large, surrounded on all sides by pitch-dark woods, with only a single dim light in the square itself.
It was a breezy evening, the temperature a bit low. Neither Ye Ran nor An Yu took off the clothes underneath; they weren’t cold. They walked along the long cobblestone path, and the closer they got to the small square, the denser the voices became.
The square was packed with people all around, a dark mass, everyone was wearing cosplay outfits, along with students who hadn’t changed and had rushed over just to join the fun.
Dim light spilled down, barely allowing one to make out what people nearby were wearing. Many students wore masks, bustling about, whispering to each other, chatting and laughing.
A small open area was left in the middle of the square, with microphones and speakers set up.
A wave of noise erupted. Everyone seemed to understand what was about to happen, and excited chatter broke out.
“Is there going to be a performance later?”
“Yeah, I heard the cosplay club is going to do an otaku dance!”
“D*mn, that’s exciting. I want to squeeze forward a bit and get a closer look.”
As soon as news of the otaku dance came out, students trickled in from all directions, and the atmosphere grew even more heated. Ye Ran and An Yu were squeezed to the outer edge among the trees, standing on tiptoe to look ahead.
“So many people,” Ye Ran asked An Yu. “Is this the performance you were talking about?”
“Yeah. After the opening dance finishes, anyone who wants to perform can go up. Everyone’s wearing masks, no one knows who’s who, just go wild!”
“Last year, someone took the chance to confess. You have no idea how sensational it was. There’ll probably be one this year too.”
Ye Ran smiled, faintly feeling excited as well.
After following the rules for so many years, he suddenly realized that there was actually a streak of thrill-seeking running in his blood.
As they spoke, music had already started on the stage. Several girls in red cosplay outfits entered one by one, and the scene instantly erupted with shouts, like a drop of water splashing into hot oil—boom, it exploded—
A familiar melody rang out, instantly igniting the entire atmosphere.
The boys screamed wildly: “Ahhh—Gokuraku Jōdo—”
“Goddesses! You’re all my goddesses!”
All the students, as if instinctively taught, turned on their phone flashlights and waved them to the lively beat. On the makeshift stage built from wooden boards, the three girls moved freely with the rhythm. Their flowing skirts billowed in the wind, and even their hair seemed to come alive, flying through the air.
Two boys nearby were shouting the most hoarsely.
Ye Ran turned his head to look. The light was very dim, the music explosive. Two boys wearing masks and dressed as vampires were waving their phones, so excited they seemed to want nothing more than to jump onstage and dance.
Ye Ran vaguely felt they looked familiar. Before he could think further, An Yu began bouncing on his toes to the music. The puff skirt swayed with the wind, the lace edges overflowing with a cake-like sweetness.
He lost his balance for a moment and nearly fell. Ye Ran quickly supported him. “Be careful.”
“It’s fine, aren’t you here?” An Yu chuckled, casually hooking his arm through Ye Ran’s and continuing to twirl his skirt.
……
On the other side, Yu Ting, whose throat was nearly torn from shouting, finally finished recording.
Jiang Jun was still clutching his chest and howling like a ghost, his voice firmly drowned out by the drumbeats and shouts. He leaned over, eyes fixed on Yu Ting’s phone, and yelled at the top of his lungs: “Hurry up and send it to Shen Shi! D*mn it, let that kid feel sour!”
Yu Ting: “No! It costs data!”
“F*ck, I’ll reimburse you, okay?!” Jiang Jun cracked. “Hurry and send it to him. He’s still training at the gym right now, let him see how exciting us ordinary people’s lives are!”
Yu Ting was satisfied. He tapped send. “Alright!”
After sending the message, Yu Ting happily put his phone away and continued bouncing to the music. He felt his whole body heating up, his blood boiling, but that didn’t stop him from holding his phone and cheering for the otaku dance.
The next segment was students going on stage to perform spontaneously.
The electronic music buzzed and vibrated. Even though there was only one pale streetlight, it somehow burst forth with astonishing impact. Yu Ting waved his arms until they hurt, his palms buzzing and tingling.
He planned to take a break. After lowering his arms, he turned off the flashlight. The moment he did, nearly ten missed calls popped up.
“Holy sh*t!!!” Yu Ting fumbled as he opened the call log, staring at the name displayed on the missed calls. “What the h*ll… Jiang Jun, d*mn it, Shen Shi called me ten times, holy f*ck, is it really that stimulating?”
Jiang Jun was also stunned and leaned over. “F*ck, it really is… How long ago was this? Hurry up and call back, what if it’s something urgent.”
Even without Jiang Jun saying it, Yu Ting planned to do so. He walked to a slightly quieter spot and called back. The ringtone had only sounded once when the other side picked up immediately.
“Where are you?”
Shen Shi’s voice was icy cold, a chill seeming to seep through his teeth.
Yu Ting’s back went cold. “Huh? I’m with Jiang Jun at the small square watching the performances. What’s wrong? You called me so many times, were you looking for me?”
“The small square?”
“Oh, the open area next to the small auditorium, the one surrounded by trees…”
“I know.”
Before Yu Ting could ask anything else, Shen Shi decisively hung up. Just before the call ended, Yu Ting vaguely heard music from the other end, very close, making him wonder whether Shen Shi might have come over as well.
“What’s up? What did Shen Shi say?” Jiang Jun asked, holding a bottle of water.
“Nothing, just asked where I was.” Yu Ting took the water and drank a sip. As he lowered his head and then glanced up, he saw a pair of people standing very close together, arms entwined, just diagonally to their side.
D*mn, that bold?
Yu Ting pushed up his glasses and clicked his tongue.
It was already almost nine. Fireworks were about to start.
The fireworks the school prepared this time were plentiful, enough to last ten minutes.
Last year’s fireworks gala had been magnificent, attracting countless media outlets. This year would only be grander.
Yu Ting sighed in satisfaction, tilting his head back. Countless people around him did the same, all looking up at the pitch-black sky. The streetlight in the small square flickered again and again, about to go out.
All sound from speakers, songs, and dancing stopped. In the sea of people filling the square, only soft murmured conversations remained.
In the second before the lights went out, Yu Ting seemed to see a figure, a boy with an expressionless face and hurried steps, wearing a baseball cap. Beneath the brim spilled silver hair, and his face was likewise covered by a black mask concealing his features.
“F*ck,” he burst out laughing. “There seems to be someone over there cosplaying Echizen Ryoma, he even got the wig color wrong, hahahahaha.”
“All you know is Echizen Ryoma. That’s obviously Saeki Kojirō, okay?!”
……
“Whoosh—”
In the endless black night, a single flicker of fiery red light glimmered.
The next second, the sky erupted with a “crackle-pop” sound, the crowd began to stir, everyone surging forward, and the classmates who had rushed over for the fireworks gathered around the outer edge, all excitedly lifting their heads.
Brilliant, multicolored fireworks bloomed across the night sky, one after another, petals unfurling in countless forms; the elongated tails traced silver streaks through the darkness, as though dyeing this dim sky into a shimmering, radiant tapestry.
Ye Ran tilted his head up, the crowd around him still slowly pressing and shifting.
“Stop pushing, what’s there to push for?”
“It’s the people behind pushing… so many people have come.”
At some point, An Yu, who had been holding onto his arm, disappeared without a trace.
Ye Ran immediately lowered his head. Amid the dim crowd, countless shadows wavered indistinctly, the air growing stifling and hot. He squinted, trying to make out the people around him, but before he could find An Yu, his wrist was suddenly grabbed.
Then, a huge, unquestionable force surged over him, dragging him along, forcibly splitting open a path and heading toward the deeper, darker woods.
A hand this large could not possibly belong to An Yu. Ye Ran stumbled as he was pulled along, panicking as he said, “Classmate? Classmate? Did you grab the wrong person? Classmate—?”
By the firelight of the bursting fireworks, Ye Ran could only make out the boy’s side profile. A loose black coat was draped over him, a few stray strands of hair spilling from beneath the brim of his hat. The boy kept his head lowered, his features hidden in the murky shadows, as if unaware of anything else, only gripping Ye Ran’s wrist and striding forward.
The last bit of light vanished, and Ye Ran was completely at a loss.
Along the way, he had broken out in sweat from the heat. When the boy finally released his hand, their surroundings had become a pitch-dark forest, with the lively, brightly lit plaza only a few steps away.
The sounds of fireworks, voices, and the gradually rising music all filtered through the gaps between the trees. Ye Ran panted, bracing his hands on his knees, and said in a patient tone, “Classmate, can you hear me? You’ve got the wrong person.”
The boy standing in front of him said nothing, looking down at him from above.
“Whoosh—” in an instant.
The entire world fell back into darkness once more. Tonight’s grandest display of fireworks would bloom in one minute; countless launch tubes were set up in the distance of the small plaza, the smell of gunpowder spreading, igniting the restless excitement in the students’ hearts.
Ye Ran’s vision plunged into pitch black.
He blinked, still not having reacted, when his arm was seized. A large, well-defined hand clamped tightly around his wrist, forcing it up; the boy’s rough palm was slick with sweat as he yanked him over, lowering his head viciously and ferociously to kiss him.
Ye Ran: “!!!”
He was completely stunned, his mind going blank under the violent impact.
The boy restrained both his hands and pressed in before he could recover. A cool breath mixed with the scent of sweat enveloped him; two long legs pried open his knees and squeezed in, giving a lightly upward thrust charged with danger.
Ye Ran’s pupils shrank abruptly, his entire body going limp.
He came back to himself and struggled desperately, but his lips were pried open with force. Scorching, searing breath drove straight in, his tongue tip caught and sucked, like a traveler starved to the extreme, following the branches to plump, tempting berries overflowing with sweet fragrance, biting down, licking the flesh.
Even more as if he knew all his sensitive spots, he entangled his tongue tip before Ye Ran could resist, giving it a light but deliberate bite.
Ye Ran’s waist hollow softened, his vision whitening in waves again.
The kiss was so intense it was as if he wanted to tear him apart and devour him whole. The boy’s masked features came into view; sweat slid down from his silver temples, then fell along the cold, sharply defined line of his jaw.
Ye Ran’s gaze trembled as if burned. His tongue, kissed into a flushed, soft mess, throbbed with pain as well. The boy pressing him down to kiss him, vicious and domineering, slowly lifted his eyelids, his eyes dark and heavy. Biting Ye Ran’s tongue, he dragged it out of his lips bit by bit, then before Ye Ran could show a look of shame, took it back in again, like someone finally tasting the plump berries he had yearned for day and night, greedy and unrelenting.
“Guzi.”
An extremely humiliating wet sound was drawn out as his tongue was sucked.
The boiling voices behind them grew distant, and the fireworks blooming and exploding at the horizon also blurred.
The corners of Ye Ran’s eyes were damply reddened; he gasped in small breaths, tears slipping down unconsciously, his lashes soaked and beaded with droplets.
His cheeks were flushed, black hair tangled against his snow-white cheek. The black mask looked like it might fall off at any moment. Pitifully, his whole body trembled, his strength giving out as he slid downward, collapsing to his knees on the grass. In the next moment, the boy crouched down as well, still bending over to kiss him deeply, head tilted, eyelids lowered, following the line of his lips, kissing him hard.
Other than opening his mouth and occasionally letting out a few sobbing sounds, Ye Ran could do nothing.
The sticky, damp kisses soon slid to the small poker-card sticker on his cheek—“guzi,” another wet sound after being sucked. The flesh of his cheek beneath the sticker was lightly bitten. The boy kissing him no longer bothered to hide anything and said hoarsely, “…Don’t dodge.”
Ye Ran shook his head again and again.
“…It’s swollen, it hurts.” He sucked in a breath.
His swollen tongue tip was faintly visible.
Shen Shi narrowed his eyes. After a full two hours of training at the gym, plus rushing all the way over, the restlessness and destructive impulses inside his body still held the upper hand. Powerful possessiveness and aggression overwhelmed his reason. Sweat rolled down drop by drop, soaking into his muscles. The surging adrenaline made his pupils tighten with excitement, condensing into a single point like that of a cold-blooded animal, etching the person before him into focus.
That kiss had completely unlocked the shackles of his delusions.
Like having hunted down prey he had long coveted, he forcibly suppressed the trembling at his fingertips, not even bothering with any kind of prelude. An unresistable, extremely forceful aura radiated from him as he pinched Ye Ran’s chin and commanded in a low voice, “Ranran, sit on my lap.”
“Hurry.”
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