Yan Yu's pale eyes flew wide open in shock. He couldn't understand why Gu Huaizhi would say that.
Before he could ask, the man closed in and closed a hand around his throat.
“I don't need your explanation. All I know is that after one night with you, I'm missing a cufflink.”
He studied those pale, clear eyes — every emotion in them sitting right on the surface.
Nothing like the eyes that wore eight hundred layers of masks, churning with calculation.
No effort needed to guess what lay behind those masks; one look gave him the most direct emotional feedback.
[Gu Huaizhi's Affinity +10. Current Affinity: 15.]
[Gu Huaizhi's Corruption -15. Current Corruption: 83.]
“This pair of cufflinks sold at auction in Country F last year for thirty million. If I call the police, that thief will have to pay back quite a sum, won't he?”
Just as expected, he saw fear and fury flash across the young man's eyes. Gu Huaizhi rubbed the soft skin beneath his fingers, leaned close to his ear, his expression suggestive:
“It's not as if I have to call the police.”
“It's a pity last night's service was so poor. I'm in a terrible mood — I might as well let the thief have a taste of it.”
Yan Yu's face flushed red from the pressure on his throat. “I didn't take it! Go ahead, call the police!”
“Tch. You think I found you by accident after you left? Of course I've already reported it. They told me you're the prime suspect.”
Under Yan Yu's disbelieving stare, Gu Huaizhi let go and dialed right in front of him.
While the call waited to connect, their eyes locked.
Gu Huaizhi's face was perfectly calm, as if confident the answer from the other end would match his story.
Yan Yu swallowed nervously, breathing fast, his heart about to leap out of his chest.
The bar owner had said people like these were not to be provoked — so even after what happened last night, he hadn't dared report anything.
Just like now: he didn't dare gamble that whoever answered that phone would be fair.
If he ended up owing a debt in the tens of millions, or went to prison, Grandma Director would never live long enough to see him pay it off.
He couldn't take that gamble.
Yan Yu suddenly reached out and snatched Gu Huaizhi's phone, hanging up.
[Yan Yu: Truly inhuman. When he reported it, it was breaking in and forcing himself on someone. Now it's suddenly “theft.”]
[System: How did he dare dial that number? Isn't he afraid of being found out?]
[Yan Yu, meaningfully: Guess~]
Gu Huaizhi wasn't angry at having his phone snatched away.
His long eyes curved, his tone suggestive.
“Climbing into my bed, then stealing. I look forward to your next surprising skill.”
Yan Yu looked at him and found that smiling face hideous.
He shut his eyes, the humiliation unbearable. “Close the door.”
Gu Huaizhi shut the door in a fine mood — and thoughtfully locked it too.
When he came back, Yan Yu drew a deep breath and reached for Gu Huaizhi's waist, unbuckling his belt.
……
Yan Yu clapped a hand over his mouth, gagging, but Gu Huaizhi held him firmly in place.
A warm palm smoothed once down his throat, and he swallowed it back down.
Yan Yu doubled over the trash can, retching, but his stomach had been empty too long; only a few drops of bitter bile came up.
Gu Huaizhi poured him a glass of water. Yan Yu took it and rinsed his mouth.
“Ahem...”
Something still seemed lodged in his throat; Yan Yu coughed violently.
Wiping the water from his lips, he looked up at Gu Huaizhi with reddened eyes, voice hoarse:
“You got what you wanted out of me. Can I go now?”
Gu Huaizhi raised an eyebrow, finding his naivety amusing.
He reached out and pinched his cheek; when Yan Yu dodged, he wasn't the least bit embarrassed.
He took the glass from his hand and replaced it with a fresh one of warm water.
“Take care of your health first,” Gu Huaizhi said, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth, offering nothing about when he would be free to go.
“Everything else can wait.”
[Gu Huaizhi's Corruption -3. Current Corruption: 80.]
Gu Huaizhi unhurriedly straightened his cuffs.
The single sapphire cufflink swept ostentatiously before Yan Yu's eyes, cutting off every word he'd been about to say.
[Yan Yu: Keep threatening people like that and you'll die alone, man.]
[The System, just back from being locked out: ॱᯅॱ]
A knock sounded, and Gu Huaizhi opened the door.
A dozen-odd doctors, all looking the very picture of authority, filed in and surrounded Yan Yu's bed.
The lead physician reported Yan Yu's condition to Gu Huaizhi.
From a distance, Yan Yu caught fragments — “inflamed,” “tearing” — and squirmed where he sat.
Even though the doctors beside him were only doing routine checks, their gazes took on an entirely different meaning in his eyes.
Under the blanket, his hand clenched the bedding; he bowed his head, not daring to meet anyone's eyes.
“You're swollen here — be gentle when you move.”
A kindly male voice came from his left, and Yan Yu nearly jumped out of his skin.
The overreaction drew attention; everyone looked over.
Following the doctor's pointing finger, Yan Yu saw his arm — where the IV line went in, the flesh had puffed up high.
Blues and purples blending into the marks beside it.
“Okay,” he said at once, pulling the blanket over the marks, voice barely audible. “Thank you.”
[Yan Yu: The way this doctor talks, anyone would get the wrong idea~]
[System: ˃ʍ˂]
“You can all step out now.”
Gu Huaizhi frowned and ushered the doctors out, following them himself.
Yan Yu immediately buried himself in the blanket.
In the dark, tears crept out before he knew it.
Who knew how long Gu Huaizhi meant to keep him locked up here. If he never let him go, Zhou Peng and the rest at the orphanage could never scrape together enough for the medical bills.
What would happen to Grandma Director...
If Zhou Peng couldn't reach him, would he go looking for him at Lanyu? If he stirred up trouble there, what then...
Yan Yu's fever hadn't broken; his head swam with worries, but before long he drifted off to sleep.
When he woke, there was a chill where his backside lay bare.
He turned his head — straight into Gu Huaizhi's gaze. Under the overhead light, that face looked dark and ominous.
Yan Yu startled, yanking up his trousers and scrambling to rise.
Gu Huaizhi batted his hands away and, with the other, scooped a dollop of ointment and smoothed it over the wound. “Don't move.”
The man's movements were anything but gentle. The cold ointment met his skin, then melted under the warmth of Gu Huaizhi's fingertips, worked into the wound — a sting, and a strange tingling numbness.
Yan Yu flinched, recoiling from the man's closeness, not daring to protest out loud, only shrinking back. “I... I can do it myself.”
Gu Huaizhi studied him a moment, then nodded and handed over the ointment. “Fine.”
He hadn't expected the man to agree so easily. Delight flashed through Yan Yu's eyes; he pulled up his trousers at once, ready to go tend to it in the bathroom — and in the next second, Gu Huaizhi hauled him back.
“Where do you think you're going? It's medicine, isn't it? Right here is fine.”
Seeing him frozen, Gu Huaizhi added, “Something inconvenient about it?”
The trousers he'd just pulled up were tugged back down.
Yan Yu opened his mouth to struggle one more time, but Gu Huaizhi guided his hand to scoop a dollop of ointment, then held that finger up before his eyes, gaze teasing. “Or shall I help?”