Chapter Text
Music. Voices. Laughter. Something brushed against his arm. A quick glance to the left, then to the right. Nothing. And yet everything. Too much. Too loud. Too many people. Too many voices.
It roared in his ears, making him stagger. One step forward. A stumble. Then back, swaying through the crowd. Body to body. His heartbeat quickened. It was all too much, too loud, too… intense.
How on earth had he ended up here?
Lights. Voices. A ringing in his ears. Sweaty hands and tense shoulders.
The flickering lights of the spotlights brushed his face, making his skin glow a soft red. Applause. Light. It blinded him, made him stagger, and caused him to squint his eyes even tighter.
One step after another. Don’t get lost. Don’t get swallowed up by this tide. Swim. Through the crowd, past women in short skirts and men in white shirts. It was all too much.
Panic flooded over him.
“I have to get out of here. Now,” he muttered, looking around. Anywhere. Just away. His breathing quickened. Looking straight ahead, he tried to find his bearings in the crowd. A laborious step forward. Stumbling. Just get away, somehow.
He felt his legs begin to tremble. The alcohol he’d consumed just a few hours earlier clouded his senses and blurred his vision. Trembling. Another step. “Gotta get home,” he gasped, pushing his way through.
Through, just blindly forward through the crowd. Away. Away from here. A mantra of hoarse voices in his head. Gotta get away. Just get away. Now.
Sweat beaded on his skin. Wu Suowei pinched his cheek. “You have to stay awake,” he told himself. He couldn’t stop now. Otherwise, he’d be swallowed up by the darkness. Just like that. Without anyone even noticing.
A jolt. A draft. One step forward, and then air. Space. He was outside. Somehow he’d found his way through the crowd to the exit. A shiver ran through him. He stumbled. Slipped to his knees on the cold gravel. Breathe in. Breathe out.
“Everything’s fine, everything’s fine, you’re outside, finally outside, now you have to… now you have to go home… you have to…”
“Are you all right?”
A pleasantly deep voice pierced his thoughts. A quick glance. A pause, a hesitation. His eyes widened. Before him stood a man. Dressed entirely in black. His eyes slightly narrowed. Pale skin and dark eyes. The moonlight shimmering on his face.
Then a twitch, a sudden feeling of nausea. He leaned forward. Vomit. A bitter taste in his mouth. Everything hurted. He shuddered. A wave of disgust washed over him. The gravel was splattered with the orange-brown contents of his stomach.
A glance from the stranger. Then a sudden, dizzying jolt. He was yanked up by the collar of his shirt.
The gaze of dark, piercing eyes. He was face to face with the stranger. For a moment, his breath caught in his throat. Those eyes, that gaze...
He shook his head. Stay calm. “Focus, damn it!” he muttered, feeling dizzy from the alcohol and the oncoming headache.
“What is your name?”
He had to swallow. The stranger had him in his grip and was staring at him point-blank. Breathe in. Exhale. “Stay calm,” he reminded himself for the third time that evening. Heat crept up his cheeks, and he nervously lowered his gaze.
“Look at me. I’ll only ask once.”
The stranger had loosened his grip slightly and was now looking directly at him.
“My name is… Wu Suowei.”
Then everything went black before his eyes.
Light. He squinted. Wu Suowei looked around in confusion. Soft sheets wrapped around his body, and the room he was in was so bright, so white, that he had to squint.
“Ouch!” he groaned as he tilted his head. The throbbing in his head was intense. Too intense.
He leaned forward. With every movement, a dull pain shot through him involuntarily. “I shouldn’t have drunk so much yesterday…,” he muttered to himself, scratching his head.
And then, as if out of nowhere and without any warning, the memories of last night came flooding back. He remembered. He remembered the stench of cheap beer, sweat, and vomit. The loud music, the voices, the laughter. How he’d staggered through the crowd, desperate, on the run, searching for an exit—and then… then he’d made it outside, gasping for air. And there, in the moonlight, he’d stood. The stranger. Wrapped in a black jacket and with that enigmatic look in his eyes…
What had he asked again?
Suowei furrowed his brow and tried desperately to recall what the stranger had said, done, and…
Suddenly, something clicked in his head. The unfamiliar surroundings, the stranger, the whole situation - which was still a mystery to him… He must have taken him home after his “breakdown” in front of the club, or at least to a place very close to it.
Wu Suowei ran his right hand through his dark hair before rising agonizingly slowly from the bed, taking great care not to strain his aching limbs any more than absolutely necessary.
After just a few cautious steps, he felt his legs give way and he staggered toward the floor. The only thing he heard before losing consciousness again were heavy footsteps on the polished magnolia floor. And then everything went black again.
Suowei jolted awake. A blinding light shone in his face, and he thought he could hear faint voices in the distance.
How long had he been asleep? Hours? Days, or even weeks?
The voices grew louder, and Suowei turned around, looking around searchingly. He was desperately searching for any clue as to where he was and why he was there. His whole body felt numb, and Suwei found it hard to keep his eyes open.
“Hello?” he croaked; his voice was hoarse and faint.
Silence spread. No voice, no breeze could be heard. Suowei continued to look around the room, disoriented.
He remembered that this wasn’t the first time he’d woken up in this chamber. Yet he couldn’t recall why he—of all people—couldn’t remember the reason for his presence in this strange room. No matter how hard he tried, it was no use.
He let his gaze wander around the room once more, and his searching eyes fell on the wooden nightstand next to his bed. On it stood a white ceramic bowl, from which promising steam rose. Suwei’s nose twitched. The smell of hot ramen soup wafted toward him. He eagerly licked his dry lips. His stomach growled.
Only now did he realize that he was plagued by an uncontrollable feeling of hunger, which was spreading rapidly through his pit of the stomach. Wu Suowei reached out his arm toward the steaming bowl.
He reached for it greedily, but just before he could wrap his fingers around the hot porcelain, he paused. Who had brought him the food? The question plagued him, burrowing into his mind and refusing to let go no matter how hard he tried.
Who? Was it the stranger whose face Suowei was slowly but surely beginning to remember, or was he already in a different place with another stranger? Maybe even at home? Had the stranger perhaps taken him to a completely different place again?
Suowei looked around cautiously. No, this room clearly resembled the one where he had been when he last woke up. And, unfortunately, he still wasn’t home. Presumably, the stranger had had no idea how he could have found the unconscious man’s residence. How could he have?
Suowei sighed heavily.
A loud rumbling made him flinch and instantly reminded him of his basic human needs.
“I can wonder about that later; right now, it’s time to eat,” Wu Suowei decided. With a slightly trembling hand, he reached for the white plate.
Next to the plate on the small side table lay two wooden chopsticks with carved floral patterns, neatly lined up. Suowei grabbed the chopsticks with a deft movement and carefully balanced the bowl of hot soup on his lap. The aroma of the ramen filled his nose. Suowei’s mouth watered; he took the wooden chopsticks in his hands and dipped them into the warm broth.
The first bite seemed to practically melt on his tongue. With the second bite, he closed his eyes in delight. “So good, so delicious,” Wu Suowei moaned with pleasure. With every subsequent bite, he felt the gnawing sensation in his stomach subside. But after only a short time, a completely different feeling took its place: tiredness. Exhaustion.
Suowei felt his eyelids growing heavier. He blinked. He couldn’t fall asleep now—not now, not just like that.
Before his eyes finally closed, Suowei managed to put the bowl back in its original place. He burrowed deeper into the pile of blankets.
Exhaustion overcame him so quickly that he barely had time to cover himself properly. A few careless seconds later, his eyelids began to flutter - Suowei struggled with all his might to keep his eyes open, but no matter how hard he tried, his body seemed to have other plans. With one last little sigh, he finally gave in. His eyes closed, extinguishing the last spark of light that had been reaching his retina just moments before.
A few moments later, the door to the room opened with a quiet creak. Soft footsteps approached the bed where Suewei lay stretched out, fast asleep. A small smile flitted across the intruder’s lips.
He leaned forward, his gaze sweeping over the delicate figure before him. For a moment, a dark shadow flitted across the stranger’s face, but just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished from his pale face.
The man leaned forward, smoothed out the sheets with a deft movement, and pulled the blanket over Suowei’s upper body. He was now so close to him that he could hear his shallow breathing.
In a moment of inattention, he gently brushed the sticky hair from his forehead.
“Cute,” the thought forced itself upon him the longer and more intently he gazed at the sleeper.
After what felt like an eternity of unceasing staring, the man finally tore his gaze away. The expression in his eyes was cool once more.
He leaned forward and reached for the bowl and sushi chopsticks on the side table. His face betrayed no emotion as he left the room with the dishes in his hands.
The next time Suowei opened his eyes, he found himself looking into eyes as black as night. He instinctively flinched.
“What…? Where… am I?” he stammered, confused, letting his gaze wander around the room. A window, a closet, and a nightstand.
Suowei was lying stretched out on soft sheets. His eyes hadn’t yet adjusted to the light, and yet the room seemed strangely… familiar.
“Of course!” it dawned on him: “This room seems so familiar because I’ve been lying here for who knows how long.”
He took another deep breath, gathered his thoughts, and then asked the stranger the question that had been on his mind ever since he woke up:
“What happened?”
His voice sounded uncertain and trembled slightly. He hoped that all his questions would be answered quickly.
The stranger sat up. His gaze slid from Suowei’s feet up to his wide, frightened eyes. A smile flitted across his lips.
“Well…,” the mysterious stranger began:
“You were out partying at a club, and we ran into each other. Shortly after that, you lost consciousness. I took you back to my place and took care of you. And here we are now.”
He paused meaningfully, his face etched with an expression of undisguised curiosity. Wu Suowei’s eyes widened as the events of the past few days suddenly came flooding back to him.
But something... wasn't right. Suowei couldn't shake the feeling that something about the whole situation didn't add up.
“But… why…? I mean…,” he stammered, confused.
How long had he been unconscious? No matter how much alcohol he’d consumed, he’d never been knocked out for this long before. And even now, what felt like an eternity later, he could still feel the aftereffects.
“Drugs.”
The answer came so clearly, so quickly, that Suowei flinched.
The stranger continued, confirming his grim suspicion: "The substances, the alcohol... That wasn't something you could just brush off. I suspect someone spiked your drink with a drug. You were out of it for days...."
The other man seemed to have read his unspoken question from his lips. And his answer shocked Suowei.
He ran his hands nervously through his dark hair. Confused and still slightly shaken by the information he’d just received from the man across from him. His stomach clenched at the thought that someone had deliberately drugged him. Why would anyone… and, above all, how could that person have slipped something into his drink? He’d been careful with his drinks, hadn’t he? Suowei vaguely recalled a moment of inattention; surrounded by the crowd, feeling cramped, he’d been distracted. Vulnerable.
Suowei tried to remember if anyone—another party guest—had gotten too close to him. Close enough to have discreetly spiked his drink with a drug. But the harder he tried to remember, the more the events of the evening blurred into indistinct shadows.
He sank deeper into the sheets and scrutinized the figure in front of him closely.
The stranger wore elegant black dress pants, an immaculate silk shirt with the top buttons undone, and leather shoes that Suowei was certain cost more than his entire annual salary. The man’s face was framed by dark strands of hair, and his eyes seemed as deep as the endless waters where Suowei had often swum as a child.
Wu Suowei had grown up in a small village, where in the summer butterflies and bees pollinated the endless cornfields that stretched for kilometers into the distance. On sultry summer nights, he would often dash out into the fields and, in the light of the setting sun, secretly gnaw on one corn cob after another with his baby teeth until his belly was so full that you could have rolled him down the hills into the valley.
In a way, he’d always gotten himself into trouble easily; even back then as a little boy, he’d attracted trouble like a moth to a flame, and now, ironically, the recurring cycle seemed to be repeating itself.
Suowei blinked, and with a flutter of his long eyelashes, he realized he was still in this strange room with a stranger he’d only seen once before.
And then a question occurred to Suewei so suddenly that he wondered why he hadn’t asked it days earlier. With a suspicious squint, he voiced what was on his mind:
“Anyway…Who... are you?”
For a brief moment, the world seemed to hold its breath. The stranger ran a hand calmly through his hair. His gaze wandered aimlessly around the room until it settled on Suowei. A small smile flitted across his features, giving him a predatory air.
“Chi Cheng. It‘s a plessure to meet you, Wu Suewei.“
The stranger held out his hand, which Wu Suewei accepted with trembling hands. Cheng’s hand was warm, and the touch sent a pleasant shiver down Suewei’s spine.
He quickly pulled his hand back, his gaze shyly fixed on the floor. In doing so, he missed the amused look on his counterpart’s face, who was scrutinizing him relentlessly.
“Well…,” Suewei began awkwardly, “I’m truly grateful for your help, but I think I should first…”
“You don’t have to be so formal with me.”
Chi Cheng’s deep voice cut him off, leaving him speechless for a moment. He looked uneasily into the dark eyes of the man across from him. The corners of Chi Cheng’s mouth were curved into a smile.
“Do you really think it would be a good idea to just run off like this? Not to mention that you wouldn’t even be able to do that in your current condition.”
Wu Suowei glared darkly at Chi Cheng and was just about to fire off a sharp retort when Cheng interrupted him as naturally as if it were his birthright - as if, over the years, he’d received a special certificate authorizing him to cut others off with a matter-of-factness that bordered on the miraculous.
“And besides,” Chi Cheng continued undeterred, “I think it would be better if you stayed here for now. You’re still weakened by the drug you were given, and you were out of commission for several days. Eat something first, relax, and regain your strength before you rush off on your next adventure.”
As he said the last part of his sentence, Chi Cheng gave him a teasing wink.
“I’m fine,” Wu Suowei hissed, offended by Cheng’s implication that he might haf a weak impression on him.
“Look,” he said triumphantly, to emphasize his words, “I can walk!”
With wobbly legs, he tentatively placed first one foot, then the other - like a cautious kitten - onto the polished wooden floor. In a moment of elation, Suowei spread his arms wide and pointed at himself with raised eyebrows.
He laughed exuberantly, confident that he had now proven his strength and would undoubtedly be able to march straight home, resembling a soldier returning from battle.
„Look, Cheng, I told you that I…”
A jolt, a tremor that swept through Suwei so suddenly he couldn’t react in time, caused his legs to buckle like a fragile matchstick, and in an instant he was hurtling unstoppably toward the ground.
Instinctively, Wu Suowei closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact. Inside, he cursed himself for having boasted just a few seconds earlier.
How could he have overestimated himself and underestimated his body so much in this situation? He squeezed his eyes shut even tighter.
But the blow - the impact - never came.
Suowei blinked in confusion and slowly opened his eyes.
Something - no, someone - was holding him tightly, preventing him from hitting the ground.
Instead of the feeling of hard ground, Suowei was now enveloped by two strong arms. He looked up at the ceiling and was almost surprised to find himself staring directly into Chi Cheng’s perfect face.
Chi Cheng held him pressed tightly against his warm body without the slightest effort. The warm light in the room bathed Cheng in a bright glow, making his features appear even more angelic and otherworldly.
“No,” Suewei corrected himself instantly in his mind: “He looks more like a demon than an angel.”
The loud pounding of his heartbeat pulsed through Wu Suowei’s body. His eyes were wide open, his breathing shallow.
“You’d better watch where you’re stepping. We don’t want you to disappear into the Land of the Moon again. Right, Weiwei?”
Suowei was speechless; despite the shock and his near-fall just a few moments ago, a broken sound escaped him.
“Weiwei? That’s not my name, Cheng.”
“Oh, I know, but I just thought it would suit you so much better.”
Suowei puffed himself up. How dare Chi Cheng? How dare he just give him some random nickname?
Did this man have absolutely no boundaries?! Apparently not in the slightest.
Chi Cheng gently set Suowei back down on the edge of the bed.
“And besides,” Cheng added, “it doesn’t look like you can stand on your own two feet yet. Don’t you think it would be wiser to accept my offer while it’s still on the table?”
Wu Suowei literally slumped. His counterpart was absolutely right - he knew that now - but admitting to himself that he wasn’t yet able to stand on his own two feet was, admittedly, quite unpleasant. And Suewei had always been a very proud man.
Chi Cheng watched his inner struggle with a small smile. While the smaller man racked his brain, wrestling with himself over whether to accept Cheng’s offer, Cheng leaned back calmly and observed Suowei with an attentive gaze from a few meters away.
It was the gaze of a predator who knew full well that all he had to do was wait until his victim ran out of the breath he’d been carefully conserving, and would then submit to him in utter desperation.
“Well… For better or worse, I have to stay here anyway, don’t I, Cheng?” Suowei muttered, visibly disappointed, his pink lips - which he’d moistened with saliva earlier in his nervousness - pouting into a sweet pout.
“You could have had it much worse, Suowei.”
Cheng’s voice, a piercing tone of authority cutting through the uncomfortable silence, made Wu Suowei flinch slightly.
Sometimes he found the other man suspicious in such a subtle way, despite knowing that he had freed him from the clutches of powerlessness.
And yet something about Chi Cheng’s manner, the way he commanded the room from one moment to the next and stifled any dissent with just a cool glance, made Suewei shudder.
It was a feeling he had never sensed in anyone else before. Was it authority? Power? Inside, Suowei shook his head firmly.
No, something else seemed to emanate from Cheng, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on yet, all he knew was that it sent a shiver down his spine and a tingling sensation through his stomach.
“Well… what’s the plan?”
A brief silence, then Cheng sat up straight and looked Suewei directly in his round eyes.
“The plan, Weiwei…?”
“Don’t call me that!” Suowei snapped back immediately, though he couldn’t help feeling a pleasant warmth spread through his cheeks at the sound of his new nickname.
Chi Cheng grinned. He was clearly having a blast teasing Suowei.
“Before we grab a bite to eat, I’ll show you around. After all, I don’t want you to get lost.”
Suowei nodded, feeling slightly uneasy, and tried once again to get up from the mattress. “You never learn from your mistakes, do you?” Cheng eyed him with a resigned sigh, his hand slowly reaching for Suewei’s - in a brief moment of inattention, Chi Cheng’s large hands encircled the smaller man’s slender waist.
Wu Suowei gasped in surprise. Then he was lifted up, his body pressed firmly against Cheng’s strong chest. Instinctively, the blood rushed to his head and his cheeks grew warm.
It was … a strange feeling, being held like that, protective and safe. Something he hadn‘t felt a long time before.
Wu Suowei had to admit to himself that he enjoyed being carried by Chi - very much so, in fact - perhaps more than he actually should.
Chi Cheng carried Suowei so effortlessly across the room that Suewei wondered what kind of sport the other man practiced to stay in such good shape.
In the blink of an eye - with Wu Suowei still in Cheng’s strong arms - they reached the door.
With a soft click, it opened, revealing a long corridor.
Tall mirrors hung on white walls, and modern-looking lamps hung from the ceiling.
Everything looked… expensive. The polished wooden floor, the minimalist, clinical furnishings.
Expensive, and yet… cold, sharp. As if all color, all life, had been sucked out of the building in a single breath.
The hallways reminded Suowei of a labyrinth, built of glass and steel - designed to make one get lost in the endlessly long corridors.
Now he understood why his companion was afraid he might get lost. Chi Cheng’s apartment was huge.
Suowei swallowed nervously, impressed by the designer furniture and the size of the place.
Chi Cheng must be incredibly rich.
“How? Pff, what does this guy actually do for a living?” Suowei wondered, frowning.
It must be a job that paid a lot of money. Maybe Cheng held a management position at a large company - or maybe he’d inherited a fortune.
Why had someone, someone who was so clearly above him, decided to help him? To take care of him and even let him stay overnight in his own home?
Suowei was at a loss.
Something still didn’t quite fit into the picture.
It was as if he were still missing a crucial piece of the puzzle - but Wu Suewei was determined to find it, no matter what it took.
“I’ll show you around a bit first, and then we’ll grab something to eat, okay?”
Suowei nodded.
“Okay.”
Chi Cheng disappeared with him into the endless hallways.
Suowei glanced back one last time.
He desperately hoped he wasn’t putting his trust in the wrong person. Either way, he’d find out soon enough.