ADTCP Ch18

After coming out of the restroom, Tao Zhen suddenly remembered he had left his phone behind.

Bars weren’t like school, things could go missing even if you kept them on you. He rushed back to the booth, only relaxing when he saw his phone still lying intact on the table. He tapped the screen, no missed calls, no message notifications, then tucked it back into his pocket.

By now, the other members of the music club were already drunk and rowdy, playing wild drinking games and belting out Love You to Death.

When Bai Yuxuan saw Tao Zhen return, his eyes lit up. Struggling to climb out of the sunken sofa, he tried to straighten his muddled thoughts:

“Ah, Tao Zhen, when you went out just now, your- ”

Tao Zhen hadn’t heard clearly, and instinctively leaned closer. “What?”

“I mean, when you went out earlier, I picked up your-”

Before Bai Yuxuan could finish, two classmates his age suddenly hooked their arms around him, laughing as they interrupted:

“Old Bai! Sneaking off to chat with the freshman, just to dodge drinks, huh?”

“Only a few glasses and you’re done already? Look at all this booze! You came to the bar to raise goldfish?!” They shouted, then grabbed Bai Yuxuan’s chin and tipped more alcohol down his throat.

“Drink!”

“…”

Bai Yuxuan had no time to explain or resist, and was forced to swallow mouthfuls of the extra-strong spiked cola. Soon he was bent over, ready to puke. His two friends, however, were still fired up, cheering him on, until a clear, ringing male voice cut through the noise.

“Don’t make him drink anymore. He doesn’t look well.”

The two paused, turning toward the sound. A strikingly handsome boy was walking over, speaking openly: “Let me drink with you instead. How about it?”

The air went still for two seconds.

One of them laughed. “Freshman, we weren’t trying to do anything serious. We’ll stop pouring for Old Bai. Why make it hard on yourself? You don’t look like a drinker at all.”
“Yeah,” the other added bluntly, “if you get drunk, we won’t even know how to get you home…”

Before Tao Zhen could speak, Bai Yuxuan jolted upright like a fish flipping out of water, grabbing his friends by the collar: “No, don’t, don’t compete with him. I mean it, ”

The two exchanged a glance, and then an expression of sudden realization crossed their faces.
So Old Bai had feelings for this freshman, that’s why he was so worried about him.

“Alright then,” they changed their tune instantly. “Come on, freshman, let’s drink!”

Tao Zhen didn’t bother with their undercurrents. He raised his glass brightly, his smile dazzling:
“Come on!”

The sound of clinking glasses rang out.

Bai Yuxuan slumped back onto the sofa, shutting his eyes as if he couldn’t bear to watch.

Twenty minutes later, the gathering was still loud and lively, but some were already at their limit.

When Liu Xian was called over from another table, her heart skipped a beat. Her willow brows shot up.

“You’re saying A-Xiong and Xiao Song went to team up with Old Bai to pour drinks into Tao Zhen? Are they insane?!”

“I only wanted everyone to have fun, and maybe give Tao Zhen a chance to see some chivalry, let Old Bai shield him from drinks or something…”

“And instead he roped people in to gang up on him?!” she snapped. “What’s wrong with him! If anything happens to Tao Zhen, I’ll-”

But before she could finish, she froze, eyes widening.

Around the wooden table lay three supposedly refined male students, sprawled out in a pile like dominoes.

Bai Yuxuan, completely dazed, was pinned at the bottom, while A-Xiong and Xiao Song were grinning foolishly on top, drawing circles with one foot, kicking with the other, throwing out random hand signs.

Meanwhile, Tao Zhen was perfectly fine, standing to the side, scratching his cheek a little sheepishly.

“Sorry, Senior. I’ve never really done drinking contests before. I didn’t know they’d get this drunk after just that little, there wasn’t even a full jin of baijiu in the whole bucket.”

Liu Xian staggered, muttering faintly: “N-no, it’s fine… as long as you’re okay.”

Finally recovering from her shock, she called over a few members to help haul the three drunkards up.

Feeling guilty, Tao Zhen volunteered to help, propping up their arms as they walked.

At the bar’s entrance, Liu Xian and the others left, while Tao Zhen stayed behind alone to wait with the three for a cab.

Neon signs glowed pink and purple in the night, blurring everything in a haze of ambiguous darkness.

From a distance, the slender boy looked almost embraced by the tall young men draped over him.

At last, Bai Yuxuan managed to find a chance to speak, leaning half against Tao Zhen as he struggled to keep his eyes open. His voice was low:
“Tao Zhen, there’s… something I didn’t get to tell you.”

Still supporting him and A-Xiong, Tao Zhen looked up in puzzlement.

“When you went to the restroom, someone called you. I thought it was my phone, so I answered by mistake. Later he asked where you were, and I told him…”

Tao Zhen froze, fumbling in his pocket for his phone and opening the call log. Twenty-five minutes ago: Zhu Wensheng. Duration, two minutes.

A chill wind swept past.

Bai Yuxuan suddenly felt more sober, asking uneasily: “So… that man. What’s he to you?”

Tao Zhen’s heart gave a jolt. He was about to look up when, in the corner of his vision, the light dimmed. At the same moment, the weight on his shoulder and neck disappeared.

A tall, striking black-haired boy stood before them, expression unreadable, eyes locked on the pair from above.

Zhu Wensheng looked… angry?

The thought flashed through Tao Zhen’s mind before he was yanked by the wrist and pulled behind Zhu Wensheng.

“…Hey!”

Bai Yuxuan’s eyes went wide. He staggered forward, clutching at Zhu Wensheng’s arm. “Who are you?! Let go!”

Zhu Wensheng didn’t move. Following the weak pull upward, he saw the bespectacled youth before him. Coincidentally, his voice matched the one from the phone.

He lifted his lashes coolly, expression unreadable, and repeated slowly:
“Who am I?”

Bai Yuxuan froze. The alcohol evaporated from his head in an instant.

The boy before him was breathtaking, his voice cuttingly cold. Recognition dawned at once:
“You’re the one who called Tao Zhen!”

“You and him, what exactly…”

His gaze darted between the two. Zhu Wensheng stepped forward, refusing to yield.
Seeing the two draw closer, Tao Zhen thought to himself, this is bad.

He didn’t want to lose Bai Yuxuan as a decent friend, but he also couldn’t stand him having ideas about Zhu Wensheng,

At the critical moment, Tao Zhen gritted his teeth and suddenly dashed out from behind Zhu Wensheng. He threw himself forward, clinging to Zhu Wensheng’s shoulders like a koala, cutting off their line of sight.

For a moment, Bai Yuxuan gaped, and Zhu Wensheng fell silent.

Two seconds later, Zhu Wensheng reacted. Instinctively, he supported Tao Zhen’s waist, pulling him closer. Then he lowered his head, carefully scanning him from head to toe,

From the damp lashes, to the soft pink lips, down the smooth pale neck, and finally the neatly fastened belt.

“Tao Zhen.”

The nameless fire in his chest faded, replaced with a restless agitation.

His eyes were dark as ink, his tone cold and dangerous:
“Do you still remember who I am?”

Tao Zhen didn’t answer right away, because his entire face was buried against Zhu Wensheng’s chest. His cheek rested against firm yet supple muscle, his breath filled with the faint scent of medicinal liniment for bruises clinging to the boy’s body.

The little bit of alcohol earlier hadn’t made him tipsy at all, yet now he felt dizzy, as if a rush of heat had surged straight to his head.

…Zhu Wensheng’s body was just too good!

“Of course I remember,”

the golden-haired youth, reeking faintly of alcohol, lifted his flushed face with effort. His voice, sticky and drawn out, sounded almost like he was pouting:

“You’re Zhu Wensheng.”

“…”

The tight line of Zhu Wensheng’s lips suddenly relaxed. The restless heat in his chest dissipated, and he cast Bai Yuxuan, standing not far away, a faint, dismissive glance.

“Mm.”

Bai Yuxuan’s expression froze, unable to process what had just happened. He stood there in a daze.

At that moment, the ride-hailing car they had ordered earlier arrived, hazard lights flashing to draw attention. Bai Yuxuan snapped out of it after a few seconds, slapped his own face as if to sober up, and awkwardly dragged A-Xiong and Xiao Song into the vehicle.

Through the rear window, a sleek black Maybach could be seen pulling up slowly behind them.

Zhu Wensheng opened the car door, quietly motioning for Tao Zhen to get in first. Only afterward did he lift his head, his cold gaze cutting toward Bai Yuxuan.

Their eyes met in the air for a brief moment.

The last of Bai Yuxuan’s drunken haze vanished.

There was no mistaking it, he had read sheer hostility in Zhu Wensheng’s eyes.

…

A few seconds later, Zhu Wensheng also got into the car.

Lowering his gaze, he looked at Tao Zhen’s nape and waist, places where Bai Yuxuan and the others had touched repeatedly. His hand slid over silently, covering those spots as though to wipe away the lingering traces, almost obsessively, trying to drive out the muddled scents.

For one fleeting moment, he even wanted to kiss him hard, to mark Tao Zhen with his own claim and pull him entirely into his embrace.