The faint sounds of the refrigerator door opening, water being poured, and someone gulping it down echoed softly. Finally, the sound of an empty glass being placed heavily on the table.

Rapid footsteps approached. Ling Xinlu entered the room, slamming the door shut—it had been left slightly ajar due to his momentum when he’d left.

He wiped his mouth carelessly with his hand as if he had just drunk cold water, then stood before the bed, looking down at Yuri coldly.

Yuri, sitting on the bed, stared blankly at him, taken aback by the sudden series of actions. Xinlu addressed Yuri in a low voice: “Mr. Gable.”

“Yes.” – Yuri replied obediently, but Xinlu just scrutinized him with sharp eyes for a long moment before speaking slowly.

“I wasn’t going to say anything, but it’s bothering me, so I’ll be blunt. Thinking of someone else while looking at someone’s face is quite rude. Please don’t do it again.”

Ling Xinlu spoke slowly, emphasizing each word.

Yuri, still sitting upright on the bed out of habit, looked at Xinlu in genuine confusion, but then obediently nodded.

“Yes. I apologize.”

Although he didn’t fully understand the reason for Ling Xinlu’s reaction, what he said made sense, so Yuri sincerely apologized. Indeed, it wouldn’t be pleasant to be spoken to while the other person was thinking of something else, listening half-heartedly. Especially for Ling Xinlu, someone with a strong sense of pride who wouldn’t tolerate being disregarded, he must have felt offended and therefore angry.

Seeing Yuri slightly dejected, still wearing an indifferent expression but with his head downcast, Ling Xinlu, who had been looking at him sharply, could only let out an irritated sigh and scratch his head.

“Fine. Go to sleep.”

After muttering indifferently: “I’m already awake anyway”, Ling Xinlu turned off the light and got into bed. Seeing him lie down with an annoyed expression, Yuri quietly got out of bed and said: “Yes, good night then.” But as soon as he finished saying “good night”, Ling Xinlu clicked his tongue irritably. He sat up abruptly and yanked Yuri’s arm, forcing him back down onto the bed.

“Just go to sleep! I’m about to get mad!”

Xinlu spoke in a thoroughly exasperated tone, only lying back down after hearing Yuri’s reply: “……Yes.”

Silence fell again.

In this unsettling quiet, a far cry from peace and tranquility, Yuri lay still as a board, sighing inwardly.

It seemed he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight. It would be better to go out and read, but if he so much as shifted, that irritable voice would undoubtedly rise again.

When would this man fall asleep? His hearing was so sharp; it would be difficult to get up without being detected. Yuri was thinking this, counting the patterns on the ceiling, when……

“Look that much alike?”

A low voice suddenly spoke from beside him. Though Xinlu seemed to be trying to hide it, a petulant note resonated in his tone.

“……Somewhat…… similar, I suppose.”

He answered vaguely, feeling that no matter his response, Xinlu wouldn’t be satisfied. And truthfully, he didn’t want to answer.

While he couldn’t quite call it a lie, he felt a pang of guilt, as if he were deceiving him – perhaps stemming from his choice to remain silent and not explain the painful seaside memory that had become his haunting obsession – Yuri, a man who lived by the principle of silence over unnecessary lies, now felt a heavy weight settle in his chest.

He sensed Ling Xinlu turning his head towards him. His gaze rested on Yuri’s face.

“I don’t like being compared to anyone.”

Ling Xinlu said: “Even though I’ve never heard anyone say that before”, the irritation still evident in his voice. He continued, his expression growing more serious.

“And I don’t like anyone being compared to me either.”

Yuri nodded. He had expected this reaction from the man.

“I also dislike it when people see a resemblance, simply because of shared ethnicity, and assume they are the same.” – Yuri nodded again.

Ling Xinlu silently observed Yuri for a moment, then let out an exasperated sigh.

“That person is different from me. Personality, actions, everything.”

Yuri couldn’t answer immediately. Seeing his hesitation, Ling Xinlu raised an eyebrow.

“Similar?”

“…… Pretty normal.”

This time, he gave a vague answer. Yuri thought it would have been better to lie, but that thought only came after he had spoken.

Ling Xinlu fell silent. A cold gaze bore down on Yuri. Faced with that increasingly frigid stare, Yuri looked flustered. Then, the corner of Xinlu’s mouth suddenly curled up.

“Well then, what about this?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Ling Xinlu grabbed Yuri’s chin and pulled him closer.

Hot breath washed over Yuri’s face, as if about to devour his lips.

And in the next moment, a soft yet forceful tongue invaded his mouth.

“Mhm……” – A short moan was swallowed by Ling Xinlu. Yuri’s shoulders trembled. His hands hovered mid-air, his whole body stiff, completely frozen.

Ling Xinlu kissed Yuri ravenously, as if wanting to consume every breath. Then, he slightly parted Yuri’s lips, but kept them close, occasionally licking Yuri’s lips and tongue, before murmuring,

“Is this similar? Ah, it probably is, right?! Hmph, first love. Your first love must have been a girl.”

Xinlu’s lips suddenly pressed against his again.

“——You probably haven’t done this before, have you?”

As soon as the cold whisper slipped between their lips, the hand gripping his waist slid inside his pants. The hand caressed down his back, unhesitatingly reaching between his buttocks. And before Yuri could react, Xinlu pushed a finger inside, into his tightly closed entrance.

“—!!”

Yuri’s body jolted. He instinctively recoiled, trying to escape Xinlu’s hand, but the arm tightly wrapped around his waist prevented him from moving.

“Wait—!”

At the unfamiliar intrusion, so foreign it couldn’t even be called familiar, Yuri reflexively pushed Ling Xinlu away, but Xinlu only tightened his hold, pulling him closer.

“You’ve probably never done this before, right?…… HAVE YOU?!”

Seeing Yuri unable to answer, his finger twitching and starting to spread inside him, Ling Xinlu yelled in frustration. Simultaneously, he pushed his finger in deeper, making Yuri flinch again.

“No way! No! As a kid…… how could——”

Yuri answered in a voice ragged with panting, then abruptly stopped mid-sentence. A numbing sensation spread from where Xinlu’s finger touched him inside.

Even though it was a sensation he’d experienced before, it didn’t mean he was used to it. His face flushed, his lips pressed tightly together, his shoulders trembling slightly. Ling Xinlu frowned at him.

“Kid? When was that?”

“Twelve——twelve, thirteen……”

He couldn’t remember clearly. Moreover, his mind was starting to become muddled, unable to think straight anymore.

While giving vague answers as memories of that time with Xinlu resurfaced, Yuri hurriedly gripped Ling Xinlu’s arm, which was wrapped around him. He felt like his body was about to melt from this strange sensation, and he needed to cling to something.

But at that moment, the intense probing sensation inside abruptly stopped.

“……Twelve or thirteen? That was the last time you guys met?”

“That, that time–––– just once––––”

Even though the exploratory movements inside had stopped, the awakened desire in his body wouldn’t subside immediately. Yuri could feel his lower body, where the numbness still lingered, starting to harden.

Just then, the fingers inside Yuri were suddenly withdrawn. The sensation of the foreign object abruptly leaving made Yuri unconsciously gasp. Ling Xinlu pushed Yuri away until their faces were a short distance apart, then looked at him with a strange, contorted expression.

His gaze, fixed intensely on Yuri, could almost be described as a glare, as he blurted out incredulously: “That wasn’t a first love, just a childhood friend.”

“Ten-year-old kids don’t know anything about love. That wasn’t first love. Your first love wasn’t like that.”

Faced with Ling Xinlu glaring and speaking bluntly, Yuri wisely refrained from saying: ‘But I was twenty-five at the time.’

“Besides, faces change so much between childhood and adulthood. How can we be similar? It’s definitely a completely different face now.”

Ling Xinlu spoke angrily, then clicked his tongue. As if suddenly drained of energy, he sighed like a sick person and slumped his shoulders.

Yuri was, once again, wise enough not to say: ‘But your face is exactly the same’, and kept his mouth shut.

Ling Xinlu turned his back, pulled the covers over his head, and flopped down on the bed. Yuri sat up halfway, silently looking down at his back.

He felt bewildered. From the way this situation had unfolded to its abrupt end, he momentarily didn’t know what to do.

As his thoughts slowly returned, he remembered the emotion he should have been feeling.

Even if he was angry about being compared to someone – though Yuri wasn’t sure why he was so angry – he had clearly gone too far.

In that case, shouldn’t he, Yuri, be the angry one?

“Are you mad?”

Just as his thoughts were coalescing, before his emotions could well up, Ling Xinlu suddenly pulled the covers down to his neck and looked back at him.

Yuri was debating whether to reply that he was about to get angry when Ling Xinlu sat up, facing him.

“Sorry. I think I went too far. I was wrong.”

Contrary to just moments ago, his previously darkened face now held a gentle expression. Muttering softly as if to himself: “Why did I do that?” Ling Xinlu lowered his eyes, his face gloomy.

He glanced furtively at Yuri, who was just silently watching him, then lowered his eyes again, looking even more dejected. His slightly pained expression seemed to be filled with self-reproach.

“I’m sorry. …… I was just a little upset. You see, I tend to be moody when I first wake up. And…… I had a nightmare too.”

He had dreamt of all the people he hated appearing at once, so his mood wasn’t good. Then he woke up suddenly, perhaps making him emotionally unstable.

“……I’m sorry. Don’t be angry with me. I was wrong.”

Because Ling Xinlu sat in front of Yuri with a serious expression and said all of that in one long breath, Yuri didn’t have a chance to say he was angry. Moreover, before he could voice his anger – before he could even fully feel the anger – Ling Xinlu apologized with a dejected look, causing his simmering frustration to cool.

“I didn’t mean to be so rough. ––––I’m sorry.”

Looking down at Ling Xinlu, who was muttering with downcast eyes, Yuri blinked a few times before letting out a small, helpless sigh.

“……It’s okay.”

Yuri nodded in response.

He didn’t intend to stay angry at someone who had sincerely apologized. He felt partially responsible, and besides, he wasn’t truly that angry.

Hearing his reply, Ling Xinlu looked up at Yuri, a tentative smile slowly spreading across his cautious face. Yuri shook his head, indicating it was alright, as he apologized again.

Ling Xinlu, still looking at Yuri apologetically, finally seemed to relax and lie back down. He patted the empty space beside him, gesturing for Yuri to lie down too.

This time, Yuri really wanted to return to his own room, but if he left now, it would seem like he was sulking despite saying he wasn’t angry. While he hesitated, Ling Xinlu patted the bed again, and Yuri reluctantly lay down.

Silence fell between the two of them as they lay obediently side-by-side.

Yuri began counting the patterns on the ceiling again, listening to the breathing of Ling Xinlu, who was lying a handspan away.

He counted to 50, 100, then 200, but it seemed Ling Xinlu couldn’t sleep either, as he could still feel his presence beside him.

Thinking that if this continued, it would soon be time for his daily swim, Yuri sighed softly and curled up slightly.

“Are you cold?”

Ling Xinlu asked, turning towards him. Before Yuri could answer, he pulled the blanket more securely over him.

“No, I’m fine. I’m not cold, there are enough blankets.”

“I thought you were cold and couldn’t sleep.”

Ling Xinlu said this while pulling the blanket up to Yuri’s neck, but that was impossible. In the well-heated apartment, where you could wear short sleeves even in the middle of winter, how could he be cold?

“No, that’s not why I can’t sleep. It’s just…… I’m not sleepy anymore.”

Yuri shook his head. In any case, his drowsiness had completely vanished a while ago. He was wide awake, not feeling the slightest bit sleepy.

Ling Xinlu stared at Yuri, seemingly leaning closer. The handspan between them had now shrunk to less than half.

“You’re not going to sleep?”

“No, probably not.”

“Then……”

His voice suddenly dropped. Ling Xinlu tilted his head slightly, bringing his lips close to Yuri’s ear, and whispered as if sharing a secret.

“Shall we…… continue what we were doing earlier?”

There was no need to ask what “what we were doing earlier” referred to. The hand that had been caressing Yuri’s shoulder now rested below his waist, near his hip.

Yuri was speechless.

The flames of desire that had been ignited within him had now almost died down. The vague discomfort in his lower body had also subsided somewhat. Although a slight numbness remained, if left alone, it would surely disappear.

Moreover, beyond all that, he felt incredibly embarrassed.

“No, it’s okay.”

“Let me continue. I stopped halfway through, so it must be uncomfortable for you. I’m sorry.”

A gentle hand reached out and cradled the back of Yuri’s head. His body was pulled closer, their bodies touching. From his chest, then to his stomach. He vaguely felt something rubbing against his lower body.

It seemed slightly more swollen than usual, and it was gradually growing larger. While Yuri blinked, wondering if he was imagining it, it grew a little more.

“……Besides, I’m also in the mood.”

Ling Xinlu whispered into Yuri’s ear, pressing his lower body against him. Amidst the slow friction, Ling Xinlu breathed shallowly into Yuri’s ear.

“Don’t you want to?”

Yuri didn’t answer. His lips parted as if to speak, but no words came out.

To say he didn’t want to wasn’t entirely true. After all, the desire within him lingered, even if it was cooling down, and the memory of their previous encounters – though exhausting – still held a strong sense of pleasure.

But to say he did want to wasn’t quite right either. The heat in his body, though present, was easily suppressed, and more than anything, he still didn’t want to be ‘served’.

Ling Xinlu, watching Yuri lost in thought with a troubled expression, seemed to grow impatient. He nibbled Yuri’s ear and whispered in a huskier voice,

“Do you really not want to?”

The hand caressing his waist once again slowly moved over his body. Ling Xinlu pulled Yuri, who was unconsciously drawing back, closer, pressing their lower bodies together. He rubbed his cock, now distinctly hardened, against Yuri’s groin. His hip movements grew bolder, perhaps realizing that Yuri was also getting hard.

Yuri thought that if this continued, he wouldn’t be able to control himself any longer, and he was just about to speak when……

“I want…….”

Ling Xinlu whispered.

Their penises, still separated by layers of clothing, rubbed against each other, both swollen with desire. Both Ling Xinlu and Yuri were aroused.

Yuri, his mind increasingly consumed by the intensifying sensation in his lower body, could only look at Ling Xinlu with a bewildered expression. “I want to……” – Xinlu whispered again.

Yuri didn’t think for long. He quickly lowered his eyes. Then, he slowly parted his legs.

His neck flushed as he looked down.

He seemed to hear a soft chuckle above him.