Do You Like This Face?!

Tong Zhao felt as though he had slept for a very long time.

He had all sorts of chaotic dreams, bizarre and fantastical, stretched out and slowed down.

He dreamed of his parents divorcing when he was little and starting families of their own, tossing him back and forth like a hot potato until his aunt finally took him in.

But his aunt was busy, working away from home all year round. School was close to home, so he had gone to and from school by himself since first grade.

When Tong Zhao was in high school, his aunt was exasperated with her son, who was in middle school and going through a rebellious phase. She didn't want to keep him around and be annoyed by the sight of him every day, so she sent him back to stay with Tong Zhao during summer and winter breaks. Annoying as his younger cousin was, everyone had someone who could handle them, and only Tong Zhao could handle him.

During those years, Tong Zhao especially looked forward to summer and winter breaks, because only when his cousin came to stay with him did he stop feeling lonely.

Tong Zhao dreamed of Shu Sizhuo, too.

He dreamed of Shu Sizhuo again and again.

He dreamed of Shu Sizhuo as an eleven-year-old brat, filthy all over, his little face injured, yet stubborn beyond his years.

He liked trailing after Tong Zhao and liked falling asleep with his hand on Tong Zhao's face.

He acted so tough, yet he was so pitiful.

There was also Shu Sizhuo at nineteen. He was so striking that he was always the one surrounded by people on the A University campus. Though his expression was usually distant and a little cold, whenever he faced Tong Zhao, he could show a trusting, pure smile like the one he had worn at eleven.

Even in his dream, Tong Zhao felt a heaviness in his chest that left him unable to breathe. Looking at that smile, he almost wanted to cry. As a result, the dreams that followed all turned gloomy and dark.

There was the sight of Shu Sizhuo shielding him in the pouring rain, covered in blood; the way he held him and kissed him deeply, habitually ending the kiss by biting his lower lip; and the sight of him on the surging sea, his eyes wide with anguish...

Lastly, there was Shu Sizhuo at twenty-seven, looking him over expressionlessly and coldly calling him "an old acquaintance."

So many, so many...

Tong Zhao's brows were tightly knitted, and he grew more and more uneasy.

Finally, his whole body trembled. With a faint rattle, he slowly opened his eyes.

He found himself in an unfamiliar place.

An arched, carved ceiling in the Baroque style stretched overhead. Heavy cream-colored curtains hung down on either side, revealing a corner of frosted glass whose material he couldn't identify.

There was a temperature control system on the wall and a strip of lights set into the corner, now giving off an eerie blue glow.

There were also some high-tech gadgets Tong Zhao had never seen before scattered around the corners of the room.

He was lying on an enormous, soft bed, and the rattle just now had come from a chain fastened around his ankle.

Tong Zhao sat up, feeling a little dizzy. He closed his eyes and waited for it to pass, then opened them and stared blankly at the chain.

The chain was thin but sturdy, and the material around the cuff had been treated so it wouldn't hurt his skin.

Tong Zhao picked up the chain, paused, and began pulling. He discovered that it extended from a square hole in the floor at the foot of the bed. He pulled out forty or fifty meters before it would go no farther.

He let go, and the chain slowly retracted, stopping at its original length of about ten meters.

Tong Zhao's head hurt badly, but he tried to remember. He had dreamed so much, however, that he couldn't immediately cut through the layers of dreams to find what had happened before he lost consciousness.

He knocked his head twice in frustration, then frowned and closed his eyes. Five seconds later, his eyes flew open.

Shu Sizhuo!

He had been at the seaside when he suddenly saw Shu Sizhuo.

Shu Sizhuo had taken something out of his pocket and covered Tong Zhao's nose and mouth with it, and he had lost consciousness!

Tong Zhao scrambled up and searched the bed for his phone. Nothing!

He jumped off the bed and headed for the door ahead. Just as he was about to reach it, he was stopped short. He looked down to see the chain pulled taut; it had reached its maximum length.

What the fuck.

Tong Zhao was itching to swear. Furious, he dragged the chain around the room and discovered that he could reach the bathroom and the books on the bookcase, but not the door or the sealed window.

Tong Zhao found the whole thing utterly absurd, and he didn't dare think too deeply about why he was locked up here. With no other choice, he shouted into the void, "You never realize how little you know until you need it! System!"

Before the system could respond, the door made a sound.

Tong Zhao whipped his head around.

The door opened automatically, and Shu Sizhuo walked in carrying a tray. The door closed behind him.

He was dressed entirely in black and wore no expression, though a flicker passed through his deep-set eyes when he saw Tong Zhao.

"You're awake? Have something to eat." Shu Sizhuo set the tray on the dining table.

Tong Zhao came to his senses and hurried over, grabbing Shu Sizhuo's shirt at the chest. "What are you doing?" he asked in disbelief. "You... you've locked me up? Shu Sizhuo, this is against the law, do you know that?!"

Shu Sizhuo looked at his pale lips and frowned slightly. "Eat first."

Tong Zhao had been unconscious for three days, kept alive on intravenous nutrition. Knowing he would wake up today, Shu Sizhuo had ordered nourishing porridge and soup prepared in advance.

"Why have you locked me up? Where's my phone? What's the date today?" Tong Zhao suddenly froze as a terrible suspicion arose in his mind. He looked at Shu Sizhuo and asked anxiously, "How many people have you locked up? Have you locked up everyone who looks like this?"

Shu Sizhuo's expression froze.

"Have you? Is that it?" Tong Zhao gripped his shirt tightly. "What are you doing? Collecting stamps? Let them all go right now. This is against the law, do you know that?"

Shu Sizhuo grabbed his hand, his voice icy. "Eat first."

Shu Sizhuo hadn't denied it?

Tong Zhao stared at him, his eyes reddening. Then he set his jaw and shouted, "I'm not eating! Let me go first!"

Shu Sizhuo clamped a hand around Tong Zhao's wrist, gripping so hard it was as if he meant to crush him.

Tong Zhao was dragged to the table and pushed down onto a chair by the shoulders. He struggled to his feet, agitated. "I'm not eating!"

"Eat."

"I won't!"

Shu Sizhuo pressed him down at the table and forced the word out through his teeth. "Eat."

"I'm not eating!"

Tong Zhao swept the tray onto the floor with a clatter, smashing the bowls to pieces.

The air went still, and the atmosphere abruptly turned icy.

The two glared at each other, both looking as though they wanted to strangle the other with their eyes.

"Not eating?" Shu Sizhuo radiated cold. "Fine. Then let's do something else."

Shu Sizhuo pulled Tong Zhao over and slung him over his shoulder by the waist.

"What are you doing?! Put me down! Shu Sizhuo! Put me down!"

Tong Zhao kicked and struggled on Shu Sizhuo's shoulder, only to discover in frustration that, despite being 178 centimeters tall, he was as weak as a chicken before Shu Sizhuo and couldn't budge him at all.

The next second, the world spun, and Tong Zhao was thrown onto the soft bed.

Shu Sizhuo pinned both his hands above his head and leaned down over him, holding his prey so tightly that he couldn't move.

Humiliated and furious, Tong Zhao glared at Shu Sizhuo. "Do you like this face?!" He gasped in indignation and shouted, his eyes red, "Have you locked up every guy with this face?!"