King's Game

"Hurry up, the game isn't over yet. You guys can get mushy at home—everyone's single in King's Game!" shouted a flamboyantly dressed man with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

With one person in each arm, he interrupted the conversation between Jiang Qiao and Shi Junyi.

Shi Junyi and Jiang Qiao exchanged a look.

Jiang Qiao raised a brow, but Shi Junyi ignored him.

With Jiang Qiao and Lin Yuan joining, the dealer reshuffled and dealt again. Jiang Qiao got a card too, but his mind wasn't on the game.

He lounged carelessly against the back of the sofa. Only when he heard the person holding the King card say, "Nine of Hearts and King of Spades," did he snap back and look at his own card.

Seven of Spades. Not him.

The King picked an ice cube from the ice bucket and said, "See this? Hold it in your mouths while you kiss. You're done when the ice melts completely."

Everyone began revealing their cards and egging them on. The Nine of Hearts belonged to a curly-haired girl with dyed purple hair. She had a distinctive look, and Jiang Qiao thought he might have seen her in a bar MV before. She was a member of some popular girl group.

She stood up, holding her card as she asked, "Who's the lucky King of Spades who gets to be with me?"

Jiang Qiao craned his neck to look at the card in Shi Junyi's hand. Shi Junyi covered it and refused to show him, so Jiang Qiao pinched his waist.

Shi Junyi's hand trembled, revealing the corner of a red Diamond card. Only then did Jiang Qiao withdraw his hand.

Xie Xun, sitting in the very middle of the sofa, tossed his King of Spades onto the table, still holding Lin Yuan in his arms.

Jiang Qiao saw Lin Yuan lower his eyes and give Xie Xun a push.

Only then did Xie Xun release Lin Yuan. Then, curling his lips in a wicked smile, he said to the purple-haired girl, "Come here, baby. Come to your big brother."

The girl put the ice cube in her mouth, climbed over the coffee table, and sat on Xie Xun's lap before lowering her head to kiss him.

And Xie Xun's hand was still resting on Lin Yuan's waist.

Jiang Qiao could even see the ice cube being passed between them.

He stared at Lin Yuan, trying to read something from Lin Yuan's face.

But unfortunately, Lin Yuan seemed long numb to it all.

Looking utterly unconcerned, Lin Yuan held a phone and sent messages.

"Who are you looking at?" Shi Junyi asked. He had keenly noticed that Jiang Qiao's gaze wasn't on the people being punished in the game.

Jiang Qiao withdrew his gaze and lit a cigarette.

"Lin Yuan," he said.

Smoke curled between them before the night breeze scattered it.

Shi Junyi hadn't expected that in the time it took him to go to the restroom, the two of them had already learned each other's names.

His fingertips brushed the back of Jiang Qiao's hand as he asked, "Good-looking?"

Jiang Qiao answered honestly, "Good-looking, but not my type."

"Then what's your type?" Shi Junyi asked.

He thought Jiang Qiao would say something like, "Someone like you, ge."

But Jiang Qiao suddenly fell silent.

He drank a glass of wine before smiling at Shi Junyi. "Actually, before I met you, I didn't have a fixed type. Maybe I liked muscular hunks today, then refined scum tomorrow."

Shi Junyi gave a scoffing laugh. "And after that?"

"After that?" Jiang Qiao thought about it. "Probably whatever type you are would be the type I like."

Shi Junyi neither agreed nor disagreed. "Promiscuous."

Jiang Qiao denied it. "Devoted. I'll only ever fall for one person."

Shi Junyi looked into Jiang Qiao's bright, glittering eyes beneath the dim lights of the canopy tent and found himself speechless.

He didn't hear a lie in Jiang Qiao's words.

But he didn't understand.

From the moment they first met, the way Jiang Qiao looked at him had been anything but innocent.

Every interaction afterward had made it abundantly clear that Jiang Qiao was after him.

Shi Junyi didn't understand how some people could dress up lust at first sight in such grand, sincere-sounding words.

It had clearly been nothing more than a questionable "righteous intervention" in an alley, yet when Jiang Qiao spoke of liking someone, his feelings were so intense it was as if he would gladly stake his entire life on them.

"We know you two are a couple. Stop gazing at each other so lovingly and hurry up, flip your cards!" the fat man across from them said, ruining the mood.

The ice-cube kissing game from the previous round had already ended.

The King for the new round gave the order: the Nine of Diamonds had to take off their shirt, lie on the table with nine cherries placed on their body, and the Ace of Hearts had to eat them.

This kind of King's Game between adults was, bluntly put, just a warm-up for what came after a full meal and drinks.

In a setting that already had little in the way of boundaries, it was perfectly normal.

Jiang Qiao revealed his card. Two of Clubs.

He looked at Shi Junyi's card: Nine of Diamonds.

Jiang Qiao's eyes widened. "Weren't you Diamonds just now?"

Shi Junyi spread his hands and shamelessly protested in front of everyone, "The dealer didn't take back my card last round. I'm not taking the blame for that."

The others refused to let it go. "Who can prove it?"

"I saw it," Jiang Qiao said.

The flamboyantly dressed guy whistled. "You don't count!"

"Hey, fuck!" Jiang Qiao bristled, rising to his feet as if ready to have a go at him.

Shi Junyi hurriedly soothed him with a couple of strokes, then picked up his wineglass. "I'll drink."

He downed three glasses in a row, and the round was considered settled.

Everyone was just there to have fun. Every stunt was meant to entertain; those willing to play went along with it, and those unwilling could drink instead. That was allowed too.

The premise was that you needed enough status to have the right to say whether you were willing or not.

For someone at Shi Junyi's level, there was no need to say more. If he didn't want to do something, no one could force him.

Thus, over the next hour of games, whenever Shi Junyi or Jiang Qiao was drawn, they handled the task by drinking.

"No, seriously, why did you two even come here? Go sit at the kids' table!" the flamboyantly dressed man shouted again.

Shi Junyi knew the man had drunk too much and was speaking without thinking, so he didn't bother responding. He merely smiled and asked Xie Xun, "President Xie, who is this?"

Xie Xun lifted his leg and kicked the man. "Idiot. Young Master Shi sitting here is already doing you a favor. Who the hell do you think you are?"

The flamboyantly dressed man sobered considerably after the kick and tried to offer Shi Junyi a drink with an ingratiating smile.

Shi Junyi didn't spare him so much as a glance. Rising to his feet, he said to Xie Xun, "It's about time. I'll head back first."

Leaning against the sofa, Xie Xun asked, "I've got a place for you to sleep here."

Shi Junyi refused. "I wouldn't dare sleep in a bed at your place."

Xie Xun laughed and cursed, "Such a pain in the ass!"

Jiang Qiao's gaze landed on Lin Yuan once more. Lin Yuan nodded at him in farewell.

Jiang Qiao returned the smile and followed Shi Junyi out of that pleasure den of wine, women, and song.

They had both drunk quite a bit. Jiang Qiao felt he could still drive, but Shi Junyi stopped him.

Under the moonlight, they walked down an empty street.

Jiang Qiao followed silently behind Shi Junyi. When Shi Junyi sped up, he sped up; when Shi Junyi slowed down, he slowed down. They kept the same pace, yet Jiang Qiao never walked abreast of him.

Shi Junyi knew Jiang Qiao had something on his mind again and broke the silence first. "What are you thinking about?"

Jiang Qiao lowered his head. "Nothing."

"Then what are you sulking about?" Shi Junyi asked.

"I'm not sulking." Jiang Qiao kept his head lowered.

Shi Junyi's face cooled. "You want to fight?"

Jiang Qiao was speechless. "When have I ever had the heart to raise a hand against you?"

Shi Junyi said, "Keep dragging this out and I'll beat you up."

Jiang Qiao was straightforward by nature and unwilling to bottle certain things up inside.

Shi Junyi watched his own reflection fill Jiang Qiao's pupils and heard Jiang Qiao ask seriously, "Do you have a fiancée?"