Chapter 9

A friend leaned close to Shao Kang and whispered in his ear. Shao Kang's eyes flickered.

Not long after,

Shao Kang returned to his seat, but his friend did not.

Before two minutes had passed, the bar's host stepped onto the stage to speak.

"Hello, everyone, look over here! It's time for our bar's regular game again. Let's see who today's camera picks!"

As soon as the host finished speaking, those in the audience who knew about it erupted into cheers and jeers.

Xin Chun was slightly confused and turned to ask Ke Hang, "What game?"

Ke Hang shook his head. "I don't know either. I've never been to this bar before."

At that moment, the large screen behind the host suddenly lit up. It displayed the bar's patrons as the camera swept across them, countless faces appearing and vanishing from the screen.

The host raised his voice. "Let's all count down together—three, two, one!"

Quite a few people joined in. "Three, two, one, stop!"

As the final word fell, the constantly moving camera finally stopped. The image froze on three people—three men.

Xin Chun looked at himself on the screen in surprise. Owen sat to his left, Shao Kang to his right, and all three of them were displayed clearly on the large screen.

Seeing that the screen showed three men, each handsome in his own way, especially with one of them being mixed-race, the bar instantly erupted with rowdy cheering and whistling loud enough to blow the roof off.

The host had to shout twice before temporarily suppressing the excitement. "Ahem, looks like it's another classic choose-one-of-two. The people selected by the camera have to kiss each other."

"So, little handsome guy in the middle, make your choice. Will you kiss the mixed-race hunk on your left, or the guy in the shirt on your right?"

"Kiss, kiss!"

The bar patrons clapped and hollered.

Ke Hang cursed, "What kind of bullshit game is this?"

Xin Chun had his boss on one side and Shao Kang on the other. If he really had to choose someone to kiss, he couldn't exactly choose his boss, could he? How awkward would it be to work together afterward...

Everyone knew Shao Kang liked men and liked Xin Chun. If Xin Chun kissed him and explained things clearly afterward, that had to be far better than Xin Chun kissing his boss.

Ke Hang thought so, and so did everyone else. They could not help looking in Shao Kang's direction.

That was exactly what Shao Kang's friend had been aiming for.

Circumstances forced his hand. He had to kiss someone.

Xin Chun stood up, and the camera shifted with his movement.

Xin Chun first glanced at Shao Kang. Owen's eyes darkened, but before he could react, Xin Chun turned his gaze toward him and said softly, "Sorry, Owen. I hope you don't mind."

At some point, Xin Chun had pulled a dark green plaid handkerchief from his pocket—the very one he had used to wrap his palm in the forest. The smooth handkerchief hung down, forming a barrier between Xin Chun and Owen.

Slowly, the handkerchief covered Owen's face. Then another body and breath leaned in.

Owen first felt the silkiness of the handkerchief, carrying the fresh scent of washing. Then the weight on his lips gradually became more distinct. Xin Chun had kissed him.

Xin Chun had intended to leave after one kiss, but just as their lips barely touched through the handkerchief, someone gripped his wrist. The next second, his wrist was pulled down, and the handkerchief was yanked from between their lips.

This time, there was no barrier between them, no distance at all.

The cheers around them seemed ready to lift the roof off.

Yet Xin Chun and Owen seemed to exist in a world of their own. Neither of them closed his eyes.

Owen's eyes were like those of a beast gleaming dark green, fixed tightly on a rabbit already standing at the edge of a trap.

Chapter 9

The kiss ended quickly. At the host's call, the camera moved away, and the image on the large screen went dark. Aside from the continued excitement around them, the atmosphere around Xin Chun, Owen, and Shao Kang was rather strange.

The classmates looked at one another, unsure whether to tease them and make jokes or simply keep drinking.

Xin Chun had chosen to kiss his boss instead of Shao Kang... Shao Kang had lost. It seemed Xin Chun truly wanted nothing to do with Shao Kang, even if it meant facing his boss awkwardly afterward.

The bar was dimly lit. Owen had pulled Xin Chun's wrist down on the inner side of the seats, where no one saw it. Everyone only assumed Xin Chun had failed to hold the handkerchief properly and that it had slipped down.

Xin Chun did not sit back down. He tossed out, "I'm leaving first," and headed out of the bar.

Shao Kang tried to stand, but Owen pressed one hand onto his shoulder. The force was impossible to ignore. He frowned, yet he could not move. Looking up, he met those dark green eyes for an instant.

Before Shao Kang could make out the meaning in that gaze, Owen turned and left as well.

Ke Hang hurriedly said, "I'll go see them off," then quickly chased after Owen.

"Please wait," Ke Hang said to Owen.

Owen stopped.

They had already left the bar, but Xin Chun was nowhere nearby. Ke Hang looked into the distance and spotted someone beneath a streetlamp—it was Xin Chun. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Only then did he say to Owen, "Don't mind Xin Chun's choice. Shao Kang openly pursued Xin Chun in college, and it caused him quite a lot of trouble. Even after Xin Chun clearly rejected him, Shao Kang never gave up."

"So throughout college, Xin Chun avoided Shao Kang whenever he could. He didn't even want to see him. He really didn't want anything to do with Shao Kang."

"Maybe... maybe Xin Chun thinks you're from Y Country and are more open-minded about this sort of thing, haha."

Ke Hang gave an awkward laugh at the end. He did not understand why Xin Chun had chosen Owen either. Maybe it was really as he said—Xin Chun thought Owen was from Y Country and would not mind such things.

As for Shao Kang, Xin Chun would not give him even the slightest hope.

"I won't mind," Owen said.

His tone was calm, without anger.

Hearing that, Ke Hang relaxed. "As long as this doesn't affect your relationship with Xin Chun."