His competitive desire swelled. In this moment, any sense of straight male dignity was completely thrown out the window by Student Ming Ying.
Burning with indignation and unwillingness to lose, Ming Ying seized Silas’s lips and started kissing him with complete reckless abandon.
His action was sudden and his technique was raw. Fortunately, Silas had enough strength in his arms to immediately steady the person lunging at him, holding him in his embrace. He lowered his head, cooperating to let him kiss.
Their lips and tongues tangled together once more. Ming Ying truly felt like he was quite drunk. The alcohol content of the drink he had ordered clearly wasn’t high, was it?
Just like that, it continued until the sounds from the neighboring stall died down and their surroundings fell quiet. At that point, Ming Ying’s heart skipped a beat, and his actions froze.
He opened his eyes. Under the dim lighting, his vision couldn’t focus, yet the tactile sensation was so distinct.
—Aston’s eyelashes were brushing against his cheek.
Again and again, very ticklish.
Inwardly, Ming Ying cursed himself fiercely.
And what was worse was…
He discovered that he had a reaction.
Ming Ying didn’t dare move his legs.
He felt that even the Earth exploding wouldn’t be as awkward as this.
Silas sensed the person in his arms was distracted. He lifted his head and asked, “Done kissing?”
Ming Ying: “…”
Ming Ying’s heart was still reeling from the shock. He released his grip on the tie and reflexively moved his body back first.
He steadied himself against the door panel, stumbling slightly before standing straight.
Silas looked down at him and smiled. “It seems the alcohol has worn off, too.”
Ming Ying panted, shaking his head as he stubbornly said, “I wasn’t drunk.”
Silas responded with an “Mm.”
Ming Ying: “Cough.”
So awkward… What exactly was going on right now?
“I, I was just…” Ming Ying wanted to find an excuse, but when he looked up, a question suddenly popped into his head: “How did you know I was here?”
Even if Thomas had told him he was at the lab, how did he know he was at this bar? Coming here had been completely a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Silas didn’t answer him. Instead, he pulled a handkerchief from his suit pocket and offered it to him. “Ming, I think it’s best if we go outside to discuss this.”
Ming Ying’s brain wasn’t processing what the man opposite him was saying at all. He only instinctively reached out to take the handkerchief, which felt incredibly soft.
Then he stuffed it into his own pocket.
Silas frowned. “Ming, the handkerchief is for wiping your drool.”
Wiping drool.
That made him sound like an idiot.
Ming Ying: “…”
Ming Ying glanced at him, then hurriedly raised a hand to wipe the corner of his mouth. Sticky, gooey wetness. Fuck.
He was displeased. Frowning, he said, “Who knows if this is my drool or yours.”
…Fuck. Ming Ying, oh Ming Ying, what the hell are you even saying right now! This mouth just loves causing trouble for itself!
However, as soon as the words left his mouth, the next second, Silas leaned in again. Ming Ying jumped in fright and subconsciously leaned back. “What are you doing?”
Silas glanced at him and raised his hand. “Am I not supposed to help you wipe away my drool?”
Help you wipe away my drool.
“…”
Ming Ying decided to politely decline the offer of having someone else wipe his drool. He let out a scoff and said, “Mr. Aston, I think we should go outside first.”
But the person in front of him didn’t move.
Ming Ying’s heart pounded.
“We…”
“Someone’s coming.”
Ming Ying froze.
Thud, thud, thud.
The person outside knocked on the door and suddenly said, “Ming? You’re not here?”
Something exploded in Ming Ying’s mind.
This was… that curly-haired guy!
Ming Ying subconsciously looked at Aston. The corner of the latter’s lips curled up, but he said nothing.
Immediately after, Ming Ying watched as Aston raised his chin, lifted his hand, and unhurriedly loosened the tie that had been messed up by him. He then casually tossed it, throwing it right into the trash can.
And outside, the curly-haired guy seemed to be checking each stall one by one, asking as he went: “Ming? Where are you hiding?”
“Didn’t we agree you’d come home with me? My Chinese sweetheart?”
Fuck.
Who the hell agreed to go home with you!
Ming Ying withdrew his gaze, thinking to himself, well, this is it, this more or less solidifies my “promiscuous” persona…
When the curly-haired guy had walked far away, Ming Ying touched his nose. “Well, about that, I just met him while drinking. We only exchanged a couple of words.”
Right after saying that, Ming Ying regretted it. Wait, why was he even explaining?
But since he had explained, he might as well clarify.
“I didn’t agree to go home with him!”
Silas found this somewhat amusing. He acknowledged with an “Mm” and said, “I understand.”
Ming Ying: “…”
Ming Ying was just thinking, “What do you understand?” when the person in front of him patted his head. “Let’s get out of here first. The air inside is bad.”
Uh, he didn’t mention the air being bad when they were kissing inside just now…
“Oh.”
Though he was grumbling inwardly, Student Ming Ying didn’t even resist. He let himself be patted on the head and led out by the hand.
The moment they stepped out, it was like entering another world. The bar’s boisterous clamor washed over them. Ming Ying frowned, but just as they exited the restroom, Silas’s footsteps halted.
Ming Ying, who was being led behind him, tilted his head.
It turned out that the curly-haired guy from earlier was standing right at the restroom entrance!
Crap! Ming Ying hurried forward and said, “Hey Luck…”
Hearing Ming Ying’s voice, Luck looked in his direction and frowned. “Ming? I thought you said you went to the bathroom?”
“Yeah, I did go to the bathroom.”
It was just that an uninvited guest had shown up.
Luck pointed at the man standing under the dim light and asked, “Then what’s with him?”
“So you two were the ones fooling around in the bathroom just now?”
…No, this is a misunderstanding!
“He knows you better than I do? Ming!”
…Wait, have we even known each other for an hour? How could he “know me”?
“Uh, no, he,” Ming Ying looked at Aston. The latter was raising an eyebrow at him, seemingly also waiting for his answer, or perhaps saying: Deal with the trouble you caused yourself.
Fuck. He just loves watching the drama unfold.
“He’s my teacher,” Ming Ying dropped a bombshell, startling everyone with his words.
Silas let out a laugh.
Who knew that at this moment, Luck would suddenly shout: “Aston?!!!”
Ming Ying’s eyes widened. Fuck, how could he have forgotten that Luck was also a student at N University!
“Mr. Aston, what are you doing here?” The bad student Luck’s worldview seemed to have received an even ruder shock.
Silas’s expression, however, didn’t change much. Judging by his demeanor, you’d think he was standing in his office questioning a student, not caught by a male student outside a bar’s restroom having a clandestine moment with another male student.
He asked, “What school are you in?”
“…”
“I, I’m Luck from the Law School…” Luck glanced at Ming Ying again, his eyes darting back and forth. “You, this, Ming, and you—”
Ming Ying facepalmed. He hastily pushed Aston to walk away, babbling nonsense as he went: “Luck, we were just discussing some academic matters. Really sorry, gotta go.”
Luck looked up and watched their tangled, retreating figures, then glanced back at the bar restroom filled with moans.
Where exactly were the academic matters to be found here…
Could the school have started a new course on sexy subjects?
…
At the same time, the two walked out of the Bar. Ming Ying, his heart still pounding with fear, was hit by a gust of cold wind outside and suddenly had no idea what to do next.
Silas, on the other hand, said extremely naturally, “Get in the car.”
Get in the car…
So the question was, get in the car and go where?
Ming Ying froze on the spot.
It was also at that moment, looking at Aston’s back, that he suddenly had a sense of reality—he, himself, had, actually, kissed a strange professor, who was fucking hell also a school board director, a man.
This matter couldn’t be dwelled upon. Dwelling on it would easily lead to a mental breakdown.
Especially since this was a kiss under the influence of alcohol. According to the cliché plots in American dramas, the next step should be…
Stop, stop right there.
Ming Ying struggled to stay calm and said, “Well, you see, I came here by bike.”
Silas looked at him and frowned. “Ming, do I need to remind you that you’ve been drinking?”
Damn.
Ming Ying’s breath suddenly hitched.
Silas walked over and asked, “Where is your bike?”
Ming Ying cursed inwardly again. Where had he parked his bike?
“Wait, let me find it.”
Saying this, Ming Ying walked to the roadside, trying to find his own bike amidst a pile of broken-down and dilapidated bicycles.
Just as he was searching, he turned his head and heard Aston say, “Stop looking. Your bike is in my car.”
Ming Ying: “…”
Holy fucking
Couldn’t you have said so earlier!
Ming Ying shuffled over to Aston’s car. Aston opened the trunk, and sure enough, his foldable mountain bike was inside. It must have been spotted outside the Bar and directly stashed into his car.
Ming Ying suddenly looked at him and asked doubtfully, “How do you know this is my bike?”
Silas seemed equally puzzled and asked, “Was it hard to know?”
“…”
Ming Ying asked again, “Did you find me by tracking this bike?”
Silas didn’t elaborate, just patted his shoulder. “Caught a glimpse passing by—get in the car first.”
Student Ming Ying began his stalling tactic again. He dawdled for about five minutes before finally getting into the car.
Inside the car was yet another type of enclosed space.
The moment he got in, the atmosphere from that restroom stall just moments ago started to warm up again.
Even more so, Aston’s scent inside the car was more distinct, more intense, unavoidable.
In this environment, Ming Ying felt a little hot, so he squirmed subtly.
Before starting the car, Silas glanced at him. “Ming, do you have something to say?”
“N-no.”
“Speak if you have something.” Silas said, “If you want me to forget what just happened, you can keep it to yourself.”
Ming Ying: “…”
Unbelievable.
Ming Ying coughed. “What just happened? Just a kiss, um, it’s no big deal, right?”
Just kidding, his persona was a promiscuous one.
Silas laughed and asked, “Do you kiss often?”
“…”
What kind of question is that?
“Not exactly… often, I guess.”
Ming Ying felt a bit guilty. “Cough. Sort of. But you know, too much charm, what can I do? Walk into any bar and people hit on me—though it’s strange, today everyone hitting on me was a guy…”
Silas looked at him. “Ming, that was a GAY bar.”
WTF…
Ming Ying was dumbfounded.
But after three seconds of being dumbfounded, he still insisted stubbornly, “I know.”
“Mm.”
Seeing silence descend again, Ming Ying didn’t know why, but his conscience suddenly stirred, and he asked, “Um… will that, you know, affect you?”
Silas was driving and frowned upon hearing this. “What?”
Ming Ying pursed his lips. “Luck saw us just now. He’s also a student at N University, in the Law School. He knows you.”
“Saw us do what?”
“…”
Ming Ying said, “What do you mean?”
Silas curved his lips and said, “Ming, didn’t you say we were discussing academic matters?”
wtf…
Ming Ying felt another ten thousand ponies stampeding through his heart. He was truly speechless, so he chose to shut his mouth and turned his head to look out the car window.
The scenery outside gradually darkened from towering skyscrapers.
After watching for a while, Ming Ying realized he couldn’t make out which road they were taking at all.
Ming Ying finally started to get nervous.
“Cough, we, where are we going?”
Silas said, “Taking you back.”
Oh… Ming Ying breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, a thought crossed his mind: Wait, this isn’t right. That’s not how it goes in American dramas.
“Just, taking me back?”
Probably because Ming Ying’s expression was too serious, Silas found it a little amusing. “What else?”
“Uh, nothing.” Ming Ying paused, deliberated for a moment, and then blurted out an indescribable line that he himself thought fit his persona: “You’re the first one who, after kissing, didn’t ask me to stay the night.”
“…”
Silence returned to the car.
Ming Ying belatedly realized he had probably killed the conversation.
But he didn’t know how to start talking again, so he could only remain silent.
Just like that, Ming Ying saw the familiar path leading to his apartment complex.
Finally, this trash day was going to end.
However, Aston did not grant his wish. Before driving in, he pulled the car over to the side of the road.
Ming Ying blinked. The streetlight outside the window wasn’t very bright, and there was only a faint glow inside the car.
“Ming, I need to clarify something with you.” Silas turned his face to look at him. “I didn’t ask you to stay the night because I have a business trip tomorrow.”
“…”
Ming Ying stared at the windshield and clenched his palms. “Oh, I see.”
Silas suddenly asked again, “You wanted to stay the night with me, didn’t you?”
wtf…
What kind of nuclear-bomb-level question was that?
“I…” Ming Ying coughed. He decided that retreat was the best option. “I’m a bit tired, can I just—”
He tried to muddle through, still evading, but again, Aston did not grant his wish.
The man reached out and pinched Ming Ying’s chin, turning his face towards him, directly cutting off his words and his escape.
“…”
Ming Ying saw Aston’s expression was gentle, his voice almost coaxing: “Ming, you need to answer this question, not just keep avoiding it. This is the only way you’ll figure out how to properly handle our relationship moving forward. I don’t want to see you in a state like today’s again.”
“…”
“So, did you want to stay?”
In the silent standoff, Ming Ying heard his own mouth open and close: “…I suppose so.”
Sometimes, you clearly know some things shouldn’t be said, especially on certain special occasions, to certain special people. Saying them might lead to irreversible consequences.
But sometimes people are just asking for trouble. A little drink, a good-looking face, and they magnify that split-second error in judgment. Some even blurt it right out.
Silas let out a small laugh. “Alright, I understand now.”
With that “I understand,” Ming Ying finally snapped back to his senses. “Wait—”
Silas said, “No rush, I haven’t left yet.”
“Hold on.” Ming Ying fumbled with the seatbelt across his chest. “I, my head’s a bit messed up, Mr. Aston, I think—”
“Ming,” Silas interrupted him, “change the form of address.”
Change the form of address.
Ming Ying subconsciously uttered: “…Teacher XI.”
“Mm.”
Fuck. What did he just say?
Silence again.
The reason for the silence was that Ming Ying felt everything he could say would be wrong. This whole situation was too strange.
Silas waited for a while, and seeing the person still silent, he raised an eyebrow. “It seems Ming has nothing he wants to say at the moment?”
“…”
“Then I’ll talk.”
“…”
Before Ming Ying could react, his vision went dark—the man in the driver’s seat leaned over him.
Another kiss.
Unlike the one in the bar’s restroom, although the hand gripping the back of his head was still firm, this kiss held a lingering, almost reluctant quality.
Once the kiss ended, as they parted, Ming Ying heard himself let out a sound very close to a moan.
Fuck. What the hell is this situation!
Ming Ying wondered if he was still a straight man, while simultaneously thinking… this old man actually kisses pretty well…
“Teacher,” Ming Ying panted, looking at him, “do you, do you also kiss often, like me?”
Silas sat back and laughed. “What nonsense are you thinking?”
“Uh, just asking casually.” Ming Ying’s breath was uneven. Just as he was about to get out of the car, his peripheral vision caught sight of the man’s crotch, and his movements suddenly froze.
Actually, he had sensed it back in the bar, but because things were too chaotic then, combined with the sheer shock, he had subjectively ignored it.
But now, it seemed impossible to ignore.
Silas noticed his gaze and made no effort to hide it, openly letting him look. He raised an eyebrow. “Ming, what naughty thoughts are you thinking?”
Hearing this, Ming Ying’s gaze moved from bottom to top, traveling from there all the way up to Aston’s face.
Then he heard himself say, “Teacher, that belt of yours… could you give it to me?”
The moment the words left his mouth, Ming Ying felt he had lost all face he’d ever had in his life, right there that night.
He felt like there might be two parallel worlds on Earth. One was a GAY world, and one was not.
At this very moment, the Ming Ying who had already become GAY in the other world had possessed this world’s Ming Ying. Otherwise, there was no explanation for this incredibly smooth yet utterly preposterous line.
Fortunately, Silas did not have the habit of mocking people. He just frowned and said, “So you have this kind of hobby?”
“…”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Holy fucking
Ming Ying coughed.
Silas curved his lips and said, “Ming, didn’t your teacher ever teach you? If you want something, come get it yourself.”
“…”
What the hell kind of terrible line was that…
Watching the man’s completely unruffled demeanor, for some inexplicable reason, Ming Ying recalled the speeches he’d seen Aston give before. He always seemed like that, always confidently in control, debonair and composed.
Looking at himself in contrast, it was simply too unfair.
Thus, a rebellious spirit rose in Student Ming Ying. He resolved to put this “teacher” in his place on behalf of all the students.