Huo Boyan glanced at Zhu Ran, who still looked lost in thought, so he took the cigarette and went to the door to send them away.
Liang Ziqian teased in Cantonese that Zhu Ran didn’t understand. Huo Boyan told him to get lost and shut the door without hesitation.
As he turned back, Huo Boyan heard a crisp “ding.”
A warm glow flickered in the corner. Zhu Ran held the cigarette in his mouth, raising a lighter in his other hand, fumbling to light it.
He then leaned back against the black leather chair, closed his eyes, and took a deep drag. His face blurred in the white smoke, leaving only his body rising and falling slowly.
Once the first puff dispersed, Zhu Ran opened his eyes, pinched the cigarette between index and middle finger, and looked up at Huo Boyan. “Is this how you smoke?”
His bangs were mussed, half-covering one eye. His dazed gaze drifted to Huo Boyan— unguarded, innocent yet alluring.
Huo Boyan’s gaze darkened as he restrained his breathing. “When did you learn to smoke?”
“Just now.” Zhu Ran smiled faintly and set the lighter on the side table.
Huo Boyan followed his movement and noticed the cigarette he’d bitten earlier was gone from the table.
Huo Boyan’s gaze deepened, intensified. He watched Zhu Ran quietly, then looked away and sat back in his chair in silence.
Cheers erupted outside as someone won at cards. Huo Boyan sat still, his expression as serious as if attending an international conference.
Then Zhu Ran turned to look at him. Lounging relaxed in the chair, hand propping his chin, he said almost smiling, “Sorry for smoking yours. Want it back?”
His expression was innocently wicked, like a mischievous child oblivious to the chain reaction his prank would trigger.
Reject him.
Don’t let him continue.
Huo Boyan ordered himself inwardly, but when he tried to speak, his gaze betrayed him and fixed on Zhu Ran.
The light bathed Zhu Ran’s face in an ambiguous warm glow. Under the striking red velvet curtains, he parted his moist lips and gently took the filter between them. He didn’t just hold it—he nipped it lightly with his teeth, a glimpse of soft red tongue visible inside, wetly pressing against it.
In the quiet room, the sound of a man’s throat bobbing was crystal clear. Huo Boyan belatedly realized it was his own.
Zhu Ran noticed the change in his body and smiled smugly—then choked.
The young man’s body trembled with coughs, but it didn’t look pathetic; instead, it was beautifully fragile, like a butterfly.
But Huo Boyan soon realized Zhu Ran’s vulnerability was just his own wishful illusion. Zhu Ran had already approached, resting a hand on his shoulder.
Huo Boyan looked up at him, Adam’s apple sliding uncontrollably.
Huo Boyan had a face that wasn’t easy on the eyes. Without his habitual smile or glasses to add a scholarly air, people would quickly notice its cold, ruthless edge.
His eye sockets were deep-set, giving his gaze innate aggression. Combined with sharp facial angles, a high nose bridge, defined philtrum and lips, it all created features that were harshly striking—instinctively intimidating.
Yet Zhu Ran seemed oblivious, or uncaring even if he noticed. He planted one knee between Huo Boyan’s legs, then removed the cigarette from his mouth and held it to Huo Boyan’s lips.
“Mr. Huo,” Zhu Ran said in that position, eyes lightly downcast, voice soft, “Want a drag?”
Huo Boyan looked up at him. His expression was cold, but his lips were unusually red, lending his calm face a thick air of lust.
The small room grew deathly quiet. Huo Boyan watched Zhu Ran coolly, breaths mingling, body heat transferring. Then he parted his lips and lightly bit the filter moistened by Zhu Ran.
Compared to Zhu Ran’s clumsy smoking, Huo Boyan was effortlessly skilled. He didn’t exhale right away but ground it with his teeth, tongue tip brushing the end as if savoring the lingering scent or saliva.
Only when Zhu Ran’s earlobes flushed crimson did he take it fully, inhaling deeply.
He drew it in deep, chest rising and falling, eyes narrowing in pleasure—as if sucking not smoke, but some secret part of Zhu Ran.
Zhu Ran felt the provocation in his movements, his breathing quickening sharply.
Huo Boyan exhaled, white smoke rising in the dim room, thickening the ambiguity.
“Cough cough—”
Zhu Ran coughed. Huo Boyan’s gaze made him instinctively sense danger, knowing he couldn’t prolong this.
He took a deep breath and said coolly, “Huo Boyan, I have something to ask you.”
“Wait.” Huo Boyan removed the cigarette butt and placed it carefully in a side ashtray.
The ash had built up long; to prevent it falling, his movements were meticulous.
Then he took off his glasses and undid the buttons at the bottom of his suit jacket.
Wait—why was he removing his glasses? And unbuttoning his shirt?
Before Zhu Ran could process it, Huo Boyan’s gaze pinned him in place.
Zhu Ran suddenly recalled an elementary school field trip to the zoo. He loved all small animals and, passing the tiger enclosure, innocently thought tigers were just big cats. Until he locked eyes with one through the glass.
He’d never forget that gaze—the tiger staring unblinkingly, igniting his primal fear. Zhu Ran burst into tears on the spot, plagued by nightmares for nights: the tiger chasing, biting, devouring him whole.
As he grew up, he’d learned to process such fear rationally—after all, encounters with tigers were rare in normal life.
Yet years later, in this cramped room, he felt that same terror again.
Startled, Zhu Ran instinctively wanted to flee. He stood abruptly but hadn’t steadied himself when Huo Boyan yanked him back by the waist.
Caught off guard, Zhu Ran landed on Huo Boyan’s lap. The man’s muscles were hot and hard; Zhu Ran couldn’t sit still and pushed against Huo Boyan’s shoulders to rise. But Huo Boyan clamped his waist firmly while his other hand pressed hard on the back of Zhu Ran’s head.
“Huo Boyan, what are you—mmph…” Before Zhu Ran finished, the man’s scorching, forceful lips descended, biting down almost savagely.
Everything happened too fast. Zhu Ran opened his eyes wide in bewilderment, his mind blank for a full ten-plus seconds before he finally realized, belatedly, that he was kissing Huo Boyan.
