Ch44.2 - Cherish

He lowered his head and squeezed through the crowd toward the exit. He hadn’t gotten too far when he crashed into another reckless person head-on; that person had been holding a drink, which spilled all over him.

He cussed him out instantly: “Are you blind or what?”

That person hurriedly said: “Sorry, sorry, let me help you wipe it off.” They then used their sleeve to rub the alcohol stain off his shirt.

He cussed furiously again: “Go away, go away!”

That person said: “Apologies. Eh? You look so similar to Icedream’s Leo.”

Wang Chao denied it: “Nonsense. I don’t.”

That person smiled apologetically: “I’ve also often been told that I look like that group’s Tomas.”

Wang Chao then took a serious look at his face.

They did look a bit similar. This person was a feminine version of Xiao Xie, with flashy clothing and a stud in their right ear. Obviously, a femme gay boy.

The gay boy may have noticed the recognition in the other man’s eyes, and tentatively asked: “You are too?”

Wang Chao asked: “I am what?”

The gay boy thought he was pretending to be obtuse and curled hip lips into a smile. “Want to have a drink or two with me?” He suggested.

Wang Chao didn’t want to drink with him and asked directly: “Are you trying to get me to hook up with you?”

Gay boy: “…Then are you down?”

Why not? Xiao Xie didn’t let him fuck him. He should at least be allowed to fuck his knock-off version.

He began to head out along with the gay boy, but after a few steps, he realized that something was off. Isn’t this the same as getting a pentakill in a mobile game but forgetting to take a screenshot of it to post later on Wechat?

He told that boy to stand at the entrance and wait for him. Then, he squeezed back through the crowd.

Xie Zhuxing had finished his call and was sitting at the same spot, scrolling on his mobile phone. He didn’t even raise his head when the other man came in.

“I’m leaving,” Wang Chao exclaimed arrogantly.

Yang Xiaomu tried to get him to stay: “We are going to get some late night snacks later.”

Wang Chao intentionally waved toward the entrance, and that gay boy cooperated and waved back too.

“I’m going to a hook up,” He flashed an arrogant expression and said: “I won’t be spending any time with you guys.”

The teammates looked at each other.

Xie Zhuxing was still looking at his phone with his head down.

Once Wang Chao had left, Cheng Yao whispered: “Was that a guy?”

None of them believed that the “stud king” would hook up with a guy.

Ji Jie replied: “Probably was a girl who dressed like one. Many girls nowadays go for the androgynous look, it’s just that I didn’t expect them to be Wang Chao’s type.”

The few of them gossiped amongst themselves.

Aside, Xie Zhuxing put down his phone and said: “You guys have fun yourselves, I will head back too.”

Wang Chao and that femme gay boy got themselves a room at a hotel. Underneath the brighter lighting, the latter seemed not at all similar to Xiao Xie anymore. His face was different, his physique was different, and his temperant was even more different.

Wang Chao lost all of his interest. Bored, he dismissed: “Forget it, I don’t want to do it anymore.”

The gay boy who had already stripped himself clean and laid with his stomach on the bed was not enthused by his words. “Are you messing with me?” He was irritated.

Wang Chao didn’t want to interact anymore with him. He grabbed his jacket and turned to leave. Yet, that gay boy propped himself up and caught his sleeve right at that moment, and demanded: “Since you are handsome, I was going to do it with you for free. Who knew you’d waste my whole night. I won’t ask for much, eight hundred will do.”

Wang Chao: “…You are a fucking prostitute?”

An ordinary gay boy suddenly turned out to be a prostitute.

What’s even more unbelievable was that Wang Chao didn’t bring any cash, his phone had run out of battery, and the prostitute wouldn’t take a credit card for the payment.

Wang Chao couldn’t come up with another solution and replied instead: “I paid for this room, and it was exactly eight hundred.”

He was about to leave and had even opened the door when the butt-naked prostitute pounced onto him and prevented him from taking another step forward.

Someone walked past in the corridor.

Wang Chao still had a sliver of shame. Immediately, he turned around and tried to negotiate: “Would it work if I gave you my credit card?”

That prostitute refused: “Doesn’t matter which card, none of them will do. Who could I go to if you decide to freeze your card and get a replacement later? How about this, give me your phone instead.”

Wang Chao refused: “Not the phone!” This phone was a gift from Xiao Xie, and thus one of his most prized possessions. If he was to give this to the prostitute, who could he go to if the latter lost it?

Amidst their “negotiation,” the prostitute suddenly glanced toward the half-open door.

Wang Chao thought there was someone there and said in annoyance: “The fuck you’re looking at? Have you never seen anyone with a prostitu…Eldest brother.”

…Why is Wang Qi here?!

Wang Qi didn’t waste another word with him. He reached inside and snatched him from the room and without another word, began to beat him up.

He hastily pled: “I really didn’t know that he was a prostitute! Hey, you! Help me clarify this situation!”

Sensing the downturn in this situation, that prostitute had already changed and ran away.

Wang Chao was left wailing in the hallway from the beating. His screams caused the inhabitants of the other rooms to come out, one by one, to witness the “entertaining” situation go down. Thanks to the excessive tears that covered his appearance, no one ended up recognizing him.

Xie Zhuxing didn’t stay to have late-night snacks with his teammates. He returned to his apartment alone. Zhang zhengyi was not at home.

He cooked himself a bowl of noodles and watched the television as he ate. There was a variety show on the channel that was particularly funny; so much so that tears almost brimmed his eyes from the laughter.

Once he finished the noodles, he washed the bowl, cleaned up the kitchen, and was about to throw out the trash. When he spotted that pair of black and red AJ23 on the shoe rack by the entrance, he brought another trash bag to place that pair of shoes in and then threw that out along with the kitchen trash into the dumpster.

Ultimately, Wang Qi was ashamed for others to witness the beating and dragged Wang Chao home.

Wang Jin had just gotten off work when he saw his bruised and swollen younger brother. “What happened again?” He asked.

Wang qi answered: “He visited a prostitute and refused to pay.”

Though he was out of breath from the crying, Wang Chao still wanted to explain: “I didn’t ‘refuse to pay,’ I only forgot to bring any money.”

But what good would this explanation do?

Wang Jin then joined in and pinched him as punishment.

His phone was confiscated, and the same with his laptop. He was locked within his own room to facilitate self-reflection.

Zhao Zhengyi returned home at half-past one during the night. He yawned as he unlocked the door, and while he was changing, the sound of Xie Zhuxing’s bedroom door opening startled him suddenly.

Xie Zhuxing emerged from his bedroom, hurried toward the entrance, and began to put his shoes on.

Though he sensed the strangeness of his expression, Zhao Zhengyi didn’t dare to call after him, since he thought that the latter may be sleepwalking.

Yet, he heard Xie Zhuxing state: “Hurry up and go to bed, I will be out for a bit.”

Zhao Zhengyi said: “It’s the middle of the night, what are you going out to do? Do you need me to accompany you?”

Xie Zhuxing answered: “No need, I’ll be back soon.”

After a while, he returned. Zhao Zhengyi was brushing his teeth when he came in. Hearing the sound of his footsteps, he hurriedly came out to look at him.

He had a torn black trash bag in his hand and was pulling a pair of black sneakers out of it.

Zhao Zhengyi recognized that pair of shoes. Xie Zhuxing usually cherished it more than any other pair of shoes.

What’s going on?

Holding that pair of shoes, Xie Zhuxing returned to his room. He placed the pair of shoes on the ground – they were stained with fruit juice in several spots.

He wiped those spots clean with wet wipes and then carefully applied a layer of conditioning oil.

Once he was done, he sat on the edge of the bed and stared at that pair of shoes on the ground for a long, long time.

What else could he do? He could not bear to throw them away.

—-

Translator’s notes:

This concludes Chapter 44~