"Okay," the receptionist said reluctantly. She entered her password and handed the phone over, though her eyes didn't leave him for a second.
Zixuan quickly inputted his assistant's number and brought the phone to his ear.
"Hello, who is this?" His assistant voice rang clearly through the speaker.
"You're asking who is this? Your boss has been missing for hours and you didn't even bother to look or worry?" Zixuan scolded, his voice rising with irritation.
"Boss?" His assistant gasped. "Boss! Where are you? I've been looking for you since—"
Zixuan raised an eyebrow, slumping slightly into the reception desk. "Really? You've been looking for me since yesterday and you couldn't find me?"
"Yes, I did. I mean—I tried. Shengli and I searched the entire event hall. You were nowhere to be found. We thought you wanted to be alone or… went home early," The assistant explained, voice faltering.
"Alone?" Zixuan's tone darkened. "What if I was raped?"
The line went dead silent.
The assistant was a little confused about how his dissapearance involved the word "rape"
He finally muttered, "…Who would dare rape a big enigma like you? Or… maybe it's the other way around."
Zixuan's brows twitched. "What did you just say?"
"Nothing," The assistant said quickly. "Where are you? I'll come pick you up right now."
Zixuan turned to the receptionist and asked for the hotel address. She gave it hesitantly, her eyes never leaving him. He typed the location into his assistant chat and handed the phone back without a word of thanks.
Then he limped slowly to the chairs near the entrance and sat down, wincing as he lowered himself. The hotel lobby was quiet, but his mind was anything but. His throat was dry, his body sore, and his pride — shattered.
He leaned back against the cushion, staring at nothing, trying not to think about what had happened.
He stayed that way until the glass doors opened with a soft swoosh.
Zixuan assistant burst in, breathing heavily, eyes scanning the space until they landed on him.
"Boss!" he rushed over. "Let's go, the car's waiting. I—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Zixuan assistant had been so eager to find him, he hadn't looked properly until now. But now that he was standing this close…
Zixuan looked like a mess.
His clothes were rumpled and loose. There were faint red scratches across his neck and jaw, as if someone had gripped him too hard. His lips were dry. His shirt hung awkwardly, like it had been tugged on.
But what made zixuan assistant freeze was a faint mark near Zixuan's collarbone—barely visible where the shirt had slid open.
It looked like… a bite.
A love bite?
No.
His stomach twisted. That wasn't the kind of mark people gave playfully. That was the kind of mark that alpha, beta or enigma give to their partners.
To show their ownership.
Could it be…?
He caught himself staring and quickly stepped back, shaking the thought away.
No. No way. Zixuan would never let anyone mark him. He'd murder them first.
Still, he couldn't shake the unease crawling up his spine.
Zixuan stood slowly, wincing slightly, and limped toward the door without sparing His assistant a glance.
"Boss… why are you limping?" zixuan assistant asked, trailing behind.
At the word "limping," Zixuan stopped, embarrassed. His shoulders tensed.
"Shut up," he snapped, yanking open the car door and slamming it shut behind him.
Zixuan assistant winced. He'd crossed the line.
He slipped into the driver's seat and started the engine without another word. The silence between them was heavy, but Zixuan didn't dare ask anything else.
He just drove.
*****
---
Haoran stretched his stiff body sleepily on the bed as he used his hand to scratch his eye.
One, two, three.
His hand drifted across the bed, fingers seeking warmth—for presence. The other side of the bed was cold
His eyes snapped opened.
He stood and smirked. It wasn't a shock to him though.
He knew clearly that Zixuan was going to run away.
Hit and run.
But how silly was that enigma to think he could leave him—Haoran—after he was marked?
Haoran smirked wider, a flicker of amusement sparking in his eyes.
Haoran knew this feeling he felt wasn't obviously because he liked Zixuan, but it was interest.
Zixuan interested him.
He hadn't had sex like that in his life.The way Zixuan thought he could actually take control, was almost laughable. Cute, even.
The shock on Zixuan's face when he turned him beneath him was the best Haoran could say he'd ever seen. No matter how he cursed yesterday, Haoran couldn't help but keep going at it. He really was a psychopath that liked when a person resisted.
Every one of Zixuan's expressions flashed in front of his eyes—the beginning, when he marked him.
Haoran wouldn't deny that the marking was done because he was blinded by passion.
But if you asked him whether he regretted it, he would proudly say no.
Zixuan was worth it.
Haoran stood up from the bed as he grabbed a towel and strolled into the bathroom, whistling softly to himself.
He turned on the tap, allowing it to fill the bathtub before immersing himself thoroughly inside.
"Mmm."
Haoran moaned in satisfaction at the feel of the water.
The heat sank into his skin, loosening every muscle. But it wasn't just the water that stirred him.
Zixuan's pleasured expression couldn't help but flash through his head.
Red cheeks. Moist eyes. Mouth parted, gasping. Each moan slipping past his lips with every movement of Haoran's hips.
Each pound resulted in beautiful moans.
As it kept echoing around Haoran's head, he was stimulated.
He leaned back, eyelids fluttering shut, He didn't need to see Zixuan to feel him.
Every sound, every shudder, every involuntary twitch of those delicate fingers haunted him in the most maddening way. The look in Zixuan's eyes when pleasure broke through his stubbornness—it had carved itself into Haoran's mind.
His breath slowed, deeper now, as his hand moved with instinctive rhythm beneath the water. No rush.