Jiang Shao has finished the all the alcohol of the club. He stood up and about to hit the dance floor and then,
He stumbled, Yang Zi held him tightly, trying to keep him upright. "Let's get out of here, Jiang Shao. It's already half past 2," Yang Zi said, glancing at his watch.
Jiang Shao mumbled incoherently, his words slurred. "Don' wanna go... wanna dance..."
Yang Zi chuckled, look at this bastard, he can't even stand straight and he wants more.
He took out his phone to text Yu Han. "I'm waiting for you at the parking lot. " he typed, hoping Yu Han would arrive soon.
As they walked towards the parking lot, Shi Wang followed closely behind.
Shi Wang said, " Hey Yang Zi, you are really strong, you can tolerate this much alcohol."
He patted Yang Zi's shoulder.
Yang Zi ignored him and supported Jiang Shao's shoulder.
Jiang Shao's weight was becoming too much for Yang Zi to handle alone.
"Jiang Shao, come on, man. You're heavier than you look," Yang Zi joked, struggling to keep him upright.
Jiang Shao blabber,"Yang..you..you.. are too good... Yang... I'm not heavy...."
Shi Wang chuckled as he saw these two.
After a few steps, Yang Zi's strength came to end and just as Yang Zi was about to fall,
Shi Wang quickly stepped forward and held his waist, preventing him from hitting the ground.
The time has stopped for both of them, their heart beat became faster, breath became heavier ,their eyes met, and for a moment, they locked gazes intimately.
But before anything could happen, Jiang Shao let out a groan, he was on the floor and cursed, " Fuck.....Yang..you are nothing but a bastard....uhhh my foot..."
Yang Zi was jolted back to reality and quickly pushed Shi Wang away.
"It's okay, I've got you," Yang Zi said, helping Jiang Shao stand up again.
Shi Wang offered, "Do you need a ride home? It's late, and it's hard to catch a cab. I can drive you guys."
Yang Zi didn't respond to him, he sighed and said," I'm waiting for Yu Han to come."
Shi Wang smiled. "We can wait for him in the car, if you stand here supporting him more, your shoulder must ache."
"No, there is no need for your, I can manage on my own." Yang Zi denied.
Jiang Shao blabbered again," I wanna...sleep, my head... head is aching..."
Yang Zi sighed," Fine..Fine.. let's go."
"Where is your car??" Yang Zi asked in firm voice.
"Follow me." Shi Wang's lips curled up.
-------
The air in the room crackled, thick with unspoken accusations and raw fury. Yu Han's hand, trembling with the force of his rage, was clamped tightly around Li Hao's collar, the fabric taut against Li Hao's throat. His knuckles were white, his whole body practically vibrating.
"Look at me, you bastard!" Yu Han's voice was a low snarl, thick with disgust.
"Look at me! Do you even see the damage you cause? Does it even register in that twisted mind of yours?"
Li Hao stood utterly still, a strange, almost unsettling calm radiating from him. His eyes, dark and unblinking, met Yu Han's furious gaze. There was no defiance, no surprise, no anger in them – just an unnerving, vacant stillness, as if he were an unmoving statue.
"You don't care, do you?" Yu Han spat, shaking him slightly, though Li Hao remained effortlessly balanced.
"Not about anyone! Not a single living soul! You just... you just harm them! You rip through lives like they're nothing but paper dolls in your path!"
A beat of silence, broken only by Yu Han's ragged breathing. Li Hao absorbed the words, his expression unchanging, his body completely relaxed despite the violent grip on his collar.
"You think you're above it all, don't you?" Yu Han continued, his voice rising,
"You think you can just march through life, destroying anyone who gets in your way? You'd shoot anyone, wouldn't you? Anyone at all! Without a second thought! Just pull the trigger and watch them fall, wouldn't you?!"
His grip tightened, muscles clenching. Yu Han's eyes were burning, reflecting the full depth of his contempt and utter disbelief.
He wanted to shake a reaction out of him, to see a flicker of guilt, a spark of anger, anything but this infuriating, passive acceptance.
But Li Hao remained a stone. He continued to listen, his gaze unwavering, his face a perfect mask of serene indifference.
There was no flicker of emotion, no shift in his posture, no hint of a word on his lips.
He simply stood there, absorbing every venomous syllable, incredibly, terrifyingly calm.
When Yu Han loose his grip from Li Hao's collar, Li Hao picked up the belt from the floor and straightened, the belt dangling from his hand, and slowly extended it towards Yu Han.
Yu Han stood frozen, breath hitched in his throat, his eyes wide with a confusion that bordered on disbelief. He stared at the offered belt, then at Li Hao's face, a crease forming between his brows. "What was this game now?"
Li Hao's eyes, dark and unyielding, locked onto his. There was no mockery there, no challenge, just an unsettling clarity. The silence stretched, thick with unspoken accusations and a strange, morbid invitation.
Then, Li Hao's voice, barely a whisper yet sharp as broken glass, cut through it:
"Whip me."
A shudder ran through Yu Han. It wasn't fear, but a profound, weary revulsion. A long, ragged sigh escaped him, as if all the air in his lungs had been holding back a scream. His hands clenched into fists, then unexpectedly, he lunged forward, not for the belt, but at Li Hao.
With a guttural growl, he snatched the belt from Li Hao's momentarily slackened grip –
Li Hao hadn't expected the sudden, violent rejection – and hurled it across the room with all his strength. It slapped against the far wall, a sharp crack echoing in the sudden stillness, before falling in a coiled heap.
Yu Han's voice was low, raw with suppressed fury. "Stay away from me, Don't you dare come near me again. Not like this. Not ever."
He turned on his heel, the air crackling with the force of his rejection, and stormed out, leaving Li Hao alone in the quiet, the discarded belt a silent witness.
-----
Yu Han's phone screen glowed up as it vibrated in his hand. He glanced down.
"Yang Zi: Hey! Jiang Shao and I are at the parking lot with Shi Wang in his car. Come fast, we're waiting!"
Yu Han felt a flicker of surprise.
Shi Wang?
He quickened his pace, the sound of his footsteps echoing on the concrete.
He spotted them easily – a sleek, dark sedan, unmistakably Shi Wang's, parked a little apart from the other cars. Yang Zi and Jiang Shao were clearly visible inside.
As Yu Han approached, the driver's side window smoothly slid down. A small smile played on Shi Wang's lips.
"Yu Han. Glad you made it. Hop in."
Yu Han hesitated, his steps slowing to a halt a few feet from the car.
He preferred not to impose, especially on Shi Wang, who wasn't part of their usual close-knit group. He was about to politely decline when the back door flew open slightly from the inside.
"Get in! We've been waiting for ages. Shi Wang's offered to drive us all home."
Yu Han looked from one friend to the other, then at Shi Wang, who merely watched him with a calm, inviting expression.
He felt a wave of internal reluctance, but both his friends were already settled, clearly having accepted the ride, and it would be awkward to refuse now.
"Oh, uh, thanks, Shi Wang. You really don't have to..."
"Don't be silly. It's no trouble at all. Get comfortable."
Yu Han slid into the backseat next to Yang Zi, pulling the door shut behind him. He settled onto the plush leather, feeling a little out of place.
" Everyone buckled up? Let's go." Shi Wang said while starting the engine.
Shi Wang's secretary Liu, frowned as Shi Wang left him outside alone.
"Why always me."
-----------------
Jiang Shao was a dead weight in the back, snoring softly, his head lolling against the window.
Shi Wang, a stranger until a few hours ago, was driving with a calm, focused expression. Yang Zi sat in the passenger seat, occasionally glancing in the rearview mirror at Jiang Shao, then at Yu Han.
Yu Han, seated next to the unconscious Jiang Shao, pulled out his phone covertly. He glanced at Shi Wang's profile, then quickly typed, his fingers almost flying across the screen.
Yu Han (Text to Yang Zi): Yang Zi, why did you take help from Shi Wang? We just met him, how can we possibly trust him?
Yang Zi's phone vibrated in his hand. He subtly took it out, shielding the screen with his palm and the dashboard, pretending to check the time.
His eyes quickly scanned Yu Han's message, a flicker of exasperation crossing his face. He risked a quick, almost imperceptible glance at Shi Wang, who was humming softly to a tune on the radio, seemingly oblivious.
With practiced discretion, Yang Zi typed out a reply with one hand, keeping his body angled away from Shi Wang.
Yang Zi (Text to Yu Han): Jiang Shao was completely wasted, I couldn't handle him alone. Plus, he was throwing a massive tantrum about wanting to sleep immediately. I literally had no other choice but to take Shi Wang's help.
Yang Zi quickly locked his phone and slipped it back into his pocket, feigning disinterest and staring out at the passing streetlights.
A moment later, Yu Han's phone vibrated. He checked it, a grim line forming on his lips.
He didn't reply, just slowly put his phone away, his gaze still fixed on Shi Wang's reflection in the rearview mirror, a mixture of suspicion and grudging understanding in his eyes.
The hum of the car's AC was a relentless, icy whisper. He hugged himself, rubbing his arms, but it was no use. A fresh wave of goosebumps erupted, prickling visible on his forearms. He wished he'd brought a jacket, but the weather forecast had been misleadingly optimistic.
Shi Wang, who had been humming softly to the radio, suddenly went quiet. His eyes, previously focused on the road, flickered to Yang Zi, then quickly back to the asphalt.
"Whoa," Shi Wang said, his voice a little too casual, a little too sudden. "Suddenly feeling a chill myself."
With a decisive click, the AC fan whirred down to silence, and the blast of cold air ceased. Yang Zi blinked, surprised by the abrupt change, and a grateful sigh almost escaped him.
"Really?" Yang Zi asked, a slight frown creasing his brow as he looked at Shi Wang.
Shi Wang was, to put it mildly, prepared for an ice age. He was wearing a thick, knitted jumper under a padded vest, and even a beanie was pulled low on his head, covering his ears. He looked like he'd just returned from an arctic expedition, not driven a few blocks in late spring. Yang Zi, by contrast, was in a light t-shirt.
Before Yang Zi could articulate his confusion, Shi Wang reached up, his hand disappearing into an overhead compartment near the headrest. He rummaged for a second, then pulled out a thick, charcoal-grey scarf – the kind that felt like a cloud.
"Here," Shi Wang said, extending it towards Yang Zi, still avoiding eye contact. "My neck's getting a bit stiff from the cold."
Yang Zi:"...."
Yang Zi stared at the scarf, then at Shi Wang, whose face was completely impassive, almost too carefully so. Stiff from the cold? The man was practically insulated from head to toe. There was no way he was actually cold.
His gesture, while undeniably kind, felt… peculiar. It was as if Shi Wang was performing a subtle, elaborate charade to avoid admitting he'd noticed Yang Zi's discomfort.
"Oh," Yang Zi managed, taking the soft, warm fabric. It smelled faintly of Shi Wang's cologne. "Thanks. But… you're really cold?"
Shi Wang finally met his gaze, a hint of something unreadable in his dark eyes before he quickly looked away again, clearing his throat. "Yeah, definitely. Drafty in here, isn't it?"
Yang Zi watched him, a slow smile beginning to form. He wrapped the scarf around his neck, feeling a wave of warmth spread through him. It was peculiar, yes, but also undeniably sweet. Shi Wang really was something else.