Xie Mu’s life during high school was like a basin of brackish water.
Somehow he had offended Tan Tao, the leader of the class clique who had just transferred over, and after that, there had been no peace for him.
He was locked in the bathroom and drenched in water; he had to watch the shredding of his homework; his blankets were sopping wet at night, leaving him to curl up for warmth.
To him, Tan Tao was like a tall mountain blocking the road on the path of life. With him in the way, Xie Mu couldn’t see any signs of hope.
And the good-tempered youth did try to resist, but in the end, he could only aggrievedly choose to avoid him.
He tried to convince himself to endure it and wait until college, where he wouldn’t have to see that person anymore.
That is until that day that Tan Tao and some others snuck out to drink alcohol before drunkenly climbing back over the walls.
He found the youth and forcefully pulled him to the bathroom, pressing him against the wall.
Tan Tao tore at Xie Mu’s clothing, his alcohol scented lips roaming nonstop over his face as he tried to kiss the youth’s soft, moist lips.
Xie Mu avoided them alarmed, and for the first time, he didn’t try to remain silent, calling out for someone to save him, but the person in front of him covered his mouth.
He couldn’t make a sound, only able to struggle in vain, despairing as he felt his clothes slowly peeled off of his body.
The youth fought, his tears dripping onto Tan Tao’s hand.
“Xiao Mu, Xiao Mu, give me a kiss…”
The devil-esque man pressed him down and murmured his name as he took off his pants.
No–
Go away–
Help, someone save him–
Xie Mu was scared to the point of shaking, and when he finally felt as if he couldn’t escape, a voice carried over from the outside.
Cold, impatient, and pleasant.
“Tan Tao, get out here.”
The demon paused his movements, and like a miracle, he loosened his grip.
The scent of gardenias filled his nose, and the youth frantically tried to push him away. He didn’t care if his clothes were decent or not before pushing open the door and running out with red eyes.
A person stood outside, but he didn’t dare to lift his head as he rushed past.
From that side, he could hear the impatient voice of that demon, Tan Tao, “What’re you doing? Can’t you see that I’m busy?”
Following that came the noise of a fist hitting flesh, and the youth clutched at his clothes. He heard the sound of Tan Tao’s angry voice, “Bo Qin, are you crazy? Why’d you hit me?”
“I think you’re the crazy one; your hormones are going wild at school! Can’t you see that he wasn’t willing…”
No one knew how grateful Xie Mu felt after hearing that sentence.
Someone had spoken up for him, for the first time. He wasn’t willing.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The youth ran into the forest red-eyed, breaking down sobbing. He began working harder to save money and for a chance to transfer schools.
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The youth was wary and hated him, and at the same time, he began paying attention to Bo Qin.
He wasn’t in their class. He was handsome with a slightly aloof personality, seemingly the cold type.
But only the youth knew just how good of a person Bo Qin was.
He slowly began to like watching him. Xie Mu’s eyes followed him like a small tail, carefully watching the man as Bo Qin walked around campus, the cafeteria, and the basketball court.
He discovered that he liked him.
But even up until he transferred schools, the youth didn’t dare to say anything. Bo Qin was such a great person, but he, he didn’t have anything; he didn’t even dare to confess.
This secret love, from its conception, was destined to end.
But later, it was like a dream.
After graduating, he went to Bo Qin’s company and became his secretary. He was still so good. Bo Qin held Xie Mu’s hand while teaching, he didn’t blame him for his mistakes, and he smiled and praised him when he did something right.
Even if Bo Qin didn’t remember him, to the youth, the time when he first entered the company was his happiest.
He couldn’t suppress his hidden love anymore.
After the two got together, he tried hard to learn new knowledge so that he could stand by Bo Qin’s side.
Bo Qin couldn’t drink alcohol, so he desperately practiced drinking wine to block toasts for him and letting the person he liked take a break.
Bo Qin appreciated those with work capabilities, so he worked furiously and studied how to execute all sorts of tasks. Even if something was out of his scope of work, he would still dedicatedly learn it, as long as it helped Bo Qin.
Bo Qin liked cleanliness, so he never allowed others to touch him, only Bo Qin.
The youth thought firmly that for such a great Bo Qin, of course, he had to become outstanding enough to stand by his side.
In Xie Mu’s heart, Bo Qin was perfect.
He was gentle, attentive, upright, kind, tolerant, and patient.
This man was like a big tree, blessing and protecting him. He was his motivation to keep going.
But what if all of this was fake?
Bo Qin sat in the car sullenly.
His slender fingers rubbed the passcode locked journal.
Xie Mu had changed the password.
He could have used force to open it, but in the end, he didn’t want to open it.
If he really ruined the diary, Xiao Mu would be angry when he came back.
He wouldn’t say when he was upset. Instead, he would hide in some corner and sit for an entire day, not even coming out to eat meals.
Bo Qin knew that habit of Xie Mu, but he had never thought of changing it.
Now though, whenever he thought of the youth hiding somewhere, enduring with red-rimmed eyes, the man’s heart knotted into a mess.
His Xiao Mu…
He would pick him up and explain everything clearly.
Xiao Mu’s temper was good, and he loved him so much, he would definitely forgive him.
Definitely.
When Bo Qin arrived, Tan Tao was on the sofa, plucking at the gardenia flower in his hand, his long slender legs hanging over the coffee table. He couldn’t be bothered to raise his head even as he heard the door open violently.
The handsome man barged in with people, his face frigid. He had a person go up to push down Tan Tao, who had on his glasses and a warm smile, too lazy to fight back.
His smile remained on his face even as they pushed him in front of Bo Qin.
“Where’s Xie Mu.”
The man’s voice was dark and insidious, sounding like a demon that had crawled out from hell.
Tan Tao wasn’t scared. He laughed, his voice soft and gentle, and asked, “Do you still remember the first time you met him?”
“Do you know how long he has liked you?”
“You thought that you tricked him over with the cards in your hand, but what if you never needed to cheat, and he was already in your hand?
Bo Qin’s face was cold. He didn’t understand what Tan Tao was saying, nor did he want to know.
“Where’s Xie Mu?”
Someone suddenly threw a punch to Tan Tao’s abdomen. He grunted but only continued to smile foolishly, as if he couldn’t feel the pain.
Punches landed onto his body, and the last punch hit his face, the corner of Tan Tao’s mouth beginning to bleed.
Even so, he remained smiling. His glasses had long fallen to the ground, and his face was full of bruises from being hit. He smiled and smiled. Tan Tao raised his eyes, looking at the cold expression of the aloof man before spitting out a mouthful of blood onto the floor.
He curled his lips, his eyes shining with a mad light, “Xiao Mu liked you since high school. Because of you, he was willing to hurt himself so as not to let me touch him. I was afraid to hurt him and didn’t dare to touch him. I could only carefully follow behind him, watching as he used those eyes to look at you!!”
“But you?”
“What did you do right?? Where are you better than I am? Clearly, we are the same, deep down in our bones. Just because you pretended to be like that, he liked you…and hated me…”
Bo Qin looked at his deranged former friend, his brows drawing tighter.
High school…
Why didn’t he remember.
The situation should be in the man’s hand, but Tan Tao, green and purple all over, was still grinning like a lunatic. Bo Qin’s heart felt a little ill at ease.
It seemed like somewhere, something went wrong.
The unease was fleeting. Bo Qin looked down at Tan Tao, held down on the ground. His thin lips parted slightly, his cold voice sounding, “Hit him.”
Fists rained down onto Tan Tao’s body. His grin remained as if he couldn’t feel any of the pain, and a pair of bloodshot eyes gleefully looked towards Bo Qin.
“You made me kill my darling with my own two hands. What I can’t have, you can’t have either!”
“Want to hurt me, then let’s hurt together, hahahahaha…wu…”
A punch interrupted his smile, but he resumed smiling with cracked lips, his teeth dyed red with blood, and his eyes glimmering with madness.
This sentence was like a reminder, and Bo Qin’s eyes darkened instantly. He coldly glanced at his former friend before turning around to leave.
Tan Tao was tossed onto the ground with a body of bruises, struggling to breathe.
He lay on the ground, strenuously moving towards the coffee table.
The gardenia blossom was still there. The man tremblingly reached out a bloody hand to carefully bring it down.
His voice shook as he disregarded the pains of his body, gently speaking: “Darling, don’t be afraid.”
“I’m fine…”
Bo Qin kicked open the door. The doctor in a white coat inside was frightened into taking a step back immediately.
The man didn’t even look at him as he went forward quickly to the side of the sleeping youth. Upon seeing him still breathing well, he abruptly let loose a breath.
It’s fine. His Xiao Mu was still here.
Bo Qin gently called out, “Xiao Mu, Xiao Mu…”
The youth slowly opened his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering. His pretty eyes just registered the light before a tear flowed from the corner of his eye.
“Why are you crying?”
The man’s slender fingers gently wiped away the tear as his familiar magnetic voice coaxed, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
The youth looked at him blankly, not speaking.
Bo Qin’s face gradually froze. He felt a little uneasy at seeing his lover like this. He asked softly, “What happened? Do you feel unwell?”
“It’s you…”
Xie Mu spoke hoarsely with red-rimmed eyes: “It’s you who pushed me into his embrace.”
His eyelashes trembled, his eyes full of sadness.
“You were laughing very happily…”
“My body hurt so much, to where my whole body was shaking. That day it was raining really hard, and I walked for such a long time in the rain to get home.”
Bo Qin’s body stiffened, and he pleaded: “Xiao Mu, don’t say anymore…”
But it was like the youth couldn’t hear as he continued to murmur.
“You said I’m dirty.”
“But…wasn’t it you who dirtied me?”
Oh man. He “remembered” it all. And said it. What are you going to do now BQ?
Thanks for the chap!
They’re all gonna end up killing each other xd
Thanks for the chapter~
Oof! Xie Mu, dropping the hammer of truth down onto his gongs. Now he just needs to drop its twin sister, Justice.
Honestly, the “white lotus” type is more than mildly annoying, but I love that this guy is using it to truly punish those who deserve it. A strong person fighting back isn’t shocking. Someone apparently weak, though? The scum never see it coming.
Hmm I feel like Tan Tao is the one who deserve the crueler gong abuse
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
They both deserve it, but Bo Qin definitely deserves it worse.
Oh man I know there’s such a backstory to highschool days with Tan Tao… But Bo Qin is included? Daaaamn so dramatic
Thanks for the chapter!!
AAAHHHAHAHA THE LONG AWAITED IMPASSIVE STARE 🍻 CHEERS
people say it’s formulaic, and that’s true, but slowly boiling a scum gong into a breakdown feels soooo goooood. every. time.
…I’m bringing popcorn for the final showdown.
Ohh, the three of them met in high school. Xie Lu’s feelings run deep since a long time ago.
Thanks for the chapter!
time for the main dish..?..hehe…
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