BL - One Night In Pingjing 1 The Stranger At The Pub

Just outside Bulang University was a nondescript village known as PINGJING.

As Pingjing was located just outside the university, the majority of its occupants were Bulang University's students. That was the reason Pingjing was always so quiet and deserted whenever Bulang University was on holidays.

Pingjing's desolation during the holiday period would explain first, how Pingjing got its name and second, why Pingjing was so desolate and lifeless on the eve of the Spring Festival that even the red decorations seemed exceptionally spa.r.s.e.

At this time, only a few shops were open for business. The number of open shops, only just exceeding the number of people who patronized them.

The only exception seemed to be The French Red Wine Pub, which looked like it was currently housing all the people who remained in Pingjing, as it had at least thirty people in it.

As Hua Zhendan sat on a barstool in front of the bar counter, he turned around to watch a group of five people performing Karaoke giddily.

Hua Zhendan could feel his chest tighten as the scene evoked beautiful memories—memories of when everything had been smooth and blissful.

Unable to help the sweetness of the images that a.s.saulted his mind, Hua Zhendan's lips subconsciously formed a small, sad smile. Enveloped with guilt, he immediately made a mental note to call Shen Rui once he left Pingjing. Hopefully, this time around, he would follow through.

Hua Zhendan's train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a crisp male voice telling the bartender, "I'll have whatever this handsome guy is having."

Hua Zhendan's head swerved towards the direction from which he had heard the voice. The voice had come from the seat right next to him, which had just been occupied by a guy who looked to be in his early twenties.

Under the dim lights of The French Red Wine Pub, Hua Zhendan had a rude déjà vu as he stared at the face of the seemingly younger man who had just spoken. Although he recognized that this was merely a déjà vu, he was still unable to shake off the feeling that he'd seen the man's face somewhere before.

Propelled by either the sense of familiarity the déjà vu provided him or the alcohol—perhaps it was the atmosphere or the little flirtatious glances the younger man threw his way, Hua Zhendan felt the inclination to start a conversation with him.

"Hey," Hua Zhendan spoke as the bartender pa.s.sed the younger man a colorless liquid which had three pieces of olive inside it.

The younger man smiled and replied flirtatiously, "Hey, handsome."

Hua Zhendan gave the younger man a small smile. It wasn't a usual thing for a man to continually call another man handsome in a straight bar. He suddenly concluded that it was either this young man had a very accurate gaydar or he was particularly brave.

Unable to shake off the sense of familiarity the man gave him, he asked, "I'm sorry, have we met before?"

The younger man raised a brow at him and grinning from ear to ear said, "You know, we're two strangers in a bar on Spring Festival's eve. You can be straightforward with me. There's no need to try that old trick on me."

Hua Zhendan laughed softly. He was now almost sure he didn't know this guy because he didn't know anyone this shameless.

"Do you live around here?" the younger man asked.

"No," said Hua Zhendan as he shook his head. He then continued, "I used to when I was still studying here.

"At Bulang University, that is.

"Although I've graduated for a while now, I distinctly remember how quiet this place used to be during this time.

"Almost entirely free of the hustle and bustle of this period," Hua Zhendan paused. "It resonates better with my spirit, so I came to spend the week at Pingjing. I'm currently staying at The Pingjing Hotel."

The younger man laughed, then asked, "If you're trying to avoid the festivities, then why did you come here? It has more festive spirit than anywhere else in Pingjing."

HERE was said in reference to The French Red Wine Pub. It was easily the liveliest place in Pingjing.

Zhendan smiled. "No one is ever completely devoid of a festive spirit, right?"

The younger man nodded in agreement.

"What about you, what are you doing in Pingjing?" Hua Zhendan asked.

"I live here," the younger man said. "With my sister," he added.

"Oh! Are you from here?" Hua Zhendan asked.

"Hmm, we graduated from Bulang as well. Last year. But the standard of living here is a lot more..." the younger man paused, unwilling to delve into the subject of his poor financial status with someone he was trying to hit on.

Hua Zhendan immediately noticed this. He didn't know what to say to make the man relax. Surprisingly, Hua Zhendan was thoroughly enjoying his company. He couldn't recall the last time he had just sat at a bar and had a conversation with someone.

He couldn't recall the last time he had connected with someone this quickly.

Before he could think up something to say, the younger man stood up and said, "I should get going. My sister will be furious if I get home late."

Hua Zhendan didn't believe him. He just concluded the younger man was embarra.s.sed and was trying to get away from him. As Hua Zhendan didn't want him to leave, he decided to use the guy's shameless method to get him to stay a little longer.

His voice loud enough so the younger man who was still standing could hear him above the music in the bar—attracting a few stares from the people sitting around in the process—Hua Zhendan asked, "Are you a top or a bottom?"

Much to Hua Zhendan's amus.e.m.e.nt, the younger man dropped his head in embarra.s.sment and twitching his fingers shyly, sat back down.

Hua Zhendan chuckled. As the younger man had been flirting so shamelessly earlier, Hua Zhendan was of the opinion the younger man had a skin that was so thick that it would be impenetrable. Who knew it would be this easy to make him feel embarra.s.sed?

Gloating in satisfaction, Hua Zhendan looked away from the younger man and took a sip from his drink.

Hua Zhendan taking a sip from his drink at that moment would turn out to be a bad decision as the younger man's unexpected reply almost made him choke on his drink.

In a small, shy voice, the younger man had whispered, "I'm versatile."

***

When Hua Zhendan left his house for Pingjing five days ago, he didn't expect to meet anyone and had stayed cooped up in his hotel room for the five days he had stayed there.

When he left his hotel room for The French Red Wine Pub an hour ago, he also didn't expect to meet anyone, so it almost felt unreal that a good-looking younger man was moaning under him at the moment.

The soft pale skin and the faint cries that came from the mouth of the younger man felt nothing short of transcendental.

With every stroke, Hua Zhendan felt like he was stuck in a piece of beautiful music—a piece of beautiful music where even the sound of the air conditioner and the cold air it emitted seemed to rhyme with the melody of the man lying beneath him.

Hua Zhendan wasn't someone who glorified s.e.x. The thing was, for a very long time, he hadn't been in a relations.h.i.+p, neither had he s.e.x with someone because they liked each other nor just because it was s.e.x.

Whenever he was h.o.r.n.y and needed to get off, he would call for the service of a money boy. That was why this s.e.x felt very different for him. It felt—just right. So right that even though he came first, Hua Zhendan patiently stroked the younger man's c.o.c.k until the younger man came. It felt so right that as the younger man showered, Hua Zhendan became excited at the prospect of cuddling someone until the morning came. It felt so right that he thought he should get the younger man's phone number and keep in touch with him. It felt so right that he imagined that this was the beginning of what would be his first romantic relations.h.i.+p in four years.

As the foolish thought of starting a relations.h.i.+p with the younger man who he had just met invaded his senses, his heart fluttered, and he smiled stupidly.

The stupid smile was wiped off his face when he heard the rustling of clothes and realized the younger man was dressing up to leave.

"Oh! Are you leaving?" Hua Zhendan asked, disappointment pulling at his heartstrings, threatening to rip them into pieces.

The younger man hummed a reply.

With the reticent reply he got, Hua Zhendan immediately thought the younger man was leaving because he hadn't satisfied him. Panicking while pretending to be calm, he asked, "Do you want to go again? If you didn't like it, I could do better this time around."

The younger man laughed softly and glanced at him. "I did like it, but I do have to go."

Hua Zhendan frowned, then nodded.

In one last desperate attempt to hang on to his stupid fantasies, as the younger man walked towards the door, Hua Zhendan implored him in a tone of voice that was almost pleading, "Call me later."

The younger man stopped and looked at him awkwardly. "I don't have your phone number."

"Oh! I'll give it to you then," Hua Zhendan said.

As Hua Zhendan started to get up so he could get his business card from the wallet in his pants, he was quickly interrupted by a reply from the younger man, "I don't have a phone."

"Oh!" Hua Zhendan said.

At this point, it was clear to him that this man had no interest in him. All he had wanted was a quick f.u.c.k. Now that he had gotten it, he and Hua Zhendan no longer had any business together.

Tonight, he had been an M.B, much like Cheng Jian, except his service was given freely.

As this realization hit him, Hua Zhendan suddenly felt cheap and disgusted with himself and the young man he had misread.

"If there's nothing else, I'll get going, huh?" the younger man said.

Hua Zhendan gave him a curt nod.

As the younger man left, Hua Zhendan realized he didn't even know the name of the person who had given him that fleeting moment of romantic optimism.

***

As Xuan Tianyi closed the door of the hotel room behind him, he sighed.

He hated it when he hooked up with a stranger who seemed to want something more after they had had s.e.x. It made him feel bad.

If Xuan Tianyi was honest with himself, he had liked this guy. This guy had seemed smart, was good looking and the s.e.x was pretty good. These were the three qualities he desired in a man, and this man had had all of them.

The only problem was that right now, Xuan Tianyi didn't want to be in a relations.h.i.+p.

He wasn't sure how those things called relations.h.i.+ps worked anyways. It was a good thing he didn't have a phone. He might not have been able to stop himself from giving the man a call.

That was if he, Xuan Tianyi, remembered this stranger tomorrow.