Are All You Straight Men Like This? - Chapter 17.2

There was a window in the room, connecting them to the wind and rain outside. A sudden bolt of lightning cut through the darkness. Beneath the black, churning night sky, cold and violent rain droplets the size of soybeans pitter-pattered against the windowsill, leaving large water stains.

In this warm and lively space, Lin Ziqian crossed his legs and suggested: “Let’s play something else. Drinking like this is boring.”

“Sure!” several drunken boys shouted in support. “…Let’s play something with a high difficulty level. Yu Ting is good at everything, dammit.”

“Crap? That’s because I’ve got a good brain!” Yu Ting laughed and cursed.

Ye Ran’s heart suddenly started beating a bit fast. He glanced at Lin Ziqian across from them. Lin Ziqian was leaning over saying something to Liang Feng, a frivolous smile on his lips. Liang Feng’s eyes were lowered, his expression unreadable, motionless.

“Do you want to play?” Shen Shi’s voice suddenly rang beside him, low and cold like a piece of ice in boiling water.

Ye Ran snapped out of it and looked at him. Shen Shi had taken off his jacket and was wearing a black hoodie. He had also had two drinks. His expression was casual and tired as he lazily looked at him, saying calmly, “If you don’t want to play, we can leave.”

They were sitting very close—so close that Ye Ran vaguely smelled the scent of alcohol, dense and close, coming from Shen Shi’s hair.

“Whoa—!” A loud roar erupted. Yu Ting had won again at finger-guessing, and the smiling President had been forced to drink a stomach full of alcohol.

“Someone stop Yu Ting, dammit! We can’t play anymore!” a boy wailed as he threw down his glass. “We can’t play, we can’t play. We’ll be dead drunk if we continue.”

Yu Ting’s face was very red. He was buzzed and feared no one. “I’m going to say it: everyone here is a ‘Little Brother’!”

This one sentence instantly drew the ire of the crowd. They dragged him off the sofa and pinned him down to “beat” him. Yu Ting laughed loudly. During the play, Lin Ziqian spoke with a smile: “This won’t do. Yu Ting is too smart; these kinds of drinking games are a piece of cake for him.”

“Exactly!” a boy agreed discontentedly. “Kick him out! We don’t need smart people!”

Lin Ziqian rested his chin on his hand, his smile widening. He lowered his head, a thin cigarette twirling in his hand. He drawled out his words, looking at the leftover glass bottles on the table.

“I say… we should play a game based entirely on luck. No matter how good Yu Ting is, he can’t calculate who has good luck.”

After a brief silence, everyone responded: “Damn, you’re right!” “Shit, why didn’t I think of that before?!” “I don’t believe he can escape this!”

Yu Ting keenly sensed something was wrong and propped himself up. However, the girls from the other side had also gathered around, asking curiously, “What game? Can we play?”

“Truth or Dare,” Lin Ziqian laughed softly. “—It’s only fun with more people.”

He looked up. Across the table, Ye Ran was unmoved, talking to Shen Shi. Shen Shi’s eyes were slightly lowered, listening quietly and patiently. The brim of his baseball cap shielded him from the glaring lights, outlining his pale and superior profile. They were sitting very close, as if they were in their own little world.

Tch. Lin Ziqian withdrew his gaze, uninterested, and continued twirling the cigarette in his hand.

The bottle game—the simplest, most brutal, and easiest game to start. All the club members joined in, boys and girls sitting on opposite sides. The disco ball above spun colorful lights, adding fuel to the already heated atmosphere.

The rain outside grew heavier. Lightning flashed through the dark clouds, hideously revealing itself. Amidst a burst of cheering, Ye Ran sat up straight. The brown bottle spun on the table, round and round, before finally stopping in front of the President.

The President laughed. “Me?”

Lin Ziqian had spun the bottle; the rules stated he would choose Truth or Dare for the President. He rested his chin on his hand and smiled. “I’m not interested in Dares, so let’s go with Truth.”

He said casually, “Does the President have a boy or girl they like?”

The moment he said this, the scene turned cold for a bit. Although everyone knew his orientation and his relationship with Liang Feng, no one expected him to be so direct.

The President was also stunned, then smiled: “I have a girl I like.”

“Whoa—!” The awkwardness was instantly buried under a barrage of questions. Lin Ziqian’s smile was beaming. He lazily looked up and scanned Ye Ran across the table.

Ye Ran was sitting in the shadows where the light couldn’t reach, taking a sip of his drink. His fingers holding the aluminum can were slender and fair, and his pupils were a clear black. Even in this situation, he still exuded a mild and soft aura.

Lin Ziqian gave a small tsk, a hint of playfulness in his smile.

The second round began. This time the President spun the bottle, and it pointed to a girl. The President didn’t make things difficult for her, only asking her to name her favorite idol. Everyone else jeered, expressing dissatisfaction with the President’s question, thinking it was too dull.

A boy complained with a thick tongue: “Truths have to be explosive!”

As a result, the questions in the subsequent rounds became bolder and more provocative. “Is there someone you like in this room?” “When was your first sexual experience?” “What is the name of the classmate you hate the most?” “Who do you hate the most in this room?” “Give Wang Jie, who’s next to you, a kiss! Whoo—!”

The atmosphere was pushed to its peak. The bottle went around once and finally pointed to Lin Ziqian again. The smile on Lin Ziqian’s lips was no longer concealed as he slowly sat up straight, listening to a girl ask shyly: “What kind of boys do you like?”

“The kind like Liang Feng,” he answered without concealment.

“Damn, damn, damn! You two really are a pair—” “I wish the two of you a love as solid as gold and to grow old together! Hahahaha!” “No wonder I always see you two together; your relationship really is something special~”

Amidst the well-meaning teasing, Lin Ziqian caught a glimpse of Liang Feng’s tightly clenched fists. In a whisper-like murmur, he said, “Liang Feng.”

“—Listen clearly this time.”

He reached out his hand and lightly tapped the bottle.

Everyone went silent in unison, watching the brown bottle spin rapidly with tension and excitement.

Click—click—

Under everyone’s gaze, the bottle gradually slowed down like an engine running out of oil. The long neck of the bottle wobbled and wobbled, slowly pointing toward the corner of the sofa—

Yu Ting, who was being teased by those around him for being able to “drink a thousand cups without getting drunk,” felt his eyelid twitch instantly. He looked up and met Shen Shi’s cold, dark eyes from across the sofa, which made no attempt to hide their hostility.

Those hostile eyes were partially hidden by his bangs, revealing a hint of dark chill.

“Ah…” In the strange, dead silence, only Lin Ziqian’s unaffected laughter could be heard: “It’s Ye Ran.”

BOOM—! A clap of thunder exploded.

The churning dark clouds were torn open by lightning, and heavy rain poured down like a dam had broken.

Lin Ziqian’s voice rang clearly after the thunder. He asked:

“Ye Ran, are you a straight man?”