To Treat Each Other Like Brothers - Chapter 30

Xie Shiyao had a dream.

In the dream, he returned to the day after their very first encounter. Just as he had done when he was a child, he woke up, pushed open the door, and picked up the battered little toy bear at the entrance.

But this time, he chose not to tear apart the slip of paper written in red pen that read, “For you, Brother.”

Holding the toy bear, he walked up to the small Lin Zhuyi, crouched down, helplessly patted Lin Zhuyi’s hair, and uttered a sentence, “Thank you for your gift. Let us make up.”

Then, Xie Shiyao held him tightly.

Lin Zhuyi’s innocent eyes displayed a trace of delight. That was the unmistakable appearance of a very happy child.

It was truly good.

If only things could be done over.

Xie Shiyao suddenly remembered that basement, along with the words Lin Zhuyi whispered beside his ear.

Goosebumps erupted all over his body, and Xie Shiyao abruptly opened his eyes.

He could see nothing.

It was too dark here. Before his eyes, there was only unyielding blackness.

Beneath his body was softness, appearing to be a bed. Xie Shiyao hurriedly sat up, and suddenly, a flurry of chime sounds rang out.

He felt around in the darkness, only then discovering that the bed was completely covered with dense little bells.

“Brother, you are awake? You slept for quite a long time. I was even a bit scared.”

Lin Zhuyi’s voice echoed faintly from his side.

“However, welcome home.”

Without leaving Xie Shiyao any opportunity to struggle, Lin Zhuyi lunged forward, pressing down on Xie Shiyao’s neck. “Did you sleep well? Is it because I am beside you that you sleep this well?”

A sensation of suffocation hit him, and Xie Shiyao struggled, using his feet to kick Lin Zhuyi. “What do you think you are doing!”

The more Xie Shiyao struggled, the louder the sound of the bells across the bed became.

Lin Zhuyi listened to the chime sounds with enjoyment. “I have prepared these bells for a very long time. I finally have the opportunity to bring them out and use them.”

“Listen clearly to every single time I possess you.”

Lin Zhuyi clamped Xie Shiyao’s hands with a single hand. At that instant, he changed back into the bad individual he used to be, using his fingertips to dangerously stroke Xie Shiyao’s cheek, Adam’s apple, and neck.

“Do you feel wronged? Are you angry? You must be very surprised, right?” Lin Zhuyi asked.

Xie Shiyao said furiously, “Do not make so many excuses for yourself. Because of you, what I lost is no less than what you lost. Do not put on the appearance of a victim before me. If you want to sleep with me, just say it straight out!”

Lin Zhuyi was amused by what he heard. “You are quite unyielding. As expected of Brother.”

“However,” Lin Zhuyi spoke up to this point, and for some reason, as if recalling something, his tone turned dark again, “do you know how I lived through those four years after you left?”

“Four years. 1461 days, 35064 hours.”

“Every day, I was inquiring about how free and unfettered you were. How did you dare to forget me completely?”

“Back then, you turned me away from women, abandoned me, and left without saying goodbye. Brother, I truly hate you.”

Xie Shiyao was completely immobilized, wishing he could use his fingernails to scratch Lin Zhuyi. “Do you know what you are saying? When did I ever turn you away from women?”

These words seemed to infuriate Lin Zhuyi, who buried his head into Xie Shiyao’s neck and bit down harshly.

“I see you have forgotten everything. Xie Shiyao, are you not very mindful of the fact that I used a video taken out of context back then to deceive your father, causing you to transfer schools? Do not remember what you said to me while riding on top of me back then?”

Xie Shiyao froze.

Lin Zhuyi imitated Xie Shiyao’s tone, continuing, “At that time, you asked me if I knew why you simply liked men. Because men can stand tall between heaven and earth. Therefore, when a man occasionally displays a fragile appearance, it appears exceptionally enchanting.”

“This is called a man’s desire for conquest.”

“You also said that conquering a brat like me was quite interesting. Why not just turn me away from women directly, to see how arrogant I could continue to be in the future? Before standing tall between heaven and earth, possess me first; how interesting is that? How about it, Brother, have you remembered everything now? Back then, you were the one who provoked me first. What right do you have to forget? Are you even worthy of forgetting?”

Those fragmented memories, accompanied by this interrogation, began to flash continuously within Xie Shiyao’s mind.

Lin Zhuyi said, “Seriously, if not for those words of yours, I would not even have realized why I felt you smelled so fragrant. I truly must thank you.”

He whispered softly against Xie Shiyao’s ear, “As expected, you have been begging to be possessed since childhood.”

Whether it was the belated regret that made Xie Shiyao furious, the anger toward Lin Zhuyi completely discarding the act of amnesia to lay his cards on the table, or the realization that the man truly intended to take him down.

Xie Shiyao obtained strength from some unknown source. He freed his hand, using all the force in his body to land a resounding, crisp slap across Lin Zhuyi’s face with a loud smack. “You are finally unwilling to act out the amnesia?”

“Fine. Back then in the private room of the restaurant, I should have possessed you until you could not utter a word, making you cry and beg for mercy from me.” Xie Shiyao yanked Lin Zhuyi by the collar, pinning the man back down onto the bed, and delivered another slap amidst the chiming of the bells. “How dare you play me. Lie down obediently and wait to be possessed.”

To hell with reason, to hell with the gamble.

In any case, everything was gone. The trending search was out, the illusion of home was destroyed, and the decent image maintained all along no longer remained.

Xie Shiyao threw caution to the wind and began unbuttoning Lin Zhuyi’s clothes. “Quite arrogant. Whom have you ever slept with? Who gave you the confidence that you could possess me? Do you even have the technique?”

Lin Zhuyi seemed to enjoy it immensely, offering no struggle, quietly admiring him within the darkness. “Yes, your technique is good, you have slept with many people, and your young lovers can circle the earth three times over. How capable you are.”

As these words fell, Lin Zhuyi raised his arm, wrapping it around Xie Shiyao, pressing the person downward and flipping back over on top of Xie Shiyao.

“Brother, I will straighten you out while wearing the suit you like. You must have suppressed it for a long time as well. It is fine, we should have been like this long ago.”

He bit Xie Shiyao’s earlobe, reaching out to undo Xie Shiyao’s buttons.

Xie Shiyao was so angry that even his face felt hot. Growing up to this age, he had never once thought of being the one underneath, let alone being underneath for Lin Zhuyi. “Get off! Is that substantial thing of yours a human size? How can that object be inserted carelessly!”

He brushed Lin Zhuyi’s hand aside, and the two instantly brawled together. Of course, they did not forget to use the gaps during the fight to grab at each other’s clothes, tearing them back and forth.

It was unclear whether Lin Zhuyi had been working out, as his strength was much greater than Xie Shiyao’s, yet because Xie Shiyao was blinded by fury, his strength was unexpectedly immense as well.

Until Lin Zhuyi changed his strategy, grabbing hold of Xie Shiyao’s life source.

This action could practically be described as cunning. Xie Shiyao only felt a jolt of electricity course through his brain, only then realizing what Lin Zhuyi was doing.

“Mm,” Xie Shiyao spoke while nearly holding his breath, “Are you still not letting go?”

Lin Zhuyi had no intention of letting go of his vital gate. “Still quite arrogant. You do not seem to understand your current situation just yet.”

He smiled wickedly and raised his hand, shoving Xie Shiyao onto the bed.

A jingling sound resounded throughout the room, and Lin Zhuyi pressed down. He tore off the already loosened tie, winding it around Xie Shiyao’s wrists once, twice, and tying a dead knot.

Lin Zhuyi buried his head, using his teeth to hold and undo the buttons on Xie Shiyao’s shirt one by one. The sensation of eyelashes brushing across the skin was too itchy, and Xie Shiyao could not help but make a sound.

Then, Lin Zhuyi slowly removed the hearing aid from his right ear.

“The front has already been overused, so the first time for the back should be left to me as well.”

“Xie Shiyao, cry out louder.”

“I cannot hear you, Brother.”

“I cannot hear you.”

A sensation never experienced before, accompanied by a trepidation that made his heart palpitate, corroded Xie Shiyao’s senses.

He widened his eyes and bit his lip, yet he still could not prevent himself from making a sound. However, Lin Zhuyi acted as though he could hear nothing at all, burying his head, allowing the bed full of bells to ring back and forth.

Clatter.

Clatter.

Clatter!

The crisp bell chimes numbed Xie Shiyao’s resistance. It truly was a very strange experience, even making him feel that he had changed within this darkness, becoming unlike himself.

From pain to a tingling scalp, the process was so fast it terrified him.

Carrying utter panic in his heart, he used his fist to strike Lin Zhuyi, his voice losing its pitch. “Are you insane?”

That man saw Xie Shiyao’s lips moving, appearing to be speaking. He ignored it completely, so the bedsheet was clutched into creases by Xie Shiyao, and another deafening wave of bell chimes rang out.

Pushing was futile, and there was an indescribable sensation tightening around his consciousness. Xie Shiyao clenched his fists, striking straight onto Lin Zhuyi’s body.

Lin Zhuyi’s body was entirely too solid, covered in beautiful muscular lines. Striking did not budge him at all, and instead, it was Xie Shiyao who ended up breathless.

Xie Shiyao could not control the urge to make a sound, so he simply raised his arm, blocking his own face.

This action displeased Lin Zhuyi greatly.

Lin Zhuyi coldly pinned his hands down, using his other hand to tap his own ear.

“What is there to be bashful about? Today, I will certainly not leave you an opportunity to close your legs.”

Accompanied by a wave-like chime of bells, Xie Shiyao tightened his fingers, his nails digging deeply into the back of Lin Zhuyi’s hand. “Do not, do not move, it feels very strange.”

Lin Zhuyi let out a “tsk” sound. “What kind of expression is that? Do you not have a lot of experience? Why are you trembling like this? Is it nervousness? Or is it pleasure?”

“Brother, did you use to possess others just like the way I am possessing you now?”

“Truly fucking enticing.”

Xie Shiyao bit the pillow. Physiological tears spilled from the corners of his eyes. His eyes were red, and he had no way to piece together a single complete sentence anymore.

“You wait, you, sooner or later I will destroy you.”

After speaking disjointedly, Xie Shiyao only then realized that Lin Zhuyi could not hear him at all.

He clenched his teeth, wanting to say something more, but the moment he opened his mouth, the words turned into a different pitch, “You, ah!”

Unsure where he was touched, he arched his body, trembling uncontrollably.

Seeing this, Lin Zhuyi drew close with excitement, carefully observing that flushed face. With a kiss, he contained and took away the physiological tear hanging from the eyelashes. “Did I not say it before? Sooner orlater, you will cry once for me.”

“Do you regret enticing me in the office now? Hmm? Director Xie, I am asking if you regret it now?”

“Right before my eyes, you have never engaged in fewer casual flings. Just stepping out the door, one can encounter several people who have been slept with by you. Do they know that you can also be pinned down and possessed by someone?”

“Look at your appearance now, Brother. You tell me, how well-deserved it is for you. You brought it upon yourself, you are the one at fault, you are the one at fault.”

At fault?

Perhaps.

At fault for not sleeping with you first ahead of time.

Xie Shiyao panted heavily. He first slapped Lin Zhuyi, then yanked Lin Zhuyi by the tie to pull the person over, biting down on that annoying, broken mouth.

He practically bit Lin Zhuyi’s lips into pieces.

What should be done, what could be done? He ought to be angry. Yet he could not withstand the surging physiological response. Why was he the one underneath? Why was Lin Zhuyi performing the very actions on him that he had fantasized about countless times over and over?

But why, even when humiliated to this point, would he still instinctively engage in kissing, even if it meant injuring each other’s lips?

Nails scratched through Lin Zhuyi’s body. Xie Shiyao tugged at Lin Zhuyi’s hair with one hand, using his trailing arm to encircle him tightly.

Just like an instinct. Every time he wanted to push away, his body acted ahead of him as though disobeying his mind, making the choice a step earlier.

Within this darkness, Xie Shiyao nearly lost his perception of time.

He had no idea how much time had passed at all.

So long that the shirt on Lin Zhuyi’s body was nearly torn to shreds by him. Xie Shiyao kept cursing non-stop in the beginning, yet later on, even the ability to speak was swallowed by the numbing sensation.

The bells jingled and clattered. Whether it was the tears stimulated by pleasure or the silver thread trailing from the corner of his mouth, half the pillow had long been soaked damp.

Those lighter-colored eyes gradually lost focus from the initial anger. His past pride disappeared along with the tremors, his pupils unable to stop rolling upward.

That person had absolutely no intention of letting him off.

It was as if pouring all the various resentments of the past ten years entirely onto his body.

Beside his ears, everything was the roaring sound of reason being washed away.

Sometimes Xie Shiyao would think, why not just entangle with Lin Zhuyi here until death. Yet every time he thought this way, the humiliation of losing to his younger brother became a reef surfacing above the sea, making those thoughts of “should not” and “cannot” within his heart have nowhere to hide.

Xie Shiyao found it a struggle even to raise his hand, yet he still made an effort to tap Lin Zhuyi, panting heavily, his tone entirely filled with a wretched, negotiating manner that had never appeared before. “Stop for a moment, I seem, about to pass out.”

Lin Zhuyi could not hear clearly what Xie Shiyao said, but he could roughly guess a thing or two. “Want to stop?”

Xie Shiyao slumped against Lin Zhuyi. Fearing that Lin Zhuyi could not hear, he could only nod his head.

Lin Zhuyi then released his hands, which were completely covered in tooth marks.

The moment he released him, Xie Shiyao lost all strength throughout his body, falling back onto that bed of bells, trembling continuously.

A trace of pity surfaced in Lin Zhuyi’s eyes, but very quickly, that pity changed flavor, turning into a dense hatred.

“If you want to stop, it is fine. Then Brother, let us set a safe word. If you want to stop, just say this word.”

Xie Shiyao barely had the strength to speak anymore, yet he still forced himself to say, “What, safe word?”

Lin Zhuyi wiped away the tears covering his brother’s face. He opened his mouth, his warm breath brushing past Xie Shiyao’s ear, word by word.

“I love you.”

“If Brother says it once, I will stop.”

Lin Zhuyi smiled gently, his thumb moving back and forth to stroke Xie Shiyao’s cheek. However, when stroking past the corner of the mouth, his fingertips applied more and more force, as if deliberately punishing him. “Do not be afraid to say it out loud. In any case, the hearing aid has been removed, so no matter how you say it, I cannot hear you either.”