During the brief waiting period as the drinks were being brought to the table, Song Ruichi chatted on his phone for a while. After finishing his conversation, he glanced over at his friend’s table.

Xu Er naturally had some guesses.

“Aren’t you going over there?”

Xu Er thought for a moment and still asked Song Ruichi.

Song Ruichi shook his head. “No need.”

Xu Er asked, “What if they kill me?”

Song Ruichi replied, “Then you’ll have to step over my corpse first.”

“Haha,” Xu Er immediately burst out laughing. “You’re so funny.”

Song Ruichi glanced at Xu Er and, for some reason, also smiled.

It wasn’t long before the drinks for the event were brought to the table.

The colorful drinks arrived one by one. Xu Er observed each glass closely. Noticing that Xu Er was genuinely curious, Song Ruichi asked the waiter to stop and introduced the different drinks.

Xu Er listened attentively and remembered a few, such as which ones were special concoctions and which were cocktails. However, he couldn’t quite recall the orange or apple flavors because they all looked similar, and they all smelled like alcohol.

“Have you ever been to a bar?” After the waiter left, Song Ruichi asked Xu Er.

Xu Er shook his head. “No.”

Song Ruichi was a bit curious. “So why are you here today?”

Xu Er pointed at Song Ruichi. “Isn’t it because of you…” Xu Er quickly blurted out those words but then realized it didn’t sound quite right. He changed his approach and said, “Because I met you.”

Song Ruichi was clearly taken aback for a moment. He smiled. “So, were you planning on…?”

Xu Er smiled back. “Leaving.”

Song Ruichi could still tell. “So, you came just because I asked?”

Xu Er nodded, looking at Song Ruichi. “Yeah.”

Song Ruichi chuckled and leaned back a bit. “It’s not too late to leave now.”

“No,” Xu Er shook his head. “I want to help Soso win over the little bear.”

Song Ruichi raised an eyebrow slightly. “So confident,” he said, his gaze drifting to the drinks on the table. “An event like this at the bar must have some difficulty.”

Xu Er thought for a moment, then looked at Song Ruichi. “No problem. You’re good at drinking.”

Song Ruichi asked, “How can you tell?”

Xu Er was momentarily stumped.

But soon, he came up with an answer and began to imitate.

He tilted his chin up, looking disdainfully at the drinks on the table. “You drink whatever you want, and leave the rest for me.”

Song Ruichi laughed. “Is that how I am?”

Xu Er straightened up, pinching a bit of air. “Just exaggerating a little.”

The waiter came over again, handing them two empty glasses and a timer.

Song Ruichi placed one of the empty glasses in front of Xu Er. “So, is it you helping me win over the little bear, or should I do it myself?”

Xu Er suddenly became a bit defiant. “If I even take a sip, this game will count as something we’ve done together.”

Song Ruichi smiled helplessly. “Alright,” he said, then asked Xu Er, “So, may I ask, which sip are you planning to take?”

Xu Er glanced at the drinks. “I haven’t tasted any of them.”

Song Ruichi finished his sentence for him. “Then we’ll both take a sip.”

Xu Er nodded. “Exactly.”

Following the principle of convenience, Song Ruichi picked the special concoction closest to Xu Er.

Though it was just a sip, Song Ruichi poured a tiny bit into Xu Er’s empty glass—just enough for him to take a small taste.

The moment the drink touched Xu Er’s lips, Song Ruichi pressed the timer.

“Hey,” Xu Er took a sip, then pressed his lips together. “Not bad. This one’s orange-flavored. I can taste it.”

Song Ruichi picked up another glass. “Try this one.”

Xu Er handed over his glass. “Here.”

There were twenty different drinks on the table, and after tasting five, Xu Er’s taste buds were already a mess. He began to lose track of which ones were bad and could only tell that this one was definitely different from the last.

At some point, though, Song Ruichi stopped pouring and simply placed a glass in front of Xu Er.

Xu Er was a bit confused. “Huh?”

Song Ruichi replied, “Just drink it directly. This kind of glass is hard to pour.”

Xu Er nodded, understanding after a brief pause, and then picked up the glass. He remembered—this was the legendary cocktail.

“Straw,” Song Ruichi added as Xu Er was about to bring his mouth to the glass.

Xu Er nodded, realizing that the glass had a straw.

Right, if there’s a straw, he should use it to sip. That makes sense.

Makes sense.

The moment Xu Er touched the straw, it seemed his lips forgot how to sip and instead took a big gulp.

Just how big? The water level in the glass dropped noticeably with a loud “clink.”

It was a huge gulp. As he swallowed, a strange, unfamiliar sensation surged into his brain, making him feel dizzy and disoriented all at once.

He looked over at Song Ruichi.

“Haha,” Xu Er laughed first, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Song Ruichi told him, “Take it slow.”

Xu Er’s brain began to throb, like a heartbeat—thumping heavily, then lightly, thud-thud-thud.

“It’s been eight minutes already.”

Xu Er looked at the drinks on the table, which, although scattered messily, clearly hadn’t been touched. He repeated, “It’s been eight minutes already.”

“Xu Er,” Song Ruichi called his name from across the table and asked, “Are you okay?”

Xu Er asked, “How many more are there?”

Song Ruichi replied, “Five.”

“Okay,” Xu Er bent his arm, “K.”

The drinks on the table were divided into two sections—one with the ones Xu Er had tasted, and the other with those still untouched.

So, he accurately reached for the group of five remaining glasses.

But before he could touch them, his wrist was grabbed.

Xu Er followed the hand that caught his and looked at the owner of the hand. “Hm?”

“Can you still drink?” Song Ruichi asked.

Xu Er replied, “Of course,” then asked Song Ruichi, “Why not?”

Song Ruichi seemed to be trying to read the truth from his eyes.

But whether or not he figured it out, Xu Er couldn’t tell. In the end, Song Ruichi released his wrist.

The result was that, in the next half minute, Xu Er rapidly gulped down five more drinks, one after another, as if someone were rushing him. He drank quickly, all the while hearing a voice in his mind saying, “It’s too late, it’s too late.”

When the last sip was swallowed, Xu Er finally could clearly distinguish what was in his mouth.

“This is passion fruit,” he told Song Ruichi.

Song Ruichi asked, “Are you okay?”

Xu Er nodded. “It’s pretty good.”

Song Ruichi asked again, “I’m asking you.”

Xu Er looked confused. “Asking me?” He stared into Song Ruichi’s eyes. “What did you say?”

Song Ruichi chuckled. “Who am I?”

Xu Er answered, “Song Ruichi.”

Song Ruichi nodded. “I’ll drink the rest.”

Xu Er placed both hands on the table, furrowing his brows as he looked at Song Ruichi. “I think I can still drink.”

Song Ruichi responded, “You can’t.”

Xu Er seemed to not hear him and continued, “This passion fruit…”

Before Xu Er’s hand could even touch the cup, Song Ruichi took it away.

“Sit still and don’t move,” Song Ruichi said.

Xu Er, still not listening, reached out again, this time toward another glass.

But, unsurprisingly, Xu Er’s wrist was grabbed again.

It wasn’t that Xu Er didn’t feel a sense of urgency. At this moment, he didn’t dare look at Song Ruichi, clearly looking like he had been caught doing something wrong. Slowly, he shrank back, pulling his hand away.

“Sit still and don’t move.” Xu Er repeated Song Ruichi’s words, nodding as he said, “Okay.”

Song Ruichi started drinking, and Xu Er glanced at the clock. “Eighteen minutes left.”

“Mm,” Song Ruichi replied.

He drank quickly, finishing one glass in a single gulp.

Xu Er felt a bit dry sitting there. He looked at the empty glass in Song Ruichi’s hand and asked, “What should I do?”

Song Ruichi put down the empty glass, picked up another one, and responded, “Watch me drink.”

Xu Er pursed his lips.

“Well, if you say watch, then I will.”

“Just watch.”

This man really did look a bit handsome while drinking.

But what exactly was handsome about it? It was hard to pinpoint. There were no grand gestures, no delicate savoring of the drink; he simply took the glass and drank.

After a while—how long exactly, Xu Er couldn’t tell—his posture changed. One of his forearms rested on the table, while the other supported his head. He just sat there, staring at Song Ruichi with an intense gaze.

Soon, it was time for the cocktail.

Song Ruichi also used the straw.

For some reason, Xu Er felt a strong sense of contrast in this action.

Just a second ago, Song Ruichi had been drinking straight from the cup, tipping his head back. But now, he bent forward, lips meeting the straw.

Xu Er also noticed a small tuft of hair, stray from the rest, that curled and twisted down from Song Ruichi’s jawline, stopping at his neck. In the bar’s lighting, it cast a slight shadow.

In that moment, Xu Er’s mind effortlessly conjured a few words to describe what he saw: wild, delicate, sharp, sexy.

Really handsome.

Xu Er’s heart was beating faster now, so much so that he wondered if his heart had somehow taken a detour to pay a visit to his brain.

“All done.”

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but this voice suddenly cut through the air.

Xu Er blinked, coming to the realization that it was Song Ruichi speaking.

He turned to look at the timer. One minute left.

Xu Er dropped his hand from his head and asked, “Are you okay?”

For some reason, Song Ruichi smiled at him, as if he found something amusing, and then asked, “You’re asking me?”

“Yeah,” Xu Er responded.

“I’m fine,” Song Ruichi replied, “Press the bell.”

Xu Er fell silent for a moment before he finally understood what Song Ruichi meant by pressing the bell.

He searched around on the table and found the bell right in front of him.

“Do you remember?” Song Ruichi asked Xu Er. “What do you get after drinking these 20 cups?”

Xu Er thought for a moment and then gave a thumbs up. “You’re impressive.”

Song Ruichi chuckled. “What?”

Xu Er, feeling strangely amused, laughed along and extended his thumb toward Song Ruichi. “You’re impressive. I’m complimenting you.”

Song Ruichi was rather helpless. “Thank you.”

Xu Er, feeling proud, asked, “Am I funny?”

Song Ruichi nodded. “Hmm, very funny.”

Xu Er smiled. “I think so too.”

The waiter came over, and the singer on stage was still performing. The bar was a bit noisy, so Xu Er had trouble hearing what they were saying. After a few exchanges, the waiter left.

After a while, the waiter returned and handed Song Ruichi a small bag.

The waiter left again, and Song Ruichi passed the bag to Xu Er.

Xu Er opened it and found a small bear plush toy inside.

At that moment, his mind suddenly clicked, and he let out an “Oh!” of realization.

He had received the bear.

“Let’s go.”

Song Ruichi stood up across from him.

Xu Er asked, “Where to?”

Song Ruichi replied, “I’ll take you home.”

Xu Er nodded, thinking it made sense.

“Alright,” Xu Er said.

The journey from the bar to his home was a blur for Xu Er.

He was like a goldfish, forgetting one second as soon as it passed.

He vaguely remembered Song Ruichi talking to him.

He vaguely remembered him saying a lot of things.

He vaguely recalled him being very talkative, going on and on.

Only when they reached the familiar place did Xu Er start to come back to his senses.

Then, he glanced at the sugar-coated hawthorn skewer he was holding, now only half-eaten.

“Is this it?”

The elevator doors had already opened, and they were standing in the hallway outside his apartment. The motion-sensor light flickered on, and the deep gray doorplate displayed his apartment number.

“802.”

Xu Er read out the doorplate number, and out of habit, he popped the half-finished sugar-coated hawthorn skewer into his mouth. “Right.”

Song Ruichi, standing beside him, asked, “What’s the code?”

Casually, Song Ruichi took the empty skewer Xu Er was holding.

The code.

Xu Er replied, “Birthday.”

Seeing that Xu Er wasn’t making a move, Song Ruichi asked, “Your birthday?”

Xu Er shook his head. “No.”

As his words finished, the motion-sensor light went out.

It wasn’t actually that dark in the hallway. Across from the elevator, there was a window, letting in just enough faint light.

Xu Er was close to the door, with Song Ruichi slightly behind him. The moment the light went out, he instinctively glanced toward Song Ruichi.

It was that one glance.

“Wow.”

Xu Er let out a sigh and suddenly started laughing.

Song Ruichi, confused, asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xu Er’s smile deepened. “You’re so handsome.”

Song Ruichi fell silent.

But Xu Er didn’t notice at all. He even turned around, facing Song Ruichi directly.

In his eyes at that moment, what he saw was half of Song Ruichi’s face, bathed in the interplay of light and shadow.

There was color, but not much—mostly dark shadows, sharply defining the contours of Song Ruichi’s face.

Such deep eyes, such thick brows.

Xu Er stared, and as he watched, a finger suddenly appeared on Song Ruichi’s brow.

Yes, it was Xu Er’s own finger.

The touch was a bit sudden, and Song Ruichi seemed to move back slightly, but not by much, because Xu Er quickly felt the texture of the brow with the pad of his finger.

But Xu Er only touched it lightly—just a brief contact, feeling the bone beneath the brow before pulling his finger away.

Then, he noticed that from this angle, his thumb was directly in front of Song Ruichi’s nose.

Well, it wasn’t exactly unintentional.

So, Xu Er gently pressed his thumb to the tip of Song Ruichi’s nose.

This time, he pressed lightly and withdrew his hand even faster.

It was almost like a child who had stolen a bit of candy, smiling with his lips pressed together.

But the next second, Xu Er’s smile abruptly stopped.

Song Ruichi suddenly leaned in closer to him.

Not much—just a small distance, enough for Xu Er’s hand to rest fully against Song Ruichi’s face.

Completely pressed against it.

A different body temperature seeped into Xu Er’s palm, and he felt his hand tremble slightly.

At the same time, the heart inside his chest, which had been calm, suddenly beat hard.

This subtle change wasn’t just in the distance between Song Ruichi and Xu Er, but also in the position of Xu Er’s thumb.

It was near his lips.

At that moment, Xu Er’s thumb was so close to the corner of Song Ruichi’s mouth.

So what should he do now?

Xu Er hadn’t fully processed his thoughts, but his hand moved faster than any other part of his body, pressing against the corner of Song Ruichi’s mouth.

And in the next second, he did something perfectly symmetrical.

He lifted his other hand, like a mirror image, pressing his palm to Song Ruichi’s face, with his thumb now gently resting at the corner of his mouth.

He cupped it.

In the quiet, dim light by the front door.

Xu Er cupped Song Ruichi’s face.

Xu Er could feel Song Ruichi looking at him, but he didn’t dare meet his gaze.

So, it didn’t take long before he heard a voice.

“What are you looking at?”

Xu Er blinked. “Huh? Looking at what?”

Just as Xu Er felt that the silence was a bit off, Song Ruichi spoke again.

“Why do you keep looking at my lips?”

The lips beneath Xu Er’s gaze were moving.

“Do I?” Xu Er instinctively said, but quickly corrected himself. “I do.”

Yes, he had been looking.

“Why?” Song Ruichi asked again.

Xu Er replied, “I don’t know.”

He shook his head after speaking.

He really didn’t know.

“Xu Er.”

Song Ruichi called his name, and his voice seemed to have grown a little deeper.

Xu Er responded, “Hm?”

Song Ruichi asked, “Do you want to kiss me?”

Xu Er was taken aback. His eyes widened, and he looked up, meeting Song Ruichi’s gaze.

“What?” Xu Er asked. Song Ruichi’s gaze was steady and intense, locking with his. He asked again, “A kiss?”