Dark Fire chapter 53
Mine
At 11:20, the car stopped outside the resort, and Lu Chixie had already arranged for someone to wait there.
“Where is he?” Ling Zhuo asked as he got out of the car.
Upon hearing that he was at his own place, Ling Zhuo’s face tightened, and he said no more.
Fifteen minutes later, he walked up to the second floor of the villa. Lu Chixie was leaning against the balcony railing outside the room, smoking and looking at his phone.
Seeing him standing there unharmed, Ling Zhuo first sighed in relief, then anger surged in his heart again. He asked, holding back his temper, “What kind of madness are you pulling in the middle of the night?”
Lu Chixie looked up at him, his eyes dark and brooding, a cigarette between his fingers. He took a deep drag and exhaled slowly.
It had been a long time since he last smoked. Since he said he would quit, he hadn’t touched one, and today was the first time he broke that promise. Ling Zhuo frowned, “What are you doing? Is it fun to act crazy?”
“Ling Zhuo,” Lu Chixie called his name, “come here.”
After a moment of stalemate, Ling Zhuo stepped forward.
He stopped again as he got closer, his brow furrowed tightly, “You went to the bungee platform in the middle of the night to scare me into coming back. Do you think that’s funny?”
Lu Chixie flicked the ash from his cigarette, his tone strange, “Did you have a good time having dinner with your teammates?”
Ling Zhuo: “Do I have to report everything to you?”
Lu Chixie: “Was it fun being with your teammates, or with that captain of yours?”
Ling Zhuo’s face darkened.
Lu Chixie glanced at his phone screen mockingly, “‘The Truth is True’? Your fans are good at picking songs. Isn’t dating as an idol supposed to be a big no-no? How come you didn’t remember that when you were getting all cozy and giving those suggestive looks to your captain on stage? Ling, you have double standards, don’t you?”
Ling Zhuo: “What nonsense are you talking about?”
He also saw Lu Chixie’s phone screen. He was actually watching a fan-made video of him and Zhong Yiran.
“…Are you that bored?”
Lu Chixie sneered, and in front of him, forwarded the video to his own Weibo, captioning it “fake,” and clicked send.
Ling Zhuo’s eyes widened, reaching out to grab his phone, furious, “Are you crazy?!”
Lu Chixie dodged, and with one hand, continued typing leisurely. Half a minute later, he sent another post.
Lu Chixie: @Ling Zhuo Mine.
He turned the phone screen towards Ling Zhuo, showing him what he had posted. Ling Zhuo stopped trying to grab the phone, his voice cold, “Have you had enough of your madness?”
Lu Chixie: “Are you so afraid of people knowing about our relationship?”
Ling Zhuo turned to leave, but Lu Chixie grabbed him back. He pressed forward, biting his lips hard, the strong smell of smoke overwhelming.
Ling Zhuo coughed uncontrollably, but Lu Chixie didn’t let go. His tongue had already invaded, stirring messily inside his mouth. He was kissed to the point of not being able to breathe, his face turning red, and soon tears were streaming down. Unable to bear it, he slapped Lu Chixie hard.
But Lu Chixie was unfazed. He pinned Ling Zhuo’s hand down and deepened the kiss even more forcefully.
Ling Zhuo struggled, punching and kicking, but Lu Chixie subdued him. When he tasted blood, Lu Chixie finally released him but didn’t let him go. He threw the cigarette away, crushed it under his foot, and bent over, hoisting Ling Zhuo onto his shoulder.
Dizzy and startled, Ling Zhuo’s voice trembled with anger, “Put me down!”
He pounded Lu Chixie’s back hard, but it was futile. Lu Chixie carried him back to the room in a few steps and threw him onto the bed.
Before Ling Zhuo could get up, Lu Chixie had already unbuttoned his shirt and pressed down on him, covering him with more aggressive kisses.
Both of Ling Zhuo’s hands were pinned down, pressed together above his head. Lu Chixie used a silk scarf to wrap his wrists tightly, tying them to the headboard. Ling Zhuo tried to struggle but couldn’t break free. He tried to kick him, but Lu Chixie’s strength was overwhelming, Lu Chixie’s knee pressing down on his legs, rendering him immobile.
His tongue stung from being bitten, his lips and tongue completely numb. Anger had nowhere to go, leaving him both aggrieved and sad, tears continuously streaming from his tightly closed eyes.
Lu Chixie roughly wiped his face and reminded him in a low voice by his ear, “Ling Zhuo, you promised me a birthday gift before. Are you going to go back on your word?”
Ling Zhuo bit his lip hard, sobbing silently.
“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as a yes.”
One by one, he undid the buttons of Ling Zhuo’s shirt, then his pants. The sound of the zipper being pulled down was especially sharp and piercing. Ling Zhuo trembled all over, and when Lu Chixie’s hand squeezed his waist, he finally broke down completely, “I don’t want to…”
“Are you going back on your word?” Lu Chixie harshly reminded him, “Do you think you still have a chance to go back on it now?”
Ling Zhuo’s voice broke into sobs, “You can’t force me. Why are you forcing me like this? I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s you who did something wrong. You don’t trust me at all. You only do those self-righteous things, throwing jealous fits and acting crazy. You never believe that the person I like is you. You only know how to be jealous and insane without any reason.”
The person above him breathed heavily. Ling Zhuo’s face was covered in tears, “I always protect you in front of others, never saying anything bad about you. Even when others criticize you, I defend you. But how do you treat me? You just scold, force, and scare me. You only care about your own satisfaction, never considering my feelings. Anyone else would have broken up with you long ago, but I can’t even be angry?”
“Not only did you not apologize, but you are also angry and throwing a tantrum at me. What right do you have to be angry and lose your temper?”
As Ling Zhuo spoke, he was crying so hard he could barely catch his breath. Perhaps even when Zhong Yiran rejected him, he hadn’t felt so heartbroken and embarrassed.
“Stop crying,” Lu Chixie said bluntly. “Isn’t it embarrassing?”
Ling Zhuo choked out, “You don’t feel embarrassed, so why should I? You forced me into this. I can’t beat you, and now I can’t even cry? If you keep pushing me, maybe I’ll jump off a cliff too, just to show you how it feels to be scared.”
A nightlight by the bed lit up. Ling Zhuo’s tear-stained eyelashes fluttered as he slowly adjusted to the sudden light. He refused to look at Lu Chixie, and tears continued to spill from beneath his trembling lashes.
Lu Chixie released the silk scarf binding Ling Zhuo’s wrists. Ling Zhuo raised his hand and slapped him again.
Lu Chixie didn’t dodge, just looked down at him. “Now that you’ve let it out, stop crying. You look awful when you cry.”
Ling Zhuo lifted his eyes, his blurry vision gradually focusing on Lu Chixie’s furrowed brow and the helplessness in his eyes.
Lu Chixie pulled a few tissues from the bedside table and clumsily wiped Ling Zhuo’s face, removing his tears. This time, his voice softened. “Stop crying.”
Ling Zhuo turned his face away, sniffing, and muttered, “I hate how unreasonable you are. If you keep this up forever, I…”
“What will you do?” Lu Chixie’s voice lowered.
Ling Zhuo couldn’t answer. What could he do? Break up with Lu Chixie? He couldn’t bear to.
Closing his eyes as if deflated, he said, “Tonight we were just five people having dinner. The captain and the other teammates are just teammates. I don’t like him anymore; I told him that. The person I like is you. If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do.”
“I planned to come back right after dinner. I remembered tomorrow is your birthday. They wanted to go to karaoke for New Year’s, but I didn’t agree to go. But you scared me on purpose. I really thought you would jump off the cliff and was almost going crazy. Is it fun to scare me like this? Do you feel accomplished seeing me cry because of you?”
“With your personality, who else but me could tolerate you? Do you still think you did nothing wrong?”
“Did I really make you worry?” Lu Chixie seemed a bit surprised, slowly rubbing Ling Zhuo’s cheek and staring into his red eyes.
Ling Zhuo said, “Do you even care? As long as you’re happy, it doesn’t matter if I’m angry or sad. When have you ever truly cared?”
Ling Zhuo seemed exhausted, his eyes drooping, losing the will to continue arguing.
Lu Chixie remained silent, as if contemplating something.
The phone on the floor by the bed rang abruptly. Lu Chixie glanced at it—Ling Zhuo’s phone, a call from Zhang Jing. No need to answer to know why she was calling.
Lu Chixie reached over, grabbed Ling Zhuo’s phone, and turned it off in front of him, doing the same with his own.
Ling Zhuo didn’t react at all. Lu Chixie’s breath fell over him again, murmuring, “Ling Zhuo.”
Ling Zhuo’s eyelashes trembled again. Lu Chixie said, “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Ling Zhuo looked at him in a daze. Lu Chixie, thinking he hadn’t heard, repeated, “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, I promise.”
Ling Zhuo asked, “Will you really change?”
Lu Chixie said, “I’ll restrain myself and listen to you.”
“Do you really like me?” he asked.
Ling Zhuo was stunned, meeting Lu Chixie’s gaze, and slowly nodded as if enchanted.
Lu Chixie asked, “So, you really love me?”
Ling Zhuo replied, “Mm.”
Lu Chixie asked, “Is love that casual?”
Ling Zhuo had said before that love wasn’t casual, but he didn’t deny it this time. “It’s real.”
Lu Chixie said, “Okay.”
Then he smiled, “Ling, you’re so easy to coax.”
He had indeed gone too far in bullying him, yet with just an “I’m sorry,” Ling Zhuo softened instantly. After crying for so long, Ling Zhuo’s eyes and nose were red, making him seem even more vulnerable.
Ling Zhuo asked, “Are you just saying this to coax me?”
Lu Chixie replied, “No, I’m sincere about the apology.”
“If you really want me to change, I’ll try.” Lu Chixie said.
Ling Zhuo said, “You don’t need to change completely, just restrain yourself a bit. But don’t scare me again.”
Lu Chixie smiled, “Okay.”
He leaned down, his hand grasping Ling Zhuo’s waist. “What about my birthday present, Is it still up?”
Ling Zhuo’s breathing grew heavier. After a moment, he turned his head towards Lu Chixie, kissed his cheek, and then moved his lips to Lu Chixie’s, wrapping his arms around his neck.
The kiss was no longer a fierce battle but a rare tender and lingering one, their bodies heating up as they stayed close.
When Lu Chixie’s kisses moved to his neck, Ling Zhuo let out a muffled groan, curling his leg around Lu Chixie’s, his heel unconsciously rubbing against Lu Chixie’s calf.
Lu Chixie sucked hard on his Adam’s apple, and the sound that escaped Ling Zhuo’s lips was so sweet it made him blush, his hands roaming over Lu Chixie’s shoulders and back.
“Ling Zhuo,” Lu Chixie propped himself up slightly, staring at the person beneath him, his chest heaving, his eyes filled with undisguised desire, calling his name again, “Ling Zhuo.”
“Is this what you want?” Lu Chixie asked.
Ling Zhuo hazily opened his eyes, glanced at him, paused, then raised his head, his long neck forming an enticing curve, and pressed his lips to Lu Chixie’s again.
“I bought something earlier, it’s in my bag. Go get it…” Ling Zhuo reminded him.
Lu Chixie didn’t let go of him, reaching over to open a drawer on one side of the bedside table. Ling Zhuo bit his lip, hearing the rustling sounds, feeling Lu Chixie’s hot breath against his temple, causing his heart to tremble.
Sweat mingled freely as Lu Chixie lifted Ling Zhuo into his arms, positioning him to straddle him face-to-face. Intertwining their fingers, he nuzzled Ling Zhuo’s lips before licking and kissing the small bead of his lip, swallowing all of Ling Zhuo’s pleasurable sounds.
Ling Zhuo could hardly bear it, panting heavily, his voice fragmented: “You… where did you learn all this…”
Lu Chixie didn’t answer, lowering his head to lick and kiss Ling Zhuo’s fingertips one by one, eliciting more shivers from him.
With their palms pressed together, Ling Zhuo opened his eyes again, his sweat-blurred vision met with Lu Chixie’s intense gaze.
It was an unabashedly strong possession, yet also pure love.
After Ling Zhuo fell asleep, Lu Chixie turned the phones back on. Messages from Zhang Jing and Yang Ming had arrived, along with several calls and messages from his own manager asking about the posts on Weibo. Lu Chixie replied with, “I’ll handle it myself.”
Opening Weibo, the top trending topic, marked with a bright red ‘explosive’ tag, was the content of the two posts he had made: #Fake, Mine#
The entire internet was in an uproar.
Everyone was asking if he was declaring his sovereignty, if he and Ling Zhuo had come out, and the fan wars had been raging for almost two hours. Neither he nor Ling Zhuo’s team had done any PR. Before figuring out their intentions, neither Zhang Jing nor his manager dared to act rashly.
Lu Chixie casually browsed through the comments, then looked at the sleeping person beside him, smoothing the unconscious furrow in his brow.
Half a minute later, he updated his Weibo for the first time on his twenty-fifth birthday, revealing his true emotions to the public for the first time and choosing to compromise for someone.
Lu Chixie: Played a dare game at my birthday party and lost, so I posted those Weibo messages as a punishment according to the game rules. Thanks to Teacher Ling for cooperating.
After posting this, he turned off his phone again, tossed it aside, lay down, and pulled the person beside him into his arms.