One-way Passage

“Yin Zejing?” Xia Wennan stopped in his tracks.

Yin Zejing turned his head and smiled upon spotting Xia Wennan.
“Wennan, I guessed you’d be here.”

“What brings you to the company today?” Xia Wennan asked him.

Yin Zejing said, “To work overtime.
I was just about to go when I realised you were probably working as well, so I came to see how you were doing.”

Xia Wennan stared at him mutely.

The smile on Yin Zejing’s face remained unchanging as he studied Xia Wennan from head to toe.
“But then I smelled President Ming’s pheromones the moment I set foot in the corridor, so I thought, ‘oh, he’s probably not working alone.’”

Xia Wennan was well aware that at present, anyone could tell what he had been up to with a single glance.
Added with the fact that he couldn’t hide the smell of Ming Luchuan’s pheromones on his body, he was a little embarrassed at first, but then he reasoned t that it was none of Yin Zejing’s damn business anyway, so he simply responded with a chuckle.

Yin Zejing took a look behind him.
“Where’s Luchuan?”

“He’s gone out to get dinner,” said Xia Wennan.

“What?” Yin Zejing was a little surprised.
“Are you going to keep working tonight?”

“I have to finish up a couple of things,” said Xia Wennan.

Yin Zejing nodded.
He looked somewhat regretful.
“I can’t invite you out to dinner then.”

“Isn’t dad waiting to have dinner with you?”

Yin Zejing smiled mutely, then waved a hand at Xia Wennan.
“I should get going.”

Xia Wennan watched him walk towards the elevator, and only approached the door of the lab to test the lock when the elevator doors had opened and closed.

The door was still securely shut.
All the important data on his workbench had been put away, and only he and Ming Luchuan had access to the safe.

He took a minute to stand where Yin Zejing had been and gazed inside the lab before turning around and heading back to his office.

Ming Luchuan returned with dinner, which consisted of four dishes and a soup.
At the same time, he also brought a twelve-pack of beer with him.

“We’re drinking?”

Ming Luchuan handed Xia Wennan a bottle of beer “Isn’t this cause for celebration?”

Xia Wennan accepted the bottle of beer and waited for Ming Luchuan to open his own bottle before clinking their bottles together, happily exclaiming, “Cheers!”

No matter whether you were in high spirits or down in the dumps, drinking till you lose track of your alcohol intake is an easy feat.
That night, Xia Wennan filled his stomach with food and no small amount of beer, and when he left the company, he could barely think straight.

Ming Luchuan instructed him to get in the car, but Xia Wennan stood outside the door, refusing to enter.

“Then how are you going to get home?” Ming Luchuan, by comparison, was much more sober.

“I can fly back,” said Xia Wennan.

“Fly? Fly how?” Ming Luchuan enquired.

Xia Wennan reached out to touch his back.
“Huh?! Where did my wings go?” After that, he groped his back for what felt like half a day before turning around and heading in the direction of the elevator.

Ming Luchuan immediately grabbed hold of him.
“Where are you going?”

“To the rooftop,” Xia Wennan said.
“I’m going to fly.”

Ming Luchuan swiftly hauled him into the car.
“Get in the car, we’ll fly then.”

The driver drove them to their residence.

Xia Wennan and Ming Luchuan were sitting in the back seat.
After a moment, Xia Wennan rested his head on Ming Luchuan’s shoulder, and said, “Ming Luchuan.”

“Mm,” Ming Luchuan murmured.

“I know there’s a mole on my ass,” said Xia Wennan.

Ming Luchuan’s eyes flitted towards the driver’s seat.
The driver was single-mindedly focused on driving, not showing the slightest reaction.

“Good for you, but there’s no need to talk about that here,” said Ming Luchuan quietly.

Feeling that his entire face was feverish, Xia Wennan couldn’t stop himself from rubbing it on Ming Luchuan’s shoulder.
“When I told you to take a look for me last time, did you see it?”

“…Didn’t you forget about that as soon as you sobered up?”

Xia Wennan didn’t respond to his question and merely urged him to answer.
“Did you see it?”

Ming Luchuan shot another glance at the driver, “Don’t talk about this here.”

Xia Wennan’s head instantly left Ming Luchuan’s shoulder.
“Why shouldn’t I?” His voice was brimming with grievances.

Right then, the driver suddenly piped up, “President Ming, should I stop somewhere so the two of you can talk before I send you home?”

“No need,” Ming Luchuan answered emphatically.

The driver thus fell silent and continued driving.

Xia Wennan refused to let Ming Luchuan off.
“Did you take a look for me?”

Ming Luchuan said, “Don’t you know that it’s there? What do you need me to look for?”

“Whether it’s there and whether you saw it are two different things.” Xia Wennan’s head was seemingly clear.

“I didn’t look.”

Xia Wennan said, “You’re so cold.”

“……”

“You’ve always been so fierce and cold to me, but I still fell for you anyway.
I’m such a cheap guy,” Xia Wennan spoke, tears on the verge of falling from the grief.
He buried his face in his hands.

Ming Luchuan grabbed his wrist.
“What did you say? Say it again.”

Face covered, Xia Wennan shook his head firmly and said, “Let me out of the car.
I wanna fly back.”

Ming Luchuan took a deep breath, let go of Xia Wennan’s wrist, and addressed the driver, “Let him down, he’ll fly back on his own.”

The driver parked the car on the side of the road.

When Xia Wennan tried to open the door, he found that it was locked.
Just when he thought to ask, the driver unlocked the door for him.

He pushed it open slightly, but before he stepped out of the car, he retracted his leg and said, “Nevermind.”

Ming Luchuan asked, “You’re not going to fly anymore?”

Xia Wennan didn’t speak.

Ming Luchuan held his hand out.
“If you’re not going to fly, come here.”

Xia Wennan held Ming Luchuan’s hand and was pulled into the man’s arms, and once again leaned against Ming Luchuan’s shoulder.

Ming Luchuan told the driver to drive, then lowered his head and whispered in Xia Wennan’s ear, “I didn’t look.
I was worried that if I did, I wouldn’t be able to hold back.”

Xia Wennan glanced at him.

Ming Luchuan continued, “I don’t care whether or not you remember anything, I’ll never let you leave me.”

When Xia Wennan woke up in Ming Luchuan’s bed the next morning, the last thing he recalled was the two of them drinking in his office; he couldn’t even remember how they got back.

Getting blackout drunk entailed a massive hangover, and as it happened, Xia Wennan hadn’t learned his lesson; once he drank, he didn’t know when to stop.

He blearily entered the bathroom, opened the lid of the toilet bowl, and took a piss; because he’d been holding it in for too long, he immediately relaxed upon emptying his bladder.
Afterwards, he leaned against the wall, raising an arm to cover his head in discomfort.

“How are you feeling?” Ming Luchuan asked when he walked into the bathroom.

“Very drunk,” said Xia Wennan.

“You had a lot to drink,” Ming Luchuan said as he grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste.

“I don’t even remember what I did.” Xia Wennan, at present, could still smell the alcohol on his body as well as the scent of Ming Luchuan’s pheromones that couldn’t be dispelled.
With how the two scents intermingled, it was completely unbearable for someone with a sharp sense of smell like Xia Wennan.

Ming Luchuan’s response was a succinct “Mm,” after which he started brushing his teeth.

Xia Wennan leaned against the wall.
His splitting headache was coupled by a full-body exhaustion, and all he wanted to do was shower and wash off the scents on his skin, but he was unwilling to budge an inch.
Thus, he propped himself against the wall and slowly approached the bathtub, allowing his body to slide in.

After brushing his teeth, Ming Luchuan rinsed his mouth, and said, “You’ll remember the next time you get drunk.”

“What?” Xia Wennan didn’t understand.

Ming Luchuan put his toothbrush away and turned to face him.
“What are you doing?”

Reclining in the bathtub, Xia Wennan said, “Can you draw me a bath… I really don’t wanna move.”

Ming Luchuan looked at him for a moment before saying, “All right,” and turning on the hot water for him.