A Tooth For a Tooth

“Nuo Nuo, Nuo Nuo,” Mai Yao swayed around, holding a pillow in his arms, trying to attract Xu Qing Nuo’s attention.

Xu Qing Nuo stared at the computer screen while his fingers were tapping rapidly on the keyboard. He asked without looking up, “What’s up?”

Mai Yao was crouching in front of the desk, resting his head on the monitor, with a sad look on his face, “Qing Nuo, don’t you love me anymore? You’ve been so cold to me lately…”

“Didn’t I tell you I signed a book with a publisher, and I have to catch up with my manuscript?”

“I don’t care. Go out to dinner with me and watch a movie! How long has it been since we’ve been on a date?”

Xu Qing Nuo took off the black-rimmed glasses from the bridge of his nose and looked at the unreasonable Mai Yao with a blank expression. “Did I complain to you when you were busy with your work? Can you see it from my point of view now?”

“Got it. I’m off to watch TV…” Mai Yao went out depressed.

Xu Qing Nuo sneered at his back and continued to write.

The phone rang.

After answering, he went back to his room to change clothes.

Mai Yao chased after him and asked happily, “Darling, have you decided to go out with me?”

“No. I have to go out for a while,” Xu Qing Nuo said without changing his face.

Mai Yao got immediately upset. “Who are you going out with?”

“A friend.”

“Which friend?”

“From the writing circle. You don’t know him.” Xu Qing Nuo found this excuse to work really well.

Mai Yao still suspected nothing, but he couldn’t help asking, “What’s the matter? What is so urgent that you have to go out?”

Xu Qing Nuo blinked for a moment, “He was out with his girlfriend, and his wallet got stolen, so he asked me to go help him.”

“No, what an unlucky dude,” Mai Yao laughed with schadenfreude. “Well, go and save him.”

Xu Qing Nuo smiled. It turned out the feeling of lying and deceiving people was quite exciting.

But then he thought, what if lying became a habit that he couldn’t change later?

This was the same contradictory mood he was in when messing around with Jiang Heng. Sometimes, he felt stimulated and excited, while other times, he felt tired and disgusted, especially when he would occasionally receive a phone call from Mai Yao while doing it. When he would tell him without a hint of blushing or panting, “I’m hanging out with my friends,” his emotions would become even more complicated.

About two weeks later, Mai Yao finally found a clue.

“Xing Nuo, didn’t you go to the bookstore these days?”

“I went.”

“I went to the bookstore to see you yesterday, but I didn’t see you.”

“Oh, I might have gone across the street for a coffee.”

“I also went to the cafe, but you were not there.”

“Ah, I might have gone somewhere else to hang out.”

Mai Yao stared him in the eyes, “A friend said he saw you in Chengxi.”

Xu Qing Nuo was bewildered, “Chengxi? I didn’t go to Chengxi yesterday. Which friend saw me? Did he confuse me with someone else?”

“Maybe he did…”

Lying, staying up late at night, skyrocketing phone bills, not letting Mai Yao touch him, writing or sleeping when at home… all these signs were making Mai Yao uneasy.

Xu Qing Nuo was cautious, and each time, he would warn Jiang Heng not to leave any traces on his body, otherwise game over, there would be no next time. Although Jiang Heng’s heart was itching, as he very much wanted to bite his thin white neck or flexible and sexy waist, because of Xu Qing Nuo’s threat, he dared not do it.

Every time they met, Xu Qing Nuo first called Jiang Heng, and then he ordered him to book the hotel. When they finished, Xu Qing Nuo asked Jiang Heng to leave, and then he slept until late at night or went home the following morning.

Jiang Heng’s skills were excellent; he was sensible and obedient, so Xu Qing Nuo would also get pleasure at the same time.

On their tenth appointment, Xu Qing Nuo spotted Mai Yao wearing a hat and sunglasses, sneakily following him.

When he saw him through the window, he couldn’t help laughing, but his expression and eyes were icy. He took out his mobile phone and called Jiang Heng, “today we won’t go to the hotel; we’ll go to the pub to have a drink.”

Although Jiang Heng was surprised, he didn’t mind and said, “Okay.”

In the pub, Xu Qing Nuo acted enthusiastically, pulled Jiang Heng to dance, and kept clinking glasses with him.

He was so flushed from drinking that he tore open two buttons of his shirt. He was lying on the table, smiling at Jiang Heng crookedly, “One more drink.”

Like this, his whole body exuded a different sex-appeal from when in bed. Jiang Heng couldn’t help but lean over and kiss him on the cheek.

After the kiss, he observed Xu Qing Nuo. Except for the first time, Xu Qing Nuo refused to kiss him, so he was a little worried he’d be angry.

This time, however, Xu Qing Nuo didn’t resist. He even put his hands around his neck and offered his lips.

Jiang Heng froze for a moment at the offered temptation. He immediately followed his instinct and returned the kiss passionately.