Drunk (2/2)
“What was going on with him earlier? I swear, this time it really wasn’t my fault. I was doing everything I could to badmouth you in front of him. I still can’t figure out what made him act like that all of a sudden. Was he trying to protect you?” Gong Chuang glanced at the boy standing outside the office and lowered his voice.
Gu Yilan’s gaze drifted off into the distance, his thin lips parting slightly as he replied numbly, “I don’t know.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll ask him about it later.”
Gong Chuang tried to change the subject with a smile. “But honestly, you’re something else. Back then when you were misunderstood over the whole chain thing, you couldn’t even be bothered to explain a word. I had to drop hints for ages before I figured out that he actually liked that kind of thing. And now? The moment there’s a misunderstanding, you’re rushing to take the blame for him?”
Ji Yuxing chuckled and teased, “Adults can ruin their own reputations all they want, but kids shouldn’t be criticized.”
Despite the banter, Gu Yilan didn’t react at all—not even a blink. He was unusually drained and didn’t want to say another word.
Standing by the office door, Su Zesui was clutching the straps of his backpack, sneaking glances at the people not far away—
Mr. Gu seemed to be chatting happily with the other two men.
Could it be that he didn’t want to kiss or sleep with him because he liked them more?
Su Zesui instinctively tightened his grip on his backpack straps and suddenly thought—maybe… a little pain isn’t so bad after all…
A few moments later, Gu Yilan sent the other two away. With an unreadable expression, he walked over, took Su Zesui down to the car parked outside the research building, and the driver brought him back to the familiar house.
Su Zesui curled up on the big bed in the master bedroom, his small face tense as he fell deep into thought.
He felt uncomfortable, even a little scared, torn between emotions. His mind wandered back to the banquet the night before, to the rows of Lafite red wine bottles laid out on the table.
The books had told him—alcohol soothes the nerves, helps with sleep, drowns sorrow, and gives courage to cowards…
Su Zesui didn’t dare ask the butler—who was clearly in cahoots with Mr. Gu—so he sent Aunt Fan a WeChat message instead.
Luckily, although Mr. Gu never drank, the house kept a stock of fine red wine for business occasions.
A few minutes later, Su Zesui quietly ran to the door and grabbed the few bottles of Lafite he wanted.
. . . . .
The business dinner wrapped up early, a little after 8 PM.
The host didn’t touch a drop of alcohol, his face icy. No one dared test his patience, so after a few polite exchanges, the guests quickly dispersed.
Unusually, Gu Yilan didn’t head straight home. Instead, he strolled through the large park beside the restaurant.
Colorful lights gently illuminated the grass, flowerbeds, and winding paths, casting a dreamy glow on the greenery and petals—a romantic, almost suggestive ambiance.
In a shadowed corner the lights couldn’t reach, young couples were tucked away, kissing and clinging to each other.
Seeing the scene, Gu Yilan instinctively turned his head, intending to take a different path with the boy who always trailed after him like a shadow.
But when he looked behind him and saw no one there, he abruptly realized—Su Zesui was at home alone. He hadn’t come out with him tonight.
Gu Yilan kept walking, his expression indifferent as he passed by the groping and kissing couples.
Before meeting Su Zesui, he never came to places like this, never did such meaningless things—no shopping, no chatting, no meeting up with people, and certainly not taking a walk in a park.
So even in this quiet setting, his instinct was to assume Su Zesui would be there with him.
Tall and strikingly handsome, Gu Yilan stood out in the crowd. Under the dark night sky, the cool and aloof aura around him softened somewhat. Before long, a few people came up to ask for his WeChat.
He rejected them all without expression. Looking at the winding path ahead, he suddenly found it boring and turned back toward the parking lot.
Driving home, he glanced up as he reached the villa gate—
The master bedroom on the second floor was completely dark.
The boy had little sense of security. He always liked to stay on the soft bed, hugging his huge body pillow and surrounded by plush toys. Unless he was in the study, Su Zesui rarely went to any other part of the huge house.
Gu Yilan checked the time on his phone. Just past 9 PM.
——Sleeping this early?
He pressed his hand to the fingerprint scanner at the door, entered the house, changed his shoes, and headed straight upstairs to the master bedroom.
He paused at the doorway, slowed his steps a bit, and gently pushed open the door—only to be hit by the strong stench of alcohol.
With the hallway light spilling in, the first thing Gu Yilan saw was the boy sitting in the center of the bed. Then he noticed the several wine bottles scattered messily across the floor.
Gu Yilan’s brows furrowed tightly. His lips pressed into a line. With a sharp click, he switched on the warm orange light in the master bedroom and strode over to stand in front of the boy, carefully taking in Su Zesui’s condition.
Before Gu Yilan could question him, the boy reeking of alcohol beat him to it. Propping himself up on both arms, he struggled to stand on the bed. Swaying unsteadily, he pointed down at Gu Yilan from above and said, “Y-You…”
The soft amber ceiling light wasn’t harsh, but it was bright enough to reveal the mistiness in the boy’s eyes and the flush on his cheeks. Clearly, he’d been drinking—a lot.
“You and me, do it,” the drunk boy puffed out his cheeks and pointed at him, his voice still sweet and clear, though slightly slurred. “I order you.”
Gu Yilan’s breath faltered slightly. He quickly looked up at the swaying, angry boy standing unsteadily on the bed and said, “Sit down.”
“Nope.” Su Zesui flopped down onto the bed and began rolling around dramatically. “I want to, I want to—I have to!”
Gu Yilan immediately pulled out his phone, fired off a message to Aunt Fan asking her to make some hangover soup, and then reached out to stop the boy from rolling right off the bed.
“Do what exactly?” Gu Yilan asked, watching the restless boy.
Su Zesui looked at him seriously. “Make love.”
Gu Yilan: …
“Why did you drink?” Gu Yilan glanced at the empty bottles scattered around the floor and frowned. “Haven’t you learned your lesson yet?”
Su Zesui paused at that, lying on the bed with wet, glistening eyes looking up at him—innocent and pitiful. It was as if he were trying to decipher what Gu Yilan meant, and the sight completely disarmed him.
But in the next second, Su Zesui gave up thinking and put on a full “I’m not listening, la la la” act. He started rolling around again, whining like a child, “I want to, I wanna! You’re a bad guy! You’re changing the subject because you don’t want to do it with me…”
Gu Yilan: …
Drunk Su Zesui was like a completely different person—more willful, more vivid, much chattier, but still true to his core: a stubborn little parrot repeating himself endlessly.
Luckily, Aunt Fan soon brought the hangover soup.
“Sit up. Be good,” Gu Yilan said patiently—more patient than he’d ever been before.
Seeing the steaming bowl in his hands, Su Zesui clutched his stomach and whimpered, “It’s medicine… it’ll get rid of our baby…”
A vein twitched on Gu Yilan’s forehead.
There was no reasoning with this little drunk. He set the bowl on the bedside table, picked up the babbling boy like a sack of potatoes, and carefully helped him drink the soup.
Once the soup was down, Su Zesui finally calmed down a bit. He stopped demanding to “make love” and instead sat there with several tufts of messy hair sticking up, pitifully saying, “I wanna watch TV.”
“Sleep,” Gu Yilan ordered flatly.
“But it’s something nice… You like good things too…” Su Zesui tugged at his sleeve, his eyes drooping and lips trembling like he was about to burst into tears the moment he was denied.
Gu Yilan gave in. He turned on the bedroom projector, then came back to check the boy’s forehead. “Does your head hurt?”
Su Zesui nodded and began tapping away happily on the phone, repeating, “I’m gonna watch TV now.”
Gu Yilan knew there was no reasoning with him in this state—he was too wired to sleep and too incoherent to talk—so he let him watch to burn off some energy.
Seeing how Su Zesui kept wobbling even while sitting, Gu Yilan walked over to the cabinet, pulled out a soft spare pillow, and placed it behind him.
Just as he was about to tell the dazed boy to lean back and watch properly, a sudden, indescribable sound burst from the projector.
Gu Yilan froze. His eyes snapped up to the screen.
Three entangled bodies filled the projection. The scene started explosively—thrusting, moaning, too graphic for words. Both the visuals and the audio were… intense.
And there sat Su Zesui, calmly watching with puffed-up cheeks and a serious expression. Anyone who didn’t know better would think he was watching a science lecture.
The projector’s switch was on the far side of the bed. Gu Yilan walked forward and blocked the screen, frowning. “Turn it off.”
Su Zesui immediately clutched his phone to his chest like it was treasure. “No.”
Staring at the phone clutched to his chest, Gu Yilan’s gaze darkened. With that annoying soundtrack playing in the background, his voice dropped to a dangerous tone. “Where did you find this?”
Su Zesui huffed loudly and raised his chin proudly. “It was from Brother Gong Chuang. He gave it to me.”
Taw’s note: 🕯️for Gong Chuang
Gong Chuang is in dire need to enter a witness protection program.