I can take responsibility.

The curtains in the room were only half drawn.

The air was bathed in golden sunlight. Before he even opened his eyes, he felt as if the sunlight was piercing through his thin eyelids, stabbing his eyeballs with sharp pain.

He turned over, rested for a moment, then slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

After a brief moment of confusion, he shifted his gaze.

He was lying on a pristine white bed. Opposite the bed was a black, reflective wall with a giant flat-screen TV embedded in it. To the right was a wardrobe so large it covered the entire wall; to the left, a beige sofa and a black coffee table. Behind that was a glass wall larger than the wardrobe.

The glass was spotless and could not block the abundant sunlight.

His eyes squinted into narrow slits, his head pounding fiercely. Just as he was about to close his eyes again to rest, his gaze suddenly fell on the TV across from the bed.

The TV was off, but its enormous, spotless screen reflected him lying on the bed—

And the person lying beside him.

He was speechless.

It was as if a thunderclap exploded inside his mind. He froze completely, his expression locked, momentarily forgetting even his headache.

Then, fragments of last night’s memories started to flood back.

After work, he attended a class reunion. Almost all were university classmates he had gotten along with before, though naturally, there were two or three rotten apples he didn’t get along with.

Lin Dongchao was the biggest of those rotten apples.

Actually, their relationship had been okay before, despite differences in personality, values, and ways of dealing with life. They were in the same class, often seeing each other, so they kept things civil. But after a certain incident, Lin Dongchao’s latent traits surfaced, turning him into a mad dog who bit at He Si whenever he could. He Si wasn’t an easy target either, and they fought until graduation. After leaving campus, they severed all ties.

Last night, the class president arranged things, hoping to mend the rift between He Si and Lin Dongchao. Somehow, the president managed to convince Lin Dongchao to swallow his pride and apologize for that past incident—though his attitude was somewhat reluctant.

Since the president offered a way out, He Si went along with it for the sake of old classmates.

Then followed the usual routine.

Dinner, singing, drinking.

Though He Si had a strong tolerance for alcohol, he couldn’t resist Lin Dongchao’s relentless drinking games. He lost count of how many bottles he downed. When Lin Dongchao collapsed, He Si drunkenly staggered out of the karaoke bar, intending to take a taxi home.

He vaguely remembered someone walking toward him while he waited for the car. He thought that person was handsome and looked at him a few more times.

That person noticed him and beckoned him over with a finger.

He stumbled toward him.

Then...

He followed that person into a nearby hotel, took the elevator up, and entered a room.

The room was large, like a suite, divided into four or five sections from the outside in. He and that person undressed all the way to the innermost bed. Once on the bed, both were completely naked.

What happened next was inevitable.

He slept with that person.

The word “slept” here was dynamic—they did everything possible and impossible.

The memories ended, and He Si fell into a long silence.

Last night’s events, fueled by alcohol, felt like a dream, but now he wished it had only been a dream of spring.

Enduring the headache, he slapped his face to wake himself up, got out of bed, and picked up the scattered clothes on the floor. Given the unusual situation, he didn’t bother whether they were the same clothes from last night—he just threw them on.

After eating hotpot and drinking, the clothes were soaked with scent, fermenting overnight, making the smell unbearable.

He Si sniffed them and grimaced in pain, feeling his head getting even more clouded.

Coming out of the bathroom after washing up, the person on the bed was motionless, facing away from him, wrapped in the covers, with only some stray hair visible.

Normally, He Si wouldn’t be so rude as to disturb someone’s sleep, but he really didn’t want to wait any longer. He’d considered leaving a phone number and going, but he didn’t know the other’s attitude. If things went wrong...

Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

He blamed himself.

He should have just taken a taxi. Instead, caught up by impulse, he followed someone, luckily avoiding any scams.

But who knew what else might have happened...

Did he use protection last night?

He thought he did, but it also seemed like he didn’t.

Ugh, how frustrating.

He Si’s thoughts were a mess as he circled around the foot of the bed and moved toward the other side.

The mound under the covers revealed the curve of the other person’s curled body. The person had buried his face in the blanket and seemed to be in a deep sleep. All the noise He Si made earlier hadn’t woken him.

---

He Si bent over and nudged the person’s shoulder. “Wake up.”

As he spoke, he noticed the other’s hair.

Still short.

He thought to himself.

He didn’t care if it was long or short hair, but wasn’t this haircut a bit too short? It looked only slightly longer than his own.

He felt a strange sensation but didn’t think much of it. Nowadays, plenty of girls kept buzz cuts, so that length wasn’t unusual.

Better wake him first.

He Si reined in his thoughts and was about to call again.

The person under the covers stirred, lifted his head, and met He Si’s gaze face to face.

He Si remained bent over, his hand resting on the covers.

The air was silent; neither spoke.

Seeing this face awake was as shocking as last night.

This face was indeed handsome; otherwise, He Si wouldn’t have followed him into the hotel in a daze, especially those deep black eyes—like frozen spring water, clear but with an unfathomable haze beneath.

He Si couldn’t recall many details of last night, but some memories lingered.

He suddenly remembered that person’s hair was soft, his waist supple, and his skin very pale. His hand had gripped that person’s calf so long it left multiple finger marks.

His memory was interrupted as the person sat up.

His brows furrowed, his face clouded with gloom.

He even had morning grumpiness.

He Si quietly stepped back and said in a conciliatory tone, “I want to talk about last night. You know I drank a lot and wasn’t very clear-headed. Don’t get me wrong—I’m not trying to shirk responsibility, just want to explain. I’m afraid I might have offended you. But mainly, it depends on how you feel. If you...”

While he spoke, the person sat up, the covers dropping to his waist.

He Si instinctively looked away but caught something out of the corner of his eye. He froze and quickly turned to look.

The next moment, his voice dropped sharply.

“Holy shit!”

Flat?

He Si felt struck by lightning, almost stunned, staring at that person’s flat chest.

He checked again.

Yes.

Flat.

Well, not exactly flat...

But that didn’t matter. The point was, it was definitely not a woman’s chest.

His head started aching again. He took a deep breath, fighting the urge to lift the covers and investigate, and shifted his gaze upward to that handsome face.

At last, the realization dawned belatedly.

“You’re a man?”

Though he asked aloud, he already had the answer.

This was a man!

Do women look like this?

He Si’s vision darkened; he felt dizzy.

What’s worse than having sex with a stranger? Having sex with a stranger of the same sex.

He wasn’t gay!

Whether it was the overwhelming shock or his mood balancing out after the rollercoaster, He Si strangely calmed down and even accepted the fact that he’d gotten into bed without even confirming the other’s gender.

His mind blanked momentarily; he forgot what he was saying and took several steps back, plopping down onto the sofa by the window.

Out of the corner of his eye, the man seemed to recover from his bad mood, sitting on the edge of the bed, naked except for a blanket covering his waist.

He Si couldn’t resist glancing.

The man had long limbs, paler skin than He Si remembered. His shoulders and back were fine, but his legs showed many red marks—obviously from being pinched.

He Si was speechless.

He really didn’t mean to.

---

Sigh.

What the hell was going on?

He Si wiped his face in despair.

“What did you just say?” the man spoke, his voice very pleasant and surprisingly gentle and measured, contrasting with his cold appearance.

He Si lifted his face from his hands. Though only a few minutes had passed, even without a mirror, he felt much wearier.

“Huh?” He Si replied.

The man tilted his head. “What you just said—if I what?”

He Si struggled to think.

He wanted to say that if the other didn’t mind, they could try being together since they’d already slept together. If the woman didn’t want to just move on, he couldn’t just put his pants on and walk away.

Of course, just try being together!

After all, they were strangers. He didn’t even know if the other had a partner. They needed to get to know each other first.

But all that was premised on the other being a woman.

He Si’s expression was numb, unsure whether to finish his sentence.

After hesitation, he spoke.

“If you don’t mind, I can take responsibility.” Then he hurriedly added, “I’m not talking about dating—I mean we try being together first. If it works out, we can develop further; if not...”

Then there’s nothing to be done.

He regretted saying that.

The man said nothing, staring at him intently. Those dark eyes, the longer you looked, the more they seemed like a deep, mesmerizing pool.

People say eyes are the windows to the soul; He Si agreed. He found the man’s eyes beautiful because of the hypnotic charm behind them.

After a while, the man said, “I don’t need you to take responsibility.”

He Si pressed his lips, outwardly calm but inwardly relieved.

“Last night, you can treat it as an accident. After you leave, I’ll act like nothing happened, so don’t feel burdened.” The man paused, then suddenly asked, “You don’t like men, do you?”

He Si was not surprised the man could tell—his reaction was far too strong. But in this situation, how could he admit it?

So he turned the question back: “You like men?”

“I don’t like them either,” the man replied, cutting off any chance for He Si to respond. “It’s late. You should go.”

He Si glanced at him, his gaze drifting repeatedly to the man’s legs. He wanted to say something but swallowed the words.

He got up and headed out, noticing the man’s clothes on the floor. He asked, “What will you wear later? The same clothes from yesterday?”

Looking back, the man was still sitting on the bed, holding his phone, apparently messaging someone.

He replied, “I won’t wear those clothes. I’ll have someone bring a new set.”

He Si clicked his tongue, said nothing more, but before leaving, he picked up and folded the clothes on the floor, placing them on the sofa.

The trash can between the sofa and coffee table was empty except for a few used condoms, clearly containing something.

He Si glanced over and immediately blushed fiercely.

Really too much to look at...

He took the elevator down to the lobby. Seeing it was nearly noon, he asked the front desk about the checkout time and learned it was twelve.

He figured the man would linger a while longer and decided to extend the room for another day.

The staff checked and said it was possible.

He pulled out his phone, ignoring the slew of missed calls on the lock screen, and opened the payment page on Alipay.

Just as he was about to hand over the phone, the staff said, “Hello, the total is 23,998 yuan.”

He Si was stunned. “I’m only extending for one day.”

The staff said, “Sir, that is the daily rate.”

He Si withdrew his phone, tail between his legs, and left.

What a joke! He didn’t even have that much money in his account!