Chapter 137: It was all just a dream

Despite the image of Gao Hongyi’s face, twisted with worry almost to the point of breaking, still flashing through his mind, Bai Xialin’s breath spread over his nerves like a tide—inch by inch, bit by bit.

‘I should push her away.’

But his hands were bound tight by the rough hemp rope, his fingertips weakly curling at her waist, letting her invade him bit by bit, steal him away.

The kiss lasted so long—so long that the air in his lungs was nearly drained, so long that Gu Yebai could clearly feel the slight tremble of her tongue—clumsy, carrying the particular shyness of a first kiss.

Finally, she pulled back a little.

‘…Hah—’

The corner of her lips was wet with glistening moisture, like violet petals kissed by rain.

A shimmer of sacrificial lamb flickered in her eyes—moist, ardent, carrying a sense of satisfaction that was about to be completely ignited.

She greedily gasped the air of this cement room, mixed with mold and rust, her chest heaving violently.

The collar of her violet evening gown was pulled wider, revealing the shallow curve of her collarbone.

“Xiao Gu Gu…”

“We kissed.”

“We really… really kissed…”

She repeated it, as if confirming an extremely sacred ritual.

Occasionally, a few Korean words that Gu Yebai couldn’t understand at all slipped out, murmured softly, as if she were praying to a deity only she knew.

But in Gu Yebai’s mind, there was only Gao Hongyi.

‘She must be frantic right now—like she’s going crazy.’

‘Is she curled up on the sofa again, hugging my suit jacket and talking to herself?’

‘Has she already cried so much her eyes are swollen shut?’

‘Is she already driving around the streets of Donghai City, calling out over and over, “Don’t be afraid, Bai Shu, I’m coming to pick you up and take you home”…’

‘And my father…’

‘Whenever I think of them running all over the city, calling the police, begging for help, staying up all night because I was kidnapped, I just can’t treat that kiss as something beautiful.’

‘It’s too heavy.’

‘Heavy like a red-hot brand, seared directly onto my conscience.’

But Bai Xialin was still whispering beside his ear, as if afraid of waking a dream about to come true.

“Come on, Xiao Gu Gu…”

“I’ve already given you my first kiss.”

“My first time… is also yours…”

“Including my love, my soul, everything…”

‘So heavy.’

‘I already have Hongyi’s love, which is that heavy—how can I possibly accept another girl’s love?’

“Xiao Lin, really, I can’t…”

Though it was a refusal, his voice was as weak as a candle flame in the wind.

“But we have no other choice, do we?”

Bai Xialin said it in a tone almost mournful.

Her eyes were red, lashes beaded with moisture, but the tears didn’t fall.

Just then, Min Jun crouched down. In his hand was a dagger.

A real dagger—its blade glinting with a cold blue light under the white LED, sharp enough to send a chill down your spine.

‘How absurd.’

‘Kidnapped.’

‘The kidnapper doesn’t want money, nor Bai Xialin’s beauty.’

‘He wants me to take her, defile her, destroy the “light” she sees in me.’

Min Jun said a few low words in Korean, his voice scraping out like it came from an ice cave.

Bai Xialin translated immediately, her voice trembling.

“Xiao Gu Gu, he says… if you won’t do it, then…”

“He’ll kill you.”

“Then he’ll find another man to defile me.”

“I absolutely won’t allow that!”

She suddenly raised her voice, like a cornered animal.

“Xiao Gu Gu, please… take me.”

“At least… I want it to be you, not some other person…”

“Be my first man.”

Min Jun’s eyes grew redder, bloodshot, and he started growling like a mad beast.

Bai Xialin continued translating, her voice growing softer, yet more desperate.

“He says, if you still don’t nod, he’ll kill you right now…”

“But what about your future…?”

“Xiao Lin, I already have Hongyi. I don’t plan to betray her…”

“She was the one who brought me out of Linchuan County. I… we were never meant to be.”

“I won’t hold you responsible, Xiao Gu Gu.”

Bai Xialin cut him off, her voice soft as if about to melt.

“I won’t force you to be my boyfriend just because this happened.”

“I definitely won’t ask you to marry me.”

“I won’t kidnap you, lock you up, or force you to leave Gao Hongyi because of this.”

“Just think of it as…”

“A dream.”

“A dream only the two of us share.”

“Just nod quickly…”

Min Jun’s heavy boots stomped on the cement floor, making dull thuds.

Crouched, he slowly waved the dagger in front of Gu Yebai’s eyes.

The tip was less than two centimeters from his throat.

The breath of death was right there—cold as a winter night in Linchuan.

Either choose death.

Or choose guilt.

Gu Yebai looked at the girl in the violet evening gown.

She was staring back at him with a pleading gaze.

Her lashes fluttered.

The corner of her lips still glistened with the moisture from the kiss they had just shared.

‘At this point, is there really any other way?’

“Xiao Gu Gu…”

“Nod.”

“If you die, I can’t go on living either.”

Bai Xialin’s voice was so low it was almost inaudible, but every word struck Gu Yebai’s bones.

“Even if I survive this kidnapping, the moment I think of you dying for me, I’ll surely kill myself as soon as I’m rescued.”

“I can’t bear to live with your death on my conscience…”

“Besides, if you die, your girlfriend Gao Hongyi will definitely kill herself too.”

“Have you considered the gravity of that?”

‘She’s right.’

‘At this point, my life is no longer just my own.’

‘It’s tied to Hongyi’s life.’

‘It’s tied to this girl’s life in front of me.’

‘My parents will be devastated too, drowning in self-blame.’

Gu Yebai closed his eyes.

Finally, under the dagger’s cold gleam, he nodded slightly.

He didn’t know if the kidnapper would really release him and Bai Xialin after he did such a thing, but at this point, there was no other choice, was there?

“Hmph.”

Min Jun snorted coldly and cut the coarse ropes binding the two of them with the dagger.

The ropes loosened coil by coil.

But they weren’t completely untied—just enough to let their limbs move freely.

Still, Gu Yebai knew he couldn’t fight back.

The lingering effect of the chloroform weakened his body as if his bones had been removed.

Besides, he had never learned any combat skills.

Bare hands against a dagger-wielding madman who was six feet tall?

‘Too naive.’

“No tricks.”

Min Jun suddenly warned in very broken Chinese.

Then, in the corner of the room, he installed a small camera.

Its lens coldly aimed at them.

“Complete the conditions, and I let you go.”

Bam—

The metal door slammed shut.

The lock clicked.

The world was left with just the two of them.

And the small red recording indicator of the camera.

“Xiao Gu Gu…”

Bai Xialin’s voice came again.

Gentle, as if coaxing a child about to fall asleep.

She slowly knelt before him, the skirt of her violet evening gown spreading out like a still lake of purple.

She reached out with her delicate, boneless hand.

Her fingertips gently brushed Gu Yebai’s cheek.

Cold, but with a slight tremor.

She seemed to be putting on a brave front too.

“Xiao Gu Gu… don’t be afraid.”

“From now on, it’s just the two of us here.”

“Only you, and me.”

She bent down and gently pressed her forehead against his.

Their breaths tangled.

The faint scent of white musk mixed with her unique milky candy smell.

“I know she’s in your heart.”

“I also know you must hate me right now.”

“But it’s okay.”

“Hate me, dislike me, never want to see me again forever… that’s all fine.”

“As long as tonight, you belong to me, just once.”

“Just once.”

“That’s enough.”

Her fingers slid down his cheek and stopped on his lips.

She gently stroked them.

“Xiao Gu Gu, do you know?”

“The first time I read your novel, I thought… how can this person write something so dark yet so gentle?”

“I like gentle people the most.”

By the time she finished, her voice was choked with sobs.

But it wasn’t an act.

It was real.

‘She really wants to cry.’

“Xiao Gu Gu…”

“Come on.”

“Feel pain, feel guilt, feel hatred… give me all those emotions. Then go back to being the sunny boy, fall into Gao Hongyi’s arms, and live a happy life…”

“As for me… it’s fine.”

“This is just a dream. When you wake up, everything will be better.”

“Actually, even though I shouldn’t say this, I’m quite grateful to him. Thanks to him, I can have a short, doomed dream. Like a drug, bringing brief pleasure, even if I have to bear eternal pain for the rest of my life.”

“It’s okay—”

She gently kissed his lips.

This time, not clumsy.

Slowly, lingeringly, little by little, she pulled him into the abyss.

Gu Yebai closed his eyes.

The last thing that flashed through his mind was Gao Hongyi, curled up on the sofa in her wine-red silk nightgown, hugging his coat.

‘I’m sorry, Hongyi… I’m sorry…’

But Bai Xialin’s kiss was like poison—gentle.

Little by little, it melted all his resistance.

The camera’s red light blinked.

“Are you nervous?”

“It’s okay, Xiao Gu Gu. Leave the rest to me.”

“That way, you’ll be innocent.”

“That way, you’ll be saved.”

In the secret room, only their breathing remained.

Heavier and heavier.

More and more erratic.

More and more like a dream from which one could never wake.