Chapter 136: Conditions for release

The sweet, cloying smell of chloroform faded, replaced by the familiar scents of mold, coal dust, and rust.

For a single moment, Gu Yebai was standing back on the school playground with the rusted flagpole.

The wind was cold.

Snow fell like powdered sugar, landing on his shoulders in flakes that instantly turned into icy droplets, seeping down his collar.

His parents stood before the gravestone, gently waving at him.

“Xiaobai, go home.”

Gu Yebai ran toward them with all his might, but his legs felt trapped in cotton.

Every step required so much force, yet no matter how hard he tried, the distance wouldn’t shorten.

“Xiaobai, go home.”

They said it again, their voices so soft they seemed to scatter in the wind.

Go home?

But I am running toward home!

Why can’t I ever reach it, no matter how hard I run?

His parents’ figures grew smaller and smaller, as if being swallowed bit by bit by the gray sky.

Until they vanished completely.

“Mom, Dad, don’t go! Don’t leave me alone!”

He reached out to grab them, but his fingertips only touched emptiness.

Then, only a wave of discomfort surged up.

Sweltering, suffocating, a nauseating jolt.

…..

The chemical smell hadn’t fully dissipated.

Its lingering effects left Gu Yebai’s consciousness like it was soaking in warm water, sinking and floating by turns.

His head felt heavy as lead.

His throat was dry and sore, and even his breath carried that stubborn, sweet chemical scent…

And the faint whiff of something else?

A subtle white musk curled around him, winding like silk threads around his heart.

The sack jostled.

He was being carried over someone’s shoulder.

With each step, their bodies pressed tighter together.

The coarse rope forced their bodies into a tight embrace.

Bai Xialin’s chest pressed against Gu Yebai’s, lightly deforming with each bump, then springing back like some living thing breathing and responding.

The rope had been wound three times around their waists, and heat seeped through the fabric, crawling down his spine.

Bai Xialin’s strong, graceful leg—her knee pit was wedged right against the inside of Gu Yebai’s thigh.

Whenever the car hit a speed bump, her body would push into him, as if trying to meld into his bones.

Gu Yebai realized he wasn’t in Linchuan anymore.

Where was he?

His mind was still a muddled mess.

He wanted to move but couldn’t; he tried to say something but his words came out slurred.

The blindfold robbed him of sight, leaving only touch and hearing.

The car engine hummed low.

The faint sound of tires rolling over the road scraped like sandpaper against his heart.

His thoughts were in chaos.

The car stopped.

What the hell happened?

…..

Gu Yebai tried to think, but his brain was completely scrambled.

It seemed like a kidnapping.

He’d just finished his interview.

Then, someone from behind had covered his mouth and nose with a cloth soaked in chemicals.

Xiao Lin…

Even though he couldn’t confirm with his eyes, the touch, the soft murmurs, and her body scent clearly indicated she had been kidnapped too.

Damn it!

Why did Xiao Lin have to suffer this?

Gu Yebai would rather be the only one kidnapped.

They were lifted again.

Then their bodies were set down—not on a bed, but on a hard floor.

A metallic door banged shut, the hollow echo bouncing repeatedly off the concrete walls.

“Xiao… Lin.”

Gu Yebai tried to speak, his voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.

The other person seemed to react.

A strand of hair brushed across Gu Yebai’s face, bringing a faint tickle, like a feather sweeping by.

“Xiao Gu…”

“I’m so scared…”

That was one hundred percent Xiao Lin’s voice.

That way of speaking with a Korean-soft ending was too obvious…

…..

She seemed more awake than he was.

Her whole head kept rubbing against Gu Yebai’s neck.

There was even a slight wetness—were those tears?

Her breath was shallow, puffing against the side of his neck.

Warm, with a hint of caramel candy sweetness.

Damn kidnappers!

They didn’t even spare a girl like Bai Xialin!

And what about Hongyi?

What was Hongyi doing now?

She had said that after the interview, he had to go home early.

She had specifically warned him not to have any contact with Bai Xialin.

If she found out he’d been kidnapped…

Gu Yebai imagined her reaction.

She would definitely panic.

No wait—he still had the tracker!

At the time, he’d thought the tracker was a terrible thing, restricting his freedom.

But this thing also offered protection.

“Wait?”

There was no sensation of the red pendant around his neck.

Had it been forcibly removed?

If so, then Hongyi wouldn’t know his exact location… Crap!

Suddenly, footsteps echoed hollowly on the concrete floor, growing closer.

Were the kidnappers back?

….

The blindfold was yanked off roughly, and the world blazed with light.

This was a true locked room.

No furniture.

Concrete walls, concrete floor, no windows.

The metal door had no handle either.

Only a cold white LED light buzzed overhead, as if it might go out any moment.

He and Bai Xialin were tied facing each other, like an ambiguous yet suffocating two-person dance.

The rope wound from arms to waists to thighs, locking them into a single unit.

Her violet evening gown was crumpled against him, the skirt spread out like a trampled purple lake.

Her chest pressed against his, rising and falling with each breath.

Her face was only a few inches from his.

Her eyelashes were lowered, as if she were asleep.

Her red lips were slightly parted, her breathing even, but with an unnatural pallor.

Kidnapped.

Really kidnapped.

Where was this?

Who did it?

Why were they tied together?

Gu Yebai’s heart ached at the thought of how much the people who cared about him would worry when they learned of his fate.

“If you have a problem, take it out on me!”

Gu Yebai saw the kidnapper’s face.

Maybe because he was too emotional, his tongue, numbed by chemicals, suddenly blurted out the words he wanted to say.

…..

After he spoke, Gu Yebai started coughing violently.

The kidnapper was a man.

Tall and thin, over six feet.

His figure was like a shadow stretched by wind.

A black oversized hoodie made his shoulder line look extremely broad.

The brim of his hood was pulled down to his brow bone, a mask covering most of his face, leaving only a pair of narrow eyes.

Those eyes… had no warmth.

Not cold—empty.

These were the eyes of a true murderer.

He was dressed in a Korean street-style outfit.

A few messy bangs poked out from under the hood, tangled like a cobweb blown by wind…

Suddenly, he spoke.

Unfortunately, Gu Yebai couldn’t understand.

Because the language he spoke wasn’t Chinese—it was Korean, peppered with the occasional “-seumnida.”

He rattled off a long string of words.

Was this guy after Bai Xialin?

“What the hell do you want?” Gu Yebai asked in English.

But the kidnapper kept using Korean.

Sentence after sentence, directed at Bai Xialin.

Bai Xialin’s face was pale, on the verge of tears…

“What is he saying?” Gu Yebai pressed.

“Xiao Gu Gu…”

“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault you got kidnapped…”

“What did he say, Xiao Lin?”

“It’s not your fault.”

“In Seoul, I was always sought after…” Bai Xialin let out a self-deprecating laugh.

“I had a lot of fans, both male and female.”

“I was in a girl group for a while, and I also played in pro leagues. In many fields, I had fans. And among them, besides ordinary fans, there were extreme ones. He says he loves me.”

“He says that because I rejected his confession three years ago, his life completely stopped. He says that chasing after my shadow, his life can’t move forward. He can only think of me every day…”

Bai Xialin translated his words into Chinese.

“He thinks of you every day. Only your face, your voice, stuck in memories—pitiful, like a rat in a gutter.”

“So he has to destroy me. Let another man defile me completely, so that I’ll stop shining in his heart.”

“Only then can he find the courage to live again. Only then will tomorrow become completely bright.”

“He says that a few days ago, he saw you and me going to a café together. He concluded you and I have an ambiguous relationship.”

“So he kidnapped you too. He wants to witness with his own eyes you and me having that kind of relationship between a man and woman… That way, he can completely lose all illusions about me…”

“Xiao Gu Gu…”

“It seems we have no choice but to do as he says…”

“If it has to be you… If you become the one to lead me into the adult world, I…”

“I wouldn’t mind.”

“In fact, I’d kind of hope for that…” Gu Yebai immediately refused upon hearing this.

“How can that be?”

“That’s ridiculous! I already have Hongyi. How could I possibly take your innocence?”

“I would never do that!”

But Bai Xialin raised her voice.

“If you don’t touch me, don’t claim me, we’ll never get out of this room.”

“But, Xiao Gu Gu… Isn’t this perfect?”

Her fingertips, in the gaps between the ropes, lightly tugged at his collar.

The movement was as light as a dragonfly skimming water, yet carried an undeniable possessiveness.

“Come on, Xiao Gu Gu… Let me become yours alone, okay?”

“I won’t make you break up with Gao Hongyi. I won’t ask you to take responsibility. I just…”

“I just want to have a dream, at the wrong time and in the wrong place, of turning from a girl into a woman. What’s wrong with that?”

“And we can be saved…”

“Xiao Gu Gu, your family must be really worried about you, right? Gao Hongyi must be frantically looking for you right now, crying until her eyes are swollen… If you just take me, we might be able to go home immediately.”

She turned to the kidnapper.

She said a few sentences in Korean, her voice soft, as if coaxing.

He replied, his voice cold as if from an ice cave.

Bai Xialin turned back.

A few crystal droplets clung to her eyelashes, pitiful and charming.

….

“Yes, he said that if you and I really… make love, he’ll let us go home.”

“I really don’t care. You don’t need to have any psychological burden…”

“I’m scared right now, but I also really like you. I want to go home, and I want to… get closer to you.”

“So, let’s give in to this sin, Xiao Gu Gu.”

“No—”

Gu Yebai started to say no.

But Bai Xialin’s soft lips silenced him.

It wasn’t a fierce plunder, but a gentle, almost cruel devouring.

Her lips were cool, trembling slightly, as if she was using all her strength to stuff herself into his world.

The rope forced them tighter.

Her body trembled with the kiss, as if silently saying: See, we’re already fused now.

No one can separate us.

Gu Yebai’s mind went blank.