Liam Sterling had double standards. A hot, sexy beauty twisted her waist to hit on him. He didn't even look up. "If you have an itch, go take a shower." Three days without washing my hair, I ran into him downstairs. Before I could even open my mouth, Liam swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Seducing me again?" "I'm free tonight. Your place or mine?" 1 My best friend and college roommate, Mark Davis, invited me out for his birthday. I thought it was just going to be the two of us, but he took a call halfway through. "Oh, man, my childhood friends are throwing me a birthday party tonight too." Mark came from a good background; he was a trust fund kid. His childhood friends were naturally all rich kids and socialites. They were from a different world than me. I felt a bit awkward. "I'll just head out, then." "Don't be like that. We're all bros, let's hang out together. They're good guys." "And they're not homophobic, don't worry." "Wait here for a sec, I'll go meet them at the door. My buddy Liam Sterling is coming too." "Alright." I had to sit back down. Mark got up, in high spirits, but as he was walking out the door of the private room, he suddenly turned around with a teasing look on his face. "Oh right, I ordered a premium male model for you, my little gay friend, to feed you fruit. He's got that aloof, god-tier vibe. Costs a thousand bucks a night." "He'll be here soon. You can enjoy yourself for a bit, hehe. Be bold." "..." I'm a gay guy who just coasts through life. Mark was afraid I'd end up alone forever, so he's actually introduced me to quite a few handsome guys. Unfortunately, none of them were a good fit. So I didn't refuse his good intentions. A few minutes after Mark left, the door to the private room was suddenly pushed open. I looked up and froze. The guy who walked in was top-tier. Relaxed brows, broad shoulders, a strong back, tall with long legs. Paired with the mandatory black shirt for male models and a diamond-studded silver chain, he was devastatingly handsome. I sighed inwardly. A thousand bucks a night for a premium male model really is a feast for the eyes. 2 The male model looked down at me, casually asking in a flat voice: "Mark Davis's room?" Mark Davis was the name of my college roommate. I nodded, "Yes." "Hmm." He gave a slight nod and headed to sit at the other end of the sofa. "Wait a minute." I called out to the handsome male model. He lifted his eyelids. "What's wrong?" I awkwardly patted the seat next to me. "You should sit next to me." "?" The male model looked at me, seemingly puzzled. I explained gently: "There's going to be a lot of people later. You'll feel uncomfortable sitting over there." Even though Mark said his childhood friends weren't homophobic, it was probably just a polite pleasantry. Maybe they'd feel uncomfortable sitting next to a gay guy. It would be a sin if the handsome male model who worked so hard got complaints. "..." At this, the male model's expression became unreadable. He looked me up and down, raising an eyebrow. "Alright." After the guy sat down next to me, he didn't initiate conversation. He just sat there, eating from the fruit platter and looking down at his phone. His profile was sharp, exuding a natural sense of detachment. I got it. This was the aloof, god-tier vibe. But Mark had already paid for it; he had to do his job. For example, instead of just eating by himself, he should feed me a few bites of fruit first. I carefully poked his arm. "Um, I want to eat some too." The male model paused and pushed the fruit platter towards me. "Sorry." "..." I didn't move; I just stared at his hand. He narrowed his eyes: "What, you expect me to feed you?" I nodded sheepishly, "Yeah... can you?" At least let me experience this luxurious service while there weren't many people around. I wouldn't have the guts to ask once the room filled up. The male model's look instantly became meaningful, as if looking at some clumsy pick-up tactic. Then, he let out a short breath that sounded like a laugh. "You're definitely different from the other proactive ones. You're Mark Davis's friend?" "Yeah, his college roommate." "What's your name?" "Julian." I was a bit confused. Do male models nowadays check their clients' IDs? "Did he tell you who I am?" "He did." "What did he say?" I answered seriously: "He said you're—" Before I could say the four words "premium male model," the door to the private room was noisily pushed open. Mark walked in with a group of people. Suddenly, Mark stared in my direction and said in surprise: "Liam, I was waiting for you outside! Why did you come into the room early?!" Then I heard the male model next to me say lazily: "It was noisy outside, so I came in first to have some fruit." "Getting to know your friend early." "He's pretty interesting." ... I looked at Mark, then at the man, feeling like a total idiot. My brain felt like it had been kicked by a donkey. 3 The birthday party afterward was loud as hell. Only two people weren't active. One was Liam Sterling. He didn't seem interested in the drinking games, lazily leaning back on the sofa the whole time. And those rich kids seemed to implicitly defer to him. Even when joking around, they used a respectful tone. The second was me. I kept my head down the whole time, not saying a word. If there was a crack in the floor, I probably would have crawled into it. I completely didn't dare to look to my left. Mark was even curious why I was acting so autistic, not even eating the fruit the premium male model fed me. He whispered to me: "What's up, man? Intimidated by my buddy Liam's aura? Or did he give you a hard time when he came in?" I shook my head, "No." "Then what exactly happened?" "Sigh, it went like this..." I leaned into Mark's ear and whispered the misunderstanding about confusing him for a male model. After hearing it, Mark wanted to laugh but couldn't. Holding it in was very difficult. I gritted my teeth and said: "Stop laughing. Should I apologize right now?" "I don't think you need to." "Why?" "If you apologize, Liam will immediately know that you mistook him for a premium male model. He's a straight guy; it might actually upset him." "But if you don't apologize and just gloss over it, he'll just think you were trying to suck up to him." "The first option will get you remembered, and he could easily take revenge and make your life miserable with the snap of his fingers. The second option just costs you a little face. Which do you choose?" I'm not stupid. I chose the second option without hesitation. Besides, as a gay guy, I shouldn't provoke straight guys' disgust. Mark patted my shoulder. "Don't worry. He's got a lot on his plate every day; he won't remember small stuff like this." "That's good." Mark's words made me sigh in relief. I also felt in the mood to join the games, trying hard to ignore the man named Liam Sterling and lower my presence in front of him. But what you fear most is what happens. 4 After a few rounds of drinks, Mark proposed a new game for today's birthday boy. Hidden tasks. Except for Liam, who wasn't participating, everyone drew a hidden task. It had to be completed before the birthday party ended. Whoever failed had to foot the bill for the entire night. I glanced at the table full of expensive imported liquor that could probably equal my salary for years, then looked down at the hidden task card in my hand. A faint feeling of impending doom washed over me. Sigh. I've stumbled into the wrong crowd. [Get the WeChat of the person to your left.] My left. Was exactly Liam Sterling. Clutching my phone, I cautiously stole a glance to my left. Liam, who had been looking down at his phone, suddenly looked up, "What?" "N-nothing." I guilty turned my head back. A seemingly peaceful coexistence. After a while, I stole another glance at Liam, hesitating to speak. He asked again: "Something on your mind?" "No." I denied it again. Another peaceful coexistence. But Liam seemed to let out a scoff. My spine instantly stiffened like a bowstring. How could I ask for his WeChat in a way that seemed normal and wouldn't draw too much attention? During the third stealthy glance, my face flushed due to nervousness and anxiety. Red and flushed. Unexpectedly, this stealthy glance met Liam's gaze head-on. I don't know when he started observing me. He glanced at my flickering eyes and flushed face, raising an eyebrow: "If you want to add me on WeChat, just say so." ! Wow. He actually figured out my task. I quickly brought up my QR code, saying softly: "Um... is it okay?" "Sure, but next time you hit on me, you can be more direct." ? I was a bit confused. Who was hitting on him? However, my hidden task was successfully completed, so I didn't have to pay for the drinks. 5 After adding Liam on WeChat, I didn't dare bother the rich kid, much less delete him. I let him lie dormant in my contacts list. The day after Mark's birthday, I happened to have a day off from work. My niece, who was in elementary school, came over to play. As soon as the kid arrived, she wanted to play with my phone. After handing it to her, I went to the kitchen to cook. "Uncle Julian, I want to play Candy Crush." "Okay, I have it on my phone. You can play it." "Uncle Julian, why doesn't your WeChat have auto-like? It's not cool at all." Thinking "auto-like" was some new game, I didn't even look up, smiling as I said: "If you want it, just download it yourself." "Okay~" My little niece happily went back to playing with the phone. After she left, I didn't touch the mess of games she downloaded, so she could continue playing next time she came. A week passed, two weeks passed... One day, when Mark asked me out for dinner, he suddenly expressed concern: "Julian, do you have a lot of free time lately?" "No, I'm pretty busy." "Then how come every time I post a Moment, you're the first to like it? Even when I post in the middle of the night, you're the first to like it. And you like it the second I post it, like you're specifically staking out my Moments. Anyone who didn't know better would think you had a crush on me." "Huh?" I was confused. "No way. I've been so busy lately my feet haven't touched the ground; I don't even have time to look at Moments. Why would I like something in the middle of the night?" "That's weird. Did you install one of those 'auto-like' plug-ins?" Auto-like? I remembered the thing my little niece mentioned a while ago. Oh. So it wasn't a game. "Yeah, my niece was playing with my phone and accidentally turned it on. I'll turn it off right now." I quickly went into WeChat and turned off the auto-like mini-program. Now, it finally wouldn't auto-like everyone's Moments. But two days later, Liam, who had been quietly lying in my contacts list, suddenly sent me four very abstract words. [Playing hard to get?] ? I stared at my phone. Completely bewildered. 6 I didn't reply. I purely thought the rich kid had messaged the wrong person. But when I met Mark for dinner after work that day, there was an unexpected guest at the table. Liam Sterling. He was dressed casually today. A black short-sleeve shirt and cargo pants, his bone structure sharp, handsome and flamboyant. Like a model stepping out of a poster. Except his face was a bit sour, as if someone had offended him. Even when I greeted him politely, he only responded with a very cold grunt. Mark whispered to me: "He called me and insisted on having dinner with me. You don't know, even my dad has to sit below him, so I couldn't refuse. Bro, just bear with it, I'll treat you to a big meal tomorrow." "It's fine, I don't mind." Mark was relieved and invited me and Liam to eat. I glanced at the dishes on the table; they were all very expensive, but I was used to being poor and didn't really like any of them. The only dish I liked, a flaky meat pie, was right in front of Liam. I was a bit hesitant to reach out and grab food right in front of his cold face. At that moment, a flash of inspiration hit me. While Liam was talking to Mark, I quietly stood up a bit and swapped the positions of two dishes. I put the meat pie in front of me and placed the pan-seared sole that was originally in front of me in front of Liam. Liam, who was talking to Mark, paused and glanced at me. His dark eyes were deep, and his straight mouth curved into a smile. Inexplicably, I felt that his long-gloomy expression finally cleared up. That handsome face faintly displayed a few words: [I knew it.] As he picked up a piece of sole, Mark suspiciously whispered in my ear: "Julian, how did you know Liam loves fish?" "I didn't know. I just wanted to eat that meat pie." Mark didn't press further, and I didn't think much of it either. But overall, Liam's mood visibly improved. He ate well and even had a few drinks with Mark. I was also satisfied. Yep. We all had a wonderful evening. 7 After dinner, we prepared to go our separate ways. Except we encountered a tricky situation. Both Liam and Mark had been drinking, so naturally they couldn't drive. Mark was picked up by his family's driver, while Liam planted himself in the driver's seat of his luxury car. I was shocked. Recently, there had been no shortage of social news about drunk drivers getting into accidents, and the friends who dined with them having to pay compensation. That wouldn't do. My current financial situation absolutely couldn't handle any compensation! Ignoring the difference between straight and gay, I hurriedly rushed over and grabbed his car door. "L-Liam, are you heading home?" "What is it?" "Let me drive you. I have a license and I can drive. It's not safe for you to drive alone after drinking." "..." Liam, who originally just wanted to sit and rest while waiting for his driver, stared at me. His eyes were full of emotions I couldn't read, like teasing, and a bit of helpless indulgence. "Then I'll give you a chance." "?" Why did it sound like he was doing me a favor? I was clearly trying to save his life. I couldn't understand the thought process of these rich kids. After helping him out of the driver's seat, placing him in the back, and buckling his seatbelt, I returned to the driver's seat. Liam was driving a G-Wagon today. It was my first time getting my hands on a seven-figure luxury car. Even with my usually mild personality, my inner poor kid couldn't help but get a little excited. Ah! What man alive doesn't want a G-Wagon! I tried to take deep breaths and stay calm. In the back seat, Liam, with his eyes half-closed, suddenly let out a very light chuckle, his voice a bit raspy. "Julian, you seem very excited." "N-no." "Really?" "Yeah. Um... Liam, what's your home address?" "You don't know?" I was bewildered. Was I supposed to know? "I don't know." Liam let out another inexplicable chuckle. "Forest View Mansion. I posted the location on my Moments." I, a bumpkin, scratched my face in embarrassment. I see. The top-tier wealthy neighborhood in the city. He flexed it on his Moments. But unfortunately, I was too busy to look at Moments, so I didn't get to experience his pride. My bad.
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