3. George Dale

Lu Zhengming’s mind was completely consumed by lust. The tension that had built up between him and Yin Yan seemed to become some sort of bizarre catalyst in this situation. As he kissed Yin Yan, he couldn’t help marveling at the absurd coincidence. He had thought that running into each other would lead to nothing but awkwardness and estrangement, but instead, it ignited an even greater, uncontrollable desire.

Whether it was friendship turning into something more or simply indulging in forbidden fruit, Lu Zhengming admitted that he was acting like a beast. Yin Yan’s lack of cooperation only excited him further. He ignored his resistance, as well as the strange and seemingly out-of-place words he had spoken.

“Do you prefer being on top or on the bottom?” Lu Zhengming squeezed Yin Yan’s ass, his hot breath blowing into his ears, “I’m fine with either…”

“I like violence.”

“Rough, huh?” Lu Zhengming chuckled, tightening his grip until red marks bloomed on Yin Yan’s skin.

The moment he had seen Yin Yan in the bar earlier, it had been obvious that he wasn’t experienced. Even being hit on left him looking awkward and guilty. Lu Zhengming prided himself on having seen it all. Anyone who ended up in his bed would eventually give in to temptation. A beginner like Yin Yan was bound to fall apart under him.

But Yin Yan remained as cold and indifferent as a detached spectator, quietly watching Lu Zhengming’s performance without even a change in his breathing.

That left Lu Zhengming feeling frustrated. Refusing to give up, he reached down and touched Yin Yan’s cock, only to be met with the same cold disinterest.

Lu Zhengming gave in. He rubbed his nose against Yin Yan’s chin and whispered softly. “Yin Yan, are you still angry at me?”

“Do you really have to bring that up now?”

Yin Yan’s voice was so flat and devoid of emotion that Lu Zhengming couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He cupped Yin Yan’s face, trailing kisses along his jaw, trying to ignite some kind of passion with his tongue.

“I’m sorry, I was too impatient,” he murmured. “You have no idea how happy I am. How did I not realize before that you were also… Never mind. What position do you like?”

“I like violence,” Yin Yan replied calmly.

“Violence?”

“Yes.” Yin Yan stared at Lu Zhengming’s confused expression. “Use your hands, your feet, other parts of your body, or tools. You can also use words to insult me, humiliate me, hurt me. Whatever it takes to make me suffer.”

Lu Zhengming propped himself up, looking incredulous. “Are you saying… SM? That kind of thing?”

Yin Yan nodded.

Lu Zhengming didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Why would you come here for that? This is just a regular gay bar. It’s not part of that scene.”

“I didn’t know,” Yin Yan said, lowering his gaze. “I don’t go out much.”

Seeing the usually guarded Yin Yan, now naked and unusually candid, left Lu Zhengming feeling a bit unsettled. “You trust me that much?”

Yin Yan’s lips curved slightly. “I’ve already been forced to share the secret of my sexual orientation with you. What else is there to hide?”

Lu Zhengming couldn’t argue with that. “So… have you ever found someone who shares your interests?”

“They’re all boring,” Yin Yan said, his eyes showing a trace of weariness. “For them, it’s all about the sex after the game. They go through the motions as if completing a task, rushing things and half-heartedly playing along. “Even their insults are dull and unimaginative. I’m not a slut or a bitch, and I’m definitely not a dog. They even talk about an organ I don’t have, the so-called pussy. Those meaningless words don’t humiliate me at all. They just bore me.”

Lu Zhengming inhaled sharply. The way Yin Yan uttered those vulgar words, with the same indifferent tone one might use to read an academic paper, was like injecting aphrodisiac straight into his brain. He immediately became aroused again, aching to plunge into Yin Yan right then and there. But he didn’t want to be just another boring guy in Yin Yan’s eyes, so he forced himself to hold back.

“Do you think I might surprise you?”

“I’m not counting on it. After all, your goal is the same as theirs.”

Lu Zhengming could hardly recognize the man in front of him. The gentle mask Yin Yan once wore had been stripped away, exposing Lu Zhengming’s own hypocrisy in the process. So, he decided to be honest.

“I won’t deny it. I do want to have sex with you.”

Yin Yan laughed. “There’s no love between us. If possible, I’d rather we didn’t even have sex.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“It is,” Yin Yan said, lying still beneath him. “You could always put your clothes back on and leave.”

Lu Zhengming had met cold people before, but usually, it was just an act, a way to play hard to get. Often, he didn’t even need to tear off the mask. They’d reveal their true, lustful selves on their own. But Yin Yan was different. His entire being radiated genuine rejection. And yet, for some inexplicable reason, Lu Zhengming found himself irresistibly drawn to him, willing to indulge his every strange request.

He straightened up and looked down at Yin Yan. “Yin Yan, you’re the most hypocritical person I’ve ever met.”

The line was a curious mix. Seven parts performative toughness, two parts genuine regret, and one part unconscious desire, a judgment with a layered, complex tone.

Yin Yan finally wavered.

For the first time, Lu Zhengming saw a flicker of desire in his expression. There was a spark in those usually indifferent eyes, and his tightly pressed lips parted slightly.

Lu Zhengming responded by giving him a light slap across the face.

“They were right about you, Yin Yan, you are a slut. And the monument you’ve built for yourself isn’t just a façade. It’s practically a shrine.” His pent-up lust found release in those humiliating words.

He tilted Yin Yan’s chin up and added, “If it weren’t for today, I might’ve always respected you. Might’ve even admired you. But now, get off the bed. I don’t want to share it with you anymore.”

Yin Yan obeyed. His demeanor shifting so drastically it was as if he had become a different person. Without waiting for instructions, he knelt by the side of the bed and looked up at Lu Zhengming.

Lu Zhengming lifted his foot and lightly pressed it against Yin Yan’s chest. His face was cold, but inwardly, he was nervously observing him. He had no experience in this kind of scene, didn’t know the rules of the game, and wasn’t sure how much humiliation Yin Yan could handle.

Driven by desire, he used his toes to tease Yin Yan’s nipples, eliciting a gasp that gave him a bit more confidence. He continued by pressing the sole of his foot against Yin Yan’s skin, grinding down on his chest, his collarbones, and finally his shoulders. The man beneath him began to sway, as if struggling to endure some kind of dizziness.

Thinking about how Yin Yan’s most hidden side was completely exposed before him, Lu Zhengming’s breathing grew heavier. Beneath his foot was Yin Yan’s artery, and the pulse throbbed against his sensitive sole, syncing with the beat of his own heart. Suddenly, Lu Zhengming had a strange fantasy. Physically, their positions were one high, one low, but on another invisible plane, everything was reversed. In a battlefield without blood, two desires were clashing violently.

His toes reached Yin Yan’s ear and rubbed his earlobe.

“I hate rules and conventions, especially in the field of painting. The shackles of classicism are the heaviest.” His toes continued their climb, pressing against Yin Yan’s cheek. “Yin Yan, you’re the most shameless artist I’ve ever seen painting with shackles on.”

Yin Yan chuckled softly, momentarily distracted by Lu Zhengming’s sudden compliment, but the next instant, Lu Zhengming’s foot slapped his face, and his tone turned sharp.

“Those women you paint… naked, wearing black stockings and lingerie, spreading their legs to embrace desire, none of them give off any sense of real lust. At first, I thought it was because of my sexual orientation, but now I get it.” He kicked Yin Yan lightly. “You’ve never been interested in women. You just use them to hide your secret, Yin Yan.”

“You’re filthy, depraved, disgustingly hypocritical. Even stray dogs mating on the street have more dignity than you.”

This was it.

Yin Yan’s entire body flushed with excitement. This was exactly what he wanted. To have his carefully crafted disguise ripped away, to expose his ugly secret, to be humiliated, tortured, and punished.

Every cutting, soul-crushing insult pierced straight into his most sensitive nerves, blooming into twisted, decadent desire. He couldn’t stop himself from kissing Lu Zhengming’s foot, the very foot that trampled his dignity. He didn’t know how to please it, how to express his submission and devotion.

He looked up at Lu Zhengming’s reddened eyes, stuck out his tongue, and licked the sole of his foot.

“Oh, Yin Yan…”

Lu Zhengming groaned, consumed by the sudden flare of lust.

He yanked Yin Yan up by the arm and slammed him onto the bed. Violent desire surged like a flood, overwhelming every patch of skin it touched. He passionately invited Yin Yan to respond, to use his hands, his lips, to welcome him with the highest honor of intimacy. But the man beneath him was like a pile of cold ashes, incapable of sparking even a flicker of warmth.

“Enough, Lu Zhengming.”

Yin Yan’s voice was as cold as a winter night, freezing the raging flood in midair. Lu Zhengming’s fist slammed into the bed beside Yin Yan’s face, but Yin Yan didn’t even blink.

“Yin Yan, you’re not Bacon, so why are you forcing me to be George Dyer?”

“You could say no.”

Lu Zhengming suddenly felt like the most ridiculous person in the world. He knew there was no way forward, no escape, yet he still refused to give up. He watched helplessly as his reason sank into the swamp of desire and crashed headlong into a dead end.

“I can’t say no.”