SSD Chapter 28. The Boozy Little Raptor

“I think Fanfan said he went to the bathroom, didn’t he?”

In the hallway of the KTV, muffled singing spilled out from the private room. Zhu Xuyao had already taken He Jiang past several restrooms, knocking on each door in turn.

“Now that I think about it, he’s been in there a while. Did that idiot fall in or something?”

Zhu Xuyao knocked on the door of one of the single-occupancy restrooms near another private room. After a few knocks, there was a faint noise from inside.

He knocked again. Suddenly, a cranky voice snapped, “Occupied!”

Zhu Xuyao looked smug and pointed his thumb at the door. “Yup. This one.”

He Jiang found it amusing and was about to say something when Zhu Xuyao beat him to it. “Hey, I’ll go in and check on him. You wait out here.”

The image of three grown men crammed into a single restroom was admittedly bizarre, so He Jiang just nodded. Zhu Xuyao knocked again and called through the gap, “It’s your daddy! Open up. I brought you a fruit platter.”

Things went quiet inside for a few seconds. Then came some shuffling footsteps, growing louder.

Along with a grumbling complaint: “Idiot, I’m in the fucking bathroom. Who brings fruit in here…”

The door cracked open a sliver, revealing half of Xu Fanming’s face. Zhu Xuyao glanced back at He Jiang, then turned to the crack. “What the hell are you doing in someone else’s private room restroom. Planting a bomb?”

“None of your business,” Xu Fanming grumbled, clearly annoyed. “What do you want?”

Just as the gap in the door started to shrink, Zhu Xuyao quickly wedged his palm into it and squeezed half his body inside. “Hey, hold up. Let Daddy in first.”

Xu Fanming flinched in shock, nearly cursing him out for being a pervert. The door quickly shut behind them, and whatever came next was lost to those outside.

He Jiang stood there in a daze for a bit. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that Zhu Xuyao finally walked out of the restroom. His face now wore a completely different expression, one of those unmistakable “I’m so done with life” looks.

He Jiang blinked. “What happened?”

Zhu Xuyao rubbed his temples like he had a migraine. “…Xu Fanming’s drunk.”

Drunk? But before he could react, a foot suddenly shot out from behind Zhu Xuyao and landed squarely on his ass, nearly scaring Zhu’s soul out of him.

“Fuck!” Zhu Xuyao jumped and clutched his ass. “Fanfan, I didn’t even do anything to you!”

Xu Fanming was already too out of it to recognize anyone. Eyes narrowed like he was about to breathe fire, he spat, “If there’s nothing, leave me the fuck alone!” He angrily reached to slam the door shut again.

But He Jiang moved fast. He caught the handle before the door could close. Xu Fanming’s motion stalled, and his face twisted into an even deeper scowl. His eyes were red as he glared and met a pair of familiar ones staring right back at him.

Xu Fanming stood frozen for a moment, his face going slack with confusion, like his mind had gone blank. He seemed to be struggling to recognize something. He Jiang found it amusing and leaned in a little, lowering his voice to tease him. “Fanfan, do you still remember who I am?”

Xu Fanming stared for a second, then his face flushed with rage.

“I don’t remember!” Xu Fanming roared, suddenly bursting with energy. He shoved at the door to slam it shut. “Get lost, get lost, get lost, I don’t fucking know you!”

He Jiang held onto the handle firmly. Watching Xu Fanming resist like this, he really had no idea what to do anymore. Playing carefree pissed him off, taking the game seriously pissed him off too. What the hell was he supposed to do to get this little raptor to chill out and finally stop showing claws?

The two troublemakers were at it again, going head-to-head. Zhu Xuyao stood off to the side, helpless, wondering if things were about to escalate from verbal sparring to full-on brawling. Honestly, with how drunk Xu Fanming was, it wouldn’t be surprising if he did throw hands.

But interfering too much would backfire. The last thing anyone needed was to provoke something worse. Zhu Xuyao suddenly felt like He Jiang was born to be Xu Fanming’s nemesis. Every time he showed up, Xu Fanming flew into a rage. At a time like this, his presence was basically gasoline on a fire.

Still, when gods were fighting, what could mortals do?

Zhu Xuyao had planned to say a few words just for form’s sake, but He Jiang turned his head and spoke first. “Go back inside. I’ll talk to Xu Fanming alone.”

“Talk my ass!” Xu Fanming was still fuming. “Not talking! Fuck off!”

Zhu Xuyao opened his mouth to mediate, but He Jiang beat him to it. He grabbed the handle and yanked the door wide open, stepped into the restroom, and slammed it shut behind him.

Then, with a sharp click, he locked it from the inside.

…Yeah, that was a real man move.

Ahem… well, there wasn’t much else he could do now. Not that he didn’t want to help, but he was locked out. Nothing he could do about it.

And they were all on the same team anyway. What could possibly happen, right?

Zhu Xuyao struggled with himself for a few seconds before deciding to walk away with that flimsy excuse. His conscience still tugged at him a little, though.

But once he got back to the private room, the high-energy music and party atmosphere pulled him right back in. He started downing drinks and playing drinking games with the others. Whatever was going on in the restroom with Xu Fanming had already been thrown to the back of his mind.

Not long after the door shut, Xu Fanming’s face twisted in panic. Realizing he had been tricked, he lunged toward the door, trying to claw past He Jiang while shouting Zhu Xuyao’s name into the hallway.

The way Xu Fanming acted like he was facing down a mortal enemy only made He Jiang’s urge to mess with him grow stronger.

He suddenly realized that no matter how much Xu Fanming cursed and swore, he actually listened to Zhu Xuyao. Relatively speaking, at least.

When would he start being that obedient with him?

After thrashing around for a while, Xu Fanming seemed to tire himself out. He slumped against the sink, staring straight at He Jiang with narrowed eyes. “What do you want?”

Only then did He Jiang notice the chaos around him. The once spotless restroom had been turned into a disaster zone. Empty beer cans and bottles knocked over everywhere, crumpled tissues scattered beside the trash bin, stains on the toilet, and the sink overflowing with foam and dirty water.

Now he understood why Zhu Xuyao had looked so helpless dealing with drunk Xu Fanming.

“How much did you drink?” He Jiang stepped closer, casually reaching out to flush the murky water down the drain. In the process, his foot bumped a can, sending it clattering across the floor.

Xu Fanming turned his face away and muttered, “None of your business.”

He Jiang stared at him for a while, then moved in closer. His voice dropped, and with a raised brow, he asked, “Why’d you open the door for him but not for me?”

Xu Fanming frowned and narrowed his eyes, as if trying to make sense of He Jiang’s question. But his brain was mush by now, all logic gone, so in the end, he just snapped, “You’ve got issues?”

He Jiang sighed. Everyone said Fanfan had a temper, and they weren’t wrong. Even when he was barely conscious from drinking, that instinctive rejection toward him still stuck.

Xu Fanming’s eyes were bloodshot, his body burning hot, and his gaze kept drifting. The moment He Jiang leaned in, the heavy stench of alcohol hit him straight in the face.

If soft didn’t work, then it was time to go hard.

He stepped forward, boxing Xu Fanming in between himself and the sink. Xu Fanming’s eyes went wide, and he tried to push back, but his reactions were lagging half a beat behind. Instead of escaping, he ended up even more tightly pinned by He Jiang.

“One of these days, I’m going to teach you how to speak properly.”

Xu Fanming was completely restrained, unable to move an inch. Only now did panic flicker across his face.

“L-let go of me!”

His expression was all nervous tension. He Jiang could feel the tremble in his body through the layers of clothing. Was he actually scared of him?

He Jiang felt like Xu Fanming was nothing but a paper tiger. He looked fierce, but all it took was a spark to burn him down to ash.

With alcohol in his system, Xu Fanming was like a dragon with its claws ripped out, tied down and pinned to a chopping block. He was still trying to squirm away, nearly scratching He Jiang with one of his wild swings. So He Jiang grabbed him tighter and hoisted him straight up, setting him on the sink counter.

His burning lower back pressed against the cold mirror, making him flinch hard with a sudden jolt. He Jiang brought a finger to his lips.

“Shh. Be good. If someone hears us, you’re not talking your way out of it.”

Goosebumps rose all over Xu Fanming’s body, his face dark with exasperation. The alcohol had flushed his skin red, but that move from He Jiang sobered him up a little.

He couldn’t help thinking that He Jiang’s brain really worked in bizarre ways. No matter what he did, he always seemed to come out on top.

Luckily, Xu Fanming had his back to the mirror and couldn’t see the way they were positioned. One man pinning another against the sink was both ambiguous and absurd.

If the little raptor caught sight of it, he’d definitely explode again.

He Jiang clearly wasn’t done. Sensing it, Xu Fanming’s internal alarm went off. He tensed up, staring warily at him, every muscle on edge.

“Everyone’s out there singing,” He Jiang asked quietly. “What are you doing hiding in here?”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

He Jiang noticed it again. Xu Fanming was really good at deflecting questions with another question. But this time, He Jiang didn’t let it slide. He reached out and pinched the soft flesh at Xu Fanming’s waist, not gently at all.

Xu Fanming was hypersensitive. The moment He Jiang grabbed him, he lost it. He thrashed wildly, nearly dragging He Jiang down with him.

“Fuck! You—” He looked like a dying fish flopping around. But when He Jiang shot him a sharp glare, he instantly shrank back, “Don’t… don’t touch me…”

That look in He Jiang’s eyes made Xu Fanming think of their last game. The more he thought about it, the more it hurt. The more He Jiang stood out, the more he felt like a failure.

He suddenly wanted another drink. Once he was numb again, maybe he could stop overthinking all this.

In truth, Xu Fanming rarely drank. Or rather, he rarely even touched alcohol.

He knew his alcohol tolerance was terrible. So he only drank when he was feeling especially low, when he had no other outlet for his frustration. That was when he would cling to a bottle, trying to drown it all in liquor.

But Xu Fanming was notorious for being a bad drunk. His temper wasn’t great to begin with, and once the alcohol stripped away what little self-control he had, that temper flared without restraint. One wrong word, and it could end in a fistfight. That was why everyone on the team avoided him whenever he was drunk. No one wanted to set him off.

But there were exceptions.

Sometimes, after a few drinks, the little raptor would stop hiding his emotions. After a few swipes of his claws, he would run out of strength and let them drop. What remained was a vulnerable, wounded look.

Just like now.

He Jiang could more or less guess why Xu Fanming was acting this way. After thinking it over, he figured it probably had to do with today’s game. Xu Fanming was likely upset with himself for how he had played.

He didn’t want to accept it, but deep down, he knew he had lost.

While the rest of the team was celebrating in the private room, laughing and shouting, Xu Fanming had slipped off by himself, sitting in a filthy restroom with a bottle in hand. His mind kept replaying scene after scene from the match. Before he realized it, his eyes had turned red.

He Jiang looked at Xu Fanming’s flushed nose and burning face, and said quietly, “You played really well. It’s just… you care too much about the outcome.”

Xu Fanming snapped back immediately, “If the game’s not about winning or losing, then what the hell is it about?”

He Jiang countered, “Didn’t we win?”

Xu Fanming didn’t answer. He just stared at the floor while tears streamed down his face.

Neither of them spoke. He Jiang watched him in silence, and Xu Fanming kept his eyes fixed on the tiles. The air between them hung heavy. Whatever He Jiang had wanted to say earlier faded into a tangle of emotion that showed plainly on his face.

It was a long time before Xu Fanming muttered under his breath, “But I still feel like I was awful…”

His voice was hoarse and choked. His eyes were rimmed red, and his shoulders trembled. He didn’t look anything like the usual Xu Fanming.

He Jiang kept looking at him in silence. His eyes shifted slightly, as if something was turning over in his mind. Then he slowly reached out and used his fingers to gently wipe the tears from the corners of Xu Fanming’s reddened eyes, brushing them from that stubborn face.

“You weren’t awful at all.”