Upon waking, Bai Hao was greeted by a lethargic heaviness in his head and a blurriness in his vision. He raised a hand to massage his temples, attempting to dispel the lingering fog of slumber. As his senses gradually sharpened, he cast a wary glance around the room, only to find himself in a completely unfamiliar environment.
"A hotel?" he wondered silently. He lay upon a spacious bed, and the room's furnishings, with their austere uniformity, along with the stark white linens, strongly suggested a commercial lodging, albeit one far more luxurious than any he had encountered on the mineral planet S3.
A faint, rueful smile touched his lips as the final fragments of memory surfaced. He recalled being at the River View Pavilion with He Zhong and the others... the baijiu... and then, after merely a few glasses, everything had gone black. "Well, this is thoroughly mortifying," he muttered to himself, the humiliation washing over him anew.
The sound of running water abruptly pierced the silence. Startled, Bai Hao turned his head towards the shower enclosure. Two of its walls were solid, while the other two were fashioned from frosted glass, offering little more than a blurred silhouette from the outside. However, a clear strip near the floor, combined with the general shape of the shadow, allowed him to discern the bather was a woman.
"A dream?" A mixture of alarm and confusion stirred within him.
This initial shock was swiftly eclipsed by a far more disconcerting discovery: beneath the sheets, he was utterly naked. A soft gasp escaped him as a wave of panic surged. "Did I... did I do something reckless in my drunken state? Could I have... squandered my first time? What a grotesque twist of fate..." His mind raced with dreadful, disjointed possibilities.
The sudden cessation of the water interrupted his spiraling thoughts. A familiar, melodious voice called from the shower, "Bai Hao, are you awake?"
It was Zhao Lu. The recognition sent a fresh jolt through him.
"Bai Hao, was that you?" she inquired again, a note of gentle concern in her tone.
Bai Hao managed a weak, dispirited reply, "Yes, it's me." He sank back against the pillows, a profound sense of helplessness enveloping him.
He heard a soft sigh of relief from behind the glass. "I'm just finishing my shower. Wait for me, don't be impatient," Zhao Lu responded, then added, almost as an afterthought, "That sounded rather ambiguous, didn't it?" In truth, nothing had transpired between them. At the restaurant, Bai Hao had collapsed against her after those few drinks, out cold before any mischief could even be contemplated. He Zhong had subsequently asked her to look after him, and the man had slept soundly for over ten hours. Now, in the deep night, she had merely intended to freshen up before catching some sleep herself.
Bai Hao, however, absorbed in his private torment, remained silent. He felt like a wilted plant, his mind a maelstrom of disquiet. The thought that his cherished first experience might have been lost in a drunken blur—an experience he couldn't even recall—felt like a profound injustice, a bitter irony that stung deeply.
Several minutes later, Zhao Lu emerged, draped in a white bath towel. Her tall figure, accentuated by long, slender legs and the subtle reveal of her décolletage, was undeniably alluring. Yet, Bai Hao found no appreciation for it in his current state. His mind was fixated on his perceived loss, a wave of self-reproach washing over him for succumbing to the peer pressure of drinking.
"Something wrong? You look like you've bitten into a bitter gourd," Zhao Lu remarked, settling at the foot of the bed and casually attending to her damp hair.
Bai Hao stammered, avoiding her gaze, "We... did we...?"
Zhao Lu feigned a frown, her voice laced with playful reproach. "What? Don't tell me you plan to deny what happened? Hmph, men are all the same."
Her words struck Bai Hao with the force of a final verdict. Any lingering hope shattered. "I've truly lost it!" he screamed internally. A cold dread seeped into his bones. In his mind, hewas the aggrieved party; that first, idealized experience had been stolen from him, transformed from a beautiful fairy tale into a sordid anecdote. He unconsciously categorized Zhao Lu as a woman of the world, for whom such matters held little consequence.
After a long, heavy silence, Bai Hao finally sighed. "Where are my clothes?"
"It's almost one in the morning," Zhao Lu replied without turning around. "Why get dressed? Just go back to sleep."
"I don't particularly fancy sleeping in the nude," he retorted, glancing at the sliver of night visible through the curtains.
"Your clothes are with the valet for cleaning. They probably won't be back until morning. You could always wear mine," she suggested, a hint of amusement in her voice.
Bai Hao winced and shook his head vigorously. "I'll stick with sleeping naked, thanks."
Zhao Lu chuckled softly, moved to the head of the bed, and began drying her hair with a hairdryer. The mechanical drone seemed to amplify the fragmentation of Bai Hao's already fragile composure. He felt utterly exposed and vulnerable.
After a few minutes, Zhao Lu set the dryer aside. Seeing Bai Hao's utterly dejected expression, a genuine flicker of annoyance crossed her features. Even if something hadhappened, did she really warrant such a tragic reaction? She was still an attractive woman, after all.
She swung her legs onto the bed, pulling a portion of the duvet over herself. "Well?" she pressed, a challenge in her voice. "Don't you think you owe me an explanation?"
The sudden tug caught Bai Hao completely off guard, yanking the covers away and leaving him fully exposed. He let out a startled cry, hastily covering himself, his face flushing crimson with acute embarrassment.
Zhao Lu let out a light laugh. "Why so shy? It's not like I haven't seen it already. Frankly, it was rather... unimpressive. Like a little toothpick. I wouldn't bother looking twice."
The insult, however playful, struck a deep chord of wounded pride. A surge of indignation momentarily overpowered his despair. He sat up straighter, his gaze intensifying as he fixed it on Zhao Lu. "Are you absolutely certain something happened between us?" he asked, his voice low and serious.
Zhao Lu hesitated, sensing the shift in his demeanor. She had intended to continue the charade, but something in his eyes gave her pause. Still, she nodded, emitting a soft, affirming hum.
This time, instead of retreating into misery, Bai Hao's expression transformed. A predatory glint flickered in his eyes, a raw, unrestrained hunger that had been absent before. He studied Zhao Lu with a newfound audacity.
Zhao Lu immediately detected the dangerous change. A thread of genuine apprehension wove through her. "What are you doing?" she asked, her voice tightening.
Bai Hao swallowed hard. If the deed was indeed done, what was the point of modesty now? Her "toothpick" remark had ignited a spark of defiance. If he had blindly stumbled through losing his virginity, shouldn't he at least discover what the "fuss" was about? The thought of the bald "Little Lord" mocking him for his ignorance was unbearable. Furthermore, if they had already crossed that line once, what harm was there in crossing it again, this time with conscious awareness? He needed to reclaim some semblance of agency, to prove—if only to himself—that he was no "toothpick man."
Seeing the burgeoning fire in his eyes, Zhao Lu's playful courage evaporated, replaced by genuine alarm. This game had gone too far. She opened her mouth to confess the truth, to explain it was all a jest born of curiosity about He Zhong's interest in him.
But Bai Hao was faster. With a sudden, almost feral intensity, he threw aside the covers she held, his body pinning hers to the mattress with surprising force. Despite his inexperience, a primal instinct took over, fueled by frustration and a desperate need to rewrite the narrative of the night. The feel of her trembling form beneath him only served to heighten his fervor. With one swift motion, he tore away the bath towel.
Zhao Lu let out a sharp gasp. Beneath the towel, she still wore her undergarments, but the aggression of his action terrified her. She pushed against his chest frantically, her voice rising in panic. "Bai Hao, stop! Nothing happened! I swear! He Zhong just asked me to look after you! You've been asleep the entire time!"