Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The two left the shop and entered the adjacent tent. Compared to the bold and explicit nature of the previous store, this one seemed more reserved—though not by much. The first thing that caught their eyes was a plastic mannequin wearing black cat ears on its head. Looking down, there was a thin piece of fabric that barely covered anything, with a tail inserted into the mannequin’s rear.

Shang Xueyan averted his gaze with a blank expression. The products on the nearby wall were much more conventional—various necklaces hung on display racks. Though they weren't quite necklaces, they were layered, some with black leather accents in the middle.

It wasn’t until he saw a display mannequin nearby that Shang Xueyan realized these were back chains.

The back chains on the rack were made of pearls, each one round and full. Shang Xueyan leaned in for a closer look. The pearls weren’t particularly large, but they were translucent and lustrous. A millennium ago, these were seen only by nobility or the wealthy; commoners rarely encountered them. Yet, a millennium later, these were affordable for ordinary people.

Perhaps noticing Shang Xueyan’s prolonged interest in the back chain, a shop assistant with black hair and dark eyes, with Asian features, approached and asked, “Are you Chinese?”

“Yes, I am,” Shang Xueyan replied, pleasantly surprised.

The female shop assistant spoke fluent Chinese, though with an accent that sounded slightly off to Shang Xueyan. “This back chain is 10 percent off. Would you like to buy it for your boyfriend?”

Boyfriend? He was straight—where would he get a boyfriend?

The shop assistant’s gaze drifted to the man standing beside him.

Shang Xueyan quickly explained, “We’re brothers! Brothers!”

The shop assistant apologized in a tone that wasn’t particularly apologetic and continued her sales pitch. “Then would you like to buy it for your brother? It’s very beautiful, and our pearls are all natural, with a warm, smooth texture.”

“We’re not buying,” Shang Xueyan said. Why would he, as a younger brother, buy a provocative back chain for his elder brother?

Wait… maybe it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

He once watched a short drama where the male lead’s friend gifted him a collar to help him win his girlfriend's favor.

In this world, it seemed like gifting such items between friends or brothers wasn’t considered inappropriate.

Suddenly, Shang Xueyan recalled a scene from two hours earlier: his elder brother emerging from the azure sea, droplets of water rolling down his toned back muscles, his well-proportioned physique flexing as he stood up.

His elder brother had a handsome, sturdy build. If he wore a pearl back chain, it would surely be a sight to behold.

Damn, what was he thinking??

He was a man himself—what was there to admire or praise about another man’s body?

“Really not buying? Think about it again. Since you’re so handsome, I’ll give you a 12% discount,” the Asian female shop assistant enthusiastically persisted.

“No,” Shang Xueyan refused without hesitation.

The shop assistant turned her attention to Shang Xianwang. “Then, sir, would you like to buy it? I’ll give you the same discount.”

Shang Xianwang smiled and shook his head.

The shop assistant sighed regretfully.

Shang Xueyan grabbed Shang Xianwang’s arm and quickly left the shop. There wasn’t much else worth seeing, so they decided it was better to play in the water.

In the evening, they had reservations at the island’s famous sunset restaurant. The restaurant faced west, and at dusk, the blazing red sun hung over the seemingly endless ocean. The transparent seawater was dyed a fiery crimson, shimmering with ripples, each wave crowned with a halo of light.

In such a setting, the quality of the food became almost irrelevant. Shang Xueyan wasn’t particularly fond of taking photos, but surrounded by the warm glow of dusk at the sunset restaurant, he gazed at the boundless sea for a moment before pulling out his phone to take several landscape shots.

Suddenly, his finger froze on the shutter button. He glanced around. The renowned sunset restaurant was, of course, packed, but the tables were spaced far enough apart to avoid crowding or noise.

Shang Xueyan scanned the dozen or so tables in the restaurant. Most were occupied by couples—a man and a woman—their intimate behavior making their relationship obvious. After all, this was a famous honeymoon destination. Aside from them, there were groups of girls dining together, as well as families enjoying their meals. But the vast majority were couples or young married pairs.

Shang Xueyan didn’t see any tables with two men sitting together.

Wait—there was one.

His eyes lit up as he spotted a square teak-colored table at the far end of the restaurant, occupied by two young men.

So, it was perfectly normal for him and his elder brother to dine and enjoy the view together as two men.

As he pondered this, at that distant table, a blond man with brown eyes sat down beside a black-haired, blue-eyed man. The dark-haired man pulled out his phone and leaned in close. The blond man tilted his head toward him, slipped an arm around his shoulder, likely to take a selfie. But then, the blond suddenly turned and planted a firm kiss on the other man’s cheek.

The dark-haired man froze in surprise. The blond snatched the phone from his hand and, while taking photos, boldly kissed him on the lips.

Damn, why were there so many homosexuals in this world?

A thousand years ago, this would have been considered a family disgrace, a violation of natural order.

Of course, this had nothing to do with him or his elder brother.

He liked women, and his elder brother liked women too.

“A Yan, didn’t you say you wanted to take a photo together?” Shang Xianwang said.

Shang Xueyan snapped out of his daze, swallowing hard. “Right, I said I wanted a photo with you.”

Sitting on opposite sides of the long table made it difficult to take a picture together, so Shang Xianwang moved to sit beside Shang Xueyan. Shang Xueyan aimed his phone’s camera at the two of them. Shang Xianwang leaned in slightly, his left arm resting around Shang Xueyan’s shoulder.

Wait—wasn’t this exactly how the blond man had held the dark-haired guy earlier?

“A Yan?”

Nervously swallowing again, Shang Xueyan pointed the camera at himself and his elder brother, his heart racing as he pressed the shutter.

“It seems blurry,” Shang Xianwang remarked.

“Blurry?”

“Yeah, a little out of focus,” Shang Xueyan confirmed after checking the photo. The outlines of their faces were somewhat fuzzy.

“Let’s take another one,” Shang Xueyan said.

They took two more photos together, after which Shang Xianwang returned to his seat across the table. Shang Xueyan placed his phone face down on the table.

Surrounded by the sea and the setting sun, Shang Xueyan finished his meal without really tasting the supposedly delicious local dishes. After Shang Xianwang paid the bill, the two headed toward the pier.

The sun had completely set, and the sky had turned a faint ink-blue, with a silver crescent moon hanging in the hazy night sky. Waves gently lapped at the shore, softly retreating each time. Under the dim glow of the streetlights, the coconut trees along the beach cast faint but clear shadows.

Shang Xueyan wasn’t in a hurry to return. He bent down to pick up seashells. A thousand years ago, the capital was hundreds of miles from the sea. Given the limited transportation of that era, he had visited the coast, but it was far from a resort destination, with none of the scenic beauty found here.

The seashells on the island came in all varieties—light pink, blush pink, gradient pink, and shades of white, each with unique shapes.

Shang Xueyan sorted through them, discarding less appealing ones whenever he found prettier shells. Suddenly, a shutter sound came from the side. His elder brother stood not far away, bathed in silvery moonlight, using a camera to take photos of him.

Nearby, the same-sex couple they had seen at the sunset restaurant was also collecting shells on the beach. The tall blond man picked up a few shells, then wiped his hands clean and enthusiastically began taking photos of the dark-haired man with his phone.

Damn, his elder brother taking photos of him was purely out of brotherly affection!

Don’t overthink it.

Hadn’t he noticed? Not far away, a mother was also taking pictures of her son collecting shells.

The two took a yacht back to the hotel. After washing up, Shang Xueyan lay in bed and sent the photos taken today to Shen Mengkun and Wang Xiantao. Unsurprisingly, he received sour, jealous replies.

Shang Xueyan set his phone aside and closed his eyes to sleep.

Half-asleep, he dreamed of swimming in the pool with his elder brother again. His brother rose from the pool, holding onto the silver-gray iron railing. As his upper body came into view, he was actually wearing that eye-catching pearl back chain from the adult toy exhibition. A leather collar encircled his neck, revealing the vertebral prominence at the nape, even more seductive than he had imagined during the day.

Then, the two drew close. His brother called out in a low, husky voice, "A Yan," leaned in, and captured his lips, gently sucking and grinding.

Shang Xueyan's eyes snapped open in the dim light. Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the sea was silent, but his heartbeat thundered in his ears.

Author's Note:

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Thank you for your support, everyone! I plan to enable paid chapters on Wednesday, so tomorrow's update will be after midnight. I'll be posting 100,000 words all at once—yes, 100,000 words!! That should cover about ten to twenty chapters.