Chapter 77 A Discarded Toy

Chapter 77: The Toy That Was Thrown Away

Guan Junshan held on tight, his grip iron-strong, and Lin Haoda couldn't shake him off the whole way.

The night air carried a hazy floral scent. Tree shadows fell on the ground, and as they passed quickly, faint insect chirps came from a patch of dark grass.

Lin Haoda asked several times where they were going, staggering on weak legs, but Guan Junshan refused to speak, the dark patterns on his suit jacket shifted quietly in the dim moonlight.

They didn't return to the banquet hall. Just as Lin Haoda began to think this path might never end, Guan Junshan finally stopped and pulled him into another building.

Though mostly empty, security guards were still stationed there. As they entered the elevator, Lin Haoda saw Guan Junshan murmur something to a guard, who produced a card from who knows where and handed it to him.

The card had no markings or text. Lin Haoda glanced again, then looked up to meet Guan Junshan’s gaze as he stepped into the elevator car.

This elevator was much smaller than the one in the banquet hall. When Guan Junshan stepped in, Lin Haoda instinctively backed away, his lower back pressing against the handrail. Their eyes met. Guan Junshan stared at him for a moment, then turned and pressed the floor button.

The elevator doors slid shut. As it began to rise, Lin Haoda felt a stronger sense of weightlessness than usual.

Maybe the alcohol had sharpened his sensations. Lin Haoda looked down at his feet and, through the reflective marble floor, saw Guan Junshan standing ahead, hands in his pockets, staring straight ahead, revealing a sharp jawline.

The elevator climbed for a good while. Just as the long ride started to make his mind wander, he was about to check the floor display when a "ding" signaled their arrival.

Guan Junshan said nothing. When the doors slid open, he put out an arm to hold the doors open and turned to look at Lin Haoda. "Get out."

Lin Haoda didn't move. He glanced around, then locked eyes with Guan Junshan. "Where is this?"

He had been so defenseless in front of that stranger just a moment ago, and now he was acting so cautious.

Guan Junshan's face turned colder. Without further explanation, he tugged Lin Haoda's wrist and pulled him out of the elevator.

They were in a long corridor with many doors on both sides. The wallpaper was a pale champagne color, and under the dim light, it felt unreal, like something out of a vintage movie.

Lin Haoda dazedly withdrew his gaze and looked at Guan Junshan standing before a certain door. "Mr. Guan," he said, picking his words carefully, "it's already very late."

"Mm." But Guan Junshan remained unmoved. He didn't look at Lin Haoda, speaking slowly, "You can't go with him."

Lin Haoda was taken aback. He rubbed the cold cuff link between his fingers and asked, "Why?"

He was an adult. He knew what it meant to get drunk, climb into someone else's car, and go home with another guy. Whether he wanted it or not, Guan Junshan had no right to stop him. They were already separated, weren't they?

"That guy has a bad reputation." After a moment's hesitation, Guan Junshan turned his face to look at him. "He won't be responsible for you."

Hearing that from him, Lin Haoda almost laughed. So from Guan Junshan's perspective, Lin Haoda hadn't taken the warning seriously. He was willing and ready to get into that car, and he knew exactly where he'd end up tonight.

Guan Junshan knew his expression might not be pleasant. He stepped closer and lowered his voice to ask, "You're planning to find someone else, aren't you?"

Lin Haoda took a deep breath to calm himself. "Yeah," he said, raising his head to meet Guan Junshan's eyes. "Yes."

Guan Junshan was silent for a long time. Then he called, "Lin Haoda."

He didn't spend much time deliberating before he asked the question: "You want to find someone to hook up with tonight?"

It was a blunt and direct question.

The atmosphere seemed to freeze instantly. The two of them stood face to face under the dim corridor light. The bronze paint on the door handle was peeling in spots. The air carried a faint fragrance. To Lin Haoda, they didn't seem like an ex-couple, but more like a bitter pair caught out due to carelessness.

That was Guan Junshan. He could take a sliver of feeling and act it into a whole show. Someone who didn't know the inside story would mistake it for genuine concern.

And hadn't Lin Haoda fallen for it? He had suffered—really suffered.

So he tried to relax, pursed his lips, and mustered a tipsy smile. "Yeah."

"Anyway, I'm leaving Hong Kong tomorrow."

"Alright." Guan Junshan stood opposite him and nodded, then extended his hand. "Room card."

Lin Haoda looked down to see him offering the card, which was just a plain colored card.

"All the rooms on this floor can be opened with it." Pausing for a few seconds, Guan Junshan added, "I'll also have someone watch the floor downstairs."

Lin Haoda took the room card, hesitant and a little dazed. "Thank you."

"Do you have his number?" Guan Junshan asked softly, seeming considerate and gentlemanly.

Lin Haoda didn't want to prolong the entanglement, so he answered, "Yes." After a moment's thought, he added, "I saved it at the party just now."

"Good," Guan Junshan said. After standing there in silence for a minute, just as Lin Haoda was about to ask him to leave, Guan Junshan said, "Try the card. See if it works."

Lin Haoda clutched one corner of the card, hesitated for a moment, then heard Guan Junshan beside him say, "I still have to go back to the cocktail party."

Guan Junshan raised his wrist to check his watch, showing some impatience, and urged quietly, "Try it."

It was just swiping the card, after all. Lin Haoda turned around, dizzy, grabbed the door handle, and mentally planned to send Guan Junshan away before calling a car to return to his own hotel.

He wondered if the driver who had brought him was still waiting at the entrance. Before getting out of the car, they had agreed on 9:30. Lin Haoda wasn't wearing a watch, but he had seen the clock on the wall when the party started—it was 9:00.

He thought about this as he brought the card close to the sensor area. A "beep" sounded, and the door indeed opened. Lin Haoda pushed it open just a crack and was about to turn to look at Guan Junshan when a large hand suddenly clamped over his fingers on the door handle, and then his waist was gripped from the side.

Guan Junshan's presence instantly sealed off all escape routes. Lin Haoda's back pressed against his chest, and he stammered in panic, "Wait! What are you—"

Before he could finish, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck.

All of Guan Junshan's patience, thoughtfulness, and well-disguised endurance instantly crumbled. His teeth and lips moved from the back of Lin Haoda's neck to behind his ear, and a low, suggestive murmur came from his throat: "Get inside."

Then, with a firm push, he shoved Lin Haoda deep into the foyer.

The door slammed shut with a heavy kick. As the electronic lock clicked, Lin Haoda was completely trapped in the darkness.

The curtains in the room were tightly drawn, letting in no light.

After a moment to react, Lin Haoda groped for the corner of a cabinet. He steadied himself against the edge and slowly turned around.

In the darkness came the rustling sound of Guan Junshan approaching. His shoes were muffled by the thick carpet, making it impossible to tell which direction he was coming from.

"Guan Junshan," Lin Haoda called out hoarsely, his voice laced with unease. "There are so many people waiting for you at the cocktail party. Aren't you going back?"

"Let them wait." Guan Junshan's voice was calm, showing no concern. He seemed to have stopped. "Let's settle matters between us first."

Lin Haoda couldn't figure out what else there was to discuss. He stepped back two more steps, his hand brushing against the coat rack, and pleaded, "It's too dark. Can you turn on the light?"

Guan Junshan bent down and picked up the key card that had fallen on the carpet, then inserted it into the wall slot.

First, the emergency light in the room came on, embedded at the base of the wall near the door, emitting a small, soft glow that illuminated Guan Junshan's trouser legs and shoes. Lin Haoda could finally see where he was. Just as he was about to speak, Guan Junshan raised his hand and flipped several switches.

In the silence, a faint hum of electricity was heard. The largest light above their heads came on, along with the strip lights around the ceiling, which flickered twice before casting a warm glow.

Lin Haoda's face looked unnaturally pale under the light. The flush that had risen from his encounter with the other man had vanished, leaving only his hazy, drunken eyes, moist and dazed, offering Guan Junshan some comfort.

"Mr. Guan," Lin Haoda said, the words coming out in calm, measured tones. "I'm a bit drunk and not thinking clearly. Can we talk some other time?"

"Another day?" Guan Junshan let out a faint smile. He was leaving tomorrow—there wasn't going to be a future.

Once Lin Haoda flew away from Hong Kong, escaping his side for good, he'd be eager to find someone else to fall in love with, to sleep with—just the thought of it made Guan Junshan feel as if someone were clamping his throat, cutting it open, and letting it bleed out.

"Lin Haoda." He stepped forward, closing the distance between them. His voice was low, his words measured. "Let's do it tonight."

"What?"

"Weren't you looking for someone to sleep with?" Guan Junshan smiled at him, raising a hand to unbutton his suit jacket. "Since it could be anyone, why not me?"

Lin Haoda backed up two steps, palm pressing against the wall beside the coat rack, as if he'd startled him. He let out a short breath through parted lips, his voice trembling: "Are you... out of your mind?"

Guan Junshan's fingers paused briefly, the smile fading from his lips as he asked, though he already knew the answer, "You don't want to?"

Nobody would sleep with their ex-boyfriend, especially when Guan Junshan was about to get married.

Lin Haoda's heart felt as if a piece had been scooped out. He looked up at him, shocked, and even more so, felt a sense of absurdity and humiliation.

Did Guan Junshan really think he was that cheap? Their beginning hadn't been official, and now the end had to be hasty and sloppy, reduced to being toyed with and ridiculed?

He lowered his head, rubbed his eyes twice, then slowly lifted his head again, glancing at the door behind Guan Junshan. Instead of retreating further, he turned and walked toward it.

As he passed Guan Junshan, Lin Haoda was easily stopped. Guan Junshan gripped his arm, glancing around, silent for a few seconds, then pressed on: "You're still going to him?"

Lin Haoda pressed his lips tightly together, his eyes reddening slightly in the dim light.

Lin Haoda should hate him. After all, their breakup hadn't been clean.

But was he really this eager to let him go? Or had he always been just dispensable to him?

Guan Junshan felt a sudden cold despair, thinking of all the efforts he had made over the past month, thinking of Wu Manzhen still in her hospital bed. In the end, it was his fear of keeping Lin Haoda waiting any longer that had made him decide to let go for now.

Even if Lin Haoda knew nothing about any of it, couldn't he at least hold on a little longer, say something to placate him, show a bit more reluctance, a bit more unwillingness to let go? That would at least make Guan Junshan hate his own incompetence and failure a little less.

But in reality, Lin Haoda just stood there, his expression cold.

His pretty lips had regained a bit of color. After a brief silence, he stopped struggling.

Seeing Lin Haoda move his lips as if to speak, a flicker of hope arose in Guan Junshan's eyes.

But when he heard his voice, that illusion, along with all his expectations, shattered completely.

—Because Lin Haoda suddenly brought up "regret." Under the dim light, he heard him ask, in a voice almost devoid of emotion, "Do you know what I regret the most?"

Guan Junshan stared at his profile for a while, saying nothing.

"Agreeing to give it a try with you, agreeing to be together." Lin Haoda paused, shifting his eyes slightly. "Guan Yongyue was right to warn me—people like you and me, we were never going to work out."

"So just take it as a fling, CEO Guan."

His voice was very soft, and Guan Junshan seemed to momentarily become the victim, as if he needed calm reassurance: "Would you worry about a discarded toy, whether it ends up in the trash or at a second-hand store?"

Guan Junshan looked away, his eyelids drooping slightly. He was silent for a long time.

Just as Lin Haoda pulled his arm free, thinking he wouldn't react further, Guan Junshan suddenly turned around slowly, pressed a hand on his shoulder, and shoved him against the door.

Before Lin Haoda could react, the next second, Guan Junshan pressed his lips to his. He kissed hard, skillfully using his tongue to wet Lin Haoda's lips apart.

Even though Lin Haoda didn't struggle or respond, his breathing still involuntarily turned intimate and heated. It all came to a halt when Guan Junshan forced open his teeth. Lin Haoda pushed him away fiercely, so hard that he left three fingernail marks on Guan Junshan's cheek.

Their heavy breaths overlapped. Guan Junshan opened his eyes, his gaze dark and his voice hoarse: "Even a discarded toy understands gratitude."

He looked down at Lin Haoda's lips, wet from the kiss, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly. "Lin Haoda, I've helped you so many times..."

"This kiss is just a token of thanks for my kindness."