Chapter 7
Su Jin realized that she had been imprisoned.
Amidst the rustling sounds, he frowned and looked at himself. Thin chains were welded to the silver handcuffs; they weren't thick, but they were certainly not something a human could break.
He rubbed his temples, and a white veil beside him was blown up, vaguely obscuring the figure of the man sitting by the window.
The aroma of broom and absinthe wafts through the air.
A book sat on Sheng Baiyan's lap, its black cover printed with German characters in gold lettering, the pages occasionally turning in the wind.
The man, wearing silver-rimmed glasses, rested his chin on his right hand, gazing down at the pages of the book with the eyes lowered as if he were a sculpture.
Su Jin recognized the book.
Schopenhauer's "Will and Morality".
"Human beings are the embodiment of desires and needs through and through."
A philosophical giant from over a century ago made a definitive statement, revealing the essence of human nature.
Therefore, Su Jin thought that the immense pain she felt when facing Sheng Baiyan probably came from the futility of fighting against her instincts.
But if even that is futile, what will be left of his meager self-esteem?
"Sheng Baiyan."
His voice was somewhat hoarse, and there was a metallic taste of blood in his mouth.
"Let me go."
Sheng Baiyan raised his eyes and smiled gently.
He picked up the bone china teacup on the table and sat down next to Su Jin. The light was pulled by the satin sheets, and the light around them collapsed.
"This tea is very good." The man handed the tea over. "Try it."
"Let me go now, and I'll pretend nothing happened."
Su Jin frowned and held up the iron chain in her hand to Sheng Baiyan.
"Sheng Baiyan, you know I'm getting engaged soon."
As if in response to Su Jin's statement, his phone, which was placed on the table by the window, suddenly rang, and the word "husband" flashed on it.
Su Jin wanted to get out of bed to get it, but Sheng Baiyan got there first, grabbed the phone, and turned it off.
"Give it back to me!"
Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone Su Jin, who has never been known for his good temper. He stood on tiptoe to grab it, but the man threw the phone onto the sofa behind him.
Su Jin was in a hurry to grab his phone. As he ran to the sofa, the chain suddenly tugged at his heel, causing him to sway and fall into the man's arms.
As he was being tightly gripped like a python, Su Jin looked up abruptly. He wanted to ask Sheng Baiyan if he was crazy, but he met the other's cold eyes.
Sheng Baiyan's smile vanished completely.
The light blurred the color of his pupils, like the empty glass shell shed by a dead cicada.
Almost instantly, Su Jin was lifted up by the waist and then slammed onto the bed.
Before he could speak, he was kissed fiercely, the smell of blood spreading from his lips.
A dangerous and scorching aura, as hot as flames.
Su Jin never imagined he would do such a thing.
A string in my mind went blank for a moment, then snapped.
But as soon as he got off the ground, he felt the man's arm suddenly grab his waist tightly, and then he felt a dizzying sensation as if he were weightless.
He was then slammed into the mattress.
"Don't make me hate you."
Su Jin was out of breath.
Deep in his heart, some cherished memories still bloom, struggling to blossom within his amber-like, impenetrable heart.
Sheng Baiyan paused briefly.
His pupils resembled those of a black snake with a serpent's tail, the edges tinged with a pale blood-red hue. "How wonderful, you've tasted this flavor now."
Su Jin was stunned for a moment. He may not have expected to be loved, but the fact that his beloved only wanted to torment him still stung him.
The moment Sheng Baiyan pinned her down, the chain on her hand wrapped around the man's neck.
"Don't touch me."
A drop of water slid down her lips, salty and bitter. Su Jin's vision blurred.
"Sheng Baiyan!"
Just then, Su Jin's phone started ringing incessantly.
Sheng Baiyan's face was half-hidden in shadow, looking sinister and cold.
He picked up Su Jin, took the phone from the sofa, and looked at the flashing word "husband" on the screen with a cold voice.
"Since he's so worried about you," he lowered his voice and placed the phone in front of Su Jin, "I'll answer it and let him hear how you are..."
"Sheng Baiyan!"
Su Jin was trembling with anger, but the man answered the phone, and Ying Chengyu's voice came from the other end.
"Ah Jin!" The other person seemed very worried. "Where did you go?"
"I, I'm fine." Su Jin tried her best to keep her voice steady, her voice hoarse.
"But your voice is so hoarse, are you really okay?"
"Hmm!"
Su Jin burst into tears.
"It's...nothing." With almost all her remaining strength, Su Jin managed to utter a few words, "I have something to do, I'll hang up now."
After saying that, he hung up the call and threw his phone under the bed.
"Sheng Baiyan!"
Su Jin felt the water droplets soaking her temples. "Don't continue, or I'll kill you!"
Sheng Baiyan smiled, revealing bright red bruises on his pale neck, and his chest heaved more rapidly.
"Weren't you going to kidnap me?"
The man's lips brushed against Su Jin's ear, his voice sharp and thorny, as he touched Su Jin's hands, which were bound to his by chains.
"bring it on."
Even as Su Jin gritted his teeth and tightened the chains, bruises appeared on his pale neck.
"Are you crazy?!" Seeing Sheng Baiyan's face flushed red and his breathing rapid, Su Jin finally burst into tears. "What are you doing?!"
Sheng Baiyan just stared at him, his eyes unfathomable, like a difficult and obscure classic text.
But when his fingertips touched a patch of uneven scars, he suddenly let go.
It is a scar from a line injury healing.
On Sheng Baiyan's beautifully curved neck, there were intricate knife marks, and at a glance, one could see the bloody mess of the past.
Suddenly, the image of Sheng Baiyan, wearing a scarf and with a pale face, became clear in my memory.
His heart sank, a dull ache like cracking ice. "Why did I get hurt?"
The chains loosened, and fingertips caressed them.
Sheng Baiyan looked at Su Jin quietly.
The flowing light, like the fading scales of a snake, reflected the withered silver-gray of his hair.
He said, "For someone who hates himself so much that he wants to fake his death to escape."
"How should someone like that be punished?"
"You can't go anywhere."
At the end of the storm, Sheng Baiyan stood with his long eyelashes lowered, his face calm, but his pupils seemed to be burning with fire.
"I can only be disciplined by you again and again."
Su Jin's fingertips twitched slightly.
But he was too exhausted and eventually fell asleep.
——
When Su Jin woke up, it was already dawn the next day.
His whole body ached as if it had been torn apart, but his skin was smooth, clearly indicating that someone had cleaned and changed his clothes.
The chains were removed, and the bruises on his wrists were treated with medicine, giving off a spicy minty aroma.
Su Jin stood up, limped, picked up the note on the table, and frowned as she read the words.
Sheng Baiyan said he had asked the company for a few days off on his behalf, and that he had already used his connections to find a bank to lend him the money soon to address the cash flow problem.
The computer is equipped with remote desktop, which allows access to Su Jin's own company's system, enabling electronic signatures and seals for emergency situations.
The chains were gone, but only Sheng Baiyan could open the combination lock at the door and the security system in the outer room, so he could rest at home without worry.
Besides that, Su Jin can go anywhere, and all the doors to the rooms have his facial recognition access enabled.
After finishing all the tasks that could be done on the computer, it was only noon.
Su Jin was bored out of his mind. His phone had been taken away. Although he was angry that Sheng Baiyan was restricting his freedom, he had nowhere to vent his anger.
So he started wandering around Sheng Baiyan's villa.
This is a room filled with a minimalist, high-tech feel, with silver-gray walls all around.
It resembles a hermit's snow cave.
The rooms upstairs were filled with a large number of books.
Su Jin glanced at the books written by Heidegger and Borges; the hardcover and paperback editions filled an entire wall.
He wanted to buy many of them, but missed out because he was too busy.
When he went to another room, he found that his face could not be scanned.
Didn't they say he could go into any of the upstairs rooms?
Su Jin glanced at the combination lock panel, randomly entered her birthday in reverse order, and it opened.
The difficulty level is far too low.
He opened it and went inside. The first thing he saw was the book he had once given to Sheng Baiyan—sealed in a glass case, as if it contained some rare treasure.
Su Jin looked around again and realized that it was a home theater.
It features state-of-the-art surround sound, a large screen embedded in the wall, and a VR headset.
Out of curiosity, Su Jin sat on the sofa, pressed the button, and put the VR headset on her head.
My vision blurred slightly, and suddenly a familiar scene appeared before my eyes.
The sunset glow, like vibrant heather, stretched wildly across the distant sky.
He opened his eyes, only to see the scene from that distant afternoon when he first met Sheng Baiyan.
This time, however, the perspective is that of Sheng Baiyan.
Su Jin saw herself from that time again, wearing a mask, only revealing a pair of ambitious eyes.
Black with sharp, angular edges.
His heart pounded wildly—Su Jin thought he was always reserved, so how could he have such expressive eyes?
As if recalling a memory, Sheng Baiyan praised his eyes.
What followed were all sweet scenes. In Sheng Baiyan's arms, she changed her usual cold expression and became like a tamed cat.
The pupil resembles a deposited gemstone, awaiting someone to mine it.
The skin beneath the black shirt was like boiling milk; just getting close felt like being splashed with its heat.
Su Jin felt a little embarrassed—to be honest, he never intended to seduce Sheng Baiyan, but his eyes couldn't hide any emotion.
He was somewhat afraid to look at himself, but the scene changed rapidly, and finally the day their relationship broke down arrived.
Sheng Baiyan witnessed a doctor at the hospital asking Ying Chengyu, "You need to take care of your Omega."
The innocent Alpha took him home, and Sheng Baiyan followed him all the way.
There seemed to be a thunderstorm outside. Sheng Baiyan, holding an umbrella, saw Ying Chengyu escorting him home.
The secretary beside him said weakly, "President Sheng, according to the information, the person next to you is not Su Yiran, but a stand-in hired by the Su family."
"His name is Su Jin, and he's been lying to you all along."
Su Jin's heart suddenly clenched—it turned out that Sheng Baiyan had misunderstood, and that he believed she had been lying to him all along.
He didn't want to recall what happened next—the first time Sheng Baiyan had spoken ill of him.
The pain struck again, but this time Sheng Baiyan did not leave. Instead, he held him in his arms, his voice anxious.
“I know, I know you’ve been lying to me all along.” The man’s voice was full of pain. “I can’t accept it, but as long as you agree, we can continue.”
Unlike in the memory, Su Jin in VR refused and left hastily once again.
Su Yiran approached Sheng Baiyan and said, "My father knows you've fallen for Su Jin. You and I have to put on an act, or he and his sister will be in danger."
“We’ll pretend to be engaged. Once I join the board of directors, I will break off the engagement.”
Sheng Baiyan agreed.
At the same time, he also took the initiative to get a bone marrow transplant for his sister—and it was successful.
Su Jin felt as if his heart was being gripped tightly—he covered his lips, his whole body trembling.
The engagement was fake; it was Sheng Baiyan who saved her sister.
How could this be?
The next scene shows Sheng Baiyan locked up with his father and Su Yiran, then slashing his own body with a knife, pushing Su Yiran away, jumping from the second floor and frantically searching for himself.
So that's how that wound came about.
The man rushed in, but through the door, he heard himself saying he loved someone else.
It felt as if poisonous insects were gnawing at it, leaving it riddled with holes inside; even breathing was painful for Su Jin.
No —
He didn't want to leave either.
He covered his ears, not daring to hear those words from Sheng Baiyan's perspective.
Unexpectedly, this time, Sheng Baiyan did not say those words.
"Ah Jin," his voice was broken and distraught, "I love you."
"Please don't love anyone else. I'll do anything as long as you don't leave."
Ying Chengyu silently exited the VR world, and finally shed tears, throwing herself into Sheng Baiyan's arms.
"Don't go." Sheng Baiyan hugged Su Jin from the virtual world. "I had a terrible dream. I said some terrible things to you. The plane you were on crashed when you left."
“I went to the crash site and dug into the mud with my hands. Even if I dug until my fingernails were worn down, I couldn’t find anything about you.”
“And so I aged overnight.” Sheng Baiyan said, his eyes closed and his brow furrowed. “My hair turned white like an old man’s, and I became horribly ugly.”
"I also fell ill, experiencing unusual pain throughout my body. Only the fragrance of white plum blossoms could provide slight relief, but it would also exacerbate my headaches."
"If I become like this, you'll definitely despise me even more, and you won't even want to enter my dreams."
"Su Jin, it was all my fault." He embraced the illusory Su Jin, his voice murmuring, "As long as you come back, I'll give anything."
Just then, a warning appeared: "Excessive virtual therapy time may cause cognitive disorder. Please remove the VR headset."
"Warning: Prolonged virtual therapy sessions may cause cognitive impairment. Please remove the VR headset."
All the memories in my mind, like dominoes, collapsed one by one.
Su Jin couldn't believe it, yet she was absolutely convinced.
It turns out that Sheng Baiyan has always loved him.
Just like himself.
Burning across the barren, flaming wasteland
He wiped his face and realized that he was already in tears.
It turns out that he was not the only one whose heart was in Avici Hell, suffering the torment of the flames of calamity every day.
"You saw everything?"
Suddenly someone approached.
Su Jin turned her head and saw Sheng Baiyan.
Like a somber portrait entangled in spiderwebs in an ancient castle, Sheng Baiyan's pale face had extremely dark pupils.
He pursed his lips, his hands gripping the table, veins bulging.
“Yes, I saw it all.” Su Jin walked up to him, looked him up and stared directly in the eye. “So I have something to tell you.”
"I don't want to know." Sheng Baiyan abruptly turned his face away, his right knuckles turning white from the force. "No matter what you think, I won't let you go..."
"I love you."
Su Jin's voice was very soft, like a pilgrim who had finally witnessed a miracle, each word spoken with utmost sincerity, "Sheng Baiyan, I have always loved you."
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