…Locked?
Yan Xun stared blankly for a long while before confirming that the absurd situation wasn’t a dream.
The floor of the room was covered with a luxuriously patterned woolen carpet, and the retro wardrobe continuously emitted heat, making the entire space very warm.
But Yan Xun felt that this warmth was almost suffocating him.
At this moment, his hands were restrained, connected to cold chains that extended upward and were fixed to the headboard. His ankles were similarly bound.
This severely limited Yan Xun’s movement; he could only barely prop himself up a little with his elbows.
“Chu…”
Alcohol and prolonged sleep had rendered the young man’s voice hoarse, almost lost. It was only after a moment that Yan Xun heard his own voice.
“Chu Tingyun, you…”
“Awake?”
The man responded but did nothing else. He sat by the window not far away, casually tapping his cigarette, shaking off some ash, his legs crossed in a lazy, relaxed posture.
Under the dim light, those once beautiful blue eyes were clouded with a dark shadow, leisurely watching the person on the bed with an air of amusement.
The soft, silky silk quilt had slipped off the young man’s upper body, revealing his attractive, well-toned chest and abdomen. The quilt was messily piled on his lower abdomen, with a slight bulge in the middle.
Yan Xun sensed the scorching gaze from the other person, a gaze so brazen and laced with malicious intent that he finally realized he had once again been stripped by Chu Tingyun.
This time, it wasn’t just his shirt—he had been completely, literally stripped.
“Chu Tingyun! You scoundrel!”
Yan Xun was instantly furious, yanking at the chains with a loud clatter.
“You brought me here just to… just to…”
“Just to strip you naked and chain you to the bed.”
Chu Tingyun kindly completed the sentence for him.
From the day Chu Tingyun had met Yan Xun, the other had always carried an air of aloofness and pride. His words and actions were always polite, precise, and proper. He was the epitome of the “humble noble child,” molded by mainstream societal values.
Chu Tingyun had long understood that Yan Xun was someone with a strong sense of morality and shame. So, of course, he wanted to strip this person, exposing him in his most embarrassed, most humiliating state.
At this moment, Yan Xun was exactly that. He clutched the quilt beneath him tightly, his ears red as blood, his whole body tense, and even his skin starting to flush with heat.
Yan Xun refused to speak to Chu Tingyun any further and instead tried to pull at the chain, restraining him. The chain wasn’t thick, appearing to be made of iron, with a layer of gold powder plated over it. It looked more like an intricate and luxurious decoration.
But no matter how much Yan Xun struggled, he couldn’t break free.
“Don’t waste your energy.”
Chu Tingyun took a drag of his cigarette, his tone seemingly cheerful.
“This was custom-made in China, brought here just for you.”
“…”
Yan Xun froze. China?
He paused for a moment, looking at Chu Tingyun with a new expression, his voice somewhat shaky.
“Chu Tingyun, you… planned all of this before you even came to Sochi?”
“Something like that.”
The man leisurely admired Yan Xun’s embarrassed and shocked expression, slowly explaining,
“To be precise, the moment I discovered you had eloped with Jiang Jingshu and chose Sochi, I decided.”
“Chu Tingyun, do you even realize what you’re doing?!”
This behavior had crossed Yan Xun’s bottom line. If he weren’t chained, he would have wanted to punch this man to the ground right now.
“Of course. Before I came, on the way here, even up until the second you woke up, I was replaying this plan over and over in my head.”
Chu Tingyun extinguished his cigarette and walked over to Yan Xun, grabbing the young man’s chin, forcing him to look up.
“Yan Xun, I thought after all this time, you would have learned a bit about who I am.”
Chu Tingyun had always been someone deeply emotional—simply put, he either loved someone to life or hated them to death.
Yan Xun stared coldly at him, finally gritting out two words through clenched teeth.
“Lunatic.”
“…”
This response made Chu Tingyun pause, and then he laughed.
Back then, Jiang Shenghai was the same. Even though he was the one who had cheated, he had called his mother a madwoman.
Later, she truly went mad.
Manic depression and late-stage breast cancer—her body and mind both failed. Even after a mastectomy, she ultimately died painfully and helplessly.
“Haha…”
Chu Tingyun laughed for a long time, even to the point of tears, but the next moment, he suddenly stopped laughing, his expression turning icy cold.
“Shh—”
“Don’t call me that, Yan Xun. Be careful, it might just come true.”
He was gripping Yan Xun’s chin so tightly that it left red marks. This made Yan Xun furrow his brows slightly, a hint of pain showing on his face.
Except for when he was first brought into the Lin family as a child, Yan Xun had never been so restrained and humiliated by anyone. He was both shocked and furious, but it was clear Chu Tingyun’s harsh words weren’t finished yet.
The man even leaned closer to his ear, whispering the most terrifying threat Yan Xun could imagine.
“If you really drive me mad, I’ll lock you up here for the rest of your life.”
Chu Tingyun’s tone was gentle, and if not for the content, it would’ve sounded like the most intimate whisper between lovers.
But in that instant, Yan Xun felt a chilling fear, because that threat was something he could never accept.
In this moment, for the first time, he had a strong, urgent desire to escape from Chu Tingyun.
Even when they had broken up, Yan Xun had only felt that they were incompatible—simply incompatible in terms of values, family backgrounds, and personalities.
But now, he felt he had to escape this person.
He couldn’t be deceived and taken away again.
No one spoke at this point, and the room fell into a deep silence, as if the air itself had frozen.
It was a long time before Yan Xun slowly spoke:
“Chu Tingyun, what exactly do you want? To humiliate me like this? To take revenge?”
“…”
Chu Tingyun said nothing but released his grip.
He stood by the bed, looking down at Yan Xun from a position of control.
The other’s current state was truly pathetic—great humiliation and anger had reddened the young man’s eyes.
When Chu Tingyun first learned of Yan Xun and Jiang Jingshu’s elopement, his mind was filled with the idea of locking this person up, humiliating him, and taking revenge. But now that it had come to fruition, Chu Tingyun didn’t feel the satisfaction or joy he had expected.
He actually felt worse.
Yan Xun, now much clearer-headed, understood that he couldn’t provoke Chu Tingyun any further. So, suppressing his anger, he forcibly softened his tone in an attempt to communicate:
“Yes, Chu Tingyun, I hurt you, and I’ll apologize for that. I’ll compensate you with money, or something else. Isn’t there a way to resolve this without such extreme measures…”
“No!”
Chu Tingyun suddenly snapped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
“Who wants your flimsy apologies? Besides, how much money do you even have now, Yan Xun?”
He sneered, lightly tapping Yan Xun’s face.
“Even if you gave me everything, it wouldn’t be enough to buy me a car.”
The gesture wasn’t quite a slap, but its insulting nature hurt more than a dozen slaps could.
Yan Xun trembled with rage, unable to hold back any longer.
“Chu Tingyun, you’re completely… irrational! How did I not see before that you’re such a twisted, extreme person!”
“Yeah, I am. I’ve always been like this. Congratulations, Yan Xun, for finally seeing my true colors.”
Chu Tingyun just smiled.
“So, how do you feel? Do you regret it now? That on New Year’s Eve, you didn’t just let me die of illness in bed. If you had, you’d probably be living happily ever after with Jiang Jingshu by now.”
“…”
It was the first time Yan Xun had seen someone so shamelessly ungrateful. He simply couldn’t understand Chu Tingyun’s twisted, bizarre motives. But now Chu Tingyun was clearly too emotional to reason with.
“If you were so hung up on her, why the hell did you sleep with me? Why did you come after me?”
“…Chu Tingyun, get this straight—it was you who came after me first. It was you who wouldn’t let go of me, wasn’t it?”
Yan Xun, now emotional as well, his eyes red, questioned:
“You’ve always been a staunch opponent of marriage, yet you lied to me, saying you dated to marry.”
“You don’t even like me. You just found me novel, found it frustrating that I always challenged you, and, because I was the boyfriend of your senior, out of conquest and revenge, you schemed to get me. Isn’t that right?”
“So what right do you have to act like the betrayed one, to stand on the moral high ground and accuse me, to hurt me?!”
“…”
Chu Tingyun froze abruptly.
Yan Xun’s words carried no intent to humiliate, but each one felt like a needle, sharp and piercing.
Because aside from seeking revenge on Jiang Jingshu, those words, those thoughts, were things Chu Tingyun had once actually entertained. He was indeed a staunch non-believer in marriage, and his initial entanglement with Yan Xun was purely out of lust and a desire for conquest.
So, after a few words, the man who appeared to control everything became the one on trial.
But Chu Tingyun asked himself honestly—did he really not like Yan Xun at all?
No, definitely not.
Of course, he liked this person, liked him intensely. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have immediately sent Jiang Jingshu back to her country and racked his brain to come up with such a crazy and twisted scheme to keep Yan Xun.
But now, facing those eyes full of hatred, anger, and defiance, Chu Tingyun found himself unable to utter a single word. Because the other person had long since discovered his most shameful thoughts and had mercilessly exposed them.
Chu Tingyun was at a loss for words, vaguely realizing that he had probably messed up something and might have lost something very important.
“…Yeah, I don’t have the right.”
He let out a self-deprecating laugh.
“Yan Xun, just think of me as a madman.”
After saying that, he turned and strode out of the room.
Yan Xun didn’t know that Chu Tingyun’s departure was an escape; he thought the other was simply refusing to communicate and was using this as a way to make him suffer.
He was furious, yet unable to move, so he could only curse at the man’s retreating figure with bitterness:
“Chu Tingyun, you bastard!”
“…”
And then, the two of them entered a week-long cold war.
Chu Tingyun no longer left Yan Xun naked, instead dressing him in a robe.
Every day, Chu Tingyun cooked for Yan Xun—three meals a day, without fail. But it was mostly oatmeal, milk, processed meats, and sauces, with very few vegetables.
For someone with a Chinese palate like Yan Xun, the food was hardly appetizing. Later, Chu Tingyun did try his hand at stir-frying, but the taste turned out worse than the oatmeal, and he even managed to burn himself.
Yan Xun mercilessly mocked him:
“Chu Tingyun, one of these days your cooking is going to poison me.”
Though he said that, he still ate every meal and made sure to eat his fill to maintain his strength.
When it came time to use the bathroom or take a shower, Chu Tingyun would cuff his hands behind him and follow closely, never leaving his side. This method made Yan Xun deeply embarrassed. He tried to resist but to no avail.
At night, Chu Tingyun would make Yan Xun drink alcohol, as the latter couldn’t tolerate alcohol well. He precisely controlled the amount, making Yan Xun drowsy but not harming his body.
After a week, Yan Xun realized he couldn’t continue like this. He had asked Chu Tingyun many times how long he intended to keep him locked up, but never got an answer.
Yan Xun had originally thought he’d be able to return to his country in just a few days, but now it had been almost half a month. He still had matters to attend to back home, and after just securing investment, his sudden disappearance might cause all sorts of problems.
Thinking of this, Yan Xun became truly anxious.
So, on the morning of the eighth day, he took the initiative to lower his head and tried once more to communicate with this man.
“Chu Tingyun, I’m sorry. I didn’t know Sochi was your mother’s hometown, and I wasn’t eloping with Senior Sister. You know we broke up long ago.”
“I only heard she ran away from her wedding, and her mental state was very poor. I was afraid she’d do something irreparable…”
Hearing this, Chu Tingyun finally reacted. He let out a cold laugh, his tone turning sharp and sarcastic:
“Yan Xun, you’re really the best ex-boyfriend in history. You’ve broken up, yet you still care so much about her.”
“…”
Yan Xun closed his eyes for a moment and could only explain,
“I never actually dated her. She was under too much pressure from her family, so she asked me to pretend to be her boyfriend for a while. We’re just very good friends.”
“…”
Chu Tingyun suddenly froze.
Pretending to be a couple?
He stared at Yan Xun, frozen for a long time, before dazedly asking in return:
“Fake? You don’t like her?”
“Right, I don’t like her.”
The moment Yan Xun nodded in confirmation, every nerve in Chu Tingyun’s body seemed to tingle with excitement.
Yan Xun carefully observed Chu Tingyun’s expression, weighing his next words, but didn’t expect the other man to suddenly pounce, pinning him to the bed and kissing him.
“Mmph…”
The bed was too soft, and Yan Xun was almost completely pressed into it. He had originally wanted to push Chu Tingyun away, but in the end, he didn’t. Instead, he slowly responded to the other’s urgent kiss.
The strained relationship between the two began to thaw with that kiss.
But Chu Tingyun still didn’t let Yan Xun go; he merely stopped cuffing him to the bed.
Yan Xun’s movement space expanded, and he no longer had to be watched like a prisoner while using the bathroom or be bathed by Chu Tingyun.
Having endured inedible food for too long, Yan Xun took over the kitchen. Although the ingredients were limited, his cooking was far better than Chu Tingyun’s.
The villa was large, though it seemed old. But the interior renovation was clearly done within the past couple of years—vintage, elegant, clean, and beautiful.
The living room on the first floor had high ceilings, with a massive floor-to-ceiling window offering a view of the snow-covered mountains in the distance. At sunrise, the mountaintops would be bathed in a layer of golden light, creating a breathtaking, natural beauty.
They often sat together in front of the window, drinking wine, admiring the snow, reading, and chatting. Yan Xun learned some simple, everyday Russian from Chu Tingyun.
Sometimes, Chu Tingyun would tell him folk stories from this country—some passed down from his mother, others from his grandparents.
But all those stories, Chu Tingyun eventually shared with Yan Xun.
If one overlooked the gold chain hanging from the bedpost, they would have seemed like an ordinary couple on vacation here.
At night, they slept in the same bed. Chu Tingyun would kiss Yan Xun, stroke him, hug him, and climb onto his waist, making the old wooden bed creak with faint rocking sounds.
On the nineteenth night, Yan Xun made a cake for Chu Tingyun. When they went to bed, he suddenly became very passionate. He pinned Chu Tingyun down, pressing his face into the pillow until the entire pillow was soaked.
Afterward, Chu Tingyun slept deeply.
Because there was a little sleeping pill mixed into the cake.
That night, Yan Xun quietly got up, found the identification cards, passport, phone, and car keys that Chu Tingyun had hidden.
Unfortunately, his phone was dead.
Yan Xun gathered all his things, put on his thick winter clothes, and left without a trace of hesitation.
He drove away in the same SUV they had come in, silently reciting the Russian words he’d learned from Chu Tingyun along the way.
“Hello, China, phone, please, help…”
Of course, Yan Xun hadn’t just learned those words, or it would’ve made his escape too obvious. He’d also learned many irrelevant words and mixed the important ones in with them.
His last memory was of a scene in the town’s tavern, so he naturally assumed they were living near that small town.
But after driving for half an hour, Yan Xun realized he was still surrounded by endless woods and snow.
Where the hell is this?
Just then, Yan Xun suddenly noticed a vehicle behind him—it seemed to be a pickup truck carrying goods.
He immediately felt a surge of hope, thinking he had encountered a local resident. He slowed down, intending to ask for help.
At the very least, he needed to borrow a phone.
But as the distance between them closed to about ten meters, Yan Xun finally caught a glimpse of the driver’s face in the rearview mirror.
It was Chu Tingyun.
Yan Xun was utterly shocked and immediately sped up.
Having been in a car accident before, he always drove cautiously, preferring safety over speed—especially now, on a mountain road in the middle of the night, with snow falling.
Even though Yan Xun accelerated, he didn’t dare drive too fast.
But Chu Tingyun wasn’t afraid. By this point, he might have already lost his mind, as he floored the gas pedal, soon catching up and driving side by side with Yan Xun.
“Stop the car!”
He was frantically honking the horn.
“Yan Xun, stop the car right now!”
“…”
Of course, Yan Xun didn’t listen and kept driving.
But he never expected Chu Tingyun to do something even crazier—suddenly jerking the steering wheel sharply to the side.
Bang!
The two vehicles collided, making a terrifying noise in the dead of night.
Screech—
The tires screeched against the ground with a sharpness that seemed to pierce through one’s eardrums.
This scene was like something out of a movie car chase.
Chu Tingyun had so forcefully rammed Yan Xun’s car that it was as if he had deliberately stopped it.
The sudden brake made Yan Xun slam into the steering wheel, and with the psychological impact, he felt dizzy and as if his consciousness was floating in the air.
But the next second, the driver’s door was yanked open from the outside.
Chu Tingyun grabbed Yan Xun by the collar. Yan Xun saw the man was only wearing a thin nightgown and noticed the blood on his face.
Chu Tingyun was also injured, but far more severely than Yan Xun. His forehead was cut open, with bright red blood streaming down, some of it seeping into the corner of his eye, looking particularly startling against the snowy night.
Yan Xun couldn’t hear clearly what Chu Tingyun initially said, only that the man was enraged like a beast that had lost its mind.
After a while, Yan Xun could faintly make out Chu Tingyun’s voice:
“…Was it all a lie, Yan Xun!”
“You said your relationship with Jiang Jingshu was fake, you also said you liked me. All those words you said, everything these days… Was it all a lie?”
“You’ve always wanted to escape… All those things you said were just to get away from me…”
Yan Xun let out a gentle sigh and suddenly smiled, but his smile was cold. Even the dimples at the corners of his mouth couldn’t make his smile appear sweet.
At this moment, the young man’s eyes seemed to be frozen with a thick layer of cold ice, beneath which was hidden a surging magma of anger.
“Yes, it was all a lie.”
Yan Xun looked at him, making each word very clear.
“It’s ridiculous, Chu Tingyun.”
“You’re always so arrogant and self-absorbed. Why do you think I, Yan Xun, would like a lunatic who deceives me, humiliates me, and locks me up?”
“…”
At that moment, Chu Tingyun seemed to hear something breaking.
He had always thought Yan Xun didn’t talk much and wasn’t good with words, often suffering from verbal attacks, like when they met Chen Wanqing last time.
But now Chu Tingyun realized he had been completely wrong.
Yan Xun was incredibly articulate; each of his words seemed to effortlessly turn into the sharpest and coldest blades, ruthlessly piercing Chu Tingyun’s heart, even making him shiver all over.
It was so painful and so cold.
This person did not like him at all, from beginning to end.
Yan Xun had even fabricated so many lies to escape from him, saying that his relationship with Jiang Jingshu was fake.
It was obvious that Yan Xun was indifferent to all other women but was gentle and caring towards Jiang Jingshu. He even introduced her to his family, and even after their breakup, he still worried about her, accompanying her to a foreign country during the busiest time of his startup.
It was all so obvious.
Yet Chu Tingyun believed such absurd and fragile lies, and even felt so happy that he couldn’t sleep for several nights.
It was indeed foolishly ridiculous.
“Too bad, Yan Xun.”
Chu Tingyun handcuffed him, his hoarse voice almost trembling in the snow wind.
“You’re still caught by me, this lunatic.”
After saying this, he couldn’t help but blink, and a small red tear rolled out from the corner of his eye.
It looked as if the tears Chu Tingyun cried were made of blood.
Yan Xun stared blankly at him, as if stabbed deeply, and painfully closed his eyes.
“…”
He was back in that warm, almost suffocating room.
Yan Xun was locked back on the bed. Even the man had cut the red thread and taken away his most important small Guanyin.
Chu Tingyun seemed to have no other way, believing that this thing could make Yan Xun stay.
