Chapter 80: N. High Society

Su Hui did not decline; in fact, he tacitly permitted every single one of Ning Yixiao’s movements.

The only thing that left him with a lingering sense of insecurity was that his hands were restricted behind his back, robbing him of the ability to wrap his arms around Ning Yixiao.

Ning Yixiao fetched the second shirt stay from the side and dropped down to one knee. He held Su Hui’s ankle, guiding his foot to rest on his own knee, and then slowly slid the black elastic strap up. He traced the lines of Su Hui’s leg, pushing it higher inch by inch.

“It tickles…” Su Hui whispered.

Ning Yixiao kept his eyes lowered, his face still devoid of much expression, but he offered Su Hui a reassuring kiss, pressing it softly against his lips.

The black band constricted against the flesh, quickly leaving a faint indentation behind.

“Part your legs,” Ning Yixiao commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Su Hui complied.

“Open them a bit wider.”

“Mm.”

Subconsciously, he could tell that Ning Yixiao was jealous.

Although Su Hui occasionally derived a sense of thrill from this dynamic, he genuinely didn’t want Ning Yixiao to be unhappy. He couldn’t help but explain, “Yixiao… just now was completely a chance encounter. I didn’t even remember who he was.”

“Mm.” Ning Yixiao didn’t say much, his fingers pulling on an elastic strap and tightening it firmly.

Su Hui tilted his face up, leaning closer to press a kiss against his jaw. “Don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry.” Ning Yixiao’s hands shifted elsewhere, gripping tightly. As his leather-clad fingers released their hold, they left distinct pressure marks on the skin.

Su Hui let out a low, muffled hum, his legs growing slightly weak. Leaning his weight against Ning Yixiao’s shoulder, his breathing turned noticeably heavier, his nose lightly nuzzling the side of Ning Yixiao’s neck.

“So it wasn’t the first time he’s seen you,” Ning Yixiao noted. His hands shifted slightly higher, causing Su Hui to flinch reflexively, yet Su Hui still couldn’t hold him.

Su Hui confessed honestly, “We ran into each other at a lounge bar previously. Jingming and Bella were there too… don’t touch me there…”

Ning Yixiao’s mind instantly flashed back to the message Jingming had sent him a while back—the photograph of the blue cocktail and the napkin tucked beneath it.

“So it was him.”

Ning Yixiao let out a cold laugh.

“You knew about it?” Su Hui was a bit surprised.

“Mm.”

Ning Yixiao admitted candidly, “The napkin where he left his contact info—I saw it, and I threw it away.”

“Oh, I see…”

Su Hui didn’t particularly care about the whereabouts of that piece of paper; it had already been stuffed away and lost by him anyway. He just hadn’t expected that Ning Yixiao was the one who had disposed of it.

By now, he was entirely speechless and could barely stand. He felt like a jellyfish that had been scooped out of the ocean onto the shore—utterly incapable of supporting himself, forced to depend entirely on Ning Yixiao. His shoulder pressed against the other man’s as he made small, futile movements to struggle, drawing in deep breaths.

Yet Ning Yixiao remained incredibly composed, precise, and completely devoid of visible desire, carrying himself like a strict disciplinarian.

“Stand properly.”

“I can’t stand anymore…” Su Hui pleaded softly.

Ning Yixiao’s tone remained cool and detached. “Call me something.”

Beads of sweat formed on Su Hui’s forehead. The warm, distinct scent of Ning Yixiao’s cologne was systematically dismantling the remnants of his rationality.

He had initially intended to call out Ning Yixiao’s name, but a certain title he had never uttered aloud suddenly flashed through his mind.

With both hands forced behind his back, Su Hui swayed slightly. Tilting his head up on his tiptoes, he used whatever strength he had left to lean close to Ning Yixiao’s ear, uttering that specific title entirely in a breathless whisper.

Ning Yixiao’s movements came to a definitive halt.

“Who taught you to call me that…”

Su Hui discovered that the tips of the man’s ears had actually turned a faint shade of red. Finding this incredibly fascinating, his pulse quickened even further, and a profound sense of satisfaction bloomed within his chest.

“Don’t you like it?” He leaned in a bit closer, softly repeating it once more, “Husband.”

Seeing Ning Yixiao fall utterly silent, appearing completely at a loss for words, Su Hui found him incredibly endearing. But because he couldn’t wrap his arms around his neck like he normally would, he could only nuzzle against Ning Yixiao’s jaw and lips.

“I love you so much.”

Ning Yixiao offered no verbal response. He securely hooked his arm around Su Hui’s waist, capturing his restless mouth and entirely swallowing his heavy breaths.

He couldn’t bring himself to admit aloud that from the very first moment he met Su Hui, a dark, possessive streak had taken root deep within his heart. He wanted to see him cry, to hear him beg for mercy, to flick his finger against his tongue piercing, and to issue commands or punishments.

If he dug deep enough, these impulses likely stemmed from the profound lack of security embedded in his bones since childhood. Because of his mother’s tragic plight, he had spent his life resisting the concept of love, yet due to his childhood abandonment, he desperately craved to be loved. This had forged a highly contradictory self—one saddled with an excessive level of possessiveness and control, which amplified drastically whenever he faced Su Hui.

He demanded that what belonged to him remain his for eternity; otherwise, it was better if it never appeared at all.

But once it did, Ning Yixiao was determined to claim it, never letting go, and absolutely ensuring no one else could lay a finger on it.

He had initially feared that Su Hui might be frightened off by this dark side, which was why he had habitually kept it tightly concealed. Yet Su Hui accepted it unconditionally.

Su Hui possessed a soft, tender warmth that wrapped entirely around Ning Yixiao, offering him a solace filled with both desire and vulnerability. He accommodated his possessiveness flawlessly, declaring his love over and over again without a single shred of weariness—exactly like the hundreds of unsent letters he had penned during his years of despair.

Many people had spoken words of infatuation to Ning Yixiao, but there was only one person who offered him unconditional tolerance and love.

He was like a clumsy, endlessly yielding kitten.

“Don’t…”

“Are you planning to go out looking like this?”

A voice suddenly drifted in from outside the door; it was the stylist.

“Eddy? Are you in there? The staff mentioned you came back to change your outfit.”

Su Hui bit his lip, not daring to make a sound, yet Ning Yixiao chose this exact moment to press another deep kiss against his lips.

“Mmh…”

The voice outside drew closer to the door. “Eddy?”

Ning Yixiao pulled back slightly, whispering a reminder right against his ear, “Answer them.”

Su Hui suppressed his ragged breathing and cleared his throat. “I-I’m changing… I’ll be out in a moment.”

Hearing this, the stylist immediately inquired, “Do you need any help? Please make sure to handle the diamond face chain with care.”

“I know.” Su Hui feared the person might step inside, yet he had absolutely no way of stopping Ning Yixiao’s silent advances with his hands firmly bound. “I can manage on my own. You should go ahead… Bella needs her makeup touched up as well.”

“Alright then, I’ll go check on her first. Call me if you need anything.”

“Mm…”

The sound of footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

Hearing the outer door click shut, Su Hui’s racing heart finally settled back into his chest. Ning Yixiao leaned down to press a gentle kiss against his lips, biting down softly on them.

“Were you scared?”

Su Hui shook his head, though he was incredibly unaccustomed to the sensation of being unable to hold him. “I want to hug you.”

“No.”

By the very end, he felt like a clump of earth thoroughly drenched by rain, slumping limply into Ning Yixiao’s embrace.

And true to his word, Su Hui could only rely on Ning Yixiao’s assistance to barely get his clothes adjusted and smoothed out.

Ning Yixiao’s obsessive-compulsive tendencies ensured that he smoothed down Su Hui’s shirt with meticulous, flawless precision.

Su Hui couldn’t help but wonder if the man secretly harbored a peculiar amusement for dressing up dolls.

Only after inspecting every detail and deeming it flawless did Ning Yixiao reach out to untie his silk tie. Catching sight of the red friction marks left on Su Hui’s wrists, he drew them over, gently smoothing his thumb over them.

“Conceal it with your sleeves; it’ll be fine.”

Su Hui leaned against the wall, his speaking voice as faint as a wisp of fog.

Ning Yixiao extended his hand, his palm settling flat against Su Hui’s heaving ribs, feeling the steady rise and fall of his breath.

“Do you dislike it when I act this way?”

Now that his hands were free, Su Hui immediately wrapped them around the man in a tight, unyielding embrace.

“Of course not.”

He rested his head against Ning Yixiao’s shoulder. “I love you so much. I only like you; no matter what you do, I’ll love it.”

“Even if it’s excessive?”

“Even if it’s more excessive, it doesn’t matter. It just proves that you love me just as much.”

Ning Yixiao couldn’t help but confess honestly, “But my desire for control is exceptionally strong. Sometimes, I genuinely cannot stand the thought of anyone else staring at you. It’s not a joke.”

Saying this, he lowered his head, pressing his forehead against Su Hui’s. “What if I lock you away one day?”

Su Hui lifted his face to press a kiss against his lips. “You can. But you have to stay by my side to keep me company; otherwise, I’ll miss you terribly.”

Ning Yixiao let out a low laugh, intentionally nudging his forehead against Su Hui’s. “Foolish kitten.”

Sensitive puppy, Su Hui countered silently in his head.

They ended up arriving twenty minutes late. The dinner banquet had already commenced; the appetizers and salads had been served, and the guests were dining while engaging in lively conversation.

A waiter guided the two to their seats. On stage, a singer was performing a live set. Ning Yixiao and Su Hui walked side-by-side through the dim lighting toward their table, drawing a considerable amount of attention.

Jingming, who had been chatting up the beautiful actress seated next to him, looked up at the commotion. He watched as Ning Yixiao approached and slid into the seat to his right.

“So even you can be late,” Jingming teased deliberately. “Vanishing for forty minutes straight—truly impressive.”

Ning Yixiao ignored him entirely.

Su Hui took his seat directly opposite Ning Yixiao. He noticed that the dishes served weren’t uniform across all guests, so he snuck a glance at Ning Yixiao’s plate.

He raised his hand to signal a nearby waiter, instructing him in a low voice that he wished to swap his appetizer.

Bella overheard this. “I was the one who curated that selection for you. Do you not eat foie gras?”

“It’s not that.” Su Hui shook his head, offering a warm smile to the waiter. “Your team might have mixed up the placement. If you could just switch my plate with the gentleman sitting opposite me, that would be perfect.”

The waiter was certain they hadn’t committed an error, but he nodded politely anyway. He lifted Su Hui’s appetizer, stepped over to Ning Yixiao, and swapped out the plate of smoked salmon in front of him for the foie gras.

Ning Yixiao had been listening to Jingming speak this entire time, and it was only now that he realized his designated dish contained seafood.

The waiter set the cold salmon platter down before Su Hui, offering a quiet apology.

“We were the ones who arrived late and missed the ordering window. It’s not your fault at all,” Su Hui said to him with a smile. “For the main course, please ensure it doesn’t contain any seafood. Thank you.”

Bella took a moment to process the interaction before recalling that Ning Yixiao seemed to have strict dietary restrictions, though she had never paid much attention to it in the past.

Jingming stared intently at Ning Yixiao, sensing that something was fundamentally amiss. It was only when he saw the man reach out to grasp his cutlery that it suddenly clicked.

“Ning Yixiao, where are your gloves?”

Ning Yixiao’s tone remained perfectly natural as he sliced a small piece of foie gras. “They got soiled.”

“How did they get soiled?” Jingming, daring to court disaster, pressed further.

Sure enough, Ning Yixiao lifted his head, fixing him with a silent, heavy glare.

Jingming understood the subtext instantly. Smothering a knowing grin, he raised his hands. “Right, I’m shutting up.”

Ever since Ning Yixiao sat down, the actress seated to Jingming’s left had been darting frequent glances in his direction—a fact so glaringly obvious that even Su Hui took notice.

The male singer on stage sat before a grand piano, his voice flowing beautifully through the room. Su Hui kept his head low as he ate, overhearing the stunning celebrity strike up a conversation, directing her words toward Bella.

“Bella, didn’t you have a secret engagement a while back? If I remember correctly… it was with this gentleman, right?”

Being suddenly put on the spot regarding this topic left Bella visibly uncomfortable. She couldn’t explain why her immediate instinct was to glance toward Su Hui.

“Ah, that was ages ago,” Bella offered a perfectly practiced social smile. “It was purely an arrangement orchestrated by my father back then. But we later discovered that we truly weren’t compatible and lacked common ground, so we parted ways amicably.”

“Is that so?” The actress smiled. “I really admire your personality; you know exactly what you want.”

Bella shrugged. Just then, a waiter stepped forward to top up her wine, so she didn’t pursue the topic further.

“Speaking of which, this is my first time meeting Shaw in person. I watched your roadshow videos online previously; you’re incredibly articulate.” The actress swept her blonde curls over one shoulder, raising her wine glass. Reaching past Jingming, she extended it toward Ning Yixiao, inviting him to a toast.

Ning Yixiao paused for a fraction of a second, his gaze flicking to Su Hui sitting directly opposite him.

Su Hui’s lips were curved into a faint, ambiguous smile.

Ning Yixiao turned his head, offering a polite but distant, “Pleasure to meet you.” He lightly clinked his glass against hers, but he did not take a sip of the wine.

“You really don’t look like a typical software engineer. Perhaps it’s just my own internal stereotype,” she remarked with a chuckle.

The piano music continued to flow smoothly.

Ning Yixiao was by no means inept at social functions; quite the contrary, he was exceptionally adept at navigating them, he simply loathed them. When the situation demanded it, he could easily present a flawless, perfectly diplomatic facade.

However, the current situation fell squarely under the category of [unnecessary], and his boyfriend was sitting directly across from him. He began calculating the most polite method to terminate the conversation.

“It’s fine. It’s not entirely an inaccurate stereotype; I suppose I don’t really qualify as a traditional engineer anymore either,” Ning Yixiao spoke smoothly.

The moment the words left his mouth, his dress shoe was lightly nudged by another foot beneath the table.

The tip of that foot shifted upward, tracing a slow, deliberate path against Ning Yixiao’s ankle in an entirely provocative manner.

Ning Yixiao lifted his eyes to look at the man sitting opposite him, but Su Hui kept his head tilted down, smiling pleasantly as he conversed with Bella.

The overwhelming shyness that had filled the dressing room not long ago had been systematically stripped away like the outermost petals of a flower, blooming into an entirely uninhibited, fierce confidence.

The actress continued, “You’re exceptionally tall as well. You must be around 1.9 meters?”

Jingming laughed, inserting himself into the conversation. “Him? He’s just a centimeter short of it, but once he slips into dress shoes, he clears it easily. He really is tall.”

With Jingming handling the response, Ning Yixiao was naturally spared from replying. He kept his gaze locked onto Su Hui opposite him.

Amidst the bustling clamor of the high-society banquet, the stage lights gleamed brilliantly, and the melodic strains of the piano drew the gazes of the surrounding guests.

“These smart glasses are also a new product from your company, right? I actually purchased a pair previously, though it was the gaming edition,” the actress said with a laugh. “But sometimes when I’m right in the middle of a gaming session, a message from my mother will suddenly pop up out of nowhere and startle me.”

Ning Yixiao offered a highly restrained smile.

The white tablecloth draped all the way to the floor. The exquisite dishes resting on the table went largely ignored by most; it seemed Su Hui was the only one dining with genuine focus.

Clad in his sharp black button-down shirt, he sat poised and upright, his eyes downcast. After swallowing a sip of red wine, he reached out to pick up his designated smart glasses, slipping them on with ease.

When he wasn’t smiling, that face—which frequently evoked highly illicit thoughts—lacked its usual intimacy, carrying a distinct hint of aloofness.

Yet no one at the table knew that beneath the pristine linen cloth, the tip of his foot was currently hooked teasingly around Ning Yixiao’s ankle.

“Oh, by the way,” the actress leaned in closer, her face filled with curiosity. “I’ve always wanted to know what the name of your company stands for. It looks exactly like an acronym for a specific phrase, kind of like how Marlboro operates.”

Su Hui’s foot hooked firmly around the fabric of Ning Yixiao’s suit trousers, giving it a subtle tug.

Ning Yixiao could easily envision exactly how the elastic bands of the shirt stays were currently gripping the taut muscles of Su Hui’s thighs, and how they would tighten against his pale skin with every extension of his foot.

“It really is an acronym, isn’t it, Shaw?” Jingming, completely oblivious to the undercurrents, turned to look at Ning Yixiao.

“Mm,” Ning Yixiao offered a smooth smile. “Manhattan’s sun never falls.”

Su Hui had been in the middle of slicing his filet mignon when the tip of his steak knife faltered slightly, striking against the porcelain plate with a crisp click.

“So that’s what it means?” The actress looked rather surprised. “That’s entirely unexpected. I honestly assumed it was something explicitly related to the tech infrastructure.”

Su Hui lifted his head, locking his gaze directly onto Ning Yixiao’s face. He offered a serene smile. “How romantic.”

Jingming sensed a faint shift in the atmosphere, his eyes darting back and forth between the two.

“Does that phrase carry a significant meaning for you?”

Facing the actress’s inquiry, Ning Yixiao delivered a deliberately ambiguous response. “The very first time I arrived in the United States, I came straight to Manhattan. That place, to me, represented a fresh beginning.”

Bella suddenly recalled the opening track from the musical Hamilton and couldn’t help but sing a bar aloud, “In New York, you can be a new man!”

The table burst into laughter. Su Hui smiled along with them, softly repeating the definition Ning Yixiao had provided.

“The sun in Manhattan never sets… a sun that remains permanently suspended.”

“Manhattanhenge,” Bella remembered. “I’ve witnessed it before, though only once. I caught it while stuck in a traffic gridlock, and it was breathtakingly beautiful. Eddy, have you ever seen it?”

Su Hui nodded slowly. “I suppose so. I saw it alongside my first love; it happened six years ago.”

With the topic successfully steered onto him, the actress sitting diagonally opposite leaned in. “Your first love? That must be an incredibly beautiful memory.”

Beside him, Jingming practically had the words [Hurry up and say Ning Yixiao’s name] written all over his face.

“That first love must have been someone truly exceptional, right? Otherwise, how could a single sunset linger in your mind for six whole years?”

“Mm.” Su Hui’s expression turned entirely earnest, though his foot remained hooked around the man’s ankle beneath the table. “He is a person in whom I could never find a single flaw.”

“That is an exceptionally high evaluation.”

Jingming and Bella both smiled, though the underlying meaning behind their smiles differed entirely.

Right under the scrutiny of high society, Su Hui made absolutely no effort to conceal his affections. He praised Ning Yixiao with absolute candor above the table while systematically teasing him beneath it.

Ning Yixiao lowered his head, lifting his glass to lightly swirl the liquid within, his wrist shifting subtly.

Despite having long grown accustomed to the structured social dynamics of elite dinner functions, at this exact moment, Ning Yixiao felt as though he had been transported back six years into the past—to the very first time he had dined alone with Su Hui at the Western restaurant bordering Central Park. He felt like a young boy again, relying entirely on a meticulously constructed shell of absolute composure.

The performers on stage cycled through one after another until it was finally time for the virtual idols invited by the organizers to take the stage. All the guests dutifully slipped on their distributed smart glasses.

Su Hui had already been wearing his, so he waited quietly. He noticed that Ning Yixiao’s movements were considerably slower than the rest, his head lowered as though he were adjusting a specific setting.

While the stage configurations were being finalized, the surrounding guests continued their chatter. In the next second, a line of text abruptly materialized across Su Hui’s field of vision, resembling an incoming message notification.

[Hi.

—from 228]

He realized instantly that this corresponded to Ning Yixiao’s unique glasses identifier, and he looked across the table. Almost simultaneously, Ning Yixiao lifted his eyes, offering Su Hui a brief smile before sinking back against his chair.

This dynamic carried an almost intoxicating thrill, mirroring an illicit affair.

Su Hui couldn’t quite fathom it—he had been engaging in actions beneath the table that were far more daring than a hidden text message, yet he found himself flushing a deep crimson over a simple, brief greeting.

The heart rate display in the bottom-left corner of his vision continued to climb steadily, the jumping numbers serves as a constant reminder that his pulse was racing entirely because of the man sitting opposite him.

A subtle notification chime chimed softly in his ears, followed immediately by a fresh incoming message.

[MsnF = Miss s＆n Forever.

—from 228]