DCEO VS DCEO | Chapter 7

The episode of Animal World continued playing on the television.

On the dry savanna, where only the chirping of insects broke the silence, a snow-white leopard lay sprawled lazily in the sun-scorched grass, half asleep. It had no idea that a pair of predatory eyes was slowly approaching from behind.

A lion hidden behind a tree had been watching the leopard for quite some time. His stomach was empty, and hunger gnawed at him.

Leopard wasn't usually his favorite prey. But this one, with its beautiful white coat, seemed even more appealing than the antelope he normally hunted.

Its long limbs were sleek and powerful. Its chest rose and fell with every breath, full of vitality and life, radiating a deadly allure.

The lion could no longer resist.

He lunged forward, pouncing on the leopard, biting and nipping at its long neck. The leopard's eyes flew open. Sensing the threat, it immediately rolled over and pinned the lion beneath it.

The two beasts became entangled, wrestling fiercely, each trying to force the other into submission.

At first, the leopard had no intention of hurting the lion.

But the lion kept provoking him.

His hot tongue traced across the leopard's body. His powerful limbs wrapped around him. The scent of surging hormones filled the leopard's nose. After several rounds of struggle, a burning heat began rising from deep within the leopard's abdomen.

The fight dragged on for nearly twenty minutes.

The lion, starved for too long, should have held the advantage physically. Yet that same pent-up hunger became his weakness. Gradually, his limbs grew weak.

The leopard seized the opportunity.

Pinning his opponent to the ground, he bared his sharp fangs and drove them forcefully into the lion's body...

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

Sunlight streamed into the room, scattering across Gu Zhan's chest, which was covered in bite marks and hickeys.

He narrowed his eyes as he woke.

The first thing he noticed was the heavy arm draped across his waist.

The second was the fluffy head buried against his neck.

Gu Zhan shut his eyes in frustration.

Then he carefully rolled over, intending to slip away before the other man woke up.

Unfortunately, the moment he moved, the person beside him woke as well.

Fu Yan's eyelids were slightly swollen from sleep. The moment he opened his eyes, he glared viciously at Gu Zhan. The look was scarcely any gentler than the one he'd worn the night before.

Gu Zhan licked his lips.

He had no idea how to ease the awkwardness.

But was this really his fault?

The crown prince of the Fu family had been the one unable to resist, practically throwing himself into Gu Zhan's arms. Gu Zhan had merely "reluctantly" slept with him.

Well...

Not that reluctantly.

Still, Gu Zhan wasn't about to let himself get pinned underneath.

If the situation were reversed, Fu Yan would definitely have wanted the upper hand too.

"You..." Fu Yan began, only to realize his voice was so hoarse it was embarrassing. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Did you do that on purpose last night? Was this whole thing just so you could sleep with me?"

Honestly, it wasn't an unreasonable suspicion.

Gu Zhan was a schemer by nature. People tended to assume he always had an agenda.

But this time, Fu Yan was wrong.

Gu Zhan had been feeling slightly guilty, but being falsely accused instantly made him indignant.

"What is wrong with your brain?" Gu Zhan snapped. "You think I went through all that trouble just to sleep with you? Does sleeping with President Fu grant immortality or something? What are you, Tang Monk?"

Fu Yan answered seriously:

"For revenge. For that slap in the bar."

"Am I really that bored?"

"Yes."

To be fair, Gu Zhan was a proud man.

Being slapped publicly back then had been humiliating. If Fu Group hadn't been useful to his business, he absolutely would have sought revenge.

And honestly, knocking an arrogant rich heir down a peg by drugging him and sleeping with him wasn't the worst revenge plan imaginable.

"You—!"

Gu Zhan felt completely unable to defend himself.

How was he supposed to explain that instead of taking revenge, he'd rather spend his energy building a relationship with Fu Yan so they could make money together?

"Believe me or not," he said, "I really don't have time for this kind of stunt."

Unsure how to deal with the situation, he blurted out:

"If it really bothers you, then sleep with me back."

Fu Yan let out a cold laugh.

His first instinct was to refuse.

But then his gaze drifted toward Gu Zhan's bare upper body.

His fair skin was covered in marks left from the night before.

Red against white.

The sight tightened something low in Fu Yan's stomach.

And then there was the memory of that smooth, silky skin.

His fingers twitched unconsciously, as though wanting to feel it again.

He swallowed.

Just as he was about to speak—

"You hesitated."

Gu Zhan cut him off.

The offer had been made impulsively.

He'd never intended to follow through.

Even if he felt guilty, there was no way he would casually hand himself over.

Besides, Fu Yan wasn't even supposed to like his type.

Yet that look just now...

Gu Zhan wasn't some inexperienced kid. He could easily recognize desire when he saw it.

He jumped out of bed and hurriedly began dressing.

"Opportunity only knocks once. You hesitated, so now you've missed it."

He pulled on his clothes at lightning speed.

"Forget about me, President Fu. I'll find you someone else. If one isn't enough, I'll find you ten. Ten excellent ones..."

Then he fled the room as fast as possible.

Damn it.

Fu Yan actually wants to sleep with me?

Me—a top?

What kind of world is this?

Who gave him the nerve to set his sights on me?

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

After that, Gu Zhan began avoiding Fu Yan whenever possible.

The cloud logistics project was handed over to subordinates to coordinate with Fu Group.

If he heard Fu Yan would be attending a business event, he would immediately avoid it.

It wasn't that he wanted to act cowardly.

He simply hadn't figured out how to handle the situation.

The friendly relationship he'd worked so hard to build with the Fu family's heir had become dangerously unstable overnight.

It felt as though they'd returned to their first meeting—hostile on the inside, polite only on the surface.

But no one can hide forever.

One evening, Gu Zhan was entertaining a client from Northwest China.

He drank nearly an entire bottle of baijiu along with several beers.

His stomach churned violently as he stood outside the restaurant waiting for his driver.

A fierce gust of wind swept past.

A Bentley Mulsanne pulled up in front of him.

The window rolled down, revealing Fu Yan's smiling face.

"President Gu, waiting for a ride?"

"Yeah. My driver took the client home first. He'll be here soon."

Gu Zhan glanced at him calmly

This was his standard "coping with disaster" expression.

Years of experience had taught him that the more nervous he felt, the calmer he should look.

"The wind's pretty strong," Fu Yan said. "Let me give you a ride."

"No need. I've been drinking. The fresh air helps."

Fu Yan leaned closer to the window and said teasingly:

"President Gu won't let me drive him home... Are you afraid of me?"

"Hah. Afraid of you?" Gu Zhan shot back immediately. "Did water get into your brain?"

The alcohol made him especially quick to argue.

Fu Yan laughed.

"You're such a polished businessman. You can charm anyone in the corporate world. So why is it that every time you see me, you get flustered and start saying whatever comes into your head?"

The comment hit the mark.

Still unwilling to back down, Gu Zhan retorted:

"Maybe you're the one who's different from everyone else. Ever thought about that?"

Fu Yan laughed even harder.

"Enough. Get in the car. The wind's cold. Stay out here much longer and you'll catch a cold."

The wind really was getting unpleasant.

And getting sick would interfere with work.

Besides, based on what had happened with Yao Jing, Fu Yan was fundamentally a gentleman. He wasn't the type to take advantage of someone.

Gu Zhan finally opened the passenger door and got in.

He carried himself like a creditor collecting a debt.

In truth, he was tired of running.

Avoiding the issue wouldn't solve anything.

Since that night, they hadn't been alone together once.

He wanted to know exactly how Fu Yan felt about everything.

Testing the waters, Gu Zhan said:

"About that college kid who scraped his car on the highway... he wasn't seriously hurt. He rested for a week and recovered. President Fu, do you happen to have time recently—"

"President Gu seems forgetful."

Fu Yan interrupted with a snort.

"The issue between us isn't something another person can solve."

The warm car made the alcohol hit even harder.

Gu Zhan rubbed his aching forehead.

"Then what do you want?"

A smile touched Fu Yan's lips.

While stopped at a red light, he leaned slightly closer.

"What do you think?"

The car smelled faintly of pine-scented air freshener mixed with alcohol from Gu Zhan's clothes.

Not exactly pleasant.

Yet somehow intoxicating.

Their previous encounter had also happened while drunk.

The familiar atmosphere stirred memories buried deep within Fu Yan—wild, exhilarating, passionate memories.

His Adam's apple bobbed.

Without realizing it, he leaned closer.

Gu Zhan's lips were right there.

The alcohol had reddened them, making them look like ripe fruit.

His eyelashes trembled nervously as he glared at Fu Yan with what he hoped was a fierce warning.

Drunk Gu Zhan was trying very hard to look intimidating.

Unfortunately, in Fu Yan's eyes, it only made him more attractive.

Is this what they call gap moe?

Drunk President Gu is unexpectedly adorable when he's pretending to be fierce.

Unable to resist, Fu Yan closed his eyes and moved in to claim that tempting fruit—

"BURP—"

Gu Zhan let out a massive drunken belch.

The romantic moment died instantly.

The evil predator was forced into retreat.

Speechless, Fu Yan sat back upright.

Just then, the traffic light turned green.

Everything returned to normal.

Except for the fact that when the car started moving, Fu Yan stepped on the gas hard enough to nearly launch Gu Zhan out of his seat.

That sobered him up a little.

"Damn it! How do you drive like that?"

Fu Yan shot him a dark look.

It was the gaze of a starving beast locking onto its prey.

A predator moments before the strike.

The calm before the storm.

Gu Zhan felt a chill run down his spine.

"President Fu," he said carefully, "don't waste your effort on me. I've never been a bottom before."

"And do I look like someone who belongs on the bottom?" Fu Yan replied sharply.

Normally, top or bottom wasn't a huge issue.

But someone like Fu Yan, accustomed to being in control in every aspect of life, had always been the top.

Being unexpectedly topped with no warning whatsoever was difficult to accept.

Gu Zhan rubbed the back of his head.

This really was troublesome.

The heir of the Fu family lacked nothing—money, power, status.

Gu Zhan genuinely couldn't think of any way to extinguish the resentment Fu Yan felt.

Half drunk, he patted Fu Yan on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, President Fu. I never owe anyone anything."

He slurred slightly.

"One day or another, I'll give you a proper answer for this."

Then he collapsed against the seat and drifted off to sleep.