Mary Sue Chapter 19: Just like real kissing!

Translated by J.

Editor: Addis

Once his hands and feet were bound, Ye Xi received an alert that his teammate had completed his quest. It seemed Shen Xiulin’s quest was to capture Ye Xi, then cuff him and lock him up in a small dark room.

“Let me go you bastard!” Ye Xi struggled forcefully as he strained to slip out of the round metal cuffs that bound his hands. The rigid metal edge soon rubbed his delicate skin raw. Ye Xi gritted his teeth and viciously scraped his wrist on the metal cuff. The quest completion announcement sounded when he bled as expected.

Ye Xi’s cuffs were actually not that sharp, his injuries were mostly due to the little master’s character design being especially brittle. He recalled one of the lines in Murong X’s tediously dull character summary: ‘like a watery reflection of the moon, he projected a distinct sense of fragility as if he would crumble to the touch.’

Fortunately, the character design only said that he ‘projected’ a sense of fragility, not that he would actually ‘crumble to the touch.’ Otherwise wouldn’t he have to be restored from a save point every second of this game? Ye Xi mused optimistically.

After cuffing Ye Xi, the bodyguards left the room, leaving Shen Xiulin and Ye Xi by themselves.

Ye Xi immediately gave up his struggling. He sat down on the enormous bed and cheerfully asked, “Our Main Quest 9 are all done. What does your Main Quest 10 say, sir?”

Shen Xiulin sat down next to him and held up Ye Xi’s wrist to inspect his injuries. Shen Xiulin slightly furrowed his brow and gently blew on Ye Xi’s wound before replying in a soft voice, “You first.”

Ye Xi opened the quest interface.

Main Quest 10: During the desperate struggle to escape from his imprisonment, Murong X accidentally injures his wrist, making Huangfu X both furious and distraught. Huangfu X decides to use his actions to declare to Murong X that he owns Murong X wholly and completely, that the little creature is undisputedly his private property, and is not permitted to become injured without his explicit permission. So, he shoves Murong X onto the bed and forcefully kisses him…

Resist and recoil. Try to avoid Huangfu X’s kiss, but gradually develop an embarrassing reaction from his skillful kissing. (0/1)

Tips: Must be completed within twenty-four hours.

“What the fuck?” Ye Xi was frozen with shock.

Over the past few days, Ye Xi had often laboured to brainwash himself, erecting all sorts of mental barriers to psychologically prepare himself for the embarrassing day when he had to kiss another man. As a result, he was no longer particularly resistant to the actual act of kissing…but, what the hell was an ‘embarrassing reaction’?!

Ye Xi watched Shen Xiulin with exasperation, while the chief executive looked his usual calm and composed self, “My quest is to struggle and resist your kiss, then gradually…umm.”

Looking askance at Ye Xi with his lips slightly curved at the corners, Shen Xiulin repeated, “Umm?”

The inflection in his voice was low and seductive, spoken with a hint of a smile that was rare for someone like Shen Xiulin.

Flushing crimson, Ye Xi felt all the blood in his body rush towards his face as if a spell had been cast on him. It was not until he began speaking that he realised his tongue was not working properly, “It means I have to develop a r-reaction.”

Shen Xiulin arched his brow as if he was confused, “What kind of reaction?”

Blushing from ear to ear, Ye Xi shot a frustrated glance at Shen Xiulin, “Like…”

Why is the Chief Executive so dense?! What kind of reaction is there other than a boner? It’s not like we’re talking about a chemical reaction! ¹

Shen Xiulin urged, “Go on.”

Ye Xi frantically wiped his face with his hands, “The system’s exact words were ‘an embarrassing reaction.’”

Shen Xiulin furrowed his brow looking baffled, “What constitutes an ‘embarrassing reaction’?”

Ye Xi instantly wished he could pick up the cursedly dense chief executive and shake him by his collar.

Ye Xi involuntarily rolled his eyes, “It means I have to not want it in the beginning, then gradually be made to feel something from all your kissing.”

Shen Xiulin chuckled softly, as if he finally had a revelation, “So that’s what it is.”

The kind of ploy where ‘a character says he doesn’t want it, then his body betrays his real feelings’ is so old and overused in Mary Sue novels that it was not completely unexpected that it would appear in a quest now.

“My quest is,” Shen Xiulin chose his words carefully, “to push you onto the bed, then kiss you wildly and passionately.”

Ye Xi clarified, “Are there no other details?”

Shen Xiulin paused before responding, “Tips, the quest must be completed within twenty-four hours.”

Ye Xi worried, “So there’s a time limit.”

“Maybe it’s because the wedding is a fixed event, so the system applied a time limit.” Shen Xiulin’s tone was rather cheerful.

Like the shirt-tearing quest earlier, Shen Xiulin thoughtfully removed all the spiky objects from his body, such as his ring and his watch. Then he rolled up his sleeves a couple of times to cover up the buttons. Once he had finished these preparations, he asked Ye Xi, “Shall we begin?”

“Sir, please wait.” Ye Xi ruefully looked down at his crotch, “What if I don’t have a reaction…?”

Shen Xiulin did not seem to be worried about this at all. In an unhurried tone, he replied, “Then we’ll just have to try again a few more times.”

Ye Xi broke down and wailed, “What if I don’t have a reaction no matter how many times I tried? I’m a straight man after all, I definitely won’t get a reaction from another man kissing me!”

After a silent pause, Shen Xiulin replied earnestly, “Then un-straighten yourself.”

Un-straighten your ass! It’s not like anyone can become gay on command! Puffing his cheeks in annoyance, Ye Xi stared at the chief executive defiantly, his baby curls looking particularly adorable.

“I’m joking.” Shen Xiulin patted Ye Xi’s curls and comforted, “Maybe you’ll have a reaction after all, how would you know if you don’t try? A lot of people are actually latent bisexuals.”

Ye Xi, “…”

Something felt off, but he could not put his finger on exactly what it was.

Looking like he was ready to go, Shen Xiulin repeated his question, “Shall we begin?”

There was a sense of desperation and hunger in his outwardly calm appearance. But it was missed entirely by the uncomprehending idiot…

“O-Okay.” Ye Xi’s back suddenly shot up ramrod straight, he anxiously placed his hands on his knees. Straightening his legs, he stared at the front like a good little student in a classroom. Cherry blossoms fell at increasingly outrageous speeds, and in a short amount of time, covered the bed sheets around Ye Xi in a thick layer of petals.

Sitting next to Ye Xi, Shen Xiulin twisted his body and pressed one hand on Ye Xi’s shoulder, ready to push him down onto the bed.

Ye Xi shouted, “Wait!”

Shen Xiulin, “Hmm?”

Ye Xi stuttered, “Sir, I-I haven’t kissed anyone before, and d-don’t have any experience. I’m a bit nervous, haha, hahaha. Can we mentally prepare ourselves for the next hour before…”

My lamentable first kiss is going to perish right here on this day!

Somewhat amused, Shen Xiulin cocked his head, “I don’t have any experience either.”

Ye Xi, “Are you for real?”

There was sincerity in Shen Xiulin’s eyes, “It’s true.”

Ye Xi, “…”

The Chief Executive’s and my lamentable first kisses are going to perish right here on this day!

If someone had told Ye Xi that another handsome twenty-something-year-old domineering CEO had not had his first kiss yet, Ye Xi would not have believed them even if his life depended on it. But since Shen Xiulin gave off a distinct vibe that would ward off living humans, he did not question it at all.

While Ye Xi was distracted by his internal debate on the issue of their first kiss, his world suddenly spun around. His whole body fell onto the rather bouncy mattress, which trembled from his weight. What came next was a soft kiss pressed onto his lips that was slightly cool to the touch.

What am I s-supposed to do first? Ye Xi’s brain had completely shut down. It was as if his thoughts had instantly solidified, then immediately held captive by a power that was as soft as silk, yet as strong as steel. He could not move, nor think. All the sensations from his body were singularly focused on the places where their bodies touched, especially his lips. Through them, he could feel the distinct difference in their body temperature, as well as the sensation of something soft and slippery, like jelly…

Shen Xiulin did not kiss Ye Xi like the quest had demanded. His kiss was as light as a feather and as fleeting as the remnant of a dream. There was not a shred of crazed passion, only tenderness, fluttering heartbeats and a trace of clumsiness.

Tenderness, like the time they walked past each other in the office corridor, and the edges of their clothes brushed against each other…

Fluttering heartbeats, like the time Ye Xi accidentally glanced towards Shen Xiulin in the cafeteria, and found Shen Xiulin coincidentally looking back at himself…

Clumsiness, like the time Ye Xi was late to work and was invited into the CEO’s office for a scolding. But instead, Shen Xiulin awkwardly fumbled with the files on his desk, then after a long build-up, only to abruptly tell him, ‘Don’t be late next time. You’re dismissed.’

A few seconds later, Shen Xiulin rested his weight on his forearms and looked at Ye Xi from above. Ye Xi watched Shen Xiulin with a blank expression, his cheeks a few shades redder than earlier, like a ripened apple.

They looked into each other’s eyes for a few more seconds.

Ye Xi asked weakly, “Sir…what are you doing?”

Th-th-this wasn’t in the script!

Shen Xiulin retorted, “What are you doing?”

Ye Xi rubbed his lips and blushed, “Your kiss wasn’t at all…umm…overpowering, it was more like…”

Shen Xiulin arched a brow, “Like what?”

Ye Xi choked back his words, “…”

More like real kissing!

But it’s kind of embarrassing to say that out loud, so nevermind.

“I said I didn’t have any experience.” Shen Xiulin calmly explained, “And you didn’t struggle at all, so how was I supposed to overpower you?”

“If you don’t overpower me, then I can’t find it in me to struggle.” Retorted Ye Xi as he realised his heart was pounding very fast and his limbs felt inexplicably fatigued. A tiny, unexplained, yet peculiar feeling fluttered in his heart, then disappeared as quickly as it had come.

“You did really well tearing off my clothes last time, you didn’t have any experience doing that either.”

Shen Xiulin nodded in agreement, “Let me find some inspiration then.”

Shen Xiulin sat up with his back against Ye Xi and remained silent.

Ye Xi laid on the bed for a while longer and tried to calm himself. He waited until the fatigue had left his limbs before sitting up, then tilting his head forward, he tried to find out what Shen Xiulin was up to…

 

Author’s Notes: [spoilers]

Actually, Xiao Yezi ² isn’t as straight as he thinks he is. He’s just deeply closeted + dense.

This quest will result in all sorts of outtakes, hahahahaha…

If nothing unexpected happens, I will be submitting the VIP chapters on Sunday ³. I’m trying to save up three chapters’ worth, do you see my hairline receding like the male extra…?