The heavy bass drop of the music mimicked the pounding in Wen Rui's temples. He frowned and tried to push the glass at his mouth away, but the person holding it there just giggled and pressed closer.
"Aww, don't be like that, Xiao Gege, have one more~"
"Yeah, Little Prince, this is the first time you've come out to play with us, don't be a wet blanket, ha ha!"
It wasn't the first time that evening that Wen Rui regretted agreeing to join this clique of young masters at Club Apex. It was an expensive establishment that all these wealthy second-generation sons and daughters often sneaked out of the school dorms to party in, not worried about getting caught because their teachers were too intimidated by their parents to make a big fuss. Before today, Wen Rui had never even dreamed of participating. His family might be one of the richest among them all, but he was the perfect definition of the triple-A student, with a good moral upbringing, good school results, and a good sports record. Rather than spend the evenings high on alcohol and hooking up, Wen Rui preferred a lazy night in practising his violin, reading a novel, or playing his favourite PC game on his top-tier rig.
He wasn't a bad catch right?
But Su Jiali obviously didn't think he was good enough.
Su Jiali. The reason why Wen Rui made this terrible decision in the first place. She was the school flower that used to match his school grass status, and Wen Rui had taken it for granted that this meant they were the most matching for each other. That was, until someone had to come along and ruin it all.
Wen Rui's life could be split into two distinct halves, a 'Before Zhou Ye' and an 'After Zhou Ye'. Before Zhou Ye, his life at Yi High School was so smooth-sailing. He was the top scorer of first year, MVP of the basketball team, and had the most votes on the school forum's popularity poll, with an off-the-charts rating on the attractiveness index. But when Zhou Ye transferred over from Fu High School in second year, things started going downhill. Suddenly, all the limelight was on this newcomer. Zhou Ye was better at literally everything. Overnight, Wen Rui became the eternal number two. His results were always a couple of marks behind. His100m sprint was half a second slower. His unofficial title of star player of the team was superseded after everyone found out Zhou Ye could slam dunk.
Zhou Ye, Zhou Ye, Zhou Ye. He was all everyone talked about nowadays. Zhou Ye was taller, broader, and girls seemed to prefer his aloof attitude to Wen Rui's sunshine personality because it was more 'mature' and 'husband-material'. Wen Rui didn't get it. All he could see was a pretentious prick that liked to zhuang B.
If that were all, Wen Rui could still grit his teeth and bear it. Zhou Ye could have the attention of all the other girls and boys in school, Wen Rui couldn't care less. But why oh why did Zhou Ye have to steal Su Jiali's heart too?
It was so unfair.
"Little Prince, why are you ignoring me?" The girl that kept trying to get him to drink leaned in. Her body was soft against his arm and the cloying scent of her perfume aggravated his headache. He tugged his arm out of her grasp and tried to shift away. But another one of these pampered rich man's sons, whose name he couldn't remember, knocked into him from the other side.
Drinks spilled everywhere. Someone laughed rambunctiously.
"Hey, hey, hey," that boy slurred, clearly already intoxicated. "Lighten up, eh? Little Princess? We all heard Your Highness was in a bad mood and came out especially to keep you company! You have to give us some face right?" He forced a glass of golden liquid into Wen Rui's hands that smelled very strongly of alcohol, ignoring Wen Rui's heated glare at that irritating nickname.
Wen Rui's nickname among the kids of the upper-class society was 'Little Prince' because of one stupid masquerade he had attended a couple of years ago, where he had worn an 18th-century western-style medieval coat. He'd also had a sapphire brooch that cost a few hundred thousand yuan fastened in his cravat. The young ladies had gushed about how Wen Rui looked and behaved like a posh aristocrat, and slowly, the vibe had stuck. Wen Rui had been embarrassed initially, but he couldn't deny that he liked being called 'Little Prince' by his admirers. It was harmless flattery and he did try his best to behave graciously towards others.
He liked it less when some of the spiteful young masters in the same social circle purposely called him 'princess' instead though. They said it was because his peach blossom eyes and rosebud lips were prettier than the girls that followed him around but it was still insulting.
Normally, Wen Rui would pick a fight with anyone who called him 'princess', even if the extent of his argument abilities was to tell them off with his usual good-natured smile. But today, it just felt like too much effort to quarrel.
It was a bad idea and Wen Rui knew his tolerance was poor, but he snatched the glass out of the boy's hand and downed it to a chorus of catcalls.
The alcohol was supposed to make him feel better right? Then why could he still clearly recall the scene he saw from earlier that afternoon? It was like he was watching a movie in his head, one where the female lead was his goddess but the male lead was not him. Wen Rui had been on his way to the school canteen after submitting some class forms to his form teacher in the staff room, when he had caught sight of Su Jiali standing underneath a peach blossom tree in the school garden. Amazed at his luck, Wen Rui had been about to approach her for a chat when he noticed that Zhou Ye was also there, with his typical stoic expression that the girls loved.
Flower petals in the wind, a beautiful girl with an envelope in her hands , and a handsome boy looking only at her. Wen Rui hadn't needed to be a genius to guess that he had accidentally stumbled upon a confession. The confession of his goddess to someone that wasn't him. He had watched as the lovely blush on Su Jiali's face grew redder and redder, as a flicker of surprise passed over Zhou Ye's face.
And then Wen Rui had ran like a coward. So that he wouldn't have to see them get together. One thing had led to another. He had skipped classes for the first time ever, hiding in the sickbay with a fake stomachache that felt pretty real because of the sinking feeling in his gut that wouldn't go away. Then he had skipped individual study time too, even though, as the class monitor, he was supposed to be the one supervising his classmates until 10 p.m. On impulse, he had opened a WeChat group full of young masters from different influential families, and seen a time and place for their latest Club Apex VIP booking.
And that was why he was here.
The door of the private room burst open. The cacophony of the dance crowd outside rang in Wen Rui's ears, distracting him from the fact that everyone else in the room had gone still in shock. The noise was overwhelming and he tried to cover his ears, but strong fingers wrapped around his arm and yanked him to his feet. The sudden movement caused him to collide with a firm body and he clung on by reflex to prevent himself from losing his balance.
"W-wha—?" The room was spinning. Whatever he just drank must have gone straight to his head, because Wen Rui couldn't focus on the face of the person holding him up by the waist. Everything was a blur.
"Wen Rui. Wen Rui!"
Someone was shaking him, but the jerking motions made him feel ill and he reached out weakly to push the culprit away.
"Stop it…" he mumbled. " I'm gonna throw up if you keep doing th'—"
The person he was leaning against sighed. Through the haze of cigarette smoke in the air, he could smell the faintest hint of cedar and musk. It was a nice scent that Wen Rui really liked, so he buried his face closer to the source and inhaled contentedly.
"…"
Slowly, the chaos in the background faded away. Wen Rui could feel that he was being led somewhere. Warning bells should be ringing by now, but the arm supporting him was gentle and someone's quiet voice was telling him that he was being taken somewhere safe to rest. Wen Rui was too tired to resist. His eyelids drooped shut and the last thing he noticed before his consciousness faded away completely was a softness that brushed against his forehead, just once, and so fleeting that it was like he imagined it.