"Five lychee martinis,two jade cocktails and three Mandarin margaritas!"one of the bartenders shouted.
Li Yunxi,Xiao Hui and other bartenders had their hands busy preparing different cocktail flavours, others arranging cocktail glasses in which each cocktail would be served in , in respect to enhance their aroma, flavour and visual appealing.
The club owner's sister who happened to be the biggest shareholder of the club was hosting a reunion party for her and her old classmates. They were USTB alumni. That night the club was more packed and bustling than usual. Those who had attended the party were mostly successful young men and women in their different career fields. They ordered drinks every now and then to accompany them as they reminisced about their past experiences at the university.
The interior was filled with a cacophony of loud heartfelt laughters,cheers to several toasts, bartenders shouting at each other in order to successfully convey the requested orders to their colleagues. They barely had the time for a break to even take a smoke to cool off some steam. Li Yunxi being the master of cocktails became the busiest man. His colleagues placed their expectations on him to prepare the best drinks for their guests. They wouldn't want the guests to give a bad review about their club and also they couldn't afford letting down their boss in front of her friends.
"Add two more lychee martinis please ,"another order came. Li Yunxi almost rolled his eyes out of frustration but he restrained himself. After all their boss had promised to tip them if they did a good job so he didn't want to sabotage his colleagues no matter how tired he felt.
"Let me handle it,"Xiao Hui offered noticing his friend's hands that were trembling out of exhaustion.
"But you don't like making lychee martinis , "Li Yunxi protested.
"With your shaky hands can you even do it?"Xiao Hui mocked him playfully.
Li Yunxi lowered his gaze to his hands and noticed they were indeed quivering and he hadn't even noticed it himself.
"Then I'll instruct you on how to mix them appropriately."
*****
As they walked out of the club,Li Yunxi took out his phone to check the time. It was half past four in the morning. With the cold morning breeze slapping them hard in the face plus their exhaustion,Li Yunxi felt like he would pass out anytime. He yawned relentlessly and his eyelids felt heavy a clear sign he needed sleep more than anything else. As he held the handlebars of his bicycle he just hoped he wouldn't die of an accident.
Xiao Hui was in an almost same state as him. They consoled each other on their way back to the apartment encouraging each other to keep up especially Li Yunxi who kept lagging behind. During other mornings before ,he was always the one cycling in front of the other and now he was in no position to do that,the hectic work of the night had drained his energy and he lost his cycling morale.
They muttered thankful phrases for reaching safely at their apartment and finally went ahead to take a rest. They were only woken up by the sound of Liu Daxun knocking several times at their door. It was Saturday one of the days they usually went for morning runs. Even when they had night shifts at the bar before they still managed to go for morning runs because they wouldn't be so exhausted like they were that morning. Liu Daxun unaware of their suffering banged on their door relentlessly. Xiao Hui who had been woken up by the noises grabbed his phone lazily and sent a voice note to his friend outside informing him they would skip their morning routine.
*****
A few hours later,Liu Daxun knocked again at the door to their apartment. He was worried about the bartender duo because Xiao Hui's voice sounded rather weak when he sent him that voice note in the morning. He didn't knock for long and the door was finally opened revealing Xiao Hui in a T-shirt and knee length shorts . Liu Daxun walked in followed by Gu Shan who was definitely curious about the situation since his friend had been tense ever since he received that voice note.
Li Yunxi and Xiao Hui were seated in the living room watching a random anime to kill time.
"I thought you were sick,"Liu Daxun voiced out his worries.
Despite waking up with soreness all over the body and weak muscles they still managed to behave normally. They weren't weaklings and staying in bed for too long especially alone felt like they had been bedridden.
"We had guests at the club last night and we barely took a break. We were a bit weak so we couldn't join you for the morning run."
"Is it that bad?"
"Really bad. I feel like I need a massage right now."
Xiao Hui was quite startled when he heard a pair of hands pressing his tense muscles around the shoulder blades. Liu Daxun standing behind the couch where he was seated giving him a massage. Xiao Hui rarely complained about hectic tasks and so hearing him complain meant he had been affected really badly.
"Shouldn't you lie down so you can get a better massage?"Gu Shan suggested.
"Sounds like a good idea,"Xiao Hui agreed and Liu Daxun nodded in agreement too.
"Yunxi do you need a massage too?"Liu Daxun asked glancing at Li Yunxi who had been quiet the whole time.
"You can massage him first,"He replied gently and pressed his lips in a thin line maintaining an expressionless face.
"Hui-ge,let's go so you can tell me about that new hot bartender,"Liu Daxun ushered him delightedly and the two left for Xiao Hui's room.
Gu Shan glanced furtively at the other guy in the living room unable to decipher the emotions behind that face. He pondered for a while studying him before he finally spoke up ,"Let's go to your room I'll give you a massage."
"Huh?"Li Yunxi's eyes widened in surprise and he gazed at Gu Shan confusedly not sure he had heard him correct.
"Come on I'll massage you."
"Are you sure?"
"If I wasn't sure I wouldn't offer to do it or do you not trust my skills?"Gu Shan gave him a challenging look.
"It's not that..."Li Yunxi lacked the right words to defend himself back so he silently walked to his room and Gu Shan followed suit.
"Take off your shirt,"Gu Shan ordered and earned a gasp from the other,"It's easier to get better access to muscles,"he clarified.
"Oh ,"Li Yunxi blurted out embarrassed by his initial conclusion.
After taking off his shirt he lay on his stomach stretching out his body parts allowing them to be in full display.
Instead of starting the massage right away,Gu Shan did something unexpected. He took his phone and put on some soothing music then placed it on the nightstand.
"My uncle said such music creates a comfortable environment for massaging."
"O-Okay."
Gu Shan perched himself beside Li Yunxi and rubbed his palms together to warm them up and prep himself for the task ahead. His hands then reached out to Li Yunxi's shoulders and he gasped in reaction.
"Are my hands cold?"
"N-No they're warm,"Li Yunxi choked out almost stuttering.
Gu Shan started with gentle strokes to warm up the muscles by using his hands to apply light pressure and moved in long, sweeping motions to prepare him for deeper massage techniques.
"Do you have a lotion?"
"Yes It's in the drawer,"Li Yunxi pointed at the specific drawer where he kept his lotion. Gu Shan poured a small amount of lotion into his hands and rubbed them together to warm it up. He applied the lotion evenly over the area to be massaged to reduce friction and allow for smooth, gliding movements.Using long, gliding strokes with his palms, Gu Shan moved from the lower back up to the shoulders and back down.
He applied kneading motions with his hands, gently lifting and squeezing the muscles to release tension and improve muscle flexibility.
A sinful moan suddenly escaped Li Yunxi's lips accompanied by his racing heart and his crotch down there seemed to be making its move. He apologized and bit his lower lip to suppress his moans. He didn't want the boy to find out how his touches were affecting him but his body seemed to be betraying him.Gu Shan smirked seeing his reactions. The more the boy kneaded him the more he felt the urge to react.
Should he tell him to stop?
But the pleasure was too much and he had never felt that good in a long time. He might as well get lost in it if the boy doesn't mind.
"You don't have to restrain yourself,"Gu Shan spoke gently and his voice turned him on even more. He felt like he might grab the boy any moment soon and ram his thick cock into him till he cries for help.
Gu Shan was kind of aware of all the indecent thoughts the man seemed to be harbouring against him but he still played innocent as he watched him make effort to hide his sexual vulnerability.
Using his thumbs and fingers Gu Shan applied deeper pressure in circular motions on specific areas of tension to break down knots and relieve muscle tightness.
He then used light tapping and chopping motions with the edge of his hands and fingertips to stimulate the muscles.
Finally he returned to gentle, long strokes to soothe the muscles and to relax the muscles and provide a sense of closure and then withdrew his hands to take a break.
Li Yunxi felt disappointed by the sudden withdrawal of warmth and that heavenly touch that made him almost lose himself.
"How are you feeling now?"
"Better."
With the soothing music still playing in the background,Li Yunxi felt even more relaxed both physically and mentally. He had to admit that Gu Shan was really talented at whatever he had done to him. If only the guy wasn't afraid of skinship,he could have made a really great masseur.
"Thank you ,"Li Yunxi muttered softly.
"Let's do it again,"Gu Shan said enthusiastically.
Li Yunxi smiled under his breath. Was Gu Shan enjoying touching him as much as he was enjoying being touched by him?Gu Shan repeated the whole process but this time his movements were more wild ,his hands almost slipping inside Li Yunxi's shorts. Li Yunxi could no longer control himself so he let a series of moans escape his lips but he tried to keep his voice as low as possible. When they heard Liu Daxun and Xiao Hui approaching was when they jumped away from each other with Li Yunxi quickly putting on his shirt.
"Looks like you also had your personal masseur,"Xiao Hui said teasingly looking at his friend who looked more relaxed than ever. After the hot massage session he felt even more alive.
"Are you guys really done or we interrupted you?"
"We're don..."
"Not yet done,"Gu Shan interrupted stunning the trio.
"When you finish join us we'll make some lunch,"Xiao Hui said dragging Liu Daxun out of the room.
"Lie on the bed,"Gu Shan ordered in a serious tone.
"I'm really okay now,"Li Yunxi denied politely not wanting to trouble the younger father.
"We haven't massaged your legs yet,"Gu Shan spoke boldly unfazed by his reactions. One thing Li Yunxi had found out was that the boy only became bold when he was around him just like during their first encounter. With the other two ,he acted all innocent and shy. Li Yunxi was glad he was the only one able to witness that side of the boy.
"Didn't you say you stood up all night? So your legs deserve a massage too."
Having said that,Gu Shan instructed him to lie on his back. He started with gentle strokes to warm up the muscles by using both hands to apply light pressure and move in long, sweeping motions from the ankles to the thighs. He rubbed some lotion between his hands then applied it evenly over the legs . He performed long, gliding strokes with his palms, moving from the ankles to Yunxi's athletic thighs and back down. Using the similar procedure as the one for his upper body,he lifted and squeezed the muscles reducing the tension. Gu Shan extended his massage to Li Yunxi's feet massaging his toes and feet soles.