Found You - Chapter 1

I heard His voice again.

The sounds were strange and tongue-twisting, slurred like a child who had only just learned to speak.

He was humming a nursery rhyme under His breath.

“Ghost palanquin, ghost palanquin, sway and glide; within, the weeping bride.

“Groom, dear groom, lift the screen; beneath the veil, a beauty unseen.”

The singing drew closer and closer, until it seemed the singer was leaning right over my ear.

Threads of cold crept over me like rising water.

Something damp and soft brushed my earlobe, like a snake’s forked tongue, pushing the rest of the words into my ear.

He asked, “Will you be my bride?”

“Forever… never to part…”

Instinctively, I tried to retreat, only for something surging up behind me to coil tightly around my body. My hands and feet were bound. I couldn’t move.

The things resembled an octopus’s tentacles. Slime constantly seeped from them as they clung to my skin and slithered nauseatingly over it.

With great effort, I forced my heavy eyelids open. A “person” stood before me.

A veil of mist covered his face. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make out his features.

The song stopped abruptly.

The “person” reached out and caressed my cheek with intimate tenderness. His fingers were cold enough to pierce the bone.

“Ranran… found you… my bride.”

A piece of chalk struck my arm.

“You there. Class ends in five minutes. No matter how sleepy you are, hold on until you’re back at the dorm, all right?”

I jolted awake from the nightmare, gasping hard.

When I looked up, I met the ideological and political theory lecturer’s eyes. She was smiling at me through clenched teeth.

Snickers rose around the room, and more than a few gazes landed on me. Embarrassed, I ducked my head and mumbled an apology.

My overlong bangs blocked part of my vision, giving me an inexplicable sense of safety.

“I’m sorry, Professor.”

The little interruption quickly passed, and the classroom fell quiet again.

Then I felt something cool and soft crawl over my ankle.

They were back.

The realization filled me with despair.

I looked down stiffly. Several bloodred tentacles had appeared out of nowhere and were writhing up from my ankle.

At first, they moved slowly, as if deliberately tormenting me. They curled around the jut of my ankle, tracing lazy circles, then wound vine-like up the inside of my calf and around my leg.

The slick, sticky sensation raised goose bumps along my legs.

I clenched my teeth in disgust. Nausea surged through me, and I instinctively reached down to tear the things away.

My fingers passed straight through them.

I couldn’t touch them. All I could do was watch as they shot beneath my trouser leg.

The tentacles slid between my thighs.

In the silent classroom, a muffled moan escaped me. I covered my mouth at once.

Luckily, I was a loner and always sat by myself in the farthest corner during class, so the sound attracted little attention.

Only the student sitting nearest me noticed and looked over.

“Hey, are you all right?”

The instant he finished speaking, the tentacles began to thrash restlessly.

“You don’t look well. Do you want me to tell the professor?”

My whole body trembled, and my face burned. Fighting to steady my breathing, I raised my head a fraction.

“No, thank you. It’s just… my stomach. It doesn’t feel very good.”

I forced the words out while tugging the hem of my jacket down over my legs. Then I turned away, afraid to see the stranger’s expression, and prayed he hadn’t noticed anything.

The clock hands ticked in a steady rhythm. It was 11:47 a.m.

Only two minutes had passed. Three more until class ended.

Time had never felt so slow.

My trousers clung wetly to my skin, a dark patch soaking through. I didn’t know whether it was my sweat or fluid secreted by those damned tentacles.

Either way, there would be no dignified way for me to leave the classroom.

At the thought, I cursed inwardly a hundred times, clenching my teeth until they nearly cracked.

The professor kept lecturing.

When I looked up at the clock again, my eyes met Ye Lin’s.

He sat three or four rows ahead of me at an angle, his chin propped on one hand. The corner of his mouth curved as he watched me with smiling eyes.

Maybe I was imagining it, but his gaze seemed full of infatuation and satiation.

When our eyes met, Ye Lin’s smile deepened. His lips moved.

I read the words.

“Does that feel good, baby?”

The bell rang.

By the time nearly everyone had left the classroom, I was still sprawled across my desk, my vision gradually coming back into focus.

From the corner of my eye, I saw someone standing beside me.

Ye Lin narrowed his eyes and bent down. The distance between us vanished, close enough that I could feel his cool breath spilling over my neck.

He sniffed lightly, then gave me a knowing look.

“Jiang, I never knew you had a thing for doing that in class.”

“Those little toys you bought… are they fun? I told you, if you have needs, you can always come to me.”

Ye Lin folded his arms and tapped his elbow with one finger, watching me at his leisure.

Fucking gay guy. Filthy mind, filthy thoughts.

“Stop talking nonsense. I didn’t do anything!”

The denial burst out of me as I shoved him away.

He didn’t budge an inch. His gaze slid downward to the front of my trousers.

“Kitten strength,” he teased. “And so concerned with saving face.”

For one instant, I wanted nothing more than to crawl into a crack in the floor.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t one large enough to fit a grown man, so I could only snatch up my backpack and hold it in front of my thighs.

“Get lost,” I shouted.

He reached over instead and brushed aside the hair plastered to my eyelids with sweat, arranging his face into a wounded expression.

“Why are you only ever this mean to me?”

My vision cleared. I slapped his hand away and awkwardly raked my fingers through my bangs.

“Don’t touch me.”

With my backpack shielding me, I shouldered past him and strode out of the classroom.

“I’ve told you already. I’m homophobic. Leave me alone.”