QT: Don't fall in love with the Male Lead

Virgin or not, Han Yu is apparently incapable of being anything but great in bed. It actually makes Xi Zirui a little mad.

Sweaty and sated, and resting his head on Han Yu's chest he thinks about how unfair it is that he wasn't able to take control of the situation like he wanted.

He was sort of hoping Han Yu would be somewhat flustered and in need of guidance, which Xi Zirui would sexily provide while keeping up the pretense of being just as inexperienced.

But in the end Han Yu had a pretty good idea of what to do, and Xi Zirui could only hold on for the ride and try not to lose his mind with how good he was getting it.

Xi Zirui expected to be the one calling the shots and gently guiding Han Yu into how to properly fuck his brains out, but he got there pretty well on his own.

He's feeling a little bullied for reasons he doesn't entirely understand.

"Host is just disappointed that the Crown Prince wasn't a blushing virgin. Which is very ironic considering that in the previous world Host was so mad that all his fans thought he was a vir-"

Xi Zirui thinks 'Ni Ni fuck off', with all his might, and by a miracle she does.

Han Yu notices his pursed lips and tight eyebrows, running his fingers down Xi Zirui's back he asks, brushing the words against his hair, "Is something bothering Zirui?"

Xi Zirui shifts around until he's lying half on top of Han Yu, his chin pillowed on Han Yu's muscled chest. He sighs and flicks Han Yu's nipple, a little mean. "I'm surprised at how adept Han Yu was, almost as if he had previous experience..."

Han Yu preens, his lips stretching into a mischievous grin. "Does that mean I surpassed Zirui's expectations?"

Xi Zirui rolls his eyes and flicks his nipple again, making Han Yu hiss. "I'm just thinking maybe Han Yu wasn't being truthful about his inexperience."

Amused by Xi Zirui's pout, Han Yu pulls up the right corner of his lips to make him smile instead. "Zirui seems to have some expectations about what should happen...almost as if he has done this before as well."

Xi Zirui averts his eyes and lowers his chin into this crossed arms. "Han Yu shouldn't besmirch my good name like that, after I've given myself away to him so trustingly..."

Han Yu laughs at Xi Zirui's theatrics and gathers him higher in his arms so he can get at his lips, still tingly and tender, and kiss him again.

"Zirui must know that I've been thinking of doing little else ever since we met." Han Yu says, whispering the words into the shell of Xi Zirui's ear, sending shivers down his spine.

"Is that why Han Yu was so enthusiastic? Did he imagine it often?" Xi Zirui can't help teasing, and punctuates his words with a bite on Han Yu's plush lower lip.

Han Yu smiles, a sweet tender thing this time, and runs the pad of his thumb over Xi Zirui's cheekbone. "My wildest fantasies couldn't compare to the reality of having Zirui in my arms."

Xi Zirui feels himself blush under his intense gaze and those smoky words. 

Honestly, why does Han Yu have to be so romantic for?

It makes Xi Zirui feel too restless, like his body is too small for his bones. 

Maybe they should fuck again, that would make him feel better.

But Han Yu isn't done flaying him alive with his words. He turns the wet kiss Xi Zirui gives him into something sweet and exploratory, and when Xi Zirui is once again drunk on the taste of him, Han Yu pulls away to whisper into his neck, "Sometimes I feel as if I've met Zirui before, as if there's an entire story between us that I don't understand yet. Does Zirui think we could have been lovers in a past life?"

Xi Zirui closes his eyes and bites down on his lip.

He can't think about the implications of Han Yu's words or he'll start crying. 

He's been telling himself that it's enough to have a different side of him in this world, but if there's even a part of Han Yu's soul that recognizes him...

He sucks on a shuddering breath, he can't let himself hope like that. 

What they have right now is good enough. It has to be.

Han Yu's smile slips and he gives Xi Zirui a worried look. "Did I say something that upset Zirui?"

Xi Zirui loops his arms around his neck and hides his face in his hair, hiding all the soft parts of himself away too. "No, No...I, I also think we might have met in a previous life."

Han Yu breathes in the scent of Xi Zirui's skin and sighs. "I wish things could be different in this lifetime, too."

He doesn't have to elaborate for Xi Zirui to know what he means.

The 'I wish you didn't have to leave to go be another man's spouse' hangs in the air between them, like the electric charge before a thunderstorm. 

Xi Zirui doesn't want to leave on such a morose note.

Putting on a brave smile he bumps his nose against Han Yu's and says. "What does Han Yu think of soaking for a little while in the hot spring? I never got the opportunity when I still lived here...besides," he smirks and takes hold of Han Yu's hand to guide it under the swell of his ass. "Han Yu has made a mess of me."

We watches the moment Han Yu's pupils swallow his irises. 

Instead of answering, he flips Xi Zirui under him and bundles him up in the bedsheets.

Xi Zirui still doesn't understand what's happening when Han Yu lifts him up into his arms and carries him outside of the pavilion, his face covered by white linen.

"What is Han Yu doing?" Xi Zirui hisses through the fabric.

"Taking Zirui to the hot spring."

"What if someone sees?"

"There's no one around, and they'll only see me, carrying someone...no one will know it's Zirui."

It's actually more suspicious for them to talk the whole way to the hot springs, so Zirui falls silent and lets himself be carried like a sack of rice.

Half of him is too busy admiring Han Yu's upper body strength to worry about being caught anyway.

---

No one catches them, and even if they did, that wouldn't necessarily be a problem, as Han Yu reminds him once they're soaking in the spring.

"Zirui's face was hidden. Besides, as a Prince, I'm allowed to have as many lovers as I want."

Xi Zirui, leaning with his back against Han Yu's chest, pinches his thigh before retorting, "Then why didn't Han Yu?"

Han Yu tightens his arms around Xi Zirui's waist and smiles against his hair. "Didn't I already say? I've been waiting for Zirui."

Xi Zirui snorts. "I don't know if I believe that."

"Because I'm such a dedicated lover who brought Zirui so much pleasure it made him pass out?"

No matter the universe, Han Yu will never stop being a smug bastard. 

Xi Zirui doesn't raise to his bait, but in his mind's eye he's already envisioning all the ways he's going to make him beg the next time they have sex. 

Unaware of the trials that await him, Han Yu relaxes against the edge of the pool with a contented sigh. "It's been such a long time since I've bathed in this hot spring."

His words pull Xi Zirui away from his daydreams about tying Han Yu to the bedposts and riding him until the bed breaks.

He snaps his neck sideways to fix Han Yu with an accusing frown. "What does that me-"

Han Yu is laughing before Xi Zirui can even finish his sentence. "Zirui doesn't need to worry, I spent some time here because this pavilion was built for my mother."

Xi Zirui's lets himself be guided by Han Yu's smooth hands and seated across his lap. "The former Empress lived here?"

The Fragrant Spring Winds pavilion is the most remote building in the palace complex, completely out of the way and out of sight. It's hard to believe that an Empress would have voluntarily spent her time in such an out of the way location.

Han Yu smiles sweetly at Xi Zirui's confusion. "I'm sure she wishes she could have lived here permanently. She had the pavilion built so she could have a place to escape to. Some place she could pretend she was anything other than an Empress."

Xi Zirui rests his head against Han Yu's chest, and remains silent while hearing him speak, lulled by the rumble of his smooth voice echoing through his ribcage and the gentle gurgle of the bubbling warm water.

"My mother tried to spend some time here whenever she could, and sometimes she brought me along." His smile takes on a distant quality, as if summoned to the present from all those years ago. "No one lived here after my mother's death until Zirui came."

He kisses the top of Xi Zirui's head and hides an amused snort into the wet strands.

Xi Zirui cranes his neck back to give him a narrow-eyed look. "What?"

"I'm just remembering how furious I was with father for making this pavilion the residence of his newest conquest. I raged against him for days, but he wouldn't budge, as always. That's why I came here when Zirui arrived. I wanted to meet the one who would be living in my mother's beloved refuge."

"Is that why Han Yu called me a whore?"

Han Yu groans and bumps his head against the rocks lining the edge of the pool. "Zirui is never going to let me live that down, is he?"

"Why would I, when I can demand Han Yu apologizes to me for the offense?"

"Oh, and what apologies does Zirui have in mind now?" Han Yu asks, his grin filled with second intentions.

Xi Zirui turns around in the water until he's straddling him. "I have some ideas." He bounces in Han Yu's lap and smirks when he feels him rising to the occasion.

He's wondering how much time they have until he has to go back to his rooms when the sound of grass being crushed underfoot startles them both.

They look into each other's panicked faces, frozen still by shock, until Xi Zirui's survival instinct kicks into gear and he sinks below the surface of the bubbling water.

He can only hope that whoever is skulking around is only passing by and won't come towards the hot spring.

His hopes are dashed when the sound of footsteps grows closer, accompanied by laughter.

There's more than one person headed their way.

Underwater, Xi Zirui can't see anything, but he hears it when someone gasps loudly and mumbles..."Your Highness!"

Even distorted by the water, Xi Zirui can't help feeling like the voice is oddly familiar.