Mu Zhixiao amusedly kept his eyes on the young woman who walked off to the stage, Confidently choosing a pop music.

Her body swayed with the beats of the music as her melodious voice drifted toward his ears.

He arrived in Beijing to find some inspiration for his next release. It wasn't a waste after all. He slowly sipped the wine from the glass, his lips curving into a smile.

A man just as charming as him although with a bubblier vibe took the seat by him. His ear studs and tattoos gave off the vibe of a lady killer, which undeniably he was.

“One Bacardi 151.” He gestured to the bartender.

“Hey, aunty called me more than 15 times. Why aren’t you picking up her calls?” He said checking another incoming call from the same contact.

“What did you say to her?” Zhixiao asked not taking off his gaze from the stage.

“The usual, you are busy with your new script. But seriously you can handle the business and follow your own passion at the same time. Can’t you? Especially now that you have made such a strong foundation in the industry.” Si Baichan sighed, shaking his head.

He was tired, always pacifying Zhixiao’s mom in his stead. Both were equally stubborn.

_____________________

Ni Ruoxi wandered in the dimly lit streets while trying to reach her antisocial friend. Just when after 10 missed calls she finally picked up the call her phone’s battery died.

“Great!” She cursed in frustration.

To not go back in a sour mood at least not on the exact day she got into the top fashion school in the capital.

Hence here she was enjoying herself alone in the karaoke.

She felt her sour mood gradually brighten up with the loud music. After a few songs she finally felt every hint of earlier unhappiness fade away.

She put down the mic and approached the bartender.

“New in the town?” The bartender asked with a friendly smile.

“Well yeah. Suggest me a good drink.” Ruoxi said, eying the wine rack.

She has tried a few drinks previously but nothing too strong. Should she trust an unknown person too much? But anyways it’s not like she can’t hold her liquor and this bar is quite well reputed among youngsters. So it can be considered pretty safe.

“May I?”

Ruoxi furrowed her brows from the sudden interruption.

She scrutinized the guy in front of her. The charming guy in front of her had a hint of smile on the lips that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Despite his casual demeanor she could sense a coldness from him.

‘Just perfect for my project.’ She thought to herself.

“Sure, I wouldn’t mind this favour.” She responded with a grin.

“You can try B52 if you have a sweet tooth, Paloma or Margarita if you prefer spicy drinks, I hope you don’t get drunk easily right?”

“Will you customise your recommendation if I do?” Ruoxi asked with a chuckle, humour evident in her eyes.

“I can do that, it isn’t troublesome for me anyways.” Zhixiao commented with a stiff posture.

“Don’t worry handsome, this lady was merely testing the waters. I can hold my liquor well enough.” Ruxiao said smiling at the way the guy was trying to play the gentleman which he clearly wasn’t.

“I will go with Margarita then.”

She liked sweet stuff once in a while, not to the extent of having a sweet tooth. A spicy drink would be more suitable for her.

She definitely didn’t know that she was digging a hole for herself to fall in.

“Strawberry Margarita Spritzers with extra cream” He instructed the bartender while making sure that she was ok with the order.

“You seem quite familiar, are you a regular here?” Ruoxi asked.

“This is my hometown, so even though I am not a frequent in this bar, I am acquainted with some people here.” Zhixiao responded, shrugging casually.

“And what is it that brought you here?” He arched her brows at her in curiosity.

“I got into the capital university, so..” She trailed off.

“Ah, I see, which major?” This time he asked almost instinctively.

“Fashion Designing and an Applied Computer Science minor.” She responded.

“Belated Congrats.” He said which made her crack up.

Who speaks like that? But yeah she can’t deny that he has a witty sense of humour.

“Thanks.” She said, not voicing out her inner thoughts.

The bartender passed the drink to her and busied himself with preparing a new cocktail.

She took a small sip. She could feel the soft taste of strawberry and the spicy taste against her tongue. It was particularly captivating to her taste buds.

She slowly savoured the drink until it was finished. Her gaze was a little misty from the effect of alcohol by now.

“One glass more, please.” She said in a louder than her usual tone.

Zhixioa shook his head at the bartender.

This girl..didn’t she say she can hold alcohol and doesn’t get drunk easily?

She sure can brag. He shook his head in slight annoyance.

Earlier Ruoxi wasn’t bluffing intentionally, it’s just that whenever she drank too much her bestie would take her away from the place and provide her with homemade hangover soup. Which stopped her from causing any kind of ruckus, instead it would make her fall asleep. This was the reason behind her misconception of not getting drunk easily.

Even after a while when she didn’t receive any response of affirmation from the bartender, she took out her card, slamming it on the table.

Due to the loud music, it didn’t attract much attention from others. Robin, the bartender, was taken aback by the sudden change in the quiet-looking lady’s behaviour. He was even more surprised after checking out the card.

“This...isn’t this a VVIP card?” He wondered but dared not offend her.

On the other hand, even the person who asked him not to give in to her request also wasn’t an ordinary person.

Zhixiao’s gaze lingered over the golden bordered black card. It was undeniably an authentic premium vvip membership card for this club. Where did she receive one?

He has only heard of this card from Baichan once. It won’t take him much effort to get the card due to his friendship with Si Baichan who is the current owner of the club. But for outsiders, it isn’t an easy feat for sure. Since only money won’t suffice for this top membership.

‘A little girl like her, why does she even need a premium membership?’ He thought to himself,  surprisingly he even felt a little displeased as the question crossed his mind.

He nodded affirmatively at the bartender and grabbed the glass of wine as the poor relieved guy was done pouring the drink for Ruoxi.

“Hey, hand me my drink!” She tried to sound authoritative in vain as the wine was starting to show its effects.

Zhixiao playfully swayed the drink in his hand. He chuckled watching the girl shorter than him trying to reach the bottle in his hand. It has been years since he childishly spent such a moment.

He could sense some curious gazes over them, although most couples were busy in spending moments of passion together. Without looking away from her face, he gently half supported her and half dragged her towards the lobby.

As he passed the door he gave a cold side-eye towards Baichan, who smirked shamelessly suggestively looking at the two of them.

Zhixiao couldn’t bother entertaining the fool. He swiftly asked for a key from the receptionist. A private room was always reserved for him in case of emergencies. His most dealings were in Beijing, so he accepted the favor from Baichan.

He couldn’t help but feel like an abductor sneakily drugging a young woman and getting her in his bed. He inwardly face palmed as the thought crossed his mind.

Ruoxi was still babbling her demand for the wine, reminding him of the glass he was still holding in one of his hands. He slowly opened the door to the suite placing the glass on the door side small tool.

Ruoxi traced his jawline softly as he was distracted for a moment. He froze in place. His mind ran wild. What was he doing? Meeting a random girl in a bar and dragging her inside his bedroom without even her consent? If he lets her continue behaving like this….something really might happen. He probably won’t be able to hold onto his self-control.

Meanwhile, her fingers were running through his dark brown locks. He held his breath unknowingly allowing himself to indulge at the moment for a few moments. Just when he was on the verge of doing something he might regret, the movements of the woman in his arms stopped.

He looked down only to find that Ruoxi was asleep. Her cherry lips were moving slightly, indicating that her meaningless mumbles were still going on.

Zhixiao was relieved and disappointed at the same time.