I Will Never Drink Again

By then, everyone had already gone through several bottles of beer, and under the influence of the alcohol, their conversation had become a lot more uninhibited.

Li Yuanying fired off several sharp questions in a row, asking whether they liked playing games, how long they played, and so on.

The questions left Yoshie and Qingxia blushing from ear to ear.

“Yuanying, I never expected you to be the dirtiest-minded one of us,” Su Yang said with a laugh as he took a sip of his beer.

“What’s the big deal? We’re not children.”

“What about you? Do you like it?”

“Me? I don’t know. I’ve never tried it.” Li Yuanying tilted her head back and shook it while looking at the ceiling.

“I don’t believe you for a second!” Qingxia shifted her position and looked at Su Yang and Yoshie. “Do you two believe her?”

Yoshie smiled without answering. Su Yang thought to himself, She really might not have tried it before.

“I believe her!” Su Yang raised his hand.

“Haha, Su Yang’s the best. I’m a very straightforward person—if I have, I’ll say I have; if I haven’t, I’ll say I haven’t.”

Qingxia’s eyes widened. “How is that possible? How old are you?”

“C.”

“Hey, who’s asking about that? I’m asking how old you are!” Qingxia said shyly.

“Oh, my age? Twenty-one. Huh? I seem to remember telling you two before.”

“We forgot. If you’re twenty-one, then that’s still reasonable.”

“Right?” Li Yuanying picked up a glass that was more than half full and downed it in one go. “You two have experience. Why don’t you teach me a thing or two? Or at least tell me what it feels like.”

At those words, Yoshie nearly sprayed the beer she had just taken into her mouth all over Qingxia beside her. She coughed twice and raised a hand. “Yuanying! Are you drunk?”

“What?” Li Yuanying looked at Yoshie blankly.

“Can you really talk about things like that?”

“Exactly! There has to be a limit, even when chatting. You must be drunk—you’ve started saying whatever comes to mind.”

Li Yuanying rolled her neck. “What’s wrong with talking about it among friends? I’m just curious!”

“Stop being curious! Change the subject.” Qingxia’s face was bright red as she hurriedly steered the conversation elsewhere.

That girl really is fearless, Su Yang thought. She’ll talk about anything. Just wait a little while and you’ll find out for yourself—why bother asking? Honestly.

...

As time passed, the case of beer and the additional half-case were gradually emptied.

Since they had drunk heavily the previous night, none of them had fully recovered yet. As a result, they were nowhere near as capable of holding their liquor as they had been the night before.

It was now eleven-thirty at night. The rain outside the window still showed no sign of stopping, and the power had yet to come back on.

The candles on the coffee table had burned down considerably.

The three girls were unsteadily drinking cross-cupped toasts.

Of the four, only Su Yang was still sober. Watching the three of them drink themselves into a giddy frenzy, he called out, “Ladies, if you can’t hold your liquor, then stop drinking, all right? Let’s get some rest.”

“Rest? Isn’t drinking a form of rest?” Li Yuanying turned and glared at Su Yang.

“Exactly! It’s only eleven-thirty. The night’s still young—let’s keep going!” Qingxia stood on the carpet with an empty bottle in her hand, swaying and twisting her hips.

Yoshie, meanwhile, sat on the carpet with Li Yuanying, playing drinking games.

“Fine, fine, fine. Let’s see how long you can last tonight.”

At the three girls’ urging, Su Yang went back to the kitchen, carried out another case of beer, and opened it.

He leaned against the sofa and drank by himself while the other three chattered and laughed noisily.

Another half hour passed. Qingxia was the first to collapse again, in exactly the same spot as the night before.

Yoshie and Li Yuanying didn’t last much longer. The two of them soon slumped over the sofa and fell asleep.

Seeing this, Su Yang put down his bottle and carried Qingxia back to her room first.

She was completely out this time. There was no chance of getting another surprise from her.

After settling her in, Su Yang closed the door and returned to the living room. He then carried Yoshie back to her room as well.

Yoshie hadn’t held anything back tonight and had drunk freely, so she was completely unresponsive by then.

A minute later, Su Yang returned to the living room and looked at Li Yuanying, who was sprawled across the sofa with her arms and legs everywhere.

She’s drunk this badly. I’ll let her off tonight and spare her one more time.

With that thought, he walked over to the sofa and rolled Li Yuanying onto her side. Just as he was about to pick her up, she suddenly opened her eyes without warning.

Su Yang froze. “Damn, you weren’t asleep?”

Li Yuanying said nothing. She sat upright, then stood on the sofa and looked down at Su Yang from above.

“What are you trying to do?”

Her eyes were unfocused. She had intended to grab Su Yang, but the moment she reached out, her legs gave way and she promptly fell forward.

Su Yang quickly caught her, and the two of them fell onto the sofa together.

After that, neither of them got back up, because Li Yuanying had already taken the initiative. Holding Su Yang’s head in both hands, she kissed him recklessly.

The fuse had been lit completely.

He had originally intended to spare her once again, but that thought had long since been cast to the farthest reaches of his mind.

Whoosh—

Swish—

Pillows and clothes went flying in every direction.

An hour later, Su Yang sat up and lifted Li Yuanying, who still hadn’t fully recovered, carrying her upstairs.

......

The night passed without incident.

At eight the next morning, Su Yang rolled over and woke up.

The first thing he did was turn to look beside him, only to find that Li Yuanying was no longer in bed.

“Where did she go?” he muttered as he sat up against the headboard and recalled what had happened.

When he had gone to sleep the previous night, he was certain that Li Yuanying’s energy bar had already been completely drained, leaving her unable to get up and leave.

“When did that girl slip away?”

Su Yang had slept deeply and hadn’t noticed when she got up.

“Whatever. I’ll get up first.”

He sat up, put on his clothes, and pressed the light switch on the wall. With a click, the ceiling light came on.

“Finally, the power’s back.”

He turned off the light and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

At eight-thirty, Su Yang came downstairs feeling refreshed.

The chaotic living room from the night before had already been cleaned until it was spotless. There wasn’t even the slightest trace that they had been drinking. It looked exactly as it had on their first day there.

But no one was in the living room.

“Oh no. I got carried away last night. I think I forgot to put away some of our clothes!”

Just as Su Yang remembered this, the front door opened from outside with a click.

Yoshie walked in alone.

When she saw Su Yang standing in the living room, she approached him with a smile. “Su-san, you’re up?”

“Yeah... I just got up. When did you wake up?”

“At seven-thirty.”

“That early? Don’t tell me you cleaned the living room?”

Yoshie smiled. “The other two are still asleep. If I didn’t clean it, who did?”

Damn.

“Oh, right. While I was cleaning, I found the T-shirt you wore last night on the floor. I’ve already washed it for you.”

Hearing this, Su Yang replied with a hint of embarrassment, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Oh, and besides your clothes... there were also... Yuanying’s.”

At that, Yoshie’s cheeks flushed slightly as she turned her head away.

“Uh... about that...” Su Yang didn’t know what to say.

Yoshie turned back to him. “You don’t have to explain. I understand everything. Earlier, while I was cleaning the living room... Yuanying happened to come downstairs.”

“Oh... haha... all right, all right.” Su Yang quickly changed the subject. “How did you come in from outside just now? Where did you go?”

Yoshie smiled. “After I finished cleaning and saw that you were all still asleep, I went out for a morning jog.”

“No wonder your head is covered in sweat. Go take a quick shower—I’ll make breakfast.”

“Okay, Su-san.” Yoshie turned and headed toward the bathroom.

Although... this is still pretty awkward. Su Yang watched Yoshie’s back as he thought this.

He glanced toward the hallway. The doors to Li Yuanying’s and Qingxia’s rooms were still closed.

But there was no way Li Yuanying could have gone back to sleep.

She had woken up at seven twenty, and it was only when she saw Su Yang lying beside her that she realized she had done something crazy the night before.

While Su Yang was still asleep, she hurriedly got dressed and ran downstairs, though one of her undergarments was somewhat the worse for wear.

The moment she reached the bottom of the stairs, she ran into Yoshie, who was holding the black panties Su Yang had casually tossed onto the floor the night before. The two of them exchanged a glance and immediately understood everything.

Li Yuanying was so embarrassed that she wanted nothing more than to find a crack in the floor to crawl into. After taking back her underwear, she fled upstairs as fast as her feet could carry her.

Even now, that scene kept replaying in her mind.

I’m finished. Completely finished.

Drinking really does get people into trouble!!

I’m never drinking again!!

...