Rules of Engagement

The bass from the club speakers rattled right through the floorboards, shaking the glass of ice water sitting on the high-top table.

"Nian Nian, come on! Stop hiding in the corner and dance with us!" shouting over the heavy beat, my friend Chloe grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the flashing lights of the dance floor.

"No, seriously, go ahead!" I yelled back, laughing as I shook my head. "My feet are killing me in these heels. I'm just going to grab another drink and sit right back down."

Chloe rolled her eyes, gave up, and melted back into the crowd of swaying bodies.

I walked back to our empty table, sliding onto the leather booth. My phone buzzed in my small handbag. I pulled it out and saw a notification. It was a text message from my oldest brother, Lu Zichen.

Zichen: Nian Nian, where are you? Driver says he dropped you off at the library an hour ago. Send me your live location right now.

I chewed the inside of my lip, a nervous habit whenever my family got too protective. If Zichen found out I snuck out to a downtown club with my friends instead of studying for finals, he would probably shut down my credit cards, ground me for a month, and station two bodyguards outside my dorm room.

Me: Relax, big brother! I'm just at a quiet cafe studying with Chloe. See you later!

I hit send, feeling a little guilty for the lie, but safe for the moment. To celebrate my tiny escape, I reached for the half-full glass of sweet punch I had left sitting on the table before hitting the dance floor. I didn't notice the strange, slightly bitter metallic aftertaste. I just downed the rest of it in one go to quench my dry throat.

Ten minutes later, the room started spinning.

It wasn't a normal kind of dizzy. My chest felt hot, and a strange, heavy wave of heat washed over my skin, making my breathing shallow and fast. My fingers felt tingly and useless.

What is wrong with me? I thought, panic rising in my throat. I only had one glass.

The lights looked too bright, and the noise of the club became a loud, roaring ocean in my ears. I stood up to find the exit, but my knees buckled instantly. I stumbled forward, blindly reaching out to grab onto the nearest solid object to keep from collapsing onto the sticky floor.

My hands landed hard against a solid, warm chest.

"Watch it," a cold, deep voice snapped above me.

"Mmm..." I whimpered, completely out of my mind with the strange heat burning through my veins. My hands didn't pull away; instead, they instinctively slid up, pressing flat against his broad chest and resting right on his collarbones, rubbing frantically because my skin felt like it was on fire. "So hot... help me..."

"Move your hands," the man ordered, his voice dropping an octave, sounding both stern and dangerously irritated. He grabbed my wrists to pull them away.

Instead of letting go, I acted on pure, drugged instinct. I threw my arms around his neck, burying my face into the crook of his shoulder, clinging to him like a desperate koala. "No... Don’t let go. It's cold... stay..."

There was a sharp intake of breath from him. For a second, he stood completely rigid. Then, with a heavy sigh of absolute annoyance, a pair of strong arms scooped me right off my feet. I didn't care who he was. The solid warmth of his body felt like the only safe place in the world.

He carried me out of the loud club, away from the flashing lights, and straight into a quiet, dimly lit room down the hallway of the hotel section attached to the venue.

When the door clicked shut behind us, the world faded into a blur. The heavy fog in my brain completely took over, turning the rest of the night into a wild, burning haze.

As he laid me down on the plush mattress, the cool air of the suite contrasted sharply against my feverish skin, making me whimper and reach up blindly, tangling my fingers in the lapels of his jacket to pull him down with me. His dark eyes flared with a sudden, predatory intensity as he hovered over me. When his mouth crashed down onto mine, the kiss was fierce and demanding, burning away whatever coherent thoughts I had left. My hands roamed restlessly across his broad shoulders, tracing the hard muscles of his back as he stripped away our barriers piece by piece.

Every slide of skin against skin sent a fresh jolt of electricity through my veins. His strong hands gripped my waist, lifting me against him as the space between us dissolved entirely. When he pushed into my warmth, a sharp gasp left my lips, half-drowned out by the heavy rasp of his breathing against my neck. His movements were slow at first, deliberate and grounding, before turning deep and rhythmic, matching the frantic pounding of my heart. I arched up to meet every single push, clinging to his broad shoulders, our breaths mingling in the dark as the room spun away into pure, blinding heat.

The next morning, sunlight cut sharply through the gap in the heavy hotel curtains, stabbing right into my eyelids.

My head pounded like someone was hammering nails directly into my skull. Every single muscle in my body ached as if I had just been run over by a large truck. I groaned, rolling over on the soft mattress, but stopped dead.

The events of last night slammed back into my brain with terrifying clarity.

The club. The drink. The stranger.

My eyes flew wide open. I sat bolt upright, pulling the white duvet tightly against my bare chest. I looked across the king-sized bed. Lying right beside me, fast asleep with his face turned toward the pillow, was a tall man with sharp, clean jawline features and dark hair falling messily across his forehead. Even sleeping, he looked intimidating.

Panic clawed at my throat.

Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. What did I do?!

I couldn't stay here. If my family found out, or if this man woke up and realized what happened, my life was over.

Without making a single sound, I scrambled out of bed, grabbing my scattered clothes from the floor and throwing them on with trembling fingers. My body thundered with soreness with every single movement. I winced, muttering under my breath, "What on earth did this guy even eat or lift? Why are his muscles made of solid concrete? I feel like my bones are broken."

I zipped up my bag, my heart racing a million miles an hour. Before rushing out the door, my eyes landed on the nightstand. My pride flared up. I was Lu Nian Nian, and I didn't take favours from strangers—even if I was the one who practically pounced on him.

I dug through my wallet, pulled out three crisp hundred-dollar bills, and slammed them down neatly on the bedside table right next to his phone.

"Consider that paid for your trouble, mister," I whispered nervously. "Hope to absolutely never, ever meet you again in this lifetime."

I slipped out the door, pulling it shut behind me like the hounds of hell were chasing my heels.

On the bed, as the door click echoed in the silence, the man's eyes slowly opened. He didn't look like someone who had just woken up; his gaze was sharp, clear, and utterly cold. He turned his head and looked at the three hundred-dollar bills sitting neatly on the nightstand.

A slow, dangerous smirk curved the corner of his lips. He picked up one of the bills, looking at it before tossing it back down.

"Paying for a night with me?" a low, amused chuckle escaped his throat. He ran a hand through his dark hair. "Don't let me catch you, little rabbit. You can't run that far."

One week later, the heavy oak doors of Lecture Hall 304 swung open.

I sat in the third row, resting my chin in my hand, half-asleep and zoning out while mindlessly spinning a pen between my fingers. This was Advanced Business Ethics—a mandatory elective that everyone hated because the previous professor had retired, and rumour had it the department hired a strict, ruthless new professor straight from corporate management.

"Quiet down," a deep, cold voice commanded, cutting through the chatter of the lecture hall instantly.

The authority in that single word made the entire room shut up.

Footsteps echoed rhythmically against the floor. I lazily lifted my head, my eyes drifting toward the front of the classroom as the tall man stepped up to the podium. He wore a crisp, tailored charcoal suit, his sleeves neatly buttoned, framing a jawline that could cut glass. His cold, dark eyes scanned the rows of students with absolute indifference.

My pen slipped right out of my fingers, clattering loudly against the desktop.

My breath hitched. The air vanished from my lungs.

No. No, no, no, no, no!

My brain screamed in total horror as I stared at the man standing at the blackboard. The sharp nose, the deep voice, the terrifying aura of quiet control—it was him. The stranger from the hotel room.

What did you do, you silly girl?! I panicked internally, my face turning bright red as I instantly grabbed a thick economics textbook and slammed it right in front of my face, ducking down so low my nose nearly touched the desk. How can he be my professor?! Oh god, please, please tell me he didn't recognise me!

Behind the podium, Professor Lu Chen picked up a piece of chalk. He paused, his dark eyes sweeping over the rows of terrified students before landing directly on the girl hiding awkwardly behind a massive textbook in the third row.

A faint, knowing glint flashed deep within his dark eyes. But his face remained completely impassive.

He wasn't asleep when I left, a terrifying realization hit me like a bolt of lightning. He was awake the whole time.

Professor Lu tapped the whiteboard marker against the desk, his deep voice carrying a quiet amusement that only I seemed to catch.

"Welcome to class, everyone. I am Professor Lu. Let's begin."