Chapter 14 – You’ll be manipulated

Editor: Sammy

Proofreader: Happy Bubbles

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“I…” At that moment, Hunter realised that he actually couldn’t speak at all.

Why’s Winston here?

Right now, Winston was wearing a white striped jacket and jeans on the bottom. His entire person was obviously dressed quite casually and yet, he exuded an air desire that made people want to approach him, but they were unable to do so. 

The woman stared at Winston for five whole seconds before reacting. This man was enough to drive all of the women present insane. 

“Are you guys friends?” The woman laughed and stood up, “Do you want to have a drink together?”

Hunter sighed in his heart… He was well aware of the cruelty that’d occur once Winston appeared on the scene— everyone else would be reduced to foils. 

“Do you want to have sex with this woman?” Winston lowered his eyes and looked at Hunter.

Hey! Can you not be so direct with your words!

What’s the point in asking about such an obvious fact!? 

Hunter was still speechless.

He could understand the latter facing McGrady’s provocation aimed towards himself while he was out of control and unable to speak, but now?

He just wanted to kiss a girl. So what was there to be tense about in running into Winston?

“But she’s more interested in me,” Winston stated, “Are you sure you still want to go after this woman?”

Hunter froze, he didn’t expect Winston to be so frank.

The woman wasn’t able to hold onto any more pretences and couldn’t help but be sarcastic towards Winston, “You definitely do look good, but who knows if you’re competent in that area?”

“How do you determine? With a perpetual motion machine [1]¹A perpetual motion machine doesn’t ever stop, so the comparison here is that they won’t pause during sex.?”

Winston’s voice was ice-cold.  

The coldness in his sarcasm was akin to a ruthless blade; ferociously stabbing in and cleanly pulling out. 

The woman turned and quickly left without saying a thing.

“Hey… You’re a well known English gentleman… but what you just did, isn’t it like…”

“People always equate a gentleman to restraint when it comes to expressing likes and dislikes. If it’s like this, I’m already very gentlemanly towards you.” Winston faced Hunter and stretched out his hand. As Hunter’s fingertips touched the latter’s warm palm, he was pulled by the man’s hand.

“What do you mean?”

“Towards you, I’m already beyond restrained.”

“Fine… you’re saying this as if you’ve always wanted to beat me up.” Hunter threw his hands up.

Winston suddenly bowed down, leaning towards Hunter. Noticing that Winston’s lips were about to touch him, Hunter gasped and moved back, but Winston stopped about five centimeters away from him. 

“You’ve obviously come to a bar, but you didn’t drink.” 

“Ah… yeah… well, I can drink in Canada, but… I had a sip.”

He didn’t actually take any sip, it was only that Hunter would feel ashamed if Winston found out that he hadn’t drunk any alcohol despite being at a bar. 

“Humans are always interested in things they can’t do. So what do you think about alcohol?”

“Just like this.” Hunter shrugged his shoulders.

In high school, many of his classmates secretly drank alcohol. However, Hunter never touched any alcohol as he needed to participate in karting competitions and other practices; furthermore, his father was extremely strict as well. Afterwards, when his father became a heavy drinker, Hunter developed an irrational disgust towards alcohol and avoided it even more so.

“…I quite hate alcohol,” Hunter laughed at himself.

“I know. Your purpose today isn’t to drink alcohol but to hook up with women.”

Hunter raised his hands to surrender.

“I even suspect that Marcus sent you to purposely catch me!”

“Are you celebrating your first time receiving points?”

“Yeah. Sort of…” Hunter bowed his head, feeling that nothing really mattered now.

“Let’s go, I’ll treat you to a drink.”

“Huh?” Hunter thought he heard wrong.

“This place doesn’t suit you. If you like women, there are better ones out there.”

Hold on? Did Winston want to invite him out to drink? Ah… that wasn’t right, it was to invite him out to pick up women! 

Suddenly, I’m awfully curious about the sort of bar Winston would visit!

Hunter caught up to Winston within two-three steps.

“Are there a lot of pretty women at the place that you chose?”

“I’ll advise you now that you better not focus on women.”

“Why?”

“You’re still too young.”

“You’re saying that as if you’re older than me by 10 or 20 years of age!”

“You have bad self-control.”

“What? Don’t just speak halfway, I won’t be able to figure out the remaining words!”

“You’ll be manipulated.”

“Then, if there’s no women there at all, what’s the point of taking me to the bar?!”

“I didn’t say that you can’t look at women, what I meant is that since you’re in puberty, you need to practice some restraint. Otherwise, it’d be easy to injure yourself down there.”

“Puberty? I’m already nineteen years old, what puberty?” 

“WTO’s [2]²World Trade Organization is 25 years old and just went through puberty. puberty period is from ten to twenty years old.”

“What? You’ve even dispatched the WTO! Also, you mentioned that it’d hurt below… what do you mean?” Hunter couldn’t catch up with the other.

“The front part will hurt the first time,” Winston answered.

“Then… then it’s still a blissful pain!”

“You don’t have much self-control, the front might rot off if you inevitably do it again and again.”

Hunter froze on the spot and picked his ears. 

If Hunter hadn’t heard Winston say earlier ‘rip your bird off and shove it down your throat’, he definitely wouldn’t believe that the line ‘the front might rot off’ spoken just now would come from Winston.

“Right! I have a question for you!” Hunter suddenly grabbed Winston’s arm.

But he quickly took his hand back when he remembered that Winston didn’t like others touching him.

“What question?”

“That day in the hotel… those words you spoke to McGrady on my behalf… they just so happen to be the ones that I wanted to curse from my head… could this be a coincidence?”

“You’re not very good at cursing others. Those are the three most effective sentences in this lifetime.”

“How did you know? You’ve never heard me curse before!” Hunter felt that Winston was quite amazing.

Winston didn’t answer him and instead lightly muttered, “Are you going or not?”

“Go! Of course, go!”

Once Hunter thought about how Winston was going to take him to a bar, he was full of expectation. 

Winston was clearly different from Donald’s dirty kind, his lifestyle should be more textured.

“You’re not taking me to a tuxedo type of cocktail party right?

“No.”

Winston moved to the front of a Ferrari, this time around it was a pure, black sports car. Its sleek and slightly arrogant lines created an image of an emperor of the night.

“Wow… it’s a new car!”

Being a Ferrari driver sure was great!

“Are you going to go in yourself or do you want me to carry you in?”

Winston tilted his face. This fellow couldn’t listen to any nonsense nor could he stand anyone wasting his time.

After Hunter sat in, he silently pondered when he could borrow the sports car for a ride.

“Like it?” Winston drove smoothly.

“Of course I like it!”

“Women or cars, which one do you like?”

“…Depends on what type of car, and what kind of women.” Hunter purposely exposed a childish smile. 

“The woman from just now and this car right now.”

“I know,” Hunter looked up. “If it’s a woman who’s sincerely waiting for me to come home… a woman who waited for me no matter whether I succeeded or failed… Perhaps even if I used my life in exchange, I still won’t be able to attain it.”

“Hunter.”

“En?”

The night wind brushed past his cheeks, lifting up his hair, and suddenly he felt that life would be quite good if it was this satisfying.

“You’re really innocent.”

“Innocent? What the hell!” Hunter rolled his eyes. 

Friend, did you know that when you use such a tone to say I’m innocent, it’s like being ridiculed by a god. 

“I’ll wait for you at the finish line, no matter whether you succeed or fail. Will you be willing to exchange your life for me?” No matter if it was his voice or expression, Winston was completely tranquil. 

As if they were having a rather casual conversation.

Hunter smiled and turned to look at his handsome face under the flickering streetlights. 

“Sure, I’ll trade my life for you, but you have to be good at making Mexican cheese burritos, actively satisfy me during sex, never lose your figure even after the age of thirty five, and also give birth to a little Hunter for me.” 

“There’s no problem with the first three points. As for the last one, I’ll think of a way.” Winston cranked the steering wheel, entering a small alley.

This answer made Hunter even happier.

“Hey, Vann Winston… you really are a gift sent to me from heaven.”

“En?”

“You’re so high up there, and yet you’re still willing to be friends with me, using words that others wouldn’t believe in to cheer me up. Even though… it’s all cold jokes.”

“I’ve never once told a cold joke.”

The car stopped at a warehouse bar.

Winston faced Hunter as he supported his hands on the back of Hunter’s seat. “As long as you’ll… never drive your car into some wretched lamp post and end up dying, I’ll continue to cheer you up forever.”

Hunter’s heart felt as if it was being dragged into the other’s eyes. 

There was a kind of crazy obsession that flashed by. 

Just like a dangerous omen.

Even if he ends up destroyed, Hunter realised that he simply didn’t want to wake up.

As Winston was the first person in his life to say ‘forever’ to him.

“Get off.” Winston opened the car door, his long legs striding out. 

Hunter woke up. 

The warehouse bar wasn’t conspicuous on the outside, and there was even a hint of shabbiness to it. 

But when they stepped inside, Hunter finally understood what it was like to live in a dream. 

The dusky lighting had a sense of mystery, but it wasn’t depressing. 

The bartender at the counter was mixing alcohol, his movements weren’t garish at all; regardless of the angle of his wrists or the shaking motion of the cup, he was full of confidence and ease.

There weren’t a lot of customers in the bar, however, based on the luxury cars parked outside of the warehouse, the patrons here were unlike ordinary people.

Some sat together in twos or threes and chatted, others’ huddled together and whispered while many embraced one another—slowly swaying to the beat of the blues music. 

As soon as Winston strode in, he immediately became the focal point once again.  

The atmosphere here was quieter than the previous bar, this kind of peacefulness was flowing with a secretive hint of ambiguity. Even the smell of alcohol in the air was especially different, as if a suppressed desire was □□ through the cracks.

The bartender smiled at Winston. “It’s so rare for you to bring a friend here.”

Winston only knocked on the table with his hands. “Give me a glass of Dark night.”

–

The author has something to say:

When frying eggs:

Winston: I can promise to make you Mexican cheese burritos, actively satisfy you during sex, never lose my figure after 35 and along with the advancement of science and technology, you can have as many little Hunters as you want, but you have to give birth. 

Hunter: …but I don’t want you!

Winston: Between me and perpetual motion, you have to choose one.

Hunter: There’s no difference between you and perpetual motion!

–

[1] A perpetual motion machine doesn’t ever stop, so the comparison here is that they won’t pause during sex.

[2] World Trade Organization is 25 years old and just went through puberty.   

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Notes:

nura: 

So sorry for the delayed chapter!

Unfortunately, I was held up by something irl and I have to get it settled… For now, CYNTM would be updated once every 2 weeks, till I’m able to stabilize my irl stuff, or when I have stocked up enough chapters to last. I’m really so terribly sorry about this, as much as I really do want to maintain the status quo, I’m not able to do so atm. I’m really sorry… cries… 

On the bright side, F1 just started and I’m really excited heehee!!! Do you support any of the teams? :O

• 1
  A perpetual motion machine doesn’t ever stop, so the comparison here is that they won’t pause during sex.
• 2
  World Trade Organization is 25 years old and just went through puberty.