Three Ways

It took Kang Jinha's sluggish mind two full seconds to ignore the tingling numbness traveling across his scalp when that deliciously warm voice penetrated his eardrum before he finally managed to extract the information from it. 

And the instant he did, his pupils immediately constricted in shock and disbelief.

What… did he just say? My drink? As in, the sparkling water he'd just had?! 

Damn those lowlives…! Hostility brewed in the depths of his blue orbs, turning his countenance dark and gloomy. 

Just when he thought that those people couldn't stoop any lower, they refreshed his view once again! He had indeed heard of cases where unsuspecting victims were drugged in a bar before they found themselves waking up in unfamiliar places with traces of assault on their bodies, but never had he ever foreseen that a similar mishap would befall him, on his very first visit at that! 

Kang Jinha's body trembled in sheer rage and frustration— until a gentle yet scorching touch closed around his arm and yanked him back to reality. 

"Calm down and take a deep breath," the man instructed. He was now so close that Kang Jinha could feel the phantom movement of his lips caressing the shell of his ear as he spoke, "The more agitated you are, the faster the drug will affect you."

There was just something so… so mysterious and compelling about that voice that before Kang Jinha knew it, he had obeyed and sucked in a deep, shaky breath to compose himself. Only then did he realize how lightheaded he had become. Even the flashy lights and the sweaty bodies around him no longer bothered him as much. His usual sharpness and caution were nowhere to be seen, and any minor emotional fluctuations he had was amplified to the max, reducing him into a despicable creature of instinct and impulse. 

He was right all along, Kang Jinha thought mirthlessly. Something was really wrong with him, otherwise he wouldn't have possibly felt this… whatever it was called toward the man behind him. 

The fault all lies on the damned drug in his system!

Setting everything else aside, what this man said was correct. He must not lose his composure, especially not in this kind of situation. It was too late to regret now that he had consumed the drug. The most he could do was maintain a cool head and try his best to minimize the damage… though he had no idea how well he could work on that. For starters, he did not even know anything about the fucking drug. 

Frustrated, Kang Jinha moved to rake his fingers through his hair, only to realize belatedly the man had been holding his arm all this time. As if… as if he was grounding him. Keeping him steady. 

The random thought sent a subtle jolt through his heart, and he forced himself to look away from those long fingers whose knuckles were well-defined through the black satin glove he was wearing. What kind of person wore gloves nowadays anyway? Did he have mysophobia or something? 

Taking a deep breath, Kang Jinha told himself to focus on the matter at hand. "What kind of drug is it? You must know it, right? After all, you…" at this point, Kang Jinha abruptly realized something important he had overlooked until now. 

Wait a minute, he had ordered the drink soon after returning from the dance floor, right? But he remembered clearly that the man was still slumped motionlessly over the counter; even his position had not shifted in the slightest! 

So how did he happen to 'overheard' the thugs talking? 

Kang Jinha gnashed his teeth in anger as the answer came naturally to him. He was lying! This man had been lying to him all along! What 'your murderous aura was too heavy that it woke me up'? It was all utter nonsense! Perhaps, he was never wasted to begin with. He had always been sober and conscious of his surroundings, which enabled him to listen in on those lowly thugs' evil plan! 

However, this little lie was nothing compared to the new revelation that dawned on Kang Jinha's increasingly heated mind. "You knew…" he spat out each word through gritted teeth, so angry that all the blood nearly rushed to his head. "You knew my drink was drugged. Why didn't you tell me beforehand?!" 

If only he had so much as given Kang Jinha a warning or a hint, things might not have escalated to this point!

Was there still basic kindness among human beings these days? Kang Jinha fumed inwardly. It's not like he would lose an arm or a layer of skin just by speaking one short sentence! 

The man stilled for a second as though taken aback that Kang Jinha could still make a logical connection in his current state, and then he laughed. Kang Jinha felt more than he heard it— in the way the man's grasp around his arm tightened ever so slightly, and the faint rumble from the solid chest pressed against his back. 

Kang Jinha hurriedly scrambled forward a few steps as if he had been electrocuted, his mind spinning into overdrive. S–Since when had they become so close?! 

Alas, his flustered attempt went down the drain when he accidentally collided into another person and lost his center of balance. Panic flashed in his eyes as his hands instinctively reached out to grab onto anything for purchase. 

Oh no, he was falling—!

However, before he could crash to the dance floor unceremoniously and make a joke out of himself, or worse, become a victim of mass stampede and injure his ankles, a powerful arm wrapped around his middle, pulling him right back to the firm, broad chest he had been trying to escape from a moment ago. 

This time it was worse, for he heard the man's mirthful voice coming right above him, closer than ever,

"Careful. Wouldn't want to bruise such a pretty face, would we?" 

The combination of the shock, the deep and velvety voice, and the overly heated embrace threw Kang Jinha's mind into stupor, so much that he couldn't react when the man pulled him back to his feet. He did it with such effortless ease as though Kang Jinha was a little doll that weighed nothing rather than a 174-centimeter man with lean muscles all over his body. Even after that, he did not let go. He kept his toned arm loosely around Kang Jinha, yet somehow Kang Jinha had a hunch that it would not be so easy for him to break free.

And honestly, it made Kang Jinha feel… something warm and dangerous… coiling in his lower abdomen, messing with the sanity he had painstakingly tried to cling onto all this while. God, he could no longer remember the last time he had been in such an intimate position with someone else. 

When Kang Jinha finally identified what he was experiencing right now, he wished he could just bite his tongue and bleed to his death right there and then. No, no, nononono, this— this couldn't be happening! 

How could he… toward this stranger…?! 

This must be the drug. Yes, this was all the side effects of the drug! He had to escape from this man – and this bar as soon as possible!

Just as this thought crossed his mind, he sensed the arm around his waist tightening, pressing their bodies flushed against each other until not even a single sheet of paper could come in between. Following that, the man buried his nose into the crook of Kang Jinha's neck and took a deep inhale. 

"You…" came his husky voice, tinged with unconcealed surprise. "What kind of perfume are you wearing? I've never smelled anything so…" his words petered off into a muffled groan, not that Kang Jinha was keen to hear the man's opinion about his body odor, for he was on the verge of having a cardiac arrest! 

D–Did this person just sniff his neck like a wild animal?! Throughout his two lifetimes, no one had ever come this close and intimate to him – no one! 

"Let go…!" Kang Jinha growled as he struggled to break free, yet it was unknown whether the man was too strong, or the drug had sapped most of his strength, all the wrestling only left him hot and panting while the man did not budge even a little. "You damned pervert, I didn't use any perfume!" he gritted out, his nails digging into the man's arm which encircled him. 

Damn it, why did it feel as hard as steel? No, not only his arm – even his chest felt solid and toned. Kang Jinha had no doubt that the man possessed six or even eight packs beneath the baggy shirt he was wearing. He had such long legs too, and his shoulders were so broad that— damn it, snap out of it, Kang Jinha! Don't let the drug affect you more than it already does!

"Me? A pervert?" he chortled, and Kang Jinha felt his breath seize at the warm puff of air grazing his sensitive neck. "Must I remind you, sweetheart, who's the one getting all hot and bothered right now?"

"...!" 

Kang Jinha swore he had never felt as ashamed as he did at the moment at having his physical reaction being pointed out. He had already died once, but now he actually felt a different kind of death looming above his neck in the form of this tall stranger with a deadly sexy voice – a social death. 

He desperately tugged his shirt down to cover his growing arousal, while the other hand was covering his face which had certainly become as red as a ripe tomato. His eyes frantically scanned his surroundings, and he had no idea whether he should be grateful that everyone was immersed in their own dance and was in no mood to pay them any attention, or he would definitely die out of sheer mortification! 

"It… it's the drug!" he sputtered out in panic and shame. The air around him seemed to be getting increasingly warm and sultry, leaving a glistening sheen of perspiration on his skin. "It's the drug that turns me like this and you… you didn't warn me—"

"Still hung up on that, huh?" the man chuckled, almost wickedly, as though he relished in each and every reaction he could pull out from Kang Jinha. "Could you really blame me, though? I took my eyes off you only for a second, and there you went gulping the whole thing down your throat. I lost my chance to speak up, what a pity…" he let out a regretful sigh. 

Kang Jinha would have truly believed that the man was feeling repentant were it not for his amused and utterly remorseless tone. Nevertheless, he could not help but replay their whole interaction in his mind. Was it true? Was it true that he acted too fast before the man could give him a hint? Alas, it was unfortunate that his mind was now far from capable of conducting such a detailed analysis. The more he tried to remain sober, the more fuzzy his head became. His limbs felt soft and uncoordinated, and his brain felt floaty like it had been stuffed with cotton, pleasantly tingling with numbness. 

And it did not help that the man who was embracing him right now emanated such an intoxicating scent, with a darkly delicious voice that seemed to ensnared his five senses…

"Look at you…" the man cooed, his voice nearly a purr, and Kang Jinha had to fight back the urge to moan. "Do you feel very uncomfortable right now? Hmm?"

Kang Jinha slowly shook his head, his breathing rugged and uneven. But even he himself did not know what kind of answer he wanted to give. After all, how could he possibly not feel uncomfortable? He was under the influence of a drug, for God's sake! And dare he specify, it ought to be an aphrodisiac based on the effects he was experiencing right now. Every inch of his body felt painfully sensitive, his nerves alight with sparks of electricity, and even the slightest brush against his skin could make him gasp and his eyes redden with tears. 

What an evil and vicious drug! 

Kang Jinha was certain he could grit his teeth and bear through this alone, but he just had to cross paths with this man tonight. 

A man who was the very personification of gasoline to his already burning rationality. 

"You know," the man added lazily, distracting him from the fire blazing under his veins somewhat. "There are three ways people use to momentarily forget their troubles: alcohol, drugs, and…" he paused for a beat before chuckling deeply, sounding as though he, too, was a little surprised at what he was going to say but decided to go for it anyway, "...sex."

"Since you've already had the former two, would you like a taste of the last one?" he offered in a low, devilish tone.