While the real Shen Dan was busy slipping and sliding on ice-skates with Mikhail, Shen Dan’s carbon-copy stunt double was left to console the stressed-out Manager Wei, whose phone was presently blowing up with texts from the assistant director demanding to know where Shen Dan was. 

I’m too old for this, Manager Wei groaned inwardly. 

Frankly speaking, though, this Manager Wei was far from old. Besides being a full four years shy of his fortieth birthday, his youthful “baby face” still caused strangers to mistake him for a kid in his twenties. It was only owing to the amount of times Holland kept carting him off to weekend, some-expenses-paid trips to Pound Town that Manager Wei felt like he had already aged into a senior citizen. 

Bing! 

And speaking of that person, he had just received a text from Holland to return to the Bloyd Center Mall to pick him up. 

After confirming that this stunt double really was identical to Shen Dan in every way—aside from his habit of smiling—Manager Wei threw up his hands. He went ahead and dropped the stunt double off at the studio, deciding to let the real Shen Dan relax for the rest of the day. 

By the time he got to the mall, Holland was waiting on the curb.

Alone. 

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Manager Wei felt a pang of uncertainty. When Holland opened the passenger door, he asked, “Where is Mr. Li? Did it not go well?”

“Benny,” Holland said solemnly, clambering into the passenger seat. He drunkenly reached over and draped an arm around Manager Wei’s neck, bringing his alcohol-smelling lips close to Manager Wei’s. “Is there something wrong with me? Am I… ugly?”

Manager Wei nearly went cross-eyed staring at what looked like a purple bruise developing on Holland’s nose. He scanned the blood stain on the young man’s shirt, his disheveled hair and dripping mascara. “N-n-no, you’re very… ah, very…”

“Does my breath smell like a dog’s butthole?”

Not a dog’s butthole, Manager Wei thought, holding his breath, but maybe like a wine mom who’s had one too many… 

When Manager Wei didn’t immediately answer, Holland grabbed a fistful of mint-flavored gum from the glovebox and shoved it into his mouth. Chewing aggressively, he then flipped open the mirror in the van’s sun visor and started nervously preening. 

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The reason for his bloody nose was not exactly simple. 

Rather than getting into a fist fight with Shen Dan, after Holland had kissed Mikhail and caused the man to run crying to the men’s room, Shen Dan had stridden past him without dishing out even a single hostile word. Holland, titillated by this single-minded protectiveness, was additionally curious to see if his actions might end up spurring Shen Dan and Mikhail to get it on in a bathroom stall. He thought to himself, Maybe they’ll let me watch, at least… 

But when he got up to follow them—

Some ugly little rodent with red eyes sprang out of nowhere and bit his ankle!  

As a result, Holland ended up stumbling and falling face-first into a giant acrylic candy cane, smashing his nose and causing blood to come waterfalling out. 

How fucking unlucky was that! 

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Holland, keeping this bizarre experience to himself, continued in vain trying to address his bruised nose. Sadly, he had gotten so piss drunk waiting at one of the mall’s taprooms for Manager Wei that his movements were clumsy, causing him to smear concealer all over his face. Manager Wei could only watch him, feeling pity welling in his heart. 

Sighing, he placed a hand on Holland’s head to calm him. 

This person was still young. When it came to relationships, he knew how to take, but he had yet to learn how to give. 

“There’s nothing wrong with you,” Manager Wei said, smiling gently. “You have many good qualities, and you’re still growing as a person. These early relationships and rejections, although painful, give you the chance to learn from your mistakes and accept yourself for who you are. Listen, when the right person comes along, you’ll definitely—”

Suddenly, he felt a cool breeze on his chest. 

He looked down. The front of his shirt had been completely ripped open, with buttons now raining down upon the floor of the van. Holland was climbing into his lap, slurring, “Want sex now…”

Manager Wei: “…”

So much for that heartfelt speech.

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Meanwhile, inside the mall’s ice-skating rink, a certain exercise-averse person with a couch-potato physique was faring about as well as one might expect.  

On the south side of the ice-skating rink, Mikhail clung desperately to the railing. His ass was speckled with bruises from falling, and his lips were chapped from the cold. Somehow, he had slipped and slid his way all the way out here, to a remote spot far, far away from both exits. 

Mikhail trained his eyes on his feet. Keeping his ankles and legs locked rigidly, he dragged himself counterclockwise around the rink.

That’s it. Baby steps. Slow and steady wins the—

Bump.

Looking down, Mikhail discovered another person’s feet in front of him. His progress around the rink was being blocked by this other person, who seemed to be in a similar predicament. Mikhail, still bent in half with both arms wrapped around the railing, cleared his throat and said, “Excuse me.”

He glanced up and saw the back of the person’s head.

The back of the person’s head looked extremely familiar. 

Mikhail: “Shen Dan?”

Hair frazzled, Shen Dan turned around to look at him. He was similarly bowed over, clinging to the railing with both arms. The two side by side were like mirror images of the same incapable person. 

Mikhail: “…”

Shen Dan: “…”

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It quickly became clear why Shen Dan had come to a stop. The person who had designed this ice-skating rink must have been an honest-to-god devil. Rather than the railing extending all the way around in a full circle, there were numerous gaps. Where these gaps existed, there was only an empty glass wall with no place to hold onto.

As if staring over the mouth of the Grande Canyon itself, Mikhail and Shen Dan bunched up together at the edge of the railing. Ten feet away was the rink’s exit.

For about five minutes, neither one of them moved. 

A pair of children skating hand-in-hand raced past Mikhail and Shen Dan, laughing merrily. 

A pair of old ladies skating hand-in-hand skirted past Mikhail and Shen Dan, laughing happily.

A married couple skating hand-in-hand twirled past Mikhail and Shen Dan, laughing blissfully.

Mikhail: “…”

Shen Dan: “…”

The two men grabbed hands and, together, walked into the abyss. 

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After taking turns dragging each other down onto the ice, having accumulated five new bruises each, Mikhail and Shen Dan finally managed to exit the skating rink. Their noses were red and sniffling from the cold air. 

Still wearing skates, the two waddled over to a bench and collapsed. 

Their hands were still tightly clasped. 

“Are you thirsty?” Mikhail asked. Without waiting for a response, he disappeared in the direction of a nearby drink stand. He came back with a steaming beverage. Then, after pulling down Shen Dan’s face mask, he held it out in front of Shen Dan’s lips. 

Shen Dan gave its contents a sniff. “…Eggnog?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Mikhail scooted closer. “Drink, drink, drink!”

Shen Dan pushed away the cup with an index finger. “No.”

“Just a widdle taste?”

“No.”

Mikhail was preparing to hold Shen Dan down and pour the eggnog directly down his throat when Shen Dan leaned forward. The man put his lips to Mikhail’s ear and, stroking his wrist with a finger, said in the most sensual voice possible: 

“I’m allergic.”

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Inside Mikhail, his only remaining two brain cells turned to each other.

The first brain cell: ;oalskefjl;skdjfalfd—!

The second brain cell: 34hjbmwejkm,ewjk,. Ek,.—!

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