Jian Ci groaned dramatically, throwing his arms up. "Are you sure you guys are my brothers? Why are you exposing me like this?"
Jian Wei laughed, unfazed. "That will teach you not to drink next time."
Jian Ci sat up straighter, still sulking, when his eyes caught a flash of red on Jian Rui's neck. Curious, he reached out and tugged at the collar of his shirt. "What happened here?"
Before he could get a good look, Jian Rui grabbed his wrist, pulling it away. "It's nothing. It's just a rash."
"Oh," Jian Ci said, blinking. Jian Wei added casually, "I will get you some cream after breakfast."
Yu Xi, silent until now, glanced at the red mark and his stomach twisted. It reminded him of the ones his mother used to have when she was returned to the cell. They were deep red, and terrifying to look at.
She always brushed them off as rashes when he asked. But one day he heard the guards say Gander was fierce and rough in bed. Those weren't rashes at all, they were hickeys.
