For as long as he could remember, Xue Yang was nothing more than a male courtesan.

When he was four, he simply woke up in the brothel in his fancy clothes that honestly did not look like something even the biggest VIPs of the brothel could afford. That was one of the main reasons for his gut feeling of not belonging. When he tried to leave the room, a guard would stop him outside with a gun ready to shoot him anywhere on his body. Then, he would be told to wait for his orders and for the boss to register him in the records. The second reason he felt something was off was just out of pure instinct.

Xue Yang was forced to take his first customer half a year after he found himself in the brothel, when he was probably five years old. Probably, because he didn't even really know his own age. The other members and guards told him. The six months that he didn't have to take any customers was the period of time he was given to learn and prepare himself for the real deal.

Xue Yang hated it. He felt that the courtesan life wasn't what he was supposed to be living. Maybe it was the clothes he had on the first day, or his natural and habitual mannerism that was self-admittedly extremely refined and practiced--too much for someone who was supposed to be servicing others. Then again, Xue Yang also made himself believe that he was raised and trained to be that type of courtesan. Men and women, after all, had a wide variety of tastes and wants, and he wasn't sure of his life before he woke up on that hard bed in the otherwise empty room.

His first night was spent with an exclusive customer, one of the brothel's VIPs. After that, he was one of Xue Yang's regulars. The man was a big man. Big, as in he was muscular and strong. There was not an ounce of fat on his body. Proud of his build, the man did not like holding himself back and thus it was an immensely painful first time for Xue Yang.

Though he was one of Xue Yang's regulars, the man was no romantic. He simply treated Xue Yang as a sex toy with no sense of delicacy, and the brothel prohibited leaving marks of any kind on their products as there were other customers to please otherwise he probably would have been the type to mark his claim and territory as the dominant alpha male type of man he was.

He was a top VIP member because he paid the brothel tons of money to keep quiet about his preference for pretty little boys. The man was already married. A man like him, of course, would never marry for love. It was purely business. As for how Xue Yang knew, the man told him one night on a whim.

Though it was a torturous first time, he wasn't the worst customer Xue Yang had to serve. After all, the only thing he did was shove it inside him in various positions each night.

Some of his other customers enjoyed multiple partners alongside himself and they were forced to kiss or pleasure each other in front of the customer, or sometimes he himself had to indulge multiple customers in one night at the same time. All in all, Xue Yang hated his life.

Even though he was born into it.

At least, that's what he always made himself believe. Who would want to believe otherwise? He would rather have been born into that kind of life so that everything made sense. That way, at least he knew that he had no other alternative. That he belonged there even if he felt that everything was wrong.

If he wasn't supposed to be there, then why was he? Xue Yang wanted to say he was strong for being a courtesan even though he was disgusted by the touches of those strangers every night. No matter who they were or how many times they visited him, Xue Yang considered them strangers. He wanted to say he was strong for being able to endure doing something he abhorred.

But deep down he knew. He was weak because he didn't want to consider the possibility of having been forced into that kind of lifestyle. Obviously, it was because if he belonged somewhere else, why didn't anyone ever come for him?

Even if he didn't remember anything from before he was four, that didn't mean he didn't have people outside who did.

Yet, nobody came for him. For twelve years.

Some of his customers were conscientious and used protection, but most were like his first customer. They chose to directly penetrate for a countless number of reasons that Xue Yang couldn't be bothered about.

Actually, he would have preferred to contract an STD and die. At least he wouldn't have to live anymore. Or pass one onto another man, so that he would have one less customer to serve. But, as Xue Yang grew to learn, life was cruel and he had to endure for twelve whole years with every night worse than the next.

Not once did he find pleasure in that kind of life style. Something in him wanted to just end it all, but he never did. Why?

Even he didn't know why he couldn't just slit his wrists with broken shards of his mirror, bite his tongue off, or ram himself into a column inside of the building that was his cage.

But one day after those twelve years, something changed. A young boy who was dressed quite well was brought into his room to stay.

Perhaps it was because they were around the same age, was what Xue Yang conjectured at first, but quickly tossed that thought out because there were other sixteen-year-old courtesans in the brothel--which he also detested by the way.

No matter what time or day the other courtesans would pick on him and make his life so much worse. For twelve years, not a single coworker wanted to associate with him in even a semi-friendly manner. It was no surprise, as he did steal all of their wealthiest customers. But that had nothing to do with him. Rather, Xue Yang hated them even more for being unable to keep their customers to themselves.

It's not like he was particularly good in bed, especially his first few times. After the long time he spent in the brothel, Xue Yang could only call himself highly experienced. But that was a given. Every night, there was no rest for him. Some days were also occupied, even though the daytime was supposed to be his rest period.

But he digressed. The ash-brown short haired teen that intruded on him in his room was obviously a rich man's son. At first, he complained about staying in the same room as a "whore," but similar to how Xue Yang was treated in the beginning he was shut up when the gun was pointed at him.

Afterward, Xue Yang found out from the gossiping that the boy was the incoming president's only son and heir, Ye Xia. He was kidnapped and held hostage in the brothel.

Though it was clearly a hostage situation, the owner of the brothel obviously had other plans by sending him to Xue Yang's room. After all, Xue Yang had to serve customers that night.

When the customer invited himself in, at first he was excited because he thought he had the honors of violating the future president's dear son. Unfortunately for him, Xue Yang had to persuade him to drop the thought and consoled him as best as he could at the sight of Ye Xia's pitiful state. In the end, the man indulged in some exhibition play. He was especially passionate that night, trying to teach Ye Xia the ropes because Xue Yang ended up explaining that Ye Xia was still in training in order to postpone his first time.

Ever since then, rather than grateful, Ye Xia viewed Xue Yang with disgust. Xue Yang didn't care as he was also highly disgusted with himself. He understood the boy the best.

Xue Yang was dirty, tainted.

Two days after Ye Xia arrived, he was brought into the storage room by a group of guards who wanted to have some fun with him. It was allowed, of course, otherwise they wouldn't have had the guts to do such a thing. At the sight of the sallow yet still outstandingly beautiful Xue Yang standing right beside Ye Xia, the guards couldn't help but to also invite the platinum blonde boy, who was already used to pleasuring the guards during the day.

Yet, before they could strip the blue-green-eyed boy, Ye Xia enraged one of the bulky men, who at first was just yelling profanities back.

Finding the situation boring and pointless, Xue Yang was slightly annoyed by the boy's resistance. If he had just relented, they could get everything done and over with, then return to the room to relax until night came around.

At the corner of his eyes, he noticed a slight movement of the door. No, it was quite an exaggerated movement, actually. It was just that everyone else in the room was so occupied with the other boy that nobody noticed when the door to the storage room was opened wide with a tall and intimidating man in casual clothing standing right in the middle of the doorway.

The devilishly handsome man was wearing a dark gray dress shirt, the top three buttons were left undone displaying his defined collarbone to the world. The shirt wasn't tight-fitting but it did nothing to hide the powerful and bulging torso beneath it. Xue Yang had to admit that the man at the doorway had a superior body to all of his customers.

The intruder's almost golden, hazel eyes carelessly glimpsed at everyone in the enclosed room and immediately caught Xue Yang's gaze that was fixated on him. The gears in Xue Yang's brain turned and he promptly decided that he wanted to leave this place even if that man was only there for the other boy.

Lifting his chin somewhat as if ready to yell out at any moment, Xue Yang threatened him with his sharp and clear pale jade eyes. He knew it wasn't the most effective way but there wasn't another way he could negotiate.

As soon as the man looked away, Xue Yang also took a look at the situation in front of him only to be pushed to the front by Ye Xia, who had cowered behind him. The angered man who was now infuriated to the point of his face turning red and blowing steam had lashed out, attempting to stab him dead through the heart.

Before he could even blink, with a high pitched whistle through the air, an army knife lodged itself into the grunt's head as he fell to the floor, the life sucked out from his body.

Then, in less than half a second he found himself along with Ye Xia in the assailant's arms as he ran out of the room and into the car waiting outside.

Throughout the run, he wondered why the other man decided to save him. When the guard went in for the kill, the other man could have just stood back and watched him die but he didn't. For all he knew Xue Yang was just another courtesan and Xue Yang knew that his savior was not a "good" guy. He could tell by the look in his eyes that the man did not care about them at all, only completing a mission.

Yet, even though he was aware of the other's indifference, Xue Yang was happy.

For the first time, he was happy.

Even now, when he remembered who he was, nothing could change the fact that Feng Xinya was the only one who took him out of that hell hole.

But it still hurt to know that despite his status, no one had come for him for the past twelve years. His parents loved him. There was no doubting that. It's just that they didn't even know he was there.

"Xue Yang" had died on that day twelve years ago.

The Xue family was the top family in A country. He was the only son and heir to that family and was heavily doted on by both parents. Xue Yang didn't know why they never looked for him after he was brought to the brothel, but truthfully he didn't want to know. He didn't care anymore. After all, he was no longer the Xue family's bright and pure son, untainted from all of the bad things in life.

He knew that part of him was what Feng Xinya was particularly fond of but was afraid to confront him about the truth that he was no longer that pure boy but a disgusting human who had been touched everywhere, sullied with not a single place left untouched.

He cried because the name on the list was his aunt who often visited him but he had no feelings of like or dislike towards. Xue Yang, from young, could easily perceive the thoughts and feelings of others from young. He knew she didn't have good intentions but never thought she'd be able to get rid of him and keep her parents in check for twelve whole years. To him, no matter what she did to make them get over him, he would never forgive them. He couldn't.

The life he was forced to live, it took away his future with the one who saved him.

It took away his future with the man who only liked him for the "purity" he'd long lost twelve years ago.