Chapter 6 — Melting Glacier

6He forced me back to the cold ice wall of the simulation compartment, one hand on my ear, trapping me tightly. "You slept with me and then ran away." He bent down, his hot breath blowing on my face, carrying the smell of alcohol and suppressed anger, "Leave a note, saying you like 'wild' men." He squeezed my chin, forcing me to look straight into his eyes. "Lin Nhien, tell me, what is 'wild'?" I was both scared and angry. "Tham Duc Chi, you're crazy! Let me go!" I struggled, but the difference in strength between men and women made my resistance completely useless. "Let me go? Let me go find those 'wild men'?" He laughed coldly, "Don't you want to see the iceberg melt? Don't you want to see me lose control?" He suddenly leaned down and kissed me hard. This kiss was completely different from the kiss in the ice tent that day. That time, I was crazy, and he passively received it. This time, it was he who carried a fiercely burning fire and plundered crazily. The cold air, hot lips, the smell of alcohol, the familiar scent of cold pine... all mixed together, creating an extreme stimulation that made me suffocate. He removed the tie from my wrist. I thought he would let go. But he used that same tie to tie my wrists together, his movements were skillful and strong, not allowing resistance. "Tham Duc Chi!" I cried out in horror. He pretended not to hear. He raised my bound hands high, pressing them against the icy wall. After that, he took off his tie, threw it on the ground, and began unbuttoning his shirt one by one. One, two... revealing collarbones and solid chest. He leaned close to my ear, hoarsely accentuating each word: "Don't you like wilderness?" "In Antarctica, this is called a blizzard." "Lin Nhien, now, feel my storm." "Still feeling wild? Hmm?" That day, in the minus twenty degree cold simulating Antarctica, I finally witnessed the iceberg collapsing. Not melting, but collapsing. Tham Duc Chi completely lost control. Every move he made was filled with harsh punishment, as if he was punishing me for leaving without saying goodbye, and as if he was pouring out all the longing and pain I had felt for three months without a place to put it. I was trapped between the cold wall and his hot body, with no way to escape. The tie on my wrist tightened, causing me sharp pain. But this little bit of pain, compared to the shock he brought, was nothing. I saw a completely strange Tham Duc Chi. No longer a cold scholar, no longer someone who only talks about data and theory. He will say a lot... a lot of sentences filled with possessive desire, even a bit arrogant, I never dared to think. He will use his teeth to gently bite my neck and earlobe, forcing me to call his name over and over again. He would ask me again and again: "Is it still wild? Hmm? Wild enough?" Every touch he makes seems to melt me into his bones and blood, never to separate. From initial fear and resistance, I gradually fell into a feeling of trembling and confusion. It turns out, this is his true self. It's not that he's cold, but that he has buried all his enthusiasm and madness in the deepest layer of ice. And I, used the stupidest way to unearth it. This storm, I don't know how long it lasted. In the end, I completely lost the ability to think, like a small boat rocking in a storm, I could only let him control the direction. When everything was over, he hugged me tightly, not moving for a long time. Both bodies were drenched in sweat. In this icy environment, white heat rose. He buried his head in the crook of my neck, his breathing hot and rapid. A very long time

Only later did I hear him say softly, his voice muffled: "Lam Nhien, don't go anymore." "I'm wrong." "Teach me... how to love you." My tears, at that moment, burst. Turns out, he didn't understand. I just… don't know how yet. He is like a genius coming into contact with a complex equation for the first time, needing time, needing guidance, needing a variable to solve the answer called "love". But I was the teacher who lost patience, only solved half the problem, tore up the paper and ran away. I gently hugged him back with my tied hands. "Tham Duc Chi..." I cried and sobbed, "You're such an idiot." He hugged me tighter. "Yes, you're an idiot." At this moment, outside the simulation compartment, there was a rapid knock on the door from Principal Vuong. "Professor Tham? Miss Lam? Are you two okay in there? Why did it take so long?"Both Tham Duc Chi and I stiffened at the same time. Only then did we realize that we had just done something... earth-shattering.