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Chief Judge Lu rarely spoke of his private life.
Seraing had never considered himself pitiful compared to his colleagues, who would all usually find a way to mention the close bond they shared with their mentors and fellow panel judges. While the other judges often had meals together and were even familiar with each other's families, the Chief Judge avoided discussing such personal matters, preferring silence over conversation when working late into the night.
Still, Seraing had gathered a fair amount of information over the years.
Although not often discussed aloud, Chief Judge Lu's family background was undoubtedly the most impressive in the entirety of the Northern City’s Intermediate People’s Court. While his mother served on a high-level anti-corruption commission at the capital, his father had been a court president overseeing a state legal institution for an admirable number of years. Yet, the Chief Judge seemed indifferent to openings and promotions into higher courts, having served the Northern City's local judiciary since the beginning of his career.
He was even unconcerned with marriage, despite his age.
The most unfortunate thing, Seraing often lamented, was that their senior judge had put on that ill-fitting judicial robe and had never focused on anything outside of work ever since. Seraing was certain that Judge Lu hadn't had a single romantic entanglement since joining the judiciary. The Chief Judge lacked hobbies and rarely spent time in public. He would only frequent law libraries, usually accompanied by Seraing and the other panel judge, giving Seraing the impression every time he saw a crestfallen visitor give up on their pursuit that, rather than research alongside their mentor, they were there to serve as two big traffic cones to deter anyone possibly interested in approaching him.
Still, Seraing had never considered himself pitiful.
It was precisely because Judge Lu's face caused so much excitement every day that any misgivings Seraing had about their monotonous mentor-mentee relationship were quickly forgotten.
Miraculously, working late nights hadn't affected the Chief Judge's full head of hair. With prominent streaks of gray stark against elegantly styled black strands, Judge Lu had maintained his handsome looks over the years. The beginnings of a frown line between his brows gave him an even colder countenance compared to his younger self—conspicuously pictured in the photo frames hanging on the walls of their building—and the wrinkles that shadowed the corners of his eyes made his pensive gaze even more aggressive.
Matched with broad shoulders kept in their prime by towers of case files that had to be transferred throughout the entire court building every day, Judge Lu's face was enough to attract admirers even in such dull settings.
Most of their colleagues in the legal field were reserved and well-informed of the code of judicial conduct; in an industry that excelled at interpersonal networking, any unethical workplace affair, especially a failed one, would be publicized throughout the entire Northern City in a matter of days. Only law students and recently hired civil servants from other courts with ambitions reaching the capital—much too young for Judge Lu—would dare to approach him with frivolous intentions.
The Honorable Judge, already in his forties, had never shown any interest in them.
Hence, Seraing was deeply conflicted when their Chief Judge Lu seemed to have done something dishonorable.
"He bullies me."
The newly hired court services assistant, seemingly unaware of the implications of this explosive statement, confided in Seraing on a Tuesday afternoon.
A fresh batch of law graduates had recently passed the civil service examination, and the assistant assigned to their panel was a young man named An Zhe, who had effectively boosted the attractiveness value of their court office on his first day. Upon first seeing the younger man—with his delicate features, aggrieved eyes, and demure voice—Seraing had almost illogically believed that their court building had agreed to film a variety show for a little idol star.
He truly did look…easy to bully.
Seraing had just never expected that his incorruptible, stone-faced mentor would also share this sentiment.
"The Chief Judge?" At a loss, Seraing didn't process this discovery until he was seated across from the other man, subjected to an accusatory glare as if he had wronged the little assistant himself.
Seraing had always done his best to cultivate a warm atmosphere with his juniors to offset the Chief Judge's aloof attitude towards them. He had arranged a one-on-one lunch with the little assistant in their shared office, but Judge Lu had a last-minute appointment scheduled with someone from the provincial court. With the Chief Judge absent from his desk—a rare occurrence—Seraing had taken the chance to ask how An Zhe felt about their senior judge, only to uncover what seemed to be a great secret.
An Zhe pursed his lips, poking at the lunchbox that Seraing had arranged for all the new-hires. "He said I should have applied for the Northern City's juvenile court instead."
Seraing hesitated, observing the younger man. "You don't agree?"
"I considered it," An Zhe responded, emotionless, "but he later recanted. He opined that the children there would bully me."
Seraing fell silent.
This sort of thing wasn't the Chief Judge's usual style of mentoring new hires.
Rather, this seemed to be…
The Chief Judge's way of flirting.
Having worked alongside Judge Lu for over a decade, Seraing knew better than anyone that the Chief Judge was curt and immovable, not sparing any room in his vocabulary for tactful and courteous words. Any opinion he shared was as direct and well-reasoned as his court rulings. For him to withdraw a statement, there was truly no precedent in the time Seraing had known him.
So this is his type.
Glancing at the younger man, a startling revelation sprang from the thoughts Seraing had never had time to mull over for too long in the past decade.
Indeed, Judge Lu was unstained and without scandal. The assistant and clerk positions in their court were female-dominated, yet the Chief Judge's behavior towards their interns and administrative office had always been professional and distant, without a hint of ambiguity. Seraing had often felt relieved by this; not only did his mentor's alluring looks alleviate the eyesore that was the crowd of old judges in their building, but Judge Lu was also an ethical, principled man who wouldn't use his face to stir up trouble.
Only now did Seraing realize that, while the Chief Judge had never behaved inappropriately at work, it may be because of this: A male assistant, especially one as good-looking as An Zhe, was a rarity in their court.
Seraing swallowed, struggling against his conscience. Ultimately, his curiosity got the better of him as he reflected on Judge Lu's forty years of bachelorhood.
"How else does the Chief Judge…bully you?" he questioned.
"He said I'm too easily winded and I should exercise more," An Zhe replied, tasting the milk tea that Seraing had bought for him with a gloomy look.
…Why did this sound like really inappropriate workplace behavior?
Not wanting to jump to conclusions, Seraing took a deep breath before his thoughts could get out of hand. Careful with his next words, he asked: "Why would he say this?"
The little assistant didn't readily respond, his eyes wandering in the direction of the Chief Judge's desk instead. As he absentmindedly chewed on his straw, he stared for a bit before telling Seraing, "I complained that he's too big."
"I can't keep up with him," he honestly added.
As Seraing's deep impression of his mentor's character—kept pristine for over a decade—crumbled to dust right before his very eyes, he numbly thought to himself: Ah.
Naturally, their outstanding Judge Lu is also gifted in that area.
Seraing was obligated to report this matter.
During the time he had spent overseeing the little assistant, he had come to find that An Zhe had a blunt and unabashed nature. Compared to his shrewd peers, he had an almost innocent temperament that made it impossible for him to be just as smooth-tongued, and their meeting earlier had only substantiated Seraing's findings. Not only did he dare to be open with Seraing about his clandestine workplace romance with the Chief Judge—as if he weren't An Zhe's supervisor, but a senior from his university days who had inquired about his recent experiences—the little assistant hadn't even considered it inappropriate to mention their more personal matters to Seraing.
With this level of trust and dependence, at the receiving end of An Zhe's limpid gaze, Seraing couldn't bear to let such an honest little assistant inevitably expose himself as a participating party in this citywide scandal, ruined by his own mouth at the beginning of his career.
As for his blameworthy mentor…
After years of treating the Chief Judge with great reverence, Seraing couldn't stay true to his principles, nor could he remain unbiased. All he could do was fanatically convince himself that Judge Lu had always comported himself with virtue and apathy towards earthly desires. For him to initiate a relationship with a younger man almost half his age, it shouldn't be due to unethical ulterior motives, but surely…true love.
They were evenly matched in appearance, a perfect pair if not for—
In the middle of his report, Seraing's fingertips—which had always been steady when typing—suddenly stalled.
…A perfect pair?
Seraing's eyes darted across the monitor, blue light reflected by the lenses of his glasses with its glare prominent now that the sun had already fallen beneath the windows of his office.
A sentence in his report stood out to him.
Inappropriate remarks were made towards the judicial assistant by Chief Judge Lu Feng, such as…
Too easily winded.
Was the Chief Judge truly…so powerful?
An Zhe was even half his age.
Dear heavens.
Half his…size?
What a significant height difference, Seraing mulled, leaning back in his chair to look at where An Zhe had been seated across him just hours ago. With the little assistant's head always lowered, his well-behaved demeanor made it seem as if anyone could eat him up in one bite. Next to Judge Lu, he appeared even more delicate; he could be kept hidden away with every hint of his flesh out of sight just by the taunt muscles of Judge Lu's broad shoulders in—
In a certain…position.
Seraing swallowed.
These were improper thoughts. Indecorous and unethical, unbecoming of a court judge—
"I complained that he's too big."
As expected, but just how…how big?
Dear heavens.
These were very dangerous thoughts.
At his age, it was inevitable that Seraing had already come to know quite a few things, often overhearing the whispered conversations of rambling, boasting drunks during his late-night outings after work. He wasn't particularly salacious, nor had he pursued an adult lifestyle like his university classmates and colleagues, but at some point, his detachment from worldly pleasures had developed into the curiosity of an outsider, unmoved yet inquisitive and observant about such details. Perhaps one day, Chief Judge Lu, Heavenly Emperor of the Northern City’s Intermediate People’s Court, would take Seraing as his most-trusted eunuch who had diligently served at his side for a decade to seek advice and ask him intimate questions; Seraing couldn't possibly disappoint him by being just as virginal in theory as in practice.
Man and man, he had even perused this kind of literature during his studies.
An Zhe had even looked towards the Chief Judge's desk when he had said those words. How could he not already be familiar with this kind of scene? Didn't that kind of look mean…a certain type of play?
Was this pair of male lovers truly so daring?
Hands trembling over his keyboard, Seraing glanced over the document once more, digging out new clues as the words he had carefully contemplated for over half an hour glowed in the darkened office, haunting him. The emperor may not be worried, but his eunuch was. Cold and self-disciplined as he was, Seraing had never expected that the Chief Judge would act so wildly in the workplace!
—I can't keep up with him.
Can't keep up, can't keep up. However uncomfortable it must be to do such a thing at work, on top of a desk, wasn't An Zhe still a young man? Didn't he just have to lie there? Wasn't it the Chief Judge who had to exert himself and work hard to bring them both to completion?
Just how vigorous was the Chief Judge's waist that the little assistant couldn't keep up?
As expected, as expected.
One was too big and capable, while the other was too easily winded and couldn't keep up.
His mentor, Judge Lu, this dishonorable judge and his little assistant, just how long had their love affair been going on? Just how had Seraing never noticed? Just how many times had they acted unscrupulously within the Northern City's judicial building, doing this and that on a desk in this very office, a stall in the men's restroom, or even in an obscure corner of the parking garage?
I suspect that…
No, Seraing shouldn't entertain such baseless suspicions. In such heavily monitored areas with so many people coming and going, it was nearly impossible to act so depraved within the court building. Wouldn't they have to be quiet the entire time, then still have to return to their desks with a neat and orderly appearance after such rigorous exercise?
No, wasn't it very possible?
The Chief Judge worked overtime nearly every day, and with a new assistant in their office, Seraing was able to leave work earlier than usual. But wasn't it An Zhe who had been significantly targeted by Judge Lu since his first day, often told to stay late and assist with case research and other drafts, even when nearly the entire building had already left?
Then, working alongside each other in the quiet dusk, in an office no longer suffocated with a frigid and disciplined air but warmed with the dim lamplight that left only them within each other's eyes, hadn't Judge Lu had ample opportunity to…act so depraved?
In such an ambiguous, amorous atmosphere, even the cold, dispassionate Chief Judge Lu could be moved.
Wasn't this…quite interesting to think about?
With his eyes absentmindedly trailing across the room to glance at the Chief Judge's desk, Seraing began to type his thoughts out rapidly, a hasty, almost reckless attitude foreign to him overtaking his fingers as words he had never once used in the workplace came to mind.
For over a decade, Seraing had spent his days writing, every word carefully considered until the characters burned into his eyes, and he could recite them once more before he lay his head down for the night. But he had never written like this before, without a monitor full of references, case decisions, statutes, and memoranda to review.
A sound Seraing had never made in his thirty-five years of living escaped his mouth.
Pressing his fingertips against his lips, Seraing stared at his screen with glowing eyes.
What a very novel experience.
NORTHERN CITY'S INTERMEDIATE PEOPLE'S COURT
To:
From:
Date:
Re: The Dishonorable Judge and His Little Assistant
Rule 3.12 of The National Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits relationships between judges and their direct subordinates. Thus, I must inform you of the unethical, scandalous escapades of a little assistant's depraved superior, The Dishonorable Judge.
THE DESK
The wood beneath the Little Assistant's back had already chilled with the sweat of his skin. Yet, he was still unable to relieve the pulsing heat of his body, even as his bones ached with the force of another man plowing into him, uncaring towards any discomfort the Little Assistant felt as he lay beneath him in the darkened room.
"Don't—" the Little Assistant heaved, gazing up at the Dishonorable Judge with tears in his eyes, lips that had been bruised red quivering with his words. "Don't bully me anymore…"
Tilting his head at the man spread out on his desk like a half-eaten meal—soaked and bitten, cheeks flushed, and ripe enough to tempt him—the Dishonorable Judge's cold gaze became even more disdainful.
"You can't take it anymore?" he breathed steadily as if to mock the sobbing gasps that came from the Little Assistant. "You're so easily winded, why don't you exercise some more with me?"
The older man's powerful waist drove forward, a series of merciless thrusts as if he aimed to bury his own seed there, deep inside the younger man. The Little Assistant arched his back, head thudding against the desk, and in tandem, a whine fled the corners of his mouth to fill the entirety of the office that reeked of sweat and fluids, naked legs wrapping around the other man.
Unable to decide if he truly wanted him to stop, the Little Assistant no longer dared to open his mouth as the Dishonorable Judge grew even more uninhibited.
THE BATHROOM STALL
"So loud." The Dishonorable Judge's voice was as cold as it could be, but only a hoarse murmur in quiet echoes returned to them in the emptied, brightly-lit restroom.
The Little Assistant clutched the other man's judicial robe, their clothing already stained with the liquid seeping from his member, aggravated by the Dishonorable Judge's ruthless rubbing. He was desperate to silence himself as much as he could with a hand pressed over his mouth, but his breathlessness could no longer be quieted, his face reddened, suffocating on his own moans.
"I can't—I can't take it…" he whimpered, legs spread apart by the Dishonorable Judge's hands as the older man pressed the Little Assistant against the flimsy stall, walls shuddering around them. "Chief Judge, you're so—Ah! You're too big…"
"Too big?" the Dishonorable Judge laughed derisively beneath his breath, fingers trailing to the entrance clenching around his cock, eager for him to move. "Should I stretch you some more?"
The air between them was stuffy, humid like the breath shared from their moistened lips. Despite having been in the stall for so long, no one had noticed their absence, nor had anyone walked in to hear the squelching noises between their lower bodies as the Dishonorable Judge held the Little Assistant in his arms, semen trickling down the younger man's legs, his thighs already rubbed raw.
"Oh," the older man responded indifferently to the wanton cry that suddenly escaped the Little Assistant's gasping mouth. He continued to dig his cold fingers in alongside his cock to press against the walls of the Little Assistant's hole, which desperately squeezed around them as if to warm them up.
He tutted, "It's already so loose."
THE CAR GARAGE
The windows had already fogged, perspiring with the heat trapped inside the black sedan parked beneath the shadows of the night. It shook intermittently, hidden within the maze of an emptied car garage, yet the Little Assistant didn't dare to make any sounds.
The Dishonorable Judge had still looked respectable and proper upon leaving the office, seeming to have no improper intentions. Yet, he had lured the Little Assistant under the guise of fetching something from his car, only to directly strip the younger man and have him sit on top of him after shoving the Little Assistant into the backseats, the doors locked behind them.
"No one will see you," he murmured to the Little Assistant, who refused to move even now, arms locked around the Dishonorable Judge's seat and his face buried into his neck. "Why don't you bounce a little? Hm?"
The Little Assistant's bare legs knelt on the cushions, straddling the Dishonorable Judge behind the passenger seat. Even with the heat of two men filling the small space, the feeling of his bare ass exposed to the windows, as if on display, chilled him to the bone, causing him to shiver. He whimpered and cowered, close to tears as he responded softly in the older man's ear, "Chief Judge, I don't dare—Please take me home..."
"Whose home?" The Dishonorable Judge asked. "Yours?"
"Yours—yours is fine," the Little Assistant answered almost eagerly, lifting his head to meet his lover's indifferent gaze. "Anywhere is fine, but…not here, Chief Judge."
"Isn't this more exciting?" The unabashed old fox rubbed the back of the Little Assistant's legs, over the bite marks he remembered having left there the night before. "Having you here after all the trouble you caused me today, isn't this what you deserve, rather than letting you rest in my bed?"
A sob, as if begging for the older man, slipped beneath the Little Assistant's hitched breath. "I'll perform well tonight," he comforted with unskilled kisses pressed along the Dishonorable Judge's neck. "I'll…I'll say all those things you told me to say. Please forgive me, Chief Judge, don't…don't torment me here."
"Are the things I do to you 'torment'?" The Dishonorable Judge asked, green eyes watching the little thing in his arms, shadowed with the darkness of the backseat of the car. "You don't like it?"
He roughly jostled the younger man in his lap, almost causing him to hit his head on the roof. With the older man's cock suddenly pounding into him, hot and dripping with the stimulating lubricant kept discreetly within the cup-holder compartment, the Little Assistant cried out, fearing the older man's unpredictable temperament as he bounced the Little Assistant on his lap.
"I love it—!" he sobbed, the unresolved itch inside of him stimulated once more. "I love it—Judge, please—!"
The Dishonorable Judge didn't listen, incited by the sounds of their flesh meeting again and again. With his...
"'—With his, '" Judge Lu repeated, waving the freshly printed sheets of paper in his hands. "With his what?"
Seraing didn't answer.
Chief Judge Lu sat at his desk, lazily leaning against his leather chair. But even with his seemingly calm demeanor, his gaze was frigid as he looked up and asked Seraing once again, "I'd like to know, just who is this depraved trash who dares to jeopardize the integrity of our Northern City's judiciary?"
With the Chief Judge’s eyes trained on him, the words ‘depraved trash’ seemed to be aimed directly at Seraing, almost causing him to fall to his knees and kowtow before the Emperor of the Northern City’s Intermediate People’s Court to beg for forgiveness.
Still, he only dared to bow his head and clasp his hands in front of him, closing his eyes as if willing himself to wake up from this nightmarish situation.
Late into the night, he had dared to write such a thing, and he had even dared to fall asleep right at his desk, with a document that should have never seen the light of day fully displayed on his monitor. He had almost jumped out of his own skin when he had awoken to the sounds of the office printer running right next to him with Chief Judge Lu standing there, more frightening than a ghost in the dark as he read aloud, “The Dishonorable Judge and His Little Assistant.”
“You’re half the age of the oldest judges here,” Judge Lu said indifferently, “yet, you seem to be the first in our court to become delirious from overworking yourself. Do you need to take leave?”
By the tone of his voice, Seraing knew the Chief Judge had left the word ‘permanent’ unsaid.
He swallowed before quickly responding, “I was wrong.”
This seemed to have piqued the Chief Judge’s interest, as he took off his reading glasses to look at him again. “What did you do wrong?”
“I shouldn’t have…” Seraing hesitated, glancing at him to observe his mood. “Speculated on your relationship with An Zhe.”
“An Zhe?” Judge Lu repeated. “What’s my relationship with him?”
This seemed to be a question that, regardless of his response, would lead to Seraing's demise at the hands of the Chief Judge. Whether it was his life or career at stake, Seraing couldn't determine just by looking at Judge Lu’s indifferent expression. He could only tentatively tread forward in an attempt to avoid any of his mentor’s hidden landmines, seeking support from his one-sided, non-professional friendship with An Zhe.
“Earlier today, he confided in me,” Seraing said humbly, “about your intimacy.”
The Chief Judge understood his hint, staring at him. “He’s twenty-five years old.”
Was this an excuse?
Seraing glanced at him again. “Indeed.”
“What did the little assistant say to you?”
Regardless, this information will reach him eventually, Seraing thought, especially with that little assistant warming his bed. If he spoke truthfully, the Chief Judge would probably fly into a rage out of humiliation. If he uttered even the smallest lie, the little assistant—honest as he was with no talent for understanding the intricacies of the palace—wouldn’t help Eunuch Seraing but would instead send him directly to his death by being completely and utterly forward with the Emperor about the untoward things he had said to Seraing during lunch.
He carefully selected his words again.
“You told him to exercise for you,” Seraing said steadily, “and he told me you’re too big for him.”
This way of speaking, wasn’t this covertly complimenting Judge Lu’s robust, big body?
Yet, Seraing’s flattery wasn’t rewarded, but only met with silence. The Chief Judge remained in his seat, motionless as if speechless. With a complicated gaze directed towards Seraing, it was only until Seraing responded with a puzzled expression that the Chief Judge glanced over the papers in his hands again.
The older man, rubbing his forehead, said with difficulty, “I told him to fix the way he speaks. He can hardly push a cart full of case files by himself, and he complains every time he has to accompany me because I’m too tall.”
Even in the face of social death, Seraing was calm. “I will hand in my letter of resignation tomorrow morning.”
“That’s not necessary.” Judge Lu’s dispassionate comportment had already faltered for possibly the first time in decades, so he didn’t bother to compose himself, only loosening his tie. He spoke rather reluctantly, “I’m not entirely blameless; you’re observant enough to have already noticed my intentions towards him.”
Keeping his head bowed, Seraing’s eyes darted to the Chief Judge, feeling moved by his mentor’s sudden and unguarded sincerity, but even more conflicted to hear these words.
Part of being on the same panel as Judge Lu meant that Seraing had the responsibility of ensuring his fellow judges were fair and unbiased, unaffected by personal interests. Even in the late-night hour, a partial draft of a brief had already begun to form in his mind, with Rule 3.12 of The National Code of Judicial Conduct highlighted as the rule of law.
Seeing that he had already been impacted, Seraing voiced his original complaint to the Chief Judge. “In fact, the issue isn’t entirely your age, but also your influence over him as his direct superior. What do you plan to do?”
Though he had fallen into depravity, influenced by some strange excitement in contemplating his mentor’s private matters late at night, Seraing knew that if Judge Lu chose to act on his desires, he was obligated to report it at the end of the day. As familiar as he was with the ethics code—having reported other judges for misconduct countless times—the Chief Judge must have understood this as well, yet he still chose to confide in Seraing, possibly because of Seraing’s own unethical mishap in writing erotica about his coworkers during work hours.
Like an irresponsible rogue, Judge Lu answered, “Transfer him.”
Seraing choked on his own spit.
Spotting the bewildered bitterness in Seraing’s eyes that accused him of using power and influence over a naive, little rabbit who had the misfortune of being targeted by an unrepentant old fox, the Chief Judge laughed.
"He's too impressionable." He provided his reasoning, speaking articulately as if he had already determined his conclusion. "He believes anything you tell him; it's unsuitable for the intermediate court."
"Then, the juvenile court…" Seraing hesitated, realizing that the older man must have long since considered this matter.
"He'll transfer over at the end of the year." Judge Lu tightened the knot of his tie, straightening in his chair as he turned on the desktop once more. "Let him learn what's right and wrong alongside the other children in the Northern City's juvenile rehabilitation program."
Seraing asked, "You've thought this through?"
"Your 'Dishonorable Judge' might be wanton and reckless," Judge Lu said to him with a smile, "but I have always been resolute in my decisions."