Chapter 12
Like a dragonfly skimming the water’s surface.
Although it was through a finger, with no actual physical contact, the scorching breath poured over without reservation, making the corner of his lips burn.
The space in the car was small, and the two were extremely close, so close that Lin Zhiyan could clearly see Lu Ze’s lowered eyelashes, so close that their breaths mingled, and they could clearly feel each other’s presence.
It was over in an instant.
But the hand on his lips did not move away.
Lu Ze straightened up slightly, his deep eyes staring at him without blinking, his voice slightly hoarse, “Senior.”
Lin Zhiyan’s Adam’s apple bobbed unconsciously. As his lips moved, he could clearly feel the soft, warm touch of his fingertip.
The young man’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and his eyes unconsciously filled with a hint of moisture. His fair cheeks were as red as a blooming rose, delicate and alluring.
The atmosphere in the dim car slowly grew thick. Lu Ze’s eyes darkened, and the finger pressed against Lin Zhiyan’s lips applied a little more force, watching with satisfaction as the light-colored lips gradually deepened in color.
He asked, “Can Senior accept this?”
Lin Zhiyan was both shy and annoyed. He thought, how could anyone ask such a question? How could anyone, after doing such a thing, ask such a question in such a serious tone? How was he supposed to answer?
Lin Zhiyan was annoyed. He turned his head away to avoid his gaze. Lu Ze’s hand naturally fell, but his gaze landed on the earlobe that Lin Zhiyan had turned towards him.
Lu Ze’s gaze paused, and he slowly smiled. “Senior has a mole on your earlobe.”
Lin Zhiyan was stunned at first, then, as if he had thought of something, he suddenly raised his hand to cover his earlobe and turned around to look at him warily.
Lu Ze was taken aback by his action, then couldn’t help but laugh. “What is Senior thinking?”
Lin Zhiyan pursed his lips, his gaze darting around, not looking at him, and muttered, “How would I know what you’re thinking?”
Lu Ze slowly sat up straight, his voice leisurely, “Then Senior has misunderstood me. I really wasn’t thinking about anything.”
Lu Ze’s gaze swept over the small mole. A tiny black mole on a fair, small earlobe, the more he looked, the more eye-catching it became.
He wasn’t thinking about anything just now, but now…
Lu Ze’s hand, resting on the steering wheel, twitched slightly.
Lin Zhiyan clearly didn’t believe his words.
He vaguely sensed that Lu Ze’s inner self was not quite the same as what he showed on the surface. It wasn’t about good or bad, but he was more aggressive, which made him even more at a loss as to how to respond.
He pursed his lips and didn’t speak to him, just unbuckled his seatbelt and said, “I’m leaving now.”
“Wait.” Lu Ze grabbed his shoulder. As he looked back, he turned and reached into the back seat, pulling out a beautifully wrapped box.
Inside was a small cake.
Lin Zhiyan’s heart skipped a beat, and he looked up at Lu Ze.
Lu Ze smiled. “Dessert after the meal. I hope Senior will like it.”
Lin Zhiyan carefully took the box. When he looked at him again, his voice was much softer. “When did you buy this?”
This cake was clearly one he had seen in a cake shop they had passed by on their way to the restaurant. At that time, he had only glanced at it a few times and hadn’t thought much of it, but he didn’t expect Lu Ze to have noticed.
Lu Ze said lightly, “I contacted the shop on a delivery app and had it secretly delivered to the car when you weren’t looking.”
The corners of Lin Zhiyan’s mouth couldn’t help but curl up.
A cake might not be much, but the feeling of being cared for and kept in mind was truly captivating.
He looked at him, his gaze softening. Lu Ze’s heart also softened, and he said gently, “Senior should go back first.”
Lin Zhiyan paused, then asked him, “What about you?”
Lu Ze’s hand rested on his phone. “I have something to do today. I need to go home.”
Lin Zhiyan said “oh,” hiding the faint reluctance in his heart, and obediently got out of the car.
He said goodbye to Lu Ze and insisted on watching his car drive out of the underground garage before slowly turning around and leaving with the cake.
***
When the car drove back to the Lu family’s old residence, it was just after work hours.
Lu Ze handed the keys to the butler on the side, glanced at the house, and asked, “Is my brother back?”
The butler said, “He’s been back for a while. He’s waiting for you in the living room.”
Lu Ze’s steps paused. He looked back at him and asked with a smile, “Do you know what it’s about?”
He had been here for so long, but his original self’s family had barely contacted him. Today, they had suddenly sent him a message asking him to come back.
The butler shook his head helplessly. “The young master didn’t say.” He smiled kindly. “Why don’t you think about what you’ve done recently, young master?”
Lu Ze sneered, “What could I have done? I’ve been diligently attending classes at school recently.”
The butler chuckled and didn’t speak.
Lu Ze also knew what kind of person the original host was. He didn’t say anything more and pushed the door open. In the spacious and comfortable living room, the original host’s older brother was looking at a document on the sofa. He didn’t even raise his head when he heard him enter.
Lu Ze didn’t care. He casually found a sofa on the side and sank into it, picked up an apple from the coffee table, looked at it for a moment, thought it was pretty good, and took a bite.
Lu Zhun’s gaze moved from the document. Seeing his unruly appearance, he couldn’t help but frown and said, “Are they starving you outside? You’re like this as soon as you come back.”
Lu Ze said, “How can the food outside compare to what we have at home?”
Lu Zhun couldn’t stand the sight of him and said in a deep voice, “You’re a grown man, yet you can’t even sit properly. Can’t you sit up straight and talk to me?”
Lu Ze obediently changed his posture, muttering, “I thought you were busy.”
He took a bite of the apple and pointed at Lu Zhun. “I can tell you learned this bad habit from Dad. You don’t speak when someone comes, you have to give them a show of strength first.”
Lu Zhun was almost amused by his anger. “I’m swamped with work. Where would I find the time to give you a show of strength?”
Lu Ze said, “Then why did you call me home when you’re so busy? The old man isn’t even here.”
Their father had gone abroad on a trip, leaving all the company’s affairs to his older brother. The original host was also supposed to join the company, but he found it boring and refused.
Lu Zhun said angrily, “You have the nerve to say that to me? Take a look at this yourself.”
As he spoke, he threw his phone over.
Lu Ze took it and saw that it was a few photos. The people in them were him and… Lin Zhiyan.
Lu Ze’s brows furrowed. Lu Zhun said, “Someone emailed this to me today.”
Lu Ze asked, “Who?”
“None of your business who it is.” Lu Zhun glanced at him and softened his tone. “Logically speaking, you’re an adult now, and I shouldn’t interfere in your romantic affairs. But you can play around outside, but you can’t just casually get involved in the gay circle. It’s a mess in there, with all kinds of people.” Lu Zhun’s words were a bit tactful, but Lu Ze understood what he meant.
He pursed his lips. “Just based on these few photos, you’ve decided that your brother is gay?”
“There’s no smoke without fire,” Lu Zhun said flatly. “It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. Just make sure you don’t mess around.”
But Lu Ze said, “What if I really do like men?”
Lu Zhun frowned. “There are so many girls. What kind do you want? What’s so good about men? When did you become gay?”
Lu Ze shrugged. “I’ve always been. It’s just that you guys were strict before, and I didn’t have my eye on anyone, so there was no need to say it.”
Lu Zhun asked, “So you’re saying you have your eye on someone now?”
He grabbed the phone and carefully examined the person on the screen. “It’s this person?”
Lu Ze took another bite of the apple, his expression roguish. “If it’s not him, it will be someone else. I just like men. I can’t help it.”
Lu Zhun looked up and stared at him for a long time. Then he picked up an orange from the table and threw it at him, saying angrily, “I think Mom and Dad have spoiled you rotten.”
Lu Ze tilted his head to dodge it and said, “As if you didn’t have a part in it.”
As soon as Lu Ze said this, Lu Zhun became even more annoyed. “And here I was thinking you’ve grown up recently and stopped causing trouble. I didn’t expect you to be waiting for me with this!”
Lu Ze waited for him to calm down, finished the apple in a few bites, and said in a pleasant voice, “Big Brother, calm down, calm down. Anyway, our family still has you. Mom and Dad don’t have high hopes for me anyway. It’s all the same whether I’m with a man or a woman.”
“How can it be the same?” Lu Zhun raised his voice.
Father Lu was a very traditional person, which could be seen from his family education. He valued his eldest son and doted on his youngest son. From a young age, Lu Ze had everything he wanted. Except for not allowing him to date before he came of age for fear that he would mess around and ruin his health, he was almost given whatever he asked for. Even when Lu Ze didn’t want to go to the company and wanted to continue playing, he didn’t say no.
At this age, Lu Zhun had already started to take over the company’s affairs.
But other things were fine. This matter was clearly challenging Father Lu’s values. Homosexuality was not a good word, after all, and most of the older generation couldn’t accept it. Lu Zhun could imagine what his father’s attitude would be if this matter came out.
He waved his hand in frustration. “If you have the guts, go tell Dad yourself. Don’t make a scene with me here.”
He looked at Lu Ze and added, “And don’t expect me to say a single good word for you!”
Lu Ze sat down beside him with a smile. “Don’t worry, Big Brother. As long as you don’t sell me out first, everything will be fine.”
Lu Zhun was angry just looking at him. He thought to himself that he had really spoiled this brat. He couldn’t even tell the severity of the situation.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He simply picked up the document and continued to read, pretending he didn’t exist.
Lu Ze didn’t care that he was being treated like air. He shamelessly stayed for dinner at home and even pestered Lu Zhun to get the information of the person who had sent the email before driving away from the old residence.
Lu Zhun was so angry that he almost couldn’t read the document when he saw that he was unwilling to stay at home for a single night.
***
The night was late. Apart from the radiant neon lights, the buildings on the side of the road were also brightly lit.
Lu Ze stopped at an intersection, waiting for the traffic light. His gaze casually swept around and landed on the electronic screen of the commercial center next to him.
A trailer for a movie was playing on it, and it looked quite interesting.
Lu Ze noted the release date, took a photo, and sent it to Lin Zhiyan along with a message:
【A new movie is out. Is Senior interested in watching it?】
