Chapter 75
Things were heading in a supernatural direction, irreversibly.
Of course, Jiang Zhuo didn’t believe a word of it. He stared at Jiang Heng’s face, those eyes…so many questions swirling in his mind, yet he couldn’t utter a single one.
He thought of the past.
Back then, Jiang Heng had also been a chatterbox, loved watching TV, and fantasized about being a hero. But he couldn’t experience the heroic deeds he saw on TV, so he made up his own stories, even saving an ant could become an epic saga.
Jiang Zhuo had suffered greatly.
Back then, trained to be the Jiang family heir, his mind more mature than his peers, he naturally looked down on Jiang Heng’s childish behavior.
Finally home and trying to relax, only to be subjected to Jiang Heng’s endless tales of ant-saving adventures, he had finally snapped.
“Jiang Heng, can you do something…useful? Stop bothering me, okay? No one wants to hear your childish stories!”
He had forgotten his outburst the next day, but after that, Jiang Heng had stopped telling him his stories.
Until one day, when Jiang Heng hadn’t come home for a while, he went to Lu Yichuan’s villa next door to look for him.
Qian Lu loved roses, and the villa’s garden was filled with them, all colors imaginable. Beneath the colorful blossoms, two figures, one big and one small, were sitting together.
The smaller one was saying, “The little ant was determined to become the bravest ant in the colony, so he packed his bag – a single, glistening grain of rice, the one you just dropped on your chin during dinner!”
The taller one said, “I seem to recall it was your chin.”
“Nonsense! Jiang Heng never drops food on his chin, but Lu Yichuan does.”
The boy, slightly taller than Jiang Heng, turned a page in his book, not bothering to comment.
“The little ant climbed the tall, snowy mountain…”
“It’s August, there are no snowy mountains. But it’s thirty degrees Celsius, so we can pretend it’s a volcano.”
“Okay…the little ant climbed the tall volcano. Oh no! The volcano is too hot! His grain of rice has popped into a puff of rice!”
“…”
Sunlight streamed down, the flowers swaying gently in the breeze.
The tall boy with the book looked up and met his gaze, his eyes crinkling with a gentle smile.
Just like now, amidst the soft piano music and the warm glow of the banquet hall lights, the tall man’s arm around the teenager’s shoulders, the light on his face, as gentle as the sunlight from all those years ago.
Lu Yichuan, his eyes curved in a warm smile, said, “Apologies, but we have something to do. We won’t be keeping you company any longer, CEO Jiang.”
Jiang Zhuo watched as Lu Yichuan walked away, taking the boy with him.
He wanted to follow them, but his feet felt rooted to the spot.
He thought, what right did he have to follow them? What reason?
He had crushed that ant carrying its precious cargo right in front of Jiang Heng. What right did he have to call back the boy who was now standing so close to Lu Yichuan?
“Brother…”
Jiang Xingbai’s voice brought him back to his senses.
Jiang Zhuo wiped his face. “I…lost my composure.”
He stared at their retreating figures. “Now that I think about it, I have no right to interfere.”
He said, “Let’s go.”
The lights in the corner dimmed, and the curious gazes retreated along with the light.
Lu Yichuan carefully dabbed at the wine stain on Jiang Heng’s sweater with a handkerchief. “How did this happen?”
Jiang Heng grumbled, “Song Chengan, that klutz, bumped into me.”
“Oh,” Lu Yichuan said.
Jiang Heng, observing his expression, his feline intuition tingling, felt like he was angry.
“Are you angry?”
“No.”
Right, definitely angry.
When they had made their relationship official, Jiang Heng had even searched online for advice on how to be a good boyfriend. He had plenty of experience as a childhood friend, but zero experience as a boyfriend.
The top search result had been—
Don’t ask, if you have to ask, you’re in the wrong.
So Jiang Heng immediately apologized. “I’m sorry, I was wrong.”
Lu Yichuan looked at him, one eyebrow raised. “Oh? Wrong about what?”
Wait…
The online guide hadn’t covered this.
Little Jiang Heng fidgeted with the zipper of his down jacket, then with his fingers, and said tentatively, “I shouldn’t have…lied about our relationship and made you…a laughingstock?”
Lu Yichuan’s expression remained unchanged. In the dim light, while no one was looking, he lifted Jiang Heng’s sweater, his fingers brushing against his stomach, checking if the wine had seeped through.
Jiang Heng shivered at his touch, his voice rising slightly. “Wh-what are you doing?!”
Lu Yichuan pinched his waist gently and withdrew his hand. “Checking if it’s wet.”
He added, “You haven’t finished your apology.”
This was never going to end!
Jiang Heng, exasperated, grumbled, “I shouldn’t have…talked to Jiang Zhuo?”
“Wrong.”
“I shouldn’t have…come here with you?”
“Also wrong.”
Jiang Heng was now truly annoyed. He punched Lu Yichuan lightly. “Are you done?! I didn’t do anything wrong!”
Lu Yichuan held his hand, his eyes darkening as he looked at the spreading wine stain on his light-colored sweater. “Why were you hiding behind him?”
Behind who?
Jiang Heng thought for a moment, then remembered Song Chengan. He widened his eyes. “Where else was I supposed to hide?”
The man’s voice was low. “Behind me.”
Jiang Heng: “…”
He touched Lu Yichuan’s forehead. “Lu Yichuan, I think you were the one who drank fake alcohol.”
Lu Yichuan frowned and didn’t speak.
Jiang Heng was incredulous. “Are you…jealous?”
“Rongrong…” Lu Yichuan said, “I am jealous. Aren’t you going to…coax me?”
He looked at him expectantly, as if genuinely waiting for Jiang Heng to appease him.
Jiang Heng’s ears turned warm as he remembered the second most popular tip from the boyfriend guide:
If apologizing doesn’t work, then coax him. There’s nothing a kiss can’t solve. If one doesn’t work, give him two.
He looked around, saw no one, then stood on tiptoe and kissed the man’s cheek, his face slightly flushed, but his tone like a seasoned playboy. “Seriously, you’re a grown man, be a little more magnanimous. He’s just a bro, a bro, you understand?”
Lu Yichuan raised an eyebrow. “I don’t understand.”
Men in their twenties were hard to please.
Jiang Heng, standing on tiptoe again, kissed his other cheek. “Would Guan Yu and Zhang Fei sleep in the same bed? Of course not! That’s the kind of relationship we have.”
“How do you know Guan Yu and Zhang Fei wouldn’t sleep in the same bed…with the lights off?”
“Lu! Yi! Chuan!”
Lu Yichuan adjusted the kitten’s jacket. “Alright, I forgive you. Want to go back?”
Jiang Heng thought about the awkward scene he had just witnessed. “Let’s go. There’s nothing interesting here.”
“I didn’t expect Jiang Zhuo to be here. The Jiang family wasn’t on the guest list. He must have snuck in using someone else’s name.”
Lu Yichuan led Jiang Heng towards the exit, then suddenly stopped.
Jiang Heng followed his gaze and saw a boy with a mop of curly hair.
Jiang Heng: “…”
Damn! Had his good bro seen him kissing Lu Yichuan just now?
Had he witnessed his…boyfriend-coaxing tactics?
His toes curled in mortification.
Song Chengan looked at Lu Yichuan, then at Jiang Heng, his face a mask of indignation, but restrained by Lu Yichuan’s presence, he could only stand there, sputtering, “Lu Yichuan, you…you scumbag!”
He glared at Jiang Heng, then, afraid of retaliation, quickly ran away.
Jiang Heng scratched his head. “Huh?”
“Did…did he just glare at me?” he asked Lu Yichuan.
Lu Yichuan’s voice was calm. “Yes, he glared at you.”
“That little bastard Song Chengan, I’m breaking up with him! Three days! No contact!”
“He glared at you. Three days seems a bit…lenient. How about three months?”
Jiang Heng turned to look at him.
The man sighed, a hint of regret in his voice. “Fine, three days.”
…
Back in the hotel room, Jiang Heng immediately took off his damp sweater.
The boy’s frame was slender and lithe, his skin pale and smooth, his waist narrow, the elegant curve of his back accentuated by his loose sweatpants, two faint dimples appearing on his lower back as he bent down to pick up his clothes.
Lu Yichuan’s fingers twitched.
Within seconds, Jiang Heng had grabbed a T-shirt and put it on, two spots of pink flashing before Lu Yichuan’s eyes before disappearing beneath the fabric as he turned around.
“Ahhh!”
Jiang Heng exclaimed, “I didn’t eat enough! I’m ordering takeout!”
Lu Yichuan poured himself a glass of water.
The room was warm, and Jiang Heng, comfortable in just his T-shirt, sprawled on the bed with his phone. “Let me see…what should I order… I haven’t tried anything local yet.”
He lowered his head, his shoulder blades slightly prominent, his neck long and pale.
Lu Yichuan, sipping his water, stared at his neck, his gaze lingering on the exposed skin above his T-shirt.
Jiang Heng tapped away at his phone, ordering a feast, then finally remembered to ask Lu Yichuan, “Do you want anything?”
Lu Yichuan was pouring himself a second glass of water. “No.”
Right…Lu Yichuan had never liked takeout.
Jiang Heng played a game on his phone for a while, then scratched his head, his fingers brushing against his newly emerged ears.
He sat up and looked at the man sitting calmly on the sofa, reading a document. “Lu Yichuan, I feel…strange.”
Lu Yichuan put down his document and walked over to him. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know…” Jiang Heng pursed his lips, “…I feel warm, and…my heart is racing.”
Lu Yichuan touched his forehead, then pressed his own forehead against his. “You don’t have a fever. I’ll ask the front desk to send up a thermometer, or should we go to the hospital?”
“No,” Jiang Heng said. He didn’t feel like going out in the middle of the night.
The man gently caressed his face, a familiar gesture, but today, Lu Yichuan’s touch felt like an electric current, making his hair stand on end, his eyes closing contentedly as he purred softly.
Lu Yichuan’s hand paused on his face, his brow furrowing slightly. “Besides feeling warm and your heart racing, anything else?”
Jiang Heng took his hand and pressed his face against it. He realized that a simple touch wasn’t enough anymore; he felt like he was burning up, his heart pounding, needing something, someone, to cool him down.
“Lu Yichuan…” He whined, his voice soft and clinging, “Touch me…”
Lu Yichuan examined his face, finally realizing what was wrong. “Rongrong…”
Before he could finish, the boy in his T-shirt wrapped his arms around his waist, his breath hot against his skin, his eyes clouded with confusion.
He didn’t know what was happening to him, only that he needed to be close to Lu Yichuan, his body instinctively pressing against him, rubbing against him.
“Touch me…”
The expression in the man’s eyes darkened, and he took a deep breath, stepping back. “Did you eat something? Or drink something?”
His sudden retreat brought Jiang Heng back to his senses slightly. “Just…just a few pieces of cake… I didn’t drink anything… Lu Yichuan, I don’t feel well…”
His mind was gradually being consumed by a primal urge.
He clutched the man’s cold cufflinks, a low, almost feline moan escaping his lips, his body instinctively seeking…
“Lu Yichuan, do you…want to sleep with me?”