Hervey Bay in Os Country is famous for its mild climate, shallow sandy beaches, and the annual whale watching season.
The temperature here was slightly cooler compared to Pine City, but not by much.
Ye Lian carried some food in his hand, walking slowly toward Jiang Xiaoyu, who was standing by the seaside. The private tour guide followed diligently and somewhat fanatically behind this world energy giant, chattering on about local specialties. But Ye Lian’s attention was entirely on the clear, handsome, and slender figure ahead.
Jiang Xiaoyu had his back to him, wearing a white shirt and light khaki shorts. The hem of his clothes fluttered slightly in the sea breeze, inadvertently revealing a slender and well-proportioned waist.
Hearing the sound, the young man turned his head, his face handsome, his eyes like clear green pools, brimming with sparkling laughter: “It’s so beautiful here! It’s my first time seeing the ocean.”
Ye Lian handed him the sandwich: “Mm, our Officer Jiang has another first experience.”
Jiang Xiaoyu took it and bit into it; the delicious flavor spread in his mouth, making him squint his eyes in satisfaction.
Ye Lian’s gaze fell on Jiang Xiaoyu’s side profile tousled by the sea breeze, his eyes soft and focused: “The yacht will dock soon. During this season, humpback whales often appear in the nearby waters; with good luck, we might even encounter a blue whale.”
Jiang Xiaoyu held the sandwich, taking another absentminded bite as he stared down at the deep blue sea below. He said, “Thank you for bringing me here.”
“I remember I said you don’t need to thank me.”
Ye Lian crossed his fingers, resting his elbows relaxedly on the railing, squinting toward the sea.
His expression was leisurely, with a rare laziness and relaxation that made Jiang Xiaoyu unable to look away.
He steeled himself and asked, “You said everything you do is your choice, but why did you choose to be so good to me?” Jiang Xiaoyu clutched the sandwich wrapper, his heart filled with tension and anxiety—more than that, an expectation he himself hadn’t noticed.
Ye Lian turned his face slightly toward him, his amber pupils filled with sunlight. He chuckled lightly, his handsome appearance making Jiang Xiaoyu’s face heat up.
He didn’t want to hide anymore. Mustering his courage, he asked, “Why? Do you… want to date me?”
The air seemed to freeze; every second of waiting for a reply stretched infinitely. Jiang Xiaoyu gripped the rope on the railing tightly, as if awaiting judgment.
For a moment, Jiang Xiaoyu felt something surging in Ye Lian’s eyes as he stared at him fixedly, his soul seemingly pulled toward him. He didn’t speak for a long time until an assistant hurried over from afar, breaking the near-stagnant air between them: “President Ye, the boat has arrived.”
Ye Lian seemed to snap back to life. He curved his eyes and extended his palm to Jiang Xiaoyu: “Come on, Uncle will take you to see the whales.”
Jiang Xiaoyu lowered his head. He opened his mouth, but found his throat dry. Clearing it, he said, “Okay.” He didn’t take Ye Lian’s hand and brushed past him instead.
Ye Lian half-lowered his eyes, staring at his empty palm. A few seconds later, he clenched his fingers and followed Jiang Xiaoyu’s figure.
The sea stretched boundless and blue, sunlight scattering across the surface in shimmering waves. A white yacht cut through the layers of foam, leaving a trail of snowy wake.
Jiang Xiaoyu stood at the bow, his eyes watering from the sea breeze. A massive black shadow flashed ahead in the water—a humpback whale over 10 meters long, frolicking with its calf.
It opened its enormous mouth, taking a deep breath before spouting a water column several meters high. A rainbow danced in the spray, and Jiang Xiaoyu’s eyes welled with tears, unsure how to describe the scene before him.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Ye Lian stood beside him.
Watching Jiang Xiaoyu stare stubbornly at the sea with wide eyes, he leaned his head closer and asked, “Crying?”
Jiang Xiaoyu turned his head away, his throat bobbing as he muttered lowly, “No, just the wind in my eyes.”
Ye Lian didn’t believe him: “Is that so? I thought…”
He trailed off, his tone laced with a hook. Jiang Xiaoyu, ever the fool, bit right away: “You thought what? That I’m sad because you rejected me? What’s the big deal? I’m not sad!” His words were tough, but his reddened eyes told a different story.
Ye Lian hadn’t expected such bluntness; it pricked his heart like a needle, stirring a fine ache. Looking at him earnestly, he said, “I wasn’t rejecting you—I don’t want to make you sad at all.”
“You’re dodging the question, which is an answer. You don’t have to say it outright; I won’t cling to you shamelessly!” Jiang Xiaoyu felt utterly pathetic. After years of steeling himself, in just these past few months, he kept crying in front of this man.
Ye Lian straightened up, grasping Jiang Xiaoyu’s arm and turning him to face him: “I didn’t speak just now not because I was rejecting you—I was going mad wanting to say yes. I’m no saint or philanthropist; what I do is my choice, but of course it comes with my motives. Our beginning was full of scheming, and my feelings for you might not even be pure.”
Seeing the red tip of Jiang Xiaoyu’s nose, he gave a bitter smile: “From the first moment, I knew your purpose in approaching me. I let it grow because I found you interesting. But as I watched, that interest changed flavor—I started worrying you’d leave once you learned the truth.”
Jiang Xiaoyu said, “But I already knew, and I didn’t leave.”
Ye Lian curved his eyes: “Yes, you didn’t leave. But I hesitated—you’re so young. I started wondering if your feelings are really for me, or if you’re just dazzled by my facade of kindness.”
Emotions truly blinded people. Unbeatable since birth, he felt timid in the face of Jiang Xiaoyu’s question.
A normal person might get angry at being underestimated like that. What did he mean by “so young”? Or “dazzled”? They were adults—how could anyone not know if they liked someone? But Jiang Xiaoyu’s thought process was clearly different. His expression turned serious, resolute as he declared: “You like me.”
Because he liked him, he was cautious. Because he liked him, he held back.
Ye Lian laughed softly, leaning down to rest his forehead in the hollow of Jiang Xiaoyu’s shoulder: “Yes, I like you.” Feeling Jiang Xiaoyu about to speak, he straightened and pressed his thumb to Jiang Xiaoyu’s flushed lips: “I know clearly what I want—you. But I don’t want to scare you. So I let you choose. Fly high or crash down, all I need you to know is that I’ll always be here.”
The man’s gaze was so gentle it shattered Jiang Xiaoyu’s heart. He knew he had feelings for Ye Lian, but were they as deep as Ye Lian’s for him?
In that moment, he suddenly understood Ye Lian’s earlier silence—even the strongest person felt at a loss when facing true feelings.
Jiang Xiaoyu suddenly smiled, pulling down Ye Lian’s hand, his eyes full of joy: “I’ve made my choice. I want to be with you. You’re worried your feelings aren’t pure, but mine aren’t either. You’re so handsome, with top-tier family, knowledge—everything. If we nitpick reasons for liking someone, no one could face you and stay pure.”
“I want to be with you! Now! Right now! Immediately!”
Jiang Xiaoyu rarely smiled like this—at least, it was Ye Lian’s first time seeing it. He kept saying he wasn’t pure, but no one was purer than him.
Ye Lian sighed: “I’m totally defeated by you.”
The sea breeze tousled their hair. Jiang Xiaoyu gazed foolishly at the other man, wondering what came next. Are we in a real boyfriend-boyfriend relationship now? Should I kiss him? His mouth? His lips look so soft… But his eyes are pretty too… His nose too…
Staring at the man’s face for the right angle, he saw the tour guide rush out from the cabin: “Look! There’s a blue whale!”
Jiang Xiaoyu followed the guide’s pointing finger. In that instant, he couldn’t describe the shock in his heart.
Its massive body filled his entire view—one blue whale was an entire ocean.
From its free, fearless form, Jiang Xiaoyu drew strength. He turned his head, meeting Ye Lian’s face head-on. The man had been watching him the whole time. Without hesitation, he tilted his head up and kissed him.
There wasn’t much sensation at first—just that the man’s lips were really soft, like a ball of cotton. Until Ye Lian pinched his chin, parting his lips, and chuckled: “Open your mouth. Close your eyes.”
He closed his eyes; a scorching tongue tip probed into his mouth, wet and slick. Something slid from their touching lips down his neck.
The blue whale rolled, splashing towering waves that rocked the boat. Jiang Xiaoyu felt dizzy with heat.
Ye Lian gripped his hand tightly in his palm.
After confirming their relationship, Jiang Xiaoyu felt their interactions hadn’t changed much—the man had just become more proper, insisting on separate rooms for sleeping, no longer teasing with embarrassing words or calling himself “Uncle.”
Little did he know how hard Ye Lian was holding back.
Before they were together, he’d loved teasing the little one, delighted by his shy, annoyed reactions. Now that they were, he didn’t dare joke casually, fearing he’d lose control and give in to his urges if he saw that adorable look again.
Especially the day before leaving, when they turned into cat forms and strolled on Ye Lian’s private island.
This little guy’s cat form wasn’t even as tall as Ye Lian’s legs, yet he kept staring at Ye Lian’s butt, dying to touch it.
Big Tiger lay properly on the ground, with a curly-furred little kitten crawling all over him, stepping everywhere.
“The cat touched a tiger for the first time!” Jiang Xiaoyu excitedly compared his own cat paws to Ye Lian’s tiger paws, fumbled around for a bit, then went to tug at the other’s tail. “So thick!”
He bit down. “Fragrant? Why does your tail smell so good? Did you spray perfume? No, people say tigers have a musky scent—is this it?”
His little paws flipped around at the tip of the tail. Ye Lian was tormented until his fur stood on end all over. He’d previously worried that this little thing wasn’t lively enough, but now he felt he was too damn curious. With a flip of his big paw, just as the little claw was about to touch the no-touch zone, he picked him up right in front of his eyes and stuck out his tongue to lick his fur clean.
This was Ye Lian’s first time doing something like this, but not for Jiang Xiaoyu. He’d been licked plenty by the old cats and was totally used to it. He sprawled belly-up in front of Ye Lian, letting that broad tongue roll over him a few times until all his fur lay flat and smooth.
He purred as he climbed up, placing both paws on Ye Lian’s belly and rhythmically kneading—press and release—while meowing in his mouth, “The cat will lick you too.”
But with his tiny mouth, even if he licked until saliva flew everywhere, he could only smooth down one little patch. The White Tiger sighed, resting his head on a rock with an expression that screamed utter world-weariness.
One cat and one tiger spent a wonderful season in Os Country. By the time they returned to Pine City, the annual National Day holiday had also come to an end.
Jiang Xiaoyu stared at the woman kneeling before him, begging bitterly, and for a moment, he didn’t know how to react.
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