Chapter 2
Edward Quan ·
He paused, then went on.
“After kissing you today, my body started feeling strange.
“It only seems to settle down when I’m beside you. Touching you. Kissing you.”
He murmured my name.
“Wen Qi.
“What am I supposed to do...?”
He asked what to do.
His hand showed no such hesitation, sliding from my face to my neck.
Like a spark touching gunpowder, it set everything in its path alight.
I gritted my teeth. My ears burned.
Damn it.
Was this condition contagious?
My thoughts were a tangled mess. I couldn’t think at all.
Ying Yanjue kept repeating my name like a recording.
His hands wouldn’t behave either.
“Ying Yanjue.”
I hurriedly caught his hand, looked up at that face, and steeled myself.
“One ki—mmph...”
He cut me off.
Angry, I tried to push him away. He caught my hands and pinned them to the wall.
“Mm...”
His canine teeth grazed my tongue again.
Feeling me flinch, he apologized very gently.
Then kissed me hard and urgently once more.
...
Seven in the morning.
I woke because someone was crushing the breath out of me.
I irritably peeled Ying Yanjue’s arm away and shoved him far off.
After everything last night, he’d shamelessly refused to leave.
Too tired to climb through the window, he said.
I’d kicked him onto the floor and told him to sleep there.
Apparently, he’d climbed into bed once I was asleep.
As the memories returned, I kicked him a few more times and told him to hurry home through the window.
He glanced at me and rose leisurely.
“Why should I use the window? I haven’t done anything furtive.”
I choked. He’d annoyed me fully awake.
Thinking about last night, I wanted to punch myself.
Why had I kissed him again?
“Hey, Ying Yanjue!
“Let me make this clear. I’m straight. Straight!”
I emphasized that last word.
By now, I strongly suspected he was gay.
He was using this strange illness to trick me. Trying to bend a handsome, dashing man like me out of shape.
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like the truth.
I glared and repeated with absolute conviction, “I’m straight!”
My conviction was so forceful that my voice carried outside the bedroom.
“Yes, we know you’re straight. Come wash up and have breakfast!”
The woman outside the door was trying not to laugh.
My face flared red.
The infuriating man beside me gave a quiet chuckle.
“Come on, straight boy.”
Apparently determined to take shamelessness to new heights, he wasn’t satisfied with sleeping in my bed.
Now he wanted my breakfast too.
At the table, Mom eagerly gave him half my favorite crab-filled soup dumplings.
I objected internally. Under her gaze, that was all I could do.
“Xiaojue, are you feeling better?”
My ears pricked up.
He nodded.
“Yes. I have Wen Qi to thank.”
Mom paused and looked uncertainly at me.
“Wen Qi helped? How?”
I went blank too.
What did that mean?
Hadn’t he been lying?
Wait.
Why did everyone know except me?
I hastily swallowed my dumpling.
“Just... drinking water and things... Mom, you know what’s wrong with him?”
“Of course. Fortunately, Xiaojue knows how to restrain himself and doesn’t fool around. With a condition like that, who knows what trouble he might cause otherwise?”
She patted my shoulder.
“If you know too, help look after him. Good friends help each other, don’t they?”
I drank some soy milk and said nothing.
She repeated impatiently, “Did you hear me?”
Under maternal authority, I could only nod miserably.
In the car to university, Ying Yanjue sat with his eyes closed.
Out of habit, I deliberately rubbed my arm against his.
“Hey, you signed up for the five thousand meters at the sports meet, right?”
No answer.
Impatient, I was about to nudge him again when he caught my arm.
“Huh...”
I looked up to swear. One glimpse of those dark eyes silenced me.
Fuck!
Couldn’t I cure my own restless hands?
I immediately apologized.
“Sorry. Forgot. I’ll move away.”
The moment I tried, he pulled me back.
“Don’t move. Let me hold you a while.”
Ha.
Trying to take advantage of me?
I drove an elbow into him.
“Don’t push your luck. Let go!”
But he was truly shameless.
Holding my arm, he slipped his other arm around my shoulders, lowered his head, and brushed against my hair.
“You keep rubbing against me. I’m starting to feel hot again.
“What if I can’t run five thousand meters?
“Will you do it for me?”
My eyes widened.
Five thousand meters was a death sentence!
For a moment, I was so appalled that I missed my chance to shove him away.
The car was cramped. Trapped against him, I couldn’t move.
The harder I struggled, the tighter he held me.
Furious, I bent my head and bit his forearm hard.
He gave a low groan.
Suddenly, the partition in front began rising.
I looked up and met the driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror.
He gave me an “I’ll keep your secret” look.
Then winked.
Good God.
No, sir...
Please stop inventing things!
I squirmed as though sitting on hot coals. The moment we got out, Ying Yanjue pulled me toward the changing room.
My eyes nearly popped out.