Chapter 31: “He’s hot.”
In the dead of night, Liang Xun pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced at the clock on his desk—2:20 a.m. He closed his laptop, planning to get a few hours of sleep before heading to the office.
The study was brightly lit, but from outside, the faint sound of the doorbell chimed. The crisp ring lasted only a few seconds before stopping.
Liang Xun dropped his hand, his long, strong fingers tapping once on the desk. He stood up and headed downstairs.
The figure of a young man appeared on the entryway screen. Liang Xun’s eyesight was excellent; even with the night-vision camera, he could see the person’s features clearly. With his hands in his pockets, he quickly crossed the distance and opened the door.
The courtyard light cascaded down from above the young man’s head. His shoes were covered in snow, and a dusting of it had settled on his shoulders. There was no telling how long he’d been standing out there. His pair of light-colored eyes were startlingly bright.
When the door opened from the inside, Jian Huaiyi was a little surprised. He had rung the bell on a whim, not really expecting an answer. After all, at this hour, Liang Xun was usually fast asleep.
“You’re still up?”
Liang Xun’s gaze swept over him. It was only a few degrees outside. “Was about to sleep,” he said quickly, ushering the man inside.
With a click, the living room lights flickered on.
Jian Huaiyi sank into the sofa, the soft cushions giving way beneath him. As the heating kicked in, warmth slowly seeped back into his stiff limbs.
Home sweet home.
Thinking back on what he’d done during the day, Jian Huaiyi couldn’t help but curse himself for being such an idiot.
Liang Xun boiled some water, poured it into a glass, and added a splash of cool, purified water to bring it to a drinkable temperature.
He handed it to Jian Huaiyi. “Weren’t you on a business trip? What’s with the sudden return?”
Jian Huaiyi took a gulp. His eyes flickered. “They went back on their word,” he said flatly. “Broke the contract at the last minute, so the partnership’s off.”
“Which company?” Liang Xun asked.
Jian Huaiyi cradled the glass, warming his hands, and said without a hint of emotion, “That’s classified.”
Liang Xun didn’t press further.
Having already showered at his older brother’s place, Jian Huaiyi changed into his pajamas and got ready for bed. The moment he lay down, the bedding enveloped him, warming him down to his very core. The air in the room was a mixture of two clean scents: one was like little daisies, and the other was a faint, cool, woody fragrance.
He suspected there had to be catnip mixed in the air here. How else could he explain tossing and turning for hours at his brother’s, only to feel an overwhelming wave of drowsiness the second he hit this specific bed in this specific room?
His distinct eyelashes fluttered, casting a small shadow. A moment later, Jian Huaiyi’s eyes drifted open again, still hazy with sleep.
Something was off. Something was still not right.
Lifting his head from the pillow, he saw Liang Xun still standing by the doorway, finishing a call. Jian Huaiyi’s lips pressed into a thin line.
He’d found what was wrong.
It was just missing a big ball of fire.
Liang Xun ended the call, slipped his phone into his pocket, and turned to walk into the bedroom.
He was met with a pair of eyes that seemed to shimmer in the dim light.
Jian Huaiyi was propped up, staring straight at him. His pale irises held a delicate glint, his lips were a rosy red, and a single lock of hair was sticking up oddly from the back of his head.
It felt like a cat had just swiped a paw across Liang Xun’s heart. He walked forward, and Jian Huaiyi’s gaze followed his every move.
Liang Xun looked down, his dark eyes focused as he undid the two buttons he had mismatched on his shirt and carefully refastened them.
…
When Liang Xun finally settled onto the other side of the bed, a wave of warmth washed over. Like a little robot that just had its batteries installed, Jian Huaiyi lay back down properly, his arms resting stiffly at his sides.
As he glanced at the person next to him, Liang Xun felt his chest swell, as if it had been stuffed with cotton, melting into something impossibly soft.
He pressed his lips together, his palm clenching and unclenching. Finally, he shot his arm across the pillow barrier between them, his hand finding the back of Jian Huaiyi’s. He laced their fingers together, enclosing it in his own.
Jian Huaiyi’s body went rigid. The tip of his pinky finger lightly scratched against Liang Xun’s palm, which only made Liang Xun’s grip tighten. With his other hand, he covered his eyes as his breathing quickened.
It’s over.
Jian Huaiyi had a very strong premonition.
It’s all over.
“Loving a straight guy never ends well!” Zhao Yanting’s howl echoed through the entire private KTV room. “Never ends we~ll, oh!”
Jian Huaiyi sat on the sofa to the left. The stage lights swept across his face, highlighting the cold glint hidden at the edges of his upturned eyes.
The brandy wasn’t bitter. In fact, it left a faint, cool, woody taste on the tip of his tongue.
Zhao Yanting, now fully in his element, danced his way over to Jian Huaiyi and slung an arm around his shoulder, crooning with deep emotion, “Jian’er, sing with me! Loving a straight man… oh~, it never ends well!”
Jian Huaiyi: “…”
“No.”
Seeing he wasn’t going to budge, Zhao Yanting didn’t insist. He turned to harass Jiang Yue instead. Jiang Yue was in the middle of a sweet duo-queue with his boyfriend, but when Zhao Yanting jostled his arm, his phone screen went black.
“Zhao Yanting, what the hell was that for?!”
Jiang Yue had been showing off his gaming skills to his boyfriend. This interruption had not only cost him the game but also his pride. He’d been killed by a jungle mob, of all things. He couldn’t even imagine how hard the person on the other end was laughing.
“Pfft-hahahahaha—” Zhao Yanting glanced at the screen and couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “You noob, you got solo-killed by a mob! Hahaha!”
Jiang Yue took a deep breath, shot Zhao Yanting a deceptively pleasant look, unfastened his cuffs, and set his phone down on the table.
“Zhao Yanting!”
I can lose the game, but Zhao Yanting must die.
Zhao Yanting deftly dodged behind Jian Huaiyi, who sat like an immovable pillar between them. Unable to get to him, Jiang Yue furiously ruffled Zhao Yanting’s hair a couple of times before storming back to his seat.
If he couldn’t handle Zhao Yanting, someone else could.
When three people go to karaoke, one of them is bound to be a mic hog. Zhao Yanting sang nonstop for nearly an hour, as if he’d never seen a microphone before. His song selection was also… quite telling.
Reborn as a Straight Guy’s Wife
You Fell in Love with a Straight Guy
Just One Hug, Mr. Straight
…
Eventually, even Jiang Yue began to suspect this was intentional. He kicked the mic hog, who was taking a brief intermission. “Ting, you got something on your mind?”
Zhao Yanting looked up, his charming eyes curving into his usual roguish smile.
“Dude, you’re being gross,” Jiang Yue said.
“Your dad here is just showing some concern.”
Zhao Yanting swatted away the hand messing with his hair. His voice was a little hoarse from all the singing. “Piss off.”
Jiang Yue wasn’t annoyed. He just grinned. “My son’s all grown up. Even got a rebellious phase.”
Zhao Yanting couldn’t be bothered to reply.
Jian Huaiyi watched them thoughtfully. He grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the floor, set it on the table, and pushed it toward Zhao Yanting. Zhao Yanting glanced up, his eyes meeting Jian Huaiyi’s through the dim, colorful lights.
“For your throat,” Jian Huaiyi said.
Zhao Yanting’s lips twitched. He was about to say his throat was made of steel, but then he caught Jian Huaiyi’s all-knowing gaze and muttered through gritted teeth, “That idiot Jiang Yue.”
Jiang Yue: ?
He unscrewed the cap and chugged nearly half the bottle.
Panting slightly, Zhao Yanting tossed the bottle aside, grabbed the microphone, and started singing again. His voice, once clear, grew progressively raspier as he belted out the lyrics like his life depended on it.
Jiang Yue finally realized something was seriously wrong. He leaned over to Jian Huaiyi and jutted his chin toward Zhao Yanting’s back. “What’s with him?”
Jian Huaiyi took a slow sip of his bright blue drink. In a word: “Heartbreak.”
Jiang Yue was stunned. He shot several skeptical glances at Zhao Yanting before asking a question from the bottom of his heart. “No, seriously, when was he even in a relationship?”
Jian Huaiyi paused.
True. You couldn’t really call it heartbreak.
“Unrequited,” Jian Huaiyi amended.
Putting together Zhao Yanting’s playlist, Jiang Yue’s mind spun for a moment until the pieces finally clicked.
“No way. Ting’s bent now, too? And he’s into a straight guy?!”
“Pretty much,” Jian Huaiyi replied calmly.
Jiang Yue looked like he’d been struck by lightning. “Holy shit, just the other day he was going on about his dream girl. How did he turn gay in just a few days? Don’t tell me we influenced him.” He actually began to reflect, finding the news that Zhao Yanting liked men utterly bizarre. He’d known the guy since they were kids and could have sworn he was straight through and through—he loved pretty girls and would even blush when talking to them.
Jiang Yue scratched his head, a ridiculous feeling of having corrupted his friend washing over him. A thousand words welled up inside him, only to come out as a single, earnest plea: “A-Xun really needs to stay true to himself.”
Jian Huaiyi: “…”
Speak of the devil. There was a knock on the door. Jiang Yue heard it and got up to open it.
Jian Huaiyi’s eyelids lifted, his gaze flicking toward the entrance. His hand, halfway to his glass, froze in midair before he quickly set it down.
Jiang Yue smiled. “A-Xun, you’re here.”
Liang Xun looked at him and gave a polite nod. “Yeah.”
It felt strange, but Jiang Yue reminded himself that Liang Xun still had amnesia. This level of civility was probably the best he could hope for.
“You’re here to pick up Huaiyi?” Jiang Yue asked, knowing full well the answer.
Liang Xun didn’t reply, his eyes already zeroing in on the young man on the sofa. He looked the same as always, if you ignored the faint touch of red at the corners of his eyes.
Jian Huaiyi’s head was a little fuzzy, but it didn’t affect his basic reasoning.
For instance, he knew Jiang Yue was the one who called Liang Xun.
So gullible.
Coming just because someone called.
Isn’t he busy with the company? Doesn’t he have other things to do?
Jian Huaiyi pinched the bridge of his delicate nose, muttering to himself internally as he followed Liang Xun out.
Winter was long. It had already snowed several times, the new layers blanketing the old before it had a chance to melt.
“Why haven’t you gotten your memory back yet?” Jian Huaiyi mumbled under his breath.
It was a quiet murmur, but on the silent street, it was perfectly clear. Liang Xun heard every word.
He knew Jian Huaiyi was just concerned.
He had been trying—hypnotherapy and other methods—to awaken his memories, and it was starting to work. He’d remembered some things from their university days.
Back then, he really hadn’t been a good partner. He recalled how they were with each other: practically inseparable, going to class together, eating together, going home together. Sometimes they even slept in the same room, though in separate beds. But they had never been like a normal couple. No hand-holding, no hugs, no kisses. There was always a barrier, making them seem more like extremely close friends than lovers.
At that thought, Liang Xun expertly reached out, captured Jian Huaiyi’s hand, and tucked it into his coat pocket. His hand was warm, while Jian Huaiyi’s was cold—cold like the snow on the ground, and cold like the impression he gave people. A piece of ice that was hard to warm up.
But he was hot. Even if he couldn’t warm it up right now, as long as he kept holding on, he eventually would.
“What songs were you singing in there?” Liang Xun asked casually.
Jian Huaiyi’s lips, chilled by the wind, pursed slightly. He answered in a tone, “Don’t Fall for a Straight Guy, Goodbye, Mr. Straight…”
Liang Xun: “…”
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