Chapter 26: Yielding and Coaxing
Jiang Yunian had only ever seen this cold, piercing look on Jiang Yan’s face when he was dealing with outsiders.
He knew Jiang Yan detested people smoking in front of him, but he hadn’t realized that drinking would also be met with such dislike.
Wrapped in a suffocating sense of oppression, Jiang Yunian felt a bit breathless. He timidly extended a small finger joint, gesturing in front of Jiang Yan. “Just a tiny bit… fruit wine.”
“With whom?” Jiang Yan pressed, his tone bordering on paranoid.
Jiang Yunian tilted his face up, his neck blindingly white. “What’s wrong?”
“Answer me.”
Although he didn’t understand why Jiang Yan was being so serious, Jiang Yunian answered truthfully, “It was Hao Meng.”
Jiang Yan stared at him, his gaze sharp enough to peel back his skin, checking to see if he was lying.
Faced with this suddenly forceful Jiang Yan, he felt unable to withstand it; it felt strange and unfamiliar. The air pressure around the other man was terrifyingly low. He had no doubt that if Jiang Yan were an interrogator right now, he wouldn’t even last one round—he might even confess to crimes he didn’t commit just to make it stop.
He thought about it and decided to spill everything cleanly. “We also met a Senior I know. He gave us a ride home since it was on his way.”
“Senior?” Jiang Yan seemed to crush the word between his teeth, the ending tone pitching up slightly.
“En.” Jiang Yunian lifted the bag in his hand to prove it to him, his tone unconsciously carrying a hint of grievance at being questioned. “Look, the Senior even brought us dumplings…”
Because they hadn’t been eaten in time, the heat from the dumplings inside the plastic bag had long since dissipated.
Jiang Yan glanced silently at the object in his hand. Instead of being happy that someone brought him a late-night snack, he looked even more displeased.
Jiang Yunian didn’t care about that. He grabbed Jiang Yan’s hand and stuffed the box into it. Just as he was about to say something to ease the atmosphere, the plastic bag slipped from his hand and fell to the ground with a smack, the dumpling wrappers inside smashing apart.
Jiang Yunian’s heart plummeted along with it, and he stood there in stunned consternation.
“Does Ge not know?” Jiang Yan glanced at the mess on the floor. Dark tides surged in the depths of his eyes, but his face was terrifyingly calm. “I don’t like chive dumplings.”
Jiang Yunian froze slightly. He suddenly remembered two months ago, when he had put a chive dumpling in Jiang Yan’s bowl. The other man had eaten it without a word, showing no sign of dislike at all.
He had thought Jiang Yan liked them.
Was he afraid of making him unhappy, so he didn’t dare to voice his opinion?
Jiang Yunian looked at the broken box of dumplings, his mood plummeting. “If you didn’t like them, you could have told me.”
“I did tell you. Ge forgot.”
Jiang Yan lifted his eyelids, meeting Jiang Yunian’s slightly frozen face. “I also don’t like you drinking outside with other people.”
Jiang Yunian blinked, his eyes a bit unfocused. “Oh…”
He knew now.
That airy, lightweight response made the corner of Jiang Yan’s eye twitch. He felt a faint annoyance, like punching cotton. “Does Ge think I’m making a scene for no reason?”
No matter how dense Jiang Yunian was, he sensed the other person was angry. He sheepishly shut his mouth, shaking his head even though he didn’t quite understand.
Jiang Yan pressed the tip of his tongue against the roof of his mouth, his patience nearing its limit. He finally understood that dealing with a romantic idiot like his Ge required an unconventional approach.
He took half a step back, his hanging hand looking like proof of some kind of defeat. “I understand.”
The loneliness in his eyes was identical to that day in the teaching building. Jiang Yunian panicked internally and instinctively grabbed his hand. “I didn’t mean that.”
“Then what is it?” Jiang Yan stopped walking but didn’t turn back. His voice suppressed a thick sense of frustration. “Ge didn’t come home and didn’t answer the phone. I waited for you all night…”
He swallowed expressionlessly, his voice hoarse. “Yet Ge was drinking with another man…”
“…” Jiang Yunian was dazed by this barrage of turbulent accusations, especially when he heard a very faint, suppressed choke from the person with his back turned to him. He instantly lost his ability to judge the situation.
An immense sense of guilt drowned him. He became incoherent, not knowing where to start, and after a long time, only managed to squeeze out one sentence: “I didn’t do it on purpose, and I didn’t drink with a man…”
“Then who was the man at the door?”
Jiang Yan’s voice suddenly sank.
“You saw?” Jiang Yunian was stunned. Why were they back to this topic?
“Didn’t I say it was a Senior? Hao Meng was drunk, and we just happened to meet…” He slowly regained his reason and whispered a defense, “You can’t drink and drive.”
“…”
The air fell into a brief silence.
Jiang Yunian rolled his eyes, and suddenly, a lightbulb went on. He gently tugged at Jiang Yan’s sleeve and probed tentatively, “…Were you worried about me?”
Is he only figuring that out now?
Jiang Yan stiffened his neck, his tone carrying a bit of petulance. “Anyway, Ge doesn’t care.”
“I care, I care…” Jiang Yunian gripped his hand tighter, shaking his head vigorously as he repeated himself.
The other party’s tight jawline seemed to loosen a little, but he still turned his head away and gave a light hmph, looking very much like he needed coaxing.
The estrangement and silence of the past few days had weighed on them both until they couldn’t breathe; it seemed they couldn’t hold out any longer.
Jiang Yunian assumed he was still throwing a tantrum, so he softened his voice and clumsily coaxed him: “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have made you worry. Don’t be angry anymore, okay?”
“…”
Jiang Yunian shook his arm again, lifting his small face and looking at him eagerly. Aside from this, he didn’t have any cleverer tactics.
Jiang Yan was silent for a few seconds before finally willing to turn back a little. Although his face was still dark, he was defeated by that soft, cotton-like voice. He lifted his chin with a hint of forcefulness. “Then Ge must promise me, no drinking with others in the future. Men or women, neither is allowed.”
“Ah, this…” Jiang Yunian was in a difficult spot. “But sometimes there are association team buildings or class reunions…”
It wouldn’t be good not to drink.
“Then go live with them.” Before he could finish, Jiang Yan’s expression went cold, and he pulled his hand away to leave.
“Eh…” Jiang Yunian steeled his heart and instinctively chased after him. Even though it was unreasonable, he still smoothed the fur and coaxed: “Okay, okay! I promise! I promise you, alright?”
Forget it, he thought. I have no talent for alcohol anyway. No amount of practice will help. I’ll just decline whenever I can in the future… and if I really can’t decline… I just won’t let Jiang Yan know.
Jiang Yan asked stiffly, “Really?”
“O-Of course it’s real.” Jiang Yunian lowered his head and touched the tip of his nose.
The moment he received the affirmative answer, Jiang Yan hooked his lips almost imperceptibly. He turned around, extended his long arms, and firmly encircled the person in his embrace. He took a deep breath, his voice carrying a trace of lingering fear: “Ge doesn’t know how worried I was when I couldn’t get through to your phone.”
Jiang Yunian’s whole body trembled. So, in the late nights he hadn’t noticed, there was someone worrying about him like this. The taste of being needed so intensely—something he had never experienced before—flooded his heart like a tide, bringing a sour, throbbing sensation.
He slowly raised his hands and gently hugged him back, his lips feeling dry. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Jiang Yan tightened his arms, nuzzling affectionately into the crook of his neck. His broken hair swept across the skin, creating a tingling itch.
Moonlight spilled in, crushing their overlapping shadows into the soundless silence, where only each other’s breathing could be heard.
After a long time, Jiang Yunian moved slightly and reached back to turn on the light. He glanced at the stray hair sticking up on Jiang Yan’s head and wanted to smooth it down. Just as his fingertips touched the ends of the hair, a cold sensation transmitted to him, accompanied by a faint, elusive cold fragrance.
This scent… is so familiar. A trace of suspicion flashed through his mind. He had just come back from that place…
He looked up at Jiang Yan, who was close at hand. “Did you just go out?”
The arms around him paused slightly. Jiang Yan lifted his eyelids, but the face buried in his neck didn’t lift. “En.”
“Where did you go so late?”
The silence stretched on, long enough for Jiang Yunian to almost confirm the guess in his heart, before the other party softly spit out two words.
“Part-time job.”
Jiang Yunian pushed him away a little in surprise. No wonder he had been elusive lately; so it was…
“Why so sudden? What kind of job did you find?”
Following the trail of that cold fragrance in his hair, and associating it with his unusual behavior these past few days—sometimes returning even later than himself—Jiang Yunian’s heart couldn’t help but rise in his throat.
It couldn’t be… Xiao Song’s “kind” of job, right?
Jiang Yunian furrowed his delicate brows, leaned in close, and sniffed him carefully. Fortunately, aside from the fragrance, there was no smell of alcohol. He breathed a temporary sigh of relief.
Although this scent was distinctive, it wasn’t exactly uncommon.
Jiang Yan’s expression returned to calm as he said faintly, “A classmate’s family hotel opened. They were short on hands.”
“Hotel?”
So he had been with a classmate all this time. It sounded like they came from a wealthy background.
Jiang Yunian couldn’t help but think of what Jiang Yan said in the teaching building that day, about feeling like a burden. He unconsciously tightened his grip on the hem of his clothes. “I picked you up; it’s right for me to support you. I never thought you were a burden. And you just started school; you don’t understand a lot of things…”
“I know.” Jiang Yan interrupted, his gaze burning hot. “But Ge can’t… support me for a lifetime, right?”
“There’s no need to rush that.”
Jiang Yan shook his head, however, with a certain rigid stubbornness. “If anyone is going to provide support, it should be me supporting you.”
“But your injury…” How long has it been since you recovered?
“It’s been fine for a long time.” Jiang Yan swept his gaze over the dark circles under Jiang Yunian’s eyes, his voice softening. “Seeing Ge so tired makes my heart ache.”
This sentence was like a dull knife, gently prying open the softest place in Jiang Yunian’s heart. Since his parents passed away, it had been a long time since anyone asked him if he was tired.
He said his heart ached.
“Ge, I’m sorry.” Jiang Yan gathered his arms, encircling him again. His voice was muffled against Jiang Yunian’s shoulder, carrying a sticky nasal tone. “I missed you so much these days…”
Jiang Yunian’s heart turned into a complete mess of softness. The moment the other lowered his head, he surrendered everything.
“I… I was at fault too. I hid things from you knowing you didn’t like it…”
“It doesn’t matter.” Jiang Yan’s gaze swept past the door behind him, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, but the words that came out were excessively considerate. “What Ge wears, what Ge does, that is Ge’s freedom.”
“As long as Ge is happy.”
This “magnanimity” made Jiang Yunian surrender completely. The uneasiness of the past few days turned into dependence. Like a cat seeking shelter, he buried himself deeper into Jiang Yan’s arms. “Ah Yan, let’s not quarrel or give each other the silent treatment in the future… okay?”
The way Jiang Yan looked when he didn’t speak was terrifyingly calm. It made him feel like he was looking at a stranger.
The other party rested half his chin on Jiang Yunian’s thin shoulder. A few seconds later, he gave a soft “En,” his warm, moist breath melting into the night.
“Okay.”
In the silence, dark light hid within those ink-black pupils. Jiang Yan looked up slightly. “I haven’t talked to Ge in a long time… Tonight…”
He paused, as if weighing his words, or perhaps observing Jiang Yunian’s reaction. Cautious yet bold, as if conducting some kind of obedience test. “Can I… sleep next to Ge?”
Jiang Yunian patted his chest, looking a bit troubled. But upon meeting those eyes full of expectation, the words of refusal stuck in his throat.
He had been having a hard time these past few days; how could Jiang Yan have been any better off?
In the end, his heart softened, and he relented. “Alright… just, just for one night.”
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