Chapter 19

“It’s him,” Yang Yunran surprisingly could still distinguish, pointing to the guy with the rose in his chest pocket. “Jiang Yi, he shares the same English name as you. Prove that you kiss better than him, and I’ll go with you. Otherwise, what do you have to make me like you?”

Jiang Yi coldly glanced at the accompanying Evan who was serving drinks. The other party obviously sensed that Roy’s boyfriend had arrived to catch them in the act, their gaze as if they were about to kill someone, so they didn’t dare to speak up either.

Jiang Yi withdrew his gaze and said to Yang Yunran, “I’m better. Come back with me.”

“You need to prove it,” Yang Yunran insisted.

“I’ll prove it to you when we get home,” Jiang Yi said, half carrying, half dragging him away from the nightclub.

“You dare to come to a place like this?” Jiang Yi reproached Yang Yunran, but as they were about to leave, the nightclub door swung open, and on both sides stood a dozen security guards, all bowing with their hands together in front of them. “Welcome back for another inspection, Mr. Roy!”

Jiang Yi: “…”

Yang Yunran whispered to him, “I think I invested some money. I’m one of the shareholders. It’s the kind that pays dividends, so I’m quite rich. Why don’t you like me?”

“Why do you want to split with me? Jiang Yi…” He murmured to himself, being packed up by Jiang Yi, and carefully tucked into his car.

Then Jiang Yi got into the car, leaned over to help him fasten his seatbelt, and heard him say, “Jimmy… where’s Jimmy? Get me some water.”

Jiang Yi felt like exploding when he heard Jimmy’s name. Yang Yunran had been fine before, but ever since school started and this despicable Jimmy appeared, he had become more unruly.

Jiang Yi lifted his chin with his finger, his expression cold. “Look at me carefully and see who I am.”

Yang Yunran focused his gaze on his face. “My boyfriend.”

Jiang Yi’s expression instantly became helpless. He fastened Yang Yunran’s seatbelt and started the car, saying softly, “I never promised you anything, so you can’t call me that.”

Yang Yunran said, “I don’t understand, I don’t understand what you’re saying. I’ll go with you, prove your kissing skills.”

Jiang Yi didn’t respond, just drove straight home. Yang Yunran said he wanted water, then said he needed to use the bathroom.

So Jiang Yi didn’t give him water, pressed harder on the accelerator, and tried to get him home within twenty minutes.

The downstairs apartment door was facial recognition, and he needed a key to open the door upstairs. Jiang Yi asked him, his hand reaching into his pocket, “Where are the keys?”

“They seem to be in… Jimmy’s car.”

“It’s him again?” Jiang Yi furrowed his brows, hearing a dog barking from inside the apartment.

“Harry!”

Yang Yunran crouched on the ground, his ear against the door panel. “I know who to call to open the door,” he said, pulling out his phone and dialing Zhao Youmo’s number. Zhao Youmo lived nearby, and it would only take him ten minutes to come over.

Yang Yunran told him, “Zhao Youmo, I forgot to bring… the keys.”

Zhao Youmo said, “I’ll be right there.”

Yang Yunran sat on the ground, looking up at Jiang Yi.

Jiang Yi asked, “Who is Zhao Youmo again?”

He didn’t like Yang Yunran making friends with those bad people.

Yang Yunran’s eyes showed a hint of sadness. “He’s… your official partner.”

Jiang Yi: “?”

“You’ve started talking nonsense, haven’t you?” Jiang Yi also crouched down, looking at Yang Yunran, his voice low. “Is it because of me that you’re unhappy?”

But Yang Yunran reached up and touched his face. “Yes.”

Jiang Yi suddenly felt uncomfortable, turned his face away, and lowered his gaze. “Yuran, you can like someone else.”

Yang Yunran sniffed. “I was going to like someone else, but you asked me to go with you. What can I do?”

Jiang Yi was startled, explaining, “Because the friends you’re making are all bad. They’re not worthy of you and may lead you astray.”

Yang Yunran nodded in agreement. “Yeah, they’re not as good as you. Find me someone better than you.”

After some thought, Jiang Yi said, “That’s a bit difficult.”

Yang Yunran chuckled. “Okay, it’s a bit difficult.”

Jiang Yi added, “I’ll slowly help you find someone. Don’t mess around on your own. I’m worried you’ll get sick.”

“I’m not sick, and I’m not messing around,” Yang Yunran explained, hearing the sound of the elevator and quickly saying, “You go to the stairwell, hide there, don’t come out.”

“What do you mean?” Jiang Yi didn’t understand.

“You can’t let Zhao Youmo see you,” Yang Yunran pushed him into the stairwell. “Don’t come out.”

Jiang Yi didn’t even know what he was doing or saying, but he still listened to him, standing in the stairwell and waiting. He heard a young man panting outside. “I… I ran here, Roy, have you been drinking?”

“Yeah, can you help me open the door? Thanks.”

Jiang Yi realized a problem: this person had the keys to Yang Yunran’s house.

Was he the one who helped him walk the dog last time?

Why didn’t Yang Yunran want this person to see him? What was their relationship?

Jiang Yi pushed the door open a little to look, and he saw Zhao Youmo’s profile. He looked a bit anxious and concerned.

Zhao Youmo’s profile, Yang Yunran didn’t keep him, just said, ‘It’s too late, you should go back first. Thank you for coming over.’

“‘It’s okay, it’s okay.’ Zhao Youmo didn’t enter, saying gently, ‘Be careful when you shower alone, don’t take a bath.’

“‘Okay.’ Yang Yunran saw him off, and then let Jiang Yi out from the stairwell. Jiang Yi asked directly, ‘What’s your relationship with him?’

“Yang Yunran replied, ‘Just ordinary friends.’

“Yang Yunran sat on the carpet again, holding his dog and gesturing for Jiang Yi to come closer.

“Jiang Yi asked what he was doing, squatting down and saying, ‘Don’t sleep on the floor, it’s cold.’

“Yang Yunran half-closed his eyes, held his hand, and intertwined their fingers.

“‘…’ Jiang Yi never expected him to make such a move, feeling ambiguous, gripping his heart, his Adam’s apple rolling up and down, trying to pull away.

“Yang Yunran bluntly said, ‘Are you really good at kissing? Where did you learn? Come here and kiss me, I want to verify.’

“‘I don’t know.’ Jiang Yi said, ‘I only said that to get you to go home.’ How could he possibly kiss Yang Yunran? He glanced at his lips for a few seconds, then looked away.

“Jiang Yi’s breathing was a bit unsteady. Suddenly, Yang Yunran hugged his neck, leaned close to his cheek, and said unclearly, ‘Is that so? Then your kissing skills must be terrible. Show me, or how can I believe what you say?’

“Jiang Yi closed his eyes, feeling his warm breath on his face, ambiguous and unclear, making his body tense. But Jiang Yi didn’t let him kiss, Yang Yunran’s lips brushed against his chin, making his heart skip a beat, an uncontrollable reaction crawling up from his lower abdomen.

“He quickly turned his face away, then picked up Yang Yunran and placed him on the sofa.

“In the lamplight, Yang Yunran stared at him for a while, then turned away, resting his elbow on his eyelids. ‘You can go now. Thank you for taking me home.’

“Jiang Yi ‘Hmm’ed, seeing his student card on the coffee table, picked it up and said, ‘It turns out it’s here. I thought I lost it.’

“Yang Yunran half-opened his eyes. ‘I don’t have your photo… I think your student card photo is handsome. I don’t want to give it back to you. Do you want to take it?’

“‘…I won’t take it.’ Jiang Yi had already gotten a new one. ‘You keep it.’

“‘…Thanks. Help me turn off the lights, I’ll sleep here.’ Yang Yunran closed his eyes again, holding a teddy bear in his arms.

“Jiang Yi recognized it as the one he brought back from Dubai for him. He turned off the lights, left the entrance light on, stood a few meters away, and said softly, ‘Little brother, don’t go to the nightclub tomorrow, I…'”

“Message received. Keep your distance from Jimmy,” Yang Yunran casually replied, lazily waving his hand to signal the other person to leave.

Jiang Yi left, and almost as soon as he left Yang Yunran’s house and got back into his car, he slumped down into the driver’s seat.

He felt a bit powerless because he had a physiological response to Yang Yunran’s teasing, a desire, that was surely normal, given that Jiang Yi was a normal man and a grown man who had been without a partner for years.

Even if it wasn’t Yang Yunran today, it could have been anyone else… and he might have reacted the same way. But he had always disliked letting people get close, so no one would dare to provoke him so recklessly.

Jiang Yi buried his head against the steering wheel, his chest rising and falling for a long time.

“Yang Yunran…” Jiang Yi whispered his name, his voice barely audible.

He drove back to his dorm, quickly took off his clothes as soon as he entered, threw them on the floor, turned on the shower, and closed the bathroom door.

The hot water washed over Jiang Yi, who was cold and stiff but now stained with a dark desire.

After he left, Yang Yunran slept heavily, dreaming of needing a shower. He woke up in the middle of the night, took a shower, and climbed back into bed to continue sleeping.

He had drunk alcohol last night, but he wasn’t close to being drunk. At most, he was a little tipsy and perhaps a bit incoherent.

Yang Yunran couldn’t quite remember what he had said, only that Jiang Yi had come, taken him away, and the two of them seemed to have kissed, or maybe they hadn’t.

Wait a minute…

Yang Yunran couldn’t remember clearly. Why did he feel like he had kissed?

Yang Yunran scratched his head, puzzled, as he looked at his phone messages. Jiang Yi had left him a message, telling him: “Remember what you promised me.”

What had he promised him?

Yang Yunran couldn’t recall, so he decided not to reply.

To be honest, drinking could really relieve stress, but he couldn’t do it like this next time.

Jimmy had called him several times last night, asking why he had left. “Did your ex-brother take you away?”

Yang Yunran replied, “He escorted me home, then left.”

But Jimmy didn’t reply, probably exhausted from last night and still recuperating.

Today was Saturday, and Yang Yunran was supposed to livestream, but he had overslept. He rubbed his temples, and quickly logged in to apologize. Luckily, it wasn’t too late Beijing time. Yang Yunran drank some coffee, put on a mask, and said, “I’m not feeling well today. My throat isn’t in good condition, so I can only sing two songs for everyone.”

In Beijing across the ocean, at the Wan Yan Entertainment Company, the CEO and the agent simultaneously started the live stream, discussing in the video conference room:

“That’s Yang Yunran, right? He also has good hands…”

Zhou Kai said, “General Lin, no matter how you look at it, he looks very much like him. Otherwise, let’s add a clause to the contract, asking him to go to our designated recording studio to record songs. We’ll send someone to the scene to confirm if it’s really him singing, without a stand-in.”

This was indeed the most cost-effective way to confirm.

General Lin said, “He’s in Boston now? My son is over there. Arrange a recording studio and I’ll have him go there to supervise Yang Yunran’s singing.”

After Yang Yunran finished his live broadcast, he went back to sleep again. Zhao Youmo came halfway to walk the dog and didn’t wake him up.

Wan Yan sent him a new contract, adding the clause to go to the designated recording studio himself.

Yang Yunran casually agreed. He lay in bed in the bright sunshine, feeling an indescribable tiredness brought on by the hangover.

At noon, Jiang Yi drove to his building and sent him a message: “Are you still not up? I’ll pick you up for lunch.”

Yang Yunran had a headache. What had he promised Jiang Yi last night? How come his attitude had changed back, just like before?

Jiang Yi: “I’m downstairs at your place.”

Yang Yunran: “Ah…?”

He lifted the curtain and looked out, indeed seeing Jiang Yi’s black Accord.

Yang Yunran wondered, had they gotten back together again?

But had he completely forgotten everything?

Impossible. He stood barefoot by the window, feeling the hot sun on his cheeks and the soles of his feet.

When Yang Yunran saw Jiang Yi coming down, leaning against the car, wearing a navy blue shirt with a white T-shirt underneath, even though he was dressed casually, he still looked handsome.

Yang Yunran didn’t bother to comb his hair, put on a baseball cap, and went downstairs, feeling the heat of the sun on his back.

Jiang Yi saw him coming down and came over to open the car door for him.

Yang Yunran got into Jiang Yi’s car and turned to look at him, wanting to say something but hesitating.

Jiang Yi reached out, “Seatbelt.”

He naturally fastened Yang Yunran’s seatbelt for him. “What do you want to say?”

Yang Yunran’s lips moved slightly. He remembered the feeling from last night again. Did they kiss or not? Did they get back together or not?

Feeling confused for a moment, Yang Yunran asked Jiang Yi directly, “Did you kiss me?”

Jiang Yi’s fingers on the steering wheel tightened inexplicably, his expression unchanged. “No.”

Did kissing his chin count as a kiss… Jiang Yi wasn’t sure, so he didn’t look at him either.

Yang Yunran touched his own lips. “Really? If it wasn’t you, then who kissed me?”

At these words, Jiang Yi suddenly hit the brakes and turned to stare at him. “That Evan?”

“Who? Wait, let me think…” Yang Yunran started to recall. Fragmented memories gradually surfaced. Oh, he remembered. It was just a dream. The male lead in the dream was undoubtedly Jiang Yi.

Feeling embarrassed suddenly, Yang Yunran wondered how he could bring up a spring dream as if it were real. How could he even ask Jiang Yi about it?

So when Jiang Yi stopped the car and asked coldly, “Who else came to see you after I left?” Yang Yunran stuttered a few words, saying, “I don’t remember.”