Teasing

Jiang Xu always seemed to live more realistically than others. He unwrapped the plastic serrated knife for the cake and was considering how to cut it when he looked up and found Gu Qingzhou squatting opposite the coffee table, watching him intently. His movements couldn't help but pause.

Jiang Xu took the time to light a cigarette, squinting as he asked him, “Want to blow out the candles?”

Hearing this, Gu Qingzhou glanced at the cake, then looked back at him and shook his head, “It's fine if I don't.”

Jiang Xu clicked the lighter, making a crisp sound. “Just light them if you want. It's no trouble.”

As he spoke, he opened a complimentary pack of candles. Remembering that people usually make three wishes on their birthday, he stuck three candles on top. Then he lit them with the lighter. The warm yellow candlelight flickered twice, reflecting on one side of his face, giving him a gentle air.

Jiang Xu tossed the lighter aside and gestured, “Go ahead, blow.”

Gu Qingzhou was usually cold and serious, not the type to joke. However, perhaps because he was in an exceptionally good mood today, he glanced at the three candles and suddenly said with a slow smile, “It looks like you're offering incense to me.”

Jiang Xu: “...”

Jiang Xu shot him a look, then flicked the ash from his cigarette with a finger. 'Troublesome,' he grumbled inwardly, but still stuck two more candles on the cake. He looked at him with a teasing smile and said, “Manager Gu, is this better now?”

Gu Qingzhou got up, walked to the light switch, and turned off the lights. The room was instantly plunged into darkness, with only the candles on the cake shining brightly, clearly illuminating Jiang Xu's features. When the flames flickered, the halo of light blurred.

Gu Qingzhou didn't say anything. He walked over, silently blew out the candles, and then turned the lights back on. There was no pause in his actions; it didn't look like he had made any wishes.

Jiang Xu was hungry. He cut two slices of cake, one for himself and one for Gu Qingzhou. As the rich, sweet cream with its milky fragrance melted on his tongue, he seemed to remember something and asked indistinctly while biting on his fork, “What did you wish for?”

Gu Qingzhou hadn't eaten sweets in a long time, and the long-lost sensation felt a bit unfamiliar. He didn't answer immediately but thought for a moment before saying, “Take me to get my ear pierced tomorrow.”

Jiang Xu raised an eyebrow. “That's it?”

Gu Qingzhou nodded. “That's it.”

Tomorrow was the weekend, so getting an ear piercing wasn't a big deal. Jiang Xu saw that Gu Qingzhou was still clutching the earring in his hand and reached for it, wanting to put it on the coffee table. “Why are you always holding it? It's not like it's going to grow legs and run away.”

Gu Qingzhou avoided his hand, his expression serious. “It's so small. What if it gets lost?”

Small things like this were indeed easy to lose; they could roll into any nook or cranny. Hearing this, Jiang Xu subconsciously touched his own earlobe. His piercing seemed to still be there. “Then put it in my ear for now. I'll keep it safe for you.”

Back in school, he had done it all—drinking, perming his hair, getting his ear pierced. There were still faint marks on his ear cartilage. Gu Qingzhou sat up a little straighter at his words, then carefully examined Jiang Xu's left earlobe and asked in a low voice, “Then I'll put it in your piercing?”

Before Jiang Xu could answer, his cool fingertips were already on the earlobe, carefully inserting the silver cross earring. Gu Qingzhou had never had his ear pierced before. He watched as the silver post went from one side through to the other, as if it were piercing flesh and blood.

Gu Qingzhou asked curiously, “Does it hurt?”

Jiang Xu was looking down, scrolling through his phone. He answered in a completely flat tone, “Ah, it hurts so much. Are you going to pay my medical bills?”

Gu Qingzhou let out a low laugh, as if amused by the annoyance. He leaned on Jiang Xu's shoulder, looking at him with a half-smile. “Money is the most worthless thing. No need to take it so seriously, hmm?”

'Gu Qingzhou must be ridiculously rich to say something so inhumane,' Jiang Xu thought. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was genuinely a little jealous. He glanced at Gu Qingzhou and reached out to wipe a bit of cream from the corner of the other's lips. “That's easy for you to say.”

Gu Qingzhou didn't argue, merely raising an eyebrow faintly, because it was indeed easy for him to say.

Outside, the rain showed no signs of stopping; in fact, it seemed to be getting heavier. Occasional rumbles of thunder exploded nearby, making the dark sky flash for an instant. After taking a shower and watching some TV, Jiang Xu saw that it was already close to midnight. He got up from the sofa and said, “Let's go to bed. You should use your phone less when it's thundering.”

The cross earring in his left ear had an unknown diamond embedded in the center, which glittered under the light. With his hands in his pockets, he looked over sideways, his features exactly the same as they were years ago, unchanged.

Gu Qingzhou didn't go back to his room. Instead, he hugged Jiang Xu from behind. Perhaps knowing that the man before him would not make any further moves on him, after much thought, he chose to take the initiative. He said in a low voice, “Sleep with me, okay?”

Hearing this, Jiang Xu's eyelid twitched. “Why?”

Gu Qingzhou paused for a moment, then lied with a straight face, “...I'm scared of thunder.”

Jiang Xu pulled his hands off his waist. He knew it was a lie the moment he heard it. “You haven't done anything to feel guilty about, so what's there to be afraid of? The lightning won't strike you. If it strikes anyone, it'll be me. Go to sleep.”

Someone with a bad temper like Jiang Xu needed to be pestered relentlessly to be held onto. Gu Qingzhou wasn't angry about being pushed away, seeming to have long grown used to his avoidance. He just smiled enigmatically, his voice low and unreadable. “What, you don't dare?”

Two guys alone, Jiang Xu was indeed a bit intimidated, so he didn't speak.

Gu Qingzhou added, “You're a better fighter than me. Are you really afraid I'll do something to you? That kind of thing requires mutual consent. If you're not willing, I can't possibly force you.”

The slacker's way of thinking was unknowingly led astray by the top student's. Hearing this, Jiang Xu found it strangely logical.

Gu Qingzhou leaned lazily against the wall. Where others couldn't see, the corner of his lips curled up for a moment before quickly vanishing. His tone was alluring yet earnest. “Just sleeping. I promise I won't do anything, hmm?”

Damn it.

Jiang Xu thought that since things had been said to this extent, it would be unmanly not to agree. He knew Gu Qingzhou was trapping him, yet he had no choice but to step into the snare. He silently scratched his hair, feeling utterly frustrated.

Jiang Xu asked irritably, “Where are we sleeping?”

Gu Qingzhou deliberately teased him, “Your bed?”

Before he could finish his sentence, a strong force suddenly pulled at his arm. He was yanked into the room by Jiang Xu, stumbling and nearly losing his balance. He staggered back a few steps due to inertia and fell directly onto the bed.

The lights weren't on in the room; it was dim. Jiang Xu loomed over him, planting his hands on either side of Gu Qingzhou. His fox-like eyes were dark and turbulent as he stared fixedly at him, his voice slow and deep. “Gu Qingzhou, ‘no merchant is not deceitful’—that saying is about you.”

For some reason, Gu Qingzhou could hear a hint of gritted teeth in his tone, but he just looked at him and smiled. He placed his right hand on Jiang Xu's shoulder and back, silently tracing an unknown pattern with his index finger. “I am a businessman, after all. Say whatever you want.”

Jiang Xu faintly saw in him that same relentless persistence from years ago. He didn't quite understand what had kept Gu Qingzhou going for so many years. After a moment of silence, he simply and decisively lay down beside him, placing his hands behind his head. “Forget it,” he said lazily. “Let's sleep.”

He didn't do anything, which was both expected and unexpected.

“...”

Gu Qingzhou's hand was still in mid-air. It paused for a moment before he slowly withdrew it.

He sometimes really hated how petty he could be. Why spend the rest of his life stubbornly fixated on Jiang Xu? But he just couldn't control these feelings. Everything related to love was beyond his control.

Gu Qingzhou adjusted his position in the dark, moving further into the bed. But finding himself a bit too far from Jiang Xu, he shifted closer to him again. After a long silence, he spoke in a low voice, “Jiang Xu, I was very happy today...”

It was just that he had been expressionless for so long, it was hard to see the fluctuations in his mood.

Jiang Xu didn't speak. He just rustled in the dark as he reached out and touched Gu Qingzhou's cool, smooth cheek. The pad of his finger gently swept over the area around his eye, and only after confirming there were no wet tear tracks did he withdraw his hand. “Mm, as long as you're happy.”

Gu Qingzhou seemed to find it amusing. “Did you think I was crying?”

'It's not like you haven't cried before; you're such a crybaby,' Jiang Xu thought, but what he said was, “No. Your skin is nice, so I just touched it a couple of times.”

Gu Qingzhou said, “Even if I cried, I wouldn't let you see it.”

Except for the time his own mother slapped him, he had never cried in front of Jiang Xu.

Jiang Xu could actually be very soft-hearted at times, especially late at night. Listening to the pitter-patter of the rain outside, he reached out, pulled the thin blanket over Gu Qingzhou, and said, “It's not like anything will happen if I see you. Why can't I see you?”

Gu Qingzhou didn't answer. He slid down and silently wrapped his arms around Jiang Xu's waist, pressing himself into his embrace. Jiang Xu glanced down but didn't mind, letting him be.

Gu Qingzhou closed his eyes, seemingly ready to sleep, but he felt something was missing. His long fingers silently came to rest on the side of Jiang Xu's face, tilting his chin to make him look at him. Then he reminded him, “There was no goodnight kiss today.”

Jiang Xu's mind had been full of the gift today; who would remember a goodnight kiss? Hearing this, he turned his head and kissed Gu Qingzhou. The touch was warm and soft, completely different from the other's cold and prickly personality.

Jiang Xu didn't plan to sleep too close to Gu Qingzhou. It was fine at night, but things could easily get heated in the early morning. To avoid any awkwardness, he tried to lie flat on his back or with his back to Gu Qingzhou, but he couldn't stop the other from constantly fidgeting.

Gu Qingzhou refused to believe that Jiang Xu didn't react to men. Even if he didn't react to men in general, he had to react to him.

He rested his chin on Jiang Xu's shoulder, planting one ambiguous kiss after another on the side of his face. The hand that was resting on his waist also started to get restless, silently teasing something. But Jiang Xu stubbornly refused to show any reaction. Only when Gu Qingzhou went too far did he press his hand down, saying with his eyes closed and a calm demeanor, “If you don't behave, go back to your own room to sleep.”

Because of the intimacy just now, the corners of Gu Qingzhou's eyes were red and his breathing was a little ragged. He narrowed his eyes, trying to observe Jiang Xu's reaction, but it was too dark in the room to see anything.

Gu Qingzhou had never imagined in his life that he would see such a day. What was the difference between this and begging someone to sleep with him? And the other party remained unmoved. The word "frustrated" was not enough to describe it.

Jiang Xu turned over, pointedly facing away from Gu Qingzhou. 'What kind of damn mess is this,' he thought. Just as he was about to fall asleep, a sudden light tickle spread across his earlobe, like he had been nipped by some small animal. It sent a strange tingle down to his tailbone.

Jiang Xu raised an eyebrow faintly, his tone fierce. “Move again and I'll throw you out.”

Just as he finished speaking, a low voice sounded from behind him, as if offering a forced explanation, “I'm not moving around. I'm looking at my earring.”

“...”