Chapter 3

Ji Qingzhou stood before the mirror, studying his reflection. He had a handsome face, jet-black hair, and cool, aloof features. The slightly upturned corners of his eyes lent him a hint of arrogance. To his surprise, Ji Qingzhou discovered that this face looked quite a bit like his own. Their names were alike, and so were their faces. He really did have a connection with the original owner of this body.

He went into the bathroom and stood under the shower, washing himself while stubbornly continuing to think of ways to stop Chu Cheng from indulging his animal urge to go for a drive.

If only Chu Cheng and the original owner of the body had signed a dating contract, Ji Qingzhou thought. He liked men himself, after all. Though he had never dated anyone, he had nothing against it. If Chu Cheng wanted to give dating him a try, then sure, they could give it a try. But no, Chu Cheng and the original owner had signed a kept-lover contract. That was a real screw-over. He had never even dated anyone, never so much as held hands, and he had only met Chu Cheng for the first time today. Now they were supposed to go all the way in one leap, straight to the great harmony of life? Wasn't that moving way too fast?

He spent a long time washing, until he felt that Chu Cheng would probably lose his temper if he stayed in there any longer. Only then did he blow-dry his hair. Breathing in and out, he took several deep breaths, pressed down on the door handle, and pushed the door open to leave the bathroom.

Chu Cheng was scrolling through Weibo. At the sound, he looked up at Ji Qingzhou, only to see him come to an involuntary stop and look at him nervously.

Chu Cheng hadn't expected him to actually take a shower. Given Ji Qingzhou's earlier determination to jump from the hotel rather than submit, he had assumed that all this dawdling in the bathroom meant he was figuring out how to escape through the window or keep pulling the wool over his eyes. He hadn't expected him to really be showering.

For a moment, Chu Cheng was rather stunned.

Head lowered, Ji Qingzhou slowly approached the bed. He wore white pajamas, and his jet-black hair made his already fair skin look even fairer. Watching him, Chu Cheng thought that, infuriating as he genuinely was, he really was beautiful, too. If Ji Qingzhou would just behave, instead of courting disaster by constantly scheming to treat him like an ATM while painting him cuckold green, he would actually be quite willing to get along with him. After all, he did really want to sleep with Ji Qingzhou.

"Get in," he said.

Ji Qingzhou lifted the covers and climbed onto the bed. He sat looking at Chu Cheng, as if he had something to say but couldn't get it out.

"What, changed your mind?" Chu Cheng asked.

"No, no," Ji Qingzhou immediately assured him of his loyalty.

"Then let's go to sleep." Chu Cheng put down his phone and lay down under the covers.

Ji Qingzhou felt himself tense up all at once. What was he going to do? What was he going to do? Was it too late to jump out of the car?!

"Lie down. What are you sitting there for?" Chu Cheng said.

Ji Qingzhou felt helpless. Lie down—easy for him to say! How was he supposed to lie down?!

Looking at Chu Cheng, he blurted out, "I've never done this before."

"Neither have I. Perfect—we can experience it together." Then Chu Cheng reassured him, "Don't be scared. I'll be very gentle."

How could he not be scared, Ji Qingzhou thought. Of course you aren't scared—you're the driver! But I'm not!!

He was so nervous that his body began to tremble involuntarily. Chu Cheng had never had sex with anyone, which was a good thing, of course. At least it proved he led a clean private life, so Ji Qingzhou wouldn't have to worry about any hidden risks that might come with taking a drive with him. But then Ji Qingzhou thought about how he was a rookie driver, still only in his twenties—the very age for charging around recklessly. He had just picked up his car, and this would be his first time on the road. If he suddenly floored the gas and pushed too hard, Ji Qingzhou, this brand-new car that had only just hit the road, would probably end up totaled on the mountain roads of Mount Akina.

At that thought, Ji Qingzhou spoke gently, appealing to Chu Cheng's feelings. "How about we take things a little slower?"

"Slower?" Chu Cheng asked, puzzled. "Why do we need to take things slower?"

"Don't you think we're moving a little too fast right now?" Ji Qingzhou tried to persuade him.

"But isn't this what we agreed on from the start?" Seeing that the new car he had finally gotten back into his garage was actually refusing to let him drive, Chu Cheng shot upright, bristling. "Have you changed your mind again?"

"No, no," Ji Qingzhou soothed him. "I'm already in your bed, aren't I?"

"But you're refusing to go for a drive with me."

"I'm not refusing. I just think we could take it step by step." Ji Qingzhou tried to reason with him. "I've never dated anyone in my entire life. I've never even held hands with another boy or girl. If we suddenly head straight onto the expressway, of course I'm going to be a little overwhelmed. I might even get carsick in a minute. So could you let me catch my breath and give me a little time?"

Chu Cheng stared at him in disbelief. "Haven't I given you enough time? I've given you too much time! You almost ran off with Fang Yaoxuan! Tell me the truth. Are you still thinking about him? Was everything today just an act because you don't want to pay the money back?"

"Heaven is my witness!" Drawing on his acting skills from rehearsing plays back in school, Ji Qingzhou protested indignantly, "You saw how I treated Fang Yaoxuan today, didn't you? I already made myself perfectly clear to him. How can you still accuse me like this?"

"Who knows whether the two of you were putting on an act together?"

"Of course we weren't." Ji Qingzhou tried to take his hand.

Chu Cheng looked down at what he was doing. "What are you doing?"

Ji Qingzhou took his hand and gave it a little swing. Chu Cheng looked as if he had seen a ghost. Holy shit. Was he fucking trying to act cute? Ji Qingzhou actually knew how to act cute?!

"Just say yes. I'm right here, aren't I? Sooner or later, I'll be yours. There's no need to rush it right this instant. Really."

Faced with his pleading expression, Chu Cheng was at a loss for words and at his wits' end.

The thing about driving was that both sides had to be willing. That was what made it feel good. Otherwise, if the driver was the only one flooring the gas while the car refused to cooperate or even budge, there was no getting up that mountain road.

Chu Cheng was young, this was his first time keeping a lover, and he had no taste for forcing himself on someone. Watching Ji Qingzhou cling to his hand and coax him so sweetly, he couldn't help softening a little. "You just said you've never held hands with another boy or girl? Didn't Fang Yaoxuan hold your hand?"

"Since when do idols hold hands with their fans? I told you, he was just my idol. And now I'm not even a fan anymore."

Hearing him insist that he didn't like Fang Yaoxuan and had simply been a fan, Chu Cheng was left speechless for the second time. There wasn't much he could do about it, either. If Ji Qingzhou said he didn't like him, Chu Cheng could hardly pin his head down and make him admit that he did.

"You really have never dated anyone?" Chu Cheng asked.

Ji Qingzhou nodded. He had grown up in a single-parent household with only his mother, so, to keep her from worrying, he had practically lived the life of a model student, strictly following his mother's and teachers' instructions. School-age dating—the very thing the principal lectured them about at every weekly flag-raising ceremony—had long since died a thorough death in Ji Qingzhou's mind. Its corpse had been cold for eighteen years.

Once he got to college, Ji Qingzhou finally began to want a relationship, only to make the tragic discovery that he seemed to like boys. He spent time coming to terms with his sexuality, and when he finally accepted it, he never met anyone he liked. Then he transmigrated here.

Chu Cheng looked him up and down. "You look like that, and you're telling me you've never dated? How is that possible? Is everyone at your school blind?"

Of course they weren't. The original owner of this body had never dated despite looking like this simply because he hadn't felt anything for any of the boys who pursued him. It wasn't until Fang Yaoxuan appeared that someone caught his eye. But he certainly couldn't tell Chu Cheng that.

"Well, look at you. You're tall, rich, and handsome, and your family has all that money, but you've never dated either. Is everyone at your school blind, too?"

"How do you know I've never dated? Have you been asking people about me?"

No, it was in the book.

"I guessed," Ji Qingzhou said.

Chu Cheng said nothing. He looked at him, thinking quietly.

Seeing that he was considering what he had just said, Ji Qingzhou didn't dare disturb him. He sat obediently, hoping he would agree.

"We could spend some time getting to know each other first, develop a little affection for each other, and only then shift things into gear." As Chu Cheng's silence stretched on, Ji Qingzhou grew afraid that his eventual conclusion wouldn't be the one he wanted, and couldn't help speaking up softly.

"You want to date me?" Chu Cheng asked.

Ji Qingzhou hastily shook his head. He harbored no such wild ambitions. Chu Cheng had made it perfectly clear to the original owner of this body that he simply wanted to sleep with him. Ji Qingzhou didn't expect Chu Cheng to fall for him just because there was now a different person inside. He only wanted to buy himself a little more time, to try to pay Chu Cheng back so they could part on good terms. Of course, if Chu Cheng insisted on sleeping with him, doing it later would still be easier to accept than doing it right off the bat, when he wasn't remotely ready.

Chu Cheng relaxed when he saw him shake his head. Good, as long as he didn't want to date. If he did, that would be troublesome. From the beginning, Chu Cheng had simply liked Ji Qingzhou's face and wanted to sleep with him. Later, because of the business with Fang Yaoxuan, he had decided the guy was a two-faced little bitch. If he hadn't been so certain Ji Qingzhou would refuse to sleep with him, and so curious to see what act he would put on next, Chu Cheng wouldn't have bothered bringing him home.

Still, the person in front of him seemed a little different from the one he'd dealt with before. At least he wasn't taking Chu Cheng's money while constantly acting as though he were suffering some terrible humiliation under duress. They were both adults. Money changed hands, and so did the person. Besides, Ji Qingzhou was the one who had called him in the middle of the night to agree to his terms. He hadn't forced him. Why act like a victim?

With that thought, Chu Cheng suddenly found the Ji Qingzhou in front of him much more agreeable. "Good, as long as you don't want to date. You know I just want to sleep with you. We said a year, but we never signed anything, so if I get bored somewhere along the way, this arrangement can end at any time."

"Then what about my mom?"

"I'll take care of her," Chu Cheng said. "If the arrangement ends because of me, I'll take responsibility. But if it's because of you, you're on your own."

"Okay." Then Ji Qingzhou asked nervously, "So can we give each other a little time and take things step by step?"

"Are you sure you mean taking things step by step, and not just marking time without getting anywhere?"

"Of course not." Ji Qingzhou looked utterly sincere. "You have to trust me."

"Do I need to remind you what you did when I trusted you?"

"You have to trust the me I am now," Ji Qingzhou stressed.

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes!" Ji Qingzhou nodded. "I'm very honest now—just like the Cheng in your name, which means 'honest'!"

Chu Cheng: "...All right, then. We'll do it your..."

Before he could finish, a phone started ringing. Ji Qingzhou heard it too and looked toward the sound. It was his own phone, of all things. Chu Cheng glanced at him, then picked it up. Ji Qingzhou leaned over, only to see Fang Yaoxuan's number displayed there, plain as day.

Ji Qingzhou: "!!! Let me explain!"

He grabbed Chu Cheng's hand, terrified that this one lousy phone call would make Chu Cheng drag him back to go for a ride in bed after he'd finally managed to escape.

Author's Note:

Ji Qingzhou: Fang Yaoxuan, you piece of trash!! Calling right now is going to get me killed!

Chu Cheng: Let's see what other tricks you two have up your sleeves.

Fang Yaoxuan: Pick up, Xiao Zhou. Xiao Zhou, what on earth is wrong with you today???

[Mini Theater]

Chu Cheng: You want to date me?

Ji Qingzhou: No.

Chu Cheng: Good. Neither do I.

A few months later

Chu Cheng: Do you want to date me?

Ji Qingzhou: ...No.

Chu Cheng: I'll give you one chance to answer that again.

Ji Qingzhou: Then...yes?

Chu Cheng: Mm. I accept.

Ji Qingzhou: ???!!!

Every one of my gongs is doomed to eat his words. Only this time, even the shou ends up eating his words [covers face].

Just to explain: there's no "driving"—no sex—in this chapter because it really wouldn't be appropriate. The shou has only just transmigrated here and is still utterly bewildered. Besides, he's never dated before and has only just graduated from college, so of course he needs time to adjust. Ask him to get behind the wheel right now, and he really does understand all the reasoning—but he just can't do it. So hang in there. Let's take it slow, one step at a time. We'll get to the 'driving'—the steamy kind—and there'll be sweet moments too~~