When Shen Li finally processed everything, he abruptly stood up and ran to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down. A commercial vehicle was parked below, with a familiar figure standing beside the car, the glow of a phone screen illuminating his face.
That restless, overthinking heart of his settled steadily the moment he laid eyes on that figure.
The corners of his lips curved upward. “Wait for me.”
The time spent inside the elevator felt like centuries to Shen Li.
As the numbers on the elevator display ticked down, his heart beat faster and faster with every descending count.
When the elevator doors opened, he literally ran to meet Ji Zhouye.
Stopping right in front of Ji Zhouye, his breathing was somewhat ragged. “Why did you come?”
A faint scent of alcohol drifted into his nose. “Did you drink?”
Ji Zhouye replied, “You smoked. It is choking.”
Shen Li felt a bit embarrassed. He had smoked far too much this evening, so the smoke smell on him was indeed rather heavy.
The faint aroma of alcohol mixed with tobacco made one feel somewhat intoxicated.
“Let us go home.”
Ji Zhouye got into the car first, and Shen Li sat down beside him shortly after. The partition between the rear and front seats had been lowered.
Shen Li felt inexplicably nervous. Lowering the partition inevitably made his mind wander.
Accustomed to acting flirtatious and looking like a seasoned veteran in romance, he was actually just as nervous as a romantic novice underneath it all.
Barely a minute inside the confined space, he had already mentally rehearsed an ambiguous and seductive intimate scenario. Taking a deep breath, Shen Li banished those unrealistic thoughts.
When Ji Zhouye glanced sideways at him, he noticed a faint flush staining the tips of Shen Li’s ears. If he had not already thoroughly explored him in bed, he genuinely would have been fooled by Shen Li’s exterior into thinking he was a master of romance.
The corners of Ji Zhouye’s lips curved up in a fleeting, evanescent smile.
Unaware of it, Shen Li caught Ji Zhouye’s deep gaze and found his breath hitching.
The narrow, enclosed space made him uncomfortable. It would have been better under normal circumstances, but who told his brain to short-circuit today? The moment he saw the partition lowered, his imagination started running wild.
Having the other person’s gaze look right through him as if seeing through every single thought, that was the most awkward part of all.
Feeling entirely ill at ease under that stare, Shen Li asked, “How did you know I had not left yet?”
He leaned lazily back against the seat, crossing his long legs casually in an effort to appear as relaxed as possible.
“Your assistant.”
Shen Li: “As if.”
Assistant?
Ling Feng?
When on earth had Ling Feng been bought out by Ji Zhouye?
“Why would he tell you?” If the situation was serious enough, he would fire him first thing Monday morning.
Ji Zhouye answered, “I asked.”
“Why did you ask?” Shen Li stared straight at him, trying to find the slightest flaw on his face, a flaw that proved he still cared.
Yet there was none. He saw absolutely nothing on Ji Zhouye’s face.
“No reason,” Ji Zhouye said calmly. “Why did you not go home after finishing your work?”
Remembering how long Ji Zhouye had stayed at the clubhouse without knowing what he had been up to, a heavy blockage squeezed his chest.
Shen Li turned his face toward the car window, saying with muffled irritation, “That is your home, not mine.”
Feeling awkward inside, the tone of his speech naturally did not sound any better either.
Yet, he was not wrong either. The estate was not his home; he was merely a kept lover, staying there temporarily whenever Ji Zhouye needed him.
When a day came in the future when Ji Zhouye found a suitable other half and no longer needed him, it would be time for him to leave.
Therefore, that place was not a home, it was not one now, and it would not necessarily be one in the future, either.
The confined space was permeated with the scent of an overturned jar of aged vinegar. Shen Li might not have noticed it himself, but his sullen expression gave away everything.
Time could change a person, but certain things remained entirely unalterable.
Despite how much time had passed, he could still look past a mere expression and see that exact same person from back then.
What remained uncertain was whether this jealousy carried a shred of genuine affection or was simply a matter of pure possessiveness.
Ji Zhouye withdrew his gaze. “Why dwell on these things? Does it matter so much to you whether it is or is not?”
Shen Li let out a silent, self-deprecating laugh, wearing a cocky, punch-me kind of expression. “Of course it matters. You are you, and I am I. Your belongings have nothing to do with me.”
The moment Ji Zhouye appeared downstairs, happiness had bubbled up uncontrollably inside him, yet he had managed to chat his way into such a corner. He really had to hand it to himself.
Restless with annoyance, he turned over onto his side, presenting Ji Zhouye with his back. “Do not talk to me.”
The fire burning in his chest made him forget who the boss actually was. Daring to speak to Ji Zhouye like that was practically courting death.
Shifting his body to find a more comfortable position, Shen Li noticed Ji Zhouye was not saying anything and sneaked a glance to see if he had made him angry.
After all, the person beside him could crush Jiang Qing completely with just a flick of his finger.
Shen Li straightened his posture again, rubbing his nose awkwardly. “I was just joking.”
Based on his understanding of Ji Zhouye, he should not be petty enough to annihilate Jiang Qing just over a wrongly spoken sentence.
Ji Zhouye closed his eyes to rest, ignoring him entirely.
Throughout the rest of the journey, Shen Li sat on needles and pins. He wanted to strike up a conversation, but seeing Ji Zhouye looking entirely disinclined to humor him, he clamped his mouth shut.
Just like that, through repeated cycles of internal struggle, not a single word managed to escape his lips.
Later on, he even started grumbling internally: if he was not going to do anything, why bother lowering the partition in the first place just to let people misunderstand?
Seeing that Ji Zhouye remained motionless, Shen Li inched closer to him, carefully tracing his facial contours with his eyes.
His eyelashes were long and dark, his features deep-set, and his jawline clean and sharp. Fixing his gaze on the prominent bob of his throat, Shen Li swallowed hard, entirely of his own accord.
Suddenly, a sharp slam of the brakes sent their bodies pitching forward by inertia, causing Shen Li’s head to collide straight into Ji Zhouye’s chest. He had no idea if it hurt Ji Zhouye, but his own head certainly ached.
Lifting his gaze to crash into Ji Zhouye’s eyes, Shen Li felt overwhelmingly awkward. That abrupt stop had completely exposed his little hidden thoughts.
The driver spoke up, “Mr. Ji, my apologies. An electric bicycle ran a red light.”
Ji Zhouye replied, “It is fine.”
Taking advantage of the moment the driver was speaking, Shen Li put some distance between them.
Ji Zhouye looked over, his gaze dark and obscure. “Why are you sitting so far away from me? Do I eat people?”
“Pretty much.”
The moment those words left Shen Li’s lips, Ji Zhouye’s figure pressed down on him, carrying a crisp, refreshing aura.
Before he could even react, Ji Zhouye gripped his jaw and kissed him.
Alongside nervousness came sweetness. Ji Zhouye deepened the kiss, chasing after him as he tried to dodge, pursuing him relentlessly.
The awkward atmosphere instantly surged to the absolute peak of ambiguity.
Tangling, licking, sucking.
Shen Li hooked his arms around Ji Zhouye’s neck, tilting his head back to accept and return the kiss.
Shen Li was kissed until his mind felt entirely blank. He had no idea how they even got out of the car, returned to the estate, and ended up on the bed in the bedroom.
The outer corners of both their eyes were flushed red. Just as they stripped off their upper garments and reached the final step, Ji Zhouye abruptly pulled back from him and walked toward the bathroom.
Deeply engulfed in passion, Shen Li did not process it until Ji Zhouye had already reached the bathroom door. He cursed at Ji Zhouye’s retreating figure, “Ji Zhouye, what on earth? Are you impotent?”
He had been plenty capable the first two times, had he not?
Why was he acting like a total failure right now?
Did he take some kind of stamina pill the first two times? Because he did not take any today, he could not perform?
If you cannot get it up, do not go around ruining people. You get someone all worked up and then just walk away, do you have any human decency at all?
Shen Li bit down on his back molar. “Damn it.”
Walking up to the bathroom door, he raised his foot and gave the door a kick. “Ji Zhouye, if you cannot perform, just say so next time. I will not make fun of you.”