The First Date
Jiang Zhuoye didn’t stay home for many days. He only had three meals with his parents before they left the country again—one going to Europe for business, the other to New Zealand for a charity event. They didn’t even have time for each other, let alone for their unlucky youngest son.
His older brother was even busier, rarely seen, though he did remember to give him allowance money.
Jiang Zhuoye sat alone at the long, empty dining table eating breakfast, completely speechless.
He had just gotten married, after all. Couldn’t he get a little family warmth?
There wasn’t much to complain about, really, but his family was the perfect example of always apart and rarely together. Everyone was a workaholic—except him.
After thinking about it, Jiang Zhuoye finished breakfast and booked his stylist to come over.
Sitting in his mother’s private studio on the third floor, the stylist smiled and asked what hairstyle he wanted this time.
“Your hair quality is still really good,” the stylist said, gently lifting his hair. “It’s a bit longer than last time.”
Jiang Zhuoye didn’t waste words. He smiled at the stylist through the mirror. “Dye it red again.”
So two days later, when Bo Yun came to pick him up, Jiang Zhuoye was standing by the garden with another head of bold, bright red hair.
He was feeding the society finch bird his brother kept.
He was wearing just a simple white T-shirt and light blue jeans.
When Bo Yun got out of the car, he saw Jiang Zhuoye bending down to pick up a fallen bird toy. The white T-shirt lifted slightly, revealing a narrow, slim lower back—shockingly pale.
When Jiang Zhuoye stood up, his red hair was a little lighter than before. Under the sunlight, it looked faintly golden, almost translucent red. Against his snow-white skin and sharp, delicate features, when he casually glanced over, he looked almost like a little mermaid stepping out of the sea.
Just with short hair.
Bo Yun paused by the car for a few seconds before walking over. The finch chirped nonstop in the cage, hopping around. Jiang Zhuoye teased the bird with the toy while raising an eyebrow at Bo Yun, expecting him to comment on the hair color again.
But Bo Yun watched the overly plump bird for a moment and said quietly, “Red actually suits you.”
What?
Jiang Zhuoye almost thought he’d misheard. The long bird toy nearly slipped from his hand.
He stared at Bo Yun like he’d seen a ghost.
Bo Yun, however, looked calm, as if nothing was strange. “You suit brighter colors.”
Wow.
A dog speaking human language.
Jiang Zhuoye was seriously shocked and almost wondered if the man in front of him had been swapped out.
This time, the toy really slipped from his fingers—but Bo Yun caught it easily and placed it into the toolbox nearby.
As usual, Bo Yun was picky about cleanliness. He took a wet wipe and carefully cleaned his fingers before holding out his hand to Jiang Zhuoye. “Let’s go. Your luggage has already been taken by the driver. I’ll take you to eat first. Today is our first date according to the agreement. I told you in advance.”
After the date, Jiang Zhuoye would go back with him and sleep in the same bed again.
Jiang Zhuoye stared at Bo Yun’s hand for a long moment.
A date.
That word sounded terrifying.
What kind of date could he possibly have with Bo Yun?
But thinking of the prenuptial agreement, he took out his sunglasses from his chest pocket, put them on, and lightly swatted Bo Yun’s hand away.
“Got it. Let’s go.”
While sitting in Bo Yun’s car, Jiang Zhuoye got a call from his childhood friend Gu Qiangyun.
Gu Qiangyun asked if he wanted to come out. Xie Ying was busy hanging out with her girlfriends, obsessed with fortune-telling and astrology lately, so she had no time for him. He was bored out of his mind and wanted to meet up.
“Want to go shooting? My friend just opened a new club in the city. It’s not far. At night we can go to LULA for drinks—they’ve got a really good new bartender.”
The timing of this call was perfect.
Jiang Zhuoye glanced at the person in the driver’s seat and sighed. “Wrong person, bro. I’m married now. I’m even busier than you.”
“Yeah right.”
Gu Qiangyun didn’t believe him. “So what if you’re married? Your marriage is like playing house. Stop making excuses and come out.”
Before he finished, he heard Jiang Zhuoye chuckle softly.
“Sorry, Qiangyun. I’m on a date with my partner right now. No time for you.”
He hung up cleanly, ignoring Gu Qiangyun’s sharp intake of breath on the other end.
After hanging up, he glanced through his sunglasses. As expected, Bo Yun looked over at him.
Jiang Zhuoye laughed. “What? Did I say something wrong?”
Bo Yun looked away. “No. You said it right.”
….
Dating Bo Yun wasn’t as boring as Jiang Zhuoye had imagined.
More than two hours later, after dinner, he had expected the most boring date in history.
Maybe just sitting in Bo Yun’s office while Bo Yun worked, and he played games to kill time. As long as they stayed three to five hours, it could count as a “date.”
After all, the agreement was rigid, but people weren’t.
But instead, they were sitting together in the VIP seats at Hongfeng Arena, watching a top-level boxing match.
The main event was the new boxing champion Brook versus veteran fighter Kane.
Kane was Jiang Zhuoye’s favorite boxer. Before the main match, there were several undercard fights, including other boxers he liked. It was basically a dream lineup.
He had bought tickets last month.
But because it conflicted with Bo Yun’s schedule, he thought about it and gave them up.
Bo Yun’s schedule had been packed lately, and finding a suitable date wasn’t easy. Since he was the freer one, he decided not to make Bo Yun adjust for him.
Anyway, there would be another top match in T Country later that year—Kane’s retirement fight. That one was even more meaningful, and he could fly over again.
He just didn’t expect Bo Yun to bring him here.
Surrounded by the noise of the crowd, hearing the chatter and cheers, Jiang Zhuoye looked at Bo Yun with surprise.
The host was still warming up the crowd. The star fighters hadn’t appeared yet, so his attention wasn’t on the ring.
He asked, “Do you like boxing too?”
Bo Yun didn’t look like someone who liked it at all. In fact, he didn’t fit in here.
Many men around them wore sportswear and blue or purple headbands showing support. Even before the main fighters came out, people were already shouting names.
The air was full of hormones and tension.
Bo Yun, though dressed casually, looked completely calm. His black shirt was neat, silver cufflinks shining in the dark. He looked like someone who belonged in an elegant bar or a high-end restaurant—not here watching boxing.
“I don’t like it,” Bo Yun said. “I think it’s pointless. Like gorillas learning from peacocks—using violence to fight each other like trapped beasts, just to entertain the audience. It has no meaning.”
He had learned mixed martial arts when he was young, but only for self-defense, to protect himself and handle emergencies.
He had no interest in watching live matches.
He didn’t like the animal side of humans, didn’t like watching people scream themselves hoarse, veins bulging, and didn’t like the smell of sweat—or any other smells in the air.
It all made him feel stupid.
Even the air felt unbearable.
After Bo Yun finished speaking, he heard a soft laugh beside him.
He turned and met Jiang Zhuoye’s bright eyes.
“So you came because I like it?”
Jiang Zhuoye spoke with a smile in his eyes. Even in this loud arena, he didn’t look fired up like the other fans.
Instead, his white T-shirt looked like the only camellia in a crowded, surging venue.
A faint grassy scent drifted from him, mixed with a hint of lily-of-the-valley.
That was the perfume he had sprayed on before going out.
That faint, clean scent was like a thin barrier, briefly separating Bo Yun from the surrounding noise.
Bo Yun’s Adam’s apple moved slightly.
On the stage, the first undercard match had already ended. The winner’s hand was raised high by the referee, earning thunderous cheers from the crowd.
Amid all the noise, Bo Yun answered calmly, as if it didn’t affect him at all.
“More or less.”
“Damn.”
Jiang Zhuoye couldn’t hold back his laughter.
He didn’t know why, but Bo Yun was willing to lower himself and accommodate him. He even chose something he liked for their “date,” which put Jiang Zhuoye in a good mood.
For once, he didn’t argue with him. He just smiled at Bo Yun.
“You’re really awkward,” he said, even lightly bumping Bo Yun with his knee. “Would it kill you to admit you’re thinking about me? Didn’t you say it yourself—we’re going to spend at least a year together. There’s no need to hate each other like enemies. We should try to get along.”
He didn’t really expect Bo Yun to answer.
Seeing that his favorite boxer was about to come on stage, Jiang Zhuoye grabbed his support flag and waved it, shouting the boxer’s name along with the crowd.
But after standing up and yelling with everyone, when the fighter finally entered and the lights went out, the whole arena roaring like a tidal wave, he suddenly turned back.
“But how did you know I like these fighters?”
In the wild screams, Jiang Zhuoye shouted at Bo Yun.
“Did my brother tell you?”
Just as he finished speaking, the lights suddenly came back on.
They were blinding.
The fighters bowed to the crowd on stage, and the roar around them was so loud it felt like it could lift the roof off the arena.
Jiang Zhuoye didn’t even wait for Bo Yun’s answer and joined the cheering crowd.
Bo Yun narrowed his eyes slightly in the bright arena.
He looked at Jiang Zhuoye standing in front of him. Bo Yun really didn’t fit into this excited, noisy atmosphere at all. Not once did his gaze go to the fighters on stage.
In his mind, he answered: no.
Even your brother might not know so clearly which fighters you support.
He knew because Jiang Zhuoye had told him himself.
It was just that Jiang Zhuoye probably didn’t remember anymore.
Bo Yun blinked, his gaze falling on Jiang Zhuoye’s hands. Jiang Zhuoye was holding up the support flag, with stickers on his face—the girl next to them had just given them to him.
He looked like he wanted to climb over the railing and cheer, more serious than anyone else. Especially when the person next to him supported the opposing fighter, he even found time to glare at them.
It was childish and full of passion.
Like an idiot.
Bo Yun thought so, but in the chaos and noise, the corner of his mouth curved up slightly.