Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a coincidence. With just this many hot spring pools here, running into each other was bound to happen sooner or later.
Still, ending up soaking in the same pool this fast was quite unexpected for Qin Yuan.
Qin Yuan raised his chin at him by way of greeting.
The next moment, Xie Fengbei averted his gaze, completely ignoring Qin Yuan.
Qin Yuan blinked. Ignoring him?
This actually piqued Qin Yuan’s interest in Xie Fengbei a little.
Mainly because he wasn’t particularly happy himself. The person he couldn’t have was playing all lovey-dovey with their lover, and right now, seeing someone like Xie Fengbei who looked like his heart had been sealed in ice made him want to get closer to the man.
So, Qin Yuan stood up and walked right over to Xie Fengbei.
The moment Qin Yuan approached, Xie Fengbei’s brows instantly furrowed.
Anyone with even a shred of tact would have walked away by now.
Yet Qin Yuan acted as though he couldn’t read other people’s expressions at all.
Xie Fengbei’s pupils constricted. He figured Qin Yuan wasn’t unable to read the room; he had walked over entirely on purpose.
Qin Yuan sat down right next to Xie Fengbei, the water in the pool sloshing and rippling with his movement.
The ripples spread outward, layer upon layer.
Xie Fengbei slowly turned his head, his gaze meeting Qin Yuan’s smiling eyes.
“President Xie, you shouldn’t be angry, right?”
The moment Qin Yuan opened his mouth, he asked if Xie Fengbei was angry.
“If I said I was angry, what would you do?”
Accepting his former lover so quickly, Qin Yuan’s speed was certainly something else. Was he afraid the whole world wouldn’t know?
“I’m sorry.”
Qin Yuan apologized immediately.
This caught Xie Fengbei completely off guard.
“Just a verbal apology?”
“Then what else does President Xie want?”
“Money?”
“I’d assume you aren’t someone short on cash.”
When Qin Yuan smiled, the dimple on his left cheek showed again, though you’d miss it if you weren’t looking closely.
Xie Fengbei narrowed his eyes.
“Doing something like this, a lot of people are probably going to misunderstand.”
“Who misunderstood? I’ll go explain it to them.”
Qin Yuan answered a bit too quickly. A type like Qin Yuan simply didn’t exist in Xie Fengbei’s world.
It seemed impossible to see any expression on that face other than a smile.
Just as Xie Fengbei was thinking this, a single droplet of water landed on Qin Yuan’s face.
Trickling down from the tip of his hair, it wound its way right along the edge of his cheek. At that instant, Xie Fengbei’s heart seemed to shudder for a second; he actually felt as though that droplet of water was a tear track.
Xie Fengbei looked at Qin Yuan more closely. Having missed it before, upon studying him closer now, he saw that Qin Yuan’s entire face was wreathed in smiles, yet beneath those smiles, a trace of sorrow was hidden away.
“Are you unhappy?”
Xie Fengbei asked in an unexpected counter-question.
Qin Yuan was startled for a moment. “No.”
“I’m very happy.”
Qin Yuan hadn’t expected Xie Fengbei to ask him that.
The corners of Xie Fengbei’s mouth lifted slightly, though he was extraordinarily stingy with his smiles, and even the hint of amusement never lasted long.
“Is that so? I thought you were about to cry.”
Xie Fengbei wore a half-mocking, half-serious expression.
This kind of expression almost never appeared on his face. He was probably unaware himself that when he spoke with Qin Yuan, his emotional fluctuations were far greater than usual.
“Cry?”
“I don’t cry.”
“On the other hand, President Xie, you must cry, right?”
“Me?”
“You can try.”
“How should I try? Want to let me beat you up?”
“Can you beat me?”
Xie Fengbei glanced over Qin Yuan’s physique. His skin was excessively fair, whiter and more delicate than a woman’s.
This easily brought to mind the woman Qin Yuan had brought along earlier. Standing side by side, Qin Yuan was distinctly the better-looking one.
“Qin Yuan, you certainly know how to play philanthropist.”
Xie Fengbei’s words were ambiguous.
Qin Yuan raised an eyebrow, his eyes gesturing for Xie Fengbei to spell it out.
“You’re so gorgeous, yet you go around casually playing around with people. How is it that no matter how I look at it, it always seems like other people are playing you, and you’re still paying them?”
“If that’s not playing philanthropist, what is it?”
Xie Fengbei spoke slowly, a hint of mockery audible in his tone.
Would Qin Yuan get angry?
Far from getting angry, he burst out laughing instead.
The sound startled some people walking past nearby.
“Yeah, I just happen to like playing philanthropist.”
“What, is President Xie jealous? If you say the word, I can play philanthropist with you too.”
The two of them had originally been a meter or two apart, but the moment Qin Yuan finished speaking, that distance instantly vanished.
Qin Yuan rested his hand on Xie Fengbei’s shoulder, leaning closer to him inch by inch.
“Though with President Xie, it wouldn’t really count as charity, would it?”
“After all, if I were to give you money, no matter how you look at it, it would feel like paying for companionship, right?”
Qin Yuan’s finger moved toward Xie Fengbei’s cheek, stopping just before it touched the man’s skin.
Xie Fengbei abruptly grabbed Qin Yuan’s wrist in a tight grip.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’ve got a lot of nerve?”
“You’re the first.”
“Qin Yuan, be careful. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, or you might end up choking.”
“As for you, I think I can still chew.”
“Or could it be that President Xie is scared?”
“Afraid that I might actually devour you?”
Qin Yuan deliberately used reverse psychology.
Xie Fengbei wasn’t easily provoked, but with Qin Yuan as the target, this person’s very existence seemed to constantly remind him of just how different someone could be from him.
This person was living recklessly and entirely as he pleased. By comparison, it felt as though he himself wasn’t even truly alive.
Xie Fengbei yanked Qin Yuan’s wrist hard, pulling him straight into his arms.
Qin Yuan purposely put some force into it, hearing the sound of his own body crashing against Xie Fengbei’s. Xie Fengbei didn’t frown at all; instead, he directly cupped the back of Qin Yuan’s neck, and the two of them kissed.
Qin Yuan’s gaze flashed sharply. He didn’t like being too passive.
He grabbed a handful of Xie Fengbei’s hair. Xie Fengbei immediately frowned, but right as his lip was bitten by Qin Yuan, Xie Fengbei released his hold on the back of Qin Yuan’s neck and grabbed his hair in return.
A chuckle escaped Qin Yuan’s lips, but the sound was instantly swallowed up.
The two of them began kissing right there in the hot spring pool. Someone wanted to swim over, but seeing this scene, they were startled and decided to skip this pool altogether.
Qin Yuan swung his long leg over, straddling Xie Fengbei’s lap. He gazed at the handsome face inches away from his own; even in the middle of a kiss, the man didn’t seem very emotionally stirred.
It wasn’t just Xie Fengbei who lacked emotion; Qin Yuan felt much the same.
This guy wasn’t his type, and Qin Yuan wasn’t so indiscriminate that anyone would make him happy.
It was simply because Xie Fengbei had a special status that he felt like kissing him.
Qin Yuan’s eyes brimmed with amusement. He had practiced kissing techniques plenty of times, and they were definitely better than Xie Fengbei’s.
Qin Yuan closed his eyes slightly and began kissing him leisurely.
Come to think of it, Xie Fengbei’s lips weren’t half bad, and the sensation of kissing him was quite nice.
However, the man’s body was far too rigid; it wasn’t the kind of softness Qin Yuan preferred.
Qin Yuan hooked the tip of Xie Fengbei’s tongue, sucking gently and producing a faint sound.
In a split second, an electrical current seemed to bloom across the tip of Xie Fengbei’s tongue, exploding instantly and diffusing throughout his entire body. Every finger holding Qin Yuan’s shoulder felt as though a powerful current had just surged through it.
Xie Fengbei’s fingers gradually tightened. The Qin Yuan before him seemed completely immersed in the kiss.
Yet Xie Fengbei increasingly sensed something else: Qin Yuan’s focus carried a different meaning entirely.
He was closing his eyes, which meant he couldn’t see him, allowing him to freely imagine someone else.
A person he held in his heart, someone he truly liked.
Not that woman, but someone else entirely.
For some reason, Xie Fengbei suddenly felt a wave of displeasure, an intense discomfort.
Xie Fengbei abruptly pushed Qin Yuan away. Qin Yuan slowly opened his closed eyes and traced his tongue over his lips. At that moment, his lips were exceptionally crimson, looking as vibrant and seductive as if stained with fresh blood.
Xie Fengbei’s gaze grew deep and dark, devoid of any pleasure, making him look like he might tear the person in front of him to shreds at any second.
Qin Yuan looked at him with a mix of confusion and oddity.
As his hand drifted downward toward a certain spot in the water, his wrist was caught and tightly gripped by Xie Fengbei.
“Don’t push your luck.”
Qin Yuan shook off Xie Fengbei’s hand. The man suddenly possessed immense strength, and Qin Yuan felt a sharp pain in his wrist bones.
“I’m about done soaking. President Xie, enjoy yourself.”
Qin Yuan stood up, ready to leave. As for the kiss he had just shared with Xie Fengbei, it meant nothing at all, just a couple of guys who happened to get a sudden burst of enthusiasm.
Clearly, their preferences clashed. Neither Qin Yuan nor Xie Fengbei was the type willing to play the bottom.
Besides, they had zero physical attraction to each other.
With no mutual interest, there was certainly no reason to continue.
Qin Yuan walked to the edge of the pool as Xie Fengbei’s deep, dark voice came from behind him.
“Qin Yuan, let me give you a piece of advice. It’s fine if you like to play, and you can play whatever you want, but you’d better be careful. Don’t end up accidentally playing yourself into a corner one of these days.”
This was Xie Fengbei’s warning to him.
Qin Yuan turned his head back. Water covered his entire body, and countless clear droplets wound their way across his attractive physique. Even in the dim light of the surrounding streetlamps, Xie Fengbei could see the paths of those water droplets with absolute clarity.
Xie Fengbei unexpectedly felt his throat go dry. He should have brought some water over.
“Thanks for the reminder. I always know my limits when I do things.”
“Goodbye.”
Qin Yuan climbed ashore, walking down from the hillside hot spring pool.
Down below, Qin Yuan rejoined Fang Chen and the others. His friends had no idea what Qin Yuan had just been up to, and seeing him arrive, they called him over.
Up on the mountain, Xie Fengbei stood in the hot spring for a long while after Qin Yuan left before his expression finally shifted.
His phone chimed with a notification ringtone. Xie Fengbei opened his phone, tapped into a folder, and found that the people he had sent out had sent over a bunch of photos. The subject in all of them was basically the same person.
As for that person’s same-sex lover, although captured in some shots, many of them were blurry.
Xie Fengbei stared at the person in the photos, the one he had fallen for at first sight, the one who had captured his heart instantly.
If there was anyone in this world, he could ever lose his heart to, it was the clean-cut, handsome young man in those photos.
The very first time he saw him at the coffee shop that day, Xie Fengbei had been utterly captivated. He felt as though fate had predestined that he and this young man would cross paths.
He would meet him, like him.
And then make him his.
As for the other guy, some low-level boxing nobody, Xie Fengbei didn’t care about him at all.
Xie Fengbei zoomed in on the photo, gazing at Lin Xi’s soft features. This person belonged to him.
The moment that thought popped into his head, Xie Fengbei’s lips tightened. The tip of his tongue still seemed to carry a lingering trace of sweetness, the sweet taste left by another man’s lips.