TL: Hua
With the familiar hug and the familiar breath, an indescribable tender emotion emerged from Xia Shu’an’s heart. The corners of his lips raised unconsciously. He hugged the man back and said, “Okay, it’s a cold day; let’s get in the car and talk.”
“En.”
The man obediently let go of him and was about to hold his hand and walk forward. Suddenly, Xia Shu’an’s steps paused, and he looked straight ahead. The man followed his gaze curiously and saw a tall, handsome man not far away staring at them blankly.
The man’s eyes changed. He looked at the tall man in front of him and took the initiative to step forward.
“Hello, I’m Lu Xin. Are you Shen Boyan?”
“Hello, I’m Shen Boyan.” Shen Boyan smiled and stretched out his hand, briefly shaking hands with Lu Xin.
Lu Xin’s eyes were still on Shen Boyan, as if he wanted to take a look at him inside and out. With a slight smile in his eyes, he muttered, “It’s great that you came to pick Xia Xia up from work.”
Shen Boyan’s eyebrows moved, while Xia Shu’an’s heartbeat accelerated for a second. The nickname “Xia Xia” was unique to Lu Xin. Because of this, Shen Boyan had had countless quarrels with him in his previous life, and because of this, the two also became enemies.
He was determined to ease the relationship between the two, and just as he was about to step forward, he heard Shen Boyan say, “Yes, it’s cold and the roads are hard to walk. I was afraid that he would be in danger on the road, so I came here early after getting off work today. You have been Xiao Shu’s friend since childhood, right?”
“Have you heard of me?”
“Of course, it’s really better to catch up early than coincidentally; since we bumped into each other, let’s have dinner together.” Shen Boyan smiled and offered an invitation.
“Okay.” Lu Xin happily accepted the invitation.
…….
…….
In the corner of the restless bar, the lights shine brilliantly: “Wu, baby, my baby Xia Xia, you don’t even know how much I miss you, how worried I am about you; you are bad; you are bad; you don’t even send me a message!”
Lu Xin held a beer bottle in one hand and howled while holding Xia Shuan’s arm in the other, each sounding heavier and more mournful than the last, which sounded eerie.
Xia Shu’an held his forehead and explained with black lines on his face, “He, he’s just like this.” That’s what his nature is.
“What do you mean I’m like this? Baby Xia Xia…” Lu Xin crawled over Xia Shu’an’s arm and hugged his neck, saying in a sorrowful tone, “Baby, don’t you even miss me?”
“I thought so. Don’t I often send you messages?”
“How often—not often at all! Your last message was two months ago. I asked you if the matter at home was resolved. You said it was resolved, and then nothing happened!”
At that time, because he had just gotten together with Shen Boyan, Xia Shu’an didn’t know how to explain it, so he simply chose to escape, thinking that it would be wrong to say more, so it was better to take time to prepare a flawless explanation. Now that someone pointed it out to his face, Xia Shu’an…..
Xia Shu’an chose to fight back: “Then why don’t you contact me? If I don’t contact you, will you stop contacting me?”
“You, you…” Lu Xin’s eyes flickered, and his face suddenly showed a guilty conscience.
Xia Shu’an became even more self-righteous: “Look at yourself before trying to find fault in me!”
“Oh, baby, I just left the country for how long? In a flash, you belong to someone else. My heart, it’s so cold.”
Xia Shu’an sighed helplessly, “People aren’t objects that won’t belong to others.”
Lu Xin had a look of disdain on his face.
“I can’t have you all to myself anymore?”
“You never did, okay?”
Shen Boyan held a glass in his hand and looked at the two of them with a smile. He had never seen Xia Shu’an act so intimately with anyone else, and the conversation between the two showed their unusual closeness.
Shen Boyan took a sip of wine and said, “You guys have such a good relationship.”
Xia Shu’an instantly thought of the “past” time, but Lu Xin didn’t know the danger yet. He hugged Xia Shu’an and showed off: “Of course, we have been friends since kindergarten. Xia Xia is my baby!”
As he said this, he tried to come over and kiss Xia Shu’an’s face.
Xia Shu’an and Lu Xin have known each other since kindergarten. The two have always been close. For a pure-minded straight man, you can’t imagine how nauseating Lu Xin can be. There was a time when Xia Shu’an’s health wasn’t good, and he was hospitalized. Every time he came to school, Lu Xin would accompany him. At that time, everyone called Lu Xin “the close knight of the Xia family young master.” In fact, there was also another saying: “the knight of the princess,” but Xia Shu’an himself didn’t like it.
Thinking about it carefully, it would be fine if both of them were straight men, but after Xia Shu’an became gay, he had to abide by gay ethics. Cuddling with other men was no less than overly intimate behavior between adults of the opposite sex. It seemed, well, not very appropriate.
Xia Shu’an peeked at Shen Boyan’s face and grabbed Lu Xin’s chin: “Speak appropriately and don’t touch me.”
Lu Xin was pushed to the side by him and failed to land the kiss. He said with a disappointed expression, “You have changed, Xia Xia; you are a married man now.”
Xia Shu’an gave him a look, letting him digest this fact.
Lu Xin, the drama queen, quickly put this matter behind him and turned to Shen Boyan: “How did you and Xia Xia meet?”
“I fell in love with Xiao Shu at first sight…”
Shen Boyan used the same rhetoric that he had discussed with Xia Shu’an before to deal with Xia parents.
“But I heard that you didn’t know each other when you first met at the art museum?” He indeed heard about it from Chu Wenzhi.
Shen Boyan’s expression remained unchanged, and he said calmly, “When we met before, we didn’t have time to talk. Naturally, I’m not sure whether Xiao Shu still remembers me. Think about it; if I hadn’t remembered Xiao Shu, how could I have seen him among so many people and struck up a conversation with him?”
“It seems to make sense.”
Lu Xin nodded and reluctantly accepted his explanation.
“Then what do you like about Xia Xia?”
Shen Boyan didn’t hesitate: “Everything!”
“No way, your answer is too perfunctory.”
“No, it’s true.” Shen Boyan turned to look at Xia Shu’an tenderly and whispered. “I like them all.”
Xia Shu’an silently stroked his shoulder, his heart untouched.
Instead, Lu Xin wowed and said innocently, “Really? You won’t lie to me, right?”
Shen Boyan said with a determined expression, “No, I like everything about him.”
“Wow!!!” Lu Xin clapped his hands.
Xia Shu’an looked at the two crazy people and said helplessly, “Drink less; I won’t send you home if you get drunk and go crazy.”
Lu Xin said aggrievedly, “Xia Xia, you are so indifferent.”
Shen Boyan gave a sinister smile and lightly opened his lips: “You are so sassy; I love it.”
Xia Shu’an couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
There were two billiard tables in the bar, and the one closest to them happened to be vacant. Seeing Xia Shu’an walking there, Lu Xin whistled: “Xia Xia, you really have changed; you even know how to play billiards. You didn’t even bother before when I brought you to play.”
Xia Shu’an glanced at him and said to himself: Not only can I play billiards, but I can also blow both of your heads off with a cue.
Among these three people, Shen Boyan has the strongest power and hits the ball the most steadily; Lu Xin is a veteran of the table and juggles the ball in a skillful way; and what Lu Xin didn’t expect is that Xia Shu’an plays the ball surprisingly well and has precise control of the ball’s route, which often hits amazing shots.
“Xia Xia, you are really amazing. Falling in love can not only make people beautiful but also make them good at playing billiards?”
Xia Shu’an didn’t even bother to look at him.
“Talk less and play more.”
His original intention of learning to play was to get revenge on Shen Boyan. When he learned to play, he had hatred in his heart, so he worked extra hard. In addition, he was a quick learner, so as soon as he learned it, he really beat Shen Boyan several times, making him extremely happy.
And if each target ball was viewed as if it were Shen Boyan’s head, eyes, or mouth, well, then his accuracy could be improved a lot.
“Tsk, Xia Xia is really good at this.”
At the end of the game, there were fewer and fewer balls on the table, and hitting them became more and more difficult. Xia Shu’an’s last target ball is nowhere close to the white ball and the pocket. He circled the table a few times before leaning over, his eyes in a straight line with the white ball and the edge.
Xia Shu’an went to school today wearing a soft white-collar shirt and a light brown sweater, which looked particularly soft and harmless. But his expression as he leaned over and stared at the ball was reminiscent of that of a leopard that had seen its prey. The lines formed by his waist, hips, and neck when bent were smooth and concise, and his posture was pleasing to the eye, exuding the unrestrained and free beauty of wild animals.
Shen Boyan and Lu Xin were both paying attention to the ball and didn’t have time to appreciate his posture. However, there were a few people nearby who looked at Xia Shu’an secretly.
Xia Shu’an half squinted his eyes and used his forearm to control his wrist to strike quickly. The white ball slammed hard against the edge of the pool, then quickly returned and hit the edge again. After hitting the edge twice, the white ball finally hit the target ball, which quickly rolled to the pocket on the other side, while the white ball stopped firmly in the middle of the table.
Lu Xin clapped his hands. “Xia Xia is so amazing!”
Xia Shu’an didn’t look back. “The loser will pay tonight.”
“Ah, do I have to pay the bill even if I just returned to my home country?”
After a few more games, Xia Shu’an stopped and left for the washroom. When he was gone, Lu Xin suddenly approached Shen Boyan and mysteriously said, “Did you and Xia Xia have a fight?”
Shen Boyan was polishing his cue and raised his eyebrows at the words, “Can you tell?”
“Of course.” Lu Xin said with an I’ve-been-through-it-all expression: “You didn’t even dare to say anything when I was snuggling with Xia Xia, and you didn’t even dare to act intimately towards him, so I knew that you guys must have had a fight.”
So you still know your behavior is annoying.
Lu Xin looked thoughtful: “Honestly, I find it amazing that Xia Xia can quarrel with others. We have known each other for more than 20 years, and I have never seen him lose his temper or have any conflicts with anyone. Ah, of course, some bastards who did something stupid or made a scene in front of Xia Xia and were taught a lesson by him don’t count.”
“In short, when we talked about the future, everyone thought that Xia Xia would be the happiest. He would find a girl who was either gentle, intellectual, or cute. But they would definitely not quarrel, because Xia Xia would always be gentle and tolerant, doting on each other.”
“But I don’t think it’s right. What kind of couple doesn’t fight? Is that happiness? Or is it simply just tolerance and accommodation?”
“So I’m quite happy to see you two quarreling.”
After saying that, he walked to his seat and happily drank the wine in the glass. Shen Boyan was thoughtful, and his eyes looking at Lu Xin also had some real emotions.
After another moment, Lu Xin looked up and said, “Why isn’t Xia Xia back yet?”
Shen Boyan also looked up. Suddenly, the expression on his face changed, and he stood up from his seat.
On the way back from the bathroom, Xia Shu’an was blocked by a man in his thirties at a corner. The man was holding a newly made cocktail in his hand, tilting his head, and looking at Xia Shu’an with a smile on his face.
“Just a drink; it’s not a big deal.”
“I said, I have friends around, and I don’t want to drink.”
Under the ambiguous light of the bar, Xia Shu’an’s face was cold, but his color was good to begin with. In addition, his face was slightly pink after drinking some wine. His frosty beauty made him look like a snow lotus on the mountaintop, and people were unable to resist the temptation to climb up.
With such a sharp character and such a beautiful and soft body, the man couldn’t help but lick his lips and say frivolously, “Then tell me what your name is…”
“If you don’t get out of the way, I’m going to call someone…”
Before Xia Shu’an could finish his words, the man suddenly started wailing. Shen Boyan twisted one hand around his wrist that he had reached out to Xia Shu’an and folded it back with force, causing cold sweat to flow out of the man’s head in just a split second.
There was a cold anger in Shen Boyan’s eyes.
“What are you doing to my friend?”
“Who are you?!”
“Who do you think I am?”
“You f*cking let go!”
The man kept wailing, and the people around gave way as three more people ran over.
Another man in his thirties yelled at Shen Boyan, “What did you do to my friend?”
Shen Bo Yan ignored him, threw the man back to his friends, and took Xia Shu’an away, but the other two people saw the situation and surrounded him.
Shen Boyan looked at them and said, “Are you looking for trouble?”
He rolled up his sleeves, pushed Xia Shu’an to the side, and turned back to kick towards the man in the middle who tried to flirt with Xia Shu’an. The kick was so powerful that the man covered his stomach and couldn’t get up.
“F*ck you!”
Another person rushed towards Shen Boyan, but the size difference between the two was too big. He didn’t even get close to Shen Boyan before he was knocked down with a punch.
Shen Boyan’s fighting style was really fierce and ruthless. It was completely unimaginable that he was sitting in the high position of CEO. Someone saw that he couldn’t beat him, so he smashed a glass bottle and rushed forward.
“Shen Boyan!”
Shen Boyan grabbed the hand holding the wine bottle with his left hand and hit the man in the face with his right fist. The man stumbled a few steps, and his eyes instantly became dizzy. The bar owner over there saw a sharp weapon and quickly came down to have someone stop those few people.
“If you make any more noise, I’ll call the police!”
Xia Shu’an quickly walked up to Shen Boyan. Shen Boyan was not injured, but the area above his eye was still scratched by the glass, and blood was oozing out.
“You……”
Shen Boyan smiled at him and said, “I’m fine.”
Since they were still out and Shen Boyan suffered another injury for him, Xia Shu’an walked back while holding back his anger. Lu Xin applauded excitedly without understanding the atmosphere: “Awesome, too awesome, Old Shen.”
Xia Shu’an couldn’t help but glare at him. Shen Boyan stood shoulder to shoulder next to Xia Shu’an, smiling and saying nothing.
After this incident, the three of them stopped drinking. Xia Shu’an sent Lu Xin to the car first. After seeing him leave, the two of them returned to their cars.
A layer of cold frost condensed on Xia Shu’an’s face as he pursed her lips and looked at Shen Boyan.
“Why did you do it just now? What if someone had a knife?”
Shen Boyan chuckled softly, holding Xia Shuan’s face and saying, “I don’t know anything about studying, while you don’t know anything about fighting.”
“The more people there are, the less you can be afraid of them; otherwise, they will bully you harder.”
Xia Shu’an’s face was still stinky. “You have a lot of experience.”
Shen Boyan could only smile helplessly.
The two people arrived home quickly under the driver’s smooth and fast driving. Previously, they only borrowed cotton swabs from the bar to wipe the wound and put a band-aid on it, which stopped the bleeding but was done in a very rough way.
Shen Boyan took a simple shower first, and when Xia Shu’an came out of the bathroom, he was sitting on the sofa, looking at him innocently and pitifully.
“Can you help me change my medication?”
“…”
Xia Shu’an stared at him for a few seconds, then walked over with light and silent steps like a cat.
The location of his wound was just under his bang. Xia Shu’an stretched out his hand to push his hair backward. Shen Boyan has a hard personality, but his hair was very soft. Xia Shu’an could feel his hair gently stirring in the palm of his hand, giving him an indescribable itch.
He lowered his head just in time to meet the man’s eyes as he looked up. Those eyes were indescribably well-behaved, their pupils flickering with light, both flattering and doting.
Xia Shu’an’s eyes flashed. He avoided his gaze and wiped the wound with an alcohol swab. The man winced in pain, and Xia Shu’an subconsciously moved a little softer. A lamp on each cabinet next to the sofa emitted a dim light. Xia Shu’an was sitting on one knee on the sofa, with his back straight and his waist in soft pants falling on the man’s palm, presenting an ambiguous posture.
He didn’t seem to notice and moved gently and quickly to disinfect Shen Boyan, then applied the medicine.
Shen Boyan hadn’t changed into his pajamas yet when he came out of the bathroom, but he had draped himself in a nightgown. The wide white collar was loosely tied around his waist with a tie, revealing a large area of honey-colored skin in the middle.
Xia Shu’an has actually seen and touched Shen Boyan’s body countless times, but today, perhaps because of the wound, Xia Shu’an’s eyes couldn’t help but look at the scar on Shen Boyan’s chest. This scar looked very deep, and it still left heavy marks on Shen Boyan’s body even to this day.
The young man’s cool fingers lightly touched the honey-colored skin. The man’s body shook and quickly stabilized.
Shen Boyan looked at him with downcast eyes.
“How did you get this scar?”
“When I used to mix in society, I got it from fighting with someone.”
Nonsense. Maybe you cut it yourself?
Xia Shu’an felt that Shen Boyan’s lips were really too tight when it came to such personal privacy. Whether it was out of respect for Shen Boyan or Shen Boyan’s boring male dignity, Xia Shu’an wouldn’t continue to ask.
Shen Boyan put his head on his shoulder and said, “Xia Shu’an, do…”
“Go away; didn’t we just do it yesterday!”
“Can that be counted? Do you feel any discomfort in your body?”
“That was of your own free will.”
“Then I also volunteered today; can I do it again?”
“…”
