Chapter 7: Chapter 7

“Where are you headed?” Zhou Xiang watched Yan Mingxiu strap on the seat belt. The back side of his white hand and slender fingers were very sexy.

Yan Mingxiu was about to say ‘nearby hotel’ when his phone sounded.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yan Mingxiu took out his phone to look. It was a call from his sister, Yan Mingmei. Yan Mingmei told him to go her place to stay the night, and they’ll go back together to their parent’s home tomorrow. Yan Mingxiu really didn’t want to go. He hated hearing about her and Wang Yudong’s relationship from her lips. But, in the end, she was still his older sister, and he couldn’t think of any reason to refuse her. Thus, after he hung up the phone, he gave out the address of a neighbourhood in the Third Ring Road. Yan Mingmei had bought an apartment there for convenience to work, and generally lived there on work days.

Zhou Xiang smiled, “That’s not far from my house.” He turned the steering wheel and from the parking lane, forcibly squeezed his car into jammed-packed main road.

Shortly after he drove off, it suddenly started raining. Yan Mingxiu silently watched the gloomy sky through the window, with no intention of talking to Zhou Xiang.

Nevertheless, Zhou Xiang didn’t find it awkward and started talking to him. “Are you Wang Yudong’s fan?” Zhou Xiang had seen fans behave in front of celebrities with the same sort of zeal and enthusiasm as Yan Mingxiu had in the afternoon, when he was interacting with Wang Yudong, countless times, so he didn’t find it strange at all. He simply felt that it was a bit of a shame. This boy looked like he was a very indifferent and standoffish person, yet only in front of Wang Yudong was he so friendly and enthusiastic; this must be the star power of a superstar.

Naturally, Yan Mingxiu wasn’t going to tell an outsider that Wang Yudong was his sister’s boyfriend, and gave a perfunctory reply, “Hn, I’m Dong’ge’s fan.”

“Which agency are you signed with?” Zhou Xiang guessed that Yan Mingxiu had to be a new talent that had just signed with some company, or else, no matter how pretty he was, he wouldn’t have been allowed to come in and out of the studio as he wished.

Yan Mingxiu didn’t understand. “What agency?”

“Talent agency of course.”

Yan Mingxiu finally responded, “No, I’m not signed with any.”

Zhou Xiang said in shock, “You haven’t signed with any yet? Then, could you consider signing with our company? Our company isn’t big, but its financial resources and connections are all top-notch.”

Yan Mingxiu finally understood what he meant, and explained, “I’m not signing with any agency. I’m not becoming a celebrity.”

Zhou Xiang was stunned for a moment, before he realised that he had guessed incorrectly. He said, smiling, “I apologise. You’re so handsome, I thought that you just debuted. That’s a shame, with your looks, you’ll definitely be popular.”

Yan Mingxiu said absentmindedly, “I’m not interested.” His happy mood from seeing Wang Yudong had been completely ruined by his sister’s one phone call. He knew that in Wang Yudong’s heart, he will only ever be his girlfriend’s little brother. But to Yan Mingxiu, Wang Yudong meant far more than that...

Zhou Xiang felt a bit bored seeing Yan Mingxiu’s cold and detached attitude. Although he was itching to sound Yan Mingxiu out, he could tell Yan Mingxiu was completely uninterested in him. Even if Yan Mingxiu was gay, what did it matter? Being homosexual wasn’t anything special. If two men liked the look of each other, both would have realised already. Who had the patience to unearth if the other person was beautiful inside? Even though Zhou Xiang felt that it was a pity, he wasn’t a petty person. Being able to accompany such an unrivalled beauty on the way home in a traffic jam under the heavy rain was already very wonderful. He’ll just make do with sexually fantasizing about him in his head. He should tightly zip his mouth, behave and drive the car to avoid annoying him.

Thus, Zhou Xiang stopped trying strike up a conversation with him, knowing that he’ll be given a cold shoulder. However, in order to dispel the awkward atmosphere in the car, he put on music.

The car had already entered the fifth ring, and was currently moving forward at a turtle’s place. Today happened to be Friday, and it was also raining heavily; the congestion level was not surprising. Pea sized raindrops beat down on the car. The car was playing a soothing English song, quietly resounding in the closed-off space. The inside and outside of the car were almost like two worlds. They could feel with distinct clarity that only the two of them existed within this world inside the car. It was a wondrous feeling. Yan Mingxiu couldn’t help but turn his head to glance at Zhou Xiang. Zhou Xiang had one hand on the steering wheel, his chin resting on his other hand, his elbow leaning on the window frame, overcome with boredom as he watched the dense rain and fog in front. His eyes were unfocused, as if lost in thought.

Zhou Xiang wouldn’t be considered handsome but was very masculine. His figure was good, and his body gave off a pure masculine charm. The side view of his face was especially attractive and resembled Wang Yudong’s slightly, though Wang Yudong’s face was more exquisite and elegant, and Zhou Xiang’s looks and temperament were inferior by far.

An odd feeling welled up in Yan Mingxiu’s heart, causing him to continue staring at Zhou Xiang even after two seconds had passed. Zhou Xiang sensed his gaze, and turned his head to glance at him, his faintly narrowed eyes glimmering with an unspeakable ambiguous nature.

Yan Mingxiu was startled for a moment, and immediately read the naked desire in those eyes. He slowly turned his head away, and started staring out the window again. After thinking for a few seconds, he said indifferently, “Let’s go to your place.”

This time it was Zhou Xiang’s turn to be startled. He slammed the brakes, and heart leaping with fear, he apprehensively looked at the dangerous distance between his car and the car in front.

The car behind started resentfully abusing its horn. Zhou Xiang lightly released the brake, letting the car continue to glide forward. Working hard to keep his cool, he said, “Okay, my house is a bit closer.”

Zhou Xiang’s heart wildly frolicked with joy. He had originally thought that there was no hope of any action, or in the really least, with Yan Mingxiu’s indifferent attitude, there was definitely no chance of anything happening the first time. Zhou Xiang had originally even given up on asking for his phone number. He never expected that after many twists and turns, Yan Mingxiu would suddenly suggest it on his own accord. Was it some special day today? Being able to do it once highest grade good like Yan Mingxiu, was enough to keep him reflecting and savouring over for a long time.

Yan Mingxiu sent a text to Yan Mingmei, telling her that he wouldn’t be going over anymore, and then turned off his phone. He didn’t want to go to his sister’s place at all. He felt completely put off and disgusted as soon as he thought about how Wang Yudong had slept there before, but not with him.

Originally, Zhou Xiang had really been enjoying being in a traffic jam with a beautiful man keeping him company, but now he was impatient to get back home, wishing that he could arrive home right away. Unfortunately, he couldn’t fly over there, and could only move forward slowly following the jammed train of cars.

Zhou Xiang’s parents died in a car crash when he was in elementary school. His dad was originally a vice-director of a state enterprise. The factory’s employee benefits at that time were good, and allocated their family an apartment with an floor area of over seventy square meters in the northern Second Ring. At that time, everyone thought that the apartment wasn’t bad, and didn’t feel that it was anything great. Now, however, houses at the district had all risen to twenty thousand per square metre. The apartment was old and it was a bit worn down, but Zhou Xiang was really satisfied to be able to have a place in Beijing to settle down and make his home.

He parked the car downstairs. The rain had already gotten a lot lighter. Zhou Xiang quickly opened the boot. Yan Mingxiu had only just gotten out of the car and Zhou Xiang had already run through the doorway with Yan Mingxiu’s luggage. He shook off the water on his hair. “The light on the second floor is broken, watch your step.”

Yan Mingxiu studied the staircase. The walls had recently been painted; the paintwork was really rough. These kinds of old apartment blocks fundamentally just directly covered the walls with putty powder; covering up the marks left behind in the passing of time, thickening the walls with every layer. He shot a glance at his luggage. “I’ll carry it myself.”

Zhou Xiang energetically proceeded up the stairs. “There’s no need to stand on ceremony, your suitcase is as light as a feather, besides, my apartment is just on the third floor.”

The light on the second floor was broken. Usually, there would still be moonlight, but as there was a rainstorm today, the moon wasn’t visible at all. Zhou Xiang knew this staircase like the palm of his hand; he could go up even with his eyes closed. He was afraid that Yan Mingxiu would fall, and wanted to take out his phone to give him some light. In the end, before he even managed to take out his phone, his leg tripped on Yan Mingxiu’s suitcase, and as the soles of his shoes were very slippery from the muddy water, he lost his footing, and fell backwards.

Yan Mingxiu was right behind him. He encircled his arm around Zhou Xiang’s waist, and grabbed the staircase handrail with his other hand.

Zhou Xiang’s entire back was leaning against Yan Mingxiu’s chest. He apologetically turned his head and smiled.

Yan Mingxiu’s deep and unfathomable eyes looked especially bright against the dim lighting. He looked deeply at Zhou Xiang. Their faces were extremely close, their breath on each other’s faces; they only needed to move forward a little bit and they’ll end up kissing.

A light smile appeared on Zhou Xiang’s face. The mood was so good, there was no reason to stop, so he leaned forward slightly and kissed Yan Mingxiu’s lips.

Yan Mingxiu was startled for a moment, and was a bit displeased, but very quickly his heart became frisky and his mind became restless from Zhou Xiang’s faint cigarette flavoured kiss and soft lips. He lightly nipped Zhou Xiang’s lips and deepened the kiss.

After the two parted, the expression in their eyes was a bit strange.

Yan Mingxiu said hoarsely, “Let’s go in.”