Chapter 104

  He stood in front of the washbasin after using the toilet, rinsing his hands under the icy water for a long time. Looking at the mirror, he saw a pale face like a ghost. He fell into deep thought, wondering why he looked so pitiful despite being a big star... Until the cold water numbed his hands and he came back to himself, realizing he should turn on the hot water. He bent down to adjust the faucet, but no matter how hard he turned it, only cold water came out...

  Just as he was lamenting "This damn Germany, even the faucet is bullying me", he suddenly heard the sound of the bathroom door being opened behind him - subconsciously lifting his eyelids to take a glance, but this one glance made him stunned on the spot: very eye-catching, walking in from outside the door was the person he least wanted to see at this moment.

  The man was standing there drinking glass after glass, but his azure eyes were still clear and bright; he had a woman clinging to him like a koala, but his suit was still immaculately tidy with barely a wrinkle; he was just an ordinary second-tier actor in the country, yet when he walked in, everyone was still tense as if they had seen a national leader...

  Millions of words he wanted to say to Jiang Chuan flashed through his mind.

  Hi, you're here too.

  Long time no see.

  Oh, you pee too!

  Hey, did you see the WeChat message I sent you that day?

  Ha! You're actually here, I didn't notice you before.

  A thousand words were on the tip of his tongue, but suddenly they all turned into silence. His lips twitched slightly, and in the end, he couldn't help but lower his head and continue to fiddle with the faucet, muttering to himself "Is this stupid hardware broken?" - as he fiddled, he also fiddled with his own frostbitten fingertips, turning them back and forth on the faucet until he felt Jiang Chuan's footsteps approaching from a distance, stopping behind him. He suddenly stopped fiddling and stopped mumbling, and the originally empty bathroom, now only occupied by the two of them, fell into an eerie silence, with only the sound of running water from the faucet remaining...

  "On such a cold day, why isn't the hot water turned on?"

  Jian Ran suddenly heard the man's voice behind him, a familiar low and calm tone, as if their nearly month-long cold war was just a normal gap in communication between ordinary friends, and from start to finish, the man had never taken it to heart... Jian Ran knew he seemed to be thinking too much, he raised his hand to turn off the faucet, lowered his eyes and didn't look at the reflection of the man standing behind him in the mirror, and when he spoke again, he heard that his own voice also sounded very calm: "Oh, this faucet seems to be broken and can't get hot water."

  As soon as he finished speaking, he felt the person standing behind him lean in a bit closer - probably Jiang Chuan bending down to take a look at the faucet. The familiar scent swept across his neck and shoulders, causing all the hairs on his body to stand up and sing the national anthem. He felt the man's hand reach over his body, stretching out an arm to encircle him between his chest and the sink in a possessive gesture, touching the side of the faucet with a light "beep" sound. The red light below the faucet lit up, and Jiang Chuan easily turned on the water outlet, this time releasing hot steam from the golden spout.

  "Somebody turned off the switch for hot water," said Jiang Chuan, "turn it on and you can use it."

  He nodded and looked around at the faucets, and indeed, just as Jiang Chuan had said, all the other faucets had a red light on below them - but he had to go and choose the one that didn't. He warmed his hands under the hot water, then turned off the faucet and walked over to the hand dryer, putting his hands underneath it. As the machine roared to life, he calmed himself down and thought for a moment before speaking up: "I heard from Fang Yu that you haven't been back to China in a long time."

  The water droplets on his hand were blown dry, and he wanted to turn back, but at this moment, he heard the clear sound of metal buckles colliding when the belt was opened from behind - knowing that turning back now might make him see a more embarrassing scene, so he could only stand still, facing away from the sound. He heard Jiang Chuan grunt, and then there was no movement for half a day.

  He waited patiently for a bit, then suddenly reacted and thought to himself why he was standing there like a pervert waiting for someone to pee... He lifted his hand to wipe his face, trying to calm down, took a deep breath and turned around to walk towards the door - but at this moment, he suddenly heard Jiang Chuan say behind him: "Don't you ask me why I'm not going back?"

  “……”

  I really want to ask.

  But I don't know how to bring it up, afraid of being disliked for meddling in other people's business.

  The young man with black hair turned his back to the man, composed himself for a moment, then turned around and looked at the man standing next to the urinal, smiling in a deliberately calm tone: "It can't be because of that argument on the bus that day, you're still sulking and refusing to return home?"

  As soon as the words fell, Jian Yan knew that he had failed to pretend to be calm - he could see with his peripheral vision that his expression in the mirror beside him was stiff, and when Jiang Chuan turned around and glanced at him lightly, just that one glance, he knew that all his emotions were clearly seen through by the man. This made his face even stiffer, he wanted to turn around and escape immediately, or simply raise the trash can beside him and knock Jiang Chuan unconscious. After a deadly silence, he heard himself laugh dryly: "Just kidding, forget it, you don't have to answer this question -"

  "No."

  “……”

  Shut your mouth tight.

  At the same time, he could feel his heart being suddenly grasped by something from his chest cavity, tightly pinched and forcibly pulled out, then sinking into the icy depths... He heard himself say with a forced smile: "Oh, of course not, I was just joking, don't think I'm too narcissistic..."

  "I said," Jiang Chuan slowly adjusted his belt and walked to the water pool, bent down to wash his hands in front of the faucet he had used before, while lifting his head to look at the young man with stiff black hair behind him through the mirror, "It's not because we quarreled that day, so I didn't return home."

  “……”

  As he met the azure eyes in the mirror, for a moment, he felt that all words were stuck in his throat. He tried to lift the corners of his lips to reveal a relaxed smile and respond with something like "That's great", but after trying hard, he found that no matter what, he couldn't make the corners of his lips curve into even a semblance of a "smile".

  I know what you're doing has nothing to do with me.

  But why do you still want to repeat and emphasize it?

  The young black-haired man standing behind the man finally acknowledged his defeat, lowering his head and letting the shadow cast by his hair on his forehead cover up the emotions in his eyes. He heard the sound of "gurgling" coming from not far away as Jiang Chuan turned on the faucet to wash his hands, and after muttering "I'll go out first", he was about to leave when he heard Jiang Chuan say: "Wait."

  He stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at Jiang Chuan with a blank expression, only to find the man's hands propped up on the edge of the bathtub: "The hot water isn't coming out again, come over and take a look."

  He seemed to be thinking of saying something, or maybe just changing the faucet, but as he hesitated, he suddenly noticed that the man had apparently washed his face with cold water earlier. Water droplets trickled down his chin and wetted the open collar of his shirt, while some slid down his slightly trembling Adam's apple and disappeared into the shadow of his collar. At this time, Jiang Chuan lowered his head, his eyes staring blankly at a certain corner of the sink without focus.

  Looks like he's had too much to drink——

  It's no wonder, tonight the various wine glasses and liquor on hand have never been heard of before, and the people around me are also sending off batch after batch, drinking red and white mixed together like this, a normal person would probably have fallen to the ground long ago, how could they not be drunk.

  Thinking of this, he still softened a bit and said: "You'll catch a cold like that."

  "Come and take a look at the faucet." Jiang Chuan ignored Jian Ran's words and insisted on emphasizing.

  He had no choice but to stand firm and leave, turning around to bend down and examine the faucet for Jiang Chuan - when he came over, the man even politely made way for him, giving him a position. Jin Ran could only hold his breath, bend down and pretend to be calm to study the switch that Jiang Chuan had touched before, but after groping for half a day, he still didn't see the light representing hot water turn on again. He fiddled with it for a while, and finally gave up, raising his head to say to Jiang Chuan who was staring at him: "This faucet is probably really broken, you take a look and change another one..."

  The words were not yet out of his mouth when suddenly everything went black, and the next second, he was being pulled forward, stumbling, with his nose hitting a hard chest. He tried to struggle free in a daze, but the man behind him seemed to have anticipated this, as one hand pressed down on the back of his head, while another arm wrapped around his waist.

  It struggled hard but ultimately failed to break free.

  His nose was pressed against his chest, and he took a breath, but caught the faint scent of women's perfume. The smell made his stomach churn instantly, and he suppressed the tingling sensation on his scalp. He raised his hand to pretend to be calm and patted Jiang Chuan's shoulder: "Let go, even if you're drunk, you can't become a skin-starved patient like this..."

  The next second his smile stiffened on his lips because of the man's kiss that fell at the corner of his eye.

  Soft lips brought down a fiery breath, the heat quickly burning his calm eyes red. He made a fierce move to push away Jiang Chuan, but the man pressed him down hard, pinning him against the sink. At the same time, the scorching kiss slid down from the corner of his eye to the edge of his lips. Just as their lips were about to touch, Jian Ran twisted his head away in strong resistance.

  And in the next second, the man had already lifted his hand to pinch his chin, forcibly turning his head back, and with a breath of alcohol, his lips roughly covered him, the action also seemed somewhat urgent. He used the tip of his tongue to moisten the young black-haired person's lip, and then couldn't wait to pry open those tightly closed teeth.

  At the same time, one of his legs also got stuck between Jian Ran's legs.

  At this time, Jian Ran was pressed between his sturdy chest and the washbasin, facing directly at the bathroom door - anyone could push the door open and walk in to see him and Jiang Chuan tightly embracing each other in this shocking scene. Just thinking about it made Jian Ran's heart beat faster, his entire heart pounding like a drum...

  And in his daze, Jiang Chuan's tongue had already pried open his teeth and entered, making reckless sweeps...

  The only sound by her ear was the water sound made by their lips and tongues alternating, after a passionate kiss, both of their breathing became unstable. When Jiang Chuan lifted his hand and gently stroked Jin Yan's flushed eye corners with his rough thumb, the latter seemed to come back to himself and said in an unstable voice...

  "Jiang Chuan, let me go..."

  The man answered with his actions.

  He was almost kissed to suffocation.

  The hands placed on Jiang Chuan's shoulders exerted a slight force, pushing the man who was getting closer and closer away, as if he wanted to swallow him whole. When their tongues finally parted, Jian Ran hastily took a breath of fresh air, taking advantage of his still intact brain to say: "Jiang Chuan, listen to me, you don't like men, but I like..."

  "So?" The man narrowed his eyes slightly and asked back in an uncertain tone.

  "So I can't kiss you, touch you, just thinking about it makes me shudder - although I really want to touch you, hug you, and stay by your side, but like this now...". He paused for a moment, then lowered his head deeply and said in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, I really can't do it."

  "If you want to touch, why don't you touch?"

  The man's matter-of-fact tone made Jianran feel extremely irritated - at this moment, it was as if someone was tearing him apart alive, every cell in his body screaming in pain. Especially the skin that had come into contact with the man seemed to be burning all over, Jianran's eyes were dry, but he felt like he could burst into flames at any moment. He asked hoarsely, on the verge of collapse: "How long do we have to be so unclear and entangled?"

  "It's not unclear," Jiang Chuan said in a calm voice. "I asked you if you wanted to be together, and it was you who refused."

  "Be together?" Jian Ran seemed to have heard some absurd fantasy, he slightly widened his eyes and subconsciously raised his voice, "You, a normal person like you, how can we be together?! After being together, watching you go on blind dates arranged by your family? Watching from afar as you're with other women at parties? Not seeing you for an entire month without getting any explanation, only to finally confirm that your disappearance has nothing to do with me?"

  Facing a series of stern questions, Jiang Chuan fell silent.

  Apparently surprised by the sudden outburst of anger from the young black-haired man in his arms.

  It was a long time before he finally said ambiguously: "When did I ever say that me not returning to China has nothing to do with you?"

  "I just asked you why you didn't respond earlier, was it because we had a fight and you're still angry with me? You said it wasn't ——"

  "It's not that I'm angry, it's just that I couldn't go back." Jiang Chuan finally showed a helpless expression on his emotionless face. "I had left for a while before, during the Golden Flower Festival. You thought I really left without saying goodbye? I was caught and brought back. Someone sent the video of me confessing to someone at the press conference to my dad's eyes, he got so angry that he got high blood pressure and heart disease... I had to come back for a while... Originally, he didn't plan to let me leave Germany again, not even half a step, and thought that I wanted to act just to get close to the actors. During that time, I saw a different actress sitting at the dinner table with me for every meal..."

  Jian Ran: "......"

  His mind was a complete blank as he silently listened to Jiang Chuan speak, and all he could vaguely recall was that after the Golden Flower Festival, Jiang Chuan had indeed said with a hint of helplessness when mentioning his old man, "He doesn't know what I want."

  Jian Ran: "Later you then again——"

  "Later, I agreed to return home in February to attend the ceremony of a project he invested in," Jiang Chuan said calmly. "He temporarily let me go back, probably thinking that I was really going to settle down and do things at home - until someone sent him the list of main participants in that project, and he saw the same name I mentioned at the press conference."

  “……”

  "Oh, by the way, there are also some photos in the folder of me and that person arguing in the car because of something."

  “……”

  "My dad was furious and did something as childish as tearing up my passport, I thought he would be more high-end than that..." Jiang Chuan said. "Without a passport, how can I leave? Later, I just stayed at home waiting for an opportunity, and since my older cousin wasn't around, there were indeed some things at home that needed me to take care of. Every day was either playing games, reading documents or meeting different women - didn't I tell you when we played games together?"

  “…………”

  His brain worked hard for a moment, but it took him a long time to realize that he couldn't even sort out the vast amount of information inside, which was deeper than the sea and wider than the sky... And in his daze, he heard Jiang Chuan's flat voice above his head: "As a result, I finally got the opportunity to come here today, only to see you chatting with that 'well-meaning person' who exposed our affairs to my father..."

  The man said, raising his hand and touching the young black-haired man's lips, which were slightly swollen from being bitten. He tilted his head, and a dangerous glint flashed in his azure eyes: "How much investment did he promise you? 10 million? Or 20 million? What are the conditions? Is it to make up for his past regrets, like having you sleep with him for a night?"

  Jiang Chuan almost suspected that he had installed a bug on him.

  He opened his mouth wide, completely unable to respond to the big man's question. At this moment, in his daze, the latter quickly unfastened his waistband - amidst the metallic collision, he only felt a looseness at his waist, and the next second, he was lifted onto the washbasin, letting out a low cry of surprise. At the same time, the man's large hands had already entered his shirt, with a slightly cool sensation tracing up his flat abdomen to his chest...

  This familiar yet strange feeling made Jian Ran's entire body tremble.

  That pair of black pupils which had lost focus lit up with a flash of light before quickly dimming again.

  Before the man could react, the person sitting on the sink began to struggle violently. He suddenly pushed Jiang Chuan away, who stumbled backward two steps, and quickly jumped down from the sink, awkwardly pulling his shirt back on - but before he could even button up one button, in the next second, he was lifted up again and thrown back onto the sink!

  "Jiang Chuan!"

  A somewhat stifled cry of surprise rose, and this time, Jiang Chuan seemed to be worried that he would escape again. His sturdy and tall body squeezed directly between his legs, one hand pressed down on his knee to prevent him from struggling, while the other lifted up his shirt, exposing his pale skin under the dim light of the bathroom.

  On one side of the waist, there is an obvious scald, and the wound has apparently been around for some years. Except for the dark pigment deposits and wrinkles that symbolize the pain it brought.

  When the man's fingers touched that scar, the young black-haired person shook violently.

  He raised his hand and grasped Jiang Chuan's wrist, preventing him from touching that place again. At the same time, as if to prevent the emotions of embarrassment from revealing in his eyes, he tightly closed them.

  A few seconds of breathtaking silence.

  He could even feel the man's scorching gaze falling on that scar.

  Then he heard Jiang Chuan say: "Is this place where Andre got on back then?"

  He remained silent, still not speaking, only when Jiang Chuan waved his hand and once again stubbornly used his fingertips to touch that place, he seemed to have touched a very painful wound, his entire body stiffened and arched back, wanting to retreat, but this movement ultimately failed because his knees were pressed down by the man.

  It was as if it were a punishment for his silent resistance, Jin Yan only felt a chill on his chest, and he realized that his shirt had been lifted high - even without opening his eyes, he could feel the scar on his waist being completely exposed to the man's gaze. He opened his eyes, looking somewhat flustered as he tried to pull down his clothes to cover himself, but in his haste, he found it was not feasible and instead wanted to cover Jiang Chuan's eyes.

  At this time, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness and an indescribable fear.

  I'm afraid that when I move away the hand covering those azure eyes, I will see a pair of disgusted eyes.

  The entire bathroom was eerily quiet.

  He carefully pressed down on the hand covering the man's eyes and said in a dry voice, "Let's get out of here, just in case someone comes in..."

  "The door is locked."

  “……”

  "Lock the door as soon as you come in."

  In a daze, the young man with black hair could only stare blankly as his hand was pulled down from his face by the man. He felt a slight jolt, and his palm first made contact with the man's slightly cold high nose, but soon that cold sensation disappeared, replaced by warm wet lips and tongue touching his palm - it was like a cat licking with its tongue tip, carrying a thread of desire, scorching hot, itching...

  The other hand on the man's shoulder trying to push him away relaxed in vain.

  At the same time, he saw that the tall figure that had been looming over him suddenly lowered itself, and a warm kiss fell on the scar on his waist, wetter and more urgent than the previous one on his palm, to the point where it started to nibble, as if a wild beast was eager to reassert its dominance by marking its territory...

  "Wooo——"

  A stifled hum similar to a choke was emitted from the nasal cavity, and the black-haired young man sitting on the washstand stared with an incredulous expression.