Did My Wife Break Up With Me Today? - Chapter 93

Chapter 93: Extra 2 — Meeting the Parents: Caught Wearing His Shirt

After successfully completing the government-sponsored exchange program, Chen Kongqing returned smoothly from overseas. Back with his mentor, he focused entirely on researching the integration of herbal medicine and modern science. His daily research tasks remained heavy, and he occasionally taught classes at Kunming University.

Xu Jingmo was busy as well, having been dispatched to Z Province for further training. Consequently, even though Chen Kongqing was back in the country, the two hadn’t had many days to be truly “clingy” with one another.

On the weekend, with Xu Jingmo’s business trip not yet over, Chen Kongqing lay lazily in bed, in no rush to get up for breakfast. Eventually, “Black Cat Sheriff,” driven by hunger, crawled onto the bed. His copper-bell eyes glared at Kongqing, his expression filled with resentment.

Chen Kongqing finally rolled out of bed in a hurry. “I’m going… I’m going to feed you now.”

The large black cat jumped off the bed with a couple of sharp meows. Ever since being neutered, the cat’s weight had skyrocketed. Sometimes when friends visited, they would laugh and ask where this “tank of a cat” came from. But his amber gold eyes were still as vacant and innocent as they were when he was a kitten. When Zhou Mujun came over to see Xu Jingmo and saw the cat, he would call him the “Innocent Little Eunuch.” The cat seemed to understand, as he would hide in his bed and refuse to play whenever Zhou Mujun visited.

Chen Kongqing grabbed a few handfuls of kibble for the bowl and sat down on the rug beside him. It was autumn in Kunming, and a golden scenery unfolded outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. He idly stroked the cat’s sleek, glossy fur.

The silence was broken by his phone ringing. Still sitting on the rug, Chen Kongqing lazily reached for the phone on the coffee table. It was a call from Su Jingjing.

He and Su Jingjing maintained a frequency of calling about once a month, and he occasionally visited her in Nancheng. During the first year of his exchange program, Su Jingjing had found out about his relationship with Xu Jingmo. She hadn’t accepted it immediately; she felt that her own lack of care—having remarried early—had caused Chen Kongqing “psychological issues” that led him to be with a man. While she couldn’t accept it in her heart, she didn’t take an overly aggressive stance.

Over the past two years, Chen Kongqing had tried to arrange a meeting between Xu Jingmo and Su Jingjing, but she had refused every time.

Today, Su Jingjing was hesitant. After a string of irrelevant small talk, she finally cut to the chase: “Your third aunt is also in Kunming, right? She introduced me to a few girls recently. They’re locals, have good jobs, and are quite pretty…”

Chen Kongqing’s brow furrowed as he petted the cat. “Mom, why are you telling me this?”

“I want you to give it a try,” Su Jingjing said, sounding like she had summoned great courage. “You’ve never tried dating a girl… how do you know if you like men or women? And you’re not that young anymore…”

Chen Kongqing’s frown deepened. “Mom, I’m not going to try.”

“Xiaoman… I know it’s my fault, I didn’t take care of you when you were little, which led to…” Su Jingjing began a self-reproachful confession.

But Chen Kongqing interrupted her firmly: “Mom, it has nothing to do with any of that. It’s not about gender. I just like him, and he happens to be a man. That’s it.”

“I don’t understand, Xiaoman.” Su Jingjing’s voice trembled. “Xiaoman, you’re such a good child. It shouldn’t be like this.”

“Mom, if you can’t accept it, you can pretend you don’t know, but I’m not going to change anything. I’m sorry,” Chen Kongqing replied calmly.

Silence stretched over the line. Finally, Su Jingjing calmed down and asked awkwardly, “Does he… treat you well?”

Chen Kongqing licked his lips nervously. “He treats me very well, Mom.”

“Alright…” Su Jingjing sighed. After a few seconds, she continued, “I have some time off coming up. I’ll come to Kunming to see you… Will he… be there?”

“Yes, he’ll be here!” Chen Kongqing cut in quickly. He knew this was her softening.

Su Jingjing: “Fine. We’ll talk more when I get there.”

…

The call ended. Chen Kongqing picked up the cat and spun around. “Piggy-cat, do you want some more food?…” The cat stuck out its pink tongue to lick its fur, ignoring the person calling him a pig.

Xu Jingmo’s training period wasn’t actually that long—only a month—but to Chen Kongqing, it felt like a century. Returning to an empty apartment, sitting in the dark while the autumn wind howled outside, made the loneliness feel intense. He wondered if Xu Jingmo had felt this way while he was in California—eating, sleeping, and working alone.

He looked at the dark bedroom and reached for his phone to message Xu Jingmo, but it was too late. He felt a bit embarrassed that he missed him so much he couldn’t sleep after only a few days of separation.

But he desperately wanted to smell Xu Jingmo’s scent. After a brief internal struggle, Chen Kongqing went to the walk-in closet and pulled out one of Xu Jingmo’s frequently worn shirts.

Xu Jingmo was taller and broader than him, so the shirt was several sizes too big. The light blue pinstriped shirt looked oversized on him; the sleeves were far too long, and the hem reached just far enough to cover his backside. But the scent on this shirt was the strongest.

The rabbit lowered his head to sniff it, muttering, “Why are his arms so long? Like a gibbon…”

Finally settled, he climbed back into bed wearing the shirt, hoping to drift off. Just then, he heard a noise outside the bedroom, followed by some cat meows. The cat was used to sleeping in the living room like a “grown-up” child.

“Meow~”

The cat kept meowing. Chen Kongqing felt something was wrong; the cat rarely used that tone in the middle of the night. He turned on the bedside lamp and got out of bed.

Rubbing his eyes, he walked toward the stairs. To his surprise, light was spilling out from the living room downstairs.

Xu Jingmo had just arrived home. His suitcase was still at the entrance. Perhaps because they hadn’t seen each other in so long, the cat was being unusually affectionate, pouncing toward him. Xu Jingmo was leaning over, rubbing the cat’s chubby head, worried the meowing would wake Kongqing. “Quiet now, your Dad is sleeping.”

At that moment, the sound of footsteps came from the stairs. Xu Jingmo looked up.

First, a pair of well-proportioned, pale legs came into view. The hem of a light blue shirt hung loosely over his upper thighs. He recognized it instantly—it was his favorite shirt. On Chen Kongqing, the sleeves were so long they nearly covered his entire hands.

The man’s narrow eyes squeezed slightly, the color within them shifting instantly.

Chen Kongqing froze on the steps, staring at Xu Jingmo. “You… why are you back so suddenly?” He clearly remembered Xu Jingmo saying he wouldn’t be back for another two days.

“We finished early, so I booked a flight and came back overnight,” Xu Jingmo answered. He straightened up, resting a hand on his knee, his eyes dropping to the rabbit’s bare feet. “Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”

Chen Kongqing suddenly realized his situation. Not only was he not wearing slippers, he wasn’t wearing pajama pants either. He was only wearing one thing—and it was Xu Jingmo’s shirt!

This was… too much.

The rabbit’s ears burned first, feeling as though they were being cooked. The redness spread rapidly to his cheeks. Within moments, his face was as red as an apple.

Xu Jingmo walked toward him, stepping up the stairs. Chen Kongqing looked down at the man, and their eyes met. The look in those eyes was… predatory.

Instinctively, Kongqing wanted to run. He lifted his heel to step back up a stair, but it was too late. Xu Jingmo was already in front of him, his large hand wrapping around Kongqing’s waist.

Chen Kongqing was lifted off his feet. As he lost his balance, he instinctively wrapped his legs around Xu Jingmo’s waist like a sloth. “Ugh… what are you doing?”

“Bare feet on the floor is too cold,” Xu Jingmo said. He shifted his grip, using both hands to firmly support the rabbit’s backside. “I’ll carry you up.”

Chen Kongqing licked his dry lips and allowed himself to be carried upstairs. He wondered why Xu Jingmo hadn’t asked why he was wearing the shirt. Knowing Xu Jingmo, he definitely would ask. Did he not recognize it?

With that bit of wishful thinking, Chen Kongqing rested his chin on Xu Jingmo’s shoulder as he was carried into the bedroom. The room was lit only by a warm bedside lamp, creating a soft, intimate atmosphere.

Kongqing swung his dangling legs, about to ask to be let down, when he was suddenly pressed against the door. Xu Jingmo used his hand as a cushion, but Kongqing was still startled, his eyes wide.

“Xiaoman, why are you stealing Gege’s clothes, mhm?” Xu Jingmo’s voice was raspy, his gaze burning into Kongqing’s face like a branding iron. Then, it drifted down to his exquisite collarbones peeking through the half-open collar.

Chen Kongqing’s blush deepened. His neck felt itchy under that gaze, and he instinctively reached to pull the open collar shut. But he didn’t know how to argue. He was wearing it. He had been caught red-handed. There was no defense.

Chen Kongqing bit his lower lip and decided to just go with it. “I just wore it. I’m wearing it… is that not allowed?”

The collar he had just pulled shut was tugged open again by Xu Jingmo. “It’s beautiful, baby. Since you look this beautiful, of course you can wear it.”

“Then it’s fine. Put me down.” Chen Kongqing kicked his legs again, wanting to escape this awkward position.

But the man holding him wouldn’t comply; instead, he lifted him even higher.

“Xu Jingmo, what are you doing!” The perspective was a bit scary. Chen Kongqing grabbed Xu Jingmo’s shoulders to steady himself. “Put me down!”

Xu Jingmo naturally wouldn’t listen. His burning gaze traced every part of the rabbit. “If you wear my clothes, you have to pay a fee, baby.”