Don't Bait Me Anymore! - Chapter 16

The moment Gu Zhiyi finished speaking, the air in the archery range hung heavy with tension.

After a brief silence, Chen Cheng was the first to break it, sneering at Gu Zhiyi. “A slip of the hand that lands on someone else’s target? You’ve got quite the skill when you slip.”

The barb was laced with mockery, and Gu Zhiyi’s expression turned awkward.

Of course, it wasn’t Chen Cheng’s taunts that bothered him.

It was the fleeting impulse that had passed, leaving reason to reassert itself. He couldn’t help but feel that his actions had been wrong.

Given his relationship with Sheng Yan, he had no right or reason to make a show of force against anyone who approached Sheng Yan.

Yes, though he hated to admit it, Gu Zhiyi had to acknowledge that his actions toward Chen Cheng had been a display of dominance.

The cause of this behavior might be attributed to the so-called “overzealous masculinity” he had once despised, the territorial instincts of a male.

With this thought, Gu Zhiyi’s brow furrowed even deeper.

But since it had already happened, remorse was pointless. What was needed was a solution.

“I apologize,” Gu Zhiyi said again, this time with a more sincere tone. After a moment’s thought, he suggested, “As a token of apology, you can shoot down one of my arrows.”

He was genuinely serious with his proposal.

The principle of “an eye for an eye” was a cornerstone of Gu Zhiyi’s logical system.

Yet as he spoke, Chen Cheng’s expression darkened further.

His golden hair seemed ready to stand on end, and his tone was sharp with irritation: “Are you apologizing, or are you deliberately mocking me?”

With his current archery skills, even managing to graze the nine-ring mark was a cause for celebration. How could he possibly compare to Gu Zhiyi, who could shoot off arrows at will?

Gu Zhiyi immediately denied it: “I wasn’t deliberately…”

But Chen Cheng cut him off, his tone suddenly shifting to a playful, mischievous tone: “Well, that works too! I’ll let my brother shoot off your arrow for me!”

As he spoke, he turned to Sheng Yan, his eyes curving as he asked: “Big Brother will help me, right?”

Sheng Yan didn’t answer immediately. His gaze swept over Chen Cheng’s face before settling on Gu Zhiyi.

His eyes held a mixture of amusement and teasing.

When their eyes met, Gu Zhiyi’s shoulders tensed slightly. Without hesitation, he told Chen Cheng, “No, you have to do it yourself.”

“Why not?” Chen Cheng glared at him, dissatisfied.

Gu Zhiyi despised these kinds of irrational and illogical arguments, but he truly didn’t want Sheng Yan to be the one to do this.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want Sheng Yan to shoot an arrow at him, that was irrelevant. He simply didn’t want Sheng Yan and the others to look like they were on the same side, even though this was equally irrational and illogical.

In the end, he just maintained a stern expression and coldly stated, “No means no.”

Chen Cheng opened his mouth to say something else, but Sheng Yan finally couldn’t hold back his laughter.

Unable to stand listening to these two bicker like elementary schoolers, Sheng Yan raised an eyebrow and glanced at Gu Zhiyi, casually asking, “You’re throwing a tantrum with me. What does shooting someone else’s arrow have to do with anything?”

Gu Zhiyi and Chen Cheng both froze at his words.

Sheng Yan’s remark was brilliant. At first glance, it seemed like he was “scolding” Gu Zhiyi, but both the content and the act of scolding itself carried an air of familiarity and intimacy. It was as if he were subtly revealing that their relationship was special.

Chen Cheng looked between Gu Zhiyi and Sheng Yan, then remembered the clear marks he’d seen on Sheng Yan’s neck. He couldn’t help but ask, “Brother, you guys…”

Sheng Yan cut him off, turning to Gu Zhiyi instead. “I told you yesterday not to go too hard, but you didn’t listen. Do you know your mistake now?”

His tone was surprisingly natural.

Gu Zhiyi was momentarily stunned, then immediately understood.

Sheng Yan was giving him an excuse to back down.

“Got it,” Gu Zhiyi said immediately, lowering his eyes and adopting the demeanor of a well-behaved dog who knew he was in the wrong. “Brother, I was wrong.”

After saying this, he even apologized to Chen Cheng again, this time sounding incredibly sincere: “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shot your arrow in a moment of impulse. This was between me and Brother; I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you.”

But upon closer listening to his tone and wording…

Especially the way he emphasized “between me and Brother”… it sounded utterly dripping with tea!

Even Sheng Yan was astonished.

Is this what top students are like?

He learned tea art this quickly?!

Chen Cheng was completely speechless. Yan Han, having enjoyed the show enough, stepped in to smooth things over: “Come on, Xiao Cheng, let’s go downstairs for drinks with Brother Yan. Let these two have their moment.”

As he spoke, he put an arm around Chen Cheng’s shoulders and steered him out the door.

The two left quickly, the heavy oak door closing behind them, leaving Sheng Yan and Gu Zhiyi alone in the archery range.

Gu Zhiyi lowered his gaze to Sheng Yan, his dark eyes now shimmering with light, making them sparkle.

All his pent-up frustration had vanished the moment Sheng Yan asked, “I told you not to be too rough yesterday, but you didn’t listen.”

Sheng Yan wasn’t just offering him an out.

He was also…

“Would you mind if people knew about our relationship?” Gu Zhiyi couldn’t help asking.

Sheng Yan looked up at him for a few seconds before saying casually, “I don’t like being secretive either.”

These were the exact words Gu Zhiyi had used when Sheng Yan had asked him the same question earlier. Now, Sheng Yan was returning them verbatim.

Gu Zhiyi feigned indifference, saying “Oh” in a deliberately cool tone, but he couldn’t suppress the slight upward curve of his lips.

Sheng Yan had openly revealed their relationship in front of “other brothers.”

Gu Zhiyi couldn’t help but feel a surge of happiness at this.

After saying this, Sheng Yan suddenly moved closer to Gu Zhiyi and smoothly steered the conversation back to their earlier topic: “Didn’t you want me to teach you? Tell me, how would you like your brother to teach you?”

He had once again called himself “brother,” his tone still laced with teasing playfulness.

Gu Zhiyi avoided Sheng Yan’s gaze and murmured, “Actually, I know how to shoot. You don’t need to teach me…”

Sheng Yan raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly. “Are you sure? Even if I taught you hand-in-hand, you’d still refuse?”

He emphasized the words “hand-in-hand” slightly, adding a layer of ambiguity to his tone. As he spoke, Sheng Yan picked up the bow and offered it to Gu Zhiyi, his fingertips brushing lightly against the back of Gu Zhiyi’s hand a touch as light and slow as a feather’s caress.

Gu Zhiyi took the bow, his voice suddenly husky. In an instant, he changed his mind. “Yes… teach me, Gege.”

Sheng Yan chuckled softly. “Stand properly. Feet shoulder-width apart.”

He actually began to teach.

But…

The moment Gu Zhiyi separated his legs into the correct stance, Sheng Yan’s long leg slipped into the space between them.

A move that was undeniably intimate and heavily suggestive.

Even…

Even through the denim of Gu Zhiyi’s jeans, Sheng Yan’s leg brushed against him.

Gu Zhiyi’s breath hitched instantly.

Yet Sheng Yan managed to maintain the facade of “serious teaching,” his words utterly proper: “Didn’t you say you couldn’t find the right point of force earlier? It’s right here, engage your back muscles.”

As he spoke, he raised a hand and placed his palm on Gu Zhiyi’s back, gently pressing at the center of his shoulder blades.

The technique itself wasn’t particularly intimate, but the slight coolness of Sheng Yan’s touch, a degree below Gu Zhiyi’s body temperature, instantly permeated the hoodie fabric, sending tendrils of sensation into Gu Zhiyi’s muscles and bones.

Gu Zhiyi felt as if the spot Sheng Yan was touching had burst into flames.

He followed the instructions, but the contours of his shoulders and back tightened until they were tauter than a bowstring.

“Draw complete. Next, anchor,” Sheng Yan continued his “lesson.” “Yes, place your hand here. Don’t look at me—focus on your target.”

At the same time, the hand that had been on Gu Zhiyi’s back moved upward, reaching for his sharp jawline.

His fingertips lightly traced the carved lines of Gu Zhiyi’s jaw, then his thumb settled on the corner of Gu Zhiyi’s lips.

A light touch, a quick withdrawal.

Gu Zhiyi’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

The sensation was sudden and urgent, all his blood surging to one place.

But at that moment, Sheng Yan abruptly stopped all movement, even stepping back half a step. He simply blinked at Gu Zhiyi and said, “Alright, that’s the archery lesson complete. You can shoot now.”

Gu Zhiyi knew, of course, that Sheng Yan was referring to the act of shooting arrows itself.

Yet in this context, it was impossible not to read other meanings into his words.

Sheng Yan was truly skilled at this.

Easily igniting fires, yet never taking responsibility for putting them out.

But this time, Gu Zhiyi refused to let him remain so “arrogant.”

Perhaps it was Sheng Yan’s earlier, blunt revelation of their relationship to “other brothers” that had given him a strange sense of confidence.

Or perhaps it was simply that even a puppy, when cornered, could temporarily transform into a wolf.

Whatever the reason, the moment Sheng Yan turned to walk toward the bar, Gu Zhiyi suddenly dropped his bow and arrow. He strode toward Sheng Yan, wrapping his arms around him from behind, as if trying to engulf him completely.

His hand slipped down, tracing the edge of Sheng Yan’s trousers.

Gu Zhiyi easily found his target.

His fingertips, slightly clumsy yet forceful, pressed down, and he smirked as Sheng Yan’s breathing suddenly hitched.

Though he held complete dominance at that moment, Gu Zhiyi deliberately framed his words as a request: “Brother, will you teach me more? Show me where this arrow should be aimed.”

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