Future's First Marriage, Later Love - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

And thinking about the supreme patriarchal rights on the Giant Planet, he felt an inexplicable irritability. He asked himself: if things weren’t this way, did he actually hope that Mai Hai had married him willingly? He couldn’t even figure out the real answer himself; all he knew was that the moment he thought about another man having designs on Mai Hai, an anonymous fire began to burn fiercely within him.

Neither of them spoke. Once they reached home and Mai Hai finished his shower, Pollack, clutching a quilt, said without looking back, “I’m sleeping in the guest room.”

Mai Hai opened his mouth to tell him not to go, but after a second thought, he let it be. “The sky wants to rain, and a mother wants to remarry”—some things simply can’t be stopped. He really didn’t know what kind of tantrum the guy was throwing.

However, once lying in bed, Mai Hai found himself unable to sleep. He didn’t know if it was his imagination, but he felt the bed was much colder without Pollack there. He tossed and turned for a long time. With a bitter laugh, he wondered if it was because he’d grown used to having Pollack by his side. Habits were truly terrifying things.

Pollack’s situation was no better. Especially these past few nights, he had grown accustomed to—even a bit obsessed with—the feeling of Mai Hai sleeping against his chest. Now, without that weight, his chest felt empty. Pollack figured that Mai Hai must be asleep by now, so he could sneak back and leave early the next morning before Mai Hai noticed. This would solve his insomnia without causing him to lose face. Thus, wearing his pajamas and acting like a thief, he crept to the door of the master bedroom and pressed his ear against it to listen for any movement.

Mai Hai wasn’t asleep either. Hearing Pollack’s footsteps, he hurriedly closed his eyes. He didn’t quite know why he was doing it.

Outside the door, hearing no movement, Pollack stealthily opened the bedroom door. Looking at the “sleeping” Mai Hai, he climbed onto the bed, slipped into the warm covers, and poked Mai Hai with a finger, whispering, “Mai Hai?”

Mai Hai wanted to see what Pollack would do, so he pretended to be in a deep sleep and remained silent.

Only then did Pollack feel relieved enough to reach out and pull Mai Hai into his arms.

Logically, Mai Hai should have pushed him away—and the thought of seeing the embarrassed expression on Pollack’s face made him want to do just that—but Pollack’s embrace was simply too comfortable. Without that chest as a pillow tonight, Mai Hai really couldn’t sleep. For the sake of his own rest, Mai Hai decided not to make a fuss and continued to sleep.

When Mai Hai woke up in the morning, Pollack was already gone. Mai Hai knew he was afraid of being teased. In truth, there was nothing to laugh at, but Pollack’s ever-present, superior pride would never allow him to admit to doing such a thing.

Mai Hai went downstairs to prepare breakfast. A while later, Pollack came down too. Mai Hai looked at him and said, “Good morning. How did you sleep last night?”

Hearing the question about last night, Pollack’s heart skipped a beat. However, seeing Mai Hai’s expression, it seemed his late-night intrusion hadn’t been discovered. He stiffened his face and said, “It was okay.”

Mai Hai’s gaze lingered on his face as if trying to discern something. Pollack felt extremely uncomfortable under the scrutiny and gave a light cough. Only then did Mai Hai withdraw his gaze and say, “Let’s eat.”

Pollack, however, just grabbed a sandwich from the table and hurriedly opened the door. “I’m leaving.”

Once Pollack was gone, Mai Hai burst out laughing. This guy was just too cute—and the more he looked, the cuter he got.

Destined (Part II)

Mai Hai was bored to death staying at home all day, so he decided to head over to Blues. When he arrived, he found that Spinai was once again sleeping in his room. Mai Hai knew even with his toes that the guy was definitely doing “that business” again.

The cashier had been replaced by a young girl. Mai Hai greeted her and went upstairs to find Spinai. This time was clearly even more intense than the last. Fortunately, it seemed Mai Hai’s timing was impeccable; just as he knocked, Spinai came to open the door. However, from his watery eyes, his open chest, and the purple bruises on his snowy-white thighs, one could tell just how fierce they had been.

Mai Hai said, “Get dressed and come down.”

Spinai leaned against the doorframe, looking extremely charming. “I just finished intense exercise; my waist is very sore.”

Mai Hai smiled slightly. “Right, fine. If you lack exercise, I don’t mind practicing with you.”

“No need, give me ten minutes.” Spinai immediately dropped his lazy, boneless act and slammed the door shut.

Mai Hai turned and went downstairs, feeling quite amused.

The moment Spinai closed the door, the man on the bed tangled himself around him again and said, “Baby, let’s go one more time, hmm?”

Spinai brushed his hand away and said stiffly, “No time. Get dressed and get out.”

“So heartless?” The man still wouldn’t give up on teasing Spinai.

Spinai turned and gave the man a punch. “I told you I don’t have time right now. Don’t you understand human speech?”

“You little vixen, throwing me away as soon as you’re done! You just wait and see, I’m definitely not letting this go!” The man gently touched the side of his face where Spinai had hit him.

Spinai looked back and gave the man a soul-stirring smile. “Compared to you, I’m more afraid of that ‘smiling tiger’ out there.” Then he opened the door and left.

Spinai only had to remember that one time Mai Hai dragged him to a martial arts hall and sparred with him for N rounds without letting him go until he finally passed out from dehydration. Mai Hai had simply left him with a beaming smile: “I’ll have someone send you to the hospital. See how good I am to you?”

Then he left. That painful lesson allowed Spina to see deeply into the malicious nature beneath that man’s mask of smiles!

Mai Hai was sitting in the same spot as last time, still having a cup of Blue Mountain coffee. When he saw Spinai coming down, he waved and said, “Finally willing to come out?”

“Yeah.” Spinai smiled back at Mai Hai, sat down, and said to the waiter, “Give me a glass of ice water to cool down.”

Hearing this, Mai Hai just laughed and didn’t speak.

Spinai rested his head on his hands against the back of the chair and asked, “What? Are you here to ask something again today?”

“I’m not asking anything,” Mai Hai said, resting his chin on his hand. “I’m just a bit bored, so I came here to talk to you.”

Spinai narrowed his eyes and teased, “Oh, so you’re feeling lonely.”

Mai Hai let out a sigh. “Having a bit of a tiff. I don’t know when he’ll let me go back to work.”

“You haven’t told him yet?” Spinai was a bit surprised; he thought that with Mai Hai’s personality, he would have brought it up with Pollack long ago.

Mai Hai nodded and recounted everything that happened yesterday. After listening, Spinai said thoughtfully, “He must be jealous…”

“Jealous?” Mai Hai looked at him in surprise.

Spinai nodded seriously and analyzed: “That man has designs on you, and you took the initiative to speak to that man, so he thinks you were seducing him.”

Mai Hai’s mouth twitched as he looked at Spinai, then he said helplessly, “I think you guys are overthinking it. Where are there so many men who like men? Especially a man like me who doesn’t look like much.”

Spinai said, “Actually, I think you look very much in line with my aesthetic. It’s just a pity you’re not interested in me.”

“It doesn’t matter if I’m not interested, as long as a certain someone is, right?” Mai Hai looked at Spinai mockingly.

Spinai felt defeated. He really regretted making such a “detrimental” friend, but there was no helping it he and Mai Hai were the same. Both came from Planet Pandora. The difference was that Spinai had smuggled himself here to hide from someone, while Mai Hai had arrived here due to an accident. One was completely voluntary, the other involuntary.

When Mai Hai woke up in the hospital back then, he happened to meet Spinai by chance. It was also Spinai who helped him forge an identity. For the parts that were once blank—which Pollack later helped fill in he had Mai Hai use “amnesia” to bluff his way through. His job had also been introduced by Spinai.

Spinai was the only person on this planet who knew Mai Hai’s true identity, so naturally, they talked about everything. Mai Hai had also asked Spinai to find a way to help contact the people on Planet Pandora to get him back as soon as possible. However, the signal had been constantly blocked, and several attempts had failed, almost getting them discovered by the Giant Planet’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“So what do you plan to do now?” Spinai changed the subject and asked Mai Hai.

Mai Hai shook his head. “I can only wait. When I was at the Earth Village last time, I thought about returning to Pandora directly from there, but the difficulty level is too high and it’s too risky.”

Spinai nodded. Back on Planet Pandora, he had specialized in this field. To put it nicely, he was an “Information Systems Operator”; to put it bluntly, he was a hacker. He had been a hacker on Pandora and was caught, but Pandora didn’t want to waste his talent…