He's Really So Hard to Pursue - Chapter 10.1

After dinner, Jiang Yi finished tidying up and took his clothes to shower.

Jiang Yanci sat on the high stool at the front desk, long legs hooked over the footrest, watching Jiang Yi’s silhouette flickering on the second floor. Then, he pulled out his phone and sent a voice note to Qu Yehui.

“Tell me, if I insist on sleeping with him tonight, will he refuse?”

Qu Yehui, a man whose nightlife was clearly very colorful, replied almost instantly: “Holy shit, brother, you’re bold. Go for it. If you don’t sleep with him, you aren’t Jiang Yanci. All that talk about pouncing on men was just bullshit then. You have to make it happen, or I’ll look down on you.”

Even through the phone, Jiang Yanci could feel Qu Yehui’s excitement. He grew thoughtful, his slender fingers tapping his phone rhythmically. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man upstairs emerge from the shower. He had changed into loungewear, a T-shirt and cotton trousers. Jiang Yi leaned against the railing, his T-shirt damp with water stains that made his chest and abdominal muscles faintly visible, adding a touch of ambiguity to the atmosphere.

One looked down with lowered eyes; the other looked up with arched brows.

Jiang Yi said: “Still not sleeping?”

Jiang Yanci curled his lips slightly: “Can’t sleep.”

Water was still dripping from Jiang Yi’s hair: “Why’s that?”

Jiang Yanci was blunt: “If I have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, you won’t be there to help me hold it. I can’t exactly wake you up first, can I? You’re a man, too—you know it’s bad for a guy to hold it in too long.”

Jiang Yi seemed stunned by this “brilliant” logic. He remained silent for a long time before lazily narrowing his eyes: “Oh.”

Oh?

Just ‘oh’?

Jiang Yanci narrowed his eyes: “Nothing else to say?”

Jiang Yi had taken a dry towel and was rubbing his hair. Hearing this, he let out a light snort: “No. Compared to my chastity, I’d rather you just hold it in.”

Jiang Yanci had just stood up and nearly lost his balance upon hearing that. Once steady, he couldn’t help but laugh: “You’re really something, Boss Jiang.”

He indeed had designs on Boss Jiang’s purity, but who would have thought… before he could even display his “handiwork,” he was easily parried back.

Jiang Yanci went into the guest room. Jiang Yi came in with water—two glasses. “Leaving these on the nightstand. Drink if you’re thirsty. If you finish them and need more in the night, call me.”

Jiang Yanci nodded: “Got it. I’ll be in your care then, Jiang-ge.”

Jiang Yi returned to his own room. The defeated Jiang Yanci immediately shared the news with his “bad influence” friend, Qu Yehui. Qu Yehui didn’t say a word; he just replied with a very long string of “Hahaha.” Naturally, it was mockery.

*****

Jiang Yanci was woken up by thirst. He had been prone to feeling “dry” lately, and when he felt dry, he liked to drink water. The two glasses went down easily, and when he wanted more in the night, the glasses on the nightstand were empty.

He sat on the bed for a while to shake off the drowsiness, then took his glass to go downstairs for water.

Creak.

The door to the master bedroom across the hall opened at the same time. Jiang Yi was still in his pajamas, but he had thrown a thin trench coat over them. He held his phone in his left hand and a pack of cigarettes and a lighter in his right. He hadn’t expected to run into Jiang Yanci either. He shifted his body slightly, appearing somewhat uneasy.

Jiang Yanci’s eyes flickered, and he couldn’t help but laugh, teasing him with a whistle: “Having a wet dream? So restless you need a smoke to suppress it?” As he spoke, his gaze drifted ambiguously toward Jiang Yi’s waist: “Little Jiang Yi is much more honest than you.”

“I’m a normal man,” Jiang Yi replied, leaning against the railing and lighting a cigarette, biting it at the corner of his mouth.

Since he’d been caught, Jiang Yi stopped pretending. Feeling the coat was too warm, he took it off and hung it on the iron railing. He watched Jiang Yanci go downstairs to pour water. Jiang Yanci moved clumsily with his injury as he filled another glass.

Jiang Yi looked down: “Besides being a landlord, what else do you do?”

Jiang Yanci looked up, as if not noticing Jiang Yi was changing the subject: “I have a few small shops, earn a bit of pocket money.”

“Small” shops weren’t necessarily small, and “pocket money” wasn’t necessarily a small amount. Over the past few days, Jiang Yi wasn’t blind; he could see that Jiang Yanci lived a very comfortable life. But as for the “fulfillment” that comes with many friends, he hadn’t seen much of that. He’d only ever met Qu Yehui.

“That’s good,” Jiang Yi said.

Jiang Yanci heard a hint of lament in his voice. “Don’t you have a shop too? I heard from Xiao Zhao that one of your designs can go for six figures.”

“Rarity. Most are small designs; customers’ requirements aren’t high. I just earn a bit of pocket money,” he returned the words to Jiang Yanci.

Jiang Yanci was highly amused. His drowsiness gone, he wasn’t in a hurry to go back to his room. He went back to the second floor to stand with Jiang Yi. “I bet your biggest annual expense is the rent I charge you.”

He meant it as a joke, but he saw Jiang Yi give a silent, fleeting smile: “No.”

Jiang Yanci was curious: “I see you guarding the shop, drawing, and working on designs every day. You rarely go out, and you don’t even like ordering takeout much. What other big expenses do you have? Bought a house?”

“No,” Jiang Yi shook his head, clearly unwilling to say more.

Jiang Yanci thought for a moment and handed his water glass to Jiang Yi: “Put out the cigarette. Too much is bad for your lungs. Have a sip of water to settle down?”

Jiang Yi took it naturally. It was cold water; a glass of it indeed helped. He stubbed out the cigarette, but the scent of smoke remained, swirling between them. Jiang Yanci couldn’t help but frown and rub his nose. He really wasn’t used to the smell of smoke.

Just as he was about to head back to sleep, Jiang Yi spoke. “A week ago, my mother was hospitalized.”

Jiang Yanci’s footsteps paused. “How is she now?”

“Recurrence of cancer.” It was a very serious illness, but Jiang Yi spoke of it calmly, as if he weren’t talking about his own relative. He seemed used to masking his true feelings this way.

Jiang Yanci looked at him, putting away his usual smirk. “Many cancers can be lived with nowadays. Medical standards are improving, and targeted drugs are constantly being updated.”

Jiang Yi’s throat felt itchy. He subconsciously turned the cigarette pack and pulled one out. Then, a fair arm reached out and snatched the cigarette away. Jiang Yi looked up, his eyes following the movement.

Jiang Yanci held the cigarette between his lips: “Still smoking?”

Jiang Yi knew he didn’t like the smell. He looked at him for a while, then gave a self-deprecating laugh: “No more.” He added: “I didn’t use to smoke often. I smoked more during the time my mother had surgery.”

No wonder he’d started again recently.

Jiang Yanci crushed the cigarette and leaned on the railing with one hand, his words pointed: “Troubled?”

Jiang Yi: “A bit.”

“Well, I have a way to make you stop feeling troubled, make you forget all of that. Want to know?”

As he spoke, he narrowed his eyes, his gaze falling naturally on the dark living room downstairs. Jiang Yanci waited for the man beside him to react. His words were sophisticated but loaded with suggestion.

After an unknown amount of time, the summer rain began to fall again, pitter-pattering against the gray tiles. The sound was light, nowhere near as heavy as the breathing of the two men.

Jiang Yanci was pulled back into a room by Jiang Yi. Not his guest room, but Jiang Yi’s master bedroom.

Once inside, Jiang Yi’s movements grew frantic, though he still remembered the injury to the other’s right hand. Before Jiang Yanci could react, he was pressed against the door by his shoulders. The next second, his chin was tilted up by hot fingers. Those same burning lips pressed down instantly. A tongue brushed against the corner of his mouth, taking advantage of the moment he opened his mouth to enter.

They both had needs. In this quiet, humid night, they felt a primal craving for each other’s bodies. Jiang Yanci had an injury, but he was even crazier than Jiang Yi. When Jiang Yi increased the pressure, Jiang Yanci chased his tongue, tangling with it fiercely.

“Fuck!” Jiang Yi cursed softly. He was a bit taller than Jiang Yanci; he lowered his head so their foreheads touched, his voice carrying a trace of gentle laughter: “Of all people to provoke, why did it have to be me?”

Jiang Yanci didn’t like this “just a taste” approach. Feeling frustrated, he said: “Are you fucking capable or what? Are you even a man? Who are you trying to ‘slow-boil’ like a frog?”

Jiang Yi wasn’t angry at all; in fact, he laughed. The words didn’t affect him; he was in no hurry to prove his “capability.” He continued to tease Jiang Yanci, wearing down his patience until Jiang Yanci wanted to break free and take control himself. Only then did Jiang Yi change positions, lying flat on the bed and pulling the injured Jiang Yanci onto him with his strong arms.

Jiang Yanci immediately lowered his head, desperately seeking Jiang Yi’s lips. He wasn’t wearing a shirt to begin with, and Jiang Yi’s lightly calloused hands roamed over his body.

Jiang Yanci was fired up by the kiss: “Naturally, it’s because you look so good that I set my sights on you.”

Jiang Yi’s T-shirt had been pulled into a mess by Jiang Yanci; he simply took it off. Satisfied, Jiang Yanci narrowed his eyes and leaned down.

“Don’t…” Jiang Yi reached out to stop him. “You…”

Jiang Yanci looked up: “I really fucking regret it now.”

Jiang Yi held his shoulders: “Regret what?”

“If I’d known today would yield such a harvest, I never would have picked a fight with them this morning. If I hadn’t, Boss Jiang’s ‘innocence’ would definitely be gone by now.”

Jiang Yi’s breath was hot. He laughed hoarsely: “Stop teasing me.”

“Be a man,” Jiang Yanci said, every word hitting Jiang Yi’s heart, slowly stripping away his reservations. “We’re already in bed; we’ve tongue-kissed. You want to call it off now? You have a sister with a gambling addiction, a nephew with an unknown father who depends on you, and a mother in the hospital with high medical bills every month.”

As he spoke, his left hand tightened its grip, and he heard Jiang Yi’s involuntary, muffled groan with satisfaction. “Jiang Yi, you’re afraid of being a burden to me, but I’m more than happy to let you burden me!”

Jiang Yi gasped: “There’s no need to settle. You were living perfectly fine.”

“Being beaten by my own father until my hand broke counts as living perfectly fine?” Jiang Yanci gave a self-mocking laugh, his hand movements quickening as he saw the thin layer of sweat on Jiang Yi’s forehead. The temperature in the bedroom continued to rise. “My father likes men. He married my mother under false pretenses.”

Gradually, the ugliness of his family was revealed.

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