Resisting Arranged Marriages: Starting with Myself - Chapter 20

Even after getting into the car, Le Xiao still felt lightheaded and dizzy.

“No, I mean, are we really going?” he asked Ye Jiming from the passenger seat, his voice laced with disbelief.

Ye Jiming kept his eyes on the road, one hand on the steering wheel while the other reached over to squeeze Le Xiao’s fingertips. “Didn’t you want to see it?”

“I just said that in passing,” Le Xiao mumbled.

Seeing Ye Jiming raise an eyebrow with a meaningful curl of his lips, Le Xiao quickly changed his tune: “I want to see it!”

There was no traffic at night, and the two sped along, heading straight for the cinema. The movie title on the ticket stub was the very same romantic comedy he had mentioned that day, the one where he said, “I sang the theme song.”

Starting time: 00:00.

At 23:50, as the only two audience members, they had their tickets checked and walked straight into the theater.

“A private screening,” Le Xiao could not help but remark as they entered. “It really is quiet and peaceful coming out to see a movie at this hour.”

Ye Jiming followed behind him, smiling without a word. The two took their seats, and the movie began.

It was a typical romantic comedy, following a formula similar to every other film in the genre. The male and female leads meet by chance when the male lead, who was just passing by, steps in to help the female lead out of a predicament. To thank him for his help, she agrees to a favor: playing his girlfriend for a month to deal with his parents, who nag him about marriage every day.

It was a clichéd plot with traditional filming techniques; the entire movie was mediocre and played it safe. Le Xiao leaned back in his seat, thinking silently to himself. He really had only mentioned it in passing; it was not that he actually wanted to see it that badly. If it were not for the theme song, he might not have known about the movie at all.

On the big screen, the female lead began her dutiful role as the male lead’s “limited-time girlfriend.” They started appearing together as a couple, shopping, dating, watching movies, and going to amusement parks, doing everything that couples do. For every activity, they took a photo like completing a mission and sent it to his parents to tell them, “We’re on a date.”

In reality, it was all fake.

As the contract neared its end, the truth was uncovered by the male lead’s parents, and the “love contract” was completely exposed. Facing his deeply disappointed parents, the male lead proposed to end the relationship entirely. At this point, the female lead returned to her dull and ordinary life.

However, in the daily routine of commuting between two points, she discovered that the male lead’s gentlemanly elegance and gentle consideration had long since planted the seeds of love in her heart. She could not control her longing or her fantasies. Cold, gray tones made the female lead look even more sorrowful as she clutched her backpack and hurried down the street with her head bowed.

Suddenly, she bumped into someone’s chest. Just as she was frantically apologizing, the person blocked her path. In a close-up, he smiled cleanly and brightly. The color palette shifted; her world suddenly lost its melancholy blue tint and was flooded with warm yellow sunlight, looking brand new.

On the screen, the male lead began a soulful confession: “My heart fell in love with you before I did. I have already fallen for everything about you. Your every frown and smile makes my heart leap with joy. Will you be my girlfriend?”

“This time it is real, the genuine article,” the male lead said with a smile.

The female lead smiled and agreed, saying yes. The protagonists on the screen shared a deep, passionate kiss as the background music swelled, creating the happy ending the audience loved to see most.

“Xiao Xiao,” beside him, Ye Jiming called out his name softly.

He turned back blankly, only to see a gravity on Ye Jiming’s face that was different from usual. Ye Jiming repeated the confession from not long ago.

“Xiao Xiao, I love you.”

Perhaps it was the dim lighting of the theater, perhaps the music was too sweet and romantic, or perhaps it was because the deep kiss between the leads on the big screen was too infectious, Le Xiao’s heart began to race uncontrollably. He watched with wide eyes as Ye Jiming slowly approached him, his whole body leaning toward his side.

In the next second, something warm, soft, and carrying a faint scent of cedar landed on his lips. It was almost a touch-and-go contact, seemingly without any lingering sentiment, just a touch born from the peak of emotion. Before Le Xiao could even react to what had happened, that warm, soft sensation disappeared, as if everything just now had been nothing but an illusion.

Le Xiao stared blankly into Ye Jiming’s eyes, thinking: “Did he just… kiss me? Does this… count as a kiss?”

With a boom, his brain completely crashed.

Until the movie ended, the ending song finished, and the post-credit scenes played, Le Xiao sat in his seat dazed and motionless, even as the dark theater became brightly lit again. If Ye Jiming had not been holding his hand, he almost would not have known how to walk.

Stumbling all the way back to the car, he finally recovered some of his senses and asked in disbelief, “Just now, what just happened?”

Ye Jiming was amused by his silly expression. “What do you think happened?”

“You… you kissed me,” Le Xiao’s eyes grew wider and rounder. “That was… that was my first kiss!”

Ye Jiming could not stop laughing and coaxed him, “That was just a touch, it does not count as a kiss. It is okay.”

“Nonsense.” Le Xiao sank halfway into the passenger seat, crossing his arms and squinting at him with a look that said he did not believe a word.

All the way home, Le Xiao maintained this expression of not wanting to talk. Even after they both lay down in bed, Le Xiao remained silent, not even bothering to spare a single glance.

Now, Ye Jiming was genuinely starting to panic.

“Are you really angry?” He carefully pulled Le Xiao, who had his back turned, into his arms, gently patting his back like he was coaxing a child. “Xiao Xiao?”

“It is my fault,” he skillfully began to apologize. “I, I should have asked for your opinion first.”

The person in his arms still did not speak, but his back was shaking slightly. Was he crying? Ye Jiming’s heart immediately went into his throat. The rhythm of his gentle stroking faltered, and he almost forgot to breathe.

His brain began to race, thinking of how to word his apology most sincerely and earnestly. At that moment, it had been a completely subconscious action without thought. It was as if when the emotions reached their peak, everything else was forgotten; leaning in for a kiss was just an instinct carved into his genes.

Before he could come up with the most sincere words, he realized that Le Xiao, whose back had only been shaking slightly, was now trembling all over, and the shaking was getting more intense. Not only that, but after all this time, he had not heard any sobbing.

He frowned suspiciously and quietly leaned over to investigate.

“You little rascal!” He was suddenly caught between laughter and tears, giving Le Xiao a light swat. “You were holding back laughter! You had me worried for so long!”

“Hahahahaha!” His little trick exposed, Le Xiao laughed out loud without restraint, gasping for breath. “Did you really think I was crying?”

Now that it was a false alarm, Ye Jiming let out a long sigh of relief and could not help but laugh along. “You little fox, so full of schemes.”

The two of them laughed together in the covers until, suddenly, Le Xiao exerted some strength and flipped over to sit astride Ye Jiming. With his hands braced against Ye Jiming’s chest, he stopped laughing and stared at him intently. His eyes still held the tears from his laughter, sparkling as if the brightest stars in the sky had fallen into that pair of eyes.

Ye Jiming stopped laughing as well, a lingering smile still on his lips as he looked back.

“You said that just now was just a touch and it did not count, right?” Le Xiao poked Ye Jiming’s chest lightly, like a cat showing off its authority.

Ye Jiming nodded without speaking, waiting for him to continue.

“Then this time, it counts,” Le Xiao laughed mischievously. “This really is my first kiss. You must take good care of it.”

With that, he cupped Ye Jiming’s cheeks, closed his eyes, leaned down slightly, and pressed his lips against Ye Jiming’s.

This sudden kiss made Ye Jiming’s chest ache with a jolt, and he responded subconsciously. It was a gentle, tender entanglement of lips and teeth. He softly sucked on his lover’s lips, as if they were coated with the sweetest honey and the most beautiful nectar in the world, a supreme treasure, a once-in-a-lifetime find.

Amidst the entanglement, Ye Jiming used a bit of clever force and flipped over, changing their positions. In a whirlwind, Le Xiao unexpectedly fell into the bedding, his head cushioned by a warm palm. It was because Ye Jiming was afraid he might accidentally hit his head.

The situation changed instantly. The originally clumsy offense turned into a defense, and the originally gentle, coaxing defender suddenly turned wild, conquering without restraint.

The atmosphere shifted from tender and soft to intense and fervent. The air in the bedroom seemed to be ignited in an instant, becoming so hot it made them both flush. Desire was lit from the bottom up, bursting forth.

A flexible tongue pried open the closed teeth, hooking around another pink, tender tongue, entwining and connecting, entering the warm, moist mouth as if into a deserted land. The mischievous tongue acted out on purpose, sometimes licking, sometimes sucking, until the soft lips were kissed nearly to the point of being swollen.

During the battle of lips and tongues, the air in the mouth was wantonly plundered, and even the oxygen stored in the lungs began to run low. Le Xiao was kissed until his head spun; his small face turned bright red, and waves of colors surged before his eyes.

He balled his fists to thump Ye Jiming’s back, but the latter kept his eyes closed, acting as if he did not notice at all. As his oxygen was about to run out, Le Xiao, in his desperation, bared his teeth and gave a hard bite to the corner of Ye Jiming’s mouth.

Ye Jiming felt the pain and had to let go. Their lips, which had been hard to part, finally separated with a soft “pop” sound that made Le Xiao’s face flush even redder.

Ye Jiming reached out to touch the corner of his mouth where the skin had been broken, looking at the person beneath him with a beaming smile. Le Xiao’s chest heaved violently as he took large gulps of fresh air. The shimmer of tears in his eyes was even more pronounced, pitiable and lovely, though it was unclear if they were from holding his breath or from the kiss.

He stared blankly at Ye Jiming’s face, and after a few seconds, he let out a laugh. Ye Jiming also laughed, leaning down to lightly touch his lips. “Alright, let us sleep. It is very late.”

Le Xiao nodded without a word, only staring at him and giggling, unable to close his eyes for a long time.

At this moment, just as every audience member believes the ending of a movie must be happy and complete, he too believed that he and Ye Jiming would be like that clichéd romantic comedy, possessing the most ordinary yet beautiful “forever.”

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