The Cool CEO’s Ultra-Sweet Boyfriend - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Do You Just Not Want to See Me?

The other party’s voice was clearly altered by a voice changer, but Ji Li didn’t pay it too much mind. However, the flimsy excuse was simply too obvious to ignore.

“Don’t lie to me. What’s really going on?”

Ji Li didn’t realize that his tone had become a bit too serious, instinctively carrying that trace of oppressive authority he used at work.

“It’s really nothing,” Xu Nanxin insisted from his end, refusing to elaborate.

Ji Li fell silent for a brief moment before speaking up. “Fine. Send me your location.”

Still crouching at the base of his apartment building, Xu Nanxin didn’t process the words immediately. He asked blankly, “What?”

“Give me your location. I’m coming to find you.” Ji Li absolutely refused to let Little Rabbit suffer alone; at the very least, he should be there by his side.

“No, no… there’s no need…” Startled out of his wits, Xu Nanxin rejected the offer instinctively, a wave of panic leaking into his voice.

Ever since discovering that Ji Li was Mr. Z, he hadn’t dared to meet up. Coupled with the things Ji Li was saying today, Xu Nanxin was now terrified of the idea of an in-person meeting.

He didn’t want to make things even more humiliating.

“What’s wrong?” On the other end, Ji Li clearly picked up on the anomaly. This reaction was entirely too extreme.

“I’m really fine… it’s just some work stuff. I just feel like I’m becoming too emotionally dependent on you, and I shouldn’t always be like this, which is why I didn’t tell you.” Xu Nanxin began scrambling wildly to cover his tracks.

“Little Rabbit, do you just not want to see me?” Ji Li let out a soft sigh, his tone softening considerably.

Hearing this, Xu Nanxin felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He kept reminding himself that this person was Ji Li, yet hearing Mr. Z speak in such a tone still made him feel as though he were the one doing something wrong.

“No… that’s not it.” Xu Nanxin didn’t want to meet, but with Mr. Z right on the line, he simply couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.

“Do you think leaning on me emotionally is a mistake? But I’m incredibly happy that you rely on me. I want you to tell me everything—the happy things and the unhappy things alike. I won’t think poorly of you just because you vent about the things that upset you. I like you, and that won’t change just because I suddenly discover flaws in you. Do you understand?”

Ji Li rarely spoke at such length; he wasn’t one for long-winded speeches by nature. Furthermore, a tone this gentle was something that could absolutely never appear in his daily work life.

Yet it was precisely because of this that Xu Nanxin often found it impossible to distinguish between his Mr. Z and Ji Li.

Mr. Z’s tenderness and Ji Li’s cold indifference made them seem like two entirely separate people. At times, Xu Nanxin felt like he was on the verge of developing a split personality.

If they actually met, and the man found out who he was, would he still like him?

But asking Mr. Z for a breakup was something he couldn’t bring himself to do either. He didn’t know how to explain it, didn’t know how to start the conversation, and was terrified of facing Mr. Z’s interrogation.

As of right now, there was no solution that could satisfy both sides.

“Yeah, I know. If anything comes up in the future, I’ll talk to you,” Xu Nanxin nodded.

“Are you still unwilling to see me?” Ji Li asked.

“I just don’t want to meet you looking like this. I look ugly right now,” Xu Nanxin resorted to another excuse.

Ji Li let out a low chuckle, his slightly cold voice turning deep and velvety. “I don’t mind.”

“Well, I mind. I don’t want our first meeting to be so pathetic. I just feel like I don’t look good in my current state,” Xu Nanxin said. This was half-true, as his current state of mind could hardly be considered good.

“Alright, then when should we schedule it for?” Ji Li asked directly.

Xu Nanxin had no intention of meeting up at all, let alone the courage, so he tried to buy time. “I think I’ll be incredibly busy this month. Can we talk about it next month?”

The line went quiet for a moment. Xu Nanxin’s heart leapt into his throat; he gripped his phone tightly, waiting for the response from the receiver.

“Alright,” Ji Li finally conceded.

Only when he let out a sigh of relief did Xu Nanxin realize his palm was slick with a layer of sweat.

He hadn’t expected Mr. Z to take the initiative to come find him. This entire evening had turned into an even bigger headache.

The next day at work, Ji Li was his usual self, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He didn’t even cast a single glance toward the planning department.

Xu Nanxin, on the other hand, had felt entirely uncomfortable from the moment Ji Li stepped into the office. The man’s words from the previous night were still vivid in his mind, making it incredibly awkward just to share the same space.

Fortunately, Ji Li rarely left his office, so the opportunities to see him were few and far between.

With the one-month grace period he had bargained for, Xu Nanxin planned to put their relationship on the backburner and focus entirely on work. After all, he still hadn’t come up with a perfect solution, and he couldn’t just bring up a breakup out of nowhere.

They were currently in the same city. If Mr. Z demanded to talk it out in person, how was he supposed to refuse? What if the man actually tracked down his workplace, found out who he was, and left him with nowhere to hide?

He didn’t want to completely offend Ji Li to the point of no return, either.

“Phew…” Xu Nanxin exhaled heavily, shaking off these thoughts as he opened his computer to focus on his tasks.

As the days bled into one another, Xu Nanxin still instinctively avoided Ji Li whenever they crossed paths at the company.

Thankfully, Ji Li was a busy man and wouldn’t constantly fixate on a lowly employee like him. As long as the planning department’s work didn’t run into issues, Ji Li mostly just dealt with Jiang Yiyuan.

However, next month was just around the corner. If Mr. Z brought up meeting again, what excuse could he possibly find to refuse?

Dragging things out indefinitely like this was bound to fail eventually. His only hope now was that the other party would read between the lines of his increasingly cold texts and take the hint.

Mr. Z wasn’t a man of many words to begin with. Without Xu Nanxin taking the initiative, their entire month’s worth of chat history combined probably didn’t amount to what they used to text in a single week.

Sometimes Xu Nanxin thought that maybe Mr. Z didn’t actually like him all that much. In any case, Ji Li’s ideal standard for a partner definitely wouldn’t be someone like him, and his own standard could never be someone like Ji Li!

If he could just stall until both of their feelings fizzled out, bringing up a breakup naturally would be the best way out.

Maybe Mr. Z has completely forgotten about the meeting anyway?

Clinging to this wishful thinking, Xu Nanxin didn’t breathe a single word about meeting up, even though a month had passed.

As long as Mr. Z didn’t reach out first, he absolutely would not initiate contact. Yet, on a particular weekend, his phone lit up with an incoming call from Mr. Z once again.

Staring at the caller ID, Xu Nanxin felt like he was holding a hot potato, wanting to cry but finding no tears. He hesitated for a long moment, staring at the screen as if praying the other party would just give up and hang up.

But it was painfully obvious that the ringtone had no intention of stopping until he answered. Left with no choice, Xu Nanxin could only press accept.