The Cool CEO’s Ultra-Sweet Boyfriend - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: “From Now On, I’ll Take the Initiative”

“Hello, Mr. Z.” Xu Nanxin’s voice was noticeably more reserved and polite, entirely different from his usual tone and attitude during their phone calls.

It was simply because the moment Xu Nanxin remembered the person on the other end was Ji Li, he couldn’t bring himself to face him naturally.

Ji Li seemed to catch up on this as well, and his voice couldn’t help but carry a hint of confusion. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Huh? I’m fine. But is there… no, does Mr. Z have something he needs from me?” Xu Nanxin stammered incoherently. Disgusted with himself, he really wanted to slap his own face. How did I almost use a formal honorific? Am I that eager for him to notice something is off?

“Can’t I look for you unless there’s something wrong?” Mr. Z’s voice sounded somewhat cool, lacking its usual warmth.

Xu Nanxin said awkwardly, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Are you very busy lately?” Mr. Z asked.

“Yes, right, I’m overwhelmingly busy,” Xu Nanxin emphasized. Even if he wasn’t busy, he had to say he was!

“Busy to the point that you don’t even have time to send me a single message? Little Rabbit, ever since I proposed meeting up, your state of mind seems to have been a bit off. If you’re not psychologically prepared yet, you can just tell me straight. I can give you time, but I hope you won’t keep me waiting too long.”

Mr. Z’s tone grew much more serious, and a natural sense of pressure began to weigh down on Xu Nanxin. For the first time, it truly and vividly hit him that Mr. Z and Ji Li were the exact same person.

Although he had known it before, the sense of disconnect had always been strong back then. It had never been as crystal clear as it was at this very moment.

Yet, this kind of demanding tone somehow triggered a streak of rebellion in Xu Nanxin’s heart. He couldn’t help but retort, “But you’ve never taken the initiative to send me many messages either. Before, when you were busy, you would often take a day or two to reply, and I never minded it.”

Xu Nanxin really didn’t mean anything else by it. He just felt that when Mr. Z was busy, he could understand him, so why is it that when he was busy, the other man could only cross-examine him about sending fewer messages?

Even though being “busy” was just an excuse Xu Nanxin had made up.

The other side fell silent for a brief moment. Only after a good while did Xu Nanxin hear Mr. Z’s response.

“Okay, I understand.”

Hearing this, Xu Nanxin felt a bit bewildered. What does he understand? What does he know?

“What you said is indeed my fault. I haven’t done well enough, and it won’t happen again in the future.” Ji Li seemed to be reflecting on himself very seriously.

Xu Nanxin grew even more confused. What do you mean ‘it won’t happen again in the future’? Then what are you going to do? An ominous presentiment inexplicably surged in his heart. Sure enough, in the next second, he heard Ji Li speak.

“I’m sorry, Little Rabbit. From now on, I will take the initiative more often.”

Xu Nanxin: “???”

Please don’t! Don’t take the initiative! Help! That’s not what I meant at all!

Xu Nanxin realized he had shot himself in the foot. A lump formed in his throat, leaving him completely at a loss for words for a moment. He could only manage a strained, fake smile and say, “No, there’s no need for that either. I know you’re busy, I can understand.”

“No. No matter how busy I am, I should still carve out the time that belongs to you. If there’s anything on your mind in the future, just speak up. Don’t keep it hidden.”

In Ji Li’s eyes, Xu Nanxin’s words were nothing more than a complaint about him not spending enough time to accompany him, making him feel undervalued.

Ji Li was also very good at reflecting on his own mistakes. As a partner, he should give Xu Nanxin a greater sense of security, rather than making Little Rabbit feel like he was the only one putting effort into their relationship.

The little guy bringing up these complaints to him—wasn’t it just because he wanted Ji Li to focus more of his attention on him?

Little did he know, the way the two of them interpreted the conversation was worlds apart. If this had been the past, Xu Nanxin would definitely be overjoyed. But right now, he was still trying to figure out how to bring up breaking up!

“Yes, I see.” Xu Nanxin was already crying tears of blood internally, yet his words still had to sound touched and happy.

“So, do you still have no plans to meet up with me?” Ji Li finally got to the main point. His voice sounded a lot softer now, carrying a distinct sense of indulgence and tolerance reserved for lovers.

Hearing this, Xu Nanxin felt a pang of ache in his chest. Clearly, he himself had anticipated the day of their meeting for so long. When Ji Li asked this, he felt both sorrowful and guilty.

Mr. Z clearly didn’t know anything, and he was such a wonderful partner. He liked Mr. Z so much, but why did he have to be Ji Li!

Why did his love have to die before it could even see the light of day?

“It’s not that I don’t want to meet, I’m just really busy with work,” Xu Nanxin explained.

This reason was actually unsustainable to Ji Li. Since the two of them were in the same city, if Little Rabbit truly wanted to meet, he could easily give him his residential address or even his company address. The issue of being too busy to meet simply didn’t exist.

However, Ji Li didn’t expose this clumsy excuse; his tolerance for his lover was always exceptionally high.

Little Rabbit had previously told him about an experience he had meeting a netizen, and that meeting had indeed left quite a significant psychological shadow on the kid.

He could understand that Little Rabbit might simply not be psychologically prepared to meet yet. In the end, it was because he himself had been too impatient.

Moreover, the other party wasn’t good at rejecting people, so he was dragging it out, not knowing how to handle it.

“Okay, then I’ll give you another period of time to think it over carefully, alright?” Ji Li sounded incredibly easygoing.

“Um…” Xu Nanxin also knew that he was ultimately the one in the wrong in this matter. But Mr. Z was Ji Li—was he really going to go and meet Ji Li?

He didn’t want to experience the humiliation and awkwardness of that night ever again.

After Xu Nanxin replied, both of them fell into a rare moment of quiet.

“Little Rabbit,” Ji Li suddenly spoke up.

“Huh?” Xu Nanxin braced himself.

“I came to B City because of you,” Ji Li said.

He used a declarative tone, as if he were simply informing the other person of this fact, completely oblivious to how massive the implications of this statement were.

Hearing this, Xu Nanxin was clearly stunned. “What?”

He subconsciously gripped his phone tighter, his heart instantly turning into a chaotic mess. What did Mr. Z mean by this?

“Originally, I didn’t plan on telling you this. Although we started out as an online romance, I want you to know that I am dating you seriously, and I have seriously considered our future. To me, you are a very special and very, very important person.”

Ji Li’s voice was methodical, steady, and reassuring. Listening to his words, Xu Nanxin’s heart began to beat incredibly fast for some unknown reason.

“My original job was in A City, and it was because of you that I volunteered to be transferred to B City. The candidate the headquarters initially arranged wasn’t me. I don’t know how you view the relationship between us, but telling you this is just to put your mind at ease. This is my attitude.”

To say that Xu Nanxin’s heart felt no ripples after hearing these words would definitely be a lie. He had never imagined in his wildest dreams that Ji Li had actually come to B City for him.

He had always thought that Mr. Z agreeing to date him was just because he liked him a little bit.

But now, saying these things…

“Have you ever thought that if we meet, you might find out I’m not the way you imagined me to be?”

Ji Li’s words from that night remained a thorn in Xu Nanxin’s heart. It was impossible for Ji Li to like him. What was the use of saying such beautiful things now?

Hearing Little Rabbit’s words, Ji Li also fell visibly silent for a moment. So, is this where the reason lies?

“Little Rabbit, none of us exist just to satisfy someone else. You don’t need to carry this kind of pressure.”

As expected of a leader, even his comforting words came out as a series of structured philosophies.