Chapter 19 - The Sun and the Sunflower
Young Master Jiang propped his chin on one hand, the corner of his mouth curling into a faint, unmistakable smirk. His mood had brightened so visibly that even a blind man could have sensed the shift in the atmosphere.
Zhang Siyi, witnessing this rare display of genuine amusement from the "Demon King," found it peculiar. He couldn't resist stealing a few extra glances, his curiosity piqued by the sudden softening of Jiang Yuan’s usually sharp features.
Jiang Yuan’s eyelids drooped slightly as he cast a chilling look toward his cousin. "Is your skin itching for a beating?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
"Not at all! I didn't see anything! Don't talk nonsense!" Zhang Siyi blurted out, performing a verbal 'denial triple-play' with practiced ease.
Jiang Yuan stared at him as if he were looking at a complete moron. He licked his upper lip, a flicker of hesitation crossing his face before he spoke again, his tone slightly forced. "When you go on dates with your boyfriend... what do you usually do?"
Zhang Siyi blinked once, then twice. "We just... do it."
Jiang Yuan blinked back, waiting for the rest of the sentence. After a long, silent beat, the realization finally dawned on him. There was no follow-up; the sentence consisted of a single, very specific verb.
Seeing the look of utter disdain on Jiang Yuan’s face, Zhang Siyi finally caught on. "Oh! Wait, Brother, are you asking how to make things more romantic?"
Jiang Yuan gave a noncommittal "Mhm," his fingers scrolling aimlessly through his phone to maintain a facade of indifference.
Zhang Siyi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, you could buy a bouquet of flowers, open a bottle of red wine, and put on some music in the bedroom. But the real key? Don't wear anything under your bathrobe. Heh heh heh. I guarantee Brother Xie will love it."
The young master glared at him, looking like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "I was just asking out of curiosity. What does this have to do with him?"
"Huh?" Zhang Siyi scratched his head, bewildered by how his cousin could explode so suddenly.
Jiang Yuan turned away, ignoring him. Internally, however, he was weighing the advice. Aside from the last suggestion—which he wasn't quite ready for—the rest seemed to have some practical value.
After class, Jiang Yuan took a detour through several streets, carefully avoiding any areas where he might run into acquaintances. For the first time in his life, he stepped into a flower shop.
Standing amidst a sea of flora he couldn't name, he felt a wave of helplessness. Having lived as a straight man for nearly twenty years, his knowledge of flowers began and ended with red roses—the kind that became eyesores every Valentine's Day. He had no idea what else one was supposed to give.
He wondered why there was no shop assistant to help him until he spotted a group of employees huddled in a corner, playing Rock-Paper-Scissors. The winner, a young girl, smoothed her skirt and approached him with eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Hello! How can I help you today?" she asked, her cheeks flushing slightly as she maintained a professional smile. "Who is the lucky recipient?"
Jiang Yuan felt a prickle of embarrassment. He forced himself to remain composed. "A... secret crush."
"Oh!" The girl was visibly surprised. She hadn't expected someone so handsome to be pining after someone in secret. Recovering quickly, she offered a professional suggestion. "In that case, you might consider sunflowers. Their floral language represents 'a love that remains unspoken.'"
Jiang Yuan followed her gaze to a basket of vibrant sunflowers. She continued, "There’s a beautiful legend about them. A girl was deeply in love with the sun god, Apollo. Every day, she stood silently, gazing up at the sun, until she eventually took root in the earth and became a sunflower, forever turning her face toward him."
The girl noticed the cool, distant young man before her freeze for a moment. Then, a sudden, soft smile broke across his face. "I'll take a bouquet of sunflowers, then. Thank you."
Jiang Yuan thought to himself that Xie Chengnan was very much like that sun—radiating infinite light and warmth, forcefully dispelling the boundless darkness that had once occupied his heart. And he, like that captivated sunflower, found himself constantly looking up, unable to move away, eventually sinking into the other man's warm, burning world.
As he watched the florist carefully arrange the bouquet with silk ribbons, Jiang Yuan felt as though he were seeing himself being treated with gentleness and placed in a safe harbor. For the first time, he felt a desperate, urgent need to embrace someone.
When he arrived home, Xie Chengnan hadn't returned yet. Humming a tune, Jiang Yuan retreated to the bathroom and scrubbed himself thoroughly from head to toe. He restyled his hair and applied a light touch of cologne.
Donning a bathrobe, he dragged the little robot, Jason, into the walk-in closet. He stared at the rows of designer clothes, feeling a rare sense of indecision. "Jason, what do you think Xie Chengnan would like me to wear?"
Jason wandered around the closet for a while before pulling a set of cream-colored coral fleece pajamas from a dusty corner. The hood featured two long rabbit ears, and the back was adorned with a fluffy little tail.
Jiang Yuan stared at it in a daze before remembering it was a birthday gift from Zhang Siqi. Because the style was so bizarrely out of character for him, he had selectively forgotten its existence.
"Are you sure... he'd like this style?" Jiang Yuan asked skeptically.
Jason replied with perfect logic. 【Yes. Nan likes small animals very much.】
"..." Jiang Yuan felt something was fundamentally wrong with that reasoning, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
The young master struggled for exactly two seconds between maintaining his dignity and catering to his target's preferences. He chose the latter and resignedly put them on.
In the full-length mirror, the youth’s skin was still slightly flushed from the bath. His soft bangs rested against his forehead, swaying gently as he moved. He looked uncharacteristically obedient and adorable.
Jiang Yuan clicked his tongue in distaste, feeling a bit repulsed by his own reflection.
Jason chimed in. 【Nan is almost home.】
Jiang Yuan’s lips quirked upward in a mix of anticipation and nerves. He hurried downstairs to welcome his "boyfriend-in-training."
The moment the door opened, both the person inside and the person outside froze.
"..." Jiang Yuan’s smile vanished.
"..." Shen Qinian stared at the bunny-eared Jiang Yuan, his mind filled with nothing but a cacophony of internal screaming.
Jiang Yuan’s expression turned icy.
Shen Qinian felt a sudden, frigid wind whip past his back. He immediately regretted accepting Xie Chengnan’s dinner invitation just for the sake of their "socialist brotherhood."
Xie Chengnan, carrying grocery bags from the courtyard, saw the two of them standing like statues at the threshold. "Why aren't you going in?"
The young master turned stiffly and walked back inside, the rabbit ears on his hood bouncing rhythmically with every step.
The two older men were left standing outside in a daze.
Shen Qinian: *Who am I? Where am I? What just happened?*
Xie Chengnan clutched his chest: *How can my kiddo be this cute?*
Because of Shen Qinian’s presence as a massive "third wheel," dinner was exceptionally quiet. Shen Qinian, sensing the volatile atmosphere, made a hasty excuse and fled the moment the meal ended.
While Xie Chengnan was busy cleaning up, Jiang Yuan tugged at his strange outfit and hissed at Jason, "Are you absolutely sure he likes this?"
Jason argued back with data. 【Since entering the house, Nan has secretly looked at you thirty-seven times.】
Jiang Yuan arched an eyebrow. "For real?"
The little robot felt its integrity was being questioned. 【You must trust Jason’s character.】
Since he couldn't possibly lose any more face than he already had, Jiang Yuan decided to trust Jason’s "thirty-seven looks" statistic. He shuffled into the kitchen in his slippers.
After building up a mountain of psychological resolve, he finally uttered the word with a hint of bashful shame: "Brother."
Xie Chengnan, who was currently slicing fruit, went rigid. A strange, tingling sensation shot straight up his spine to the base of his skull. The hand holding the knife trembled slightly.
Aware of his own lack of composure, Xie Chengnan didn't dare turn around. He kept his voice as level as possible. "What is it?"
Jiang Yuan leaned against the doorframe, silently admiring the firm, powerful lines of Xie Chengnan’s back. He thought of a perfect post-dinner activity. "A lot of new movies have come out recently that I haven't seen. Watch one with me."
Xie Chengnan had originally planned to bury himself in his workshop after dinner. However, faced with the youth’s soft, wheedling tone, all his plans evaporated. He could only manage a single word: "Okay."
Jiang Yuan curled up on the sofa to browse for a film. He was picky; romances were too boring, and action movies were too loud. Finally, he spotted a horror movie with an 8.9 rating. He calculated: if Xie Chengnan got scared, Jiang Yuan could hug him. If Xie Chengnan wasn't scared, he could let Xie Chengnan hug him. It was a flawless plan!
Unaware that he was being played, the older man placed the fruit platter on the coffee table and sat down solemnly at the very edge of the sofa. They sat as if separated by the Chu River and Han Border, their clothes not even brushing.
Jiang Yuan pursed his lips in secret annoyance, started the movie, and ordered Jason to turn off the lights.
The 8.9-rated horror film turned out to be far more hardcore than expected. Less than ten minutes in, the young master was already clutching a throw pillow and shrinking into the sofa, having completely forgotten his plan to "throw himself into the other's arms."
Xie Chengnan used the dim light from the screen to steal glances at Jiang Yuan. He watched as the boy squeezed his eyes shut during the tense moments, only to peek through a tiny slit a second later—wanting to see but too afraid to look. It was a sight that made Xie’s heart ache with affection.
With a silent sigh, Xie Chengnan shifted toward the center of the sofa and pulled the trembling "rabbit" into his arms. "Don't be afraid."
"Is it... is it going to come out now?!" the rabbit stammered, shivering.
"Mhm. Close your eyes. It's coming." Once the ghost disappeared, Xie Chengnan whispered, "You can open them now."
But the moment Jiang Yuan opened his eyes, the female ghost crawled out from under the bed.
"AAAAAAAH!" The young master scrambled onto Xie Chengnan like an octopus. "You said I could open them!"
"Sorry," Xie Chengnan said, holding him close and stroking his back to soothe him. "I didn't expect it to reappear so quickly."
The movie concluded amidst Jiang Yuan’s periodic yelps of terror.
That night, the young master got his wish and ended up in the older man’s bed, clinging to him like a limpet.
Xie Chengnan felt both a headache and a sense of helplessness. He tried to distract the boy by striking up a conversation. "Don't you have no classes tomorrow morning?"
"Mhm..." Jiang Yuan mumbled, burying his face in Xie’s chest.
Xie Chengnan arched his body slightly, his voice sounding a bit hoarse. "What are you planning to do? Sleep in?"
Jiang Yuan’s brain, currently a jumble of horror movie tropes, finally recalled something important. "Oh, right. There's a lecture at my school tomorrow morning about Affective Computing and AI research. My roommate said his professor is the keynote speaker—apparently a real heavyweight in the domestic industry. Do you want to go listen?"
Xie Chengnan was indeed interested. After asking for the time, he began coaxing the youth to sleep.
Having been thoroughly spooked, Jiang Yuan no longer had any flirtatious thoughts. He obediently closed his eyes, mentally deleting "horror movies" from his dating list forever.
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