Jing Yi took a deep breath to calm himself before he could do something irreversible. It indeed wasn’t Qiu Ling’s fault this time, he couldn’t argue that. It was his own indecisiveness that had led to this outcome.

Originally, things had been going good but it was a given that Qiu Ling would misunderstand if he not only let him sleep in his room when he was drunk but also didn’t push him off when he tried to kiss him. In fact, if he was completely honest with himself, then he had done even more than that.

Jing Yi’s cheeks flushed thinking back now and he really would have liked to turn back time by just half an hour. Unfortunately, that was impossible. He could only try to explain himself before an even bigger misunderstanding could come about. "Senior martial brother Qiu —"

"Just call me Qiu Ling." The dragon king very happily observed the changes in Jing Yi’s face. Ah, his beloved was so cute when his cheeks were all red …

Jing Yi nodded even though he felt that it might not be such a good idea. Calling him by his name instead of addressing him as he would with everybody else might give him the wrong idea again. Unfortunately, he had a hunch that this guy probably wouldn’t listen to him if he didn’t use his name. In that case, that was the smaller problem of the two. "Qiu Ling, listen: This got a little out of hand. I … I also don’t know why I’ve done that but you should know that I didn’t reconsider anything. I still don’t want to marry you."

Qiu Ling blinked. Huh? What was his beloved saying? Somehow, he couldn’t understand at all.

Jing Yi saw that he was lost. He closed his eyes and sighed. Damn. He really had done it now. Qiu Ling had already been so persistent before when he had rejected him in a straightforward manner. Now that he had shown weakness in front of his relentless pursuing, wouldn’t he double his efforts?

Qiu Ling observed Jing Yi’s expression. Mn, those closed eyes … He bent down and kissed the corner. Jing Yi’s eyes flew open. That guy! What did he think he was doing?! "Qiu Ling …"

"Mn …" Qiu Ling only gave a murmur as assent and continued to rain some kisses on Jing Yi’s cheek. Forget about his beloved saying he hadn’t reconsidered. He was probably embarrassed. Mn, it was understandable. After rejecting him like that he felt bad about giving in. Now, he needed to be slowly persuaded. No problem there! Hadn’t he done that for ten years in the Nine Heavens? He already had lots of experience with it!

"I love you," he whispered into Jing Yi’s ears but he didn’t give him time to react. Instead, he cupped his cheeks and kissed him again. Jing He wouldn’t admit to it. Not for now anyway. He needed time. And Qiu Ling was more than willing to give it if that meant being able to hold him in his arms again in this lifetime.

Jing Yi lay there in a daze. How had they gotten back to kissing again? This guy … he really couldn’t do anything about him. And actually … If he ignored the strange feeling he had gotten at the beginning, then it didn’t feel bad to be with him. In fact, he liked it. It gave him a warm and fuzzy feeling he had never felt before.

Was this … love?

Jing Yi peered into Qiu Ling’s face. His senior martial brother had closed his eyes but even without seeing his gaze he could tell how earnest Qiu Ling was in his pursuit. He might have proposed to him on the spot but he was serious.

Jing Yi looked at him, his emotions tangled up. He even got drunk because I rejected him … It’s as if I … broke his heart yesterday. And now he’s so happy because he thought I reconsidered. If I don’t … won’t he be unhappy once again?

The thought made his heart twist and his gaze turned sad. He didn’t want to hurt Qiu Ling. Even though he didn’t know him well, he felt that Qiu Ling didn’t deserve to be treated that way. He felt that … he should make sure that this person was happy and could always smile at him. In fact, when Qiu Ling smiled he also felt at ease.

He didn’t know if it was love or if this was just his reluctance to hurt anybody but he couldn’t bring himself to harden his stance. Jing Yi slowly extended his hand and slid his fingers into Qiu Ling’s black hair. He didn’t know what to think or what to do. He just felt that this was more complicated than he had originally thought and that he might have been too hasty in choosing one side.

Qiu Ling raised his head and opened his eyes, a happy smile contained in his gaze.

Jing Yi’s heart fluttered in return and he unwittingly smiled back at him. Maybe … he shouldn’t reject him outright.