Chapter 17

When Lin JunYi walked out of the hotel lobby at 2AM in the morning, he wasn’t too surprised to see Xie Xian waiting for him outside. He was leaning against the car while smoking. The warm rings of smoke dissipated quickly in the cold, early morning air.

He turned around and looked at Lin JunYi impassively. Slowly his eyes wandered from the top of Lin JunYi’s mussed up hair to his swollen lips and then to his neck where there were still remnants of very enthusiastic bite marks.

Xie Xian’s eyes went dark. He threw away the cigarette and pulled Lin JunYi over to him. 

“Ah-Xian,” Lin JunYi murmured but Xie Xian said, “Shh…”

Gently, he smoothed down the top of Lin JunYi’s hair and then rubbed the bite marks. Then he lowered his head and kissed Lin JunYi. He didn’t bite him but instead kissed him very gently.

Then he pulled Lin JunYi into his arms, embracing him so hard as though he wanted to meld him into his very bones.

“You know I’ve often thought about locking you up.”

Lin JunYi’s eyes widened slightly.

“Some place hidden and remote, some place only I’d find. All day you’d sit in the house and wait for me to come home. There wouldn’t be any computers or phones and you wouldn’t be able to communicate with the outside world. You could only see me and think of me. In your world, I’d be the only one.”

Lin JunYi didn’t say anything.

Xie Xian caressed his ear and whispered softly, “I think if it was a different person, I might really have done that.”

“But with you, I could only think about it and fantasize about it.”

“Because if I really did that, it would only push you further away.”

“What can I do Ah-Yi? What can I do to obtain your heart?”

Lin JunYi still didn’t know what to say so he continued to be silent. But slowly he lifted his arms until he was embracing Xie Xian back. 

In the icy, cold night, the two people embraced each other. Their bodies fit together perfectly and the space between them was immeasurably warm. Lin JunYi heard the sound of Xie Xian’s rapid heartbeat and thought it sounded beautiful. Every beat of this heart contained him inside it.

“Tang Rui was sent into the company by Chen Heng, did you know?”

After a second, Lin JunYi nodded.

“I thought you might. Did you also know I met up with Chen Heng?”

Another nod.

“He called me and asked to meet up to thank me for the money. Initially I wanted to reject him but then I thought… I could go to the place you were meeting with Tang Rui. That way you’d see us together. Did you know that as well?”

Lin JunYi rubbed Xie Xian’s coldly handsome face and nodded again.

“I was trying to play that game with you. The one you taught me. But it didn’t work.”

“I knew it probably wouldn’t. But I didn’t know what else to do. Ah-Yi, since you knew it was a trap but you walked in anyway, you were trying to send me a message right? I know what you want. But I can’t give that to you. I can give you anything except break up.”

“Ah-Yi, tell me what I can do to keep you with me? I’m willing to do anything.”

There was a long silence. Xie Xian’s heart fluttered madly like a bird stuck inside a cage. Every second was agony. He felt as though there was an executioner standing over him with an axe. Any minute the axe would fall and slice his head off his shoulders. 

But suddenly he heard the smaller man in his arms chuckle softly. Xie Xian looked down in disbelief.

Lin JunYi looked up at him with his glittering, jewel-like eyes. His pink lips finally came unsealed as he said softly, “I didn’t do anything with him.”

Xie Xian’s eyes widened in shock.

“Tang Rui came clean to me as soon as we got into the room. He showed me where all the cameras were hidden and got on his knees and begged me to reward him. I let him kiss me and then I intended to…”

Xie Xian’s arms tightened.

“But… in the end I didn’t.”

“Why?” A hushed whisper, as though Xie Xian didn’t dare to believe.

Lin JunYi mused this question slowly. “Why….? I’m not too sure about it myself. Maybe it was because… I imagined your face. I thought you’d probably look sad. Maybe you’d even cry.”

Just as he said this he felt something warm drip down onto his cheeks. Lin JunYi giggled. “Hey don’t cry just because I said that… hey… geez, such a big guy crying, aren’t you embarrassed?”

The tears dripped down faster. Lin JunYi smiled warmly. He reached up and clasped Xie Xian’s head and pulled it down. He kissed Xie Xian’s lips. “Let’s go home.”

Xie Xian’s eyes glimmered in the night like stars. “Ah-Yi, I love you.”

Lin JunYi opened his mouth to reply but suddenly 729’s voice sounded in his ear, “Host, behind you!”

From behind him came the rushing sound of footsteps. Someone screamed out, “Zhou Yi, you slut, you took everything from me! Why don’t you just go and die already!!”

Although this voice was familiar, for a second Lin JunYi didn’t recognize it. After all, in his memory the protagonist shou had only ever been gentle and weak.

But even a rabbit when forced into a corner could turn rabid.

Particularly one who understood, at some innate and unfathomable level, that his destiny wasn’t supposed to be like this. He wasn’t supposed to be dating a man who was only mediocre, stuck in a career that was declining. He was supposed to be standing high up in the pinnacle of the world, being worshipped. And that this man, whom the slut had taken from him, was supposed to love him. Love him forever! 

Whose fault was it that everything had changed!? It definitely had to be that slut Zhou Yi’

It took Lin JunYi a couple of seconds to recognize this voice and still a few more to react. Perhaps the protagonist’s halo really did still exist in some form in this world, or maybe it was the world’s last ditch desperate attempt to correct the derailed storyline and bring it back to it’s previous trajectory. Either way Lin JunYi felt like his limbs were locked and frozen and he couldn’t move at all. He could only watch, helpless, as Chen Heng rushed towards him brandishing the knife high.

But the person who was holding him suddenly reacted. With a speed so fast that it shouldn’t be natural - as in, beyond the limits of the human body - Xie Xian pulled him back and covered him with his body.

There were screams and commotion. A tearing sound followed by a clatter.

When Lin JunYi came to again he was sitting on the ground, propped up against the car. Xie Xian was in his arms. Chen Heng was being restrained by the hotel doorman who was frantically yelling for help.

Something warm and wet dripped down his arms. Lin JunYi’s vision went black briefly.

Suddenly he was no longer in Xie Xian’s arms but instead in another place. It was very dark. He was pinned down and he couldn’t move. Blood dripped down his face and into his open eyes.

High up above him he saw two people’s faces surrounded by broken glass. Their arms were extended down to him. “Ah-Yi, hurry up!”

Lin JunYi reached his arms up. His voice murmured, “Daddy… Mommy...”

Suddenly the building around him shook. Glass fell down and cut his eyes. The two figures looked at each other and then, after a few seconds' pause, they suddenly got up and their figures vanished.

Lin JunYi’s eyes widened. “Daddy…? Mommy…?” Warm, wet tears dripped down his eyes. “Daddy! Mommy!”

He waited for them to reappear. Waited and waited. 

He waited for two days until search and rescue finally found him. The next time he saw them they were arguing on the side of his hospital bed.

But by that time he didn’t care anymore. After that he never cried again.

***

Something warm and wet was dripping down his face. Lin JunYi reached up and touched his face with wonder. 

Xie Xian reached up and touched it with his warm hands. He smiled.

“Ah-Yi you’re crying.” He said it with a tone of wonder.

Lin JunYi asked, “Why did you do that?”

“Why?” Xie Xian looked at him lovingly as though he were a very silly boy. “Of course it’s because I love you.”

Lin JunYi cried harder. He wrapped his arm around Xie Xian’s body and cried all the tears that he had been holding inside since that day he lost the ability to love and trust anyone.

Three weeks later Xie Xian was discharged from the hospital. When he came out, he saw Lin JunYi standing next to the car holding a big bunch of flowers.

“What are you…?” His arm was still in a sling and so he had no choice but to stand still while Lin JunYi stuffed them into his arms. 

It seemed Xie Xian not only had enough time to push him behind him within a few split seconds but even managed to put his arm over his chest to cover his vital places. However it seemed that Chen Heng also managed to uncover some type of superhuman power in those few seconds. He actually brought down the knife hard enough to sever several nerves and arteries in Xie Xian’s arm. It can be imagined what would have happened if it had landed on Lin JunYi’s back instead.

“You…?!” Xie Xian stared down in abject shock as Lin JunYi got down on one knee and grinned at him impishly. From his sleeve he produced a velvet box and opened it.

“President Xie, will you marry me?”

Xie Xian gazed down at him with unending warmth. “Ah-Yi, I was supposed to do this.”

“I know. You wanted to do it in Paris right? But you didn’t because you were scared I would say no. So, sorry if this isn’t as romantic as Paris. But I just didn’t want to wait any longer. If you want to, you could always propose to me again later down the track. I don’t mind!”

Xie Xian’s heart was overflowing with warmth. He felt as though he had suddenly struck gold or had uncovered a precious pearl in the depths of the ocean. In this world, there was nothing more he would ever want now that he had obtained this.

He reached out his hand. Lin JunYi pushed the silver ring onto his long, beautiful fingers.

The ring was very made of platinum and was very plain. But inside was engraved the words.

Xie Xian, I love you.

***

A/N: One more chapter before this arc is ended ^_^