Jiang Shao stared blankly at the person in front of him.
The white mist of Qi Mu’s breath blurred his elegant, handsome face, making him seem half-hidden among clouds and fog, beautiful and dreamlike. Jiang Shao’s own reflection rested in those beautiful eyes, held within their gentle, water-soft gaze.
It made Jiang Shao feel as though he, too, had become a happy person.
Only after a long while did Jiang Shao slowly reach out. As though afraid of bursting a fragile bubble, he gently drew Qi Mu into his arms.
He needed to be certain that the person before him was real.
That he would not disappear.
Only then did Jiang Shao slowly tighten his embrace.
You’re the first person to wish me a Happy New Year.
And after all these years,
the only one…
who truly meant it when you said Happy New Year to me.
At that moment, Jiang Shao finally seemed to understand the meaning of Lunar New Year. Only with someone worth caring about beside you would you look forward to another year.
Only then would you look forward to the future.
Instead of seeing it as nothing more than another hypocritical, irritating cycle repeating without end.
Jiang Shao simply held Qi Mu without moving.
A very, very long time passed.
Only then did he slowly let Qi Mu go. Looking at him seriously, he said, “Let’s go on vacation.”
Qi Mu: “?”
How did the subject jump this far all of a sudden?
Pretending he had not been plotting this for ages, Jiang Shao said in an entirely calm and normal tone, “It’s too cold here. Let’s go to a warm island. Isn’t vacation supposed to be for getting away and relaxing?”
To tell the truth, Qi Mu was a little tempted.
His parents had gone somewhere warm year-round for their vacation, and he was actually a little envious. But he had no desire to tag along as a third wheel, and the only thing he could think of doing alone was working overtime. Now Jiang Shao had suggested a trip.
Besides, staying home over Lunar New Year would only be boring.
Why not agree?
Qi Mu gave a reserved nod.
Jiang Shao took out his phone, opened a travel app, tapped into his favorites, and asked as though seeking Qi Mu’s opinion, “How about we go here?”
Qi Mu: …Why are your movements so suspiciously smooth? You really didn’t prepare this in advance?
He gave Jiang Shao’s phone a suspicious glance.
One look startled him.
There was nothing wrong with the destination itself. It was a very famous tropical archipelago and a popular winter vacation spot. But hotel prices throughout the islands varied enormously.
Jiang Shao had selected the most expensive option of all, a standalone villa on a beautiful little island that cost one hundred thousand yuan a night.
Qi Mu looked at Jiang Shao with growing suspicion. Is Long Aotian planning to reveal his real identity?
A salary of three thousand a month definitely can’t afford this.
Seeing Qi Mu stand there without moving, Jiang Shao urged, “Didn’t you agree to cover my food and lodging? I’ve picked the place. You book it.”
Qi Mu was shocked.
When did I agree to that?
And you have the nerve to pick a villa that costs a hundred thousand a night? That’s an outrageously domineering way to live off someone else!
As expected of Long Aotian.
He took back what he had said about Long Aotian being cheap to keep…
That said,
Qi Mu still silently took out his phone and booked an entire week, along with first-class round-trip flights.
Jiang Shao smiled in satisfaction. “President Qi really is generous.”
Qi Mu: Heh.
After booking the hotel and flights, the two of them started walking back.
It was not a short distance.
Yet somehow they seemed to arrive in the blink of an eye.
Standing downstairs from Qi Mu’s apartment, Jiang Shao was reluctant to leave. But remembering that they would depart tomorrow, he restrained himself and only kissed Qi Mu lightly.
“See you tomorrow.”
Then he stood there watching until Qi Mu went upstairs.
Qi Mu returned home.
He began packing for the trip.
As he packed, he suddenly realized how many years it had been since he had taken an actual vacation. It seemed every trip he made was for business.
As a result, he did not even own any clothes suitable for a vacation.
He opened his wardrobe. The entire walk-in closet was filled with shirts and suits in broadly similar colors and styles, every last piece painfully formal. The moment he put them on, he radiated pure office-worker energy and looked ready to negotiate a contract.
Qi Mu: “.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Forget it. I’ll buy some when I get there.
He had to wake early for the flight tomorrow.
Qi Mu washed up and went straight to bed. When he woke the next morning, he immediately saw a message from Jiang Shao on his phone.
Jiang Shao had sent it fifteen minutes earlier: “I’m downstairs.”
Qi Mu hurried out of bed, washed up quickly, then dragged his nearly empty suitcase downstairs.
Jiang Shao took the suitcase and raised a brow, but said nothing. He simply put the empty case into the car.
＊
After a five-hour flight, their plane landed at an international airport.
The airport was crowded with tourists. There were many shops inside, including quite a few luxury brands, and streams of people moved back and forth.
Qi Mu found a menswear shop selling casual clothes. Faced with all the brightly colored T-shirts and shorts, he frowned for a long time before finally finding some simple pieces. He bought seven days’ worth of clothes in one go and stuffed his suitcase full.
After that, they set off for the island.
The island could only be reached by helicopter. Hotel staff were already waiting outside the airport and took them directly to a nearby helipad.
That evening.
Qi Mu and Jiang Shao checked in without incident.
The blond, blue-eyed hotel butler said respectfully, “If you need anything, please call us. We wish you a pleasant stay.”
Then he left.
The villa stood not far from the beach, surrounded by tall coconut palms swaying gently in the night sea breeze, with tropical plants enclosing the property.
The villa’s layout made it easy to enjoy the view of the sea.
The bedroom wall facing the beach was made entirely of floor-to-ceiling glass. Outside was an infinity pool, with loungers and a dining table beside it.
There was a small garden at the back.
It was very quiet here.
And extremely private.
Each villa was separated from the next by two hundred meters, so no one would disturb them.
Jiang Shao set down the suitcases and smiled at Qi Mu. “You’ve been traveling all day. Go shower first.”
Qi Mu did not refuse.
He went into the bathroom, took off his clothes and put them in the laundry basket, then stepped into the shower. Warm water washed away the fatigue of the day.
This time, he did not stay in there long.
A little over ten minutes later, he came out in a bathrobe, his hair still dripping. Qi Mu gave it a quick rub with a towel, then looked away with reddening ears instead of meeting Jiang Shao’s gaze. He said softly, “I’m done. You go shower.”
Jiang Shao nodded.
Barefoot on the wooden floor, Qi Mu walked to the pool outside the bedroom and lay down on a lounger.
The climate here was warm and pleasant.
C City was in the depths of a bitter winter, while here it was summer, though not oppressively hot. The temperature was just right.
Qi Mu lay on the lounger in his bathrobe, cooled by the sea breeze. It was so comfortable and relaxing that drowsiness gradually washed over him, and without realizing it, he closed his eyes.
Half asleep and half awake,
it felt as though something were licking his face.
Softly. A little ticklish.
Qi Mu slowly opened his eyes
and met Jiang Shao’s dark, shadowed gaze.
The man was bent over him, kissing him. Moonlight spilled across Jiang Shao’s body, making his cold features, shadowed against the light, seem even darker and more profound.
A bath towel was loosely wrapped around his hips, leaving his lean, muscular upper body bare. His defined abdominal muscles shifted with every breath. Damp hair clung to his forehead, and a bead of water slipped from the side of his neck, traveled across his solid chest, and disappeared with the V-lines at his waist beneath the towel.
The muscles in his arms were taut where he braced himself on either side of the lounger, veins tracing beneath his skin with a powerful sensuality.
Qi Mu swallowed instinctively.
This is seduction.
The evidence is conclusive.
Seeing that Qi Mu was awake, Jiang Shao pried his lips apart and slipped his tongue into his mouth.
Qi Mu yielded to the kiss.
Jiang Shao’s kisses were as fiercely consuming as ever.
Qi Mu gradually found it difficult to breathe, his cheeks turning red. He was enclosed against the lounger by Jiang Shao’s body and had no way to retreat from the man’s embrace.
Nor did he want to retreat.
A thin mist veiled Qi Mu’s eyes as he looked at the man above him.
His gaze was slightly unfocused.
He was not some sheltered innocent fresh out of school. He knew exactly what agreeing to come on vacation with Jiang Shao implied.
And he had agreed anyway.
Because at that moment, he too wanted to cast aside every worry and every rule and simply follow what he truly wanted.
He did not want to think about whether fate was manipulating him or analyze why everything had happened this way.
He knew only that he liked this person too.
Perhaps a stirring heart was simply
a breeze that happened to pass through one’s heart,
an inadvertent glance back,
a sentence that suddenly fell into one’s heart,
an impulse without any reason,
or perhaps it was an inescapable net woven from countless little moments.
He knew clearly that he was falling.
Before this, he had simply never dared take that step.
He had been afraid and evasive.
Flustered and uneasy.
But
who said feelings had to last forever?
Who said something without an ending wasn’t worth trying?
In the adult world,
there was not much that lasted forever to begin with.
What people sought was often nothing more than the feeling in the present moment.
And Qi Mu was willing to lose himself in this moment.
Without asking where it had come from.
Without demanding an ending.
Qi Mu reached up and wrapped both arms around Jiang Shao’s neck, tilted his head back of his own accord, and earnestly returned the kiss.
They were like vines twining around each other.
So tightly intertwined
that even if they were to suffocate in the very next moment.
Jiang Shao’s breathing abruptly grew heavier, one hand tightening at the back of Qi Mu’s head.
Urgent and fierce.
A long time passed.
Only then did Jiang Shao slowly lift his head. A thin, glistening thread briefly stretched between their lips in the moonlight.
Jiang Shao’s dark, hungry gaze remained fixed on Qi Mu’s face.
Desire struck painfully against his chest, but he only looked at Qi Mu and asked slowly, syllable by syllable in a hoarse voice, “May I?”
A blush covered Qi Mu’s face as he lowered his eyes shyly.
But after a moment, he slowly…
nodded.
Jiang Shao’s Adam’s apple moved, and a very low laugh, almost a sigh, escaped his throat.
Then he suddenly reached out with both arms and lifted Qi Mu.
Jiang Shao carried him into the villa in long strides
and placed him on the large bed covered in silk bedding.
Qi Mu wore only a bathrobe.
After the heated kissing and embrace, the robe had already fallen loose. Against the black silk sheets, the pale skin of his legs looked even whiter, almost like snow.
It reminded Jiang Shao of the snow that had fallen the night before.
Flake after flake, melting into his heart.
Jiang Shao held Qi Mu by the ankle and gently guided his leg upward, causing the loose bathrobe to slide up to the top of his thigh.
Under Jiang Shao’s undisguised gaze, Qi Mu turned his face away in embarrassment. A faint blush spread over his snow-pale skin, which trembled slightly beneath Jiang Shao’s eyes.
The next second,
kisses began to fall like raindrops.
They landed on his lashes, the tip of his nose, his chin, his neck…
Unhidden desire accompanied every kiss, surrounding him like the sea.
Qi Mu had already prepared himself to accept what came next.
It was only that, amid the confusion,
when he accidentally caught sight of “Little Jiang Shao,” instinctive fear still made him stiffen slightly…
Jiang Shao sensed his unease. He soothed him with gentle kisses to his lips and lightly stroked his hair, his restrained, husky voice falling beside Qi Mu’s ear.
“Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”