Do we really have to do it like this?
Qi Mu was so embarrassed that his toes practically curled into the floor.
But with a splash,
Jiang Shao had already jumped into the pool, sending water splashing all over Qi Mu.
Qi Mu: “…”
Jiang Shao did not see anything wrong with it at all. He looked openly at Qi Mu like a perfectly qualified swimming instructor and said, “I’ll demonstrate first.”
With that, he kicked off from the side of the pool and shot forward like a fish, his arms striking through the water as his body rose and fell with each breath.
The blue water glittered beneath the sunlight. Jiang Shao’s strong, powerful body and sharply defined features seemed almost gilded, like a statue of Apollo beneath the sun.
Qi Mu kept watching…
and accidentally let his gaze drift somewhere it should not.
He hurriedly looked away again.
In the blink of an eye, Jiang Shao had already swum two laps and returned to Qi Mu’s side.
Jiang Shao lifted his head from the water. Droplets slid down his face, and laughter glimmered in his dark eyes. “See clearly?”
In truth, Qi Mu had only caught the general idea. Too embarrassed to admit his attention had wandered in the wrong direction, he coughed lightly. “I saw…”
Jiang Shao nodded. “Then come down.”
Qi Mu still did not particularly want to learn like this and hesitated, intending to retreat. But Jiang Shao’s lips curved, and he reached out, caught Qi Mu by the ankle, and pulled him into the pool.
Caught completely off guard, Qi Mu fell into the water, flailed wildly, and swallowed several mouthfuls before finally getting his feet under him and glaring angrily at Jiang Shao.
Once he stood upright, the pool water only reached his chest, so there was no danger of drowning.
Jiang Shao chuckled. “Pay attention this time.”
Qi Mu: “…”
Realizing Jiang Shao had no intention of giving up, Qi Mu could only resign himself to learning how to swim.
Jiang Shao explained seriously as he demonstrated each movement. “Remember to lift your head when you breathe. Take your breath while your head is up. Sweep your hands out to both sides, and kick your legs hard backward… Got it?”
Seeing Qi Mu’s distracted expression, Jiang Shao said, “Forget it. We’ll start with something simpler. I’ll support you while you practice the movements I just showed you.”
As he spoke, he led Qi Mu to the center of the pool and supported his abdomen with one hand, letting him float on the surface.
“Keep your balance. Don’t tip into the water. Try moving the way I did.” Jiang Shao watched him steadily.
Qi Mu was a little panicked at first, but Jiang Shao’s supporting hand was very steady, and gradually he stopped being quite so afraid. He still could not find his balance, however, swaying from side to side whenever he moved, with no real coordination to his motions.
Most importantly, he did not know how to float. After another bout of frantic flailing, he swallowed several more mouthfuls of water.
Jiang Shao’s teasing chuckle sounded beside his ear. “Keep this up and you’ll fill your stomach with pool water.”
Qi Mu’s face reddened.
Suddenly, he felt Jiang Shao catch his ankle. Alarm flashed across his face, and he hurriedly turned to look at him.
Jiang Shao looked perfectly calm. Holding Qi Mu’s ankle, he guided it through the swimming motion and explained in a steady, measured voice, “Straighten it like this, then pull it back. Remember?”
Embarrassed, Qi Mu looked away. Just now, he had thought Jiang Shao was planning to…
He hurriedly shoved those chaotic thoughts aside. Bending and extending his legs, he finally began to find the feeling little by little.
Jiang Shao was clearly an extremely patient teacher.
Although Qi Mu was far from an attentive student, Jiang Shao continued teaching him without impatience. Once Qi Mu learned how to kick, Jiang Shao released his ankle and let him try by himself.
Qi Mu floated and bobbed in the water. After the excesses of the past few days, his legs were still a little weak, and before long he could no longer kick properly and simply started giving up. It was not as though he genuinely wanted to learn to swim…
The sky gradually darkened.
All Qi Mu could think about was how to go back earlier.
Suddenly, he heard Jiang Shao sigh softly. “You’re really not paying attention.”
Jiang Shao reached out, hooked an arm beneath Qi Mu’s knees, and lifted both his legs.
The shift in position sent Qi Mu tipping backward. Instinctively, he hurriedly threw out his arms and clung tightly to Jiang Shao’s neck to keep himself from falling into the water.
The pool was not deep, but with his feet off the bottom, Jiang Shao was the only thing he could rely on.
He wrapped himself around Jiang Shao like an octopus.
Jiang Shao looked at him with pitch-black eyes, his voice gradually turning low and husky. “A disobedient student like you deserves punishment.”
Qi Mu’s body stiffened involuntarily.
＊
Ripples spread across the surface of the pool.
Qi Mu wanted to get away, but he did not know how to swim. The moment he released his grip, he tipped backward into the water. He sank beneath the surface, unable to breathe as water rushed into his nose and mouth.
A desperate sense of suffocation overwhelmed him.
Until Jiang Shao sighed and pulled him back up.
After that, Qi Mu no longer dared to let go.
From beginning to end, he held tightly to Jiang Shao.
Even in those moments when he could hardly think, he still did not dare release him, his fingernails nearly digging into Jiang Shao’s skin.
For survival,
Jiang Shao was his only support.
So Qi Mu could only cling to him with all his strength.
Qi Mu scratched bloody marks across Jiang Shao’s back, but Jiang Shao seemed not to feel them. Instead, he held Qi Mu even tighter, savoring the way Qi Mu depended on him and pressed himself close.
They were inseparably close.
It gave Jiang Shao an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.
Only when the bright moon hung high in the sky
did Jiang Shao finally carry Qi Mu out of the pool.
The two of them stood at the pool’s edge, leaving wet footprints behind them like a pair of water ghosts. Qi Mu no longer had the strength even to speak.
He looked half-dead.
Almost as though he had drowned.
Jiang Shao looked at him in that state, the corners of his lips lifting slightly. His gaze swept over the swimming pool in front of them as he said mildly, “Look. This is all your water.”
Qi Mu immediately came back to life from sheer fury.
Sooner or later, I’m going to kill this bastard!
But before he could open his mouth to curse him, Jiang Shao had already lowered his head and kissed him, swallowing every word Qi Mu had been about to say.
＊
Qi Mu woke up the next day.
He was still so angry that he did not want to acknowledge Jiang Shao.
He did not say a single word even while eating.
Jiang Shao did not mind. He bustled around as usual, his back covered in scratches. Whenever Qi Mu’s gaze accidentally swept over them,
he could not help remembering the madness of the previous night, leaving him embarrassed and furious all over again.
After breakfast, Jiang Shao cleared the dining table and set it aside, then said to Qi Mu, “Let’s continue.”
Qi Mu froze.
Continue what?
What exactly are we continuing?
Jiang Shao raised a brow. “You still haven’t learned how to swim.”
Qi Mu stared at him in disbelief. Didn’t Jiang Shao already accomplish what he wanted? Is he seriously still planning to teach me swimming?
Seeing the way Qi Mu was looking at him, Jiang Shao wore the faintly offended expression of someone who had been misunderstood. He frowned and said seriously, “What kind of person do you think I am? Yesterday’s consequences were because you weren’t paying attention. I only want to teach you how to swim.”
Qi Mu: Aren’t you exactly that kind of person?
“Besides, I said I’d teach you, so I’ll teach you properly.” Jiang Shao sounded utterly resolute.
And so Qi Mu was taken back to the pool.
Jiang Shao said calmly, “Do you remember yesterday’s movements? Practice them fifty times first.”
The moment Qi Mu remembered what had happened the previous night, blood rushed to his head. He swore he would never suffer that kind of humiliation again!
He would learn how to swim and give Jiang Shao no excuse to make trouble for him!
Qi Mu abandoned his perfunctory attitude and summoned the determination he had once brought to the final sprint before the college entrance exam, throwing himself into learning how to swim.
Swimming was not difficult.
The difficult part was finding the right feeling and overcoming his fear of water.
For Qi Mu, one careful listen was enough to remember the movements and explanations. His real difficulty was his fear of water. Yet after spending so long floating in it the previous night, despite how terrified he had been at first, for some reason the water did not seem quite as frightening today.
After all, when he had been most desperate, Jiang Shao had held him securely and never let go.
Although Qi Mu did not want to admit it, Jiang Shao’s presence gave him enough of a sense of security.
Qi Mu’s movements grew smoother and smoother.
Head up, head down.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Stroke with the arms, kick with the legs.
Little by little, he began to find the feeling.
Jiang Shao looked at him approvingly and smiled. “Then I’ll try letting go?”
Qi Mu nodded.
Jiang Shao withdrew his hand, though his eyes remained fixed closely on Qi Mu.
After flailing a few times, Qi Mu actually began to swim. His movements still looked a little like a dog paddle, but at least he no longer sank into the water like a weight as he had yesterday.
At first, Qi Mu had tried hard only because he did not want to give Jiang Shao another excuse to make trouble…
But as he gradually sensed the gentleness of the water and began to move through it, an unprecedented sense of accomplishment enveloped him.
This was the water that once could have drowned him so easily.
The water that had once brought him danger.
Now it had become his friend.
At first, Jiang Shao had been somewhat worried that Qi Mu might rush too hard out of stubbornness. The pool was not deep, but choking on water was still unpleasant…
But he quickly realized his worry was unnecessary.
Qi Mu was even more outstanding and intelligent than Jiang Shao had imagined.
If Qi Mu truly wanted to do something, he could always accomplish it.
Although his movements were still a little clumsy, in such a short time he had already begun to look like he knew what he was doing…
The man stretched his arms through the water and lifted his head from the surface. Wet strands of hair clung to the side of his face, and he raised his long neck like a white swan. His skin, so pale it was almost translucent, gleamed like crystal beneath the sunlight and rippling water.
Elegant, noble, beautiful, intelligent.
His lovely eyes glittered with water as he suddenly turned toward Jiang Shao. His pale pink lips moved, and he asked proudly, “How am I doing?”
Jiang Shao did not answer.
His Adam’s apple moved.
His dark eyes remained fixed on Qi Mu.
He wanted to fasten a chain around the swan’s foot and keep it trapped beside him, so that no matter how hard it beat its wings, it could never fly away from him. It would belong to him alone, and all its beauty and mournful cries would be his alone to witness.
Jiang Shao’s chest rose and fell heavily. It took every ounce of strength he had to restrain the urge to step forward and suppress the desire churning endlessly within him.
He simply stood there, staring.
Until Qi Mu grew tired from swimming and returned to him.
Like a weary bird returning to its nest.
Jiang Shao abruptly caught Qi Mu by the wrist, pulled him over, and pinned him against the side of the pool, looming over him.
The tall man pressed close, his sharply handsome face shadowed by eyes as dark as a greedy beast’s. Caught off guard, Qi Mu’s heart jolted, and he hurriedly said, “You don’t have any reason to punish me today.”
Jiang Shao looked deeply at him and said slowly, “When did I say I was going to punish you?”
Qi Mu froze.
The next moment,
Jiang Shao bent his knee and pressed it into Qi Mu’s □□. The man’s scorching breath fell against the side of his neck. No longer able to hold it back, his hoarse, low voice slowly spoke, word by word, right against his ear:
“You did so well. I should reward you.”