IROAWTMTFL Chapter 37

The Yan family’s tradition for staying up on New Year’s Eve was that they could go to bed before midnight, but they had to get up at midnight. When fireworks were still allowed, their tradition was to set off firecrackers at midnight. After the ban on fireworks, it changed to setting off some small fireworks, but they still kept the sense of ritual.

Every year, it was Yan Yan’s responsibility to buy small fireworks for their family. Unlike the older generation who just looked at size and asked about prices, he carefully examined the performance pictures and watched buyer reviews before making a purchase. Due to the ban on larger fireworks, the market had shrunk significantly, but there was now a greater variety of smaller fireworks available. While others played with sparklers, Yan Yan always went for the latest and most innovative options.

So, every New Year’s Eve in their community, the neighborhood children would gather downstairs at midnight, eagerly waiting to see what new styles Yan Yan had for them this year.

This year, Zhuang Yiyun was spending the New Year with them, so the fireworks show had naturally changed. In the past, it had been Yan Yan and Yan Ximing, but this time, Yan Ximing, who had just been lectured by his wife, quickly passed the task to their two children. Then the husband and wife went to sleep.

Zhuang Yiyun followed Yan Yan downstairs. From the moment they closed the door, Yan Yan kept his distance, standing diagonally in the elevator. When they reached the ground floor, he hurried ahead, eager to shake Zhuang Yiyun off.

Ever since he had agreed to stay at home due to his parents’ request, he had been in a bad mood and had been giving Zhuang Yiyun a hard time all evening. Zhuang Yiyun didn’t mind, calmly following along, looking as calm as a mountain before the storm.

As soon as Yan Yan stepped out of the elevator, the neighborhood children waiting downstairs swarmed up to him. From toddlers to teenagers, they all clamored for him, calling him “Brother Yan Yan.”

“Let’s go! Big brother will show you how to set off fireworks!” Yan Yan couldn’t resist their excitement and handed the bag of fireworks to the tallest teenager in the group, saying it coolly.

With unanimous approval, the group formed a circle downstairs. The tallest teenager helped Yan Yan in displaying the contents of the bag.

There were increasingly grand windmills, and small bees that could release a sky full of “fireflies”, the children watched with pure delight, applauding and cheering enthusiastically.

“Happy New Year, may it be auspicious.”

Yan Yan said, and all the children around him echoed his words, making him seem like the king of children. His enthusiasm for life was so infectious, a stark contrast to Zhuang Yiyun’s outlook on life. Zhuang Yiyun’s life revolved around studying and working, tackling increasingly challenging academic subjects, and achieving higher research accomplishments. But Yan Yan found every little thing in life to be colorful and exciting.

Zhuang Yiyun stood behind the crowd, watching him. When Yan Yan was surrounded by the fireworks, Zhuang Yiyun wished he could become one of those sparks surrounding him. Looking at Yan Yan’s carefree smile, he made a decision on the first day of the new year.

He was determined to pick this wild rose and nurture it with his own hands. For this, he would break all the constraints and disguises and present his most genuine self to Yan Yan. He hoped it wouldn’t make him detestable.

They hadn’t been setting off fireworks for long when the security guard rushed over as if he were on a mission and drove all the children back home. Yan Yan quickly followed suit, and Zhuang Yiyun caught up with him, asking what was wrong.

“I often set off fireworks that slightly violate the rules. Once, I set them off and ran away, but the next day, they were caught by the authorities, and the property management got fined. So, they’ve been keeping an eye on us every year.”

“Why do you still set them off?”

“The boy I just handed the bag to is the son of the manager at the property management company. They’re just going through the motions. It’s the big New Year, why wouldn’t they let us have some fun?” Yan Yan smiled.

“You’re not angry at me anymore,” Zhuang Yiyun said. When the elevator doors closed, the space suddenly became quiet.

“Get lost, go down and drive away now.”

“Then how will you explain to your mother tomorrow?”

“Won’t you drive back at six in the morning?”

“I’m not.”

Zhuang Yiyun replied and took the lead to get off the elevator. Yan Yan watched his back, feeling like he had changed somehow, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was different about him.

“Why not? Hurry and go away.”

Yan Yan reached out and grabbed his sleeve, preventing him from entering the apartment. Zhuang Yiyun stopped in his tracks, turned around, and Yan Yan almost bumped into him. He blocked the dim hallway light with his body and replied in a low voice: “Because…opening the door for me behind your parent’s back feels like having an affair.”

Zhuang Yiyun’s eyes were extremely dark, like ink. Because the light was blocked by his body, his eyes seemed devoid of light, like an unfathomable abyss. He spoke teasingly, and there was a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. Yan Yan wanted to see more clearly, but he had already opened the door and entered.

The tone was straightforward, but the slightly taboo words teased the nerves of the young man. Yan Yan rubbed his ears, suspecting he had misheard. But no, that’s what the person had said. Yan Yan was now sure that something was different about Zhuang Yiyun, as if some kind of switch had been turned on.

“You’re quite delusional.”

Zhuang Yiyun smiled noncommittally, then went straight into his room. Yan Yan followed him a step behind, and when he entered the room, Zhuang Yiyun was unbuttoning his coat. Seeing Yan Yan enter, he glanced at the fluffy, soft bedding and asked Yan Yan, “Do you have pajamas?”

“I only have mine.”

“So, am I sleeping naked?”

Zhuang Yiyun hung up his coat and begun to unbutton his shirt cuffs. Yan Yan watched his movements- there was no clumsiness from when they were making dumplings together, and his long fingers looked quite nimble.

Yan Yan collected his scattered mind that was bewitched by beauty and replied, “You can sleep in a shirt.”

“Are you sure?”

“What’s there to be unsure about?”

“Then, if my shirt is all wrinkled tomorrow, who should I say did it?”

Yan Yan quickly understood and immediately denied, “What are you thinking! Anyway, I didn’t touch it.”

“I’m not thinking anything. What are you thinking?”

After unbuttoning his cuffs and placing the cufflinks on Yan Yan’s desk, he started undoing other buttons, from the collar down, revealing the shadows of his collarbone, which captivated Yan Yan’s gaze entirely.

After unbuttoning the third one, he turned around, facing away from Yan Yan. Once all the buttons were undone, he took off the white shirt. Powerful back muscles, perfectly shaped butterfly bones, and a lean waistline were all on full display.

Yan Yan was completely silent now, staring at the scene in front of him without moving his gaze away. As expected of the man he had willingly flirted with for the past two months. He had the credentials to make it worth it. If he could pay to sleep with him, he would be the top earner at CoolCat tomorrow.

Though Zhuang Yiyun knew Yan Yan was watching him, he only paused for a moment after taking off his shirt and placed his fingers on the belt buckle. A light click sounded, like the metallic sound of the belt buckle hitting something, and then the sound of the belt being pulled out. Its rhythm was slow and somewhat hypnotizing.

Zhuang Yiyun wanted to see how long Yan Yan could endure. In the next second, Yan Yan opened the wardrobe and, in one fluid motion, threw a set of pajamas over him.

“Put these on!” Yan Yan’s tone was a bit vexed, unwilling, and frustrated.

‘Fuck, what was this guy thinking?’

Regular guys might mistake a gay man for a straight one, but Zhuang Yiyun couldn’t. Even if he had made up his mind, his body could be easily swayed by beauty. If he couldn’t control himself anylonger and pounced on him, he(Zhuang Yiyun) would act like a chaste man again. That would just make him feel a deep sense of shame after being rejected again.

“Thanks, I’ll take a shower.”

“Damn it, can’t you take them off in the bathroom?”

“Shirts can wrinkle, and if they do…”

“Alright, alright,” Yan Yan waved his hand in frustration, “if it wrinkles, my mom will think I did it.”

Zhuang Yiyun chuckled.

“Why are you laughing? Sharing a bed is a two-person thing. If I wrinkle your shirt, it’s definitely because you had your way with me.”

Zhuang Yiyun’s laugh got stuck in his throat and he almost blurted out, “How did I have my way with you?” But he couldn’t rush things. For instance, right now, he didn’t turn around; he silently put on the pajamas. After all, If he looked back, he might actually want to “have his way” with him right here.

This was the room Yan Yan had lived in for twenty years, every nook and cranny bore his traces and scent. Just the thought of invading this space and taking possession made his soul tremble.

Yan Yan thought he was an ice-cold iceberg, but in fact, whether it was a rock or volcano beneath the ice and snow, only by chipping it away could you know.

Yan Yan’s pajamas were a bit tight on him, but he didn’t complain since he was willing to wear them. By the time he came out of the shower, Yan Yan was already so sleepy that he was yawning incessantly. He lay on the bed half-covered in his pajamas, his complaining tone weakened.

“Why did you take so long…”

Zhuang Yiyun didn’t say anything, nor did look at Yan Yan in his boneless state. He didn’t want to go shower again.

“Which side are you sleeping on?” Zhuang Yiyun asked.

“By the window.”

Yan Yan dragged his sleepy body, struggled for a moment but eventually got up to take a shower. When he came back from his shower, Zhuang Yiyun had already laid down and closed his eyes.

He was lying on his back, his long eyelashes covering his lower lids. He was breathing evenly, and it looked like he was already asleep.

With no more challenges to test human endurance, Yan Yan inexplicably heaved a sigh of relief and lay down as well. In this familiar atmosphere, his drowsiness quickly enveloped him. He turned over, facing away from Zhuang Yiyun, and drifted off to sleep.

When his breathing became long and rhythmic, Zhuang Yiyun who was lying beside him opened his eyes, devoid of any sleepiness.

In the darkness, he propped himself up to look at Yan Yan, and tentatively touched his cheek. Seeing that he was indeed asleep, he settled back down. But this time, he didn’t lie on his back, instead, he turned to face Yan Yan.

Zhuang Yiyun’s fingertips lightly pressed against the back of Yan Yan’s neck, moving from right to left, finding the sharp angle of the small rhomboids, and then placed a kiss there. It was the same spot where Yan Yan had left a mark on him when he was drunk.

Sleeping Yan Yan didn’t react at all, unlike back then when his(Zhuang Yiyun) body felt like it had been electrified from head to toe.

Then he lifted Yan Yan’s head, and his arm reached out to pull him into an embrace.

The next morning, Yan Yan was awakened by the sounds of his parents making breakfast, and he drowsily rubbed his face against the pillow. After a while, he felt something wasn’t right. Why was this pillow warm? He put his forehead to it, and the sensation didn’t feel like a pillow.

He struggled to open his eyes, and what he saw was a man’s arm. His five senses gradually returned, and he realized that the man’s other arm was wrapped around his waist. He didn’t know if he had rolled over in his sleep or if that hand had roamed, but in any case, his pajamas had ridden up, and that palm was now resting on his waist without obstruction.

He was startled and immediately tried to sit up. Damn it, did he roll into Zhuang Yiyun’s arms in his sleep?

Just as he was about to get up, the hand around his waist tightened, and the man behind him buried his head in the nape of his neck, his voice drowsy, “Sleep a little longer.”

Yan Yan’s scalp exploded with a bang. The man’s morning husky voice and the warm breath on his neck, along with the thing pressed against his back, were all things he hadn’t expected when he went to sleep last night.

The owner of the hand must truly be half asleep. The hand that was originally around his waist had now climbed half an inch higher, and the fingertips almost grazed his chest.

‘Damn it, was this what Zhuang Yiyun turned into when he was asleep?’

In the blink of an eye, Yan Yan remembered of his birthday gift. No wonder an upright scientist like him would give him a human-shaped pillow. It turned out that he was accustomed to sleeping with one… After being a fake wife, his position in Zhuang Yiyun’s life had dropped to that of a pillow!

Yan Yan was burning with anger, he immediately got up and kicked Zhuang Yiyun’s leg.