IROAWTMTFL Chapter 40

Zhuang Yiyun’s fingers tried to capture that playful soft tongue, but the little rascal retracted it as soon as it was touched, leaving behind only the owner’s triumphant and provocative smile.

No one could match Yan Yan’s vibrant energy, and now that he was in a new place, he became even more unrestrained, taking advantage of driving safety to act unscrupulously.

Zhuang Yiyun liked this kind of Yan Yan. He extended his finger toward Yan Yan’s lips once more. His voice remained cool and ordinary, but his eyes were deep and filled with suppressed sparks. “Lick it clean.”

“Lick what?”

“Strawberry juice, whoever made it should lick it.”

“Get lost, I’m not your servant.”

Zhuang Yiyun didn’t force him. He retracted his hand and pulled out a tissue to wipe it. However, Yan Yan caught his leisurely hand movements from the corner of his eyes and he almost swerved the steering wheel.

This dog man was really skilled. He was elegant, restrained, and suggestive. It seemed like he was wiping something other than strawberry juice, some kind of liquid.

Yan Yan pushed away the inappropriate thoughts and nearly turned the car into a racing vehicle. As they passed a service area on the road, the rainbow caught his attention. He immediately changed lanes and entered the service area.

The western part of Hainan was full of mountains, with rainbows hanging high between the towering peaks, which was a beautiful sight. He bought a bottle of soda and leaned against the car to drink it, while Zhuang Yiyun was taking photos of the rainbow with his single-lens reflex camera.

“Hey, you’ve been taking pictures of the rainbow for a while. Let me see.”

Zhuang Yiyun turned with the camera in hand and captured Yan Yan’s impatient expression. Yan Yan walked up to him, and Zhuang Yiyun took several consecutive shots.

“Let me see.”

Zhuang Yiyun turned the camera screen towards him and switched to the gallery. What he saw was a gallery full of pictures of him. He had noticed him taking the shots, but seeing the photos surprised him. Zhuang Yiyun had captured him remarkably well. Each expression was vivid, the composition, lighting, and colors were all beautifully done. He had initially thought Zhuang Yiyun was just taking casual pictures, but he hadn’t expected this level of skill.

Flipping through more photos, rainbows, highways, and lush mountain peaks formed a series of beautiful landscapes. He might not understand photography, but with one glance, he could tell it was professional.

“Impressive.” He wasn’t stingy with his praise in the face of such skill, even with their complicated relationship.

Zhuang Yiyun smiled and took back the camera without saying anything.

“You’ve learned this before?”

“No, I was just interested in it before.” He raised the camera, adjusted the lens, and blindly took a selfie with Yan Yan.

“What are you doing? Don’t you need my consent for a group photo?”

“Am free to take solo photos but you don’t let me touch when it’s group photos?”

Yan Yan scrutinized him from head to toe. What was going on with this guy? Was he always so provocative in his speech? What did he mean by “not letting me touch”? He even pinched him today, and he didn’t break his hand. However, being as clever as he was, Yan Yan wouldn’t argue with this person, or else he would be giving him another opportunity.

Yan Yan directly changed the conversation. “You were interested in it before, and now you’re not? Is this how you Ph.D. folks operate, turning every hobby into a professional skill?”

For Zhuang Yiyun, photography was always a heavy topic, and he hadn’t used his SLR camera in a long time. It was only because he was traveling with Yan Yan this time that he thought about taking it out. But it seemed like whatever topic reached Yan Yan’s lips, it would turn into something easy and simple. It made him suddenly want to share.

“I used to like it, but my mother thought hobbies like this don’t win awards, are a waste of time, and even if you win awards, you won’t be well-known…”

“Your mother thought so, not you. Is that important?”

Zhuang Yiyun smiled, with a hint of self-deprecation.

“It’s not, but I didn’t know before. My mother smashed the camera I bought with my scholarship, cried and made a scene, so I never touched it again.”

The playful tone disappeared from Yan Yan’s eyes as he listened to Zhuang Yiyun talk about his mother for the first time. While he had imagined it before, he hadn’t expected it to be like this. To him, having a hobby was normal, especially a healthy and sophisticated one like photography. Moreover, Zhuang Yiyun’s amateur skills were quite high but his mother completely forbade it?

“So, you can’t have hobbies according to her?”

“Hobbies are allowed if she thinks they’re useful and can be praised and admired by others.”

“Damn…”

“Let’s go, continue on the road.”

They set off again but Yan Yan was still thinking about this. What kind of life had Zhuang Yiyun led before? Hobbies were supposed to be based on personal preferences, not public judgments. What was the point of adopting someone else’s evaluation for a hobby?

After thinking for a while, he realized that this cunning dog man had managed to grab his attention by using sympathy through their conversation. Well, it was quite impressive. Fine, he could take group photos if he wanted to, he was handsome so there was no problem.

Around 6 o’clock, they reached the location given by the tour guide, passing through the urban area of Danzhou City to reach the small town. Their final destination was a hot spring resort. The resort was newly built, with a modern Chinese style, advanced facilities, and cutting-edge planning and design.

“Welcome, Mr. Zhuang and Mr. Yan, you are the second pair to arrive. This place is famous for its hot springs. Tonight, we’ll wash away the cold winds of the north, so we can better enjoy the scenery of Danzhou tomorrow. That’s why we arranged the first stop here.”

The tour guide was already waiting at the front desk when they arrived. He assisted them with check-in, informed them about dinner time and location, and then continued to wait at the front desk for the next wave of arriving tourists.

As they walked towards their room, Yan Yan suggested, “Following them seems boring. How about we leave the group?”

“We?”

“Yes. It’s a bunch of people we don’t know, couple’s romantic activities, and the tour guide will definitely organize a bunch of activities. It’s awkward and boring. Let’s go on our own.”

Yan Yan didn’t realize that what caught Zhuang Yiyun’s attention was the word “we”.

“Okay.”

When they opened the hotel room door, they found a room with a screen-like design. Beyond that was a king-size bed, and the usual furniture like a desk, sofa, coffee table, etc. But what stood out was the full-length glass door leading to an in-room hot spring pool.

According to the front desk, there were both hot and cold springs available locally, and each room was equipped with one hot and one cold pool. Yan Yan tossed his luggage aside and immediately opened the glass door to go outside. It was misty, and the water looked as cool as a moonlit night. It was beautiful.

Not everyone showed up during dinner that night. Yan Yan thought maybe some were still on the way, but the man sitting next to him said he had seen one couple. They arrived at the resort before Yan Yan and Zhuang Yiyun, went into their room, and hadn’t come out since.

Well, it was expected at a romantic couple’s vacation.

As he had guessed, once they finished dinner and the tour guide announced the schedule for the next day, he mentioned that their assembly time was 10 in the morning.

Although some leisure tours had a relaxed schedule, 10 a.m. was clearly not what they had in mind. Since they were all adults and understood the situation, they left, heading back to their rooms. On the way out of the restaurant, Yan Yan saw several couples had found an opportunity to be affectionate, like hugging and cuddling, which was basic for couples. Only he and Zhuang Yiyun were separated by a gap equivalent to two fists and walked back in silence.

No, he couldn’t even walk back. He wanted to go back to the pool, but Zhuang Yiyun said they couldn’t go into the hot spring right after eating and instead dragged him for a walk.

“You’re only 27, how come you act like you’re 37?”

“It’s easy to have indigestion if you go into the hot spring right after eating.”

“Oh, I see, Dr. Zhuang.”

Yan Yan rolled his eyes and reluctantly followed along.

He was originally reluctant, but was quickly captivated by the scenery outside. In addition to the VIP rooms with private hot spring pools like theirs, there were also open-air public hot spring pools in the garden. After wandering for a while, they soon arrived at the public area.

Mist filled the air, and men and women in various swimsuits were playing in the hot spring pool. With one glance, Yan Yan saw several men with model-like figures. Did all family type tourists go to the eastern side of Hainan? It seemed like there were more young couples on the western side. Otherwise, how come this pool was filled with handsome men and beautiful women?

Zhuang Yiyun and Yan Yan, both of whom stood out in appearance, became a scenic spot as soon as they stepped by the pool, attracting many curious gazes. Some bold individuals came over to strike up a conversation, inviting them to join in the hot spring. Since their sexual orientation was unclear, both men and women were making offers.

Yan Yan was eager to give it a try, but Zhuang Yiyun immediately regretted not sending that person back to their room earlier. He could have just forbidden him from entering the hot spring.

From the members of the tour group to the atmosphere at the resort, everywhere was filled with hormones of young men and women. Yan Yan was naturally playful, and he was quickly influenced. His gaze fell on the man among two women in front of him, his eyes running over his well-defined abs with some regret.

Six-pack abs, two fewer than Zhuang Yiyun. Too smooth, lacking the prominent veins that could entice him. The head-to-shoulder ratio was insufficient, legs weren’t long enough, and the proportions weren’t as good as Zhuang Yiyun’s. His face…well, it wasn’t even a competition when comparing a handsome young man to a great beauty.

However, the handsome young man was more enthusiastic than Zhuang Yiyun, the great beauty . Just he was about to step towards that man, Zhuang Yiyun pulled him back.

“Where are you going?”

“To soak in the pool.”

“Do you have swim trunks?”

“No, can’t we buy them?” Yan Yan pointed to the shop next to the hot spring pool.

“Go back and get them.”

Yan Yan didn’t move, so Zhuang Yiyun said again, “It’s very close.”

Yan Yan didn’t insist further. On the way back, he playfully asked, “You brought swim trunks too, right? How about we go together? I saw quite a few people checking you out.”

“I’m not going.”

“Then I’ll go on my own. Don’t complain to my mom that I didn’t take care of you.”

Zhuang Yiyun seemed to find his words amusing. He put his hands in his pockets and headed back to their room ahead of Yan Yan. Yan Yan followed and wanted to laugh. This man obviously didn’t want him to go, how can someone show such possessiveness over a fake husband.

Of course, Zhuang Yiyun didn’t want Yan Yan to soak in the hot spring with others. While he hadn’t planned this itinerary, there was no reason for him to let others covet Yan Yan now that they were here.

The two returned to their room, and Yan Yan went to take a shower. When he came out, he saw Dr. Zhuang, who had changed into swim trunks.

Only after seeing him did he realize that the handsome young man from earlier was completely lacking. He couldn’t help but gaze at the well-defined abdominal muscles and was unable to tear his eyes away from his V-line.

Zhuang Yiyun generously allowed him to look and asked, “Don’t you want to soak in the room?”

Yan Yan firmly resisted the first wave of temptation from this top-tier man. He couldn’t give in so easily!

“There are more people outside, more fun.”

“You’re going to soak with strangers, risking foot fungus, mycobacterium marinum, and even the possibility of someone having a sexually transmitted disease. Are you sure?”

Yan Yan frowned. This kind of thing was better left unsaid; everyone knew that public pools were not the cleanest. Many hot spring pools weren’t true hot springs either. But when Zhuang Yiyun pointed it out, it became a matter of concern.

“Besides… can they compare to me?”

Yan Yan suddenly smiled. Dr. Zhuang was really in top form today. His words were always interesting.

“So, Dr. Zhuang, apart from your looks, what other advantages do you have?”