MM | Chapter 75

Surprise

Jiang Tian’s gaze fell on his fingers being fiddled with, remaining silent for a while.

“Why are you asking this?” He looked up at Sheng Wang.

“I don’t know.” Sheng Wang leaned his head against the wall, his chin slightly raised, eyes following the dust floating in the light. He reached out to grab them, but caught nothing.

“It just feels like I’m floating, can’t go up or down, can’t reach either end.” He lazily dropped his hand onto his knee. “Sounds a bit pretentious, after all—”

They had kissed.

He paused for a few seconds, skipping over the unspoken understanding between them, and licked his dry lips. “Anyway… it’s pretty strange. Don’t you think?”

After a while, Jiang Tian’s gaze finally moved away from him.

Although Sheng Wang’s words were vague, Jiang Tian understood. He always had, always knew clearly. He just didn’t expect Sheng Wang to ask.

To be precise, he didn’t expect it to be so soon.

He thought they had a tacit understanding about this, like countless moments before. But he also knew this so-called “tacit understanding” couldn’t last forever, destined to be broken, destined for someone to speak up.

After all, nothing can stay hidden in the dark forever. It either explodes or fades away.

So the question came suddenly, yet it was inevitable. Jiang Tian had actually prepared an answer long ago. He had rehearsed it many times subconsciously, thinking when Sheng Wang asked, he would say: wait a bit longer.

Wait until the training ends, until they leave this enclosed school, leave this utopia and Neverland. When they’re surrounded by people again, with all the noise they want or don’t want to hear, if you still want to ask this question, I’ll give you the answer.

If you don’t want to ask, that’s fine too. As long as there’s no formal beginning, there’s no need to deliberately say it’s over. The retreat is always there for you, without obstacles or worries, no one will be embarrassed, not even needing a step down.

This is the most rational way wrapped in impulse.

But the sunlight was too bright, warming the person beside him too much. Just seeing Sheng Wang’s eyes filled with light, seeing his proud yet anxious look, Jiang Tian couldn’t say “wait a bit longer.”

All his subconscious preparations were completely disrupted. He came back to his senses and asked Sheng Wang, “Are you unhappy?”

“No.” Sheng Wang shook his head. “I’m quite happy.”

He paused, then added, throwing away his pride: “Very happy.”

Then he heard Jiang Tian say, “That’s good.”

Sheng Wang was stunned for a moment, suddenly realizing where that floating feeling came from.

It was this sentence, this “that’s good.”

He had always been worried about this subconsciously.

Jiang Tian’s sharp edges sometimes gave the illusion that he too could be impulsive in certain situations. But Sheng Wang knew that wasn’t impulse, it was pride.

Sheng Wang knew clearly how calm Jiang Tian was. Even with someone like Ji Huanyu and things like that in front of him, he could keep the shadows contained in the smallest range, making peace with himself and others around him, so one could imagine.

He was proud but never impulsive, especially not in matters of the heart.

So these days, amidst his triumph, Sheng Wang occasionally wondered: why did they suddenly reach this point? He knew his own reasons, but not Jiang Tian’s.

Was it because he was too obvious? Sometimes his expectations were too clear, sometimes his disappointments too obvious. He was busy moving forward and backward, so his brother couldn’t stand it and pulled him over.

He was just subconsciously worried that the intimacy wasn’t due to irresistible feelings, but because he ran too fast, too close, and Jiang Tian didn’t want him to feel disappointed or embarrassed.

If that’s the case, it would be a bit forced.

All the joy and excitement were his alone, too domineering and unfair.

This should be shared equally by two people.

Sheng Wang pondered for a long time, then smiled and asked, “So you did all those things to make me happy?”

“Which things?” Jiang Tian asked.

“A lot.” Sheng Wang counted them one by one, his tone a bit lazy, like casual chat, “Letting me change your contact name, celebrating my birthday early, tolerating me getting you drunk, finding photos to make an album, and—”

His hand on his knee playfully cooperated, curling a finger with each count. When he reached the last one, he paused for a while before saying, “And kissing.”

The room was quiet for a long time, long enough for Sheng Wang to look at Jiang Tian, only to hear him speak.

Perhaps to match his casual chat, Jiang Tian also bent his fingers to count.

He said, “The contact name, yes. Celebrating early, yes. Getting drunk, yes. Finding photos for the album, yes. The last one, no.”

Sheng Wang lightly nodded, licking his dry lower lip.

He rarely felt nervous, no matter the occasion or how many people were present. Only in front of Jiang Tian did his innate pride and confidence briefly disappear.

“Then what was the last one for?”

He waited for the answer, thumb unconsciously rubbing his index finger joint until the skin turned red, finally hearing Jiang Tian’s hoarse voice: “Impulse.”

“Lack of self-control.”

“Couldn’t help it.”

Sheng Wang’s fingers paused, finally relaxing after a long time. It was as if he had been holding a bundle of joy for a long time, finally having someone share it, allowing him to truly feel happy.

He asked Jiang Tian, “You can be impulsive too?”

Jiang Tian: “Yes.”

“When?” Sheng Wang asked again.

“Many times,” Jiang Tian said, “when my willpower is weak.”

Sheng Wang “oh”-ed, suddenly asking, “Is your willpower strong now?”

Jiang Tian glanced at him and then looked away, saying after a moment, “Not strong.”

“Then let me ask you a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“I always say you’re my brother to others,” Sheng Wang hesitated for a few seconds, looking at him, “Can we change it to something else privately?”

“What do you mean by privately?”

“When the door is closed,” Sheng Wang’s voice was low and hoarse, “when no one else is around.”

“What do you want to change it to?” Jiang Tian asked.

“What can we change it to?”

Perhaps because of that clear “weak willpower,” Sheng Wang suddenly felt unrestrained, becoming bold. He raised his chin, thought for a moment, then turned to ask, “Can we change it to boyfriend?”

Jiang Tian leaned his head against the wall, his half-lowered eyes blinking lightly. Just as he was about to speak, Sheng Wang added, “If you say no, I’ll kiss you until you say yes.”

Jiang Tian’s gaze swept over from the corner of his eye, quickly falling and then retracting, saying, “Then no.”

Sheng Wang’s mind burst into flames, burning his ears red. He blinked, turned, and kissed him.

Jiang Tian was very restrained, letting Sheng Wang clumsily and eagerly touch him. It wasn’t until Sheng Wang tentatively licked his lips that he turned his head away.

Sheng Wang squinted, seeing Jiang Tian’s Adam’s apple move.

A moment later, Jiang Tian turned and said, “You really want to spread it, huh?”

“Who told you to say no?” Sheng Wang was a bit unsatisfied, feeling the brief kiss wasn’t enough.

“Now it’s okay,” Jiang Tian said.

“Oh, then let’s celebrate.” Sheng Wang smiled triumphantly, then licked his lips and went to tease him again. After who knows how many random kisses, Jiang Tian finally couldn’t take it anymore.

He moved slightly, his right hand sliding down Sheng Wang’s face and jaw, pressing his thumb against his chin to turn his head, then kissed the side of his neck.

Restrained yet irresistible.

Sheng Wang lightly grabbed his hair, his breath trembling.

He knew this wouldn’t spread, but still…

Damn.

*

A teenager’s willpower is just for show in moments of confusion. The end result was Jiang Tian’s fever subsided that night, but unfortunately turned into a lingering cold. Sheng Wang, after sneezing three times the next morning, also succumbed and joined the cold army.

The upside was they no longer feared spreading it, the downside was both had hoarse voices and coughs, greatly affecting their speech performance.

Although the scoring teachers knew their original level and that illness was beyond willpower, they had to consider the final effect and couldn’t overlook all issues. So Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian’s PK scores fluctuated for over a week.

During this time, Bian Chen was the most conflicted. He swept the PK scores seven times in ten days, feeling both excited and like he was taking advantage.

Sheng Wang, however, was very open about it, telling him, “You win some, you lose some. It’s fair. Just a reminder to work harder in the finals.”

The latter half made sense, but the “win some, lose some” and “it’s fair” were beyond Bian Chen’s understanding, bordering on mysticism. He couldn’t see what Sheng Wang “won” or why it was “fair.”

Unknowingly, the training was nearing its end, and the finals weren’t at this school. The training camp teachers arranged the trip, and all 40 students were heading north.

Before departing, Sheng Wang finally found time to visit the newly renovated store at the end of the long street behind the mountain. He printed out two copies of a group photo from his phone.

One was for Jiang Tian, and the other was for his album.

He had just turned 17, with a total of 18 photos. The last one was an unexpected surprise.

The album pages were made of gold-speckled hard paper, with transparent film on top and bottom. Before slipping the photo into the film, he suddenly had an idea.

He asked Jiang Tian, “Did you write the year in the top right corner?”

“Printed,” Jiang Tian said. “This paper isn’t easy to write on.”

“Okay.” Sheng Wang asked again, “What if I want to write something?”

Jiang Tian thought for a moment, “Write on the back.”

“If I slip it in backward, it won’t be visible,” Sheng Wang said.

“What do you want to write?”

Jiang Tian’s question made Sheng Wang pause, then laugh, “Oh right, I’m silly. It’s not for anyone else to see.”

He grabbed a pen, flipped the photo over, and looked at the silhouette in the light. Behind himself, he wrote one word—”I.”

Then, behind Jiang Tian, the remaining words were written: “The you I like.”

Me and the one I like.

Jiang Tian stood beside him, watching him seriously write this sentence, suddenly feeling all his previous struggles, hesitations, and so-called rationality were foolish, foolish like him yet unlike him, better to be a bit reckless.

Because I like you so much, I tread carefully, as if on thin ice.

Almost forgetting, I’m 17, and at this age, the whole world is mine. No need to hesitate or weigh options.

I’m invincible, capable of anything.