Chapter 46: You wouldn’t dare

A group of Alpha bodyguards followed behind Ji Jinxuan, their presence so conspicuous that many people at the dock turned to stare. One of the Alphas carried a rectangular device. When Xu Lin’s boat stalled, he lowered the device.

Xu Lin turned the key several times. The boat, which had been working fine moments ago, was now completely unresponsive.

He slammed his fist on the dashboard in frustration and cursed under his breath.

In those few seconds of delay, Ji Jinxuan had already reached the cockpit door. Xu Lin thought the door would hold him for a while—but Ji Jinxuan simply kicked it.

With a loud crash, the door burst open.

The pilot whimpered but dared not say a word. “…”

Ji Jinxuan braced one hand on the doorframe, ducked his head slightly, and stepped into the cockpit with an almost elegant grace.

The cockpit was cramped, and Ji Jinxuan was tall. He blocked the only entrance. In the dim light, his eyes were cold and sharp, his presence overwhelming.

He took a step toward Xu Lin. Xu Lin took a step back.

Ji Jinxuan’s face darkened further.

Xu Lin showed no fear. He glared back.

The alarm was still blaring.

This was an unusual spectacle. A crowd had gathered on the dock, whispering among themselves as if watching a show. Staff were trying to disperse them when a sudden commotion erupted from the cabin—shouting, as if two people were arguing. But it did not last long. The noise abruptly stopped.

Moments later, Ji Jinxuan emerged carrying Xu Lin in his arms.

Xu Lin’s limbs hung limp and lifeless. The driver’s jacket was gone. Ji Jinxuan had draped his own coat over him, hiding his face.

Ji Jinxuan walked straight ahead, his expression so frightening that the crowd parted for him automatically.

Boom—

A dull rumble rolled across the dark sky. Faint white light flickered through the clouds. The sky split open, and a bolt of lightning zigzagged down with a deafening crack. Xu Lin’s eyes flew open.

The first thing he saw was the familiar surroundings. He was lying on a soft bed.

He sat up abruptly.

He had been brought back to the villa.

Outside, darkness had fallen. The wind howled. Through the window, the trees in the distance swayed violently under the oppressive sky, as if about to be uprooted.

The room was dark, the lights off. He did not know what time it was. Silence surrounded him. Aside from himself, there seemed to be no one else in this gloomy world.

The sharp pain at the back of his neck brought his scattered senses back. He suddenly remembered what had happened before he passed out.

The second time! Ji Jinxuan had dared to knock him out a second time!

He had been so close to escaping—only to have Ji Jinxuan ruin it at the last moment. The more he thought about it, the more resentful he became. He gritted his teeth in hatred, threw off the covers, and tried to get out of bed—but something abruptly yanked at his ankle. He looked down and nearly choked.

His left ankle already had an anklet, which was annoying enough. Now there was a shiny silver shackle on it too, the other end chained to the bedpost, restricting his movement.

He did not need to guess who had done this.

Xu Lin cursed, his anger rising. He kicked a few times, gritting his teeth as he tried to pull off the seemingly delicate but deceptively sturdy shackle. The clanking sound echoed annoyingly through the quiet room, then stopped after a few minutes.

Unable to remove it, blood rushed to Xu Lin’s head. He glared furiously at the thing on his foot. The gold anklet was even more irritating—just thinking it was a gift from Ji Jinxuan made him angrier. What gift? Who would want to wear this useless junk!

He bent his leg and tried to forcibly yank the anklet off, scraping his skin and making his ankle red and raw, but the thing remained intact.

He exhausted himself, panting. In a frenzy, he grabbed everything within reach and smashed it to the floor. “Ji Jinxuan!”

He had some nerve—knocking him out, dragging him back, chaining him to the bed, and then running off. Was he planning to leave him locked up here alone?

Boom—

Another flash of lightning lit up the room for a second, then darkness swallowed everything once more.

Xu Lin froze.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught something. He whipped his head around.

Squinting, he noticed a shadow in the dim corner of the room. It had been hidden in the darkness, completely silent, so Xu Lin had not noticed it at all.

Then another flash of lightning struck.

For a brief moment, the light revealed the figure in full.

Ji Jinxuan sat upright in a chair, his handsome face illuminated in the cold white flash. He had his legs crossed, hands resting on his knees, completely at ease. Like a hunter watching prey struggle in a net, his dark eyes had been fixed on Xu Lin for who knows how long.

The room went dark again.

The storm that had been brewing for so long finally broke. Fat raindrops fell from the clouds, pelting against the windowpanes. Mist rose, washing over everything.

Outside, rain poured in torrents. Inside, all was silent.

Xu Lin lay still, eyes open. The image from that one second was still burned into his eyes. Ji Jinxuan had looked calm, composed. But something about him felt off.

A strange unease rose in Xu Lin’s chest, but he quickly dismissed it.

Ji Jinxuan was never normal anyway.

Sitting there in silence—what, was he enjoying watching Xu Lin wrestle with the shackles? Was he having fun?

Xu Lin did not want to talk. Ji Jinxuan did not speak either.

But in a situation like this, someone had to break the silence.

Xu Lin suppressed his anger. “What do you want?”

He rattled his ankle. “Take this off!”

Both inside and outside, it was pitch black. Xu Lin could see nothing.

He faced the direction where Ji Jinxuan was sitting.

He knew Ji Jinxuan was there, but he was completely silent.

Xu Lin could not even hear him breathing.

“Ji Jinxuan!” Xu Lin had no patience for this childish game of statue. “Did you hear me?!”

Tap.

Tap—

Steady footsteps sounded.

Approaching slowly, step by step.

They stopped by the bed.

Xu Lin’s eyes were wide open, gradually adjusting to the dark. He could vaguely make out Ji Jinxuan’s figure standing by the bed, right in front of him, within arm’s reach.

Something cold touched his cheek.

Xu Lin realized it was Ji Jinxuan’s finger.

He turned his face away, dodging. “Don’t touch me.”

But Ji Jinxuan’s finger soon found his face again.

Xu Lin’s patience was completely worn thin by this behavior. “Did you take the wrong medicine or what?”

Ji Jinxuan did not answer.

His fingers, which had been gently touching Xu Lin’s cheek, suddenly spread open. He grabbed Xu Lin’s face firmly, squeezing. Caught off guard, Xu Lin winced in pain and hissed. He grabbed Ji Jinxuan’s wrists, trying to pull them away.

Before he could say anything, Ji Jinxuan spoke first, “Why?”

His voice was low, carrying the weight of restrained fury, “Why did you run?”

“Run?” Xu Lin let out a scornful laugh, as if he had heard a joke. “Did you misunderstand something? What are you talking about? You’ve kept me locked up here for six years. Is it wrong for me to want to go home?”

Ji Jinxuan squeezed harder. Xu Lin’s skin ached under the pressure, but he could not break free. “Ji Jinxuan!”

“Home? This is your home.”

“Get away!” What kind of home was this? Xu Lin sneered. “A cage counts as a home? Don’t you think that’s ridiculous?”

“Why do you have to go back? You can’t go back,” Ji Jinxuan muttered to himself, as if losing his mind. “If you go back, you won’t come back.”

Xu Lin shouted, “Yes! Who the hell would want to come back? Just looking at you makes me sick!”

That sentence seemed to strike a nerve in Ji Jinxuan. His fingers trembled. He murmured to himself, “You. You said back then that you would always be with me, no matter what happened. You said you would hold my hand and walk with me to the end, become my family. You said this would be our home.”

Ji Jinxuan’s knuckles cracked with tension.

“You’re going back on your word!”

Xu Lin was enraged by this deflection. He roared, “Who’s the one who went back on their word! Who lied to me first! You can lie to me, but I can’t change my mind? You want all the good things for yourself—quite the high and mighty attitude, Young Master Ji. Have you lost your mind?!”

“You said you loved me!”

“Well, I don’t love you anymore!” Xu Lin’s eyes were bloodshot with fury. “Does loving you mean I have to let you trample all over me? I wish I’d never met you. Do whatever you want, marry whoever you want. Whoever ends up with you is cursed for eight lifetimes—”

His words were cut off.

Xu Lin felt himself shoved hard. He lost his balance, the world spinning, his back hitting the sheets. A faint fragrance hit his nose, followed by hot breath on his face.

His mouth was sealed.

Xu Lin was stunned for a few seconds. When he realized what was invading his mouth, his pupils contracted sharply. He used all his limbs to push the person above him away.

Ji Jinxuan pinned his hands above his head, using his weight to press Xu Lin into the bed.

Xu Lin tried to dodge. Ji Jinxuan gripped his jaw tightly. All his struggles were futile. Muffled, pained whimpers escaped his throat, swallowed whole by Ji Jinxuan.

“Ji…”

Xu Lin’s resistance was drowned out. Ji Jinxuan kissed him deeply and heavily, not giving him a chance to speak. Unable to fight back, his ears ringing, Xu Lin could only tilt his head back and endure.

In the room, besides the sound of rain, there were faint, hurried gasps and sobs.

Ji Jinxuan was skilled.

As if he had done this countless times.

Xu Lin felt even worse.

Back when they were in school, they had watched a movie together. Xu Lin had later watched it in the villa countless times—at least a hundred. Every time, he would rewatch the kissing scenes over and over, because Ji Jinxuan had said he did not like kissing. Xu Lin knew they would never kiss, so he could only fantasize, using fake movie scenes to imagine what it would feel like to kiss Ji Jinxuan.

Thinking back on those memories made him feel pathetic. Pathetically laughable.

He had never imagined that his first kiss would happen under these circumstances.

And Ji Jinxuan…

God knows how many people he had kissed.

Xu Lin bit down hard. He tasted blood in his mouth, but Ji Jinxuan did not pull back from the pain. Instead, the blood only seemed to excite him, making him more intense.

“Stop… mm…”

His hand slipped under Xu Lin’s clothes. Xu Lin’s skin was exposed to the cool air, raising goosebumps.

Xu Lin knew exactly what Ji Jinxuan was trying to do. Furious, he bit down even harder on Ji Jinxuan’s lip. In the half-second pause, he turned his head away and shouted: “You wouldn’t dare!”

Xu Lin’s brain was starved of oxygen, his head spinning. His chest heaved as he fought for air.

His clothes had already been pushed up to his chest.

He managed to free one hand from Ji Jinxuan’s grip and slapped him across the face without a second thought.

Ji Jinxuan showed no reaction. He caught Xu Lin’s hand, lowered his head, and tried to kiss him again, his hands not relenting.

Xu Lin turned his face away, his eyes wide with fury, his voice hoarse as he warned, “Try it. Just try it.”

Ji Jinxuan stopped abruptly.

A few seconds later, the weight on Xu Lin disappeared. Ji Jinxuan stood up, and the lights in the room came on.

Xu Lin sat up, pulling his wrinkled clothes back into place. He retreated to the foot of the bed, watching Ji Jinxuan warily.

Ji Jinxuan stood at the head of the bed, illuminated by the dim yellow lamp. He looked like a flawless statue carved by a master craftsman, his eyes cast downward.

He opened his mouth, reached in with his hand, and pulled out something his tongue had been holding.

Ji Jinxuan’s pale hand showed prominent veins, his fingers long and defined. Between his fingertips was a silver tongue piercing.

He dropped the piercing into the glass on the nightstand. It clinked and rolled to the bottom.

Xu Lin was momentarily stunned.

He instinctively licked his own tongue.

There was nothing there.

What was this—was Ji Jinxuan showing off?

Xu Lin spat. “Disgusting.”

Just thinking that Ji Jinxuan had kissed other people with that mouth before kissing him made Xu Lin want to vomit.

Ji Jinxuan kept his head down, his index finger tracing the rim of the glass. He suddenly started speaking, “In the beginning, those were not lies.”

“I had never liked anyone. I had never been moved by anyone. So I thought kissing and marriage were boring things. I truly didn’t like them.”

“…” Xu Lin was silent.

He turned his back on Ji Jinxuan and covered his ears. But his voice still slipped through the gaps between his fingers and reached Xu Lin’s ears.

“Then I met you.”

“You were so wonderful. Falling for you was effortless.”

Xu Lin froze for a moment, then shook his head and covered his ears even harder.

He did not want to hear these lies and nonsense. They were all fake anyway.

“But by the time I realized that, I had already made a mistake. A terrible mistake. Every second I spent with you made me regret not having met you sooner. If we had gotten to know each other properly from the start, maybe none of this would have happened. But time cannot be reversed. I could only grit my teeth and keep going.”

“I was afraid to tell you. Afraid that if I did, we would end up like this.”

“Even if I said ‘I love you’ a thousand times, you wouldn’t believe me anymore.”

Xu Lin’s palms pressed against his ears. The amplified sound of his heartbeat pounded against his nerves.

He did not notice that Ji Jinxuan had somehow come up behind him.

His hands were forcibly pulled away and gripped. He turned around in panic, face to face with Ji Jinxuan.

Ji Jinxuan looked him straight in the eye: “Everyone has to pay the price for their lies.”

He lightly squeezed Xu Lin’s cheeks, his thumb brushing over his lips. “I found out I don’t hate this. Because it’s you—I actually like it. It’s addictive. In all those nights when you were fast asleep, I kissed you, and you never reacted. I was so frustrated—frustrated that I had ever said those words.

“So I thought, if one day you could respond to me… that would be perfect.

“I’m sorry, Xu Lin. Hate me if you want.”

Xu Lin’s pupils suddenly contracted.

Ji Jinxuan kissed him again.

“I will never let you go.

“Without you, I’m the one who can’t go on living.”