Chapter 120 – Sunlight

Chapter 120 - Sunlight

In this will, Ji Min's tone was as calm as usual.

At the beginning, he outlined the disposition of his assets, shares, and miscellaneous affairs.

It wasn't overly detailed, simply stating that everything was to be handled by his lawyer.

Not until he reached the end did he find Ji Min's message for Lu Ran.

Upon seeing the words "For Lu Ran's eyes only," Lu Ran momentarily lost the desire to read on.

He carefully folded the will and placed it on the bedside table.

Sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze for quite some time.

It wasn't until his phone vibrated with a new message from the class group chat that Lu Ran came back to his senses.

Without looking at his phone, he redirected his gaze to the suicide note on the bedside table.

Lu Ran reached out and picked up the piece of paper that was inexplicably heavy despite its redundancy.

He unfolded the neatly folded note and took another glance.

Upon catching sight of the sharp yet steady handwriting on the paper, he promptly closed it again.

Lu Ran glanced at the bedroom door.

In his haste to enter, he had left it open.

Beyond that door, not too far away, the person who had once written this note was still diligently working, breathing vitality into the air.

They were not distant from him.

That was what made the paper in his hand less terrifying.

Lu Ran rose to his feet and first stepped out of the suite, shutting the door and locking it securely.

Then, he returned to the bedroom and closed that door as well.

The room fell into an instant profound silence.

Removing his shoes, Lu Ran sat cross-legged on the bed and began reading the will with utmost attentiveness.

The man's first words were an apology:

"I'm sorry for subjecting you to such a terrible experience.

I once imagined shielding you from all the hardships in life.

Yet, I never anticipated becoming one of the sources of your pain.

Out of sheer rationality, I shouldn't have accepted your confession before the surgery.

If we hadn't been together, perhaps you wouldn't be so heartbroken now."

However, I'm truly sorry."

In the study, Ji Min had finally finished his work. He stretched and glanced at the clock, realizing it was almost lunchtime.

He was about to get up to find Lu Ran.

As Ji Min turned around, he noticed an open drawer beside him.

Memories that had been pushed aside by the meeting rushed back to him.

Wait, which drawer did he ask Lu Ran to open earlier?

Ji Min sprang up from his office chair and hurried over to examine its contents.

Only to find that the parental commitment letter in the drawer was missing, along with the item that Butler Chen had given him last night.

The thief had been incredibly brazen.

After taking what they wanted, they hadn't even bothered to close the drawer, leaving it wide open.

There was no attempt at concealment whatsoever.

Ji Min's scalp prickled in an instant.

Still holding onto some semblance of hope, he casually rifled through the remaining items in the drawer.

Upon realizing what had been taken, he immediately shut his eyes.

Ji Min slammed the drawer shut and strode out of the study in two steps.

Spotting Butler Chen coming towards him, he immediately asked, "Where's Lu Ran?"

Butler Chen frowned. "I haven't seen him come down. He should still be asleep."

Ji Min: "..."

"I'm pretty sure he's awake if I recall correctly," he commented.

Butler Chen was utterly perplexed.

There stood Ji Min in front of his own door, his forehead creased with worry and a pale complexion.

Concerned by his anxious expression, Butler Chen couldn't help asking, "What happened? Did you have an argument?"

Ji Min wiped his face with his hand.

Sighing, he said, "We haven't argued yet, but it might turn out to be more troublesome than a mere dispute."

"Hmm?" Butler Chen wore a look of surprise.

Ji Min scratched his head and then gestured towards Butler Chen. "The items you gave me last night..."

"Xiao Ran saw them?" Butler Chen's eyes widened in shock.

Ji Min nodded, a touch of helplessness in his gesture.

Butler Chen gave him an expression that conveyed good luck was needed.

Letting out another sigh, Ji Min prepared himself mentally before humbly tapping on his own door and softly calling, "Lu Ran?"

Silence greeted him from within, no answer coming.

He knocked again, still receiving no response.

Glancing at Butler Chen, Ji Min reached for the doorknob.

Yet, despite applying pressure, it didn't budge.

The door was locked from the inside.

Furrowing his brows, concern flickered across Ji Min's face.

He promptly turned to ask Butler Chen, "Where's the key?"

Butler Chen swiftly fetched the key.

Ji Min unlocked the door and entered alone.

The small living room was eerily quiet, devoid of any sound. Even the curtains of the floor-to-ceiling windows remained untouched.

Moving further in, he arrived at the closed door of the bedroom.

Ji Min didn't knock but instead directly grasped the doorknob.

He assumed the door was locked from the inside, but to his surprise, it opened with just a gentle push.

The bedroom was bathed in bright light.

Blinding sunlight streamed through the window, bathing the entire bedroom in a faded, ethereal white glow that seemed plucked straight from a dream.

The youth seated on the bed turned his gaze toward the door upon hearing the sound.

He still held the paper in his hand, and there was a faint redness around his eyes as he looked over.

Even the paper in his hand was crumpled from the grip.

Ji Min softened his tone and whispered his name, "Lu Ran?"

The youth seemed to come to his senses, promptly lifting a hand to brush away the tears from his eyes.

Realizing that the intruder was the very culprit behind the paper's creation.

With the paper in hand, Lu Ran pointed at Ji Min and said,

"You... You actually wrote this..."

The young man's voice was hoarse, laced with a thick nasal tone.

Ji Min stepped in and closed the bedroom door behind him.

Upon seeing the tall figure of the man entering, Lu Ran promptly sat up on the bed.

He was clearly still reeling from the impact of the letter, lost in thought for a long while before he finally pressed his lips together and asked, "How could you write this?"

Ji Min couldn't help but chuckle.

He approached the bedside with a hint of helplessness in his voice, "Isn't everything fine now?"

The man's tone was too gentle, too indulgent.

A surge of suppressed panic, resentment, and anger welled up within Lu Ran.

Perched on the bed, he looked down at the man standing before him, who towered over him by more than twenty centimeters, and declared firmly:

"You must not write, you're not allowed to!"

Lu Ran had never been willful since he was a child.

For he had never had the privilege to be so.

But now, he could, without any reason, tell the person in front of him, "You can't do this, I won't allow it!"

"No more parting, and certainly no more deaths," he vowed.

"Okay, okay, I won't ever again," Ji Min assured him, stepping forward. Worried that Lu Ran might lose his balance and fall off the bed, he promptly reached out to grasp his waist.

Gazing at the man so close before him, Lu Ran attempted to fuel his anger. He stretched out his hand, intending to tear the crumpled piece of paper into shreds.

Yet, in the end, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

With a pouting face as though on the verge of tears, he declared loudly, "I'm really angry!"

However, despite his words, he couldn't resist the urge and ended up wrapping his arms around the man's neck.

Still feeling uneasy, he leaped up and wrapped his legs around the man's waist, clinging to Ji Min like an octopus, holding him tightly.

Nestled against the man's neck, a quivering voice barely escaped his lips:

"How could you do this..."

The mundane details in the suicide note still seemed to linger before his eyes.

Lu Ran held the man tightly, desperately trying to feel his presence.

Ji Min lifted him up, smiling helplessly at him. "Look at you, so worried. Aren't I perfectly fine?"

Lu Ran held him close, not uttering a word.

"Alright then..." Ji Min embraced him with one arm, while his other hand gently lifted Lu Ran's chin.

The youth's eyes were fiercely red.

Ji Min sighed and leaned in to kiss the crease of his eyelid. "They're all meaningless now, so why feel sad?"

He retrieved the tightly clenched suicide note from the youth once more, murmuring, "I was afraid you'd be upset, so I hadn't intended for you to see these."

Lu Ran didn't yield to him.

Despite being furious over the letter, he managed to dodge Ji Min's hand and firmly hold it in his own palm.

Ji Min embraced him, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Lu Ran carefully put away the paper.

Only then did he lift his head to look at Ji Min.

He said, "In your letter, you mentioned feeling that it was too early for us to be together."

Ji Min nodded and leaned in to kiss him again.

He seldom regretted his actions.

But the day before he left Lu Ran to rush to the hospital, Ji Min genuinely experienced regret.

He regretted losing control and kissing Lu Ran in the hospital.

He deeply regretted that when the youth had solemnly confessed his feelings to him, he found himself utterly unable to articulate any words of hesitation or refusal.

Ji Min had intended to settle everything, waiting until his surgery was over, until the danger had passed, to then walk confidently up to Lu Ran's side.

Regrettably, Lu Ran was like the sole surprise in his life.

At any time, Ji Min would never bear to refuse.

Ji Min sometimes even fantasized that if his life had ended on the day of the surgery.

Well, he had at least briefly possessed it.

Yet, in the next moment, he would feel guilt over such selfish thoughts.

Ji Min lifted his head.

Behold, the youth before him reached out his hand, fiercely seizing his face with a brutal grip, ruthlessly contorting it in his grasp.

He said fiercely, "It's not right for you to think like that!"

Ji Min pressed his forehead against Lu Ran's, smiling softly.

Suddenly, he lifted his gaze, meeting Lu Ran's eyes.

At that moment, Ji Min suddenly understood.

The person in front of him appeared angry, acting like a child with his whims, but he understood Ji Min's struggles.

He also understood Ji Min's irresistible "selfishness."

Unable to resist, Ji Min leaned down and kissed him.

It was a gentle kiss.

Their soft touch and breaths seemed to blend into the bright sunlight, almost disappearing within it.

The bedroom door was closed.

It was already past lunchtime, yet no one came to disturb them.

The sun was high, and the weekend day stretched long with a soothing leisure that melted bones.

As if all tensions and worries had quietly retreated, leaving only tranquil sunlight behind.

The room was brightly illuminated.

Ji Min held onto the other person.

At this utterly inappropriate moment, he leaned close to Lu Ran's ear and whispered, "Is it okay?"

Lu Ran paused before climbing out of Ji Min's embrace.

The young man was dressed thinly, and after being hugged, his T-shirt was now creased and rumpled.

Ji Min assumed he was being rejected.

Only to see the young man with a serious expression say, "Just a moment, I'm all prepared."

Ji Min raised an eyebrow in unexpected surprise.

There, Lu Ran turned around, stretched out his arm, and from beneath the bedside table, he fished out a small box.

The young man showed not the slightest trace of embarrassment.

His face now bore an almost smug expression of "See how skilled I am."

With those slightly reddened eyes, it looked unexpectedly amusing.

Ji Min took the small box and saw that it was a bestseller from the supermarket counter.

He then looked at the bottom of the box, where a tiny letter was printed: M.

"It's in size M," Ji Min said.

Lu Ran's face revealed astonishment. Did this thing come in different sizes?

Then he saw the man in front of him curve his lips in a teasing manner and ask, "Is it for yourself?"

From this short sentence, Lu Ran sensed a subtle shade being thrown at him.

His ears turned red with anger.

He reached out and snatched the box away. "Then we're not doing it today!"

Ji Min quickly grabbed him with a smile.

Lu Ran glared as he looked over. He saw the man stretch his arm to retrieve a familiar black box from the nightstand on his side.

Lu Ran: "…"

The mishap in the bathroom last time flashed through Lu Ran's mind.

But when it actually came to using it, Lu Ran still felt a bit uneasy.

He glanced at the brightly lit window beside him and was about to get out of bed.

Halfway through, he was stopped again.

The man asked him in a hoarse voice, "Where are you going?"

Lu Ran: "..."

"I'm going to draw the curtains," he replied.

Ji Min didn't let him move, picking up the remote control instead to draw the sheer curtains for privacy.

The gauzy curtains swayed gently by the window, obscuring the view outside with their translucent veil.

Yet, the bright sunlight still penetrated unobstructed.

Lu Ran's ears turned crimson inch by inch.

He used his arm to shield his eyes for a while but eventually couldn't resist, getting ready to sit up again.

"I'll draw another layer!"

Ji Min held him gently, gazing at him with a smile. "Nervous?"

"I'm not!" Lu Ran denied.

Removing his arm that had been shielding his eyes, he argued persuasively, "I've... I've seen them before."

"Mm? What have you seen?" Ji Min asked, surprised.

"I've seen... rabbits in the laboratory!"

Lu Ran spoke earnestly, "During an experiment, our group shared a workstation with the neighboring group. One of their rabbits suddenly rushed over to our side and tried to mount one of our rabbits!"

Both rabbits in question are males.

At that moment, Lu Ran and his classmates were all stunned, watching as the two rabbits engaged in an indecipherable act under the watchful eyes of everyone in the laboratory.

At the time, Lu Ran had assumed the two rabbits were fighting and, concerned for their safety, attempted to separate them with great effort.

The young man narrated with utmost seriousness, not at all perturbed that the topic might spoil the mood at present.

Ji Min lowered his gaze, gazing at him intently. Suddenly, he couldn't resist and leaned over Lu Ran's body, chuckling softly.

The vibrations from his chest resonated through Lu Ran's body.

Lu Ran was about to say something more, but the man silenced him with a gentle yet firm kiss on his lips.

"Hush," Ji Min breathed softly into his ear.

As sweat blurred Lu Ran's vision, he realized that Ji Min could hold a grudge too.

Complaining about the brightness, he asked the man to draw the curtains.

With his face close to Lu Ran's ear, Ji Min whispered, "Didn't you like it when I suddenly turned on the light?"

Then, during a moment when Lu Ran was utterly speechless, the man paused, smiling leisurely as he inquired, "Why don't you call me Uncle Ji anymore?"

Lu Ran: "..."

He took a deep breath, pressed his lips together, and sternly said, "Focus on your work and don't talk."

Ji Min raised an eyebrow, then deliberately leaned close to his ear and whispered more words.

The warm, brilliant sunlight outside the window eventually took on a passionate hue.

Layer upon layer, it added rich colors.

In the end, it blended into a luscious and dreamy crimson.