Chapter 62: Rivals Meet Again 2

Chapter 62: Rivals Meet Again 2

"Gu Jiabei, we've known each other for so many years. You can date others... um... why not consider me? Am I not lovable... um..." Ji You held Gu Jiabei's face, slurring his words between hiccupping.

Date someone else?...

Gu Jiabei is dating someone else?!...

A surge of intense jealousy fueled Yun He's anger.

"No way! I object!" Yun He abruptly stood up from his seat, glaring at Ji You. "Take your hands... um... off his face!"

Ji You struggled to open his eyes to see the increasingly blurry Yun He and grumbled, "None of your business. Why do you get to object?"

Yun He staggered over to Ji You, seized his wrists, and threw them aside. Then, he grabbed a tissue from the table and roughly wiped Gu Jiabei's face. Gu Jiabei frowned and tried to dodge, but Yun He still managed to clumsily clean him up.

"Because he's going to Cambridge! He's looking for someone... um... a woman to marry and have kids with..." Yun He pointed at Ji You and demanded, "Are you a woman?!"

"Me?" Ji You pointed at himself and then touched his chest, pouting. "I'm not a woman..."

Gu Jiabei stared at the two drunkards before him, utterly devoid of any desire to engage in conversation.

Yun He scoffed, "How dare you cling to him when you're not even a woman? If you can do it... uh... then... I can too! I've known him for years before you, he used to like me so much... hehe... but I didn't take him... wuwuwuwuwu... I didn't take him... I didn't take him! What right do you have to want him?!" Yun He sobbed and laughed as he ranted drunkenly at Ji You.

Gu Jiabei watched Yun He silently, noticing the reddened rims of his eyes and flushed cheeks, clear signs of intoxication.

"Aah?" Ji You blinked at Gu Jiabei, "You like him? Uh... how am I not as cute as he is?"

"How am I not cute? I can be coquettish too, you know..." Yun He grabbed one of Gu Jiabei's hands and pressed it against his face, his voice growing increasingly high-pitched with each repetition, "Big Brother Jiabei, Big Brother Jiabei, Big Brother Jiabei..."

Gu Jiabei's skin crawled with goosebumps.

Pulling his hand away, Gu Jiabei stood up, unable to tolerate it any longer, "Both of you shut up and get back home."

"I'm not leaving! Make him leave!" Ji You shouted, swaying unsteadily on his feet.

"Big Brother Jiabei, I'm not going," Yun He looked up at Gu Jiabei with a pitiful expression, tears welling up in his eyes.

Gu Jiabei realized that letting these two men, both with poor alcohol tolerance, drink together was the worst decision he had made that day.

The meal seemed doomed to end abruptly. Gu Jiabei called for a waiter's assistance. The two of them, each supporting a drunken mess, forcefully stuffed Yun He and Ji You into the G-Class car.

The G-Class carried Gu Jiabei's frustration as it sped along the night road. However, not long after, he felt a surge of anger within him.

Didn't they say that rivals would be especially envious upon meeting? Yet, the two drunkards behind him were hugging each other in tears, even enumerating Gu Jiabei's ten great sins.

"Yun He, he's so cold... Whenever I ask him out, he never shows up," Ji You sobbed, holding onto Yun He's shoulder from the backseat.

Gu Jiabei drove on with a grim face, saying nothing.

"He's so heartless. He just left like that, without even taking his sketchbook... Waaaah..." Yun He cried as well.

Gu Jiabei paused for a moment, his fingers that habitually tapped the steering wheel now still.

"He'd rather date someone he's only met a few times than accept my feelings... Waaaah..." Ji You wept.

"Whyyyyyy are you crying so sadly?" Ji You stopped crying and looked at Yun He.

"He's been in a relationship with someone else! Waaaahh... I've only ever liked him, waaaahh... He forgot about me... He's dating someone else..."

"Aww, that's so sad..." Ji You temporarily forgot his own sorrows, gazing at Yun He with dazed eyes. "So, are you still a virgin?"

"Cough, cough, cough..." Gu Jiabei almost choked on his own breath. What the hell were they talking about?

Hearing this question, Yun He cried even harder. "...He said he'd take me when I turned eighteen, waaaahh... But I'm already twenty-eight, and he's taken someone else, waaaahh... He hasn't taken me yet, waaaahh..."

"Poor thing, poor thing." Ji You hugged Yun He's head as they both wept together.

With a stony expression throughout, Gu Jiabei drove to a five-star hotel and carried the two drunkards inside.

"Two rooms," Gu Jiabei told the receptionist through gritted teeth.

The receptionist promptly booked two large double rooms for Gu Jiabe.

Their loud singing attracted plenty of curious glances from other guests. Gu Jiabei wished he could just dump the drunks in the lobby and let them face their embarrassment the next morning in full view of everyone.

With clenched teeth, he threw Ji You onto one of the beds and then opened the door to the other room, tossing Yun He onto his bed as well.

Yun He wriggled on the bed to find a comfortable position before dozing off.

Having dragged two tall men, both well over six feet and drunk, Gu Jiabei was drenched in sweat. He removed his tie, went into the bathroom for a quick shower, and upon returning, discovered Yun He had started to snore softly.

Gu Jiabei approached and patted Yun He's flushed cheeks. "Are you tired from crying?"

Yun He scrunched his brow and, half-asleep, swatted away Gu Jiabei's hand.

Gu Jiabei undressed Yun He and tucked him into the blankets. He turned on the air conditioning and then fetched a wet towel to clean Yun He's face, which was now smudged like a little kitten's.

"Baby Gu..." Yun He murmured with his eyes closed.

Gu Jiabei paused in his ministrations.

"Baby Gu..."

"Did you dream about him?" Gu Jiabei leaned down, whispering into Yun He's ear.

"Mm..."

"What did you dream about him?"

Yun He didn't respond, but a tear slipped from the corner of his eye and mingled into his hair.

"Tell me, what did you dream about him?" Gu Jiabei persistently asked again.

"It was raining... He didn't have an umbrella... He left..." Yun He winced in pain, as if trapped in his dream.

"Then do you regret letting him go?" Gu Jiabei's eyes held an enigmatic emotion.

"No... I don't regret it..." Yun He drifted back into sleep after saying that.

Gu Jiabei clenched his fists tightly.

When Yun He woke up, it was the early hours of the morning. For a few minutes, he was disoriented, unsure of where he was or why his mind was blank. It wasn't until he heard the sound of breathing in his ear that he realized Gu Jiabei was lying beside him, and he himself had been nestled in Gu Jiabei's embrace all along.

Yun He blinked in disbelief, perplexed as to how Gu Jiabei ended up by his side. However, it took him less than a minute to recall his drunken state with Ji You.

With a frustrated groan, Yun He realized he must have been out of his mind to have sobbed with Ji You on their way home.

Yun He lifted his head to gaze at Gu Jiabei in the dimness. Their entwined posture was overly intimate, causing an unfamiliar tingle in Yun He's lower body.

He gradually leaned closer to Gu Jiabei and, taking advantage of his sleep, softly kissed his lips.

Just that one peck was enough to make Yun He feel out of control.

However, reason still lingered, urging him to regain his composure. He tried to withdraw gently from Gu Jiabei's embrace but, as soon as he straightened up, a warm, large hand pulled him back down onto the pillow.

"Ah!" Yun He exclaimed.

"Where were you going?" came Gu Jiabei's discontented voice in the night.

"I... I had too much to drink..."

"I know."

"...Did I say something I shouldn't have?"

"Like what?" Gu Jiabei sat up in the darkness, looking down at Yun He from above.

Yun He fell silent. He recalled those absurd words, but there was no way he would have said them while sober.

"Like when you said you've never been in a relationship all these years?" Gu Jiabei pinched Yun He's chin, forcing their eyes to meet in the darkness. "Or that you've never forgotten me?"

"Or perhaps you've been waiting for me to... take you?" Gu Jiabei continued.

Yun He tried to turn his head away, feeling embarrassed by Gu Jiabei's straightforward words. However, Gu Jiabei's fingers held his chin firmly in place, leaving him unable to move.

In the darkness, they gazed into each other's eyes, sensing each other's breath and warmth.

Yun He swallowed.

"Is it funny?" Yun He asked. "I was the one who ended things, yet I'm the one still hung up on it. You must have long forgotten me, right? How many boyfriends have you had?"

"Do you want to know?" Gu Jiabei asked coldly.

"No," Yun He replied.

"Are you feeling wronged?" Gu Jiabei inquired.

"No."

"Why do I sense a hint of vulnerability in your expression then?" Gu Jiabei straddled Yun He's waist, leaning in with a suggestive tone. "Do you need me to comfort you?"

"Y-You..." Yun He attempted to push Gu Jiabei away, but when his hand touched the latter's chest, an uncontrollable tremor seized his heart. Gu Jiabei's skin, his warmth, even the scent lingering on him after his bath – all enticed Yun He, igniting a growing heat within him.

In a desperate move, Yun He hooked his arm around Gu Jiabei's neck, pulling his head down, and sealed their lips in a kiss.

He prayed inwardly that Gu Jiabei wouldn't push him away.