Chapter 2   - See That, He’s My Man

Early the next day, Ji Liao appeared in the living room, rubbing his sleepy eyes. There was a light bluish-black below his eyes, as if he had not gotten enough sleep.

Xu Ai Wen carried hot millet porridge from the kitchen. Seeing his listless appearance, she asked, concerned, “What’s wrong, Tang Tang? Didn’t sleep well last night?”

Tang Tang was Ji Liao’s nickname. Before he was born, Father Ji thought that he would be a girl, so he chose the nickname, Tang Tang. Later on after birth, it was discovered that the baby had a handle. But after using Tang Tang for half a year, it was difficult to change it and they continued using it until now.

“Yeah. I couldn’t sleep.” Ji Liao lowered his head and avoided his mother’s concerned eyes. Last night, he had been indirectly confessed to by a guy and that guy was someone at the level of a big shot. Of course he couldn’t sleep!

Pulling out a chair, Ji Liao obediently sat down for breakfast and swallowed each mouthful slowly. When Xu Ai Wen had finished eating and washing the dishes, she came out and saw Ji Liao still sitting at the dining table. She reminded him, “Tang Tang, if you don’t leave for school now, you’re going to be late.”

At this, Ji Liao left the dining table, carried his school bag and left.

He was a little afraid of seeing He Cheng Ming in school. Did he need to greet him when they met? Would he do something weird? Thinking of it, he became extremely nervous.

Ji Liao stepped onto the bus, swiped his bus card and moved towards the back of the vehicle. But before he even took two steps forward, he saw He Cheng Ming sitting right at the back!!! He was so frightened, he hurriedly retreated backwards, but after a few steps, he remembered that he was on a bus...

The passengers beside him looked at him oddly.

Ji Liao smiled awkwardly, then found a handrail and stood there instead.

His phone notification sounded.

Ji Liao fished it out and looked. It was a message from He Cheng Ming: There’s a seat beside me. Come over and sit.

Ji Liao: &#k2026;

Of course he knew there was a seat, but he didn’t want to go over!

With a sullen expression, Ji Liao put his phone away, summoned his courage, and headed towards the back of the bus. WIth his head lowered, he walked until he was in front of He Cheng Ming, not daring to lift his eyes to look at him.

He heard the youth’s clear and straightforward voice. “Why don’t you look at me? Shy?” His tone was full of laughter.

Ji Liao was pricked by the word “shy” and quickly lifted his head with an expression as if he was about to die with his head held high. Their gazes met and locked onto each other’s dark eyes. Frightened, he quickly shifted his gaze, his face full of embarrassment.

“Why are you standing? Sit down. Need me to pull you?” He Cheng Ming looked at his slightly flushed face and his heart felt as if it was covered with honey. He couldn’t hide the smile on his lips, revealing a row of bright white teeth.

He thought to himself, finally didn’t come for nothing.

When Ji Liao heard this, he sat down immediately.

Feeling ill at ease, his heart was beating very fast. He felt that He Cheng Ming was probably crazy.

He had taken this bus for over a year and had never seen He Cheng Ming on it even once. But seeing him today with his attention focused on him, did he really want to pursue him? But he was a guy!

Ji Liao didn’t discriminate against gays, but he had never considered the thought of becoming gay. Even if he became bent one of these days, his partner shouldn’t be fierce and hot-tempered like He Cheng Ming.

Er...although it looked quite normal now, Ji Liao knew that this wasn’t He Cheng Ming’s original appearance!

“Have you thought about last night’s matter?” The youth leaned leisurely against the back of his seat and looked at him sideways.

The early morning sunlight shone through the window and onto half of Ji Liao’s face, making his skin look smooth and delicate. A shadow swept down from his eyelashes, which were trembling slightly.

Fuck, He Cheng Ming was a little dazed. His throat itched strangely and he nearly kissed him.

“If I reject you, will you get people to beat me up?” Ji Liao finally asked in a small voice after struggling internally for a while.

But at that moment, He Cheng Ming wasn’t listening to him. His mind was full of demons. Even eyelashes could cause his blood to boil and heart to surge.

Hurriedly retracting his gaze, He Cheng Ming swallowed and suppressed his restless, brutish nature before recovering.

“What did you just say?” His voice had been too soft and so he didn’t hear it clearly.

Ji Liao thought that he was unhappy and he suddenly panicked. He was done for! He had offended the school bully!

Right then, the bus prompted that it had arrived at their stop. Ji Liao took a step and wanted to run but the youth behind him held him by the collar.

“Why are you running?” With that, he pulled him into his arms. Ji Liao was 178cm and He Cheng Ming was 187cm. His head rested nicely against his shoulders. Someone was perfectly contented and with a brotherly embrace, led him off the bus.

Ji Liao was sullen. Although his whole body was resisting, he dared not speak out. Once he arrived at school, he would be in the other party’s turf. He felt sure that he was going to die!

The bus stop was less than 100m away from the school gate, so the surroundings were filled with students. He Cheng Ming had his arm around Ji Liao and was very pleased with himself. Suddenly, he heard someone shout behind him, “Ming Ge!”

Turning his head for a look, he saw that it was one of his mates, Lin Jiang.

Lin Jiang was a rich second-generation, but compared to the real big shot background of He Cheng Ming, he paled in significance. He respected He Cheng Ming and felt that He Cheng Ming was rich and colourful. Overall, he was simply awesome ⁠— hanging around with them every day but still able to come in first for every examination. So he took the initiative to become He Cheng Ming’s follower, treating He Cheng Ming as the leader.

“Ming Ge, who is this?”

Lin Jiang had been following He Cheng Ming since junior high. Besides other similar big shot types of people, he had never seen He Cheng Ming with his arms around anyone else’s shoulder, so he was very curious about Ji Liao.

“Oh, him.” The youth’s eyes were filled with a joyful light and the corner of his lips lifted. He was about to say something when he suddenly felt a hand give his waist a light pinch. Lowering his head, he saw Ji Liao’s clear and delicate eyes imploring him with a scared look. His heart softened and wished that he could hold and comfort him.

If not for Lin Jiang’s irksome presence in front of him, he would have been coaxing Ji Liao. Hence, his tone had some unhappiness in it. “Class Twelve’s Ji Liao. Why? Is there a problem?”

He glared fiercely at Lin Jiang.

Lin Jiang touched his head, not understanding how he had provoked this big brother. He was clearly fine just a while ago.

“I’m going to be late for class. I’ll go first.” Ji Liao used this chance to escape from He Cheng Ming and ran away quickly.

He Cheng Ming let out a “hey” and smiled helplessly. He felt that Ji Liao was really shy, but very adorable, so his mood also undulated accordingly. He pointed towards the thin figure of Ji Liao and warned Lin Jiang, “Did you see? He’s my man. Give him some protection.”