Reluctantly Willing

Chapter 109: Chapter 108

After An Xiaoyan moved back from the island, he opened a cat shelter in A City. The work was quite stable. Gu Jun started planning their new life.

An Xiaoyan was woken up in the early morning. Gu Jun handed him the clothes he’d prepared. He said they’d do something mysterious today.

“There’s something going on today?”

Gu Jun shot him a meaningful glance. “Something really important.”

“What?” An Xiaoyan had just woken up and his brain wasn’t working yet.

“Hurry and put on your clothes. You’ll see when you get there.”

Gu Jun had prepared a khaki-colored hoodie, brown linen pants, and white sneakers. When An Xiaoyan put it all on, he seemed to have gone back to his student days.

Gu Jun didn’t wear his usual suits. He put on a brown hoodie and black pants. When they stood together, they seemed to be university bros.

“I found someone to make this for us. It’s couple wear,” Gu Jun made sure to say. He waited for An Xiaoyan’s praise.

An Xiaoyan stared at their hoodies for a long while before seeing the detail. The khaki-colored hoodie had a small cat made out of black thread. Gu Jun’s black hoodie had a khaki-colored husky.

Gu Jun knew that An Xiaoyan probably wouldn’t agree with boldly wearing couple clothes and holding hands on the street. Imagining the scene was scary.

“This way, it isn’t that obvious. Look, my picture is Yippy. Yours is Wonton.”

An Xiaoyan looked carefully. It was true. Gu Jun’s detailed care warmed his heart.

“If we’re going out like this, are we going on a date?”

Hearing this, Gu Jun grew lively. “Xiaoyan, just think of it as a date.”

Taking the Honda out of the garage, Gu Jun had An Xiaoyan sit shotgun and started driving toward the city. The roadside scene kept changing. An Xiaoyan seemed to know where they were going.

When the car stopped, he realized his guess was right. It was the familiar gate and street.

“Let’s go.” Pulling An Xiaoyan’s hand, Gu Jun walked in. The words A University shone under the sun.

“I didn’t think that it’d be you who’d bring me back here after so many years.” An Xiaoyan looked at the familiar lotus pond and the Chinese parasol trees on either side. He couldn’t help but feel emotional.

“I thought that I should bring you back here. It’s your alma mater, after all.”

The two walked in from the gate. The two stone lions before the library were still guarding the entrance. Students hurried to and fro.

A University was a few hundred acres. They couldn’t walk through the entire thing. There were bicycles for students on the side, so Gu Jun scanned the QR code and unlocked a two-person bike.

“Get on. Let’s go.”

Smiling, An Xiaoyan planted himself on the backseat. The late autumn breeze was chilly, but there was someone steering and blocking the wind for him.

They rode from the east of the campus to the landmark in the center. It was a statue of a flying youth. Gu Jun stopped the bike and pulled An Xiaoyan to stand under the statue. A photographer and tripod appeared out of nowhere.

“Remember to say ‘cheese’ later!” Gu Jun called, backing out of the scene.

After the photographer set up the tripod, he began to adjust the focus. “I’ll tell you when I start taking pictures,” he said. “There won’t be a flash. Just smile or pose.”

An Xiaoyan was somehow brought here and then somehow getting his picture taken, but he was happy to be back. It was like he’d taken out the knife stabbed into his heart and the pain was disappearing slowly.

“I’ll just pose as I wish?”

“Sure. I’ll keep taking pictures and print the one that looks the best.”

The photographer quickly got into the professional state. After he started, An Xiaoyan stood before the statue doing the peace sign and rabbit ears. His smile grew wider and wider.

After the set, the photographer said he had to check the photos first. An Xiaoyan discovered that Gu Jun had disappeared. He might have gone to the bathroom, so An Xiaoyan waited on a nearby bench. The picture that Gu Jun had torn had been taken in A University. Now, Gu Jun had brought him here and erased the bad memory.

A while later, Gu Jun appeared with two ice cream cones, out of breath. He’d jogged over so the ice cream wouldn’t melt.

“I saw a student eating it, so I went over to buy some. I bought vanilla just for you.”

It was around ten degrees Celsius, so eating ice cream made him really cold. An Xiaoyan let out his hot breath as he licked the ice cream.

Seeing him like this, Gu Jun laughed loudly. “If it’s too cold, then stop eating. I’ll eat it for you.”

An Xiaoyan hurriedly protected his cone. “It’s good. This feeling is nice. You should know the feeling of willingly getting tortured but still wanting to eat it.”

“Fine, I won’t steal it from you. I’ll go look at the pictures. Rest a bit after eating.”

The photographer handed Gu Jun the camera. Gu Jun checked each picture in order. Most had a sweet smile. One was funnier. An Xiaoyan faced the statues with his fists raised as if it was his enemy.

“Should we take some pictures together?”

“Sure. Walk forward a bit. It’s more open there.”

They continued to ride their bikes forward. This time, An Xiaoyan insisted on sitting in the front. He said it would be more exciting.

“Ride in the front after you get bigger. It’s really tiring.”

An Xiaoyan’s stubbornness rose up out of nowhere. He insisted on trying. “Don’t look down on me. I’m a man too.”

When he actually took the front seat, An Xiaoyan discovered it wasn’t as easy as he’d thought. He didn’t have to pedal hard in the back. The front was different. Each cycle took all his strength.

After pedaling for a while, An Xiaoyan couldn’t feel his legs anymore. He hurriedly stopped to rest. Breathing heavily, he complained, “It must be because you’re too fat. I’m not even 120 pounds, but you’re more than 140 pounds. We have like 30 pounds difference of fat between us.”

“Now you know why I told you to sit in the back, right?”

After changing their position, they continued riding. In the end, they came to a patch of woods. There was a small path created by treading students.

There weren’t many people around now. Gu Jun boldly held An Xiaoyan’s hand and walked into the woods. A while later, the photographer drove the car over too.

“You really want to take pictures?”

“Of course. I even thought of a name for the photoshoot. It’ll be called My Wife’s University.”

“Gu Jun, you’re so shameless. You weren’t like this when I first met you.”

“Xiaoyan, don’t be angry. If you don’t like it, we can change the name.” They’d both put the past behind them, but Gu Jun was still afraid that An Xiaoyan would back out. He never hesitated to apologize when faced with An Xiaoyan’s questions.

Seeing how sad Gu Jun looked, An Xiaoyan flicked his forehead. “I’m not petty like that. Hurry and take the pictures. When the students get out of class later, they’ll all crowd around like you’re an ape at the zoo.”

“Would two male apes be so attractive?” Gu Jun mumbled while touching his forehead.

The shoot was mostly successful. An Xiaoyan was energetic the entire time and added more fun to the photoshoot.

The last step was a bit hard. The photographer suggested a kiss for the finale and had them discuss how to do it.

“Tell me your idea.” Gu Jun handed the control to An Xiaoyan.

“Make it simpler. I feel like there are countless eyes watching us.”

“No way. Don’t you see everyone minding their own business?”

An Xiaoyan looked around. There were students passing by with their backpacks. “Should I be more aggressive?”

Gu Jun smirked. “Sure. I’ll follow your orders today.”

Seeing his clients’ pose, the photographer was surprised. Wiping the sweat on his forehead, he asked, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Hurry up,” Gu Jun said.

“Uh, sure. Mr. An, maintain your aggression. Young Master Gu, make your expression a bit more pitiful.”

In the camera, Gu Jun rested against a tree while An Xiaoyan performed a kabe-don. He wasn’t tall enough, so Gu Jun had to bend his knees.

“Am I manly like this?”

“Of course. If you’re taller and more muscular than me, I won’t be able to keep you down.”

An Xiaoyan imagined that if he were taller and more muscular than Gu Jun, he’d really look like an ape. “I think the picture will look nice.”

The photographer was already taking pictures. Gu Jun didn’t reply. He looked lovingly up at An Xiaoyan at a 45 degree angle. A while later, a crowd started screaming.

“So hot! Kiss! Kiss!”

Gu Jun looked over An Xiaoyan’s shoulder and saw a group of girls passing by. When they saw this, they started yelling like fangirls.

An Xiaoyan didn’t hesitate. He kissed Gu Jun, eliciting a bunch of screams again.

The feeling was different. Before, Gu Jun was the one who kissed. This time, An Xiaoyan did it. The moment their lips touched, he felt like his heart was about to jump out. Blood shot to his head and his hand subconsciously pressed onto Gu Jun.

“Okay!” The photographer ruined the mood. An Xiaoyan unwillingly let go of Gu Jun. He was still in the moment.

The girls were still watching them. Their kiss had been seen, so An Xiaoyan’s satisfaction transformed into awkwardness. He pulled Gu Jun and ran into the forest.

They ran until they couldn’t catch their breath. As soon as they stopped, they started laughing.

“There will be a headline tomorrow,” An Xiaoyan said while sitting on a bench. “Like, two men kiss publicly in A University, catching the attention of female students.”

“They should be honored if they got a picture.”

“Where should we go next?”

“What do you think a 20-year-old should do?” Gu Jun asked in return.

“Let’s go to the amusement park.”