Reluctantly Willing

Father An knew that his son would be returning home, he had already cleaned up the house and brought out the produce beforehand.

"Um, I didn't know you would bring along some guests. Our house is pretty small. Yan Zi, why don't you let your boss take your room and you sleep on the floor?" Father An said to his son. Since the guest was his son's boss, he had to host the guest well.

Seeing that Gu Jun had no objection, An Xiaoyan went into his bedroom with Guo Guo in his arms. He pushed open the bedroom door and the interior decoration was exactly the same as that of four years ago. His books were still on the spotless small desk. On the wall was a big poster of Asten and the color of the poster had turned into wax yellow.

"Come in, and you'll sleep here tonight."

Guo Guo climbed onto bed and hugged the bolster with a bear bolster cover. An Xiaoyan sat on the chair and turned the pages of the book on the table. The first page was beautifully handwritten and there was a quote, "Sometimes, people's lives can change, but do not change. Because sometimes even if changed, only the choice of path is different but the final direction is the same".

The next line was the date which the text was written. Memories surged into his mind. The text was written when he was in his fifth year in the university. He wrote it at home after watching the movie "The Shawshank Redemption".

In "Redemption", everyone felt that Andy finally escaped from prison and lived a comfortable life. To An Xiaoyan, he felt that after Andy's prison life, Andy's bodily system would have changed, and would finally lead him to death. This thought of An Xiaoyan's had nothing to do with the movie. In fact, no one who watched the same movie had the same thought. It was purely a thought that flashed past An Xiaoyan's mind and he documented it.

Four years later, An Xiaoyan read this same text again but felt differently. Take the current state of him for example, his life could possibly change but revert back to the same at the next second.

An Xiaoyan felt a tug at his sleeve. He turned around and saw Guo Guo pulling his shirt.

"Are you hungry? Uncle will make you some milk."

Just as he turned around, Gu Jun leaned on the door frame and looked at him with an uncertain look.

"The child is hungry," An Xiaoyan said that to indicate that he had no malice. When An Xiaoyan walked pass Gu Jun, Gu Jun grabbed An Xiaoyan and whispered into his ear.

After finishing his sentence, An Xiaoyan looked fearful and bit his lips. His expression exposed his inner worries.

"Mr. Gu, you promised me that you would not expose anything before my parents."

Gu Jun made an indifferent gesture, "Did I expose anything? I simply told you to sleep with us. I'm so kind not to let you sleep on the floor. What's wrong with that?"

An Xiaoyan was speechless. Indeed, Gu Jun did not expose anything. What was An Xiaoyan worried about? Was he afraid of what Gu Jun had done to him before?

The words "Yan Zi" broke the ice. An Xiaoyan handed Guo Guo to Gu Jun and went straight to the kitchen.

An Xiaoyan's mother was cutting vegetables and asked An Xiaoyan for help to start the fire. "Your boss doesn't look like an ordinary person. Is he the director of the hospital?"

"Ah, he's not. But the hospital is his." An Xiaoyan was not accustomed to lying, and could not speak properly.

"Your boss takes good care of you. Just now, he said that your bed is big and will share it with you. This kind of boss with no airs is rare. You have to work hard in the future. Don't let him down…"

An Xiaoyan was in no mood to listen to the last few sentences. He did not believe that Gu Jun was a good man. However, Gu Jun somehow had a way with his parents.

"Don't keep saying that he is good, Mom. So, what are you going to cook today?"

Seeing that her son had returned, Mother An was more talkative. She was a little unhappy when she was interrupted. "I am making all your favorite foods. By the way, why did your lady boss not come and how can a man take care of the child alone?"

An Xiaoyan did not know how to answer this question. It was a complicated matter. Besides, he might risk exposing the details if he were to explain further.

He added a piece of firewood in the cooking stove, and the flames burned like the surge of emotions in his heart. He said softly, "The lady boss is no longer around."

"It's a pity to lose a wife when he's so young… His child is pitiful too…"

Fortunately, the light from the fire shone on An Xiaoyan's face and covered up his lies. He said countless lies ever since he stepped into the house. He had to make up new lies to cover up the old ones.

When the food was served, Gu Jun was already sitting at the table and Father An was ransacking the cabinet. Finally, he took out a bottle of ordinary white wine.

"There's no good wine in the house, please don't mind."

"That's alright. I don't usually drink much and I don't touch white wine either. Everyone is tired today. Have a good meal and sleep early."

Gu Jun's tired tone made everyone think that he was feeling sleepy. Even An Xiaoyan believed that Gu Jun was sparing a thought for others. But when his eyes met Gu Jun's, he knew that Gu Jun could have a hidden agenda.

The dishes were all home-cooked food and no delicacies. At the table, only Father An was chatting with Gu Jun. Suddenly, An Xiaoyan felt a kick from under the table. An Xiaoyan looked up and understood the expression on his parents' face. He put down his bowl and chopsticks, then gave a smile to Gu Jun.

Gu Jun, of course, returned a smile.

"My son had been thoughtless since he was a child. He doesn't know how to speak nice words. Pardon him."

"It doesn't matter. We don't need to talk too much when we are at work. We pay more attention to practical ability."

Hearing that helped to calm Father An's nervousness. His son liked to bottle up his feelings and would not breathe a word even if he was suffering. Though Father An would tell his son to focus on work and not to miss home, in actual fact, Father An missed his son especially much during the recent years when his son was away from home.

After the meal, Mother An urged An Xiaoyan to tidy up the bed, but An Xiaoyan insisted on clearing the dining table. Mother An had no choice but to take out the quilt from the cupboard to tidy up An Xiaoyan's bedroom.

The main reason why An Xiaoyan insisted on washing the dishes was because he did not want to be alone with Gu Jun. Gu Jun's grace and understanding at the dining table were totally different from before, which made him feel very uneasy.

It was not until An Xiaoyan washed the dishes five times that he reluctantly returned to the bedroom. Guo Guo had already fallen asleep. Gu Jun was sitting on the bed and looking at his mobile phone. When An Xiaoyan came in, he looked up.

"Oh, you are back. I didn't think that you were so diligent at home."

An Xiaoyan did not answer. He took out the mat beside him and laid it on the ground. An Xiaoyan was about to take the quilt from the bed when Gu Jun grabbed his body and pressed him onto the bed.

"Your parents said that we can sleep together."

An Xiaoyan turned his head to the side to avoid looking at Gu Jun and said, "I'd better sleep on the floor."

"Huh, you don't know how many people want to sleep with me. Yet you've been trying to avoid me."

Gu Jun continued, "Your parents are just next door. If anything happens between us, they can hear it very clearly over there."

This sentence worked very well on An Xiaoyan. An Xiaoyan no longer resisted and lay quietly on the bed.

Guo Guo fell asleep in the innermost part of the bed, An Xiaoyan lay in the middle and Gu Jun slept on the outermost side of the bed. When An Xiaoyan finally heard the snoring sound behind him, he felt more at ease and fell asleep. What Gu Jun did before made him feel uneasy for fear of what should not happen.