BL - One Night In Pingjing

Cheng Jian scanned the room quickly, then gave Xuan Chaya a suspicious glare. "Just one bedroom?"

Xuan Chaya rose a brow. "What"s wrong with that? You"re my boyfriend. Can"t we share the same bed?"

"Fake boyfriend." Cheng Jian corrected.

"Same thing." Seeing Cheng Jian still unsettled, he said. "Come on. I"m not going to do anything funny. Don"t be so uneasy." Pointing an accusinv finger at Cheng Jian, he said, "Unless..."

"Unless...?"

"Unless you"re planning to do something to me and I should be the one worried."

Cheng Jian rolled his eyes dramatically. "You wish."

Xuan Chaya smiled and pointed towards a closed door. "The bathroom is over there."

Cheng Jian sighed and sat down on the bed.

"What"s the problem?" Xuan Chaya asked. Concerned.

"Not much. I"m just exhausted from the car ride."

"Hmm, I understand. My father suffers from car sickness. It doesn"t happen all the time, but sometimes he gets nauseated. At other times, he just gets extremely exhausted."

"Are you and your father close?" Cheng Jian asked thoughtlessly.

"We are. I mean, my mum and I are close too. But she"s always so busy with her foundation and fighting for other people"s rights. It"s a good cause, I can"t complain. But I"m always with my father. At home or in the office, so we spend a lot more time together. Moreover, I think he"s a very interesting man. He always has something witty to say."

"How did he take the news? That you might be gay."

Xuan Chaya shrugged. "We haven"t talked since I "came out.""

"Are you sure that"s okay?"

"I"m not worried. If I talked to my mum, she"ll set him straight instantly."

"Is he afraid of her?"

"Well, he told me that in every good marriage, a man should respect his wife so much that he seems whipped."

Cheng Jian chuckled. "I suppose that"s fair."

Xuan Chaya nodded.

Taking a deep breath, Cheng Jian said, "About Lan Haiyang"s behavior today, I"m sorry."

"He"s very protective of you." Xuan Chaya said, measuring his words.

"Yes. We"re like brothers. He"s usually cool headed, but he turns into a mad man when he losses his temper. I was afraid he might today."

Shaking his head, Xuan Chaya commented. "I"m sure he doesn"t see you as a brother."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, he might be in love with you."

Cheng Jian smiled. "And you got that from your first time meeting him? Isn"t your imagination wild?"

"I didn"t imagine it. It"s actually a bit funny and sad at the same time that you don"t know this. It must have killed him to see you leave with me."

Cheng Jian shook his head in disagreement. "He didn"t want me to come with you because he"s worried about me. He"s always like that. Don"t think too much about it."

Xuan Chaya nodded his head unbelievably.

"Really. That"s just how he is. I"m sure you"d understand if you had siblings. That"s a.s.suming you don"t?"

"No, but I have close friends and I know what you mean. But I"m telling you this is different."

"If it was, I"d know."

Xuan Chaya could barely stop himself from laughing. He hadn"t known Cheng Jian for long, but he was sure Cheng Jian wouldn"t be able to read Lan Haiyang"s feelings. Mockingly, he asked, "Are you sure?"

"Of course. I"ll go take my bath now." Cheng Jian got up and started fumbling with his luggage.

"Don"t worry about your bag. You can unpack tomorrow."

"Well, I need a change of clothes."

"I"ll get you something from my wardrobe." Xuan Chaya said.

"Oh! That"s nice of you." Cheng Jian smiled.

"It"s okay."

***

"You smell nice." Laying together, Xuan Chaya commented on Cheng Jian"s scent.

Cheng Jian chuckled. "I used all of your things, I must smell like you."

"I know. It just feels nice to smell me from another person."

"You must"ve had girlfriends sleep over and use your things, right?" Cheng Jian asked, wondering why Xuan Chaya was so fascinated.

"Well, I had this girlfriend once, but she had a drawer in my house for all her things. The other girls, I never let them sleep over."

"You"re quite the player, aren"t you?"

"You actually have to think of it like I"m doing public service. I mean, I"m very handsome, so many girls want me. I just give them what they want."

Cheng Jian chuckled. He had never met anyone more smug than Xuan Chaya.

"What about you? You"re quite cute yourself. How many people have you dated?" Xuan Chaya asked.

"None."

"No one?" Xuan Chaya"s tone was one of surprise.

"Well, I"ve had s.e.x with people before. I just haven"t been in a serious relations.h.i.+p."

Xuan Chaya nodded in understanding and the room was silent for a moment. Breaking the silence, Xuan Chaya said, "You know, growing up, I really wished I had siblings."

"Everyone wants siblings."

"No. I was obsessed about having a sibling. On one of my birthdays, when my mum told me I wasn"t getting a sibling, I cried and rolled around on the floor. It was an awful sight."

Cheng Jian laughed heartily. His laughter sounded like music to Xuan Chaya"s ears.

Xuan Chaya glanced sideways at Cheng Jian. His eyes filled with admiration. "It"s good that you"re so easy to talk to. We"ll get to know each other a lot faster. You know, it"s these small things we talk about that"ll matter when we meet my mum."

Cheng Jian nodded, then asked. "What did you tell her about your boyfriend?"

"I met you on Facebook, then found out we were attending the same university. In the US, of course. You studied Philosophy."

"Interesting. Will I have to start reading philosophy books now?"

"No, of course not. I doubt she"ll even care about that. We just need to come across as a believable couple who"ve known each other for years now."

"I understand." Cheng Jian said.

"Great." Xuan Chaya commented.

Thinking about other small things they could talk about, Cheng Jian asked. "You grew up in the US, right?"

"Right." Xuan Chaya replied.

"Is your family relocating to China?"

"Not entirely, I suppose. My dad said we were coming here for two reasons. The first was to get me married to a nice Chinese girl from a nice family and the second is to open a branch of his company here in China."

Cheng Jian smiled. "The first didn"t go according to plan, then."

"In all honesty, I initially thought my father wasn"t serious about it. But, the next thing I knew, he was talking about an engagement with the girl"s family. My mother threw a tantrum, but he paid her no attention. That was when I realized how serious he was. I knew if I didn"t do something about it, before I knew what was going on, I would be married to a girl I don"t like."

"You must"ve caused your father to lose face by calling off the engagement. I mean, plus the gay part too. He probably hasn"t called you because he"s very embarra.s.sed."

Xuan Chaya was quiet for a moment. He was increasingly impressed by how bluntly Cheng Jian spoke. He didn"t even stop to consider his feelings. And he liked it. His admiration for Cheng Jian increased with every pa.s.sing second. "He"ll have to just get over himself, wouldn"t he?"

"I suppose. What about the second reason? The new company branch."

"Ah yes! My dad"s business in the US is very successful. But look at this, he exports raw materials from China at prices that are absurd if he generates the materials himself. He also uses his company to create employment opportunities for many people living in America and betters the lives of his American consumers when they consume his goods.

"If we open a branch here in China, we could cut costs by generating the raw materials by ourselves. And we would also create employment opportunities for our own people. And better the lives of other Chinese people when they consume our goods." Xuan Chaya shrugged. "I think that"s what he said, at least."

Cheng Jian chuckled. "Your father"s very patriotic, isn"t he?"

"Extremely. And his obsession about making me marry a Chinese girl, it makes me wonder if he regrets marrying my mother. He seems to love and respect her a lot, but, she sure does a lot of charity work. Maybe that isn"t his idea of the perfect housewife."

"I"m sure he has his reasons."

Xuan Chaya shrugged. "At the end of the day, it"s also his business." He paused momentarily, then said. "There is something bothering me."

"What?" Cheng Jian asked.

"The project. With the new company. My father put me in charge of it. He purchased the land himself, but I"m responsible for everything else. However, I can"t find a construction company. I don"t even want just anyone, I want a really good one. It"s a big responsibility and I don"t want to mess it up."

Cheng Jian nodded. "I think I understand."

Xuan Chaya shook his head. He didn"t want to ruin the mood by talking about something too serious. He decided to change the topic. "I"ve been talking about myself a lot. You tell me something about yourself. You"re still so much of a mystery to me."

"Oh! There isn"t much I can say about myself. I"m not that interesting." Cheng Jian said.

"It doesn"t matter. Just tell me something." When Cheng Jian shook his head, Xuan Chaya said pleadingly. "Anything."

Cheng Jian laughed, then gave in. "When I was little, my father was overprotective and spoilt me rotten. He was quite wealthy as well. My mum was an housewife. But then, my father pa.s.sed away when I was ten. His sister came to the house under the cover of taking care of me, my mother and our family business. She embezzled all the money and left us in abject poverty. My mother started selling food to make ends meet. Her parents were middle-cla.s.s people and she didn"t want to bother them."

"Wow! So she sold food to take care of you and give you an education?"

"Do you think I would"ve been able to afford an education?"

Guilt-ridden, Xuan Chaya apologized. "I"m sorry."

Cheng Jian chuckled. "Why are you apologizing? You weren"t the one who stole all our money."

Xuan Chaya didn"t know what to make of Cheng Jian"s humor, so he kept quiet.

Cheng Jian glanced at him, then said. "I have a Bachelor"s degree in Fine Arts though."

Xuan Chaya looked up at him and nodded. "That"s very interesting."

"It is." Cheng Jian said, then suppressed a yawn.

"Tell me, what kind of food do you like to eat?" Xuan Chaya asked.

"Is that important?"

"Of course, it is. I told you it"s the little things that matter. But, I"m actually asking so I can bring you breakfast in bed tomorrow morning."

Cheng Jian chuckled. Amused. "What movie is this?"

Xuan Chaya shook off Cheng Jian"s unserious reply. "I"m just determined to keep my promise and treat you right."

Cheng Jian stared at him curiously. Entertaining the idea, he listed over five dishes. Some of which Xuan Chaya haven"t even heard about.

Xuan Chaya listened attentively. When Cheng Jian was done listing, he said, "In that case, tomorrow morning, I"ll make you a sandwich and serve it with a gla.s.s of orange juice."