FSGOR Ch45

 

Jiang Tian didn’t quite understand why, halfway through the drive, Chu Xuyu suddenly pulled over and asked him to switch to the driver’s seat to take them back to the Jingting Lake penthouse.

Once they returned to Chu Xuyu’s place—

Unlike their usual affectionate interactions, Chu Xuyu seemed unusually bold today. Before they even got the door open, he was pressing in close to kiss Jiang Tian. Once inside, he didn’t even wait—kisses trailed all the way from the entryway to the sofa.

Their T-shirt and dress shirt became hopelessly wrinkled, breaths entangled like a mess of knotted string, looping over and over without end.

“……”

It wasn’t until much later that Jiang Tian finally realized how intense the impact of that single, proactive kiss had been.

He was now sitting on the sofa, back pressed against the cushion, with Chu Xuyu looming above him, knees braced at the edge of the seat. His kisses surged like a tidal wave, pinning Jiang Tian flush into the soft leather.

The man’s tall, powerful build rivaled Jiang Tian’s own, and dressed in that sharp suit, he radiated a kind of mature allure that was simply irresistible.

Held by the face, their tongues tangled recklessly. Jiang Tian didn’t even know where to put his hands, subconsciously hooking them around Chu Xuyu’s neck.

Because Jiang Tian had leaned in first, Chu Xuyu cracked open his long lashes briefly—then closed them again, continuing that hot, wet exchange. Their breaths grew heavier, and soon, both of them were clearly aroused.

“Ge…”

Jiang Tian panted, face flushed even if he still wore a blank expression. He lightly pushed Chu Xuyu away.

“I have work tomorrow.”

“Mm.”

Chu Xuyu lowered his gaze and responded in a deep voice.

But that brief calm lasted only two seconds—then another kiss followed.

The air ignited like a match had been struck. His skin burned, especially the palms of his hands. In the face of such half-hearted resistance, Jiang Tian didn’t know how things had escalated again.

***

In the bathroom—

He stood under the showerhead, deep in thought, expression dark like a cartoon character with frustration lines scribbled across his face.

Lowering his eyes, he stared blankly at his palms as the hot water streamed over them. The tingling sensation was both numbing and searing.

He began to self-reflect.

He swore that last time was supposed to be the final time—but here they were again, helping each other out.

He remembered Chu Xuyu’s exact words: something about how that kiss in the parking lot had already turned him on, and since Jiang Tian had started it, he should help take care of it.

Jiang Tian’s fatal flaw was a soft heart. He agreed, thinking he’d just help a little—but didn’t expect Chu Xuyu to turn around and also do things to him.

Even though Chu Xuyu had verbally agreed not to push it further, his hands wandered anyway. Hot breaths on his ear, and those practiced touches sent waves of heat across his body. Jiang Tian had no strength to fight back.

He sighed heavily.

Sweet frustration filled his mind. At least he had work tomorrow. No further lines were crossed tonight—and that was a relief.

But if you asked him what exactly he was struggling with…

It was this: He was now very sure his feelings for Chu Xuyu were genuine. But every time they got intimate, Chu Xuyu’s behavior made him feel like he was the “bottom” one.

“……”

Jiang Tian turned off the shower and dried off, then changed into a simple dark checkered loungewear set in front of the mirror.

It was a plain design with no embellishments, but his tall, lean figure made it look like high fashion on a runway.

His physique was toned and athletic—no one would ever guess he could be on the receiving end of things. Not even he could imagine being pinned beneath a man of equal build and strength.

Every time he thought about it, his brain turned to mush. He had to keep telling himself to stop overthinking it.

***

Thankfully, work the next day felt normal.

Though he arrived in the boss’s car, Jiang Tian—who was technically the “driver” now—still felt awkward. He was terrified someone might discover their secret relationship.

He even insisted on going through his usual routine: buying breakfast from the KFC near the building entrance before scanning his badge to enter the company, to make it look like he didn’t have any “special access.”

Chu Xuyu had found it funny. Jiang Tian still dared say he hadn’t gone through the back door? The phrase itself was too loaded with innuendo—it practically screamed “double meaning.” But Chu Xuyu loved that about him and let Jiang Tian do whatever he wanted.

“Just one condition.”

Chu Xuyu tapped the edge of his phone and said firmly,
“Come upstairs and have lunch with me before your break.”

Jiang Tian paused, remembering how last time he said no and still ended up enjoying the food. He felt kind of fake.

This time, he simply agreed: “Then I’ll come up a little later.”

Chu Xuyu knew exactly what he was thinking. He just didn’t want to be seen by the rest of the secretary team. The whole sneaky romance thing… kind of exciting.

Unfortunately, their secret lunch date got disrupted.

Chu Xuyu had an unexpected emergency to deal with. He said someone would deliver the meal to Jiang Tian at lunchtime—but never followed up.

Jiang Tian wasn’t free either. He was swamped in the secretary office, still found time to text a reminder: “Make sure to eat and send me proof, or I won’t eat either.”

Afternoon Tea: “…”

KIRA: “Something wrong?”

Afternoon Tea: “Nothing.”

Afternoon Tea: “It’s the first time someone’s looked after me like this… It’s kind of nice.”

KIRA: “…” 

‘Seriously? Even now, he’s flirting?’

But he was right. This kind of love hit differently. Even someone like Jiang Tian, usually so emotionally reserved, was completely swept up in it. He unconsciously rubbed his burning ears, afraid someone would notice.

Since returning, work hadn’t been too heavy. He even finished his morning tasks early. Simon ordered them drinks and chatted with him casually during break. At lunch, they headed to the cafeteria together.

Once the office emptied out, Jiang Tian still wasn’t hungry. Sitting at his desk, he thought about texting Chu Xuyu to remind him to eat.

Ding— Suddenly, a new message popped up.

Zhang Wenxuan (Class Rep): “Jiang Tian, college entrance exam results are out.”

Zhang Wenxuan: “Our homeroom teacher wants some help tomorrow at school. Are you free?”

Their homeroom teacher was also in administration—always swamped. With results just released, things were bound to get hectic. He usually asked reliable, high-performing students for help.

Jiang Tian had always helped before: he lived close by, got along well with the teachers, and if he had no other obligations, he’d go.

This time, the class rep said the other class officers couldn’t make it, so she was checking if he could take time off.

Even though his internship wasn’t too busy lately, he’d still signed a contract. If he needed to leave, he’d have to get permission.

So—

Jiang Tian decided to text Chu Xuyu, even knowing he might be busy. It was okay if he didn’t reply right away. The class rep hadn’t demanded an immediate answer anyway.

Afternoon Tea: “Is it okay?”

Afternoon Tea: “I’ll let Simon know early.”

KIRA: “Sure. Thanks, ge.”

Jiang Tian blinked. Chu Xuyu didn’t say anything else—but the fact that he responded at all, even while busy, meant a lot.

And that wasn’t the end of it…

That man really had a knack for striking while the iron was hot. Before Jiang Tian could even finish replying to the class rep, a new message popped up.

Afternoon Tea: I’ll come pick you up tomorrow.

Afternoon Tea: Stay with me until your sister comes back to Ningcheng.

KIRA: “……”

Well, fine.

The only reason Jiang Tian had been so clingy with Chu Xuyu lately was because his sister wasn’t home. He even used staying over at Lu Qiao’s place as an excuse—otherwise, how could he have gotten away with not coming home?

The next day—

Jiang Tian returned to student mode from corporate intern status.

He sat in the teacher’s office helping organize files. After working for most of the morning, he found himself feeling oddly unaccustomed to the school environment again.

Zhang Wenxuan noticed the change in him as well. Halfway through the tasks, the two of them took a break. Under the blazing sun, they headed to the small campus convenience store for drinks.

Zhang Wenxuan teased, “I feel like you’ve gotten even more mature, Jiang Tian.”

“Really.”

Jiang Tian twisted open his bottle of mineral water and took a sip. But mid-sip, his motion paused.

That comment sounded just like one of Chu Xuyu’s classic lines.

Zhang Wenxuan didn’t notice his odd reaction. She smiled and added, “Yeah, I mean, you’ve been interning at a company, right? So seeing you again, it feels like you’ve really changed.”

It was the kind of compliment that sounded nice but vague—Jiang Tian wasn’t sure how to respond. He just offered a polite smile in return.

The scorching heat made the ground shimmer. In their hurry to get back to the office, they didn’t notice someone else around.

To be exact, there were two boys sitting in a shady corner of the small shop, deliberately hidden from sight and clearly not students of the same school.

One of them, Zeng Jiaxiang, wore a mask and had his eyes locked on the shop entrance. He held up his phone and, without hesitation, snap snap, took several photos.

The air-conditioning inside the store barely helped. It was stuffy and irritating.

Zeng Jiaxiang peeled off his mask, lazily chewing gum while admiring his photos.

From the angle, the boy and girl in the photo looked quite close. After applying a peachy filter from a photo editing app, the whole thing looked like a still from a romantic school drama.

He didn’t speak.

His companion, a fellow athlete from the school’s soccer team, eyed him uneasily.

“Zeng-Ge… why’d you suddenly ask me to come spy on Jiang Tian?”

Zeng Jiaxiang’s face remained cold. He spat out the gum and said,
“Just gathering proof that he’s a straight guy pretending to be gay.”

“Huh?!”

The other guy clearly didn’t get it. He glanced back again and saw Jiang Tian and that top-three school beauty disappearing around a hallway corner.

After getting the shots he wanted, Zeng Jiaxiang got up and called his sidekick to leave. One hand in his school uniform pocket, the other holding his phone, he casually opened a gay dating app.

His top chat was with a mature man who used a sheep avatar and the ID Mu Zi Pang’s Sheep. They matched two weeks ago. He hadn’t been interested—until Zeng Jiaxiang posted a pic wearing his soccer uniform and white socks.

That man had gone nuts begging to meet up.

Zeng Jiaxiang sent over the new photos and typed a voice-to-text message: “You sure the guy Jiang Tian’s seeing is that President Chu?”

The man hadn’t responded yet. Usually he replied instantly like a starving dog. Must be busy today.

The muggy weather made Zeng Jiaxiang restless. He kicked pebbles down the sidewalk.

His sidekick finally asked, “Zeng-Ge, what happened back then anyway? You got beat up by your dad and had to apologize at the hospital?”

Zeng Jiaxiang clenched his phone. His knuckles cracked.

“Go ask Jiang Tian.”

“What?”

“I heard he used his sister to meet some powerful guy. Then he pretended to be gay to score favors.”

“……”

The sidekick wrinkled his nose. Was it just him, or did that comment reek of jealousy? Honestly, there was a time he suspected Zeng-Ge might’ve liked Jiang Tian himself.

It wasn’t unheard of—some athletes were bi or gay. And that academic top student was the type gay guys drooled over, though he turned down both guys and girls alike.

Come to think of it, he had seen Zeng-Ge scribble out a cheesy love letter back then. Pretty sure it was for someone from Jiang Tian’s school.

Later, that letter got ripped to shreds.

All because of an accident during a soccer match. Sure, Zeng-Ge had strong kicks, but no one believed he intentionally injured that star student. It was just bad luck.

Still, the incident caused a rift. Jiang Tian’s school team hated their guts—especially Lu Qiao. Word was, he cursed Zeng-Ge out behind his back.

“Zeng-Ge, don’t tell me you actually liked Jiang Tian?”

The other guy blurted it out after a wild train of thought.

Zeng Jiaxiang’s face went beet red.

“Scram!” he snapped.

The two of them slinked away.

At the same time, Jiang Tian was seated near the window in the third-floor teacher’s office. He instinctively looked out the window and squinted, catching a glimpse of two unfamiliar students in strange uniforms.

“……”

Unfortunately, he couldn’t see clearly.

Realizing his vision was a little blurry, Jiang Tian’s heart sank. He’d always been extra careful—high myopia would make him unfit for strenuous sports. Even mild nearsightedness was something he took seriously for the sake of playing soccer.

The other class officers were still chatting. Zhang Wenxuan had rejoined them to wait for their next assignment.

Jiang Tian used the remaining minutes to close his eyes and do a silent version of eye exercises. Just as he was rubbing the acupressure point under his eye, someone suddenly gasped from the office—

“Whoa! There’s milk tea, mini cakes, and pastries!”

“Oh my god! It’s from that super popular shop on the East Side!”

“Who ordered all this? Let me see!”

“Wait! It says it’s from Jiang Tian’s friend?!”

Hearing his name, Jiang Tian immediately stopped massaging his eyes and looked up.

Everyone’s eyes were now on him.

“What’s going on?” he asked, a bit confused.

Zhang Wenxuan blinked, then beamed: “Thank you, Jiang Tian! Your friend sent us this amazing afternoon tea!”

“……!”

Jiang Tian froze.

At that moment, a message popped up on his phone. Even though it wasn’t related to the delivery, the timing betrayed the source of their mysterious benefactor.

Afternoon Tea: Still busy?

His heart pounded in his ears. Distracted, he fumbled to answer his classmates while quickly texting back.

KIRA: I’m okay.

KIRA: Did you order the afternoon tea, ge?

Afternoon Tea: Mm.

Afternoon Tea: ^^

Seeing that smiling face, Jiang Tian smiled too. He added that he wasn’t too busy and still had time to rest.

KIRA: Thank you, Ge.

KIRA: My classmates love it.

Afternoon Tea: And you?

Being favored felt like a cup filled to the brim with rainwater—no longer dizzying even under the scorching sun. Jiang Tian became acutely aware of one thing.

KIRA: I’m thinking about you.

Afternoon Tea: “……”

On the other end, the man hastily deleted a line of gibberish he’d accidentally typed.

Jiang Tian gently pursed his lips, hiding the smile tugging at the corners. He had a feeling that line had thrown Chu Xuyu so off-balance he’d smashed a few random keys.

Then—

He thought about sending a meme to ease the sugar rush, but no matter which little dog emoji he picked, they all screamed “boyfriend energy”.

KIRA: I’ll get back to work.

KIRA: Ge, see you tonight.

KIRA: Border Collie hiding.jpg