WHIF- Chapter 27

 Ch. 27 Learn

    Ji Xiang didn’t get a reply from Shen Siru until very late that night. The first thing he did when he arrived at work the next day was to head to the third floor to see him. Only after confirming that Shen Siru was safe and sound did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

    In recent years, Shen Siru had taken various weekend crash courses in self-defense and martial arts to strengthen his body. Seeing Ji Xiang eyeing him up and down, checking his sleeves and neck, he teased, “Are you still worried I’ll be beaten up by Yuan You?”

    Ji Xiang lightly tapped his clenched fist. “I am worried. What if he tried to take advantage of you, using his pheromones to suppress you? Your skills wouldn’t hold up against his.”

    “Relax, relax. We live in a law-abiding society. He wouldn’t dare go that far.”

    In fact, Shen Siru’s words were not that confident. If Song Zheli hadn’t been there yesterday, he might not have gotten away so easily.

    He knew Yuan You’s bad temper all too well—that man can’t stand being contradicted. But what puzzled him was why Yuan You’s words yesterday kept digging up the past—something both of them had gone out of their way to avoid.

    To Shen Siru, that miserable, shameful past wasn’t worth remembering, let alone reliving.

    Yet judging by Yuan You’s demeanor yesterday, it didn’t seem like he felt the same.

    Unable to make sense of it, Shen Siru forced himself to push everything about Yuan You out of his mind and swiftly changed the subject. He pinched the knitted fabric of Ji Xiang’s shoulder and said, “Wait a minute… You look different today. I’ve never seen you wear this before.”

    “Come on, spill it—got some special plans after work?” Shen Siru narrowed his eyes knowingly, like he’d seen through everything.

    Ji Xiang rubbed the tip of his nose, a little sheepish. “…Yeah, I do.”

    The navy blue sweater he wore today had been buried in the back of his closet since last year. With its sailor-style collar and casual cut, it always felt too youthful and unprofessional for work. Wearing it to work would feel like he was playing dress-up—an old cucumber painted green, trying too hard to look young, so he’d never worn it.

    But he brought it out today for a special reason: he had a movie date with Yang Chaosheng that night. He’d even straightened his hair a little.

    New clothes, new hairstyle; it was his way of showing how seriously he took their promise and apologizing sincerely for what had happened last time.

    “With Yang Chaosheng?”

    “Mm.”

    Shen Siru recalled running into Song Zheli that morning, dressed like a flamboyant peacock, and inexplicably felt relieved. “That’s good.”

    “What do you mean?” Ji Xiang looked confused.

    “Ah… nothing, nothing…” Shen Siru frantically shook his head. He had promised Song Zheli to keep his crush on Ji Xiang a secret. But he also happened to be one of the few people who knew that Ji Xiang and Yang Chaosheng’s marriage was a sham.

    He had to keep his mouth shut—morality demanded it.

    Once Ji Xiang was sure Shen Siru was okay, he returned to the ninth floor. He and Yang Chaosheng had originally planned to grab dinner at six before the movie, but since Yang Chaosheng had a last-minute commitment, dinner was off the table. So, Ji Xiang instead decided to take on a more meaningful role: picking him up after work.

    It was a spur-of-the-moment idea. He hadn’t told Yang Chaosheng about it, wanting to surprise him.

    He left work early, ate dinner, then swung by his apartment to take his car out for a spin. The car had been parked and gathering dust for years.

    Ji Xiang hadn’t driven in so long that he was a bit rusty, so he kept it slow. On the way, he messaged Yang Chaosheng and found out that he had already finished work. Ji Xiang, meanwhile, was still stuck at a red light. When he saw Yang Chaosheng’s message offering to pick him up, he quickly called.

    Yang Chaosheng picked up almost instantly, with the background noise sounding like he was packing up. “What’s up?”

    “You don’t need to pick me up! I’m almost there, seriously!” Ji Xiang stared at the countdown at the red light. “Just wait for me at the office entrance.”

    Yang Chaosheng, sensing the urgency in his tone, assumed something important had happened. A loud honk came through the receiver. “Okay, just take it slow. You’re taking the bus?”

    Ji Xiang had already planned a picture-perfect date experience—complete with a comfy ride in the BMW. The honk he’d accidentally pressed might have given him away, but since Yang Chaosheng hadn’t noticed it, he decided to go along with it. “Yeah, just a couple more stops.”

    “Got it.”

    Yang Chaosheng hung up, finished organizing some files, and headed out of his office.

    Only Lu Fei remained on the first floor. Yang Chaosheng waved at him, “Head home early. We’ll take care of the rest tomorrow.”

    “Got it, Director Yang. I’ll submit my report tomorrow afternoon.”

    Yang Chaosheng nodded. Once Lu Fei packed up, they turned off the lights and locked up, leaving the office one after the other.

    Waiting under a tree with the engine off, Ji Xiang spotted Yang Chaosheng right away. He waited for the right moment, stepped on the accelerator and rolled down the window. Whether Yang Chaosheng could see in the dark or not, Ji Xiang winked and blew a cheeky, half-hearted whistle.

    “Hey, handsome, wanna watch a movie with me?”

    Yang Chaosheng had just been about to text Ji Xiang when he heard that familiar, teasing voice. He paused for a second, then chuckled. “You drove here?”

    “Yep. This time, I’m picking you up.”

    Ji Xiang patted the passenger seat enthusiastically. “Hop in!”

    But just then, Lu Fei’s voice popped up, crashing the moment.

    “Yang-ge, if it’s not too much trouble, could you drop me off at the nearby subway station?”

    At work, it was always ‘Director Yang’, but off-duty, ‘Yang-ge’ was standard—an office tradition to keep things casual. Yang Chaosheng didn’t mind; he sometimes also offered rides to late-working staff. Being called ‘ge’ by his juniors helped bridge the gap.

    Lu Fei didn’t notice the situation at first and jogged over, only to lock eyes with Ji Xiang in the car: “Sister… sister-in-law, you’re here too! Sorry about that!”

    Ji Xiang hadn’t expected someone else to be around and quickly pulled himself together, greeting Lu Fei with a polite smile: “Hi. You need to go to the subway? We’re also heading that way—happy to give you a lift.”

    “No, no—it’s really fine! Just a few steps. I totally don’t want to bother you two!” Lu Fei laughed awkwardly, realizing they had other plans. “Besides, I ate too much tonight. A walk will help me digest.”

    “It’s no trouble, really—”

    Ji Xiang didn’t get to finish. Yang Chaosheng tossed his keys to Lu Fei before he could insist further. “Just take my car. Bring it back tomorrow morning.”

    “Oh! Sure! Thanks, Yang-ge!” Lu Fei caught the keys in a panic, then shot them a knowing look before running off, shouting, “Have a great date!”

    Watching Lu Fei disappear, Yang Chaosheng finally got into the car. Ji Xiang beamed, casually remarking, “He’s kind of cute.”

    “Cute?”

    “Yeah. He saw we were going on a date and didn’t even dare get in my car.”

    Yang Chaosheng paused for a few seconds. “But… weren’t you the one picking me up tonight?”

    So of course, Lu Fei wouldn’t get in, wasn’t that obvious?

    Ji Xiang didn’t catch the implication at first and replied innocently, “Yeah, I’m picking you up.”

    A beat later, realization slowly dawned.

    “Yang Chaosheng, why’d you leave out a word just now?” Ji Xiang leaned closer, grinning. “Weren’t you trying to say, ‘You came to specifically pick me up today,’ hmm?”

    Yang Chaosheng pressed his lips together, avoiding the playful glint in Ji Xiang’s eyes. He muttered, “I wouldn’t have minded giving him a ride. He refused, so I gave him the keys.”

    “Really?” Ji Xiang squinted, skeptical.

    The car fell into silence once again. Ji Xiang pulled his hand back, still smiling, but no longer teased him.

    They arrived at the cinema shortly after. Ji Xiang got the tickets while Yang Chaosheng bought popcorn and drinks—an unspoken teamwork after which they met up at the entrance.

    Since it was a romance film, the crowd was mostly couples, holding hands, wrapped around each other, clinging as close as possible.

    Only Ji Xiang and Yang Chaosheng stood straight with a visible gap between them, looking like complete outliers.

    “Maybe… we should hold hands too?” Ji Xiang suggested hesitantly. “Didn’t you say we should work on building our relationship? This could be the first step.”

    “Alright.”

Before Ji Xiang could reach over, Yang Chaosheng took the initiative and gently clasping his hand in the simplest and most natural way.

    Ji Xiang had held hands with many people before—his parents, brother, friends, but never with his ‘husband’.

    Yang Chaosheng tried to find the right pressure—not too loose, not too tight. “How does it feel?”

    Ji Xiang assumed he meant the hand-holding. “Your hand is warm… but it doesn’t feel particularly special. Maybe this position is too common?”

    He started wriggling out of the grip and instead interlocked their fingers. “What about you? How does this feel?”

    Suddenly, Yang Chaosheng’s heart was pounding twice as fast.

    Because what he felt… was that he never wanted to let go.

    If only that wish could come true.

    Before he could answer, the person responsible announced that the film was starting, prompting Ji Xiang to walk forward hand-in-hand with him.

    As they took their seats, Ji Xiang realized that they were surrounded everywhere because of their center seats—front and back, left and right, with couples cuddling each other on every side.

    He tried to reassure himself. “It’s fine. Let’s just think of it as a learning experience about how to act like we’re in love. We’ll just copy what they do.”

    Yang Chaosheng nodded. Once the film started, he kept sneaking glances at the couple in front. After a while, he saw that the girl rested her head on the guy’s shoulder.

    Yang Chaosheng straightened up, sneaking looks at Ji Xiang, clearly hoping he’d do the same.

    But just as he was about to lean in, someone tapped his shoulder from behind.

    “Hey, buddy, could you slouch down a bit? You’re kinda blocking the screen for my girlfriend.”

    Hearing the voice, Ji Xiang turned and saw Yang Chaosheng looking embarrassed. “Let’s switch seats. You lowering yourself like that will get you a backache.”

    Yang Chaosheng agreed and pointed to the cuddling couple as he sat down. “You… why didn’t you lean on me just now? I thought we were copying them?”

    But by now, Ji Xiang was already half-absorbed in the movie. He gave a quick ‘Sorry’, then tried leaning over.

    First attempt—missed the shoulder.

    Second—too forceful; his neck wasn’t cut out for a 90-degree twist.

    In short, it felt awkward no matter how he tried.

    He didn’t dare look behind, afraid people would think he was having a seizure.

    “Here.” Yang Chaosheng gathered his courage and shifted closer, wrapping an arm around Ji Xiang and letting him half-rest against his chest.

    Ji Xiang had never snuggled up to someone like this before. He could clearly hear Yang Chaosheng’s heartbeat.

    Seems a bit fast?

    He sneakily touched his own chest to compare.

    Yep, Yang Chaosheng’s heartbeat was definitely quicker.

    As the film’s ambiguous BGM sounded again and the movie reached a romantic peak, Ji Xiang noticed the couple in front of them subtly share a kiss in the dark.

    He instinctively looked up at Yang Chaosheng—only to find that Yang Chaosheng was already looking at him.

    His mind went blank, and before he could stop himself, he blurted out:

    “Should we… learn this too?”