A sudden confession

He likes me, the kind of love between men and women. This can't be true, right?

Liu Jianchun's heart was pounding as he read the transfer note. He didn't dare to look up at Jian Zhaonan for a long time.

She didn't know what was wrong with her, why her heart was beating so fast all of a sudden. Logically, she shouldn't be attracted to him.

He was her junior. They had shared the same coaching staff on the provincial team and later on the national team. They had even played doubles together and were incredibly close friends. He had always been a shy boy, never saying a word when bullied. Because of this, she had often stood up for him on the team. Although she had sensed that he had a special affection for her, she had assumed it was simply a matter of return. She cared for him, and he would naturally show some kindness in return. That was all. Their relationship was either siblings or friends; there was no way around it…

If that's the case, why is her heart beating so fast?

Jian Zhaonan broke the silence: "What did you see?"

Liu Jianchun took the opportunity to quickly press the screen off key, put his phone on the table, and said unconvincingly, "Nothing, the kid I was practicing with urged me to go back."

"Actually, you saw the message I left you." Jian Zhaonan slowly exposed her lie while cutting steak. "I'm quite grateful to you. It's a good thing you didn't see it in time."

Liu Jianchun originally wanted to gloss over the matter. She didn't want to be burdened with a debt of love, nor did she want to embarrass Qin Tianyi in front of him. However, his nonchalant look made her angry no matter how she looked at it.

"What do you mean?" She frowned unconsciously.

"Nothing, just thank you."

"Are you thanking me for being blind, or thanking me for not agreeing to your promise, so that I wouldn't hinder you from concentrating on training and becoming a starter?"

Jian Zhaonan's previously indifferent expression showed a slight tremor. "You're overthinking it. I'm not that stupid. I wouldn't ruin my career just because of a relationship. But you, on the other hand, the team doesn't allow relationships. If the coach finds out, he might tell you to retire. I'm afraid you'll hold a grudge against me for the rest of your life."

"Why are you trying to persuade me to quit? How do you know it wasn't you who was fired?"

"Since my grades are better than yours, I wouldn't have made the first team for several years and still finished zero in the three major competitions."

Liu Jianchun was so angry that he couldn't speak for a long time. He could only stare at him: "Psycho! You are the one who confessed to me, not me."

She was so angry that she turned to look at Qin Tianyi: "Do you know how crazy he is? I just checked the transfer, and the message he sent to me was 'I love you'. I feel embarrassed for him for this kind of thing, but this psychopath keeps harping on this and trying to harass me. Do you think he is crazy..."

"Are you done?" Jian Zhaonan seemed calm, but his forehead was throbbing.

"No!" Before she could finish venting her anger, she saw him put down his chopsticks, grab her arm and drag her away.

The two quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.

In the suite, only Qin Tianyi, a poor outsider, was left.

Qin Tianyi regretted very much why he had acted as a light bulb just now. Now the two of them left, leaving him alone in an empty room.

Seeing how hurriedly they left, they probably didn't have the room card with them. He couldn't leave now even if he wanted to, because he had to at least wait for them to come back, or chase them out and stuff the room card into their hands... But that would be too embarrassing. Who knows what these two people are doing now?

He looked at the table full of dishes and picked up a crab leg and put it in the bowl.

Forget it, let’s eat first, otherwise the food will get cold.

Jian Zhaonan dragged Liu Jianchun into the stairwell. The fire door was well soundproofed, and there was a distance between the door and the guest rooms on both sides, so even if they wanted to make a noise, they wouldn't disturb others.

In order to keep up with his pace, Liu Jianchun even lost one of her slippers, but she didn't get angry until they reached the stairwell. Then she pinched his wrist and pried his hand apart: "What are you doing?"

Jian Zhaonan is not a bad-tempered person. On the contrary, he is very tolerant, very tolerant.

Five years ago in the summer, he took advantage of her birthday to pay off all the money he owed her. Worried that she wouldn't be able to see his confession in time, he hid a confession code in her birthday gift. However, before she could even open it, she turned around and threw the gift into the trash. Witnessing all this, he was only angry for a moment and quietly blocked her phone number.

He had been waiting for this day of outbreak for five whole years, and finally got his wish today.

His voice was a little hoarse: "What did you tell Qin Tianyi about the message?"

"I didn't..." She felt even more dizzy than when she saw his confession message. Her heartbeat wasn't fast, not only not fast, but even slower than usual, almost stopping.

"You didn't, so what nonsense were you talking about just now?"

"Jian Zhaonan, why are you like this? It was clearly you who brought it up first!"

He suddenly stepped forward. Even though she took a half step back, the distance between them was still frighteningly close, almost touching. He raised his hands and placed them on the wall behind her, holding her tightly. "No! I say no, and it means no."

She looked up at him, into his red eyes, with tears glistening in them.

She completely forgot the whole story, and her mind was blank.

Held in his arms, she had lost all ability to resist. Submission to a stronger counterpart was instinctive.

She turned her head and looked aside, avoiding his gaze: "I know, I won't do it next time."

He pinched her chin and forced her back: "Do you want to do it again?"

She faced him, and even if she tried to avoid him, she would still inadvertently meet his eyes. She just felt that the man in front of her was a stranger.

She didn't know whether he had changed, or whether he was good at disguise in the past and had been suppressing his nature until it broke out today.

She raised her hand to touch his face and found that he was trembling slightly.

"Xiao Nan, whether there will be a next time depends on you, not me. Let's just pretend that what happened today never happened, and let the past be the past."

"I can't get over it." He gradually loosened his hands that were pinching her face.

"I like you, I've always liked you, how can you ask me to let go just like that?"

His tone was calm, no different from anything he had said before, but she felt like she had been punched in the chest, leaving her dazed.

Is he serious?

She swallowed hard, trying to stay awake: "Xiao Nan, we are not suitable."

"You haven't even tried it, how do you know it's not suitable?"

"I……"

"What else do you want to say?" He took a deep breath and muttered to himself before she could speak. "I know everything you want to say. You seem to be nice to everyone, but deep down you are actually very proud. So proud that you think only the best men are worthy of you. I had nothing before, and even if you were willing to take care of me, you didn't treat us as people from the same world. My pursuit of you is just a joke in your eyes, right, Senior Sister?"

"That's not the case." She had never thought of it that way, either now or before.

He sneered self-deprecatingly, "You can lie, but you can't lie to yourself. What I said was clearly what you really thought. It's just... I'm doing better than you now, and I can even help you, so you have to say something that goes against your will."

She wanted to retort, but her throat seemed to be blocked and she couldn't utter a word. She could only shake her head desperately.

"No?" He looked at her trying to argue and felt like laughing, so he touched her face and told her to stop shaking her head. No matter how much she explained, it was useless because he didn't believe it at all.

But even if she really thought so, he wouldn't blame her. If he had to blame someone, he could only blame himself for not being capable enough to become the kind of person she liked.

He smiled bitterly and said, "If not, are you willing to be with me?"

His fierce attacks came one after another. Even though Liu Jianchun was not impressed by his style, he was a little shaken by his encirclement.

She could have had plenty of reasons to reject him, even confessing her true feelings, saying she liked older men, older brothers, but not boys younger than herself. But when he stood before her, a handsome man gazing at her with deep affection, it seemed to her that she couldn't apply her rigid mate selection criteria to him. Standards are static, but people are dynamic. How could a living person be confined by self-imposed standards?

She wavered, and in fact she had already lost.

"I'm very confused now, please give me some time to think about it."

"I won't embarrass you." He smiled bitterly, maintaining his last bit of dignity. "Whether you like it or not, you should have the answer in your heart when I ask you. Don't worry, I won't bother you again in the future."

I won’t bother you... Are you planning to give up?

Why are you giving up before you even start pursuing me?

She grabbed the corner of his clothes and looked up at him. Her cold eyes were wet with tears, showing a rare bit of pity. Before she said anything, he just looked at her sparkling eyes and began to regret what he had said.

"Xiao Nan, can you give me some time? I really don't have time for a relationship right now. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but I don't have a penny left except for the 100,000 yuan that Fatty Wang gave me. I still have competitions to participate in the second half of the year. In addition to leading the team in training, I also have to find a way to make money."

"You say I'm aloof and that I look down on you, but you know the children I take care of. They're either left behind or their parents have died and are living with relatives. If I were the kind of person you describe, why would I provide them with food and shelter?"

"I didn't want to tell you these things. First, I was afraid you would laugh at me for wanting to be a saint even though you have no money. Second, I was afraid I would use moral coercion against you, as if you had a hard time before and now that you are successful, you must be kind."

She just let it all out, pouring out all her grievances. When she realized she had said too much, she found that he had been staring at her for a long time.

He didn't say anything, but patted her shoulder and reminded her that it was time to go back. Walking barefoot on the floor tiles would easily cause uterine cold. Then she remembered that she had lost one of her shoes, which happened to be the injured foot that had sprained yesterday. The only good foot left was barely enough to support her to jump back on one leg.