Chapter 12 You Didn't Say We Kissed

Lin Yi remained silent the whole way, simply holding onto Shen Beidao's wrist and walking forward with his head down.

The sunlight was a bit dazzling until a building shaped like a crescent moon came into view. The light blue glass curtain wall clearly reflected the flowing clouds and blue sky. Lin Yi felt that the inexplicable depression in his heart seemed to be dispelled a little by this bright scene.

"Lin Yi."

Shen Beidao stopped and gently pulled back a little.

Lin Yi was a little distracted when he was pulled like that. He lost his balance and fell backward, his back landing firmly in a warm embrace.

Shen Beidao's arm naturally encircled him, and a gentle voice sounded in his ear: "Is there something I didn't do well enough that makes you feel so insecure?"

"Who, who feels insecure!"

Lin Yi immediately jumped half a step away from his embrace, turned his face away, and retorted, "Isn't it because you're so big that you look healthy? You can't even tell if you have a cold! Just now, you were like that... I'll have to drink a packet of 999 Cold Remedy when I get back to prevent it."

Shen Beidao: "I have some at home."

His gaze seemed to be guided by threads of emotion, staring intently with seriousness. "You can come to my house... as a precaution."

Lin Yi's face flushed slightly. He gently pushed her away, thinking to himself: "She looks so refined, why does she always try to lure me to her house? Is she in such a hurry to be with me... I won't let her succeed!"

"I have things to do this afternoon." Lin Yi raised his chin, trying to adopt a businesslike attitude. "I've started working at the company, and I have to go back to work later."

“I’ll pick you up tonight…” Shen Beidao said.

"No way!" Lin Yi immediately objected, his cheeks burning even more as he recalled the kiss in the public area. "You're so impulsive. How can you kiss like that in a place like that? It's such a bad thing."

Shen Beidao looked at his slightly flushed profile and said calmly but firmly, "I don't mind. Other people's opinions don't affect my opportunity to express my love."

"I mind!!" Lin Yi suddenly became a little angry. "Being gay isn't accepted by everyone. What you're doing will attract strange looks from others, don't you understand?"

Shen Beidao was silent for a moment: "Their strange gaze is a result of their narrow-mindedness. It is their responsibility to consider and accept new things; we do not need to reflect on it."

“We were just having normal physical contact to express emotions between people, and we did nothing wrong.”

Shen Beidao's words made Lin Yi pause for a moment. He remembered the phone call his father made this morning when he went to Xie Chun's company to complete his onboarding process.

"Xie Chun, you can deceive me, but can you please leave our child alone? He's innocent... That little assistant you hired even called me, saying your dinner together was unpleasant and that I should keep an eye on my son... Can you please stop taking Lin Yi to see those shady gay men..."

If his mother used a cursing or hateful tone, Lin Yi would definitely feel a sense of satisfaction!

Yes, gay men who commit marriage fraud should be condemned.

He was the most tragic product of this ill-fated marriage, and ironically, he inherited his biological father's ingrained genes—he was also a damned homosexual.

But the way Mom used it was so humble, almost pleading.

He, who was born out of "mistake," felt as if his heart was being squeezed tightly by a great force, a dull pain spreading, making it impossible for him to breathe.

A woman from a wealthy family, highly educated, owning her own company, and leading a glamorous life, developed a mental illness due to a marriage of convenience, and was even nearly sent to a mental hospital...

"Lin Yi?" Shen Beidao keenly noticed his sudden drop in mood, and his clear eyes were now clouded with gloom.

He softened his voice, a hint of caution in his tone, "Is something wrong? If I've done something wrong, you can tell me..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Yi plunged into his chest, his forehead against his strong shoulder, his body trembling slightly uncontrollably.

The warm liquid quickly soaked into the fabric of Chen Beidao's shirt, making his heart skip a beat.

He actually...cried.

"I didn't do anything wrong..." Lin Yi buried his face in his chest, his voice muffled and thick with a nasal tone, "Why should I bear the consequences of their mistakes..."

Shen Beidao felt the dampness on his chest and also felt uncomfortable.

He raised his hand and gently patted Lin Yi's head soothingly, "It's alright, it's alright..."

He coaxed softly, "Homosexuality itself has never been a wrong word. It's just that some older people in China are more conservative in their thinking. Because they don't understand it, they feel fear and rejection."

However, many countries around the world have already recognized same-sex marriage, which shows that this group has always existed and its numbers are not negligible...

If you think I'm being too high-profile, I'll be more careful next time and won't do it again, okay?

Perhaps sensing the unprincipled favoritism, Lin Yi became somewhat arrogant and conceited, punching him twice as if to vent her frustration, and muttering, "Anyway, you're the one who's embarrassed, not me. This is your school."

"Hmm." Shen Beidao let him do as he pleased, tightening his grip on her arm. "I'm really afraid that if I accidentally lose you, I'll never find you again."

Shen Beidao vaguely guessed what was going on.

Perhaps, he needs to be more proactive and take more control over some things concerning their future in order to better protect this seemingly flamboyant but actually sensitive and fragile child.

The phone vibrated at the worst possible time.

Lin Yi reached into his pocket, a little reluctant to leave Shen Beidao's warm embrace, and leaned against him as he swiped the screen.

The caller was Xie Chun.

"Hello." He sniffed, trying to make his voice sound normal. "What is it?"

"Xiao Yi? Do you have a cold?"

Lin Yi glanced at Shen Beidao, pushed him away slightly, and mumbled, "Yeah, I just caught it from a classmate who had a cold."

"Contagious?" Xie Chun's question was tinged with excessive concern. "What did you do that would be contagious?"

Lin Yi was taken aback by the question and was momentarily speechless. He subconsciously looked up at Shen Beidao again, only to see a face darker than the bottom of a pot.

"Nothing... it's just that staying together for too long can easily spread the virus," Lin Yi coughed guiltily. "Ahem, don't ask anymore, what did you want to see me about?"

"Go back to the company later and go to the designated institution for a pre-employment physical examination as required by the HR department. I haven't revealed our relationship to anyone in the company. This is so that you can adapt to the environment more quickly, rather than be treated differently."

"Oh, I see." Hmph! They're really grooming me to be their heir? Don't forget, my surname is Lin, it's my mother's, not yours.

"I have to go back to the US this afternoon, and I probably won't be back until next month. Your direct supervisor, who is also the company's head in Jiangzhou, is named Yu Feng. He's a very capable person, so learn from him."

"Okay, okay, got it, bye."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Yi turned around and realized that Shen Beidao had somehow gotten right behind him, the distance between them almost becoming negative.

He maintained his usual composure, at least not snatching the phone away and demanding to know who the stranger was.

"Whose call was it?" Shen Beidao asked.

Lin Yi opened his mouth, but before he could utter a single syllable, Shen Beidao continued, clearly stating his findings:

"His name is Xie Chun, which is a man's name. He seemed very concerned about you on the phone, unlike a normal relationship."

He also inquired about your privacy.

Lin Yi looked at him, who was clearly concerned but was trying hard to maintain a rational analysis, and suddenly found it a little funny, even laughing so hard that a snot bubble came out of his nose.

Seeing this, Shen Beidao took out a tissue from his pocket and handed it to him, his brows furrowed slightly as he looked at him with concern, while also waiting for his explanation.

"What private things did he ask me?" Lin Yi took the tissue and couldn't help but tease him. "He was eavesdropping on my phone call, and he was listening so intently!"

Shen Beidao: "He asked you what we did that could be contagious. You didn't mention that we kissed, nor did you mention that you have a boyfriend at the crucial moment."

"puff--"

Lin Yi finally couldn't help but laugh out loud. While wiping her nose with a tissue, she continued to tease him: "Let's not talk about that. Why didn't you have a runny nose when you had a cold? How did you manage to infect me so quickly? We've only been together for a short time."

"Then you can infect me again."

"Um?"

Shen Beidao's eyes darkened, and he suddenly stepped forward, pressed one hand against the back of his head, and lowered his head to silence his still-arguing lips with a kiss.

It was a kiss with a punitive undertone, even a domineering one that went deep inside, as if to confirm something or to take something away.

Lin Yi initially tried to resist, but found himself completely unable to move in those seemingly refined arms.

He could only suppress his laughter and endure the long and deep kiss.

The two figures, intertwined closely, were clearly reflected on the clear lake beside them.

A gentle breeze rippled across the water, causing their reflections to sway softly, as if they were being crushed and then reassembled.

The water source silently bears witness to their love and intimacy.

They may be temporarily trapped in a place that emphasizes tradition, but 70% of the earth is covered by water. If they are not accepted here, they can always find a wider body of water. Love should flow freely like water. The essence of love is freedom.

"Haha...hahaha..."

Lin Yi couldn't help but laugh intermittently during the lingering kiss.

He gently pushed Shen Beidao away, tears welling up in his eyes as he laughed. "Shen Beidao, are you jealous? You're quite jealous."

"You're talking intimately with a man of unknown identity in front of me. Should I remain magnanimous?" Shen Beidao's brows furrowed even more, his tone unusually blunt, almost defiant. "If I can still maintain so-called magnanimity at a time like this, it must be an act."

He looked at Lin Yi: "I don't want to pretend."

"Alright, you want to know who he is, right?"

Looking at him like this, Lin Yi felt the gloom in her heart caused by family matters strangely dissipate, leaving only a full, almost overflowing sweetness of love.

Shen Beidao looked away, his tone stiff, "I don't really want to know anymore."

No matter who the other party is, they all seem like a third party trying to interfere. True love cannot be easily taken away by a third party.

He, Chen Beidao, still had that much confidence.

"Let's go." Lin Yi took his hand, her fingers threading through his, until they were intertwined. "Come with me back to the company to fill out a form; it's just 800 meters away..."

As he spoke, he naturally hooked his other arm around Shen Beidao's neck, almost jumping up and half-hanging himself on him.

Shen Beidao leaned forward slightly in tacit agreement, his arms steadily supporting him.

From behind, the tall and slender Lin Yi suddenly looked like a koala clinging to a towering tree, his whole body pressed against Shen Beidao's side.

"This story begins twenty-two years ago." Lin Yi shook their clasped hands, still suppressing a laugh. "Twenty-two years ago, there was a lady named Lin Jingzhi and a gentleman named Xie Chun who got married and had a child. After the child was born, they named him Lin Yi."

He paused, turned his head and kissed Shen Beidao on the cheek, leaving a loud "pop" sound, before continuing, "Time flies, and now Mr. Shen Beidao is very lucky to have a boyfriend named Lin Yi."

Shen Beidao listened quietly and attentively to his "nonsense" until he finished speaking, at which point he realized what was going on.

He paused, looking at Lin Yi: "Xie Chun... is he your uncle?"

"Yeah!" Lin Yi laughed smugly, "That's right, it's your future father-in-law."

Shen Beidao: "..."

A note from the author:

----------------------