Chapter 37 Hatred and Honesty: Yan Ceyan pinned Yan Quan against the bathroom...
Yan Quan felt Yan Ceyan's fingertips, which were resting on her cheek, twitch slightly... but he didn't move them away.
"Hmm...?" Yan Quan's brows, which had just been smoothed out, furrowed again in confusion. "Yan Ceyan, you..."
"..." Yan Ceyan's face showed a very subtle panic when he was "caught in the act", but he quickly looked away indifferently.
"You've been frowning the whole time you sleep," Yan Ceyan coughed lightly, trying to appear calm. "I couldn't stand it anymore."
"..." Yan Quan knew that Yan Ceyan had a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
He then looked in the rearview mirror, raised his eyebrows to feel the space between his brows, and indeed, Yan Ceyan's warm body temperature still lingered there.
“But…” Yan Quan’s voice trailed off, sounding somewhat unnatural. “Put your hand on my face now.”
"..." Yan Ceyan's body froze like a stone statue, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down: "Your face has dust on it."
"Really...?" Yan Quan looked up and examined herself in the mirror again: "My face is clean, right?"
Seeing Yan Quan's suspicion, Yan Ceyan coughed a few more times and added an explanation: "Because I cleaned it for you."
"Oh..." Yan Quan's face belatedly felt a little hot.
"Then this..." Yan Quan tilted her head, her palm touching the U-shaped pillow draped around her neck, and she asked in confusion, "How did this come about?"
"Your head is always bumping against the window when you sleep," Yan Ceyan added casually. "Sleeping with your neck tilted to one side can easily cause a stiff neck."
"My back and waist are going to ache again soon."
This motherly, nagging tone reminded Yan Quan of her high school "boyfriend" Yan Ceyan.
Yan Quan rubbed her knuckles against the soft, comfortable pillowcase a few more times without realizing it. "So, you bought this on purpose?"
Yan Ceyan remained silent.
Under Yan Quan's scrutinizing gaze, he finally managed to stammer out, "I bought it because it was on my way for my morning run."
"Oh...is it on the way?"
The dating reality show's house was deliberately located in a remote, sparsely populated suburb. Buying a U-shaped pillow, a household item with special needs, is not as simple as just buying a bottle of mineral water at a convenience store.
Yan Quan's lips unconsciously curved into a slight smile: This road probably won't be "smooth" for you.
"Then..." Looking around through the car window, Yan Quan realized the car was still in the parking lot. He then deliberately leaned closer to ask Yan Ceyan,
"I've been sleeping for so long, how come the car hasn't moved even a meter away?"
"..." Yan Ceyan's fingers on the steering wheel clenched again: "The car... is broken."
"Is it fixed now?" Yan Quan smiled, her clear eyes revealing a cunning, fox-like glint.
"Or will the car fix itself when I wake up?"
"..." Knowing he had been "exposed," Yan Ceyan simply ignored the message and silently started the car.
The car drove smoothly along the neon-lit streets at night. Yan Quan looked at the scenery rushing past the car window, and a complex emotion welled up in his heart.
Yan Ceyan said when marking his lifelong mark: "If I can't have your heart, then I'll possess your body."
Even if it means going to hell, he will cling to Yan Quan relentlessly.
When Yan Quangang and Yan Ceyan met again on this show after a long separation, they thought they were about to be "cut into a thousand pieces".
Forced 1v1 dates, warnings in the boxing ring, bets at the shooting range—Yan Ceyan's every move seems to follow the "revenge" strategy.
It was always cold.
But... Yan Quan tilted his head and rubbed against the U-shaped pillow around his neck, unconsciously squinting his eyes comfortably:
Yan Quan could sense the shadow of her high school "boyfriend" that occasionally lingered beneath Yan Ceyan's icy exterior—a man who was tough on the outside but soft on the inside, and couldn't help but care and nag.
Yan Quan even had a bizarre, vague feeling that perhaps the relationship between him and Yan Ceyan wasn't so much a "life-or-death struggle."
Is there even a one in ten thousand chance that...
This time, he and Yan Ceyan can "finish things properly".
*
It was already 9 p.m. when Yan Quan and Yan Ceyan returned to the Love House.
The remaining people in the cabin had been waiting for a long time. Led by Ji Yao and Shan Haotian, they rushed over as soon as they saw Yan Quan. Their tense gazes carefully scanned Yan Quan.
"That guy, he didn't lay a hand on you? What dirty business did he do that he couldn't possibly be seen in public?"
"That guy didn't force you or violently damage any of your body parts, did he?"
Is Yan Ceyan's image in your hearts really that dark...? Yan Quan was helpless and was about to refute and explain a few words for Yan Ceyan.
"Yan Quan, I'm extremely tired today."
Yan Ceyan coldly interrupted the conversation between Yan Quan, Ji Yao, and Shan Haotian, his tall figure casting a deep shadow in front of Yan Quan.
He spoke in a low voice, deliberately emphasizing certain words: "He just finished sleeping in the car."
This sounds like it's deliberately trying to mislead... Yan Quan's eyebrows twitched slightly.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Yan Ceyan finished speaking, ignoring the hateful looks from the others, he placed his arm across Yan Quan's shoulder, applied slight pressure, and led Yan Quan upstairs towards the bedroom.
The domineering tone of the empress, with an aura of "asserting sovereignty," said: "Please let Yan Quan rest well."
As she was being pushed along, Yan Quan, though her back was to the crowd, could vividly feel the intense, hostile gazes directed at her.
Yan Quan noticed that although Yan Ceyan appeared cold and indifferent when they were alone outside, he would automatically switch back to his "battle royale" state as soon as he returned to the Love House and encountered other Alphas.
Is this the competitive nature of you Alphas? Yan Quan was truly helpless.
Yan Ceyan supported Yan Quan and "escorted" him all the way to the single room, stopping a few centimeters from the door.
"We were supposed to talk in the bathroom tonight..." Yan Ceyan's gaze caught the weariness in Yan Quan's eyes. He subtly raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips slightly: "Never mind."
"You should get some rest tonight."
"Regarding the bet..." Yan Ceyan paused, a moment of darkness crossing his eyes: "It's alright to drag it out a little longer."
"Regarding the bet... Yan Ceyan." Yan Quan took a deep breath and then said, "If I make a request, I will definitely agree as long as you can fulfill it."
“Even if you’re not willing…” Yan Quan let out a dry breath, “you’ll still agree, right?”
This is exactly the same confirmation as many years ago...
This made Yan Ceyan instantly realize something, and he looked directly at Yan Quan, his dark eyes filled with deep emotions:
He almost gritted his teeth as he said, "Yan Quan, what demands do you want now?"
Is he going to break up with me again? Yan Ceyan's heart clenched violently at almost the same moment.
It felt like stepping back in time to that rainy day many years ago, when the brick pavement outside the hospital was covered in puddles...
*Recalling the dividing line, the beginning*
Eighteen-year-old Yan Ceyan was soaked to the bone by the heavy rain, but he still stubbornly stood outside the hospital gate.
Completely ignoring the strange looks coming from all around.
"He's been standing here for ages..." "He's soaked to the bone, isn't he afraid of getting sick..." "Is this kid mentally unstable..."
Eighteen-year-old Yan Quan stood quietly in front of Yan Ceyan.
Even though they were separated only by a transparent roller shutter and a curtain of drizzling rain... Yan Ceyan felt as if he and Yan Quan were separated by the entire Atlantic Ocean.
"Yan Ceyan, I'm being discharged today. Do you really have to block the hospital entrance like this?" It always seemed that Yan Quan was the first to speak on all the cruel topics.
"I said, we broke up."
Yan Ceyan felt as if his heart had been riddled with bullet holes in an instant, but he still gritted his teeth and persevered.
"Whether we break up or not, Yan Quan, it's not up to you."
"It's not up to me to decide..." Yan Quan murmured softly, her eyes turning cold and indifferent when she looked up again: "Are you dating only one person?"
"Or you could find someone else to date."
...Yan Ceyan couldn't understand why Yan Quan could so easily say such cruel and deliberately provocative words.
"Why... Yan Quan?"
Yan Ceyan forced a frown, suppressing his pain. A thin film of raindrops covered the scar under his eye, glistening...like tears: "I need a reason."
"The reason..."
Yan Quan was stunned for a moment, then a playful smile appeared on his lips. "Alright, Yan Ceyan, I'll tell you my reasons."
"I almost died."
"I almost died because of that candy."
"Yan Ceyan, just think of me as someone who's afraid of death."
I hate being with you anymore.
The torrential rain poured down more and more rapidly, drenching Yan Ceyan's head and trickling into his neck... constricting his trachea. He was about to suffocate...
"I don't believe it," Yan Ceyan said with difficulty.
"..." Yan Quan stared at Yan Ceyan, his tense gaze seemingly abruptly broken, a moment of stunned silence passing between him...
But this gap was fleeting, quickly replaced by a cold, ruthless mask: "Yan Ceyan..."
"To be honest, I don't like you at all."
"You forced me into this relationship."
The torrential rain relentlessly pounded against his eardrums, but Yan Ceyan could only hear Yan Quan's icy, piercing words echoing in his ears—"I don't like you at all..."
"I don't like you at all."
His canines pressed hard against his lower lip, and blood slowly seeped from Yan Ceyan's mouth... "Cough, cough—" A tremendous, bitter ache spread through his chest:
"I don't like it now..."
It's okay.
Yan Ceyan, deceiving himself, gradually focused his dull and unfocused gaze: "If you don't like it now, then later..."
Seeing through Yan Ceyan's gaze, Yan Quan's heart seemed to be twisted and squeezed out a sour juice.
"Yan Ceyan... just how clearly do I have to explain it before you understand?"
"Hoo—" Yan Quan took a deep breath. "Yan Ceyan, you still owe me a bet."
"If I make a request, I will definitely agree as long as you can fulfill it."
"I've thought about that request now."
Yan Quan felt that every breath he exhaled was forcing his creaking ribs to crush his entire chest cavity to pieces.
"Let's break up, Yan Ceyan."
"I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore."
"This is the bet I want you to agree to."
*Recollection of the dividing line, the end*
The painful memories of the past flooded into Yan Ceyan's mind like a tide, and in an instant, Yan Ceyan seemed to empathize with his eighteen-year-old self again and stand on the same side.
"I've changed my mind, Yan Quan." Yan Ceyan gripped Yan Quan's wrist tightly, his surroundings radiating an overwhelming and fierce anger.
With a taut effort of his arm muscles, he easily dragged Yan Quan into the bathroom of the bedroom.
Aside from the public restrooms in the hallways, these are the only two places in the Love House without cameras.
"Bang—" The bathroom door slammed shut, and Yan Ceyan turned around and twisted the lock to lock it completely.
Before Yan Quan could even utter the word "Yan Ce," it was drowned out by gasps of astonishment.
Yan Ceyan easily pinned Yan Quan against the cold tiled wall of the bathroom, his face facing a huge mirror.
Through the glass mirror, Yan Quan could clearly see Yan Ceyan's facial expression, his dark, deep eyes churning with turbulent emotions.
“Bring it up now, Yan Quan.”
What do you want me to agree to?
Yan Ceyan's palm was pressed against the back of Yan Quan's neck, burning hot, like a volcano that was holding back and about to erupt.
"Nine rings..."
"You've worked so hard today, risking your life to win this bet, what exactly do you want?"
"You want me to get out of here again? Or cut ties with you?"
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Author's Note: Although this chapter is a bit angsty [crying emoji], please believe me, dear readers, after the angst comes the sweetness [heart emoji]. PS: I'm late because I was busy today, but I'll update on time from now on [confetti emoji].
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