Restricted Area

After moving into the suburbs, Jiang Chijing had always stayed alone. He would make the occasional trip back home for family gatherings, but no one had ever come by this small house of his.

Now, on an early Saturday morning, an intruder had appeared in his house, sitting grandiosely at the dining table, sharing breakfast with him.

“Do you want more strawberry jam?”

Zheng Mingyi pushed the jar in front of Jiang Chijing, his motions so natural that it appeared as though he was the actual owner of this house.

“No thanks.” Jiang Chijing buried his head into eating his toast, keeping his elbows clamped by his sides, for some reason not daring to look Zheng Mingyi straight in the eye.

How did he put it again?

—Eat, eat with relish, and he’d be most delighted to oblige.

If he knew that Zheng Mingyi would be out so soon, he’d choose death over making such a promise.

“Are you full?” Zheng Mingyi asked out of the blue.

Jiang Chijing almost choked on his toast. He beat his chest and took a gulp of milk from the glass cup by his hand. He asked, “What?”

“Two toasts,” Zheng Mingyi said, “is that filling enough?”

There wasn’t anything complicating Zheng Mingyi’s gaze, as though he was sincerely concerned about whether Jiang Chijing had enough to eat.

But Jiang Chijing knew that this bushy-tailed wolf was doing it on purpose. He took a deep breath, levelly saying, “I’m full, thanks.”

He had to admit, Zheng Mingyi suddenly appearing really made Jiang Chijing go into a fluster. But after coming around, he quickly realised that he shouldn’t be feeling self-conscious. This house was his domain; it was only right for him to put on the proper airs that a host should have.

After clearing the toast and milk, Jiang Chijing brought his plate and cup to the sink. As he turned on the tap, he told Zheng Mingyi behind him, “Bring the dishes over when you’re done.”

Immediately after, he heard Zheng Mingyi stand up, followed by gradually approaching footsteps.

The next second, Zheng Mingyi held Jiang Chijing’s waist from behind, pulling him aside. He took the plate from his hands and rolled up his sleeves, saying, “I’ll do the washing.”

Jiang Chijing froze for a moment, not expecting Zheng Mingyi to settle himself in like this. He was unused to people intruding on his personal territory; it made him very uncomfortable. But perhaps because he had long tacitly accepted Zheng Mingyi stepping into his restricted area, it was inexplicably calming now to see Zheng Mingyi washing the dishes at his house.

He returned to the living room sofa and took his phone to swipe through the news. But his gaze remained steadfastly on Zheng Mingyi’s figure.

This should have been the suit that Zheng Mingyi wore to trial, and after being taken into custody in court, was brought along to Southside Prison.

There weren’t the pencil-straight folds of having been ironed on the shirt, and irregular creases appeared with Zheng Mingyi’s posture as he bent over slightly.

Looking over from where Jiang Chijing sat, Zheng Mingyi’s back was wide and sturdy. The lines of his figure were suddenly pulled tight at the waist, and his slacks wrapped around his slim hips. His sleeves were pulled up to the elbows, revealing toned arms. Normally, these two arms were used for boxing, but they were now washing dishes in the kitchen of Jiang Chijing’s house.

This was going to be the death of him.

Jiang Chijing discovered that he really damned liked secretly watching Zheng Mingyi.

Only god knew how badly he wanted to hug Zheng Mingyi from behind, pull down the zip of his dress pants…

Hold. Stop right there.

Jiang Chijing forcibly averted his gaze, only then realising that he was holding his phone upside down.

A short while later,  the running water in the kitchen stopped. Zheng Mingyi came to the living room and sat down on the other side of the sofa. It was only then that Jiang Chijing noticed the electronic monitor fastened to Zheng Mingyi’s ankle.

The tracking anklet flashed with a red GPS light, reminding Jiang Chijing that the person seated next to him was an inmate, which for better or for worse, made it all feel more real to him.

“Where’s Guan Wei?” Jiang Chijing asked.

“Working on the case, I suppose.” Zheng Mingyi pulled at his collar, loosening the top two buttons on his shirt.

Suits weren’t really comfortable to be worn at home. It wasn’t as comfortable as indoor clothing, like the white cotton T-shirt and the knee-length shorts that Jiang Chijing was wearing, his legs casually curled up to the side and his elbows propped up on the armrest next to him.

“Working on the case?” Jiang Chijing asked. “Shouldn’t he be keeping an eye on you?”

“Why does he need to keep an eye on me?” Zheng Mingyi said. “Besides, I’m just staying at your place; I’m not going anywhere at all.”

Jiang Chijing immediately felt that something was amiss. He thought that Zheng Mingyi was only here to have breakfast and leave with Guan Wei to the city to work on the case. But now it appeared that this person didn’t seem to have this in mind.

“Aren’t you going to investigate Wu Peng?” Jiang Chijing asked.

“I don’t have to go over in person,” Zheng Mingyi said, “Xu Sheng’s men are helping me keep an eye on Wu Peng. They’ll report directly to Guan Wei if there’s any news.”

“If you don’t have to go over in person,” Jiang Chijing asked, confusion fogging his mind, “then why did Guan Wei vouch for you to come out?”

There wasn’t much of a problem vouching for Zheng Mingyi; he wouldn’t act out when released. But at the end of the day, he was still a convict. If anything were really to go wrong in between, it would be Guan Wei’s career on the line.

“I gave Guan Wei quite a few pieces of information last time. Among which, ABC Technologies had exposed themselves, allowing him to follow the breadcrumbs to find evidence. But the other companies will be harder to investigate. Xu Sheng has a large network and can use some ‘unorthodox’ means, so I got them to be eyes for Guan Wei. In exchange, Guan Wei is to vouch for me to come out for a day.”

“But there’s nothing involving you out here, no?” Jiang Chijing voiced the question in his heart, “May I ask, what did you come out to do then?”

So far, Zheng Mingyi had perfect control over the case progress from prison; it wasn’t necessary for him to specially make a trip out to supervise things. He came in and out as he pleased, was he taking prison for some kind of holiday resort?

“You,” Zheng Mingyi leisurely uttered a single word.

“Me, what about me?” Jiang Chijing didn’t understand what Zheng Mingyi was talking about.

“Nothing.” Zheng Mingyi shifted his gaze away, picking up the book, Fundamentals of Weiqi, from the coffee table. “Are you learning weiqi?”

“Mm-hmm,” Jiang Chijing openly confessed. He didn’t intend to keep it from Zheng Mingyi, after all, he had planned to spar with Zheng Mingyi after picking it up. “I’ll play with you when I’ve learnt it.”

“Afraid that I’ll be bored in prison?” Zheng Mingyi smiled, putting down the book in his hand. He walked to the bookcase by the television. “Do you usually read at home?”

Those books were just decoration; who didn’t secretly have the heart of a hipster? Jiang Chijing usually only had one hobby at home—spying on Zheng Mingyi.

“Of course, reading can build character,” Jiang Chijing solemnly said.

Zheng Mingyi nodded. Then, he walked next to the stairs and asked, “Can I take a look upstairs?”

Jiang Chijing said without the slightest hesitation, “No.”

His bedroom was upstairs; he didn’t have any way to explain the positioning of his bed, which was still by the window.

Zheng Mingyi didn’t insist on it, returning to the sofa and sitting on the other side of it. This time, he took off his tie and flung it on the coffee table, then loosened another button on his shirt, saying, “Your house is a little warm.”

Jiang Chijing thought that it wasn’t really, after all, he was in short sleeves and shorts.

But he abruptly recalled how Zheng Mingyi would go topless at home during past weekends; in comparison, it must be rather uncomfortable now to be in a dress shirt and pants.

“Shall I turn on the aircon for you?” Jiang Chijing asked.

“Okay,” said Zheng Mingyi.

Jiang Chijing got up to close all the windows on the ground floor and turned on the house’s central air conditioning.

It would take a while for the room to cool down. Zheng Mingyi impatiently fanned himself with his collar, exposing collarbones that hid in and out of sight. He rested one leg over the other, like a stern boss listening to a staff presentation, or a fussy contracting party who was hard to please.

Jiang Chijing had been avoiding the thought of it all this while, pretending that he hadn’t said those provocative words of being ‘most delighted to oblige’ to Zheng Mingyi. But when he looked at the tie that Zheng Mingyi flung over the coffee table and that well-fitting suit, his mind betrayed him again.

He wanted to tie Zheng Mingyi’s hands behind him, ride his hips and tear off his white dress shirt.

He wanted to kiss Zheng Mingyi breathless, and let him know what a mistake it was to entice him.

He wanted to viciously bite Zheng Mingyi’s neck, competing who was better at planting strawberries.

He wanted to…

“Officer Jiang,” Zheng Mingyi parted his lips slightly, gazing at Jiang Chijing. He said, “What’s on your mind?”

Jiang Chijing abruptly jerked back to reality, burying all the filth in his head, saying without a flicker in his expression, “Nothing.”

Returning to sit on one side of the sofa, Jiang Chijing kicked off his indoor slippers, extending his exposed lower legs to the middle of the sofa, the soles of his feet, in a seemingly careless gesture, brushing against the dress pants.

Zheng Mingyi cast his eyes down, gazing at Jiang Chijing’s fair feet, then at his nonchalant face. He arched an eyebrow, saying, “Do you need me to move?”

Jiang Chijing, feigning ignorance, asked in return, “Why do you have to move?”

Jiang Chijing knew that Zheng Mingyi was playing hard to get.

At first, due to his avoidance and repression of the topic, he’d done his best not to let his brain churn with filth, so he hadn’t perceived any suggestive undertones. But looking back now, he asked Zheng Mingyi what he had come out to do, and Zheng Mingyi said him. Putting those two sentences together, Zheng Mingyi had actually come out of prison to do him.

From the outset, Zheng Mingyi had never concealed his intentions. He’d even loosened his tie and popped a few buttons, even claiming that the house was hot. And Jiang Chijing was obtuse enough to only now realise that this peacock was spreading its fine tail feathers towards him.

The night that sparks flew, Jiang Chijing wasn’t able to control himself and was the one who caved first. This time, on his turf, he wanted to be the one in control at all costs.

“I seem to be blocking your feet,” Zheng Mingyi said. “It can’t be comfortable for them to be cramped up like this, can it?”

“Yeah it isn’t,” Jiang Chijing moved to lie down, stretching out his calves, resting them over Zheng Mingyi’s thighs. His eyes on his phone, he lazily said, “Lend me your legs for a bit.”

Zheng Mingyi stared fixedly at Jiang Chijing’s calves without moving.

Due to wearing his uniform for most of the day, Jiang Chijing’s feet were even whiter than his neck. He flipped over, lying sideways with his back facing outwards from the sofa instead, while his toes pointed towards a certain part of Zheng Mingyi’s body.

“Officer Jiang,” Zheng Mingyi’s voice was taut with his restraint.

“Hm?” Jiang Chijing’s toes absently grazed the zipper of the dress pants.

“Have you ever studied the acupuncture points on the soles of your feet?” After Zheng Mingyi said this, he grasped the rebellious foot between his legs, running a thumb across the arch of the foot.

A tingly current rushed from the sole of his foot to the calf. Jiang Chijing gritted his teeth, enduring the numbness, retaliating by stomping on pressing the heel of his other foot at Zheng Mingyi’s groin, provoking, “Why, have you studied traditional Chinese medicine?”

Zheng Mingyi’s brows creased. He narrowed his eyes slightly, pinching Jiang Chijing’s foot with startling strength, causing red marks to bloom.

“It hurts, Zheng Mingyi!” Jiang Chijing seriously wanted to twist his foot from Zheng Mingyi’s hands, and to do so, he discourteously stomped his other foot on Zheng Mingyi’s abdominal muscles.

This time, Zheng Mingyi seemed unable to restrain himself any longer. He suddenly leaned forward, forced Jiang Chijing’s legs apart, and caged both hands by his ears, saying, “You win, Officer Jiang.”

As Zheng Mingyi had unbuttoned the top three buttons, when Jiang Chijing gazed down, he could faintly see abdominal muscles flash in and out of sight. It was inconceivably alluring.

He bit the tip of his tongue, clinging onto his sanity by sheer force of will. He looked loftily at Zheng Mingyi. “Is this all you can do?”

“Yes, I surrender.” Zheng Mingyi bent over and bit Jiang Chijing’s lips.

Jiang Chijing savoured Zheng Mingyi’s submissive kiss, immensely satisfied. Then, he heard Zheng Mingyi say breathlessly, “Where’s your uniform? Go change into it before we continue.”

“Erm.” Jiang Chijing froze. “I didn’t bring it back.”

Zheng Mingyi stopped kissing him. He looked incredulously at Jiang Chijing. “What about the handcuffs and baton?”

Jiang Chijing guiltily said, “Didn’t bring those too.”

Zheng Mingyi took in a deep breath, as though he was smothering rage back down. “You were clearly aware that I was coming out today, so why didn’t you make any preparations at all?”

Jiang Chijing couldn’t be blamed for this. He had really believed that Zheng Mingyi was out to investigate the case. Who knew that this guy would be spending the entire day at his place?

It was really only an issue of men being too smart. Surprises would fall apart when others couldn’t keep up with their thought processes due to the poor synergy.

“I did prepare,” Jiang Chijing pleaded unconvincingly. “When I saw you downstairs after waking up, I took twice as long to wash up than normal.”

If it weren’t that he cared about Zheng Mingyi, Jiang Chijing wouldn’t have gone to the trouble. The simple indoor clothing that he wore was an outfit that he’d spent a long time picking out from the wardrobe to appear neither too casual nor too formal.

As if at the end of his wits, Zheng Mingyi exhaled deeply, pinching Jiang Chijing’s face. “What do you think I should do with you? Hm? I had been planning today from last week, and all you did was take twice as long to wash up?”

Jiang Chijing also found it a bit amusing. The painstaking calculations Zheng Mingyi made, even planning a time to get himself out of prison, had all come to naught because of his cluelessness.

“Don’t be angry.” Jiang Chijing pulled Zheng Mingyi’s collar, clamping his legs around the other’s waist, using him to sit up from the sofa.

Zheng Mingyi cooperatively supported Jiang Chijing’s hips and got up whilst holding him. In this way, Jiang Chijing was carried half a head taller than Zheng Mingyi.

Jiang Chijing didn’t really have any skill in coaxing people with words. He grabbed the hair at the back of Zheng Mingyi’s head, forcing him to tilt his chin up, gazing down at him with hooded eyes, saying, “You only have 24 hours. Are you sure you want to waste it on anger?”

“There are only 23 hours left.” Zheng Mingyi glanced at his watch. He completely ripped off his last facade of propriety, staring at Jiang Chijing fiercely. “I can’t waste even a second.”