Winner Takes All

After Li Shuo got in the car, he called Zhao Jinxin back on the phone.

Zhao Jinxin answered the phone almost instantly: “Uncle Li, are you coming?”

“Are you telling me the truth, or are you bluffing me?”

“No.” Zhao Jinxin said, “I’m really afraid of the dark. If no one will accompany me at night, I have to turn on a light to sleep.”

Li Shuo has indeed heard that many people have such phobia and can’t help wondering whether Zhao Jinxin is serious. If it is true, then Zhao Jinxin should be afraid now. He said helplessly: “Then wait for me, I’ll be coming now. Is there any emergency light or candle at home?”

“Yes.” Zhao Jinxin whispered, “but the light source is too small, it looks more terrifying.”

Li Shuo somewhat believed that Zhao Jinxin was really afraid of the dark, so he soothed: “Don’t be afraid, I will be there soon.” He drove and thought, Zhao Jinxin was powerful and sturdy when he dealt with the three robbers, why? But there is always a child-like side, and of course, there is also a side that is like he is possessed by a demon in bed. Such a multifaceted and fickle Zhao Jinxin is dangerous, but also sexy and cute. Among the people he has interacted with, no one can make him happier physically and emotionally the way Zhao Jinxin does.

Li Shuo couldn’t help but imagine Zhao Jinxin hiding in a dark room wrapped in a quilt, waiting for himself to comfort him, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help rising.

Li Shuo rushed to Zhao Jinxin’s house as fast as possible. The whole building was indeed pitch black, and it seemed that the power outage was true.

The luxurious apartment has a generator to provide emergency power, so the elevator can still be used. Li Shuo went upstairs, and just knocked on the door twice, the door opened like a whirlwind, and a tall shadow of a man fell into his arms from the darkness. IHe was pulled inside and hugged tightly.

Li Shuo feels a pity for him in his heart. He patted Zhao Jinxin on the back and said softly: “It’s alright, don’t be afraid, Uncle Li is here.”

Zhao Jinxin lightly licked the hickey he had planted, showing a triumphant smile: “you’re so slow.”

“I’m still slow? I almost ran the red light.”

Zhao Jinxin didn’t let him go, so he held Li Shuo and dragged him inside the house.

The apartment has a double-story structure with a single-story area of more than two hundred square meters. The living room is very large but now it is pitch black. Looking out from the spacious floor-to-ceiling windows, there are no taller buildings around, only the dark blue night sky with dark clouds. It does look a little scary.

Li Shuo rubbed Zhao Jinxin’s hair vigorously: “Okay? I’m here, so don’t be afraid.”

Zhao Jinxin raised his head and looked at Li Shuo sadly: “Are you happy going out on a date?”

“Why should I not be happy to see an old friend?” Li Shuo didn’t want to talk to Zhao Jinxin about Han Feiye. Then, he suddenly remembered something, “When did you change my caller ID picture? Too immature. Now, what if my parents see it?”

Zhao Jinxin shrugged. He does not at all appear to be surprised: “I want you to think of me all the time.”

Li Shuo deleted the caller ID in front of him: “Don’t mess around next time.” Then, he pointed to his neck, “This too. I’m really serious. If you do this again, I will get angry.”

Zhao Jinxin hooked his neck: “Why, did it affect your relationship with your ex-boyfriend?” He deliberately stressed the pronunciation of ‘ex’.

“It doesn’t matter who I meet. It’s rude to meet anyone with this kind of thing on your neck.”

“Then you can do it to me too, so we can be even.” Zhao Jinxin tilted his neck and moved it towards Li Shuo.

Li Shuo pushed Jinxin’s head away: “I’m not interested in that.” Li Shuo then saw the emergency light on the table so he went to turn it on, “Isn’t it quite bright?

“Not enough, I want you to accompany me.”

Li Shuo asked helplessly: “Have you eaten?”

“No.”

“I’ll make you something to eat.” Li Shuo carried the emergency light into the kitchen and took out a few ingredients from the refrigerator.

Zhao Jinxin hugged him from behind, his head pressed against his neck, like a large koala.

Li Shuo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “You plan to let me cook like this?”

“Just do your thing… I will just hug you.” Zhao Jinxin did not seem to have any intention of letting him go.

Li Shuo had no choice but to let Zhao Jinxin hang on to him like that while he washed and cut the vegetables neatly under the illumination of the emergency light.

Zhao Jinxin was silent for a while before he finally asked: “What kind of person is your ex-boyfriend?”

Li Shuo paused to think before answering: “He is a very good person.”

“How good is he? In what way is he good?”

“Um…he is very mature, smart, hardworking, sharp and think meticulously. He also has a calm personality. I have been with him for three years and I had never once heard him talk bad about others.”

“Oh, he’s so good.” Zhao Jinxin said with a little sarcasm, “then how can he ended up as your ex-boyfriend…”

Li Shuo felt a little uncomfortable with the sarcasm in Zhao Jinxin’s words, but he didn’t comment anything on it: “I went to Africa to help teach after graduating from college. He didn’t go, so we broke up.”

“It’s him, the one who promised you to go and broke his promise because of a work opportunity.”

Li Shuo stopped: “I said it last time, he has his own problems.”

“No matter what problems he faced, he still broke his promise.”

“His family background is not well-off, and it was hard to find a good job. I only thought of myself at the time. I didn’t have problems with money, so I thought that other people shouldn’t care about it. I was too selfish.

Zhao Jinxin chuckled: “If he really cares about money, he shouldn’t break up with you. As long as he is with you, will he still be short of money in his life? To put it bluntly, he doesn’t trust you at all.”

Li Shuo yelled and put down the knife, and his voice sank: “Jin Xin, that was my past relationship. I don’t need or like you to analyze it casually. What do you know? Even if he really doesn’t trust me, that’s because I was too naive back then and didn’t give him enough sense of security.”

Zhao Jinxin unconsciously let go of his hand, and raised his voice: “So is it your fault that you broke up? Do you have to be full of guilt? Are you planning to rekindle the passion of that time?”

Li Shuo turned around, stared into Zhao Jinxin’s eyes, and said seriously: “The feelings are over, no matter how sorry or sad it is, I have no plans to rekindle any passion.” His love for Han Feiye had completely integrated in the memory of his youth, no matter how beautiful and worthy those years were, they can only be remembered. He had always liked Han Feiye because of his appreciation of that person’s character, personality, and soul. But he had already fallen out of love.

Zhao Jinxin raised his eyebrows: “Really?”

“Really.”

“Then what if he still likes you? Would you like to rebuild the relationship with him?”

Li Shuo was startled, he hadn’t thought about this possibility, after all, he appeared to be too affectionate in his nature.

Zhao Jinxin squinted his eyes: “Will you refuse?”

“I…” Li Shuo paused and said cautiously, “I don’t know. I don’t know whether our thoughts, concepts, and principles still fit after 12 years.”

“What if it fits? Could you still like him?”

Li Shuo stared directly into Zhao Jinxin’s eyes: “I can’t predict what’s going to happen in the future. What’s the point of discussing this with me? Shouldn’t there be a boundary between us?” He has been annoyed by Zhao Jinxin’s aggressive questions. Why should he answer? He never asked how many people Zhao Jinxin had slept with so what is Zhao Jinxin’s rights to issue such questions

“Boundary.” Zhao Jinxin sneered as if he was chewing the word. “Of course. So am I crossing the boundary today?”

Li Shuo lowered his eyes: “Yes, this is one of them.”

A chill flashed in Zhao Jinxin’s eyes, and he smiled: “Uncle Li is so ruthless, I suddenly know why you have so many ex-boyfriends.”

This sentence can be regarded as stepping on the tail of Li Shuo. He was ridiculed by his own father and he endured it. But now that he is being ridiculed by a boy who was almost ten years younger than him, he can’t take it. His feelings had failed again and again and it shows on his face. He frowned. : “I have love for every one and treat each one of them seriously. If we don’t end up together, that is due to fate. Are you saying this is too much of me?”

“Am I wrong? You are always a lover. In fact, you are more affectionate than anyone else. For example, Li Chengxiu, my brother made the earth shakes looking for Li Chengxiu, how about you? Have you really been sad or worried?” Zhao Jinxin had refrained himself from touching the topic that will provoke Li Shuo before this and he knew that he shouldn’t say a word, but he just couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

Li Shuo is getting slightly angrily: “Does it have to be stupid to be affectionate? Is it ridiculous? I’m not a kid like you anymore. You’re saying I’m so affectionate? I’m so affectionate? What about you who are famous in North American GAY circles? Such love for mature men?”

Zhao Jinxin’s face changed slightly, and he smiled coldly: “Who told you?”

“Is it important who told me?” Li Shuo then made a stop gesture, “Okay, this dispute is completely inexplicable. Your past belongs to you, and my past belongs to me. We shouldn’t bother each other about this and we don’t have any standpoint to blame anyone. This is called the boundary.”

Zhao Jinxin put his arms around his chest: “I am young, I am not married, and I don’t make promises, so is there any problem in going to bed with someone I like?”

“No problem!” Li Shuo suddenly became angry, “No problem at all, that is your freedom. So how many predecessors I have, I am affectionate or inaffectionate, who I am dating, who I will be with in the future, and whatever the fuck else is my freedom. Can we stop this meaningless topic now?” Li Shuo felt that he was stupid to argue with Zhao Jinxin about this kind of issue. Today Zhao Jinxin is just like taking gunpowder. He can’t understand what is happening between the two of them.

He was obviously the most restrained kind of person, but he was always agitated by Zhao Jinxin.

Zhao Jinxin lowered his head and was silent for a moment. He then suddenly laughed: “Well, I was wrong, I crossed the line, Uncle Li, don’t be angry with me.”

Li Shuo could hear the irony in Zhao Jinxin’s tone. The apology also made him feel unhappy. He turned on the tap and washed his hand: “Today we are not suitable for getting along and communicating. I will go back first.”

Zhao Jinxin hugged his waist: “I won’t let you go.”

Li Shuo frowned and said, “Let go, I’m serious.”

Zhao Jinxin was silent for a moment: “I’m afraid of the dark.”

Li Shuo suddenly felt as if he was discouraged, full of powerlessness. He doesn’t know how many times Zhao Jinxin had provoked him with words, and then acted as if nothing happened. He sometimes wondered whether it was because his personality was too forgiving that Zhao Jinxin tested him again and again. He sighed: “Jin Xin, I hope we can respect each other in the future. Don’t question my life and feelings. I’m serious. If you can’t do it…” He wanted to say that they should separate, but he didn’t know why the words were stuck in his throat. The two are not really together, but at least, at least before, they did had a good time. Thinking of separating from Zhao Jinxin, his chest tightened.

What is Zhao Jinxin thinking? They agreed to the relationship between them as only bed partners but now he acted as if he was jealous. For Li Shuo, who had been tempered by a lot of emotions, he couldn’t see it for a while. He wanted to observe for a while before deciding whether to open his words and make it clear, even if he might be humiliated by himself, it would be better than wasting time like this.

The relationship with Zhao Jinxin gave him the feeling of a game for the first time, because he was dominant in every passage in the past. Maybe he subconsciously indulged in such exciting and fresh matches, but he was also afraid of this. This feeling. In any case, he must control his relationship with Zhao Jinxin as he had controlled every relationship of his in the past. He uses reason to direct the direction of his life, and he should never go with his emotions.

Zhao Jinxin kissed his cheek with his warm lips, and there was a bit of coldness in his soft voice: “Okay, it’s better to just communicate with you in bed.”

Li Shuo squinted his eyes and waved off his unhappiness.

They are bed partners, and Zhao Jinxin said that there is nothing wrong with that title.