Chapter 35: TMS
When Duan Zhuang returned, there was no longer a second slap mark on his face.
Ji Mian didn't know what Mu Yuman had said to him, but Duan Zhuang's expression looked relaxed.
He let out a sigh of relief and asked, "What did Sister Yuman say?"
“She said I’m worthless.”
Ji Mian: “…”
“Don’t worry.” Duan Zhuang stretched out his arms to hold him tightly, whispering, “It’s all good now.”
Ji Mian's nose felt a little sour, and he wrapped his arms around Duan Zhuang's waist, holding him tight.
However, just as he applied some strength with his arms, he heard a slight gasp from the man above him, and he felt Duan Zhuang’s waist tremble beneath his palm.
He was taken aback and quickly let go, looking up to meet Duan Zhuang's helpless eyes.
“Let me take a look,” Ji Mian said, reaching to undo the buttons of Duan Zhuang's coat and lifting up the thin sweater beneath it.
Duan Zhuang didn’t have exaggerated muscles, but the lines of muscle on his waist were smooth and beautiful. However, now there were more than ten marks on his waist that looked like they had been whipped, long red lines crisscrossing each other.
It was Mu Yuman’s feather duster.
Ji Mian pressed his lips tightly together, feeling that Duan Zhuang indeed deserved it, knowing that Mu Yuman was right there and still wanting to show off by touching his face. But his eyes gradually turned red.
Seeing this, Duan Zhuang pulled his clothes down, not letting him see.
“I deserve this.”
“…”
Ji Mian felt a pang of heartache and didn’t really want to speak.
But Duan Zhuang smiled, resting his cheek against Ji Mian's head, kissing his hair while casting an eager glance out the window, hoping for nightfall.
He wanted to hold him tightly in the most intimate way.
…
After more than half a month of vacation, Ji Mian returned to school.
Then came the graduation defense and graduation ceremony, after which he would go to the company he signed with to start working.
When Ji Mian received his first paycheck, he handed his salary card to Duan Zhuang.
This was something he had longed for years. During the time he was in high school and in a cold war with Duan Zhuang, receiving money transferred from him had once wounded Ji Mian's pride.
From that moment, he thought about earning a lot of money one day and throwing it right at Duan Zhuang's head.
Partly for that sense of satisfying revenge, and partly because he really wanted to repay Duan Zhuang.
Now, although he no longer wanted to “smash” money at Duan Zhuang, his desire to repay him had never changed.
Ji Mian had naturally thought about Mu Yuman, but his little bit of money was just enough for a meal in Gu Ting's eyes. He thought about buying some gifts but couldn’t come up with anything decent.
He could only temporarily give up.
Duan Zhuang took a look at Ji Mian’s salary card, and his mood was particularly complicated: “... Are you an idiot?”
“…”
In Ji Mian's memory, this was the first time Duan Zhuang had called him an idiot since they got together.
Just as he wanted to refute, Duan Zhuang pressed his head down.
When Ji Mian looked up again, Duan Zhuang had left him with a “wait” and turned to go downstairs.
Ji Mian stood there, waiting dumbly for a few minutes.
Duan Zhuang came back up, holding a thin card.
He shoved the card into Ji Mian's hand, reported a number, and said, “Keep it.”
Ji Mian was stunned.
Because he knew this amount was all of Duan Zhuang's savings.
Ji Mian didn’t know that since the day Duan Zhuang fell in love with him, he wanted to give him everything he had. As long as Ji Mian was willing to accept it.
Seeing Ji Mian staring blankly and not saying anything, Duan Zhuang said, “Keep it, your brother still has money.”
But Ji Mian was clearer about how much money he had than Duan Zhuang himself.
Ji Mian: “…”
So his brother could lie too.
He shoved the card back into Duan Zhuang's pants pocket, just as Duan Zhuang frowned, about to speak, Ji Mian stood on tiptoes, tilted his face up, and blocked his mouth.
This trick worked wonders on Duan Zhuang.
Duan Zhuang was taken aback for a moment and instinctively wrapped his arms around Ji Mian's waist, leaning down to entangle his lips with his.
Two minutes later, he reluctantly pushed Ji Mian away, his breath uneven but still rational.
He pretended to have a cold expression: “You…”
Just as he was about to say something, Ji Mian gently rubbed his knee against Duan Zhuang's thigh.
“Brother,” Ji Mian looked up at him, his eyes clear and bright, but the words he spoke were completely at odds with his innocent expression: “I want to do it.”
“…”
By the time the two reached a consensus on the salary card issue, it was already early the next morning. Neither of them could convince the other, so they simply gave up discussing the matter.
The feeling of being apart was indeed hard to bear.
Ji Mian had only been working for two months when Duan Zhuang could no longer bear the agony of missing him and took a long trip by car to see him.
Although there is work in his shop, it is much more flexible than Ji Mian's time.
If he puts in some extra hours for a couple of days, he can take it easier for the next few days.
Sometimes during long holidays, Ji Mian would go back, and they would visit each other.
But they still couldn't be on the road every day.
In fact, there are other ways to solve the problem, like video calls.
However, they are not used to having video calls like ordinary couples. It feels awkward; every time their eyes meet on that small screen, they instinctively look away, gazing at the sky or the ground, but never at each other.
Duan Zhang is definitely not an open guy and rarely says sweet nothings to Ji Mian. Hearing a single affectionate word from him is almost impossible.
Ji Mian is easily shy as well.
So, after more than two years of dating, they seldom take the initiative to say things like “I like you” or “I love you,” even though they both love hearing it.
Most of Ji Mian's weekends are spent on the phone with Duan Zhang.
Occasionally, during their calls, there would suddenly be silence from Duan Zhang's end, and then Ji Mian would quiet down too.
After a while, he would ask, “What’s wrong, brother?”
“I’m craving a cigarette,” Duan Zhang would reply on the phone.
Ji Mian knows he is thinking of him and sends Duan Zhang a kiss across thousands of kilometers.
In fact, since he turned twenty-eight, the day Ji Mian pushed away his kiss in bed and said he didn’t like the smell of smoke, Duan Zhang hasn’t smoked again.
But he has been trying to quit smoking for a lifetime; Ji Mian is his lifetime's candy to help him quit.
…
From that moment on, Ji Mian’s affection level has hardly changed, remaining at 7800 points, occasionally jumping up by three or five points, usually when Duan Zhang reminisces about the past and feels jealous.
When Duan Zhang gets jealous, he is also not very expressive, sitting seriously next to Ji Mian, silent. If it weren't for the system's notification sound reminding Ji Mian that his affection level has increased, he would never have guessed that the person sitting next to him was thinking these things.
This made him want to tell Duan Zhang the truth.
In this world, Ji Mian has reached the end of his life.
The process of dying turned out to be less painful than he imagined.
As Ji Mian lay weakly on the hospital bed, he felt as if he was just a little tired.
Duan Zhang was by his side, holding his hand, his gaze calm yet complex.
In the face of parting life and death, he didn’t feel fear or sadness. Death couldn’t separate them either.
Ji Mian’s consciousness gradually sank into a haze.
Before closing his eyes, Duan Zhang whispered something in his ear.
But Ji Mian was too tired, thinking he would answer Duan Zhang's voice when he woke up.
He struggled to open his lips, mumbling a few words: “Brother… I want to sleep.”
In his daze, he heard Duan Zhang reply, “Okay.”
……
【Congratulations, task completed.】
The system’s voice woke Ji Mian from his dream, the smell of disinfectant filling his nostrils, just like the scent before he slept.
【First task completed, current cumulative affection level points: 7900 points.】
Ji Mian shook his head slightly.
The task is over, which means...
【Am I dead?】
【Yes.】
【What about him?】
【……】
Ji Mian stopped asking.
He knew the answer.
The white ceiling above him, the position he lay in, the IV drip beside him, and the strong smell of disinfectant in the air were all very similar to when he died, so similar that he almost thought he had just taken a nap.
But the person who had been watching over him was gone.
This is a new world.
Ji Mian had no desire to explore here; he briefly lost his curiosity.
Before his consciousness faded, the words Duan Zhang whispered in his ear that he couldn’t hear clearly at that time began to clarify little by little.
“You once said that if you really like someone, you would only like him for this life.”
“Ji Mian.” Duan Zhang asked him softly, “In the next life, can you also like me?”
Ji Mian blinked, not crying. He had lived a good life with Duan Zhang, so happy that he shouldn’t feel sad.
He just regretted not answering Duan Zhang, not even being able to say a simple “okay.”
The system did not urge him and allowed Ji Mian to have some time to daze off.
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