The Tattoo on His Ribs

Xi Jin had completed the new project with the Jiang Group, temporarily silencing Xi Kun. For once, he had time to attend classes at Peking University.

As he passed the basketball gym, the clamor of shouting caught his attention.

A dense crowd surrounded the court.

"Xingyu, look..."

Lin Piaopiao's voice rang out from within: "Woo, woo! Go, Teacher Jiang!!"

Xi Jin's black-and-white sneakers changed direction.

Nan Xingyu was absorbed in the game.

A chill suddenly crept up her back amid the heated atmosphere.

By the time she realized it, Xi Jin was already standing beside her.

He always appeared out of nowhere, like a ghost.

Nan Xingyu pretended not to see him and edged a small step to the side.

Xi Jin noticed out of the corner of his eye and gave her a sidelong glance.

A match between the teachers and students was underway on the court.

A boy on the student team had fallen and injured his knee and was helped off the court.

Jiang Yu happened to spot Xi Jin and waved with a smile.

"Xi Jin, want to come in as a substitute?"

At that, everyone turned to look.

Including Nan Xingyu.

The student team's captain said, "Teacher Jiang, Xi Jin is a great shot, but he might not be good at basketball. Our team has a substitute."

Nan Xingyu shook her head inwardly.

They still didn't know what that dog of a man was capable of.

As far as she knew,

as long as Xi Jin wanted to do something, he could be terrifyingly good at it.

But he really had never played basketball in front of others.

She, however, had played basketball with him countless times late at night, when no one else was around.

Every time, he dribbled circles around her.

When he was having fun, he liked to pick her up, set her on his shoulders, and run around the court to tease her.

He often scared her to tears.

She was terrified of falling.

Now, though, he stood in the crowd looking refined and elegant, a cool, aloof nobility about him.

It was hard to imagine him sweating it out on a basketball court.

"Aren't you bullying the teachers?"

Someone in the crowd said, "The teachers' team was thrown together at the last minute, and you're bringing in a trained substitute? That wouldn't be an honorable win."

"Exactly. The teachers aren't professional athletes. Three against five would be fair, wouldn't it?"

The crowd joined in with boos.

One of the older teachers couldn't keep going. "I'll come off and let Xi Jin sub in for our team. That should settle it, shouldn't it?"

The basketball captain said confidently, "Sure, I don't mind. Three against five is fine too."

The girls started gossiping among themselves.

"They waited until the second half to suggest three against five."

"Teachers, don't let them get so cocky! Take them down!"

"Go, teachers!! Go, Senior Xi Jin!!"

Once again, everyone's eyes turned to Xi Jin.

He didn't refuse. He took off his jacket with easy composure and handed it to her as though he had picked a random student.

"Could you hold this for me? Sorry for the trouble."

"..."

Nan Xingyu looked at him expressionlessly.

To the other girls, it was as though she had been chosen by the goddess of luck.

Nan Xingyu maintained a friendly expression and reached out to take his jacket.

A trace of amusement surfaced in Xi Jin's eyes.

Under cover of the jacket, he caught her hand and held it tightly.

Nan Xingyu: "..."

She tugged at her hand, then looked up, flustered and annoyed, afraid someone would notice something.

A few seconds passed.

Xi Jin let go and turned toward the court.

As he walked, he rolled up his shirt sleeves, revealing his pale forearms and their smooth, taut muscle lines.

The simple action drew screams from the girls around them.

Nan Xingyu held his jacket and watched his tall, lean figure from behind, her heart inexplicably beating a little faster.

The referee's whistle blew, and the game resumed.

No sooner had Xi Jin stepped onto the court than he stole the ball from the student team.

He dribbled quickly, dodging around the defenders in a few moves.

He planted his feet beyond the three-point line, bent his knees slightly, raised his hands, and shot.

The basketball traced an arc through the air.

Thump.

It went straight through the basket.

The entire court erupted.

Afternoon sunlight streamed through the gym windows, slanting across his white shirt as though gilding him in gold.

Dazzling.

Xi Jin's gaze passed over the cheering crowd and landed on Nan Xingyu.

Jiang Yu thought Xi Jin was looking at him and walked over with a smile for a high five. "Nice one, Xi Jin!"

Xi Jin gave his hand a token tap, but his gaze never moved.

Across the noisy crowd, he curved his lips at Nan Xingyu.

That smile was like the blazing sun.

It made her face grow slightly hot.

She averted her eyes, yet followed his figure out of the corner of her eye.

For the rest of the game, it became entirely Xi Jin's personal show.

Every move was crisp and striking.

As the score visibly closed,

the student team captain's expression grew uglier and uglier.

Suddenly, a basketball flew out of control toward Nan Xingyu.

She instinctively closed her eyes.

All she heard was a dull thud.

When she opened her eyes, Xi Jin was standing in front of her, facing her from a meter away.

He had blocked the ball with his back.

Sweat dripped from the hair on his forehead, and his gaze burned as he looked at her.

Nan Xingyu glanced at him once, then immediately lowered her head.

He could clearly have caught the ball, yet he had chosen to block it with his back.

She didn't know what he was thinking.

Not far away,

Jiang Yuexi, who had just arrived, happened to see it.

The way Xi Jin had blocked the ball for someone else without hesitation, and the unusual heat in his eyes,

stirred something strange in her heart.

This man, who was always so cold,

actually had a different side to him.

Jiang Yuexi, who had originally had no interest in basketball, came over to join the crowd. Like most of the girls, her gaze followed one person.

As the final whistle blew,

the last three-pointer Xi Jin had shot

went straight through the basket.

The cheers in the gym reached their peak.

Xi Jin's white shirt was already soaked with sweat, clinging tightly to his body and outlining his taut waist and abs and the smooth lines of his back.

The girls present

feasted their eyes.

Someone noticed the tattoo on his ribs below his heart.

Lin Piaopiao could hardly believe it. "Wow! Xi Jin actually has a tattoo! On his ribs, too. That's so restrained and sexy!"

The tattoo was faintly visible beneath his soaked white shirt.

Li Ziyan asked curiously, "What is it? I can't see it clearly."

Nan Xingyu's heart pounded wildly.

Just seeing the S, she knew it was her name.

Star Language.

Xingyu.

Nan Xingyu remembered what had happened after the basketball game ended.

Lin Piaopiao had said with a lovestruck look, "It's really hard to imagine. A face that refined, those abs practically radiating hormones, and that sexy tattoo—how amazing would it feel to do it with him?"

Nan Xingyu was doing that very thing now.

Her fingertips touched his hot, damp skin.

His low, husky breathing lingered in her ears.

It all told her clearly that the "amazing" feeling Lin Piaopiao had spoken of made her heart tremble far more than she had imagined.

The loose strands of hair at her forehead were damp with sweat, and her eyelashes trembled gently.

His face, so close to hers, was reflected in her hazy eyes.

His nose was high and straight, his lips red with passion.

His scorching breath brushed her neck.

Tender and lingering.

She had to admit,

that unfairly handsome face and the low gasps that escaped his throat when he was aroused were like alluring vines.

They wound around her heart until it tightened.

"Xiaoyu,"

he said, his voice lower than usual and thick with a huskiness he could hardly contain. "Say my name."

Her mind was both hazy and clear.

Following her instincts, Nan Xingyu parted her faintly trembling lips and spoke two syllables. "Xi Jin."

Before the last sound had faded, he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

The tip of his nose brushed her collarbone, his voice terribly hoarse.

"Do you love me?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu closed her eyes, holding something back.

When Xi Jin received no answer, he tightened his arms, a little more urgently.

Nan Xingyu bit her lower lip, but he parted her lips with the pad of his finger, crushing the breath she had held back between their lips.

He liked hearing her voice.

He liked seeing her aroused for him.

The warm glow of the wall lamp spilled across the edge of the bed, and a faint fragrance filled the air.

He brushed the damp strands of hair from her forehead with a careful tenderness.

Their eyes met. The desire in his had not yet fully faded, like starlight crushed to pieces.

Before Nan Xingyu could look away,

he leaned down again and kissed her lips.

The kiss was meant to soothe.

Nan Xingyu's gaze slowly drifted down to the tattoo.

She asked softly, "When did you get it?"

Xi Jin took her hand and pressed it gently against the tattoo, guiding her fingertips over the outline of "Star Language."

Close to her ear, he chuckled in a low, husky voice. "Do you like it, baby?"