Don't Bully Me

Shi Junyi did not think a playboy like Jiang Qiao, who was obviously a seasoned hand at romance, simply lacked love.

Five hours ago, he had been courting the Luo family's young lady. An hour ago, he had run into a little duck throwing himself into his arms at Shi Junyi's home.

And now, he wanted to make love with him.

There were truly few people bold enough to be so promiscuous with him. At least so far, no such suicidal warrior had appeared.

Shi Junyi felt that Jiang Qiao most likely had some other motive, only he had hidden it too well and had yet to reveal it.

Shi Junyi turned onto his side to face Jiang Qiao, propping his head up with one hand. He withdrew his other hand from Jiang Qiao's palm, placed it on his lower abdomen, and pressed lightly.

The muscles and skin possessed the firm texture unique to men. They were not soft, but they were warm and smooth.

Jiang Qiao gave a soft hum and pressed down on his hand. "Don't mess around, brother. I'm easy to turn on."

"Shh, don't move." Shi Junyi's voice was low, and in the silent night, it was especially intoxicating to Jiang Qiao.

Jiang Qiao obediently released him, allowing Shi Junyi's hand to continue wandering over his body, from his lower abdomen to his chest, before finally caressing Jiang Qiao's Adam's apple.

Shi Junyi's thumb rubbed back and forth over Jiang Qiao's beautiful Adam's apple, then gradually tightened, closing around Jiang Qiao's throat.

Jiang Qiao did not struggle. He raised a hand to grip Shi Junyi's forearm, feeling the lines of muscle bulging beneath the strain and the steadily increasing force of his hand.

He savored the thrill of suffocation.

He heard Shi Junyi whisper in his ear, "Jiang Qiao, what do you want?"

Jiang Qiao blinked. Shi Junyi was ruthless and suspicious; no matter what he said, Shi Junyi would not believe him.

He let Shi Junyi hold his lifeline in his hand, merely stretching out his leg and lightly brushing Shi Junyi's calf with his toes through their pajama pants.

With difficulty, his voice hoarse, he said, "Brother, I can't breathe."

Shi Junyi did not hear Jiang Qiao's inner thoughts, and the strength in his hand did not lessen in the slightest.

Seeing that Shi Junyi remained unmoved, Jiang Qiao's gaze flickered. He released Shi Junyi's forearm, raised his elbow to block, and broke free of Shi Junyi's hold.

He rolled over and pinned Shi Junyi beneath him, gripping Shi Junyi's throat in the same way.

"Don't be like this, brother. Don't bully me, or I won't be able to stop myself from fighting back."

Shi Junyi let out a derisive laugh, grabbed Jiang Qiao's wrist, and used his waist to flip him back beneath him. "Jiang Qiao, you've got some nerve."

Jiang Qiao raised one leg and wrapped it around Shi Junyi's waist, pulling him down. "If it were anyone else, I would definitely break his hand and make him apologize to me."

"Is that so? Then since it's me, what are you going to do?" Shi Junyi asked.

The two went back and forth, secretly wrestling for the upper hand. Jiang Qiao locked Shi Junyi with both legs, leaving him unable to move.

Shi Junyi gripped Jiang Qiao's arm, pressing hard enough to make his wound ache sharply.

Jiang Qiao hissed and was the first to relax his legs, releasing Shi Junyi. He pleaded, "Let me go, brother. My wound really hurts. I saved you, I didn't harm you. Why make things so difficult for me?"

Shi Junyi released him and sat up. The blanket that had been covering them both slipped down as well.

Shi Junyi looked down at Jiang Qiao, the corner of his eye twitching. "You weren't wearing clothes?"

Jiang Qiao answered as if it were only natural, "Why would anyone wear clothes to sleep?"

Shi Junyi raised a brow slightly, a smile curling at his lips. "A little small."

Jiang Qiao considered himself well-endowed by normal standards. Knowing Shi Junyi was deliberately needling him, he did not get angry. He thrust his hips teasingly and joked, "As long as it works. Want to try it, brother?"

For some reason, those words struck a nerve. Shi Junyi immediately lost his smile, his face turning cold as he said harshly, "Get out."

Jiang Qiao froze at first, then grew angry too. What kind of shitty temper was that? He changed his face faster than turning a page.

He glanced at Shi Junyi, rose without a word, snatched up the blanket from beside him, and walked out of the bedroom, slamming the door shut with a bang.

When he took the blanket, he brushed against Shi Junyi's arm.

That moody bastard. He's kicking me out now, but he'd better not regret it later. I'm keeping score, and sooner or later, I'll make him pay it back slowly.

The bed upstairs was wet, and Jiang Qiao had no intention of going back up there. He placed the blanket on the sofa, put on the pajamas he had tossed there earlier, and poured himself a glass of water.

He told himself not to get angry. That was the person he had chosen for himself; he had brought this on himself. He needed to learn tolerance and patience, not rush back in a fit of temper and strangle the man to death.

Jiang Qiao drank three consecutive glasses of cold water before barely suppressing his anger. He lay down on the sofa in a sulk and fell asleep within ten minutes.

Early the next morning, while Jiang Qiao was still dreaming, Shi Junyi kicked him off the side of the sofa and onto the floor.

He jolted awake, startled. Just as he was about to start cursing, he saw Shi Junyi standing beside him, wrapped in his coat with an awful expression on his face.

Jiang Qiao rubbed his face and got up. Seeing the unnatural flush on Shi Junyi's face, he raised a hand to touch his forehead. "You have a fever?"

Shi Junyi's face darkened. He took off the coat and tossed it onto the floor, then curled up on the sofa and wrapped himself tightly in the blanket that still carried Jiang Qiao's body heat and faint milky scent, leaving only half his face exposed.

"You're this weak?" Jiang Qiao frowned.

The Binhai Special Zone had a tropical monsoon climate and only three seasons a year. Even during the coolest season, the average temperature never dropped below eighteen degrees Celsius.

He had never expected that merely taking away the blanket would give Shi Junyi a fever.

Jiang Qiao felt somewhat regretful. If he had known, he would have yielded to him a little more.

He dug out a thermometer from the first-aid kit Fu Zhilan had brought out yesterday, shook it, and handed it to Shi Junyi.

Shi Junyi did not move.

So Jiang Qiao reached under the blanket, gripped his arm, tucked the thermometer under Shi Junyi's armpit, then squeezed in beside him and stared him down.

Five minutes later, he reached in again and took out the thermometer.

"38.8 degrees Celsius. Do you need to go to the hospital?" Jiang Qiao asked.

Shi Junyi shook his head.

Jiang Qiao then poured him a glass of cold water from the water purifier's drinking-water tap.

"Do you think I'm not dying fast enough?" Shi Junyi asked.

Jiang Qiao's past living conditions had been far too awful. Forget a fever—even with broken arms or legs, he would only get patched up by an unlicensed doctor at the fighting ring, take some medicine, and endure the rest on his own.

Taking care of someone else was even more out of the question.

But he was quick to learn. Remembering that Fu Zhilan had even warmed the milk for him last night, he copied what he had seen, poured out the cold water, and boiled a kettle of hot water for Shi Junyi instead.

He even drew further inferences, finding cold medicine and fever reducers in the first-aid kit.

After taking the medicine, Shi Junyi no longer resembled the sharp, suited elite he had been. He stayed silent beneath the blanket.

A grown man over six feet tall looked small, pitiful, and helpless.

Afraid that he would not take proper care of him, Jiang Qiao crouched beside the sofa and looked up at him. "Are you going back to the Shi family? I can have someone else come pick you up."

Shi Junyi shook his head. "No."

Jiang Qiao said, "Brother, aren't you afraid I have ulterior motives now? You're sick. If I wanted to do something, you couldn't resist at all."

Shi Junyi scoffed. "Go ahead and try. See whether I'll kill you."

Jiang Qiao propped his head up with one hand and reached beneath the blanket to feel Shi Junyi's hand, checking his temperature. Pouting, he said, "So fierce."

The way he threatens people is really sexy. It makes me want to do something even more.