The cold expression on Ozer’s face made Ji Ning uneasy.
It seemed that Ozer was annoyed by the mention of Gu Chen, which was very confusing. Did his brother not like Gu Chen? But he didn’t know anything about the celebrities his brother hated because his brother didn’t care about the entertainment industry at all.
“If you don’t like it,” he said cautiously, “We can watch a different movie.”
Ozer glanced at him, shook his head, and said, “No, we can watch it if you like.”
“Then I’m really going to buy the tickets.” Ji Ning turned around to check Ozer’s expression every time he took a step forward.
“Okay.” Ozer’s expression softened, and he nodded with a smile.
Ji Ning went to buy two tickets for ‘We’ll meet again some day’. Their seats were near the back of the cinema.
Even though it was during the week and ‘We’ll meet again some day’ had already been released for a few days, because it had an exciting plot line and starred Gu Chen, it was far more popular than other films. Ji Ning hadn’t expected it to be so busy, the only empty row was at the back of the theatre.
He bought a bag of popcorn with his ticket as he was used to eating while watching movies. After checking their tickets, he and Ozer took a seat inside the cinema.
Before the film started, Ji Ning glanced around. They were the only ones sitting in the back row, but he could already see several groups of university students who must have also come out to relax.
Ozer tilted his head to look at Ji Ning with a light expression on his face. Ji Ning blinked and offered him the popcorn bag in his arms, asking softly, “Do you want some?”
The blond man smiled and shook his head. Before long, the movie started and Ji Ning turned his attention to the film, watching intently.
The title, ‘We’ll meet again some day’ sounded like a literary romance, but it was actually a suspense film. The protagonist, played by Gu Chen, was the captain of a criminal investigation team. Many years after his family were murdered, he encountered the murderer again, but because there was no conclusive evidence, they entered into a battle of wits and courage.
From the very beginning, the film was fast paced, opening with a shootout that captured Ji Ning completely.
The large screen showed a close up of Gu chen’s face. He had a vicious attractiveness that contrasted with his icy personality. The girls sitting in front of them immediately became jittery, getting into a silent discussion about his handsome appearance. Ji Ning was so focused he couldn’t bear to blink, and hadn’t noticed that Ozer’s eyes were fixed on him, his expression sinking.
As the truth behind the case gradually emerged, the plot became more and more tense. The protagonist was tricked by the murderer, and entered a building full of explosives in search of evidence, not knowing the danger he was in.
Ji Ning held his breath. He put his hand inside the popcorn bag, but forgot to eat. When the building exploded, a lot of the audience yelled in surprise. Although he didn’t make a sound, his heart skipped a beat. However, the next moment, his face was turned towards Ozer.
“Gege?”
He asked a little blankly. Ozer just looked at him for a few seconds, before his eyes dropped to the popcorn and he raised his chin slightly.
Ji Ning understood instantly. Although he wondered why Ozer suddenly wanted to eat popcorn again, he still handed the bag over, but Ozer didn’t make a move to touch it. Ji Ning guessed that he didn’t want to get his hands dirty, so he grabbed a few and held them up to Ozer’s mouth.
This time, Ozer finally moved. He held Ji Ning’s wrist steady, his warm breath heating up Ji Ning’s fingers as he lowered his head slightly and touched his lips to the palm of Ji Ning’s hand, leaving a warm sensation.
“!”
Ji Ning hadn’t expected Ozer’s lips to touch his hand, and his whole body trembled at the feeling. Ozer looked up at him, his lake green pupils shining, and for a moment, Ji Ning had the illusion there was some other kind of affection in his eyes.
He might be going crazy…Ji Ning laughed at himself in his head. Maybe being confessed to by his friends one after another had made him a little sensitive, as for a second he’d even wondered if his brother liked him too.
But how was that possible? Although they weren’t related by blood, they were brothers who had been together for many years. He couldn’t start having strange thoughts just because of what happened yesterday.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Do you want any more?”
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“Ct…”
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“Look up.”
He’d just found his phone when Ozer whispered to him softly. He raised his head without thinking, and for a brief moment the light from the screen lit up Ozer’s handsome face, before he was caught in a kiss.
A sweet taste passed between their joined lips. Ji Ning’s eyes opened wide, his body frozen. He was so shocked that he could barely think. His first thought was: why was he being kissed again and the next was: how could it be Ozer?
This was his brother. Even if they weren’t blood related, they couldn’t do such a thing…
Ji Ning wanted to struggle, but the narrow space between the two rows of seats didn’t give him a chance. His legs quickly gave out and he sat directly on the ground. Ozer was unwilling to let him go, leaving his seat to press down on top of him, holding the back of his head as he continued to kiss him.
“Ge, gege…”
He could hear the muffled voices of the girls in the next row through the gap in the seats which made him scared they were going to be seen, so he called out softly to Ozer.
Because of their heated kiss, his eyes were filled with tears and his lips were bitten red, giving him a pitiful appearance.
Ozer finally let him go, but he didn’t get off him yet. Instead, he held him in his arms, kissing the tears that dripped from his eyes, and whispered into his ear, “Are you still looking at him?”
The sound of his voice made Ji Ning flush red. He closed his eyes and desperately tried to avoid Ozer, but there was nowhere to hide, so he could only plead in a low voice, “I won’t look at him. Gege, please get up quickly, someone will see us…”
“Is that why you’re so scared?”
Ozer laughed softly, then whispered, “What are you afraid of? Is it the fear of someone knowing you were kissed by a man, or are you scared they’ll know it’s your gege kissing you?”
Both of these things could cause problems, especially the fact that they were brothers in name. If their family found out, then…
Ji Ning felt even more flustered but Ozer barely gave him time to think, capturing him in a kiss once again. It was more passionate than before, but Ozer frowned, anger rising in his heart.
Taboo.
After receiving the memories of others, Ozer understood that what he represented was the concerns and taboos that Jiang Che hid in his heart.
He’d loved Ji Ning, but after realising his feelings he hid them deeply because he knew that neither the world nor their families would accept their relationship. Even though he decided he would stay with Ji Ning no matter what, he couldn’t remove the feeling of taboo in his heart.
But in Ozer’s eyes, the obstacles that Jiang Che faced were nothing in comparison to the heavy shackles of the Mo Ling Empire and its royal family. He was mentally and physically disabled in a world that wanted to kill the person he loved, there was nothing they had in common.
In the Mo Ling Empire, same sex love was a sin and for members of the royal family it was an unforgivable atrocity that resulted in the death penalty. Despite this injustice, he still loved Ji Ning, still ascended the throne for him and changed every one of the Empire’s laws so he could freely love Ji Ning.
He didn’t think he was Jiang Che, nor did he understand Jiang Che’s reluctance to confess to Ji Ning, but at the same time he recognised a part of himself in Jiang Che because he understood his feelings. Even though he thought Jiang Che’s worries were trivial, he respected that in different environments and with different considerations, they must have been significant for Jiang Che.
It was all for Ji Ning, after all.
The movie finally ended and Ji Ning and Ozer were the last people to leave. When they left, the redness hadn’t completely left Ji Ning’s lips. When Ozer kissed him, Ji Ning was too scared that someone would see them, but now his emotions had changed to anger.
He’d been kissed by Ozer for so long. Not only had he missed the last third of the movie, he was so stressed that someone would notice he almost passed out, but Ozer seemed to have no worries at all. When they walked out, he had a smug smile on his irritatingly handsome face, which made Ji Ning want to punch him.
“Do you want something to eat?” Ozer asked.
“I don’t want to eat, I want to go back.” How could Ji Ning think about eating, he was too confused and annoyed! He sulked, not knowing what emotions to show as he looked at Ozer with a complicated expression, “You…”
“I don’t care about what other people think, I just care about you.” Ozer took his hand and said with a slight smile, “I like you and want to go out with you, that’s all.”
“…” Ji Ning’s mouth dropped open, “But…I can’t…”
“There’s no rush.” Ozer said, “You can think about it slowly. You don’t have to give me an answer now.” He paused, then said, “Do you really not want to have lunch with me? I’ll pay for it.”
“…Let’s go.”
Ji Ning looked at Ozer’s calm expression and was so depressed that he gave up. If Ozer didn’t care, what was the point, he might as well eat.
“Then what should you call me?” Ozer asked.
“…” Ji Ning’s expression became even more complicated, “Gege…”
Ozer smiled and stroked his hair. Although the name was even more taboo, he still liked it when Ji Ning called him, ‘Gege’. It sounded much sweeter than when he called him ‘Brother’ as a prince.
After cheating an expensive meal out of Ozer, Ji Ning parted with him and rushed back to the university gym to continue with today’s theatre rehearsal.
But to his surprise, Ark didn’t come this time. According to Fu Ji, the cold and heavy rain the previous night had given Ark a cold and fever. He was sleeping inside the dormitory and couldn’t rehearse today and probably wouldn’t be able to tomorrow.
After they confessed to him, Ji Ning hadn’t seen Qianqiu or Ark for the past two days. His brother and Qinghan had also left right afterwards.
Ji Ning knew he should feel lucky, but he had a strange feeling about these coincidences. He couldn’t stop himself from wondering if these confessions were like a final goodbye.
This sudden terrifying thought gripped him and he immediately sent a message to Ozer. When he got a normal reply, he felt slightly relieved and tried to dispel the strange feelings in his head.
He didn’t send a message to Ark because he didn’t want to disturb his sleep, but he planned to send one later.
“By the way.” Fu Ji patted him on the shoulder, “We’re going to have dinner with Zhou Rin tonight, did you forget?”
“No, even if you’ve forgotten about it, I’ll remember.”
Ji Ning replied with a smile.
Ji Ning was supposed to have an afternoon class but the teacher cancelled it that morning. He sent a message to Ying Qianqiu about the cancelled class but didn’t get a reply. Ji Ning knew that Ying Qianqiu had something happening at home so he guessed that he was too busy.
Taking advantage of the free time, Ji Ning finished editing the rest of his thesis in one go. He carefully wrote an email and sent the revised paper to his supervisor Yun Yuan. Within the hour, he received an email from Yun Yuan, saying that he would take another look at the paper as soon as he could.
Actually professor, you don’t have to check it so quickly…
Ji Ning muttered some words in his heart, but he knew he should be grateful. Not everyone had the opportunity to receive such meticulous guidance from a professor.
Since he still had some time, Ji Ning took out some high school textbooks and exam papers in order to prepare lessons for his tutoring session the next day.
When it came to his tutoring sessions, he mainly helped Lai with exam papers. Lai’s grades were very good, so he only needed help with the most complicated questions. Sometimes he felt ashamed of the salary he was receiving, but Lai said he really enjoyed his tutoring and his parents privately told Ji Ning that Lai had become much more motivated to study since Ji Ning became his tutor, so he couldn’t resign.
Soon it was time for his evening appointment. Ji Ning went back to the dormitory and freshened up, before he went to find Fu Ji. He was concerned about Ark’s condition, but Fu Ji wasn’t very clear and said he would check on him again in the evening.
In addition to the two of them, the girl who played the heroine and the two teachers in charge of the theatre group also came to have dinner with Zhou Rin. The place they arranged to meet in was a nearby Western restaurant, which was relatively high end and naturally expensive. It was paid for by Zhou Rin’s company and Fu Ji’s heart dripped blood with jealousy when he saw the cost of the meals.
They arrived a little early, but Zhou Rin arrived well on time. He had a handsome appearance and was dressed in a nice suit and leather shoes. He had a welcoming and elegant demeanour which made speaking to him pleasant and relaxing. Although Ji Ning and the others were restrained at first, they soon relaxed into conversation.
“You don’t have to be nervous.” Zhou Rin smiled, “Think of me as a Senior.” He then looked at the teachers present, “Mr. Li, there should still be a group photo of our members hanging on the wall of the theatre clubroom, right?”
“Of course, the students have to wipe your photos when they clean.”
Professor Li laughed. It was obvious he had a good relationship with Zhou Rin. “They all know you were our club’s president. Didn’t you win the gold award back then? The new members see you as a role model and are eager to win the gold award again.”
“Then I hope this new production will be a great success.”
Zhou Rin smiled and raised his glass. A few people toasted with him and drank from their glasses. The wine had been brought by Zhou Rin and was of high quality, but Ji Ning wasn’t used to drinking red wine and couldn’t force himself to like it. He still preferred sweet things.
At seven o’clock, the restaurant’s singer started the stage performance. Her first song was an English one, with a very pleasant melody. Professor Li listened to it for a while, then said with sincere admiration, “It’s very pretty, but it’s a pity that I don’t know what the song’s called.”
It wasn’t a well known song, but Ji Ning was very familiar with it. His heart was touched softly, because it was Jiang Che’s favourite song. It was called ‘Love’ and was sung by an unknown artist. He never knew how Jiang Che first heard that song.
He was just about to tell the professor the name of the song, when Zhou Rin said with a smile, “This song is called ‘Love’. I happen to have a few copies of it on CD. If professor likes it, I can give one of them to you.”
“That would be great.” Professor Zhou had no reason to act politely with his old student, “I really like this song.”
Everyone continued to enjoy the music while they ate. After a while, Ji Ning said “Excuse me” in a low voice and left for the bathroom. Fortunately the atmosphere on the table was so good, otherwise he wouldn’t have dared to leave for the bathroom.
The restaurant was fancy, and even the bathroom looked luxurious. It was clean and well decorated, and lit with a touch of incense, which filled the room with a fragrant atmosphere.
Ji Ning left the toilet and stood by the sink to wash his hands. The next moment, the bathroom door pushed open and Zhou Rin walked inside.
“Mr. Zhou.”
Ji Ning smiled and nodded at him. He assumed Zhou Rin had the same purpose that he had and tried to leave so he didn’t disturb him. He didn’t anticipate that not only did Zhou Rin not enter the toilets, he remained in front of the door and started speaking to him.
“Actually, ‘Love’ was the song I requested.”
Zhou Rin looked him seriously in the eyes, “I requested it for you.”
“…”
Ji Ning was stunned for a moment, and had a sudden scary idea.
Did Zhou Rin want to keep him?
The author has something to say: The handsome and wealthy CEO has a beautiful student as his little lover…sounds pretty good eh
Once again, Zhou Rin’s impulsiveness ruins his chances – when will he learn!!
(I’ve had a busy week and missed my previous chapter day…oops!)
Ji Ning’s thought process is killing me! 😭 How did he come up with the plot of Gu Chen keeping him as a mistress?
Also the horse thing was absolutely unacceptable 💀 Really did Ozer dirty!
He’s had a very stressful few days – suddenly, everyone he knows is in love with him!!
I sincerely apologise to Ozer, but he could literally have done anything else and it would have been better then that…
When I saw that horse picture I screamed-laughed!!!! Ozer will never be taken seriously by me again!
The taboo thing was really well thought out but it trips me up to see Ozer so self aware (whispers dramatically: is this character development??????).
oops, I’ve ruined Ozer….
The Emperor gets a little character development, as a treat~
crying
Seeing the t/n on horse part
Choked on tears
Now I can’t crying even if I want to lol. Ozer I am sorry but you are now a comedy relief char for me.
Ji Ning, this boy 😂. Just gave up and took the free food haha. I feel like ozer got the short stick, him being born from Jiang Che’s understanding or fear that his love would not be accepted by society or family. 🙁 But I like that in response to that, how ozer himself has grown from that so now he doesn’t care what others think – even when his love was seen as the mast ‘taboo’ of all (them being technically brothers haha).It’s clear the author has put a lot of work into each character, their individual voices and internal struggles. Yes, they’re all part of Jiang che – but they’ve experienced lives of their own, and all of those experiences are unique to them. Is ji Ning going to regain all his memories from his lives with each protagonist, and how is he going to react, when he remembers each of these last moments with them…That theses moments were goodbyes. Sobs