Reluctantly Willing

In the bathroom, Gu Jun was ecstatic. An Xiaoyan had never taken the initiative like this before. Did he finally perceive Gu Jun’s true feelings and understand him? Thousands of thoughts sped through his mind. He quickly rinsed himself off and walked out with a towel around him.

Under the room’s warm lights, An Xiaoyan waited quietly in bed. As soon as Gu Jun came out, he shot up.

“What’s wrong?” Gu Jun asked good-naturedly.

Instead of replying, An Xiaoyan hugged him, getting onto his tiptoes to kiss Gu Jun.

Gu Jun’s mind went blank. An Xiaoyan had never done this before. Heat surged through him. Gu Jun flipped around and pressed An Xiaoyan onto the bed. All his longing that he’d recently repressed spewed out the moment An Xiaoyan’s soft lips touched his.

“Xiaoyan…”

Gu Jun was still clear-minded. He didn’t forget that An Xiaoyan’s leg hadn’t healed yet. He nudged An Xiaoyan’s leg to the side and then kissed him again.

Halfway through, Gu Jun suddenly stopped. An Xiaoyan thought that Gu Jun changed his mind. He was about to get up when Gu Jun took a small bottle out of the bedside drawer. He dug a bit out and slowly applied it to An Xiaoyan.

Zhang Zilan and the doctor’s warnings were carved in his mind. He wanted An Xiaoyan by his side for his entire life. What he felt was not just temporary lust.

An Xiaoyan felt something cool inside him. Gu Jun was much gentler than before.

Gu Jun had never been this tender.

After everything, Gu Jun followed the doctor’s instructions and carefully cleaned An Xiaoyan up. To make sure An Xiaoyan didn’t feel uncomfortable, he even applied some ointment.

An Xiaoyan didn’t move at all during this process. He lay quietly in Gu Jun’s arms, allowing himself to be positioned by the larger man.

For the first time, Gu Jun realized how tired An Xiaoyan was. Before, he had always neglected An Xiaoyan after the deed. Thinking back, he felt like he’d been such an *sshole!

After cleaning up, An Xiaoyan gradually recovered from his fatigue. He tried hard to open his eyes, and met Gu Jun’s gaze.

“Want to eat something?”

An Xiaoyan shook his head, but Gu Jun still had the servants downstairs bring a spread of sliced fruit up to him. He used a toothpick to feed An Xiaoyan.

“Eat some.”

An Xiaoyan obediently opened his mouth and ate a strawberry. It was sour and sweet, and very fresh too.

“I’m happy today.” Gu Jun put the plate on the drawer. He carefully hugged An Xiaoyan, burying his head in his chest.

An Xiaoyan felt like it was the right time. Since Gu Jun was in a good mood, he could probably mention Xiu Yijian.

“Mr. Gu, I need to ask something of you.”

Even though he knew An Xiaoyan had an ulterior motive, Gu Jun was still in a good mood, so he nodded for An Xiaoyan to speak.

“Miss Xiu wishes to participate in a design competition. She needs a spot.”

Gu Jun’s brows suddenly furrowed. Seeing this, An Xiaoyan hurriedly apologized. “Mr. Gu, I’m sorry. I only mentioned it. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Seeing how scared An Xiaoyan was, Gu Jun knew that he’d scared the man. He wasn’t actually angry. He just now understood why Xiu Yijian was trying to get close to him. It seemed that this woman wanted to get married just for that spot.

“It’s okay, but I’m not in charge. It’s not of much use to tell me. This is with the company. I have my own company now, so I can’t do anything unless I’m the head of the Gu Group.”

Gu Jun didn’t originally plan on saying all this to An Xiaoyan, but An Xiaoyan listened attentively.

“In the future, tell me if you need anything. Don’t ask other people and don’t do what you just did.”

“Mr. Gu, I’m sorry.”

Gu Jun continued hugging him. He knew that Xiu Yijian must have begged An Xiaoyan to do this. An Xiaoyan was so kind that the woman could easily convince him to stick his neck out for her.

“Don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong.”

Gu Jun wasn’t aggressive like before. This reminded An Xiaoyan of how Xiu Yijian had mentioned that Gu Jun likes him. This thought lingered for a second before he rejected it. He was more like a f*ck buddy now.

At night, Gu Jun noticed the man beside him twisting and turning. He turned on the bedside light. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Does it hurt?”

An Xiaoyan nodded softly. Gu Jun reached out to pull down An Xiaoyan’s pants, but An Xiaoyan refused to let him. “Mr. Gu, it’s useless. I’m disturbing your sleep. I’ll go sleep on the sofa downstairs.”

With that, he got up to leave, but Gu Jun pressed him down. Holding An Xiaoyan down with one hand, he took off the man’s pants with the other. There was some blood.

He took out the ointment from the drawer. After applying it, Gu Jun had An Xiaoyan lie obediently on his stomach.

After all this, the two didn’t feel like sleeping anymore. Gu Jun lay beside An Xiaoyan, studying his pained expression.

“How did you get through it before?”

“It won’t hurt in a few days. It’s just for a while.”

It was clearly a lie, but Gu Jun didn’t expose him. Thinking of the doctor’s words, he held An Xiaoyan’s waist with his large hands and started massaging softly.

The Chinese parasol tree outside rustled in the wind. The two inside were sprawled on the bed. The light shone on them and the shadows on the floor moved slowly.

With Gu Jun’s massaging, An Xiaoyan gradually relaxed. The pain wasn’t as sharp anymore. After a while, he fell asleep, breathing steadily.

Gu Jun looked at the clock on the wall. It was already three o’clock. He put on the blankets, turned off the light, and slept as well.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t go to work the next day either. When he woke up, he suddenly could relate to the phrase from history textbooks, “From then on, the emperor never went to the imperial court in the morning.”

Who would want to work if he had such a beauty in his arms?

An Xiaoyan was tired out from yesterday and was still sleeping. Gu Jun went to the master bedroom and knocked on the door. Xiu Yijian was working on a design inside.

Closing the door, Gu Jun sat on the sofa. After confirming that there was no perfume, he finally relaxed.

“If you want that spot in the design competition, you’ve found the wrong person. I can’t help.”

“If even you can’t help, then I doubt anyone else in the Gu Group can,” Xiu Yijian remarked, unconvinced.

“It seems that you haven’t done enough research about the Gu Group. I don’t mind, but don’t get any ideas about An Xiaoyan. He’s a simple man.”

Gu Jun was obviously protecting An Xiaoyan, so Xiu Yijian didn’t hold back. “Aren’t you afraid of those old guys from your family knowing about you and An Xiaoyan? Without me as your shield, it’ll probably be hard for you too.”

“Xiu Yijian, don’t test me.”

Xiu Yijian immediately squatted down after Gu Jun left. Her palms were sweaty, but she still had to bide her time until opportunity presents itself.

…

“Daddy, let’s go swim with Uncle An.”

There was a big garden behind the mansion. It contained a gym and swimming pool. Ever since his nanny had first brought him there, Guo Guo couldn’t forget about the pool. A lot of kids were scared of water, but Guo Guo loved it.

“Sure, but we have to see if Uncle An agrees.”

Guo Guo climbed upstairs and went to An Xiaoyan’s room. Hugging the man’s leg, he said, “Uncle, let’s go swim.”

“Guo Guo can go by himself. I won’t go. I can’t swim.”

Upset, Guo Guo said, “Guo Guo can’t either, but there’s a teacher. Uncle, hurry and learn so you can play in the water with Guo Guo and swim with the duckies.”

An Xiaoyan couldn’t say no to the kid. He brought Guo Guo downstairs to ask for Gu Jun’s opinion.

Gu Jun obviously agreed. He couldn’t wait for An Xiaoyan to go out and stop being cooped up inside the house.

“How’s your leg?”

“It’s alright.”

“Does your behind still hurt?”

Being asked so directly, An Xiaoyan’s face turned red. He shook his head. Gu Jun hadn’t touched him after that night and he’d applied ointment. He healed very quickly.

“Uncle, where do you hurt?” Guo Guo asked curiously after he heard the word.

“No, I’m not hurting.”

“Uncle, when we get the big yellow ducky later, Guo Guo will give you one. It’s super big. Guo Guo can lay on it without it sinking.”

An Xiaoyan nodded cooperatively. Seeing their interaction, Gu Jun felt warmer inside. He had to hurry and find a chance to express his feelings. He didn’t want to drag it out for any longer.

The swimming pool was behind the garden. It was very big. The shallow end was 1.5 meters and the deep end was two meters.

It was early spring and it was still a bit cold outside, but it was more than 70 degrees inside.

In the changing room, An Xiaoyan first helped Guo Guo put on his swim trunks and cap. Then he put the boy in a small pool.

Gu Jun had recently built this pool just for the kid to play in. The water was only 30 centimeters deep and many small ducks floated on the surface. Guo Guo had fun playing by himself.

Gu Jun had purposely made sure no one else would come today. Thankfully, Xiu Yijian was at work. He just wanted to enjoy his three-person-world.

Without Guo Guo, it was just the two of them. An Xiaoyan didn’t have swimwear, so he just stood to the side, waiting for Gu Jun’s orders.

“The cabinet has your swimsuit. The servants just brought it over.”

Gu Jun had actually wanted to take An Xiaoyan swimming long ago. He’d ordered the swimwear quite some time ago.

“Thank you, Mr. Gu.”

An Xiaoyan turned away from Gu Jun and took off his shirt. Behind him, Gu Jun secretly peered at him. When he bent over to take off his pants, Gu Jun saw An Xiaoyan’s delicate frame and smooth skin. He swallowed heavily and looked away.

“Uncle, come play!” Guo Guo climbed out of the water and hustled over to An Xiaoyan. He hugged An Xiaoyan, letting the water on him wet An Xiaoyan’s body.

“Okay, Uncle will take Guo Guo to play in the water.” With that, An Xiaoyan glanced at Gu Jun for permission. Gu Jun nodded.

Slender legs slowly slipped into the water. Finally, only the upper body was still visible. An Xiaoyan held Guo Guo with one hand while holding onto the pool with the other. He carefully placed Guo Guo into the water.

Guo Guo had a special obsession with water. He slapped the water, creating tall walls of water.

“Ducky, big ducky…”

Guo Guo pointed at the big yellow duck floating in the water. He splashed in the water, trying to go over.

Gu Jun had already gotten in. He stood behind An Xiaoyan. They were in the one meter area and the water was only up to their waist.

“Mr. Gu, take him. I’ll go pull the duck over.”

Gu Jun took Guo Guo. An Xiaoyan started striding towards the big yellow duck. Every step set off ripples on the water surface. The rings flowed out and also flowed into Gu Jun’s heart.

“Daddy, why are you always looking at Uncle An? Oh, I know. Daddy wants to be with Uncle An, right?”

Kids didn’t have any other motives. Guo Guo didn’t even know what being with someone meant, but Gu Jun nodded.

“How about if we make Uncle An your daddy too?”

“Okay, then Guo Guo will have two daddies.”

It was fortunate that An Xiaoyan was far away and the water was noisy in the pool, so he couldn’t hear what had just happened.