Reluctantly Willing

Translator: Larbre Studio  Editor: Larbre Studio

On Monday in the early morning, An Xiaoyan took his luggage and went to the pet store to wait. There weren’t many people at the store on Mondays. Sometimes, when there weren’t appointments, they would choose to go out and relax a bit.
When Ji Lin arrived, he saw the small frame standing obediently at the door. He couldn’t help but think that this guy was too extreme. He was so serious about everything. He was 26 years old, but he was as honest as a student.
The other two were called Da Zhou and Lin Nian. They were all professional veterinarians. Ji Lin was the owner of the store and hospital. The three were like brothers after working together for so long.
“Did you bring everything?”
An Xiaoyan took off the bag with Wonton in it and then took a big backpack off of his shoulders. There was black pepper, pepper and all sorts of spices in it.
“Wow, you really know how to order people around,” Lin Nian teased.
“No way! Plus, I brought the barbecue sticks. Didn’t you see?”
When An Xiaoyan first heard about a barbecue by the sea, An Xiaoyan had been confused. There were places other than the beach to barbecue around here, but judging from how familiar the three acted, they probably had a plan.
“This is An Xiaoyan. His cat is our patient.”
After they all became familiar, they departed. Da Zhou had driven his car. The group fit in comfortably.
When they got on, Ji Lin wanted to sit in the front, but Da Zhou forced him to the backseat. He had to sit with An Xiaoyan.
“There aren’t many people at the beach here. There are even fewer on Mondays. There are only tourists during the summers, but we’re going to the natural beach. It’s on the far side of the island. There are some reefs and stuff. It has rocks and sand. It’s really pretty.”
An Xiaoyan imagined the scene and found it magical. He thought this kind of image only existed on TV.
Around an hour later, they found a spot in the parking lot. The three men and one cat got out of the car. They started walking toward the sea.
The waves crashing against the beach and cliff echoed in An Xiaoyan’s ears. Ji Lin found a patch of shade and put the things under the tree. The shade was by the cliff. He could look down and see the surging waves.
An Xiaoyan put his backpack down and dug out Wonton. He’d bought a cat leash just for this.
Seeing the cat, Da Zhou and Lin Nian burst into laughter. Clutching his stomach, Da Zhou said, “An Xiaoyan, you’re so funny. You really love your cat.”
Wonton shrunk into An Xiaoyan’s arms after it was laughed at.
“Do we go down first?” An Xiaoyan asked, hugging his cat.
“We’ll have fun first and buy some things to grill. It’s all rock here, so we don’t have to worry about fires. Da Zhou, you two set up the rack. Xiaoyan and I will go down.”
Ji Lin put his hand on An Xiaoyan’s shoulder and pushed him toward the beach. An Xiaoyan wasn’t really used to having something on his shoulder. By the time he got used to it, they were already at the beach.
There weren’t many people. They were scattered across the beach. There were some coconut trees. Many people lay in the shade.
“What will we do about your cat? We can’t keep watching it when we go play.”
“It’s okay. I’ll just sit by the sea. If you want to swim, just go.”
When Ji Lin heard this, he stopped caring about An Xiaoyan and splashed into the water. An Xiaoyan found a rock in the back and sat down in the shade. Wonton sat obediently on the beach. With the sea breeze brushing past his face, An Xiaoyan relaxed as well.
Below, Ji Lin had started swimming. His body was sometimes covered by waves and sometimes revealed again.
The beach was very primitive. The waves would sometimes bring up seashells. There were also some hermit crabs running down the beach. Wonton stared at the speedy crabs in the distance. It pounced and grabbed a crab with its claws. Holding it in its mouth, it came to An Xiaoyan.
An Xiaoyan held the crab in his hand and said, “Go play, but don’t go far.”
Getting its owner’s permission, Wonton started running up and down the beach. There were many creatures on the beach. It chased after all of them.
The tide rose and fell. The water sometimes reached An Xiaoyan’s feet and sometimes was far away. This place was really free.
“An Xiaoyan, come down!” Ji Lin called from the water. “Tell Da Zhou to look after your cat!”
Da Zhou and Lin Nian had finished setting up the grill. When Da Zhou heard Ji Lin’s words, he grabbed Wonton and told An Xiaoyan to go down.
“My clothes?”
“Take them off and put it on the rocks. The sun’s bright. Your body will dry quickly.”
An Xiaoyan looked at the people on the beach and checked again, “Take them off here?”
“Do you live under a rock or something? The beauties on the beach all wear bikinis. So what if you’re wearing boxers? You’ll still be taking advantage of them.” Da Zhou was a loud guy and spoke straightforwardly.
“Alright.”
An Xiaoyan walked to the front of a rock. He made sure no one was around and then carefully took off his clothes. He folded them and put them on the rock. Then he limped forward.
He was cautious before strangers, but Ji Lin had healed Wonton before. He never asked about An Xiaoyan’s leg, as if he walked like a normal person, so he let his guard down.
Someone who didn’t mock others couldn’t be a bad person.
The water first went past his ankles, then his knees. Finally, his lower half was in the water. It was cool. He didn’t feel hot even with the sun beating down.
“An Xiaoyan, swim over!” Ji Lin waved from the distance.
Putting his head into the water, An Xiaoyan imagined that he was a fish. The floatation of the water lifted his body. He suddenly remembered Gu Jun holding him up from the bottom. It was Gu Jun who’d taught him how to swim.
He suddenly crashed into something. An Xiaoyan was hanging on Ji Lin. “I admit you’re attractive, but you don’t have to jump into my arms.”
“It was an accident.” An Xiaoyan wiped the water on his face.
“You’re a pretty good swimmer. Seems like you had a good teacher.”
The casual words felt awkward to An Xiaoyan. “Let’s swim for a bit. I’m worried about leaving Wonton on the beach.”
“Sure, we’ll just swim back and forth. We’ll get to land first and then come back. When we’re tired, we can have a barbecue.”
There was a man on the reef. He wore swim trunks, revealing his muscular upper body. He watched the two swimming figures while gripping the rock tightly.
Gu Jun admitted that he was jealous. He’d taught An Xiaoyan how to swim so they could swim together one day. Why was he swimming with a stranger now? Plus, why was An Xiaoyan’s cat in another man’s arms? He didn’t hear An Xiaoyan mention that he had relatives here. Were they classmates?
Da Zhou and Lin Nian didn’t know how to swim. They could only play barefoot on the beach and occasionally step in the water. Da Zhou also yanked up some grass to tease Wonton with.
Wonton went wherever the grass went.
“Lin Nian, look how dumb this cat is. It doesn’t know anything.”
Before he got a reply, a tall figure grabbed the cat. Someone was actually stealing a cat so publicly. It wasn’t even a rare breed. Probably only the cat’s fat was a bit valuable.
“What’s wrong with you? Give the cat back!”
Gu Jun took off his shades. He held Wonton, not planning on letting go. “This is my cat. Right, Wonton?”
Meow
Was An Xiaoyan a cat-napper? Da Zhou didn’t think so. He looked really honest.
“Ji Lin, get back here.”
Gu Jun brought Wonton to a coconut tree. He lay on the chair and drank coconut juice. He wanted An Xiaoyan to notice him. What was he doing with a man in the sea?!
Since Ji Lin was called back, An Xiaoyan also went to the beach. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone stole the cat. He’s laying right there.” Da Zhou pointed into the distance.
An Xiaoyan recognized him immediately. The man was extremely familiar. “You guys start grilling. I’ll be back.”
An Xiaoyan hurried toward Gu Jun. He’d thought that Gu Jun had left. It seemed that he was too naïve.
Gu Jun ate a slice of watermelon from his plate, but under his sunglasses, his eyes were fixated on the incoming man.
“My cat.”
“I saw them put your cat under the sun, so I brought it over.”
“Thanks.” An Xiaoyan went to take Wonton, but when he turned, Gu Jun pulled him back.
“An Xiaoyan, come back. Don’t stay here anymore. If you like the beach, I can take you to Hawaii.”
An Xiaoyan furrowed his brows. “Let go!”
“Xiaoyan, come back. Don’t you know how my heart hurts? You can yell at me, but don’t be so cold. We can still be friends.”
“Mr. Gu, you said you’ve forgiven me.”
Gu Jun was rendered speechless. Was An Xiaoyan telling him that they couldn’t even meet anymore?
An Xiaoyan shook Gu Jun’s hands away and brought the orange tabby back to the barbecue. He was very heartless. He didn’t show any intention of looking back.
The moment he turned away, An Xiaoyan was actually in pain too. He really wanted to ask about Guo Guo, but once he did, everything would change. He had to be heartless to himself and reiterate that none of this was related to him anymore.
He returned to the rock from before. Ji Lin had started grilling. An Xiaoyan put on his clothes. Placing Wonton on the side, he went to help.
“Where did the food come from?”
“They sell it here—fish, meat, seafood and all that,” Ji Lin said. “We just bought some. Lin Nian is amazing at grilling.”
“Okay. Calculate how much it costs and I’ll pay you back.”
While the other two were focused on grilling, Ji Lin asked softly, “Who was that guy? He’s covered in name brands. He looks rich.”
“Nobody.”
Ji Lin’s gossipy side showed. “Oh, oh. You’re hiding something. Hurry and say if he’s your ex or something.”
An Xiaoyan reddened. His face was as red as a lobster. “No,” he refuted. “I just went to get the cat back.”
“Oh, really.”
Before An Xiaoyan could speak, Gu Jun came over and sat beside An Xiaoyan. “The food seems nice. I’ll pay and treat you all.”
“Sure.”
“No!”
Ji Lin glanced at An Xiaoyan. “Why not? You don’t want free lunch?” Anyone could see that these two were being strange.
“Then I won’t hold back.”
Gu Jun grabbed a raw fish and started grilling it. He turned it at times and sprinkled on spices. A while later, the tasty fragrance was everywhere.
“Hey, bro, you seem skilled at this.”
“I often went camping in America, so I learned. I didn’t really study it. I guess it’s just that practice makes perfect.”
After he finished grilling, Gu Jun handed a skewer straight to An Xiaoyan. “Eat it. Just eat all the meat and leave the other stuff. Be careful not to get stuff caught in your throat.”