Don’t Ignite It chapter 72

Difficult to Escape Blame: Xu Zhan × Ruan Sen (1)

At four o’clock on Friday afternoon, after finishing a meeting with the department’s professors, Xu Zhan stood up to pack his things. He had a date planned afterward, so his movements were a bit hurried, and he accidentally dropped a pen.

A research student who was nearby and taking notes saw it and immediately picked it up, handing it back to him.

Xu Zhan smiled and said, “Thank you.”

He then lowered his head to gather his materials, but the second-year graduate student couldn’t help but stare at his handsome profile.

The graduate student’s gaze briefly flickered over the ring on Xu Zhan’s ring finger. For some reason, he blurted out, “Is Professor Xu in a hurry to go home?”

Xu Zhan hesitated for a moment, not answering directly. Instead, he smiled and nodded, considering it as an affirmation. He then picked up his briefcase and bid goodbye to the remaining professors in the room, saying, “I’ll take my leave now. See you all tomorrow.”

The others also waved him off, and after he left the room, the vice-dean took a sip of tea and chuckled with the people around him, “Professor Xu is still so young, yet he’s already so eager to go home. With more young handsome professors like him, our department will likely have even more student applications.”

A few of the professors who hadn’t left yet chuckled with good-natured smiles.

“That’s right; Professor Xu’s face is practically a trademark of our Literature Department, and he has a good personality,” one of the professors said, glancing at a few students who had come to sit in and take notes. She knew that these students liked to gaze at Xu Zhan, which was understandable. Who wouldn’t like a young and handsome teacher compared to these soon-to-retire professors?

The vice-dean nodded in agreement but couldn’t help feeling regretful, “It’s a shame he got married so early, and to a man at that.”

Although same-sex marriage had been legalized for almost a decade, for these old-fashioned individuals, it was still not fully accepted. Moreover, he had a niece who was the same age as Xu Zhan, and as soon as Xu Zhan had joined the department, he had thought about matchmaking, but Xu Zhan had gently informed him that he was already married.

What a pity.

The female professor also knew about this and smiled knowingly at the vice-dean. “Don’t worry about it; your niece already has a boyfriend, and Professor Xu has a good relationship with his partner.”

The vice-dean sighed but didn’t say anything more.

Meanwhile, at this very moment, the protagonist of their conversation, Xu Zhan, who had a good relationship with his partner, had already found his car in the hotel parking lot. However, instead of driving home, he turned the steering wheel towards the highway exit leading to Xiangcheng, which was right next to Chuan City.

In a beachfront hotel in Xiangcheng, in the villa area by the beach, his lover was waiting for him.

Only when Xu Zhan reached the hotel’s parking lot did he remember to take off his wedding ring and put it in a red velvet box. He had gone home for a visit this morning and had dinner with his family, which was why he had put the ring on. But now that he was meeting his lover, it was natural that he couldn’t wear it.

Xu Zhan and his partner, Xia Yu, had been married for three years. In the eyes of outsiders, they had always been deeply in love, harmonious and affectionate. However, only the two of them knew that their marriage had started as a companionship, and they weren’t in love with each other, nor did they have a marital relationship. They simply lived together as close friends under the same roof.

But even so, when Xu Zhan took off the ring, he still felt a slight sense of guilt. He had never thought he would one day have an extramarital affair, even though his marriage was practically in name only, and Xia Yu didn’t mind who he dated.

However, his upbringing and family values made it difficult for him to speak openly about it. He had even driven to the hotel but still hesitated to get out of the car, torn between his principles and desires.

After a few minutes, Xu Zhan finally pushed open the door of the Bentley.

He swiped his room key card and entered the hotel villa that he had booked for three months with his own hands. He headed straight for the swimming pool.

On his way there, he called his lover and learned that Ruan Sen was currently taking a swim.

But when Xu Zhan arrived at the poolside, there was no one in the pool. The pool water was calm, like solidified blue resin, lush greenery stretched quietly inside the glass house, and the indoors were very quiet, almost only hearing his own breathing.

Xu Zhan furrowed his brows and instinctively reached for his phone to call Ruan Sen.

But just as he took out his phone, the water suddenly splashed, and water droplets refracted a bewildering light under the sunlight, splashing onto his clothes and the surface of the water.

Xu Zhan squinted his eyes, but before he could see clearly, his phone was taken from him and thrown aside. A cold, powerful hand grabbed him, like a lurking beast seizing its prey, and forcefully pulled him into the water.

The blue water surged all around them. Xu Zhan’s white shirt was thoroughly soaked, his soft black hair floated in the water, and the feeling of weightlessness made him panic for a moment.

But soon, he was pulled into a familiar and broad embrace. Familiar lips pressed onto his, passionate, bold, parting his lips and teasing his tongue, as if offering him air to breathe but also playfully nibbling at his soft lower lip.

Xu Zhan struggled to open his eyes. He saw a strikingly handsome face, with sharp and alluring features, a perfect blend of beauty and wildness that wasn’t overly rough yet lacked any hint of weakness. The eyes were very dark, like a misty sky that seemed like it could suck people in.

He unconsciously gripped the person’s arm, allowing his lips to part slightly more.

He felt like he was about to drown, the sensation of suffocation making him dizzy, but this kiss was so tender, like a lingering, passionate struggle.

Yet Xu Zhan still hooked his arms around Ruan Sen’s neck, responding to the kiss somewhat hesitantly. After all, from the moment he first met Ruan Sen in the bar, he couldn’t resist anything Ruan Sen did.

…

Finally, when he felt like he was about to suffocate in the next second, Ruan Sen held him and emerged from the water. As soon as Xu Zhan touched the fresh air, he couldn’t help but breathe heavily and cough a few times.

Ruan Sen didn’t kiss him again but still held him firmly around the waist. Ruan Sen worked out regularly and even had a diving certificate, so holding his breath for a while was nothing to him. However, Xu Zhan couldn’t handle it anymore. He was soaking wet now, and Ruan Sen sat him by the edge of the pool. His face had turned a bit red, and he looked both embarrassed and cute.

Ruan Sen calmly gazed at him. Xu Zhan had a slender figure, and he fit perfectly in Ruan Sen’s arms. His wet shirt clung to him, becoming semi-transparent, revealing his skin underneath that was both elusive and alluring. His waistline was smooth and attractive, his abdomen slender and well-defined, and his pants were now clinging wetly to his legs.

The late afternoon sun shone in through the transparent glass ceiling, enveloping Xu Zhan in sunlight. His entire body was drenched, his lips had turned rosy, soft, and moist, and water droplets clung to his Adam’s apple and collarbones. With a slight movement, the water droplets would trickle into his clothes.

He looked provocatively alluring.

Ruan Sen’s fingers moved up Xu Zhan’s legs, along his knees, and all the way up, undoing the last button below Xu Zhan’s shirt.

Xu Zhan’s breathing became more rapid. Ruan Sen chuckled softly, both of his hands propped up by the edge of the pool as he leveraged himself out of the water. He leaned over and kissed Xu Zhan once more.

“Do you want to?” He asked. He leaned in closer to Xu Zhan’s ear, and his warm breath tickled Xu Zhan’s earlobe.

Xu Zhan’s ears itched, and he instinctively tried to evade, but Ruan Sen had already stepped onto the shore and captured him. Ruan Sen held Xu Zhan like a cornered rabbit, pressing him against the edge of the pool.

He towered above Xu Zhan, and even though he was a kept lover, he acted as if he were in control of everything. His hand slipped beneath Xu Zhan, groping him, and he smiled while answering the question for him.

“It seems like you do.”

Xu Zhan felt a moment of shame, his toes curling, but he quickly gave in, resembling a herbivore caught by the throat, letting Ruan Sen carry him indoors.

They didn’t even make it to the bedroom before they tangled on the large chaise lounge, kissing.

What’s the point of being so affected, Xu Zhan thought. Shame and guilt couldn’t stop him from driving to this villa’s doorstep every time.

Upon entering this room, he felt as if he were no longer Xu Zhan, just an ordinary, worldly man immersed in love and desire.

Author’s note

Professor Xu’s story is here~

His story with Ruan Sen (Qin Shen) is called “Difficult to Escape Blame.”

In this absurd and uncontrollable affair, they both found it difficult to escape blame.