Try Again chapter 11
Can’t Stop 1
On the way back, Ji Minglun smoked the rest of the half-pack of cigarettes.
His smoking habit was usually mild, and a pack could last him three or four days. But ever since Jiang Lin had returned, his smoking intervals had gotten shorter and shorter, to the point where he could finish a pack in a day at its worst.
The need to suppress his emotions with nicotine was unbearable, but if he didn’t smoke, he didn’t know how else to deal with the frustration inside.
After all, he never expected Jiang Lin to go to such lengths to repair their friendship.
When the elevator opened on the 28th floor, he exchanged glances with the two people waiting outside. Noticing his bad mood, Su Yan let go of the person next to him and pressed his hand against Ji Minglun’s forehead. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, just had a bit too much to drink.”
Su Yan lowered his hand and held onto the person next to him again. As Ji Minglun looked at their ten interlocked fingers, something crossed his mind, and he let out a faint chuckle.
Su Yan, who hadn’t known Ji Minglun for long, had never seen him in such a bad state and asked again, “What happened?”
The person next to Su Yan, Ji Qian, also chimed in, “Need help?”
“No,” Ji Minglun stepped aside, “You two going for a late-night snack?”
“I’m hungry, and Ge said he’d take me for sukiyaki. Want us to bring you some?”
Su Yan didn’t know Jiang Lin had returned. Seeing him happily leaning against Ji Qian, Ji Minglun smiled again and said, “I’m stuffed tonight. You two enjoy.”
After entering his apartment, Ji Minglun pressed a few buttons on the smart home screen by the wall, then headed to the bathroom for a shower.
After cleaning himself off in the shower, he turned on the massage feature of the bathtub and relaxed inside.
The bathtub he had chosen was quite large. When he had bought it, he and Jiang Lin had gone together, each lying in it to test if it was comfortable.
At that time, Jiang Lin was envious that his new home could have a bathtub. Half-jokingly, he told Jiang Lin that if he liked it, he could come over and take a bath every day. Because of this casual remark, he even bought a bed that was two meters wide.
For a while after he moved in, Jiang Lin did indeed come over frequently to soak in the bath, and sometimes, feeling too lazy to go home, he would sleep over. Later on, he simply persuaded Jiang Lin to move in with him, since he was living alone, and everything in the house was new. Plus, there were no stairs to climb.
Jiang Lin almost agreed back then, but unfortunately, one morning he caught Jiang Lin getting up early to wash his underwear.
He didn’t think it was a big deal—after all, it’s perfectly normal for a guy to wash his underwear in the morning—but Jiang Lin seemed awkward about it for a week, and after that, his visits became noticeably less frequent.
All these old memories resurfaced in his mind: every smile and frown of Jiang Lin tugged at his nerves. The delicate lines of Jiang Lin’s side profile while washing his underwear by the sink, and the embarrassed expression on his face when caught, were all vividly clear. By the time Ji Minglun realized, his right hand had already made quite a stir under the water.
It had been too long since he touched himself while thinking of Jiang Lin, and once he started, he couldn’t stop. By the time he stood up from the bathtub, the floor under his feet felt unreal.
After drying his hair, he lay in bed to sleep. For the next two days, he didn’t go to the café as usual. When Deng Yi contacted him, he resisted asking about Jiang Lin.
Over these two days, Jiang Lin was scheduled to work shifts. Not seeing Ji Minglun at the café, he restrained himself from asking Deng Feng, but every night, he would wait outside the neighborhood, leaving only when he saw Ji Minglun return. This went on until the third morning, when Deng Feng walked into the café carrying a large bag of fruit, saying they needed to prepare 40 drinks to deliver to Xiamen University by noon.
At that time, only he and Deng Feng were in the café. After asking, he found out that Ji Minglun had a basketball game in the afternoon, and Deng Feng was preparing the drinks to cheer him on.
He was scheduled to work until 3 p.m. that day, but not wanting to miss the game, he discussed taking two hours off with Deng Feng and volunteered to deliver the drinks himself.
He was a graduate of Xiamen University, and since Deng Feng had no interest in basketball, he readily agreed. Not long after, Deng Yi came to help with the customers, and he and Deng Feng began preparing the drinks. Finally, before 1 p.m., they had packed all 40 drinks in boxes.
He drove to the parking lot and pulled the car up to the café entrance. Deng Feng loaded two boxes of drinks into the trunk and brought along a large bag of mousse cakes. After he closed the car door, Deng Yi got into the passenger seat, saying she would go with him to make the delivery.
He wasn’t very familiar with Deng Yi, but her personality was somewhat like Lu Zhe’s—she could chat with anyone. On the way, she brought up the basketball game and even suggested that he stay to watch the game after making the delivery if he had time.
He had already planned to do just that, and as they drove, Deng Yi made a phone call.
The first call went unanswered. Deng Yi muttered something, and when she called again, the other side picked up. Deng Yi cheerfully said, “Minglun, where are you? I’m on my way to bring you some coffee.”
“Still sleeping?” Deng Yi chuckled. “Can you be any lazier? Even if your opponent is weak, you should at least pretend to prepare. If you keep this up, Liu Yi will have another excuse to give you a hard time.”
“I’m in the car,” Deng Yi twirled a strand of hair around her finger, her smile brighter than the sunlight outside the window. “Hurry up and meet me; my brother made 40 drinks and a big bag of cakes. There’s no way I can carry them all in by myself.”
“Alright, I’ll be there in about ten minutes. It’s still the south gate.”
“Okay, see you soon. Bye.”
Seeing Deng Yi put down the phone with a cheerful face, Jiang Lin hesitated before casually saying, “You and Ji Minglun seem pretty close.”
“Yeah,” Deng Yi readily admitted. “I’ve known him for almost a year now. He was friends with my brother first, and we only met after they decided to open the café together.”
Ji Minglun had never mentioned to Jiang Lin that he was planning to open a café, so he asked, “They’re both still in school, right? What made them want to open a café?”
Deng Yi replied, “It was my brother’s idea first. At that time, he was looking for a partner, and Minglun wasn’t doing well at the time. My brother suggested he find something to do to take his mind off things.”
“Wasn’t doing well?”
Jiang Lin repeated those words. Deng Yi didn’t seem suspicious and explained, “He was dumped by someone he liked, and he was depressed for two or three months.
“During that time, he didn’t talk to anyone, just spent all his time at internet cafés playing games. By the end of summer break, he wasn’t even shaving anymore. When I first saw him, I thought, ‘How can someone so scruffy possibly run a café?’”
As Deng Yi spoke, she sighed, playing with the ring hanging from her phone case.
Jiang Lin had been trying to find out more about Ji Minglun’s time when he wasn’t around, so he asked, “What happened after that?”
“He eventually came around and agreed to my brother’s proposal.” Deng Yi sighed again. “He still won’t say anything about it, but I’m really curious about the person who dumped him. How could they let go of such a great guy? They must be blind.”
The person Deng Yi was calling “blind” felt a mix of emotions, but luckily, they had reached a busy intersection. Jiang Lin stayed silent until they passed through the heavy traffic. He debated whether directly asking Deng Yi if she liked Ji Minglun would be crossing a line, but before he could say anything, Deng Yi asked, “Why are you so interested? You’ve only spoken to Minglun once, right?”
“I used to study at Xiamen University too.”
“So you never ran into him?”
Jiang Lin wasn’t good at lying, but since Ji Minglun didn’t seem to want to acknowledge knowing him, he didn’t feel the need to bring it up to others. He explained, “The campus is huge; it’s not unusual to never cross paths.”
Deng Yi nodded, “That’s true, but…”
She didn’t finish her sentence before her phone, resting on her lap, rang again. She spent the rest of the ride on the phone with a friend. By the time they reached the school gate, she hung up and said, “I’ll get out for a moment.”
Jiang Lin unlocked the car door for her, watching as she ran to the gate to greet a handsome boy with a baby face. The two of them walked back to the car together. As Jiang Lin looked at the boy behind Deng Yi, he thought the face seemed familiar. When they got closer, he realized it was the same boy he had seen in pajamas the first day he visited Ji Minglun’s apartment.
Recalling what he said that day in front of the other person and Ji Minglun, he couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous, worried that the boy would say something he shouldn’t. In the end, the boy simply glanced at him thoughtfully, then smiled and introduced himself.
The boy’s name was Shen Ran. After introducing himself, he fell silent, which relieved Jiang Lin. Deng Yi then complained that Ji Minglun was too lazy; he had clearly promised to come out to pick them up but now sent someone else instead.
Shen Ran was not offended by Deng Yi’s complaint; instead, he smiled and explained for Ji Minglun, “The seniors are in a meeting. I’m just sitting on the bench today, so I came out to help him.”
Deng Yi also realized that her comment had gone too far and quickly changed the subject. Shen Ran continued to engage her in conversation while pointing to a bend in the road ahead, reminding Jiang Lin to drive to the Nanputuo parking lot.
Jiang Lin knew the roads around here well enough to drive with his eyes closed, but he still followed Shen Ran’s directions. After parking, he and Shen Ran each carried a box of drinks and headed towards the indoor gym under the blazing sun.
Deng Yi carried a thermal bag with a cake, using her umbrella to shield both herself and Shen Ran from the sun. During this time, Shen Ran turned back to look at him a few times, and each time, Jiang Lin would awkwardly look away.
The walk from the parking lot to the gym took just over ten minutes, but due to road repairs, Shen Ran led them on a detour that included climbing over a hundred steps.
After walking for a while under the scorching afternoon sun, Jiang Lin’s face and neck quickly turned red from the heat, and his arms were sore and numb from carrying the box. Staring at the steep path ahead, he gritted his teeth and tried to push through, but Shen Ran was the first to set down his box and took Jiang Lin’s box from him, saying, “Let’s take a break.”
Shen Ran had better stamina than him. While Jiang Lin leaned against the railing to catch his breath, Shen Ran took out his phone and made a call, asking two classmates to come help.
Finally, when they reached the basketball court in the multi-purpose gym, Jiang Lin spotted Ji Minglun on the side bench, bending down to tie his shoelaces.
As soon as Deng Yi entered, she ran towards Ji Minglun and patted his muscular arm. Ji Minglun looked up at her, but before they could exchange a few words, he glanced toward the entrance and saw Jiang Lin standing there.
When their eyes met, Jiang Lin’s throat tightened, but unfortunately, his throat was so dry he couldn’t swallow.
He didn’t know if Ji Minglun would be angry that he had come without notifying him. Looking down at the two boxes of drinks at his feet, he thought he might as well leave. At that moment, Ji Minglun stood up and walked over to him, holding a bottle of mineral water.
Deng Yi followed Ji Minglun, and when they reached Jiang Lin, Ji Minglun first told her, “Help me distribute the food and drinks.”
Deng Yi nodded, and Ji Minglun then looked at Jiang Lin and asked, “Are you feeling a bit overheated? I’ll take you to the bathroom to wash your face.”
Jiang Lin didn’t respond at first, but Shen Ran chimed in, “Yeah, senior, it was really sunny on the way here; you should take him to cool down quickly.”
Jiang Lin followed Ji Minglun to the nearest restroom. Once inside, Ji Minglun opened the mineral water bottle and handed it to him, watching as he gulped down half the bottle before asking, “Why did you come?”
Jiang Lin put down the bottle and, just as he was about to answer, suddenly hiccupped. He paused for a moment before saying, “I just happened to be free.”
Glancing at his arms, which were red from rubbing against the cardboard box, Ji Minglun opened his mouth to speak just as Jiang Lin hiccupped again.
Jiang Lin froze for a moment, then another hiccup came, followed by a third, fourth, and fifth…
They exchanged glances, and for a moment, neither of them spoke, the restroom filled with rhythmic hiccup sounds until someone exited from one of the stalls.
Ji Minglun glanced back at the person, who looked at the two of them before washing their hands and leaving.
Jiang Lin twisted the bottle cap off and downed the remaining water in one go, but unfortunately, it didn’t help. He covered his mouth, trying to hold his breath to stop the hiccups, but after a moment, Ji Minglun pulled his hand away, saying, “Don’t hold it in; you can’t hold it.”
Jiang Lin felt a bit embarrassed; he must have drank the last bottle too quickly, causing the hiccups. He patted his chest, and seeing how hard he was hitting it, Ji Minglun had no choice but to grab his hand again. “Go sit in the stands for a bit; you’ll be fine in a while.”
Jiang Lin nodded. As he did, he hiccuped again, and Ji Minglun let go of his hand and walked out. At that moment, Jiang Lin seemed to catch a glimpse of a smile at the corner of Ji Minglun’s mouth.