Try Again

Try Again chapter 29

 I’ll Sleep with You

That night, back home, Ji Minglun lay in bed for a long time, unable to sleep, pondering the meaning of Jiang Lin’s last words.

It was already strange that Jiang Lin suddenly wanted to go to a place he had once refused. Even stranger, Ji Minglun felt as though Jiang Lin was hinting at something, but he wasn’t sure if it was what he hoped for.

He was afraid of losing control again and falling into the same pit of disappointment.

In the following days, he cut down his time at the café, but whenever he did go, he couldn’t avoid running into Jiang Lin. As Deng Feng had mentioned, Jiang Lin had applied for a part-time job but was showing up like a full-time employee every day. Since that night, Jiang Lin hadn’t made any ambiguous remarks. Instead, Deng Feng kept trying to navigate between the two, repeatedly asking about their preferences and constantly re-planning the trip route.

In recent days, Deng Yi had rarely appeared in the café and hadn’t taken the initiative to find Ji Minglun. However, on the day of departure, after he arrived at the airport, Deng Yi still came over to greet him, asking for his opinion on the light green Hanfu she was wearing that day.

This was Deng Yi’s first time wearing Hanfu, paired with flower bud hairstyles on both sides and a hairband, which made her look quite striking. Ji Minglun complimented, “It looks good,” and she smiled happily, saying she had brought two more flowing outfits to change into for photos in Xi’an.

Ji Minglun was somewhat distracted, as he noticed Jiang Lin not far away, wearing the white checkered cotton shirt he had given him, paired with black shorts, leaning against a row of seats while watching a tablet. Sensing Ji Minglun’s gaze, Jiang Lin looked up, his eyes landing on Ji Minglun’s wrist, which Deng Yi was holding.

Casually pulling his hand back, Ji Minglun asked Deng Feng, “Is everyone here?”

“Two are still missing,” Deng Feng checked his watch, “Shen Ran and Shi Xiaomin haven’t arrived yet.”

Shi Xiaomin was Deng Yi’s good friend and one of the girls traveling with her this time. Ji Minglun opened a bottle of mineral water and took a couple of sips when he heard Deng Yi exclaim, “She’s here.”

Ji Minglun didn’t turn around, but Deng Feng beside him remarked, “Who’s that guy, and why is he dragging two suitcases?”

“That’s her boyfriend; he’s probably here to see her off,” Deng Yi explained.

After pulling out his Bluetooth headphones, Ji Minglun rolled his suitcase toward Jiang Lin’s seat. At Jiang Lin’s feet was a silver aluminum Tumi suitcase, the same model as Ji Minglun’s black suitcase but in a different color, which they had bought together before.

Ji Minglun sat down beside him and glanced at the suitcase. Jiang Lin had taken good care of his; it had been nearly three years, and there were no noticeable scratches.

Jiang Lin was also looking at Ji Minglun’s suitcase, and neither of them spoke. However, Deng Feng’s side became noisy. Jiang Lin took off his headphones, and Ji Minglun paused his music, soon seeing Deng Feng approach them with an unhappy expression.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Minglun asked.

“Shi Xiaomin said her boyfriend suddenly changed his mind and wants to go too.”

By the time Shen Ran arrived, everyone boarded the plane, but Ji Minglun still looked unhappy.

Shi Xiaomin’s boyfriend had bought a ticket to travel with them at the last minute, and Shi Xiaomin hadn’t notified Deng Yi in advance. This sudden change frustrated Deng Yi, making her unwilling to talk to her, and during the boarding line, Shi Xiaomin had to hug Deng Yi and coax her for a long time.

Deng Feng was also speechless, but since everyone had arrived, there was no other option but to help persuade Ji Minglun. Only Jiang Lin seemed indifferent throughout, wearing his headphones and attending an online class, only putting away his devices when the plane started taxiing, glancing forward.

Their flight had a system malfunction during check-in, resulting in them being separated at the airport. Deng Yi and Shen Ran sat in front of Ji Minglun, while Jiang Lin and Ji Minglun were separated by an aisle and four rows of seats. From Jiang Lin’s perspective, he could only see the back of Ji Minglun’s baseball cap.

Reluctantly retracting his gaze, Jiang Lin felt a tap on his shoulder. Deng Feng handed him something through the gap in the seat: “Put this on and rest for a bit; your dark circles are really bad.”

Deng Feng had given him a steam eye mask labeled “Strawberry Bubblegum Flavor.” Although Jiang Lin didn’t know what that smelled like, he accepted it, saying, “Thank you.”

Knowing he couldn’t easily change his habit of saying thank you, Deng Feng didn’t press him further and leaned back against the seat after handing over the eye mask. Jiang Lin glanced back at Ji Minglun, and just then, Ji Minglun turned around. Whether it was coincidental or intentional, their gazes met at that moment.

After the plane flew through the clouds, Jiang Lin tore open the eye mask and put it on, also placing sleep earplugs in. He had been rushing to complete his thesis for several nights, and before he could even smell the warm strawberry bubblegum scent from the eye mask, he fell asleep. He didn’t even feel like eating the airplane meal, only waking up again at Xi’an Airport.

After taking a nap, he felt much more energized. He stood up and saw Deng Yi talking to Ji Minglun in the line ahead. Ji Minglun turned to respond, his gaze drifting back to Jiang Lin’s direction.

Once they collected their luggage, Deng Feng led everyone out of the terminal and called for a seven-seater van to the city center of Xi’an.

As they got into the car, Jiang Lin saw Ji Minglun sitting in the innermost seat of the last row and intended to sit next to him. However, Deng Yi behind him tapped him: “Jiang Lin, you sit with Shen Ran; I want to sit next to Minglun.”

Ji Minglun glanced at the two of them and then turned back to look out the window. Jiang Lin had no choice but to sit in the front row. Shen Ran smiled at him, and he nodded back.

Deng Feng, being the most caring person and the oldest in the group, took on the responsibility of being the team leader. He was the last one to get in the car and saw that Jiang Lin was already sitting next to Shen Ran, so he took the passenger seat.

On the way, the sounds of Shi Xiaomin and her boyfriend joking around occasionally rang out. Jiang Lin enjoyed the scenery outside, listening to Deng Yi and Ji Minglun chatting casually in the back. The sunlight outside was bright, but his mood gradually turned gloomy. After half the journey, someone beside him handed him a bag of original-flavored Lays chips.

“I’m okay thanks,” he declined. 

Shen Ran leaned closer and whispered, “Eat a bit to distract yourself; otherwise, listening to all this for the entire journey will be really depressing.”

He looked at Shen Ran, but before he could react, he was handed a bag. Shen Ran also tossed a bag to the back: “Hey, you two eat some too.”

Deng Yi took the chips and said, “I don’t like the original flavor; do you have any other flavors?”

Shen Ran shrugged: “I only eat the original flavor.”

Deng Yi thought about giving it back, but Ji Minglun reached out to take it, tore open the package, and started eating.

The sound of crunching chips filled the car. Jiang Lin listened for a moment, then tore open his own bag of original-flavored chips and popped a piece into his mouth.

After arriving in Xi’an, the clock in the car showed it was already past four in the afternoon. The driver dropped them off in front of a French palace-style hotel on Nan Da Street. After getting out of the car, they all entered through the bronze-embellished revolving door.

The receptionist immediately approached them and led them to a nearby guest seating area to rest. Deng Feng had already taken everyone’s ID cards and went to the front desk with the receptionist.

While confirming the rooms, Deng Feng asked the receptionist if there were any available rooms. The answer was that it was the peak tourist season during the summer holidays, and the hotel was fully booked.

Back at the seating area, Deng Feng explained the situation. Deng Yi suggested looking for other hotels nearby for Shi Xiaomin and her boyfriend to stay in. Shi Xiaomin then took her boyfriend to two hotels next door, but both were fully booked.

With no solution for their accommodation, Deng Yi couldn’t just ignore it and said to Deng Feng, “Ge, why don’t we squeeze together? Two people in one room for a night?”

All the rooms they booked were singles, with only Deng Yi and Shi Xiaomin’s room being a double. If they had to squeeze together, two people would need to share a bed. Deng Feng looked at Ji Minglun, who frowned, then at Jiang Lin: “How about I share a room with Jiang Lin? He can sleep in the bed while I take the sofa.”

Jiang Lin didn’t expect this development and was about to refuse when Ji Minglun said, “We’re not sure how many days it will take before rooms are available. We can’t sleep on the sofa the whole time.”

Actually, Deng Feng didn’t want to sleep on the sofa either, but there was no other option. If they left Shi Xiaomin and Wang Shi unattended, it would be difficult for Deng Yi too.

At the center of the situation, Shi Xiaomin and Wang Shi remained silent, watching everyone wait for a resolution. Just when Ji Minglun was considering finding a hotel on his own if things didn’t work out, Shen Ran spoke up.

“Let Jiang Lin and me share a bed. We’re about the same size, so it won’t be too cramped.”

Ji Minglun glanced at Shen Ran and, without waiting for Jiang Lin to refuse again, agreed, “That sounds good, let’s go with that.”

Deng Feng looked at Jiang Lin: “Are you okay with that?”

Under everyone’s gaze, even if Jiang Lin wanted to say no, he couldn’t bring himself to do so and could only force a nod.

Deng Yi sighed in relief and thanked Shen Ran. Then, clasping her hands together, she said to Jiang Lin, “Jiang Lin, I’m sorry for the trouble.”

Jiang Lin said it was fine. Once everyone was done checking in, he got up with them and headed to the elevator.

The rooms for several people were on different floors. Deng Feng, Deng Yi, and Shi Xiaomin exited the elevator first and arranged to rest for half an hour before going out for dinner. The vintage-designed old elevator continued to rise slowly, stopping on the seventh floor. The room service attendant asked Ji Minglun to sit for a moment on the sofa in the hallway before taking Shen Ran and Jiang Lin to their room.

Jiang Lin stood next to Ji Minglun without moving and said to Shen Ran, “I need to talk to him for a bit.”

Shen Ran made an OK gesture and followed the attendant toward the room. Jiang Lin waited for them to walk far enough away before turning to Ji Minglun: “I want to share a room with you tonight, is that okay?”

Ji Minglun had one hand in his pocket and the other on the metal handle of his suitcase, glancing at Jiang Lin with a nonchalant look.

As Jiang Lin waited for a response, Ji Minglun remained silent, and his expression didn’t reveal whether he agreed or not. Jiang Lin had no choice but to say, “If that’s not possible, just pretend I never brought it up.”

He turned and grabbed his suitcase, walking in the direction of Shen Ran. Just as he took a step, he heard Ji Minglun say, “I’m not sleeping on the sofa.”

Jiang Lin turned back to look at him, his fingers instinctively tightening around the suitcase handle: “I don’t want to sleep on the sofa either. Can we share the bed?”

Shen Ran had already reached the door and glanced back at the two before opening it. Once Shen Ran closed the door, Ji Minglun, with his left hand still in his pocket, touched his room card and turned to Jiang Lin: “Let’s go then.”

He opened the door to room 7019, placing the suitcase against the wall. He first went into the bathroom to check the bathing conditions.

The hotel that Deng Feng booked was the one he initially wanted. Both the hotel’s architectural exterior and decorative details had a strong refined atmosphere. In particular, the introduction of the bathtub in the hotel room caught his eye with its curvaceous design. However, at that time, he hadn’t considered that Jiang Lin would also come, and now they had the chance to share a bed again.

Realizing he was overthinking, Ji Minglun went to the sink to wash his hands and splashed some water on his face. When he came out, Jiang Lin was staring intently at the bed in the room.

Ji Minglun said, “I’ll go talk to Shen Ran.”

Without waiting for Jiang Lin to respond, he turned and left.

As the door closed behind him, Jiang Lin walked over to the bed and picked up a small basket of fresh rose petals placed in the middle of the bed, smelling them.

Before entering the room, he hadn’t imagined the hotel would be so romantic. Although it was a single room, the bed was 1.5 meters wide, seemingly designed for couples. Besides the peach-pink French curtains and the atmospheric starry sky projection lamp by the wall, there was also a crystal candle holder and aromatherapy on the small round table, and a touch-sensitive mermaid lamp. The most extravagant feature was the painting above the headboard.

The painting depicted a girl leaning against a lion, her slender body pale and voluptuous, covered only by a light veil over her important parts. The girl and the lion exchanged an indescribably ambiguous gaze, making it clear to anyone that the artist intended to express something deeper.

Jiang Lin couldn’t dare to imagine what it would feel like to share such a room with Ji Minglun when the lights were turned off at night.

……

Ji Minglun knocked on the door of room 7003. He watched as Shen Ran opened the door, crossed his arms, and smiled, “What’s up? Are you going to sleep with me now just because you’re my senior?”

Ignoring Shen Ran’s teasing, Ji Minglun whispered, “He’s sleeping in my room, don’t let anyone know.”

Shen Ran leaned his head out to look down the hallway: “What’s going on with you two? Are you already together?”

“No,” Ji Minglun didn’t want to disclose his past with Jiang Lin, but since Shen Ran was the only one in the know, he realized it would be problematic to keep hiding it. He gestured for Shen Ran to let him in, and once the door was closed, he said, “I confessed to him before, but he’s homophobic and rejected me.”

“Homophobic?” Shen Ran looked surprised. “I can’t tell at all. He treats you like this, and he’s homophobic?”

“Because we grew up together, he’s gotten used to relying on me.” Ji Minglun didn’t want to explain too much. “You know what’s at stake, so don’t spread this around.”

“Don’t worry, senior,” Shen Ran looked at him with a bit of sympathy. “But with how you are now, you still like him, right?”

Turning to twist the doorknob, Ji Minglun replied in a very indifferent tone, “No, I’ve long given up.”

Shen Ran muttered, “Who would believe you if you say it like that?”

The door closed behind him, and Ji Minglun looked toward his room, recalling Shen Ran’s words from earlier. He couldn’t help but give a self-deprecating smile.

Indeed, he was just deceiving himself. Taking out a cigarette from his pocket, he walked toward the emergency exit. Fortunately, Jiang Lin would leave after the summer vacation ended; he just needed to hold on a little longer.

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