Try Again chapter 50

Liking You More

When Ji Minglun arrived, Jiang Lin was in the master bedroom next door looking for Tang Ying’s death certificate.

The master bedroom door had been locked for years, only opened when the housekeeper came to clean. Ji Minglun hadn’t entered the room in many years, and it remained the way it was back then, with all of Tang Ying’s little trinkets still in place.

Jiang Lin took out the necessary documents from a drawer and didn’t linger, pulling Ji Minglun out with him. After watching Jiang Lin lock the master bedroom door again, Ji Minglun pulled him into his arms, comforting him, “If you’re sad, let it out. Whatever you want to do, I’ll stay with you.”

Jiang Lin leaned on Ji Minglun’s shoulder, hugging him tightly after listening, “I’m fine.”

“Did your dad say something hurtful just now?” Ji Minglun asked.

“I didn’t give him a chance to speak,” Jiang Lin glanced at the clock on the wall, his gaze following the steadily moving hands, “I was the one who said all the harsh things. It felt good to let them out.”

Ji Minglun knew that Jiang Lin wasn’t someone who could easily say cruel words, and Jiang Jianchen was his only family. Doing so would only make him feel worse.

After hugging for a while, Jiang Lin was the first to push Ji Minglun away, “I’m fine now. You should go help the professor.”

“It’s okay, I’ve already turned it down,” Ji Minglun glanced at the living room and suggested, “Let’s have dinner, then we can go back to my place.”

Jiang Lin didn’t move, and after a moment of silence, he asked, “What about your parents? Should we tell them ourselves or…?”

“Let’s not say anything for now,” Ji Minglun replied, “I think your dad cares too much about appearances. He might not make a big deal of it, so let’s wait and see.”

Having just said a lot of heated words, Jiang Lin, now calm, also felt that with Jiang Jianchen’s pride, he wouldn’t want to make things public. He nodded, and after dinner, he packed a few things, and left with Ji Minglun.

For the next two days, Jiang Lin stayed at Ji Minglun’s place.

The date for returning to school was drawing closer, which meant that the day of their separation was approaching. They hadn’t left the house in those two days. All meals were either takeout or cooked by Ji Minglun. They spent their time either watching movies and chatting on the sofa or being intimate under the covers. But Jiang Lin rarely truly smiled. Most of the time, his eyes lacked a sense of ease.

After they took a bath together following another moment of release, Ji Minglun mentioned that he had received a message from Deng Feng, asking when they would be free to meet up for dinner that week.

Jiang Lin, resting with his eyes closed in Ji Minglun’s arms, lazily responded, “What did you say?”

“I told him I’d ask you,” Ji Minglun poured warm water over Jiang Lin’s left shoulder. “Deng Feng said Zhu Zhu and the others all want to meet for dinner.”

“Will Deng Yi be there?” Jiang Lin asked.

Ji Minglun held Jiang Lin’s shoulder with his warm hand and said, “Deng Feng won’t invite her, just to avoid any trouble.”

“Did Deng Feng really say that?”

“Yeah, he knows his sister well.”

Jiang Lin opened his eyes and continued to ask, “Has Deng Yi not contacted you these past few days?”

Ji Minglun didn’t answer, just smiled and looked at Jiang Lin.

Feeling confused, Jiang Lin asked what he was smiling about, only to hear him say, “I thought you didn’t care.”

“Care about what?”

“Whether Deng Yi reaches out to me.”

“Why wouldn’t I care?” Jiang Lin propped himself up against the bathtub and turned to look at Ji Minglun. “So, did she?”

“No,” Ji Minglun adjusted the massage function, “Deng Yi is quite strong-willed. I made it very clear to her that day at Fantawild. She probably understands, but she just needs time.”

“Then after I leave,” Jiang Lin paused, picking up a towel to dry his hair, “you’ll be alone again.”

With the towel covering his face, Ji Minglun pulled him back into his arms, tossing the towel aside near the edge of the bathtub. “I’m not alone anymore. Deng Feng and Shen Ran both know we’re together, and so will Zhu Zhu and the others when we meet for dinner.”

“And your dad knows as well. He hasn’t caused any trouble these past two days, and my parents are calm too, which means your dad is still concerned about his image.”

Mentioning Jiang Jianchen ruined the mood a bit, but Ji Minglun wanted to ease Jiang Lin’s anxiety. After all, they had just gotten together, yet they were already facing many challenges. Besides family matters, they were also about to be separated for a year, and both were struggling with it, even though Jiang Lin avoided bringing it up.

Jiang Lin didn’t want to talk about Jiang Jianchen. He tilted his face up, lightly pressing his lips against Ji Minglun’s chin. Ji Minglun lowered his head and kissed him back, quickly leaving Jiang Lin breathless, almost slipping into the bathtub.

Holding Jiang Lin’s face against his shoulder, Ji Minglun glanced at the water below and asked, “Do you want to go back to bed?”

“No need,” Jiang Lin tightened his arms around Ji Minglun’s neck, “Let’s just stay like this for a while.”

…..

After arranging to have dinner with Deng Feng the day after tomorrow, the next two days, they both remained indoors. On the night they went out, Jiang Lin spent some time coaxing Cheese, the puppy, until it didn’t chase after them when they left. When they went to the parking lot to get the car, Ji Minglun heard someone calling him. He turned around and saw Su Yan and Ji Qian had returned.

Ji Qian’s parking spot was a bit further away, and Su Yan was standing by the car door holding a white dolphin plush almost half his height, while Ji Qian was taking something out of the trunk.

As they walked over, Su Yan’s gaze lingered on Jiang Lin’s face for a moment. Jiang Lin, feeling slightly uneasy, looked away. Ji Minglun, on the other hand, took the initiative to hold his hand.

Su Yan glanced at their hands briefly before looking away and smiled at Ji Minglun, “Heading out?”

“Yeah, did you guys just return from the company-funded trip?”

“What company-funded trip? We were doing serious business,” Su Yan didn’t continue the topic but gestured meaningfully towards their joined hands with his eyes, “What’s this?”

Ji Minglun looked at Jiang Lin and smiled, “Care to introduce yourself?”

Jiang Lin nodded and, still a bit uneasy, turned back and extended his hand to Su Yan. “Hello, I’m Jiang Lin.”

Su Yan shook his hand with the one not holding the dolphin, smiling, “Hi, I’m Su Yan, the neighbor from across the hall, and that’s my boyfriend, Ji Qian, over there.”

Jiang Lin was caught off guard by the sudden “boyfriend” comment and didn’t know how to respond, but Ji Minglun stepped in to explain, “Su Yan grew up in Los Angeles; that’s just his personality. He only recently came back to China.”

Jiang Lin understood. By then, Ji Qian had walked over carrying two plastic bags and a suitcase. Su Yan immediately went to link arms with him, whispered something in his ear, and Ji Qian came over to greet them as well.

Once they were back in the car, Jiang Lin asked, “Is there a big age difference between Su Yan and Ji Qian?”

“Not really, Ji Qian is 29,” Ji Minglun started the car, “It’s just that Su Yan looks really young. He’s only a year younger than you, but he looks like a teenager, right?”

Jiang Lin thought back to the times he had seen Su Yan. He wouldn’t say he looked like a teenager, but Su Yan definitely didn’t seem like someone who had already started working. On the road, Ji Minglun told him more about Su Yan and Ji Qian, and Jiang Lin couldn’t help but laugh when he heard about the bad ideas Ji Minglun had come up with when helping Su Yan pursue Ji Qian. Ji Minglun reached over and held his hand, “Feel better now?”

“About what?” Jiang Lin’s smile hadn’t faded when Ji Minglun added, “Jealousy. Weren’t you always jealous of my neighbor?”

Jiang Lin, unusually, didn’t deny it. He just tightened his grip on Ji Minglun’s hand, “He has a really nice personality.”

“Yeah,” Ji Minglun agreed, but then quickly added, “But not as nice as yours. I still like you more.”

Jiang Lin turned to glance at him, then turned back toward the window, the smile on his lips growing wider, making the neon lights reflected in his eyes look even more captivating.

The dinner was arranged at the same izakaya where they first welcomed Jiang Lin. Deng Feng had chosen the location, and the meaning behind it was beautiful: starting here, parting here.

Before coming, Jiang Lin thought it would just be a simple dinner, but he didn’t expect that Zhu Zhu and the others had decorated the private room with streamers and balloons, creating a warm and romantic atmosphere.

All the staff from the restaurant were there tonight, sitting on the tatami mats around the table. When Ji Minglun led Jiang Lin in by the hand, everyone looked a bit surprised, but since Ji Minglun’s sexual orientation wasn’t a secret in the restaurant, no one reacted too strongly. Zhu Zhu even got up and handed Jiang Lin a bouquet of flowers, while Deng Feng, when clinking glasses with Jiang Lin, didn’t bring up any past unpleasantness, only offering best wishes for the future.

Halfway through the meal, Shen Ran arrived.

He brought a cake and sat down next to Deng Feng. Deng Feng asked why he was so late, but Shen Ran didn’t say much. When Deng Feng took the cake box and realized it wasn’t from the bakery he had ordered from but from a more upscale hotel, he asked, “Why didn’t you pick up the one I ordered?”

“I did,” Shen Ran said, a bit frustrated, “But some clueless idiot knocked it over.”

“You didn’t need to buy such an expensive one,” Deng Feng said, aware of Shen Ran’s financial situation. But the moment he finished speaking, Shen Ran’s hand paused with his chopsticks, and he asked, “Is it really that expensive?”

The cake box had a minimalist, cold design, and Shen Ran hadn’t recognized the brand. Before Deng Feng could respond, Ji Minglun, who was sitting across from them, glanced over. Shen Ran met his gaze briefly before turning his head away.

Ji Minglun didn’t comment and turned his attention back to Jiang Lin.

After dinner, they put candles on the cake, lit them, and turned off the lights in the private room.

The cake was a red wine ice cream base, shaped like two intertwined black-and-white swans. Whether it was the presentation or the ingredients, it was top-notch, and the atmosphere under the dim candlelight was especially good. Shen Ran was also momentarily taken aback when he saw the cake, while Tang Yang joked that Shen Ran had really picked the perfect cake and asked if he already knew about Ji Minglun and Jiang Lin’s relationship.

Jiang Lin had eaten cakes from this brand before and remembered they weren’t cheap. Though a bit embarrassed, he still smiled and thanked Shen Ran, who looked even more awkward than he did. After everyone had finished eating the cake, Ji Minglun, while settling the bill, called Shen Ran downstairs and asked him how much the cake had cost so he could pay him back.

“Don’t bother,” Shen Ran said, sounding frustrated, “Someone else paid for it; I didn’t spend any money.”

“This cake wasn’t cheap. Are you sure you don’t want me to pay you back?”

Ji Minglun had already guessed who had bought the cake. Shen Ran didn’t want to admit it in front of him, but denying it any further would have felt strange. The most important thing was that there wasn’t really anything to admit to.

With his hands in his sweatpants pockets, Shen Ran looked toward the entrance and said, “It’s fine, I can handle it. Let’s just consider it my farewell gift to Jiang Lin.”

After leaving the izakaya, everyone still wasn’t done having fun, so they went to a nearby karaoke bar, rented a private room, and continued singing and drinking. It wasn’t until almost 3 AM that the party finally ended.

Jiang Lin smiled a lot that night. In the past year or so, he hadn’t had such a joyful time at a gathering. Even though he hadn’t worked at the café for long, everyone treated him with such warmth. Since he wasn’t good at expressing himself, he could only show his appreciation by drinking. At first, Ji Minglun advised him to drink less, but seeing how genuinely happy he was, he didn’t try to stop him anymore.

In the latter half of the night, Jiang Lin fell asleep on the sofa. When it was time to leave, Ji Minglun carried him on his back, said goodbye to everyone, and got into the back seat, letting the designated driver drive them back.

Jiang Lin slept soundly after being drunk and didn’t wake up until noon the next day. Rubbing his aching head, he sat up and noticed no one was beside him. Thinking Ji Minglun was in the kitchen, he walked into the living room, only to find the house quiet. Only Cheese came to rub against his leg.

He picked up his phone, intending to call Ji Minglun. After unlocking it, he saw the WeChat message Ji Minglun had sent in the morning.

[Your dad asked me out for a chat. Message me when you wake up. There’s warm soy milk and shrimp dumplings in the pot. Remember to eat first when you get up.]