Shen Nianzu waited for the answer with bated breath.
One couldn’t bla him for making this question his top priority. Only he and God knew how flustered and horrified he was when he’d kissed the wrong person in the Cycle. It was not like he had anything against his boyfriend, but whenever he thought that the man he was intimate with was the twins who had triggered his paternal love up until monts ago... he... he really had no idea how to feel.
This matter would surely beco a fishbone stuck in his throat if he did not dig it up to the roots, so he’d better find out the truth as soon as possible – even though it might prove a little challenging to bear.
Nonetheless, they did claim to be more than a hundred years old, right? So they could no longer be considered children. Right??
Jin Jiuchi arched his brow, seemingly intrigued and confused by his choice of question. "Nian’er, you really want to know that?"
Gulping, Shen Nianzu gave a firm nod.
"Hmm..." Jin Jiuchi lowered his gaze in thought as if he was digging into the depths of his forgotten mory, and Shen Nianzu could almost feel his heart leaping to his throat. Why did he need so much ti just to answer this question? Wasn’t it only a matter of ’yes’ or ’no’? Damn it, he had a bad feeling about this.
Fortunately, Jin Jiuchi parted his lips to speak before Shen Nianzu could snap out of impatience, but what ca out of the man’s mouth was not the answer he sought. "Don’t you think it’s unfair," he shot Shen Nianzu a sly and calculating look, "how I need to answer Nian’er’s question, when Nian’er is not willing to give one?"
Shen Nianzu gawked in surprise. "What are you..."
"How about we start with the earlier question first?" He leaned down to whisper into Shen Nianzu’s ear, his eyes flashing in a wicked gleam. "Do you or do you not love , Nian’er?"
This damned husky... he was still fixated on this?!
Shen Nianzu glowered at him nacingly, but Jin Jiuchi was utterly unfazed. He was hell-bent on getting the answer he wanted before satisfying Shen Nianzu’s curiosity, leaving the jade doll with no other choice. Gritting his teeth, Shen Nianzu hissed at him, "What do you think? Would I even allow you to be this close to , to climb into my bed, to... to be on top of , if I didn’t harbor any feelings for you?!"
Jin Jiuchi’s heterochromic eyes sparked with excitent, and he looked so thrilled that he almost soared across the sky. Alas, ever the aggravating man he was, he still put on a pitiful look and whined, "But Nian’er, I want to hear it directly from your mouth!"
This bastard... taking a mile after being given an inch, wasn’t he? Worse still, Shen Nianzu had no choice but to comply with his request or else he would never obtain the answers to his questions!
Fine, wasn’t it a re simple confession?
Under Jin Jiuchi’s expectant gaze, he opened his mouth... only to close it again. Once more he opened it, yet still, no words ca out.
Flush colored his fair cheeks as he averted his gaze shyly. Damn it, why was it so fucking difficult to say these three brief words?! Especially after everything they had done behind closed doors?! Co to think of it, it seed like he had never uttered anything like that to Jin Jiuchi before. Even when he asked the man out, he... he had never explicitly expressed his feelings!
That realization shocked Shen Nianzu down to the core. He knew he might not be the most romantic person on Earth, but still... wasn’t it a little too neglectful of him? No wonder this husky was whining like he had never received any attention before!
Closing his eyes, Shen Nianzu released a sigh laden with resignation and forced his throat to work, "I... I do..."
"Hmm?" Jin Jiuchi’s imaginary ears imdiately perked up, his gleeful smile widening. He cupped an ear toward Shen Nianzu’s mouth, "What is it? I can’t hear you, Nian’er."
Unable to endure the teasing anymore, Shen Nianzu seized his collar and hollered right in front of his face. "I said I do... I do love you, okay?!"
Damn it, Shen Nianzu, that was so not romantic!
Shen Nianzu ntally beat himself up, but Jin Jiuchi appeared more than satisfied with that answer, so he guessed it all turned out fine. With a harrumph, Shen Nianzu quickly turned the table, pressing the man for an answer. "Now it’s your turn! Is it a yes or no?!"
Jin Jiuchi raised a mirthful brow at his forceful deanor. He looked far too amused for his own good as he reached out a hand and playfully poked Shen Nianzu right on the lines forming between his brows. "Silly Nian’er," he chuckled. "What do you think I am? Of course, it’s not possible for to grow up in an instant."
Shen Nianzu’s grip on his collar loosened as he gazed at the man in disbelief. "Then, what happened inside the Cycle—"
Being his unhelpful self as always, Jin Jiuchi shrugged nonchalantly. "Who knows? Maybe it’s due to the fragnt of my soul? I an, I did recover mories of my childhood thanks to that Cycle. I rember my brother and then..." he trailed off, his lips twitching. "Anyway, what I can tell you for sure is that I didn’t spend my childhood in that labyrinth. The building and atmosphere may look similar, but... it’s still not the sa."
Shen Nianzu processed the new information carefully. If what Jin Jiuchi said was true, then it would affirm that everything that transpired in the Cycle – or specifically the labyrinth – was solely the work of its creator, Master Khronos. That also explained the existence of the faceless creatures.
However, this revelation only birthed more questions in his mind— when Jin Jiuchi ntioned that the atmosphere was similar, how close was he talking about? What about the punishnt, the confinent and the starvation? If the reason why Shen Nianzu beca the catalyst for the twins devouring each other was orchestrated by the Nightmare, did it an there was an entirely different reason when it occurred in the past – one that did not involve Shen Nianzu at all?
Most importantly...
Shen Nianzu inquired carefully, "Do you rember how a piece of your soul ended up in that Cycle?"
"Hmm..." Jin Jiuchi thought long and hard before shaking his head firmly. "I don’t."
The corner of Shen Nianzu’s lips twitched. Since the said person did not rember anything at all, and it was impossible for him to return to the Cycle and ask Master Khronos further, how was he supposed to unravel the truth about Jin Jiuchi? Who should he turn to for answers?
All of a sudden, a face flashed in his mind, and his eyes lit up in realization.
There was one!
Possibly the only person he could ask, soone who might know sothing about Jin Jiuchi’s past, seeing how he had entered the Cycle just to et the Calamitous Twins...
Shen Nianzu told Jin Jiuchi solemnly, "It seems like we have to pay Grandpa a visit."
.
.
A/N: A little announcent ^^ I’m celebrating the first anniversary of my other book (CBCD) and there’s a free desktop wallpaper you can download in my discord server. It’s of the three gongs from my three BLs (He Juan, Jin Jiuchi and Lu Yizhou) if you’re interested, just head to my server for more details! Only available until the end of this year >
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