Hidden Love

"You're not exactly young anymore," Duan Jiaxu said calmly, unbothered by her remark. "So how about taking pity on me?"

Sang Zhi looked up at him, her expression serious as she replied slowly, "I'll think about it."

Since it was just a joke, Duan Jiaxu didn't take it too seriously. He pinched her cheek and glanced at the time before asking, "Where else do you want to go? Feel like watching a movie?"

After thinking for a few seconds, Sang Zhi shook her head.

Duan Jiaxu asked patiently, "Should I take you back to your dorm then?"

Sang Zhi remained standing in place, her lips hidden behind her scarf, her eyes round and large as they stared directly at him. She sniffled and suddenly made a request: "I want you to carry me on your back."

"Can't walk anymore?" Duan Jiaxu said as he turned around and crouched down. "Hop on."

Sang Zhi leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. The next moment, Duan Jiaxu stood up, his voice coming from just ahead, tinged with suspicion: "You really didn't drink much?"

"Not even half a glass." Apart from her flushed face, Sang Zhi felt nothing. She rested her chin on his shoulder and said earnestly, "It was just like drinking cola."

Duan Jiaxu replied, "Then next time, we'll just drink cola."

They walked for a while.

From this angle, Sang Zhi stared at half of his profile and blurted out, "Am I very heavy?"

Duan Jiaxu said, "No."

Sang Zhi sounded a bit dissatisfied. "Then why didn't you say something like, 'You're so light'?"

Duan Jiaxu paused for a moment and laughed. "My mistake."

Soon after, he obediently added, "You're so light."

"I'm actually a bit heavier today," Sang Zhi said. "This down jacket I'm wearing weighs eighty pounds. If I take it off, I'll feel like air on your back."

Duan Jiaxu suppressed a laugh. "You already do."

They walked a little further.

Sang Zhi called out to him, "Duan Jiaxu."

"Hmm?"

"I submitted my work today," Sang Zhi told him about her day, muttering, "You know, that competition I've been working on lately. I've been revising the drafts every day, and I'm so sick of it."

Duan Jiaxu asked, "Did you pass?"

"Yeah," Sang Zhi said. "But the results won't be out for a while. Probably not until next semester."

"Then take a break during this time."

"I want to win an award. I heard this competition is highly prestigious. Lots of big companies will be there during the awards ceremony. Maybe I'll get noticed," Sang Zhi rambled. "Then my life after graduation will be clear—nine-to-five job, monthly income over ten thousand."

Duan Jiaxu asked, "Not planning on grad school?"

"Probably not," Sang Zhi said, her tone somewhat gloomy. "But I don't think I'll win an award. There are so many talented people. I feel like my work is crap."

Hearing this, Duan Jiaxu turned to look at her. "Watch your language, young lady."

Sang Zhi lifted her eyes and met his gaze. She blinked, leaned forward a little, and tilted her head to kiss his cheek. Seeing him momentarily stunned, the corners of her lips curved upward, and she kissed him again.

"Using your charms now, are you?" Duan Jiaxu narrowed his eyes slightly and asked with a low laugh, "Is me carrying you like this affecting your performance?"

"A little," Sang Zhi said, only then realizing she'd been on his back for quite some time. "Are you tired? Maybe I should get down. You don't have to carry me anymore.""We haven't been walking that long," Duan Jiaxu teased. "I'm not that old, am I? I wouldn't be out of breath just from carrying you for a few steps."

Hearing this, Sang Zhi fell silent for a moment before quickly explaining, "I don't think you're old."

Duan Jiaxu: "Really?"

"Mm, I was just joking with you." For some reason, Sang Zhi buried her face against his neck, her voice gradually softening as she repeated, "I don't think you're old."

Noticing the change in her tone, Duan Jiaxu turned his head to look at her. "What's wrong?"

Sang Zhi lifted her eyes slightly, staring at his profile, and suddenly felt her nose sting.

She abruptly thought of how, no matter what she said to Li Ping recently, the other side maintained an ambiguous attitude. She thought of the day they got together, when Duan Jiaxu had said self-mockingly, "Afraid you'd mind."

But clearly, it had nothing to do with him.

Nothing at all.

Yet because of this, he had to place himself in a position lower than ordinary people and suffer unfair treatment because of it. If he knew what Li Ping thought, he would definitely be very unhappy, right?

Sang Zhi's eyes gradually reddened. She pressed her lips together tightly and lowered her head again, her voice choked. "I don't think you're old. I just think... I'm too young."

Duan Jiaxu didn't understand. "What?"

Even though she didn't think so herself.

Everyone else thought she was too young.

They thought her being with Duan Jiaxu was just a momentary impulse, that she hadn't considered the future at all. They felt they had to remind her, make her see clearly that this path might not be suitable for her.

If she were just a little older.

If she had graduated from university, had a stable job and income, achieved financial independence, and could rely only on herself for everything. By then, when she brought this up with her parents, maybe they would listen a little more.

Maybe they would believe that she had actually considered everything.

She hadn't taken it too seriously only because she believed those factors were all trivial matters that couldn't shake their relationship in the slightest.

From childhood, she had looked forward to growing up, and even now, she still longed to be older.

This seven-year gap felt like something she could never catch up to.

"Why am I nineteen?" Sang Zhi couldn't hold back anymore; tears fell, pattering down. "Can't I be twenty-nine? I don't want to be so young."

At this point in her life, aside from studying hard to pave a better path for the future, she could do nothing else.

Feeling the wetness on his neck, Duan Jiaxu frowned. "What's wrong?"

"When I'm twenty-nine, I'll probably be pretty rich, right?" Sang Zhi said between sobs. "I won't keep you, I'll just give you all my money... for you to spend..."

"..." Duan Jiaxu paused for a moment before continuing to walk. "Why do you always want to give me money to spend?"

"Then you could live a little easier."

Duan Jiaxu laughed. "I'm not living a hard life now."

"How are you not?" Sang Zhi's eyes were wet as she reached up to touch his head. "You're always working overtime, always staying up late, with such big dark circles and losing so much hair."

Duan Jiaxu's tone rose slightly. "What dark circles and hair loss? Don't spread rumors."Sang Zhi continued speaking to herself, "If I were twenty-nine now, I'd be three years older than you. Then my brother definitely wouldn't hit you anymore, and Brother Qian Fei would probably scold me instead, calling me a beast."

"That won't do," Duan Jiaxu said. "This brother prefers them young."

"..." Sang Zhi wiped her tears with her palms. "Then what about when I get old?"

"You'll still be younger than me even when you're old."

Sang Zhi sniffled but didn't argue.

Duan Jiaxu found it amusing and said playfully, "Crying because you're young? Are you trying to stab me in the heart?"

Seeing the smile at the corner of his lips, Sang Zhi tightened her arms around his neck. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Duan Jiaxu."

"Hmm?"

"Are you happy now?"

"Hmm."

Sang Zhi said very seriously, "Then you have to be happy every day."

The next moment, Duan Jiaxu turned his head and nuzzled her cheek with his nose.

"Just stay with me every day, that's enough." -

Duan Jiaxu originally intended to take Sang Zhi back to her dorm, but she hadn't planned on returning anyway. The emotions that had surged up earlier had mostly subsided, and she no longer let him carry her, jumping down from his back.

The two chatted intermittently.

After a moment's contemplation, Duan Jiaxu still asked, "Did someone say something to you?"

Sang Zhi didn't plan to tell him. Her voice still carrying a nasal tone, she shook her head. "I just heard from my roommate today that she'll probably break up with her boyfriend after graduation because of long-distance relationships and such."

"..."

"And she said there are many uncertain things," Sang Zhi said. "I don't know what those uncertainties are, so I thought about us, and it seems like the only thing is age."

"How is age uncertain?"

"It's just," Sang Zhi slowly made up an explanation, "when you take me out to meet people, would you feel embarrassed to say I'm your girlfriend? Because after you say that, others might have a 'wow—I thought this was your daughter' reaction."

Accustomed to her tendency to exaggerate, Duan Jiaxu laughed. "It's alright, I think that sounds..."

Sang Zhi: "Hmm?"

"Pretty impressive actually."

"..." -

Having stayed at Duan Jiaxu's place many times, Sang Zhi kept quite a few clothes here, so she didn't need to return to the dorm to get anything. She didn't have much going on recently—most of her courses had ended, leaving only the upcoming exam week.

Entering the master bedroom, Sang Zhi took a change of clothes from the wardrobe. Noticing the time, she habitually called Li Ping. After chatting for a few moments, she quickly hung up.

Sang Zhi sat on the bed in a daze for a while, then let out a sigh. She got up, lost in thought as she went to take a shower. After coming out, she picked up her phone and hesitantly sent Sang Yan a WeChat message: [Brother, can you do me a favor?]

Sang Yan didn't reply immediately.

She waited for a while, then put down her phone. Using a towel to dry her hair, she returned to the bathroom to blow-dry it completely.

It wasn't particularly late yet, just past nine o'clock.

In the room, Sang Zhi could still hear Duan Jiaxu watching TV in the living room. She went out to the living room, planning to spend some time with him before returning to the bedroom to sleep at the appropriate time.

Duan Jiaxu had also just showered.

He wasn't actually watching TV—he just had the sound on while holding his phone, seemingly playing a game.Sang Zhi climbed onto the sofa and leaned in beside him to watch. She couldn't quite understand what game he was playing either. Catching the faint scent of mint on him, she remarked casually, "I quite like the smell of your new body wash."

Duan Jiaxu gave a noncommittal hum.

"What brand is it?" Sang Zhi added, "I'd like to buy a bottle too."

"Why buy it?" Hearing this, Duan Jiaxu lifted his eyelids and drawled lazily, "Can't you just smell it on me?"

"..."

The next moment, Duan Jiaxu grabbed her hand and pulled her into his embrace. A low chuckle rumbled in his throat as he adjusted his posture, holding her while continuing to play the game. "I'll let you get closer to smell it."

Sang Zhi instantly found herself sitting sideways in his lap, facing away from him.

She paused for a moment but said nothing, obediently watching the phone in his hands as he played the game.

His hands were beautiful—slender, well-defined fingers neatly trimmed and appearing immaculate. Small half-moons adorned his nails, gleaming with a healthy luster. His movements were practiced and swift; just watching his hands play the game was particularly pleasing to the eye.

Having never played before, Sang Zhi didn't understand some of the maneuvers and would occasionally ask questions.

Duan Jiaxu wasn't fully focused on the game either. Whenever she asked, he patiently explained.

The small living room remained quiet for the most part.

Gradually, Duan Jiaxu's movements slowed.

After the new round ended, Sang Zhi was about to get up and return to her room to fetch her phone, intending to download the game and try it herself. Before she could move, Duan Jiaxu's grip loosened, and the phone slipped, landing on her thigh.

It then fell onto the carpet beside the sofa.

Simultaneously, he pressed warm, scattered kisses against the nape of her neck.

Duan Jiaxu's breathing grew heavy. His palm slid downward, slipping beneath her pajamas to knead the soft flesh of her stomach. His breath fanned across her skin, eliciting a tingling numbness. His kisses trailed downward, growing more forceful.

Sang Zhi's mind went blank, and she instinctively turned her head.

As if he had anticipated it, Duan Jiaxu cupped the back of her head the next second and captured her lips. His tongue delved inward, the pressure gradually intensifying until it bordered on painful.

After what felt like an eternity, his other hand withdrew, discreetly smoothing the hem of her clothes as he slowly steadied his breathing.

Duan Jiaxu held her gaze for a long moment, his eyes darkening with desire. His voice was low and hoarse: "If I weren't afraid of scaring you—"

"..."

As if unable to vent his frustration, his lips slid lower again, nipping sharply at her collarbone before soothing the spot with a lick.

"You'd have cried countless times by now."