Wang Yibo tried to convince the Jin family that it was no problem for him to simply walk to his home or eventually take a cab, but they insisted too much, thus he agreed in the end to sleep over in their daughter’s room.

“I am so sorry Xiaojie (A/n: Miss, young lady in Chinese) MianMian, please forgive me for all this mess. I promise that I will fix it as soon as possible.
I hope and pray from the bottom of my heart for your fast recovery, so as…”, Wang Yibo talked to the big  painting portrait hanging on the wall in the room he was about to sleep in, but was interrupted by a discreet knocking on the door.

“I bought these, a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, if it’s alright with you. I ‘m sorry but I don’t have pajamas. I don't wear any for sleeping. Actually I don’t wear anything for sleeping, he, he. May I come in?”, Xiao Zhan smiled at Wang Yibo who was frozen in his spot and  looked at him like he saw an alien.

“Oh, please come in. I am so sorry for my rudeness, these are perfect, I sleep , too…only when I am alone in my own house, of course!  I apologize, I was just, uhm..please come in!”, Yibo stuttered, finally wide opening the door and  inviting the man to step inside the room.

“So, you sleep only when alone, not when with your lover, huh? Ha, ha, your flustered cheeks are so cute…If I wouldn’t know MeiMei, and that you are her lover, I would believe that you are a , but she would never agree to…Are you?”, Xiao Zhan turned to Yibo, after placing the clothes on the bed.

“What? Of course I am MianMian’s lover! My cheeks are red because it’s really hot here.”, Yibo replied, turning his back to Xiao Zhan to hide his face that was on fire.

“I mean, are you a ?
No, that could be hard to believe, ha, ha. She is too attractive for you to resist her, and you are not bad either, for her to resist you!
Sorry, I don’t know what got into me! I apologize.
But, still, I want to know more about you, only if you don’t mind  telling me, of course.”, Xiao Zhan took a seat on the chair in front of his sister’s makeup table.

Yibo sat on the bed, trying hard to look as normal as he could and started speaking:
“I don’t mind. I just don’t have too much to tell you about me, as I am not at all an interesting, special individual.
I am 26 years old...'

"Oh, so young! Six years younger than me... I mean it's great that you're only one year older than MeiMei.", Xiao Zhan hurried to fix the possible meaning of his wording.

"You don't look at all, six years older than me, though. I mean, I might look much older than just one year older than MianMian.", Yibo replied,  in the same note as Xiao Zhan.
"Anyways, I studied Economics only for two years, then I was forced to abandon the studies to take care of the expenses needed for my sick father’s treatment. I still work now as a subway cashier, same  as I did since I abandoned the University.  I live in a small studio that 's not mine, but rented. See? Nothing special about me.
Oh, and I  own a pet, a turtle. You can say that a turtle is a boring pet, but she is my long time friend whom I love dearly. Her name is BaiXiangGuo (It means Passion Fruit in Chinese, and it’s also another way to refer to  BXG- BoXiaoGirl that you probably know what it means) .”

“I love your pet’s name. I know what you mean, I have a pet, too. A Munchkin cat, who, besides that she is small and cute, is sometimes annoyingly dumb and very lazy, yet I love her like crazy. Her name is Nut.
Let me show you her picture.”, Xiao Zhan  moved from the chair on the bed,  next to Yibo, to show him the picture from his phone. 

“Ahh,  my goodness!”, Yibo gasped in distress, for two main reasons. 
One, because his nostrils  were filled with Xiao Zhan’s alluring scent and his cheek was tickled by Xiao Zhan’s hair, that close their faces were, while looking at the phone screen.
And two, the man holding the cat in the picture was the owner of some very appealing toned arms contrasting with his adorable pouty lips.

 

 

“What’s wrong, are you feeling sick?
I wouldn’t be surprised, you ate lots of NaiNai’s eggs cake, ha, ha. 
Should I bring you a glass of water?”, Xiao Zhan got worried when Yibo started to fan himself while breathing erratically.

“No, I’m okay, maybe a bit too hot.
So, so cute! 
Cute and hot”, Yibo squirmed in his seat, trying to hide behind a smile, what had just slipped from his mouth.  

 

 

“Nut is cute, isn’t it?
 But  it's not that hot  here, I hope you didn’t catch a cold or something. Let me check if you  have a fever!”, the man  got Yibo even more distressed than he already was  with the  palm plastered onto his forehead that  gently caressed his feverish cheek after that.

“Oh, my god, your cheek is burning! And look at your ears, they are crimson red!
Ma is probably sleeping already, but I can handle it, don't worry. I have a pair of 5 years old twins back home, Lulu and Yuan, who are often catching colds. I  have some  aspirin in my luggage. Until I will make you a hot tea and bring the medicine, you should take a very quick hot shower and tuck yourself in the bed.
I will bring you an extra blanket from my room, as I suppose that MeiMei’s closet must be emptied.”

 

 

"Oh, so you have two kids. You've been married and now divorced, maybe...Because NaiNai asked me to introduce a possible wife to you...", Yibo whispered, mostly to himself.

But Xiao Zhan heard him and halted from heading to the door to explain:
"No, the twins are my step siblings from my father's second marriage, not my kids, but I sometimes take care of them, when Baba and Mama are busy with the family's business.
I call Mama my father's Spanish wife, while calling Ma my natural mother, so as not to get you confused.  And Baba is my natural father, while Ba is my step father.
You will get to know my Spanish family tomorrow evening, when they will finally arrive in China, to spend Christmas together, all of us.
But I will tell you more when I'm back, now, go take that shower, but make it short, don't stay for too long."

He closed the door behind him, but Yibo startled when the door was opened again  by Xiao Zhan who spoke softly:
"One more thing, Wang Yibo! Never say again or not even think that  it's nothing interesting or special about you! And I am not talking here about calling you special only because  my beloved MeiMei fell in love with you, no.
Besides that you are one gorgeous, hot looking man, you have a beautiful character, not only a beautiful physical appearance. Not many would do what you did, risking your  own life to save another life. Some could say that you saved  that  life,  only because it's your fiance's life, and you did it out of love. But I don't know why I am so sure that you would have acted the same towards any random stranger.
Okay, now I'm leaving for real, ha, ha."

 

After taking a frugal shower and getting dressed in the clothes brought by Xiao Zhan (not before smelling them, of course) he got into bed and waited.

“What now?
Should I tell him the truth, and eventually ask him to keep the secret between us, at least until his sister would recover?
His sister, hello, Wang Yibo, we talk here about his sister! How could you believe that he could accept such an outraging proposition..coming from a scum like you, pretending to be a hero, on top of that? 
I have no other option but to keep it up with this whole damn, embarrassing masquerade!
And now I must pretend to be sick, too!”, Yibo sighed,  faking a slight cough, when hearing the door opening.

“I knew it, but don’t worry, I will take good care of you and after a good sleep, you will be like new in the morning.
Sit upper a bit, I want to put this extra pillow under your head.
Here is the tea, it’s hot, be careful. It's cherry tea with honey and lemon. I  hope you like it, it’s what I found in the kitchen cabinet.
After taking the aspirin, keep  this menthol candy in your mouth until it melts. It will be good for your coughing. ”, Xiao Zhan kept talking while fixing the tray in Yibo’s lap.

“It passed such a long time since I felt so pampered and lov…Ermm, I mean, thank you. But you really shouldn’t bother, I am not that much  sick!”, Yibo whispered, overwhelmed with an entire emotional palette of feelings. 
Feelings of guilt and shame. 
Feelings of  complacency, he couldn’t deny that he enjoys  the attention and care he’s getting from him and from his family. 
Feelings of  love, yes, love, he is in love with this man! With a real man, not with a childhood memory! A forbidden love!

“Oh, your face is burning again, but it could be from the hot tea. Your hand is not hot, though.”, Xiao Zhan took Yibo’s hand that was not holding the cup of tea, into his, then scared the out of him by leaning his face closer and closer.

“We don’t have a thermometer, but if you  don’t mind, I could test your fever with my lips on your forehead, May I?”

“Yes, you may…”, Yibo struggled to speak as  normally as he could, praying in his thoughts to survive.

“Hmm, I don't know what to say about your forehead…But I can feel your breath  heating my neck, it’s hot indeed.”, Xiao Zhan spoke softly, with his lips still plastered onto Yibo’s forehead.
“Anyway, lay down and I will put on your forehead this  cool washcloth that will feel very good.”, he said while fixing the pillow and helping Yibo to lay down, then covered him with the extra blanket.

“Do you want me to put you some nice, soothing music to help you fall asleep? “, Xiao Zhan asked, starting to search in his phone playlist.

“No, I would rather listen to you for a while, if you’re not too tired. I’d like to know more about you. I mean, about your family from Spain.”, Yibo murmured, blindly searching for Xiao Zhan’s hand, forgetting for a second that he shouldn’t. 

But to his surprise, the hand he was searching for grabbed his own hand, interlacing their fingers together.

Xiao Zhan pulled the chair closer to the bed and climbed  his feet on it to make himself more comfortable and started his telling, while placing their interlaced hands in his lap:
“You’re right, I promised to tell you more after bringing the tea. I asked you about you, but I told you nothing about me.
I am 32 years old. I left China 14 years ago, wow how time flies! I left because my father got married in Spain and we all decided that  each of our  parents would take one child to live with them. We loved each other very much, that’s why it was hard to choose who will go with whom. So, we  decided through fortune cookies, if you believe it or not, ha, ha.”

“May I ask, why did your parents get divorced? And how come they are still in such a good relationship, to spend  holidays together? Together with each other’s spouses? Only if you want to tell me…
Take this pillow, and sit here next to me, the bed is big enough and your back must hurt already.”, Yibo pulled one of the pillows from under his head and placed it next to him.

“Okay, but first  let me refresh the washcloth with some cold water.”, Xiao Zhan stood up to walk to the bathroom connected to MianMian’s bedroom.

Yibo regretted the loss of their holding  hands, but  it compensated with the joy of Xiao Zhan’s proximity when he sat in the bed next to him, lining his long legs along Yibo’s wrapped in the blankets form.

“Their story started from the moment they were born. They were betrothed to marry to each other, by their parents. My grandparents from both sides had their roots in two of the oldest aristocratic families with descendants in the ancient Qin dynasty. “

“Oh, so that could explain why this mansion doesn’t look like any ordinary Chinese house.”, Yibo whispered. 

“Yes, this house was gifted by my grandparents as their wedding present to my parents.
Ma and Baba obeyed their parents’ wishes and got married even though there was no love, but just a very  beautiful and deep friendship between them. They built a family based on that friendship and they even had two children. Everything was great, until the moment they both experienced the feeling of love, real love.
At that moment they decided to rebuild their lives, based on that wonderful feeling of love.
So, Baba married the woman he fell in love with when he worked for a month in Barcelona, Senora Alejandra de la Cruz from an old family of Spanish lords.
And Ma married the man she fell in love, MianMian’s theater art professor.”

“What a great feeling it must be  to be able to follow your heart.”, Yibo sighed.

“Yeah, it must be wonderful!
And in opposition, wanting what you can’t have, it’s the most painful experience…I mean, it must be the most painful experience you could have. And I am not talking here about objects, wealth or things like that. My parents were lucky, god bless them. 
But...I should let you sleep. You said you must go to work, even though I say that you should call it sick?
I’m pretty sleepy, too. And tomorrow I want to go to the hospital, early in the morning.”, Xiao Zhan  said, yawning to make his point.

Yibo grabbed Xiao Zhan’s swea