3. Rejected

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"Won't we stay in the same room?" Xiao Yang asked with knitted eyebrows as Zheng Hao showed him the small room which was his before his father's death.

Zheng Hao arched his eyebrows, meaning 'really' and left him there to go to his room.

Behind him, Xiao Yang swallowed a sob and pulled his luggage in. The room was the same as his bathroom in his family house, but he was okay with it. As long as he was under the same roof with his beloved ge, he was okay even with a tent.

Feeling exhausted both emotionally and physically, Xiao Yang slumped on the single-person bed and grabbed the wooden picture frame from the bedside table. He ran his fingers on the middle-age couple and the baby Zheng Hao and wondered why he was so cold towards him.

"I have been chasing him for the last two years, isn't he supposed to feel my sincerity?" he asked the now-dead couple, "he even accused me of planning uncle's death..."

As he didn't receive any reply, he put the frame back to its place and stood up to unpack. As he expected, Zheng Hao's room reflected him perfectly. There was no unnecessary furniture or ornaments, not even posters... A single-person bed, a bedside table, a small wooden study table and a chair on the opposite side of the bed, a wooden three-closet wardrobe next to the study table, that was all.

"Last year, I couldn't even imagine being in his room, but here I am! I will also make you fall in love with me, ge!" he replenished his energy. After fishing out grey sweatpants and a black baggy t-shirt, he placed his stuff on the empty cabinets.

When he was done, he left the room to find his so-called husband. He checked and found the kitchen and the living room empty, so he went to his room which was on the left side of the bathroom. He knocked two times and opened the door.

"What do you want?" Zheng Hao asked coldly, looking at him from the double-size bed.

"Won't we eat dinner? It is late already," Xiao Yang said softly as he stood by the door.

"If you are hungry, just cook something or order, don't bother me."

Helpless, Xiao Yang exited the room with a dejected look, almost bothering Zheng Hao's conscience.

"Don't fall for his trap!" the older man slapped himself and returned back to his book.

In the living room, Xiao Yang slumped on the beige sofa and ordered pizza for two even though he lost his appetite.

When the pizza came, he went back to Zheng Hao's room. Leaving the door ajar, he said "the pizza is here. Won't you eat it with me?"

"No."

"Please, I am not used to eating alone," Xiao Yang insisted with puppy eyes.

"I wasn't used to eating alone either, but that didn't stop you from snatching my dad from me!" Zheng Hao vented out his anger.

"Ge, I told you many times, we didn't do anything to uncle, you knew how much I liked him. He even told you not to make me sad, so-"

"ENOUGH!" the older one shouted. Even if he was right, his mother still threatened him with his family store only after two months of his father's death, and caused that damn marriage. At the end of the day, they were still villains.

"If you believed I was a killer, why did you agree to marry me? Isn't it too selfless to do it only because uncle told you so?" Xiao Yang challenged Zheng Hao with genuine curiosity.

Zheng Hao snorted. How nice would it be if he could reveal that his mother forced him to do it, but he couldn't... that was a part of the deal; Xiao Yang wouldn't know about the deal...

"Just get out and eat your dinner," he said in the end helplessly.

"No matter the reason, you are my husband now, so get used to it, ge," Xiao Yang said, defeated, and went back to the living room.

Still, as he didn't want Zheng Hao to starve himself because of his baseless pride, he brought the pizza box to his door. "Eat it when you're hungry!" he shouted and went back to his room.

No, the younger man didn't eat either the pizza or anything as he lost all his appetite.

.

.

When Xiao Yang woke up at eight to go to the university, Zheng Hao had already gone and the pizza box was lying untouched on the kitchen counter.

"I won't give up," he whispered as he ate the cold and rejected pizza for breakfast although he had a weak stomach.

After the terrible breakfast, he got dressed and left the house. As he had no knowledge about his new neighbourhood, he had to walk for fifteen minutes under the sun to find a taxi.

At least the latter part of the day was smooth. He attended his classes and had lunch with Ji Bo. Before the lunch break was over, his mother's driver brought his red BMW, so his mood improved significantly.

Although Xiao Yang had no expectations, when he managed to arrive at the house with the help of the navigation, Zheng Hao was at home.

"Hao ge, you are at home," he chirped at the man who was sitting on the sofa with files in his hand.

"Hmm" was the reply.

"What shall we eat for dinner?" the younger one asked, unbothered.

"I already ate," Zheng Hao said, his eyes still on the store expanses.

"Oh," Xiao Yang lost his smile. Slumping on the other end of the sofa, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and ordered some food, earning a quick glance from the cold young man.

"What? Xiao Yang asked, not grasping the meaning of the glance.

"Nothing," Zheng Hao rose to his feet with the files, "it is surely good to have a lot of money," he said and went to his room.

"But it can't buy happiness... or your love..."


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