Because I Cannot Hurt You

They strolled hand in hand, along the entire campus. There was a memory waiting for them, matter what turn they took or corner they reached. Reminiscing their young days brought a smile to their lips.

When they entered the basketball court, Xinyi eagerly grabbed a ball and waved at Zhiyuan. He chuckled and leaned at the edge. "You want to try throwing it into the basket?"

She nodded hard. She sheepishly grinned. "I also wanted to try this…"

Xinyi loved seeing him play the game. She would be mesmerized by his perfect form as his tall and lean body jumped to dunk the ball into the basket. So, she began to develop a small interest in the game.

He widened his eyes. "Why didn't you ever come to me? I would have taught you how to play basketball."

She coughed guiltily. "I was too shy to ask... I-It's not like I wanted to be a basketball player."

Zhiyuan shook his head helplessly. "You...I would have been so happy to teach you! What was there to be shy for? Weren't we friends?" 

But then he also knew her nature. It was difficult for her to approach anyone, especially for something she wanted.

He sternly said, "From now on, I don't want you to hide anything from me."

Xinyi furiously nodded. She quickly looked back at the basket and aimed the ball at it. She shot it, but the ball missed by a huge margin.

She cleared her throat, and Zhiyuan had an urge to laugh. 

"It was just the first try."

He seriously nodded.

Xinyi picked the ball again and threw it. But it missed again and again. She helplessly gave up. Zhiyuan laughed and walked towards her. He picked it and stood behind her. "You are in good hands now, student Xinyi."

Her mouth twitched.

"Okay…"

Zhiyuan closed the distance between them until his chest touched her back. The cold air blew around then, but Xinyi felt inexplicably hot at her back. He leaned his chin and whispered in her ear, "Your form is wrong."

He held her elbow and straightened it. His hands caught hers, and as he intertwined his fingers with hers, the heat rushed to her palm too. She blushed.

"Place your feet slightly apart and bend your waist."

His breath tickled her ears, turning them tomato red. Zhiyuan was amused seeing her cute reactions. He bumped his cheek on hers, and rubbed his nose against her soft skin.

"Y-you...I want to throw the ball…" she said with a hoarse voice.

"Mhm. But I want to do more than that…"

She felt goosebumps on her neck where his lips were gently pressing, but at the same time, he wasn't really kissing her. It was an "almost" kiss and the sensation of his lips hovering and teasing her was making her heart race like crazy.

Xinyi bit her lip. "You are supposed to teach me."

He raised his arms with hers, holding the ball at a height, aiming at the basket. "Am I not?" His husky voice sent her shiver on the back of her neck.

She couldn't retort. 

He tilted their arms backward at an angle, and with a swing, they threw the ball.

*CLANG*

The ball hit the basket ring and slipped down the net.

"We did it!" Xinyi beamed.

Zhiyuan softly chomped on her ear lobe. "Mhm. But we have yet to start with the other 'did it' part, don't you think~?"

The red blush spread from her cheeks right up to her neck. "You...why do you always have impure intentions?"

"What do you possibly mean?" He innocently asked.

"T-that time in the office...the massage...it was all your act."

"It wasn't an act. My wife was tired, so I just wanted her to relax. And keeping the suspicious massage aside, it's natural that I have impure intentions towards you. Aren't we husband and wife?"

He flipped her and wrapped his arm around her waist. Lifting her chin until their lips were hardly an inch apart, he whispered, "Is it wrong to want my wife?"

Her eyelashes trembled, and she couldn't look into his intense gaze that threatened to swallow her whole. She clutched her shirt and buried her face in his chest.

"No…"

His eyes twinkled in delight. "So...does the wife want the husband too?"

Her heart was closing to burst out of her chest. Embarrassment to admit her desire made her clutch his shirt even tighter.

Her soft voice was hardly audible. "...Yes."

Zhiyuan pinched her jaw and crossed the last inch as their lips met. Pulling back after a fierce kiss and gently flicking a lock of her hair behind her ear, he said,

"Then let's not wait anymore."

---

For the first night of their new beginning, Zhiyuan had already made all the preparations ready. Near the campus was a small villa where the gang used to frequently visit. It was owned by Zhiyuan, and he had bought that place during his college days. He was talented and earning money for a small villa wasn't difficult for him at all.

The only purpose for that villa was for Zhiyuan and Zizi to have a place to live whenever Han Huizhong got angry at them and threw them out of the house. In the growing up years, the young siblings often had arguments with their grandfather, similar to any other families having teenage kids. Though Han Huizhong would call them back a few days later himself.

Xinyi remembered the nights the gang used to spend here at times, especially before the exam season. Shuang would particularly haunt everyone to let her copy their notes because she always slept during classes. Liang's mind was focused more on Ah Cy rather than his studies, and this villa is the witness to many of his failed flirting attempts with her while Ah Cy wasted her time in teasing him too.

Only Zhiyuan, Xinyi, Caihong and Xiaosi were serious about their studies.

Zhiyuan narrowed his eyes, seeing a smile curve her lips. With a gentle force, he jerked her head. "My wife. You better think about only me and not reminisce about those idiots."

Xinyi raised her brow. "Shuang will kill you if she hears you calling her an idiot."

He smiled that somehow gave her a sense of foreboding. "I don't think you would be able to do that."

"W-why not?"

He shut the bedroom's door and then tilted his head as he chuckled.. "Your throat will be too tired to say anything else after tonight."