Chapter 15

When He Yuxuan and Chu Ci walked together, even strangers would assume at a glance they were good buddies. Handsome guys always hung out with other handsome guys, after all.

Once the boundary of physical contact broke from 0 to 1, He Yuxuan became completely unbothered by it.

On the way back to the dorm, their legs and shoulders casually brushing against each other now and then felt perfectly natural.

When Chu Ci’s necklace slipped out from his collar, He Yuxuan immediately spotted the matching ring.

“You bought another one later?” he asked curiously.

“Yeah. The way you wear it around your neck looks pretty cool, so.” Chu Ci shrugged.

He Yuxuan, who still hadn’t noticed anything odd about the other’s way of speaking, smiled. “Chu Ci, you’re handsome too.”

Wearing matching accessories was a perfectly natural thing between brothers.

“Hmph.” Chu Ci responded.

This was the first time the Young Master had ever initiated a compliment on another guy’s looks. His ears felt a little hot, but he stubbornly kept a cool face.

The two returned to the dorm together, dealing a massive shock to Jiang Lu, who was waiting inside for his milk tea.

He truly admired Little He for managing to become buddies with Young Master Chu. After all, in Jiang Lu’s eyes, He Yuxuan was just an ordinary person, just better-looking, but not even in the same social class as Chu Ci.

Could it be that the Young Master wasn’t as hard to get along with as the rumors said?

Little did he know, it was precisely because He Yuxuan didn’t care about those class distinctions that he could speak and act so freely.

He Yuxuan handed the milk tea to Jiang Lu with a natural expression. “Still warm, hurry up and go.”

“Oh, oh.” Jiang Lu grabbed it, quickly ran a hand through his hair, and rushed out of the dorm, heading straight for his girlfriend’s Female Dormitory.

“Hm?” Chu Ci had initially thought the other cup of milk tea was also for him.

“Just helping him out. He’s taking it to his girlfriend.”

“Oh.” Chu Ci didn’t think much of it. Helping out even with an ordinary relationship was nothing, something He Yuxuan had taught him.

Chu Ci usually wasn’t that kind of person. One hundred percent of his attention was solely reserved for people or things he cared about.

“I’ll shower first, then you can go,” He Yuxuan said. After a long day, all he wanted was to immerse himself in the bathroom immediately.

The word ‘shower’ inexplicably heated something inside Chu Ci.

“Mm.” He went to his wardrobe to find pajamas. Actually, Chu Ci preferred sleeping naked, but that seemed inappropriate now.

So he still picked out a set of silk pajamas, instantly forming a stark contrast with He Yuxuan’s set that cost a few dozen yuan.

He Yuxuan’s hair had grown a little longer now. When the strands on his forehead were half-wet, they just happened to half-cover his brows and eyes, giving him a completely different vibe.

Compared to the first few weeks, it was as if a kid had suddenly grown up, becoming even more charismatic. He Yuxuan’s current appearance was already almost identical to his past life’s.

His lips were incredibly sensual; opening and closing, they gave off a strong desire to be kissed.

In his past life, even among idols, He Yuxuan had been the pinnacle of visual dominance.

Recently, just walking down the street would attract a bunch of stares. He Yuxuan knew it was purely because of his good looks, but it affected him little. He had started to get used to this life and felt grateful there were no longer the fanatical glances from his past.

He Yuxuan dried his hair, left the bathroom, and gave the space to Chu Ci: “Go ahead.”

Chu Ci stared at him blankly for a few seconds before shifting his gaze, nodding, and entering the bathroom, closing the door. His shower took an unusually long time.

Hopeless at math, He Yuxuan started calculating the Double Eleven deals again. If he waited until Double Eleven to buy it, there was still some time. He could save up some more money and buy himself a belt!

Just thinking about it made him inexplicably happy, filling He Yuxuan with motivation.

Because of the milk tea shop job, he felt his muscles had gotten more toned, though his build was still on the lean side.

Truthfully, he really did think Chu Ci was quite handsome, especially his physique. His muscles looked very nice. He Yuxuan wasn’t shallow; he didn’t have a rule that friends had to be good-looking, but that didn’t stop him from appreciating it.

Just then, Jiang Lu returned from delivering the milk tea.

“She was super touched, especially after knowing the super handsome guy made it for her,” Jiang Lu first grinned with his teeth showing, then teased He Yuxuan. But there was no unhappiness in his tone.

His girlfriend was happy, so he was pretty happy too.

He Yuxuan turned around upon hearing this and listened as Jiang Lu recounted the specific process again.

After listening, the inexperienced-in-love He Yuxuan spun his pen, sighed with emotion, and said: “Girls are so easy to satisfy, so easy to coax.”

Jiang Lu saw his face and sneered: “If it were you, even showing up empty-handed would make a ton of people overjoyed, alright.”

He Yuxuan rolled his eyes at him. Looks were just a negligible part. True feelings required mutual care, and the same went for any relationship.

“But you really never dated?” Heaven knows how shocked Jiang Lu was when he learned that. He still found it unbelievable now.

“I don’t know how to be in a relationship,” He Yuxuan shook his head.

“Yeah, right. I think you’re pretty good at it,” Jiang Lu muttered under his breath.

He Yuxuan ignored him, finding Jiang Lu’s definition of “good at it” incomprehensible.

In his past life, He Yuxuan’s family and assistants always received a pile of gifts from him for every holiday. These were things that should be done. By the same logic, He Yuxuan wouldn’t refuse their gifts or good intentions either.

As for relationships, he genuinely didn’t know how. He felt it must require even more thoughtfulness and depth than this.

By the time they finished talking, Chu Ci came out of the bathroom.

A Young Master was still a Young Master; even just standing in this shabby dorm room, he seemed out of place.

Jiang Lu didn’t dare to accidentally touch him, afraid of scratching the Young Master’s pajamas somewhere and having to pay for them.

“They look very comfortable.” He Yuxuan reached out and touched the fabric of Chu Ci’s clothing. He hadn’t worn this brand before, but he’d heard of it, always thinking the styles were too plain.

But the Young Master made them look very noble. Well, the Young Master was naturally noble anyway.

“But… Chu Ci, come with me for a minute first,” He Yuxuan said after looking at the young man’s face.

Two 185cm tall guys standing in the bathroom made the space slightly cramped.

“Your stubble isn’t quite cleaned up.” He reapplied shaving foam to Chu Ci’s face.

He Yuxuan’s obsessive-compulsive tendencies had flared up a bit. Normally he would’ve endured it, but since it was Chu Ci, he decided not to hold back this time.

To be buddies, Chu Ci would have to put up with him!

An eighteen-year-old boy was naturally restless and not exactly meticulous. Chu Ci leaned against the wall, watching He Yuxuan’s actions at eye level, showing no impatience whatsoever. Instead, his chin felt a numbing, pleasant sensation.

He just didn’t think He Yuxuan was much better than him at such things. In Chu Ci’s heart, the other guy had always been quite clumsy.

He Yuxuan treated the young man’s face the way he treated his own, shaving with great care until there was almost no stubble left.

“Don’t move.”

Chu Ci made an ‘mm’ sound from his throat, his dark eyes looking less fierce in that moment.

He was somewhat amazed.

“Done.” He Yuxuan pulled his hands away from Chu Ci’s face, feeling a bit stuffy from the heat, so he tidied up the razor and left first.

“What were you doing?” Jiang Lu asked He Yuxuan softly, quite curious.

“Helping Chu Ci shave a bit.”

“You guys are really close,” he whispered.

“Mm, we’re good friends.”

Jiang Lu thought, you didn’t need to be that intimate. Doing that kind of thing with his childhood buddy would just feel mushy to him.

But if it were him on good terms with the Young Master, he’d be happy to do it too, haha… After all, just a little something slipping through the Young Master’s fingers could guarantee him no worries about finding a job after graduation.

Chu Ci rinsed his face several times with clean water before the redness completely faded.

It was only ten o’clock, clearly not Chu Ci’s usual bedtime, but uncharacteristically, he said: “A bit sleepy. Rest.”

He was looking at He Yuxuan as he spoke.

“Taking melatonin might be more effective,” He Yuxuan suggested. He took that when he had insomnia.

Chu Ci shook his head: “My bed has dust on it. It’s dirty.”

That was true, since no one had slept in it for several days.

“Then get up here,” He Yuxuan said nothing more.

He was also a bit curious. He’d never lain with anyone before, never slept alongside a friend.

His cousins, however, had very close buddies they’d often drive together with to go mountain climbing or camping, sleeping right next to each other.

So He Yuxuan actually wasn’t very resistant inside. He acted according to whatever role he was in.

The dorm bed was 1.2 by 2 meters, actually not small compared to other university dorms. But for two tall guys to lie on it, it was indeed a bit of a squeeze.

Under the bed curtain, it was pitch black. He Yuxuan lay on the inner side, feeling another person’s body heat radiating from beside him, hot like a furnace. He was thankful the weather had cooled down now.

“Your bed is so soft,” Chu Ci said. His palms were slightly sweaty as he turned his head to speak to the other.

It was both idle chatter and the truth. Chu Ci had only slept in the dorm a few times; his own bed was never this comfortable, so he didn’t like sleeping there.

But now, he felt absolutely no discomfort. Perhaps the reason wasn’t just the bed.

“That’s because I asked the Auntie for two mattress toppers.” The story behind it was a bit of a bitter tale.

Originally, every new student was issued one mattress topper, pretty thick, meant to be used without buying your own.

He Yuxuan, used to luxury, found it completely uncomfortable after two days of sleeping. Like the Princess and the Pea, he always felt something poking him from below. After two days, he sported dark circles for two days straight.

But he was just a poor university student now; he couldn’t afford any nice bedding.

So when He Yuxuan saw a few extra mattress toppers piled up in the Dorm Auntie’s small room, he mentally wrestled with himself countless times.

Whatever, he already took a toothbrush, whatever, he wasn’t a celebrity now, whatever…

Then he steeled himself and went to ask.

“That won’t do. School rules say one per student. Classmate, don’t think just because you’re good-looking, this Auntie will let it slide,” the Dorm Auntie teased him.

Honestly, He Yuxuan had never felt this embarrassed in his life. Before, whatever he wanted to buy, he bought, without blinking an eye.

“Auntie, how about I sweep the hallways and corridors for you for a week? Would that be okay?” He Yuxuan shed another layer of his pride and coaxed a bit more.

“Fine, then. But carry it away yourself, and don’t go telling anyone it was an extra one.”

And that was how He Yuxuan got himself a soft mattress topper.

As a result, the formerly directionally-challenged male celebrity now knew the entire building like the back of his hand.

Hearing this story, Chu Ci, who had been a bit nervous, laughed softly in the darkness. Such simple, honest thinking. For anyone else, they probably wouldn’t feel comfortable telling him such a thing.

“Is it uncomfortable?” He Yuxuan asked. As he spoke, he turned onto his side, making the space much roomier. His face was now towards Chu Ci.

Chu Ci could feel the warm breath from each of the other’s words, carrying the freshness of toothpaste.

“No, it’s fine.” Even like this, they were still quite closely pressed together.

Chu Ci could feel the outline of the other’s body, not bulky, but very attractive.

“Careful not to fall off. Sleep now.”

There was only a half-length guardrail on the outer side. Thinking it over, He Yuxuan was still a bit worried. He didn’t want to find the Young Master on the floor tomorrow morning.

So he reached out and gently wrapped his arm around Chu Ci’s back.

“Okay…”

He Yuxuan was also very sleepy. Such fulfilling days made him fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. He wasn’t really affected by the extra person; maybe deep down, he truly considered Chu Ci one of his own.

And Chu Ci, for a different reason, was kept awake.

He barely moved, letting that hand rest on his back, warm and soothing.