Chapter 12
They played all sorts of team-building games that evening until almost eleven o’clock, when the increasingly chilly wind finally dispersed the crowd.
The team leader sent the rooming list to the group chat. Everyone started heading back to shower and sleep. The girls who were close were already arm in arm with their roommates for the night, and the boys also took their room cards to find their roommates.
The group of nearly twenty people quickly scattered. By the time Jian Wu realized it, only Song Shuci remained beside him.
The previously relaxed and cheerful atmosphere suddenly became somewhat heavy.
No matter how much Jian Wu tried to pretend he didn’t care, the fact that he was sharing a room, and especially a bed, with Song Shuci still put some pressure on him.
That was his ex-boyfriend, after all.
Jian Wu couldn’t help but complain inwardly that it wasn’t summer, otherwise they could have played all night and wouldn’t need to go back to the room to sleep.
Just as he was wishing he could just stay put on the grass, Song Shuci nudged him from behind with his foot: “Let’s go.”
Jian Wu pulled his hoodie over his head and, taking advantage of the lack of people around, lowered his voice and asked again: “Do you really want to share a room with me?”
“My conscience is clear,” Song Shuci’s voice came from above him, “What, are you feeling guilty?”
“Fine,” Jian Wu said, giving up, “If you want to share a room with me that much, then fine.”
Each room had two key cards. Song Shuci had just gotten the key cards from the team leader, and both were in his hand now.
Jian Wu snatched one and turned to leave. Song Shuci hooked his hoodie with his finger: “You’re going the wrong way.”
Jian Wu pulled his hood back from his grasp and pointed randomly into the distance: “Who said I’m going back to the room? I’m going for a walk over there.”
Song Shuci glanced at the direction he was pointing: “It’s desolate over there, you’ll be out of the scenic area if you go too far.”
“Oh.”
“I heard there’s a crematorium over there.”
“Oh.”
“There are centipedes, and maybe snakes.”
“Oh.”
“They might hide in your hood and crawl out when you’re asleep.”
Jian Wu couldn’t help but turn back: “Professor Song–”
Song Shuci smiled at him: “I have something to do, I need to find the team leader. You go back first.” He pointed in a direction, “The hotel is that way, take care on your way.”
Jian Wu froze, not yet reacting, and Song Shuci had already gone in the other direction.
He looked down at the key card in his hand, pursed his lips, and tugged at the strings of his hoodie.
What a day.
He returned to the hotel alone and swiped his card to open the door.
He had to admit, although this hotel seemed to be price gouging, the rooms were quite nice.
The interior decoration and lighting were very comfortable. He went to the bathroom to wash his hands. The huge mirror on the wall of the vanity reflected his image, and Jian Wu glanced at it. The mirror lights made his face look particularly pale.
As he looked, he suddenly remembered Ling Meng’s comments about their resemblance and Zheng Yu’s unintentional remark.
Did he and Song Shuci really look that much alike?
He subconsciously held his breath and studied his face in the mirror.
Eyebrows… not really.
Song Shuci’s eyebrows were darker than his.
Eyes… also not alike.
He had typical double eyelids, but Song Shuci’s were narrower, almost inner double eyelids.
Their noses and mouths were even more different.
His nose was small and slightly upturned, his lips full and defined, making him look approachable. But when Song Shuci wasn’t smiling, his entire face looked very aloof.
Their face shapes were somewhat similar, but not exactly alike.
But when combined… Jian Wu smiled at the mirror… Holy shit, they actually did resemble each other a bit.
When they were kids, playing in the mud together all day, no one thought they looked like brothers.
Could it really be because they kissed a lot after getting together?
Jian Wu felt a little complicated by this realization. They had been broken up for four years now… they shouldn’t have any resemblance anymore, maybe more like a “divorced couple look.”
After three minutes of brainstorming, Jian Wu decided to open Baidu and search for “Is couple resemblance related to kissing?”
He wrapped himself in the quilt. The room temperature and the thickness of the hotel quilt were just right. The fatigue from the journey made him especially appreciate the soft bedding, so comfortable he didn’t want to move at all.
At first, he was full of curiosity, but later, only sleepiness remained.
Forget it, whatever.
They were broken up anyway.
He tossed the search results aside and lazily opened “Plants vs. Zombies.” He casually planted a few sunflowers and peashooters, occasionally switching back to Baidu to glance at the search results while waiting for the zombies to arrive.
The cheerful game BGM filled the room, so relaxing that Jian Wu temporarily forgot about Song Shuci’s existence.
This pleasant time lasted until a knock on the door, followed by the sound of a key card.
Jian Wu buried his head in the quilt, pretending not to hear.
He had originally planned to peacefully get through the night without interacting with Song Shuci, but Song Shuci insisted on bothering him.
With the approach of familiar footsteps, the quilt over his head was pulled away without hesitation. Light suddenly shone on Jian Wu’s face, and he couldn’t help but close his eyes and curse: “Song Shuci, are you sick?”
His hair was a little messy, only half of his face exposed on the bed. Song Shuci looked at him with a subtle expression: “Finally willing to call my name now?”
Jian Wu: “…”
Perhaps the private environment of a separate room gave him a greater sense of security, and Jian Wu hadn’t even noticed he had called Song Shuci’s name.
Just like when they were together.
And Song Shuci, just like when they were together, predictably started lecturing him: “Don’t get into bed with your outerwear on, it’s unsanitary.”
Jian Wu tossed his phone aside, half-opening one eye to look at Song Shuci, and retorted: “I like bacteria.”
“Get up and shower,” Song Shuci said. “Then you can lie down.”
Jian Wu couldn’t help but complain: “After four years, you’re still such a clean freak?”
Song Shuci crossed his arms, looking down at him: “After four years, you’re still so lazy?”
“Song Shuci, you’re not my boyfriend anymore,” Jian Wu sighed, “Can you stop controlling me?”
“The bed is ours,” Song Shuci asked, “Do you have such a temper when you share a room with others?”
Jian Wu was momentarily speechless. Song Shuci continued: “I only pamper my boyfriend, so please consider my feelings, Teacher Jian, and get up and shower before sleeping.”
Jian Wu ignored him and went back to playing on his phone. However, while they were arguing, the zombies had invaded his house and eaten his brains.
He turned off the game dejectedly. Before he could react, Song Shuci snatched his phone.
“Get up first,” he said.
“Song Shuci!”
Jian Wu, sunk into the wrinkled bed, argued with him for a while. Seeing that Song Shuci remained unmoved, he couldn’t help but take a deep breath and complain, “It’s a good thing you’re gay and can’t have children, otherwise I can’t imagine how much your future children would hate you.”
“Even if I weren’t gay, I wouldn’t want children. You’re enough trouble.” Song Shuci picked up Jian Wu’s phone, intending to lock it and toss it aside. But as soon as his eyes landed on the screen, Jian Wu suddenly remembered he had just closed the game, so what was currently displayed on the screen was—that weird Baidu search page!
He scrambled to grab his phone, but he wasn’t faster than the speed of light. Song Shuci raised his hand, preventing him from getting the phone. He looked at him thoughtfully, recalling the fleeting content he had just seen: “You actually believe that?”
Jian Wu didn’t want to speak anymore.
Jian Wu wanted to find a hole to hide in.
He chose to avoid the topic: “I’m going to shower.”
“Come back,” Song Shuci called out to him.
Jian Wu said helplessly: “What else do you want?”
Song Shuci took a set of bed linens from his suitcase and tossed it over: “Put on the pillowcase, I’ll put on the duvet cover later.” He then took out a camera detector and started scanning the hotel room.
Song Shuci was very particular.
When they were in university and went to hotels, Song Shuci always brought a set of clean bed linens and the first thing he did upon entering the room was to check for hidden cameras. He even spent several thousand yuan on a special detector.
But that was all when they were together.
“Is that necessary? It’s not like anything will happen between us,” Jian Wu muttered as he put on the pillowcase.
Song Shuci’s hands didn’t stop as he casually said: “What if you still love me?”
“In your dreams! Why don’t you say, ‘what if you still love me’?”
Song Shuci chuckled softly, not responding.
“What are you laughing at?” Jian Wu threw the pillow at him.
Song Shuci didn’t retort or explain why he was laughing, but just caught the pillow and continued scanning the area opposite the bed.
Jian Wu suddenly felt a little strange.
This series of routine actions was too familiar to him.
He put on the pillowcase, Song Shuci checked for cameras, then they put on the duvet cover together, spread the bedsheet, each holding two corners of the quilt, stretching it out face to face to make it perfectly smooth, then undressing each other, followed by showering, kissing, then rolling into bed, lost in each other’s embrace.
Perhaps the memories were too vivid. Seeing Song Shuci put down the detector, unfold the bedsheet, and start tucking in the quilt, Jian Wu’s hand suddenly clenched the sheet.
Song Shuci glanced at him and tossed two corners of the quilt towards him: “What are you spacing out for?”
Jian Wu abruptly let go, coughed twice, and stood up as if nothing had happened, holding the two corners of the quilt against his chest.
Song Shuci stood opposite him, holding the other two corners.
“Should we count to three?” he asked.
The quilt was too big. When putting on the duvet cover, they needed to exert force at the same time to fully spread it out.
When they were young, they were always out of sync, often one pulling while the other hadn’t even extended their arms, resulting in a wrinkled mess inside the duvet cover. They had to count to three and pull simultaneously to coordinate properly.
Later, after many times of coordinating to put on duvet covers, they no longer needed this assistance.
Jian Wu pursed his lips: “No need, right?”
Song Shuci nodded, not saying anything more.
They tacitly held the corners of the quilt, tacitly extending their arms at the same time. They hadn’t discussed it, hadn’t seen each other for four years, but it was as if their muscle memory still remained.
The only sound in the room was the rustling of fabric, creating a subtly intimate atmosphere.
For a moment… it was as if they were still lovers.
