Chapter 61: Late
Seeing Luo Jing becoming uncomfortable again, Huai Dan chuckled: “I’ll stop teasing you. I’m going to take a shower.”
He was still wearing the suit from the reception.
At the time, after watching Luo Jing return to his room, Huai Dan stood there for a moment, then turned and went back to his own room.
He entered the bathroom and placed a hand on his sleeve, about to unbutton it—but he paused after a few seconds and lowered his hand.
After a moment of silence, he turned and left the bathroom, returning to the living room.
Luo Jing nodded upon hearing this, then asked hesitantly, “Am I really sleeping here?”
“You can go back to your room if you don’t want to stay here,” Huai Dan said after a pause.
After saying this, he lowered his eyes slightly.
Luo Jing: “…”
He looked at Huai Dan speechlessly, then sat down on the bed, expressing his choice with his actions.
So Huai Dan’s expression softened, and he smiled, then turned and went into the bathroom to wash up.
Luo Jing pursed his lips.
He felt like he had been tricked.
Luo Jing had already washed up, so he sat cross-legged on Huai Dan’s bed and hugged a pillow.
His phone suddenly vibrated, indicating a new message. He instinctively picked it up and saw it was from his mother.
Mom: [Xiao Jing, have you arrived at your brother’s place?]
Luo Jing stared at the message, unusually silent.
After the silence, a sense of guilt washed over him.
He typed and replied: [Yes.]
More than just arrived.
He was already in his brother’s bed.
Thinking this, Luo Jing’s fingers, touching the screen, curled slightly. Realizing what he was about to face, he belatedly felt a hint of nervousness.
Although they had indeed slept together when he was little, it was different now.
…Very different.
But, but it was just sleeping, what could be so different?
As Luo Jing struggled with this, Huai Dan came out of the bathroom.
The moment the bathroom door opened, the scent of shower gel wafted out, filling the room.
Huai Dan probably didn’t like spending time choosing these things, so the shower gel smelled the same as it did years ago.
While studying abroad, Luo Jing had thought about asking Huai Dan for a link to his shower gel.
But the more he thought about it, the more he felt it was a bit creepy, so he dismissed the idea.
Now he slightly regretted it.
As his mind wandered, the scent suddenly intensified, and his vision darkened—the next moment, Huai Dan leaned down slightly and pulled him into a hug.
Luo Jing froze, his eyes wide, feeling a bit at a loss.
After a few seconds, he asked nervously, “?”
“I wanted to hug you earlier,” Huai Dan’s voice sounded beside his ear. Having just showered, his body temperature was slightly higher, and the scent of shower gel enveloped Luo Jing, holding him captive in this small space.
He could even feel the vibrations from Huai Dan’s chest as he spoke.
“But I was still in my suit,” Huai Dan added after a pause.
Luo Jing felt his head spinning.
He seemed to have lost track of time during the hug. After who knows how long, Huai Dan finally let go of him, but he didn’t completely move away.
They were very close, close enough to feel each other’s breath, and the atmosphere gradually heated up. Huai Dan paused and lowered his gaze slightly.
Luo Jing could feel him looking at his lips, and his heart skipped a beat.
Huai Dan’s gaze lingered there for about three seconds, and Luo Jing’s vision was further obscured.
He closed his eyes flusteredly.
The next moment, a warm and soft touch landed on his forehead.
It was a gentle kiss, but it was enough to make Luo Jing’s heart race.
All his senses seemed to concentrate on that small point of contact, making him feel breathless.
He closed his eyes, his body trembling slightly.
After pulling away, Huai Dan gently pinched the back of his neck, as if simply massaging it, but also with a hint of something else.
When Luo Jing opened his eyes, they were slightly teary from the kiss.
Huai Dan’s gaze paused.
After a moment, he gently ruffled Luo Jing’s freshly washed, fragrant, and soft hair, his voice gentle: “Let’s sleep.”
Luo Jing froze for three seconds, then lay down on the bed with a straight face.
His movements were smooth and without hesitation, lying flat on the bed in a perfect posture, looking incredibly stiff.
Huai Dan, looking at him, chuckled softly, touched his hair again, then walked to the other side of the bed and lay down.
The lights in the room were turned off, and everything was plunged into darkness.
With his vision gone, all his other senses seemed to be amplified—although a while had passed, Luo Jing could still feel the warmth on his forehead.
It even seemed to be getting more noticeable.
Normally, scents would gradually fade as one got used to them, but Luo Jing felt the scent of shower gel intensifying.
…Perhaps it was also because Huai Dan was lying next to him.
They were sharing the same blanket, their body heat mingling. Luo Jing lay stiffly, acutely aware of every movement beside him.
The bed seemed to move slightly, and Huai Dan seemed to have shifted.
The faint rustling sound of fabric against the sheets, although very soft, still captured Luo Jing’s full attention.
He lay there in the darkness, his mind racing, lost in thought for who knows how long, then again feeling like he had thought about many things yet nothing at all.
…Why did he feel a bit hot?
Attributing it to being unaccustomed to sleeping with someone, Luo Jing quietly moved to the side.
But because of his awkwardness, he had been lying a bit too close to the edge of the bed, and this movement made him even more precarious.
After a few moments, the man’s voice sounded beside him, surprisingly awake.
“Move any further, and you’ll fall off,” Huai Dan said.
Luo Jing froze, not daring to move.
“I just… can’t sleep,” he said after a pause, making an excuse.
“Then what should we do?” Huai Dan chuckled after a moment of silence. “Go watch the sunrise again?”
Then he added seriously after a moment of thought, “It seems a bit too early now.”
Luo Jing: “…”
Huai Dan’s words made him relax a bit, but also successfully annoyed him.
What was his problem, always bringing up his embarrassing childhood stories?
His eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, and Luo Jing turned to look at the culprit with a straight face.
Then he saw Huai Dan lying on his side, looking at him, his expression relaxed, he didn’t know how long he had been looking.
Meeting his gaze, the man didn’t look away, but continued to look at him, even smiling slightly.
Luo Jing: “…”
“Like this,” he was about to turn away when Huai Dan suddenly spoke.
Luo Jing: “?”
Before he could react, Huai Dan moved closer to him, reached out, and pulled him into a hug.
Luo Jing: “!”
Successfully bringing him to the center of the bed, eliminating the risk of him falling off, Huai Dan was slightly satisfied.
“Sleep,” he said calmly.
Luo Jing: “…”
After a moment of silence, he leaned his head slightly against Huai Dan’s chest and said, his tone flat, “You know this will make it even harder to sleep.”
“I know,” Huai Dan replied, then calmly confessed, “I just want to hold you while I sleep.”
The next day, Luo Jing woke up naturally.
He had the habit of burying his face in the quilt while sleeping, so when he opened his eyes, he was met with the usual darkness.
Why hadn’t his alarm gone off yet?… It seemed he had woken up very early today.
Still half-asleep, Luo Jing closed his eyes slightly, fragments of memories flashing through his mind.
Was it a dream? It felt so real.
…If only it were real.
Luo Jing felt a pang of regret and reached out instinctively, trying to find his phone.
But the touch under his hand felt strange.
—Warm, and somewhat soft, but not too soft…
Luo Jing was instantly jolted awake and sat up abruptly.
Then he turned his head and met the gaze of Huai Dan, who was leaning against the headboard, looking at his phone.
Looking down again, he saw his hand resting on Huai Dan’s arm.
Realizing this, Luo Jing quickly withdrew his hand.
Huai Dan, having witnessed his entire waking up process, chuckled: “Why such a big reaction?”
Luo Jing knelt on the bed and rubbed his face.
He remembered, he remembered everything.
After calming down, he looked at Huai Dan again and noticed a change.
His pajamas last night… weren’t these?
Maybe he remembered wrong, but that wasn’t the point. The point was, Huai Dan seemed to have been awake for a long time.
“What time is it, brother?” Luo Jing ran a hand through his hair, then, remembering it was a weekday, asked anxiously.
Huai Dan calmly glanced at the time on his phone: “8:30.”
Luo Jing: “!”
“We’re going to be late!” he said, panicked. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
Huai Dan chuckled: “What are you afraid of?”
Luo Jing: “My perfect attendance…”
“Wait.”
Luo Jing: “?”
A few seconds later, Luo Jing’s phone vibrated. He picked it up and saw a notification: he had already clocked in.
Luo Jing: “…”
“Boss, isn’t this considered abuse of power?” Luo Jing asked after a moment of silence, feeling conflicted.
Huai Dan chuckled: “If I can’t even abuse this little bit of power, wouldn’t I be losing out as a boss?”
“…So you always clock in like this?” Luo Jing asked, realizing something.
Huai Dan: “…”
“I don’t need to clock in.”
“And I’ve never been late,” he chuckled. “This should be the first time?”
“…” These words sounded strangely awkward. Luo Jing pursed his lips and said, trying to remain calm, “I’ll go wash up first.”
