Jiang Ye mimicked his previous manner, pinching Bai Chen Zhu’s cheek with great interest. “What if I say no?”
Bai Chen Zhu’s expression became indescribable in an instant. “So you like sleeping naked.”
They had shared a bed so many times, but this was the first time Bai Chen Zhu had discovered that Jiang Ye had such a preference.
Jiang Ye hurriedly clarified for himself. “I don’t! I don’t!”
Bai Chen Zhu reached out and felt the waistband of his pants under the covers. “I believe you.”
“So you’re afraid I’ll do something to you?” Jiang Ye gazed at him, eyes sparkling.
Bai Chen Zhu was at a loss for words. He had just woken up a moment ago and was simply surprised.
Bai Chen Zhu said, “I’m afraid I’ll do something to you.”
Jiang Ye rubbed his cheek twice more, finding it warm and soft. Bai Chen Zhu’s mind was foggy, letting him toy with him.
Afterward, Jiang Ye sat up, grabbed the medicine and water from the bedside table, and was just short of feeding it directly into Bai Chen Zhu’s mouth. “Take this first.”
Bai Chen Zhu was drowsy.
Jiang Ye shook him awake and shoved the pill to his lips. “Be good, open up and take your medicine.”
Bai Chen Zhu opened his eyes and glanced at him, then parted his lips to swallow the pill from his palm. His ruby-red lips brushed over the lines in Jiang Ye’s palm, causing Jiang Ye’s heart to skip a beat. He couldn’t tear his eyes away as Bai Chen Zhu drank the water.
He secretly pinched his palm, recalling that touch.
Bai Chen Zhu casually set the cup on the bedside table, burrowed back under the covers, and felt the hot air with every breath.
He looked at the bedside lamp, shielding his weary eyes. “Jiang Ye, what time is it outside?”
“The dead of night,” Jiang Ye replied.
Bai Chen Zhu felt cold again, his voice thick with congestion. “Lie down.”
As soon as Jiang Ye lay down, Bai Chen Zhu scooted over, nestling into his arms and wrapping around his waist just like before. Jiang Ye’s body temperature always ran high, while Bai Chen Zhu’s ran low. Back when they first met, Bai Chen Zhu had always suspected Jiang Ye’s heat could melt him.
But now it was just right.
Bai Chen Zhu yawned lazily.
Jiang Ye stared at the whirl of his hair and suddenly said, “Can I kiss you?”
Aside from those two times they had confessed to each other, even after becoming a couple, they had kept their previous way of getting along, just getting closer.
By that reckoning, they hadn’t made much progress in intimacy.
Bai Chen Zhu’s sleepiness faded a bit at his words, and he chuckled. “I’m afraid I’ll pass the virus to you.”
Jiang Ye licked his dry lips and said confidently, “I’m in great health. It won’t happen.”
Bai Chen Zhu pulled out of his embrace, straightened his body, and lay side by side with Jiang Ye on the pillow. He noticed Jiang Ye’s gaze on him was scorching hot, so intense it made him feel like Jiang Ye had a fever too.
Bai Chen Zhu curved his lips.
Jiang Ye couldn’t look away. He didn’t dare move recklessly and politely asked, “Is it okay? Boyfriend?”
“Of course.” Bai Chen Zhu’s breathing had already grown erratic. He lowered his eyes thoughtfully, grabbed Jiang Ye’s arm, tilted his face up, and lightly brushed Jiang Ye’s lips.
It felt like a feather had tickled Jiang Ye’s heart, itching so badly he wanted to leap to the ceiling. No matter how excited he felt inside, his face remained perfectly calm.
He couldn’t show weakness now. Jiang Ye held back with all his might.
Bai Chen Zhu touched his face, then lifted his own again for another gentle brush of their lips.
Ephemeral, like a wisp of wind.
Jiang Ye suddenly raised his hand to cup the back of his head and pulled him up, turning the tentative kiss real, pressing their lips firmly together.
Heavy breaths fell on each other’s faces. Bai Chen Zhu captured his lower lip, nipping it ever so lightly before letting go. His eyes and brows were full of amusement, reflecting Jiang Ye’s face in the lamplight.
Clearly, he was deliberately tempting Jiang Ye.
And lust had addled Jiang Ye’s brain.
Bai Chen Zhu glanced down at the covers, unable to see anything, but he pointed out the truth, shattering Jiang Ye’s feigned composure. “You’ve got a reaction.”
Jiang Ye quickly lifted his leg, pressing his knee against Bai Chen Zhu’s to create distance below the waist. It salvaged a bit of his dignity, and he boldly pushed for more. “How about you help me out?”
Bai Chen Zhu pretended to hesitate and whispered, “But I’m sick. What do you want me to do?”
Jiang Ye was full of regret. He thought it over and still wouldn’t give up easily. “Lend a hand?”
Bai Chen Zhu raised his hand—the injured one. His palm had been pierced by the Black Snake’s scales today and was wrapped in bandages. He said deliberately, “Of course, boyfriend. Need my service?”
This guy was doing it on purpose! Jiang Ye ground his back teeth. “I’m not that much of a beast.”
“Someone said earlier that they wouldn’t act human around me,” Bai Chen Zhu teased him on purpose, making Jiang Ye so anxious he nuzzled into his neck.
Bai Chen Zhu grabbed Jiang Ye’s hand and pressed the back of it to his cheek. “It feels uncomfortable.”
Warm and toasty, like a freshly steamed bun. Jiang Ye was a bit entranced.
He reined in his wandering thoughts, full of regret. “Then rest well.” He started to get up and head outside to take care of it.
But Bai Chen Zhu grabbed his arm. “Jiang Ye, don’t go.”
Jiang Ye turned to look at him.
They said that people looked more beautiful under the lamp, the more you looked, the more enchanting.
Bai Chen Zhu gazed at him with phoenix eyes, moist from the fever, sparkling under the light.
As if he had been crying.
But he knew this guy wouldn’t cry.
Bai Chen Zhu lay on his back. “Don’t go. Stay and sleep with me, okay?”
Jiang Ye: ?!
Damn, was this him acting spoiled? Jiang Ye felt like his heart was going to explode. He struggled a little. “I’ll be right back.”
Bai Chen Zhu lowered his eyes and glanced lightly at a certain part of him, clearly not willing to let him off that easily. “But I’m cold. I’m freezing to death.”
Jiang Ye was utterly defeated. As soon as he sat back down, Bai Chen Zhu pulled him over.
Afraid of falling onto the patient, Jiang Ye startled and propped his hands on either side of Bai Chen Zhu.
Meanwhile, Bai Chen Zhu leisurely pulled the covers over both of them.
Bai Chen Zhu was doing it on purpose. He was testing Jiang Ye step by step, seeing through his forbearance, enjoying his concessions. He looped his arms around Jiang Ye’s neck. “Why not lie down? Aren’t you cold?”
“How can I lie down in this position? On top of you?” Jiang Ye was completely out of temper.
Bai Chen Zhu didn’t answer. He lowered his eyes and stared at Jiang Ye’s bare upper body thoughtfully. Then he looked at Jiang Ye’s face, then his chest, then back to his face…
Jiang Ye couldn’t take it anymore. “What exactly are you looking at?”
Bai Chen Zhu admitted frankly, “Your skin tone is so healthy. Not like mine, no color at all.”
He raised his porcelain-white fingers and gently pressed them to Jiang Ye’s left chest. The wheat-colored skin deepened under his palm, and as he pressed up with his knuckles, it was like cupping a pool of water.
Amused, Bai Chen Zhu placed both hands there, pressing lightly left and right.
If anyone else did this, it would inevitably seem erotic.
But Bai Chen Zhu’s serious expression made it seem like… Jiang Ye thought for a long time, face darkening as he shook his head to banish the words from his mind.
A kitten kneading milk.
The bandaged palms rubbed tinglingly. He grabbed Bai Chen Zhu’s wrists. “Big bro, stop playing.”
Bai Chen Zhu was blunt. “Boyfriend, can’t I play?”
Jiang Ye coughed twice and mumbled, “At least consider my physical health? What if you break it?”
“Oh~” Bai Chen Zhu glanced at a certain part. “But I haven’t even touched there. If it breaks, it shouldn’t be my fault, right?”
How could there be such a wicked person in the world!
“If you keep this up,” Jiang Ye said deeply, glancing at his legs in warning, “A’Zhu, you wouldn’t want your legs to be… by me…”
Bai Chen Zhu got it instantly and clamped his mouth shut with his hand, saying righteously, “Can’t you think pure thoughts?”
Jiang Ye wasn’t convinced, thinking, You were way dirtier than me just now.
A naughty black sesame-filled white glutinous rice ball.
Bai Chen Zhu wasn’t reasonable at all. He directly pulled the propping Jiang Ye down, swung his leg over, and sprawled on top of him in a bold sleeping position. “Alright, I’m going to sleep.”
Jiang Ye sneered. “You’d better actually sleep.”
Bai Chen Zhu didn’t speak. He closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, and before long, he actually fell asleep.
—
In his dream, he was back in his long-forgotten university days.
He and his roommates went out shopping and came across a stall with a challenge: Write the numbers from 1 to 1000 continuously within the time limit without any mistakes, and you could pick any big plushie.
Many people failed on the “no mistakes” rule.
He had great patience. He asked the owner for paper and pen and bent over the table to write.
Time ticked by. The owner’s hawking calls rang beside him, his failed roommate had gotten bored and played games for ages, challengers came and went without stopping.
He forgot about time, only knowing it had been a very, very long time until he finally finished writing up to 1000 stroke by stroke.
When he claimed the prize, Bai Chen Zhu excitedly stood up, his roommate’s applause fueling his elation.
The owner led him to the pile of goods and pointed at the big and small plushies. “Pick any one.”
So Bai Chen Zhu picked and chose, and upon turning around, he spotted a particularly special plushie.
A gray-and-white one, unclear if it was a husky or a wolf. It looked incredibly soft to hug, with pitch-black eyes staring intently at him.
“I want this one!” Bai Chen Zhu strode forward and hugged his chosen big plushie.
He carried the plushie all the way back to his dorm nook. The one-meter-nine by zero-point-nine bed was instantly half-occupied by the plushie.
But Bai Chen Zhu was thrilled. He kicked off his shoes, climbed on, hugged his prize, and slept soundly.
—
This sleep was very long. When he woke and realized he was holding Jiang Ye, he was still a bit out of it.
The doggy plushie had turned into a real person.
The breaths rising and falling at his neck pulled Bai Chen Zhu’s wandering thoughts back.
Bai Chen Zhu checked his forehead. The fever had broken, but his nose still exhaled hot air. He opened his mouth. “Jiang… uh?”
His voice was hoarse beyond recognition.
Looks like he wasn’t fully recovered yet. In Jiang Ye’s mind, he was probably turning into a real flower vase. Bai Chen Zhu smiled bitterly.
The oblivious one was still sleeping soundly.
Bai Chen Zhu stared at the sleeping Jiang Ye for a while, then reached out to poke his face. Soft and warm, it dented shallowly.
Jiang Ye, disturbed, opened his eyes, sharp gaze full of irritation, but softened upon seeing who it was. “What now, young master?”
Bai Chen Zhu sprawled on top of him. “I like how warm your body is.”
That one sentence dissipated Jiang Ye’s morning grumpiness.
This guy really had him pinned down, always saying sweet things to fool him, but damn it, it actually worked on him! Jiang Ye felt a bit despairing.
He reached out to touch the thin shirt on Bai Chen Zhu. “Can’t you take your clothes off too? Why do you always wrap yourself up so tightly?”
It gave him the illusion of bullying a good boy from a respectable family, and the feel of the other’s clothes against his skin was really weird!
Jiang Ye thought for a moment and laughed, teasing, “Ever heard of that book called The Man in a Case?”
“No.” Bai Chen Zhu shook his head, rejecting firmly. “No sense of security.”
“Fine.” Jiang Ye didn’t push. He liked being unrestrained himself, going shirtless was no big deal, but Bai Chen Zhu was always so prim and proper. Mischievously, he said, “You wearing clothes is way sexier than not.”
Bai Chen Zhu looked at the rising tent and fell silent for a moment. “Your stamina is really vigorous.”
Jiang Ye wailed inwardly. “I’m a perfectly healthy man, and the guy I like is pressed so close—if I don’t react, I’d be impotent!”
Bai Chen Zhu: …
Jiang Ye realized belatedly, “I didn’t mean you, okay.”
Impotent what? Bai Chen Zhu expressionlessly shoved him out of the covers. “You’re so impressive. Get out.”
“Wait! Wait… Ow!” The bed wasn’t big to begin with. Jiang Ye rolled off onto the wooden floor. He clung to the bed edge, hands up in surrender. “I said the wrong thing.”
Bai Chen Zhu sat up too, not wanting to pay him any mind. His hand went to his buttons, then he remembered something. “I’m going to change clothes. You go out first.”
“What can’t you let me see?” Jiang Ye, who had been about to leave, froze at those words and backed right up.
Bai Chen Zhu narrowed his eyes. “Hmph, don’t want to talk to a rumor-monger.”
Jiang Ye raised both hands. “A’zhu, I was really wrong. You’re great, you’re super awesome, you’re amazing. It’s my fault.”
Bai Chen Zhu, who deeply knew Jiang Ye’s true nature, frowned. “Cut it out. I’m doing this for your own good.”
His gaze drifted lightly downward. “If you hold it in any longer, it’ll really go bad…”
Jiang Ye recalled last night’s torment and ran off without another word.
Bai Chen Zhu gave an ambiguous smile, undid the first button, and slowly voiced the latter half. “…but originally, you don’t even need the front one.”
