Chapter 38: The Vicious Fake Young Master of a Wealthy Family – 38

Zhou Xu’s shift in attitude wasn’t a whim upon seeing Su Wenyu today. It was a conclusion reached after a sleepless night, pondering since leaving the bathroom the night before.

For a straight man to admit he felt a stirring for another man was a very difficult thing.

Even for Zhou Xu, it was no exception. Even if he had no girl he liked, he shouldn’t like a guy.

But last night, while taking a cold shower, the icy water pouring over him did nothing to quell the heat inside him. No matter how hard he tried, that impulse was stuck, neither here nor there, annoying him to no end.

Finally, when he inexplicably thought of the way Su Wenyu looked when he’d thrown off his sheet, without giving him any time to react, that impulse finished and quieted down.

After that, Zhou Xu stood under the cold water for another half an hour or so to cool his brain further.

He reviewed every interaction, big and small, between him and Su Wenyu since arriving at the Su family, meticulously dissecting his various acts of care and consideration for Su Wenyu at the time.

Zhou Xu felt his actions back then were completely out of goodwill, without any messy ulterior motives.

But now remembering them, he also found it strange that when Su Wenyu had pounced into his arms at their first meeting, he hadn’t directly dodged.

Zhou Xu didn’t consider himself some kind-hearted good person. In that situation, with his reflexes, dodging would have been easy.

…But why didn’t he dodge?

On closer thought, Zhou Xu found that while his caring actions towards Su Wenyu stemmed from looking after a brother not related by blood, had he ever been the type of person to look after others like that before?

Some things couldn’t be deeply pondered. Once he started, Zhou Xu realized many things didn’t quite add up, a dissonance he couldn’t figure out no matter how hard he racked his brain.

It was as if the days before were just memories, and only the days after knowing Su Wenyu were vivid and alive.

Zhou Xu felt it must have been an illusion created because he’d just taken care of a physical issue in the shower.

But no matter what, past or present, Zhou Xu couldn’t deny one fact: He had indeed developed a certain… interest in Su Wenyu.

Although he couldn’t pinpoint exactly when.

After recognizing this, and then thinking back to what happened tonight, Zhou Xu sat by his bed, sleepless the entire night, coming to terms with the fact he might have bent.

Because bending oneself was tough. Zhou Xu, who never smoked, even wanted to try a cigarette that night, but unfortunately, he had none. He could only find a toothpick to gnaw on, chewing it to a mangled mess before finally reconciling with his suddenly bent sexual orientation.

So he’d bent; it wasn’t like it snapped off.

Zhou Xu figured he was still a man anyway, so being bent wasn’t a huge deal.

Zhou Xu’s mental fortitude was very strong. After accepting his bending, he began pondering another question.

Why had Su Wenyu run?

From their past interactions, Su Wenyu clearly had feelings for him. Whether it was cutting off people who tried to approach him, hugging and clinging to him, or crawling into his bed at midnight—none of this was normal behavior.

Only affection could explain these actions. Love made people blind; doing stupid things was only normal.

Although he didn’t know why Su Wenyu tried to scare him as a ghost last night, the fact he deliberately came wearing only underwear was indisputable.

If it was just to scare him, he could’ve worn normal clothes under the sheet. Why only underwear?

This circled back to the previous question.

Why did he run?

Zhou Xu lowered his head in confusion, pondering. Could it be that the sight had been a bit… overwhelming and scared him off?

It wasn’t impossible.

Su Wenyu’s previous clumsy attempts to get close proved he was, like himself, a complete novice with zero experience.

If his… equipment… didn’t match what Su Wenyu had imagined, scaring someone off was possible.

Having figured this out, Zhou Xu felt slightly relieved. This problem wasn’t huge; more time together, more contact, more adaptation could solve it. He planned to find a time once dawn broke to talk it out with Su Wenyu.

He just hadn’t expected that in the latter half of the night, a fever would suddenly hit him. Dizziness, coughing, a burning forehead, yet cold hands and feet.

Probably caught a chill from the too-long cold shower.

Zhou Xu felt seeking Su Wenyu out in this state wasn’t ideal, so he lazily lay in bed, wondering if Su Wenyu would come find him for breakfast.

He waited until eight, but never heard Su Wenyu knocking, asking him to go to the main residence to eat. He thought skipping a meal was fine; a nap might even cure the sickness. But just as he closed his eyes, he heard Su Wenyu’s knock.

Zhou Xu’s emotions stirred, he coughed a few times, then got up and opened the door.

This was Su Wenyu delivering himself on a silver platter. Zhou Xu stepped aside, looked at the food-box-carrying, somewhat bewildered Su Wenyu, and awaited his response.

Su Wenyu truly hadn’t expected Zhou Xu to invite him into his room. He remembered the first time he’d met Zhou Xu, the guy had deliberately locked the door in front of him, afraid he’d enter his bedroom.

“I actually… just came to deliver food…” Su Wenyu said, a bit conflicted.

Right on cue, Zhou Xu turned his face away, brought a slightly clenched fist to his lips, and coughed gently a few times. Then, acting as if he hadn’t heard anything, he turned back and asked hoarsely, “What did you say just now?”

Su Wenyu: “I said, I actually…”

Zhou Xu: “Cough, cough.”

Su Wenyu: “…”

He got it. Zhou Xu wanted him to come in.

In broad daylight, and at the Su family home, Su Wenyu figured even if Zhou Xu had the guts, he wouldn’t dare try anything here. So he sighed helplessly. “Let’s go in. If you’re sick, just lie down properly.”

Knowing how miserable feeling sick was, Su Wenyu didn’t want to keep dragging this out at the doorway. Carrying the food box, he walked into the room.

The curtains in Zhou Xu’s bedroom were open. The French window was cracked open about a fist’s width for ventilation, while the AC was set to a chilly 17 degrees.

Su Wenyu thought 17 degrees was much too low. When he walked in, the cold air hit him, nearly raising goosebumps on his skin.

Su Wenyu grabbed the remote and adjusted the temperature to 22 degrees—probably a temperature someone who ran hot, like Zhou Xu, would still find acceptable. Then he placed the food box on the table at the other end, opened it, and took the food out one by one.

“Take your temperature. If you have a fever, see if you need fever reducers. If it’s bad, it’s best to go to the hospital for an IV.” Su Wenyu chattered with worry as he unpacked the food.

Afraid of passing his illness to him, Zhou Xu kept a certain distance, standing to the side, looking down at his little pink mouth that kept going nonstop.

How had he never noticed before how nice the color of his lips was? Like they were stained with flower petals, jiggling like jelly when he talked. They looked a little… tasty.

Having clarified his orientation towards Su Wenyu, Zhou Xu had no more shame. He looked at Su Wenyu’s lips openly and without any reservation.

Su Wenyu had been nagging for ages and heard no response. He couldn’t help but turn his head curiously and ask, “Did you hear everything I just said?”

Zhou Xu’s gaze shifted from his lips to his eyes.

Su Wenyu had a very beautiful pair of ink-black eyes, with thick, long lashes. The outer corners tilted slightly upwards, resembling fox eyes, yet more innocent and naive.

“What are you looking at?” Su Wenyu wiped his face, thinking something was stuck on it.

“Nothing.” Zhou Xu looked away. He leaned against the table, picked up the milk and took a sip to soothe his throat. “I don’t know where the thermometer is.”

“Oh, fine.” Su Wenyu arranged the food and gestured for Zhou Xu to sit and eat. “I remember it’s in the cabinet downstairs. I’ll go look for it.”

Zhou Xu obediently sat down at the table, eating the breakfast Su Wenyu had brought him, slowly and methodically.

A few minutes later, Su Wenyu came back up with a thermometer—the older, mercury type.

Su Wenyu had probably used this type before. Checking the scale and shaking it down, his movements looked practiced.

“Here, tuck this under your armpit.” Su Wenyu handed him the shaken-down thermometer. “Tell me when it’s in place, and I’ll time it for you.”

Zhou Xu had a half-eaten bite of steamed bun on his chopsticks. Hearing Su Wenyu, he feigned ignorance, frowning slightly. “Tuck where?”

“Your armpit.” Su Wenyu raised his own arm to demonstrate. “Like this, tuck it and hold it tight. Then wait about seven or eight minutes.”

Zhou Xu reached out, took the thermometer, and mimicked him, tucking it under his armpit through his clothes. “Like this?”

Su Wenyu immediately frowned. “No, not through your clothes. It needs to go inside.”

Zhou Xu said “Oh,” and added, “You didn’t teach me like that just now.”

Su Wenyu looked at him skeptically. “You’ve never used one of these?”

A guy as capable as Zhou Xu should surely know how to use a thermometer.

“I usually had good health and rarely got fevers. Even when I did, I was too lazy to take my temperature. Just drank more water and slept it off in a couple of days.” Zhou Xu said very frankly. “I don’t really know how. Either you demonstrate how to put it inside, or you help me put it.”

Su Wenyu: “?”

He was just teaching him how to use a thermometer, and now he was being clung to?

“This is very simple. You just put it in and tuck it tight.” Su Wenyu couldn’t understand why Zhou Xu needed such detailed instruction for such a simple thing.

Zhou Xu nodded and started bringing up old grievances: “Folding clothes is also very simple, just fold left and right, top and bottom. How come you didn’t know? Climbing a ladder is also very simple, just grip tightly, step with your left foot then your right. How come you didn’t know?”

Su Wenyu: “…”

Although he felt folding clothes, climbing a ladder, and using a thermometer were different things not easily compared…

Since Zhou Xu put it that way, Su Wenyu truly couldn’t argue.

After struggling for a good while, Su Wenyu gave up trying to reason with him.

“Fine, I’ll put it for you. The thermometer might be a little cold, bear with it.” Su Wenyu warmed the thermometer slightly in his palm, then pulled open Zhou Xu’s collar, shoved the thermometer in, and said, “Lift your arm.”

Zhou Xu obediently listened this time, lifting his arm when told, tucking it tight when told.

Although Su Wenyu tried his best to avoid contact between them, his fingers unavoidably brushed against the skin near his collarbone a few times.

Zhou Xu didn’t know how high his fever had gotten, but the skin around his collarbone was hot, giving Su Wenyu a strange feeling of heat transfer. After setting the thermometer, he hurried to pull his hand back.

As soon as he released the thermometer, before he could pull his hand out, Zhou Xu caught it through the fabric of his collar and pressed it against his body.

“Right, there’s something I think we need to discuss.” Zhou Xu said slowly.

Su Wenyu tried to pull his hand back several times but couldn’t budge it. Forced to press against Zhou Xu’s burning body heat, he was about to explode.

“What thing? Let go first!”

“And what if you run when I let go?” Zhou Xu leaned back in his chair, leisurely watching Su Wenyu’s face instantly turn as red as a peach, the tips of his ears tinged pink.

“The thing I want to talk about, you should still remember. The day I first came home, the incident where you saw me completely.”

Su Wenyu racked his brain and suddenly recalled that accidental bathroom incident.

But wasn’t that long over? It had been ages! Why bring it up now?

“I think about it now, and I feel I took a bit of a loss.” Zhou Xu said.

Su Wenyu braced himself and asked, “So?”

“Two choices. Either you take responsibility for me, or you let me look back at you.” Zhou Xu kindly offered these two options.

Even if he was slow, Su Wenyu finally caught on at this point.

This wasn’t giving him options! This was clearly coveting his body!

Zhou Xu was indeed a closeted gay!