Chapter 25
“Damn it, don’t come over here—” Jiang Zhong’s voice was somewhat off, “You’re so scary.”
“Pfft,” Xi Qin turned away when he was just two steps away from Jiang Zhong, “I’m just getting up to turn off the light. Do you want to sleep with the bright light on?”
Taking advantage of Xi Qin’s turn, Jiang Zhong quickly kicked off his slippers, threw himself onto the bed, and wrapped himself tightly in the blanket.
Only his eyes remained exposed, watching Xi Qin warily.
After turning off the light, Xi Qin also closed the bedroom door. The room was left in the faint light coming through the curtain seams, casting shadows on the floor.
Jiang Zhong couldn’t see Xi Qin’s expression clearly, only making out Xi Qin’s silhouette moving from the door to the bedside step by step.
“Baby,” Xi Qin looked at the blanket-wrapped Jiang Zhong and said softly, “If you’re this guarded, I’ll be hurt.”
“If I don’t guard against you,” Jiang Zhong remained unmoved, “I’d get hurt.”
Xi Qin smiled, kneeled on the edge of the bed with one foot, and reached out to pull the blanket a bit: “I really won’t do anything to you. Why don’t you believe me?”
Jiang Zhong clutched the blanket tightly: “It’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s just precaution.”
“Well then.” Xi Qin released his hold on the blanket, climbed onto the bed, and wrapped Jiang Zhong and the blanket entirely in his arms, “Let’s sleep like this.”
Now Jiang Zhong was completely “trapped,” unable to struggle, pinned against Xi Qin’s chest, only his mouth left to fight: “Let me go, Xi Qin, you damn pervert.”
“You called me ‘babe’ this morning, and now you’re using my full name?” Xi Qin leaned down and pecked Jiang Zhong on the forehead, “If you keep calling me a pervert, do you believe I’ll carry out all the things perverts like to do?”
Jiang Zhong: “…Believe.”
Xi Qin didn’t expect Jiang Zhong to give in so quickly and hesitated for a moment: “Then will you still say it in the future?”
“That depends on your attitude,” Jiang Zhong remained firm, “If you were a bit more normal, I wouldn’t call you a pervert for no reason.”
“What do you mean by ‘a bit more normal’?” Xi Qin rubbed his chin against Jiang Zhong’s head, “Baby, this is normal for me. Look, would I act like this with anyone else? I just like you so much that I constantly want to be close to you and make you feel my affection.”
Jiang Zhong: “…”
Jiang Zhong was momentarily stunned by the sudden confession and took a while to secretly feel pleased before pulling his hand out of the blanket and awkwardly asking: “Ahem, aren’t you cold without a blanket?”
“Cold,” Xi Qin exaggerated, “Freezing to death.”
“Then you can have some of my blanket,” Jiang Zhong generously offered.
“Okay,” Xi Qin eagerly nodded, “Thank you, baby.”
“No need to thank me.”
It was quite something for someone to be this presumptuous. He had entered Xi Qin’s bedroom, slept in Xi Qin’s bed, and taken Xi Qin’s blanket, yet he still had Xi Qin thank him and acted so magnanimous.
However, compared to Xi Qin, Jiang Zhong was still too innocent.
Jiang Zhong had just pulled back one corner of the blanket when Xi Qin grabbed that spot and threw the blanket completely off. Then he rolled over and pinned Jiang Zhong down, grabbing his wrists and pressing them above his head.
“Damn it!” Jiang Zhong exclaimed, “Xi Qin, you shameless person, you’re lying to me!”
“I’m not lying to you, everything I said was sincere.” Xi Qin smiled down at him from above, “I said I wanted to be close to you, just like now.”
Jiang Zhong was pinned down completely, and stared at Xi Qin for a long time with wide eyes.
Xi Qin wasn’t intimidated by his “fierce” gaze and only seemed more amused.
“Now…” Jiang Zhong then tried a different approach, blushing as he mumbled, “…It’s still a bit early.”
Xi Qin looked at Jiang Zhong for a while, then suddenly buried his face in Jiang Zhong’s neck, laughing quietly, his shoulders shaking with laughter.
Jiang Zhong: “…”
What a lunatic!
“Baby, why are you so cute?” Xi Qin’s muffled voice came from his neck.
Jiang Zhong felt his neck itch from the warm breath and moving lips, unable to resist tilting his head and shrugging to hold Xi Qin’s head in place.
Taking advantage of this, Xi Qin opened his mouth and gently nibbled the warm skin near Jiang Zhong’s mouth.
Jiang Zhong let out a small, involuntary sound.
The sound was right by Xi Qin’s ear, and Xi Qin’s body stiffened for a moment. He looked up at Jiang Zhong with a meaningful glance.
Before Jiang Zhong could fully grasp the meaning, Xi Qin leaned down and kissed him.
This kiss didn’t last long. Just as Jiang Zhong was fully immersed in it, Xi Qin released him.
After their lips parted, Xi Qin let go of Jiang Zhong’s wrists. When they separated, Jiang Zhong’s hands were crossed over Xi Qin’s shoulders, fingers tangled in the hair at the back of his head, though Jiang Zhong didn’t know when he had climbed up.
Xi Qin finally bit Jiang Zhong’s nose tip, then rolled off and lay beside him, letting out a slow sigh.
Jiang Zhong raised a hand to cover his sore nose, his chest rising and falling. With his long legs slightly bent, he silently let Xi Qin pick up the blanket that had fallen on the floor and cover him with it.
“Sleep,” Xi Qin snuggled in and held Jiang Zhong, saying softly.
Sleep my foot, all my drowsiness was kissed away.
Jiang Zhong rested his head on Xi Qin’s arm and turned to face him: “Aren’t you supposed to be coaxing me to sleep? Get on with it.”
“Aren’t you the one who said you didn’t need it?”
“Now I do.”
Xi Qin, having no experience in soothing someone to sleep, hesitated and then began awkwardly: “…Sleep now, sleep now, my dear baby—”
He sang while tapping a rhythm on Jiang Zhong’s waist with his hand.
Jiang Zhong lay with half-open eyes, feeling no drowsiness, only finding the movement of Xi Qin’s Adam’s apple as he spoke extremely attractive.
“…Stop singing,” Jiang Zhong reached out and touched Xi Qin’s collarbone, “It sounds awful.”
“Alright,” Xi Qin, who actually only knew how to sing that one line, said, “Then let’s switch from lullaby service to companionship service.”
Jiang Zhong eventually fell asleep.
He had slept so little the night before that lying in the warm, comfortable bed and being held in a relaxed position while listening to Xi Qin’s deep voice, he unknowingly drifted into a dream.
When he woke up again, he was alone in the bed, completely unaware of when Xi Qin had left.
Jiang Zhong felt disoriented for two minutes, having a sense of not knowing what day it was.
After lying there for a bit, he got up and pulled open half of the curtains. The glaring light made him squint, and his mind gradually cleared.
It was snowing outside.
Jiang Zhong suddenly remembered that on New Year’s Eve, Xi Qin had called him during the first snowfall, wanting to show him photos of the snow.
The view from here was indeed different from what he saw at home.
Jiang Zhong thought about capturing the moment, but he couldn’t find his phone anywhere.
Oh, he seemed to have forgotten his phone upstairs. It seemed he hadn’t used it since he entered the apartment in the morning. It should still be on the shoe rack by the door.
Tsk, when it comes to dating, the most carefree thing is probably the phone, saving power and durability.
Jiang Zhong smoothed out the sheets and blankets and went downstairs.
Xi Qin was in the kitchen, cooking. One stove was simmering soup, while the other was frying vegetables.
“It smells so good.” Jiang Zhong could smell it even from the stairs.
“Awake?” Xi Qin looked back at him. “Are you hungry? It’ll be a while before the food is ready. If you’re hungry, you can have some snacks on the dining table.”
“I’m not hungry.” Jiang Zhong had slept for half the day and had just had breakfast recently. He walked straight to Xi Qin’s side. “When did you wake up?”
Xi Qin leaned in and kissed Jiang Zhong on the cheek. “I got up after sleeping with you for a while. I couldn’t sleep.”
“Did you go to the supermarket?” Jiang Zhong touched his face. “I saw it was snowing outside. Isn’t it cold?”
“Not too bad. I just bought some things.”
“If I had known you were going to the supermarket, I would have asked you to buy some toiletries for me. I didn’t bring any.”
“I already bought them,” Xi Qin said with a smile, “They’re all in the bathroom.”
“You’re quite foresighted,” Jiang Zhong complimented him as he walked toward the bathroom. “I wanted to brush my teeth. Let me see if the new stuff is all mine.”
Xi Qin responded with a “Mm” from behind: “You pick first, what’s left is mine.”
Jiang Zhong didn’t quite understand what Xi Qin meant at first, but upon entering the bathroom, he understood.
On the bathroom storage shelf were various toiletries, all in matching couples’ designs but different colors.
Jiang Zhong was sure that these items hadn’t been there before and were clearly bought by Xi Qin while he was asleep.
Moreover, the toiletries Xi Qin had originally used were nowhere to be seen.