Chapter 28
Jiang Zhong acted as if he had been caught red-handed, instinctively pressing the power button on Xi Qin’s phone and placing the screen face down on the bed to the right.
He had been so focused, so absorbed in his thoughts, that he hadn’t even heard Xi Qin come out of the bathroom.
“No,” Jiang Zhong said softly, lowering his head. “It’s nothing.”
Xi Qin sat down beside Jiang Zhong, putting an arm around his shoulder and saying with concern, “You’ve got a stuffy nose, and you say it’s nothing? What happened? Tell me, I’ll help you solve it.”
“It’s nothing,” Jiang Zhong said, and since he had already been caught, he sniffed and added, “Don’t jinx it.”
Xi Qin pinched Jiang Zhong’s chin with his thumb and forefinger, lifting his head up to meet his gaze. He stared at Jiang Zhong’s red-rimmed eyes and the tip of his nose for a while.
His face wasn’t looking too good.
Jiang Zhong lowered his eyelids, feeling a bit too embarrassed to look Xi Qin in the eye.
Xi Qin sighed quietly, stood up, and grabbed a tissue from the bedside table. He pulled out a sheet and pressed it to Jiang Zhong’s nose. “Blow.”
“I can do it myself…” Jiang Zhong awkwardly tried to pull Xi Qin’s hand away.
“Don’t move.” Xi Qin’s face was full of displeasure. “Just blow.”
So, Jiang Zhong, with Xi Qin’s hand still in place, blew his nose and cleared out all the mucus from his nostrils, using four whole tissues.
Feeling refreshed, Jiang Zhong took a deep breath, feeling comfortable.
When Xi Qin returned after throwing the trash away, he saw Jiang Zhong with a satisfied expression on his face. The pitiful, tearful look from earlier had completely vanished.
Xi Qin: “…”
It seems like it really was nothing.
“Are you done with the phone?” Xi Qin asked, relieved. “Let me check if I got any messages.”
Jiang Zhong unlocked the phone and checked the screen before handing it back to Xi Qin. “I’m done. There are messages.”
“What did you use my phone for?” Xi Qin casually asked.
“What else would I use it for?” Jiang Zhong said as a matter of course. “Of course, I used my boyfriend’s phone to check in.”
“Did you find anything?” Xi Qin chuckled.
“Not yet,” Jiang Zhong hadn’t actually checked, “You’re surprisingly honest.”
Xi Qin looked down, fiddling with the phone for a while, before saying, “Extend your right hand.”
“What for?” Jiang Zhong stretched out his right hand, palm up, without understanding.
Xi Qin first grabbed his entire hand and gave it a squeeze, then pulled Jiang Zhong’s thumb to press it on the phone’s fingerprint unlock spot.
He pressed several times.
Jiang Zhong could feel the phone vibrate when the fingerprint was pressed, and he could also see the fingerprint registration interface on Xi Qin’s phone, his heart beating a little faster.
Finally, Xi Qin locked the phone screen and unlocked it using Jiang Zhong’s thumbprint.
“Alright,” Xi Qin said, “Next time, it’ll be easier for you to check in, but don’t worry, I only have you as my little treasure.”
Jiang Zhong looked up and stared intently at Xi Qin’s side profile. “Xi Qin, I don’t think I’ve ever told you…”
“What?” Xi Qin asked.
“I actually,” Jiang Zhong said seriously, “Really like you.”
During the time they had been together, Jiang Zhong knew deep in his heart that he was the one receiving more care.
From the start, Xi Qin had been the more proactive one, initiating their relationship, holding hands, kissing… it had all been Xi Qin’s idea.
After they got together, Xi Qin had never made a secret of his affection for Jiang Zhong or their relationship, whether in the dorm or in front of Xi Qin’s friends.
But Jiang Zhong was different. Maybe it was because of his family background, but growing up, Jiang Zhong had never once heard words like “I love you” or “I like you” from his parents.
Even though he understood that his parents loved him.
Jiang Zhong’s parents had always felt a little guilty toward him, believing they hadn’t spent enough time with him when he was young, so they had always expressed their love through actions rather than words.
Like them, Jiang Zhong wasn’t used to always putting love and hate into words.
He liked Xi Qin, liked him enough to care about every little thing he did, liked him enough to feel heartache hearing about Xi Qin’s past struggles, liked him enough to be moved to tears when he discovered Xi Qin’s secrets.
He liked him so much that the sense of security Xi Qin gave him made him unconsciously say, “I like you.”
Because this affection had overflowed, Jiang Zhong’s heart couldn’t contain it anymore. He had to say it out loud, letting the world know and asking the world to help him keep it safe.
“What did you say?” Xi Qin froze for two seconds, his breath gradually quickening. “Baby, what did you say? Say it again.”
Jiang Zhong’s face turned a little red. “I said, I really like you.”
Then, Xi Qin casually threw his poor phone aside again.
“Ah!” Jiang Zhong was knocked onto the bed by Xi Qin, crying out in shock. “Damn it, Xi Qin, do you know you scare me every time you do that? It’s not romantic at all!”
Xi Qin was on top of him, laughing uncontrollably. “I think it’s pretty romantic.”
Jiang Zhong tilted his head, still not quite able to handle being so close to Xi Qin with their faces touching. “Get off, you’re too heavy, I can’t breathe.”
“Alright,” Xi Qin leaned down and kissed his cheek, then rolled over and lay down beside him.
Jiang Zhong slowly exhaled, propping himself up with his hands as he sat up from the bed. He didn’t expect Xi Qin to suddenly grab his wrist from the side, causing Jiang Zhong to lose his balance and fall onto Xi Qin.
Taking the opportunity, Xi Qin pulled Jiang Zhong’s other hand, turning him over, then lifted him up. The positions they had been in just moments ago were now reversed.
“You’re lighter,” Xi Qin said, looking at Jiang Zhong’s confused expression with a smile. “Is this okay?”
Jiang Zhong adjusted his position. “It’s fine, just barely.”
“Why ‘barely’?” Xi Qin lightly patted Jiang Zhong’s back with his hand. “This isn’t okay, that’s not okay. What kind of position do you like?”
Jiang Zhong pinched Xi Qin’s face. “Shut up, you shameless person.”
“It was you who asked me to explain,” Xi Qin pretended to be upset. “Baby, do you really like me?”
“No,” Jiang Zhong said without hesitation.
Xi Qin: “…”
“If you really liked me, why wouldn’t you want to get closer to me?” Xi Qin ignored Jiang Zhong’s answer and continued on his own. “Look at me, I like you, I really want to do these things with you.”
“So I said I don’t like you,” Jiang Zhong stubbornly replied.
In fact, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to do those things with Xi Qin, but he was too shy to handle Xi Qin’s occasional provocative remarks.
Or perhaps it could be said that he was more reserved. Every time Xi Qin asked him if he wanted to, he would say no, but when the moment came, he couldn’t help but enjoy it and get lost in it… cough cough.
“Double standards,” Xi Qin laughed. “You just said you ‘really’ like me.”
“Then why are you asking?” Jiang Zhong rolled his eyes slightly. “You’re crazy.”
“Because I want to hear you say it,” Xi Qin coaxed. “Say it again, okay?”
See? It’s always these kinds of “Do you or don’t you?” questions.
Jiang Zhong, as usual, answered, “No.”
“Ah,” Xi Qin feigned grievance. “I always thought you didn’t really like me. It felt like you didn’t want to have too much physical contact with me.”
Jiang Zhong was wronged. He was just more passive, and the more proactive Xi Qin was, the more excited he became.
“And you didn’t want others to know about our relationship,” Xi Qin started bringing up past things again, “Acting like a little jerk…”
Jiang Zhong reached out to cover Xi Qin’s mouth, lifting his head to look him in the eyes and said, “I like you, I really like you. The way we are now, is this not enough physical contact? My whole body is on top of you.”
Xi Qin made a “mm-mm” sound.
“Also,” Jiang Zhong didn’t let go of him, continuing, “From now on, you can tell anyone that I’m your boyfriend, I won’t stop you. You can use my photo as your profile picture, do whatever you want. Do you understand? If you call me a ‘jerk’ again, I’ll… ignore you.”
Xi Qin’s eyes were full of smiles as he kissed the palm of Jiang Zhong’s hand.
Jiang Zhong quickly pulled his hand back.
“I want to kiss you,” Xi Qin said.
Finally, it wasn’t a “Do you or don’t you?” type of question. Jiang Zhong gave a barely audible “mm” in response.
Jiang Zhong waited for a while, only to see Xi Qin smiling softly as he lay under him, making no further movements.
Jiang Zhong: “?”
“You do it,” Xi Qin coaxed Jiang Zhong. “This time, I’ll let you take the initiative.”
Jiang Zhong, blushing, looked at Xi Qin’s mouth… after a while, he closed his eyes and slowly leaned in to kiss him.
—
Several minutes later, Jiang Zhong, out of breath, buried his face in Xi Qin’s neck, feeling a bit stiff.
Xi Qin was in no better state than he was, his arms tightly wrapped around Jiang Zhong’s waist.
“Let go of me,” Jiang Zhong whispered. “It’s getting late, I need to take a shower.”
Xi Qin, unwilling and slow, reluctantly let him go.
Jiang Zhong tried to avoid a certain area that felt different from usual, then turned over and lay on his side. After catching his breath, he sat up from the bed.
Just as he was about to get off the bed, Xi Qin grabbed his hand from behind.
“I’ll help you,” Xi Qin said.
“No need,” Jiang Zhong pulled his hand away. “It’s not like I can’t move my hands. Do I really need your help to take a shower?”
“I’m not talking about the shower,” Xi Qin glanced at Jiang Zhong’s lower body, “I mean that.”
Jiang Zhong: “……”
—
Half an hour later, Jiang Zhong opened the window.
“What should we do?” Xi Qin stared at the bed sheet. “We’ve made the bed all wet.”
“Could you just shut up if you don’t know what to say?” Jiang Zhong gritted his teeth. “That’s because you didn’t dry your hair after your shower and then you leaned on the bed for ages, which made it wet!”
“I didn’t say anything,” Xi Qin chuckled for a long time. “Why are you so nervous?”
Jiang Zhong didn’t want to bother with him anymore. He dug out his pajamas from his suitcase and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
By the time he came out, Xi Qin had already changed the sheets.
“Baby, why didn’t you dry your hair?” Xi Qin looked at Jiang Zhong’s damp hair. “There are no spare sheets left. If you make the bed wet again, we won’t be able to sleep.”
“……” Jiang Zhong was speechless for a while. “I’m not lying in bed with wet hair.”
“That’s not good either,” Xi Qin pulled Jiang Zhong back. “Be careful, or you’ll catch a cold. I’ll help you dry it.”
Jiang Zhong let him pull him along, mumbling, “You didn’t even dry your own hair.”
“I’ll help you, and then you can help me,” Xi Qin said, laughing softly after saying this, with a hint in his voice. “Just like earlier, unity and love, helping each other.”
Jiang Zhong’s response was a slap on his arm: “Shut up, pervert.”