Near noon, the store was not particularly busy, but the customer flow was higher than the previous hours. Because one person asked for a group photo, and the other girls were also eager to try, but before it was their turn, they watched a “face-changing” drama.
Zhu Tong caught the attention of everyone in the store by surprise, and experienced the feeling of a social death.
His face is undeniably red-hot, ah!!
“I…I’m going to the bathroom.”
Cold water, cold water, he needs a handful of cold water to cool down!
He came out from behind the counter, walked to the left, and suddenly heard a kindly reminder, “The restroom is over there.”
–To the left was the dressing room instead.
Zhu Tong: “…”
He didn’t dare to lift his head. He just turned to the right immediately.
The girl in front of the counter let out a breathy “Wow…”.
‘This is not self-inflicted, right? His reaction is so cute!’
Originally, when Zhu Tong was in charge of collecting money, he followed the process to the letter. Although he was very cute, he still had an “untouchable” aura, preventing any strangers from approaching him. After he furiously blushed just now, that aura completely collapsed. One by one, the girls that wanted a photo exuded a loving aura characteristic of “motherhood”.
Only Luo Suo looked puzzled. “What happened to Zhu Tong?”
Why is he blushing like this all of a sudden?
Shao Ming looked at the direction that Zhu Tong left with a slightly distressed expression on his face.
He wanted the shorter youth to “calm down” so that he would forget this morning’s incident. But, this seemed to backfire.
Why is he still blowing up with the slightest of poke? It seems letting him “calm down” by himself wasn’t a good direction.
Shao Ming kept fixating on the direction of the bathroom, to the point of him neglecting his work.
One the girl who asked for a group photo before whispered to him, “Handsome guy? Are you still in business?”
Shao Ming looked at the girl calmly.
The girl immediately smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter if you aren’t. You can ask for a temporary replacement, can’t you? Why don’t you coax him first?”
Although she said it as a suggestion, her tone clearly indicated that she actually wanted to say: “You go! You go!”
Shao Ming couldn’t help but smile, looked to the side and said, “Luo Suo, come for a sec and replace me.”
Having taken off his gloves, he turned around and walked out of the counter.
The gaggle of girls uttered a “Wow” in unison.
Luo Suo: “…”
Are these girls here to buy milk tea or to watch the show?
–
In the bathroom, Zhu Tong held a handful of cold water and threw it on his face. He felt that the temperature on his face had ebbed a lot. He put his hands on the edge of the sink and sighed heavily.
Ugh.
If he has to rely on cold water to physically cool down, it’s a huge problem!
He couldn’t have to go to the bathroom every time he was touched by Shao Ming, right?
…that only made him sound even more perverted, even if he was in the bathroom solely to wash his face.
How will he face Shao Ming?
Didn’t he only see his topless body once? How is that enough to change his own constitution! He’d never blush at anyone before!
Zhu Tong sighed again, thinking that he should do his job well before worrying about it.
He patted his face and got up, and when he looked up, he saw that there was an extra head behind him.
“!”
Zhu Tong was so frightened that he shivered all over, and turned his head to look in astonishment, “You… when did you come in?”
Shao Ming said, “Just now.”
“…”
Zhu Tong looked at the door again… Oh, this time he forgot to close the door.
But why didn’t this man even make a sound of footsteps?
Shao Ming kept silent on purpose. When he came in from the door, he saw his deskmate leaning on the sink and sighing, as if he had encountered some unsolvable trouble.
He lightly walked around behind Zhu Tong, wanting to see his reaction.
The horror on Zhu Tong’s face was too obvious. He asked in a strange tone, “Am I so scary?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
‘You quietly appear behind people, isn’t it scary?’
–Especially when he was still feeling guilty over his actions.
But he certainly couldn’t admit it.
Zhu Tong shook his head and said, “No, no, do you want to use the bathroom? I’ve finished my business, you can use it.”
He turned around and was about to go out, but Shao Ming suddenly stopped him and said, “You have been hiding from me all morning, are you still hiding?”
Zhu Tong subconsciously defended himself, “I didn’t hide from you, how would I come to the store if I avoided you…”
Of course, he originally wanted to hide, but he was responsible so he wouldn’t not come to work!
Shao Ming interrupted him, “When you went out in the morning, you hid behind the curtain and peeked at me. I saw it.”
Zhu Tong raised his head in surprise.
Shao Ming continued without mercy, “You did say something to me when I helped you on using the cash register. But after everything is said and done, you no longer talk to me.”
“…”
“When I was making milk tea, I accidentally touched you, and you jolted and stuck yourself to the counter, firmly.”
“…”
Seeing him completely stunned, Shao Ming looked at him calmly and said with a smile, “Still want to refute?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
The young master was speechless.
‘Was Shao Ming aware of all of those?’
Zhu Tong thought about his series of reactions since he went out in the morning… It really painted him as someone with a guilty conscience!
Did he accidentally reveal something?
Zhu Tong blinked, Shao Ming looked at him and said, “Why are you hiding from me?”
He could see that the “letting him calm down” tactic won’t work for this young master, so it’s better to confront him about it directly.
Zhu Tong didn’t know what to do. He panicked at first, and even a small touch made him feel guilty. When asked directly by Shao Ming, he calmed down a lot.
He looked at Shao Ming and hesitated.
Shao Ming guided him to speak, “Because of this morning?”
“…”
“If it’s because of me…”
“I didn’t mean to hide from you,” Zhu Tong said suddenly.
Shao Ming froze for a moment.
Zhu Tong thought that he’s going to die anyway, might as well make it quick. He lowered his head and said, “I didn’t know you would get up so early in the morning, and I didn’t know if you were going to be topless. I… didn’t know why I got a nosebleed, but I didn’t mean anything else. It’s definitely not what you think it means, I’m afraid you will misunderstand something and feel… grossed out.”
Shao Ming: “…”
The reason for this is a bit unexpected.
He was stunned for a while, then asked with a smile, “Just because of this?”
He thought it was the words he deliberately said in the morning that annoyed him. But it seems to have gone over his head instead?
Zhu Tong nodded.
Shao Ming continued, “What’s so shameful about this? This kind of thing is normal.”
“…”
This kind of thing… is normal?
Shao Ming: “The weather is dry, so the heat went into your head. Isn’t that what you said earlier?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
–Wait, didn’t Shao Ming not believe this excuse earlier??
In truth, of course Shao Ming didn’t believe it. But he was aware enough that the true reason was very embarrassing to the young master, so he could only pretend to be completely oblivious about it.
Zhu Tong’s head was lowered once again. “But, it should be very disgusting to be seen by others with nosebleeds.”
To put it in another perspective, if he saw someone getting a nosebleed when seeing his naked body, just thinking about it was enough to give him goosebumps.
Shao Ming said, “That might be true if it was another person. But it’s you, so I’m not disgusted.”
Zhu Tong asked in utter confusion, “Why?”
Shao Ming looked at him with deepened eyes. He thought for a moment, and decided to comfort him with: “Because you’re not mean to me, are you? So you definitely didn’t do it on purpose.”
Zhu Tong: “…”
So Shao Ming already trusted him so much? That 46% favorability value is really not false.
But he’s still feeling so guilty!
He got a nosebleed just because Shao Ming’s topless body was enough to stimulate him.
This is instinct, it is force majeure.
But he really didn’t have those messy thoughts, so he said calmly, “I won’t have those thoughts about you, don’t worry.”
Shao Ming: “…”
‘But why wouldn’t you give yourself a chance to have those thoughts?’
He almost blurted out: “Actually, I don’t mind if you’re interested in me,” but he didn’t dare to tease him anymore after seeing his deskmate who had finally recovered his calm state.
Shao Ming only smiled. “Then are you still avoiding me?”
Zhu Tong: “…no.”
“Then let’s go back to work.”
Shao Ming said as he stretched out his hand, wanting to touch his shoulder as usual, but as soon as he do that, Zhu Tong suddenly took a step back.
“…”
Shao Ming raised his eyebrows slightly.
Zhu Tong hurriedly said, “This is… a conditioned reflex.”
He didn’t mean to hide!
Shao Ming looked at him for a while, then smiled helplessly, “It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have deliberately teased you in the morning knowing you are embarrassed, I apologize to you.”
Zhu Tong: “It’s not because of you…”
“So as compensation, I teach you a way to overcome this conditioned reflex.”
Zhu Tong: “…how?”
Shao Ming stretched out a hand towards him, palm up, saying, “Give me your hand.”
Zhu Tong looked at his outstretched palm, hesitated for a moment, but put his hand on it. After putting it on, Shao Ming suddenly folded his fingers and held his hand tightly.
“…”
Zhu Tong subconsciously wanted to withdraw his hand.
Shao Ming said with a smile, “Why are you shrinking from me?”
Zhu Tong moved his lips, as if wanted to refute his statement.
Shao Ming said it in his stead: “Because of the conditioned reflex, right?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
Seeing his acquiescence, Shao Ming said sincerely, “Hold on.”
Zhu Tong didn’t know why, but he didn’t move. He wanted to know what Shao Ming meant by “overcoming conditioned reflex”.
But after waiting for a long time, the man did not move further, and he couldn’t help but look up in confusion.
Shao Ming looked at him and said, “Do you want to withdraw your hand now?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
Suddenly realizing what he was talking about, Zhu Tong couldn’t help but smile bitterly, “You are…”
Shao Ming said solemnly, “This is called fighting poison with poison, isn’t it effective and easy?”
Zhu Tong: “You want me to ‘form a habit’.”
Shao Ming didn’t deny it. He suddenly loosened the hand that held him, and instead put his five fingers between Zhu Tong’s fingers, and intertwined them together.
His palm met Shao Ming’s. Unlike the cold temperature he touched in the morning, Shao Ming’s palm was warm now.
Zhu Tong was stunned for a moment, feeling that this gesture seemed a bit strange.
He wanted to withdraw his hand again, but Shao Ming tightened his grip slightly. He gaze straight into Zhu Tong’s eyes and said, “Are you used to it now?”
Zhu Tong: “I…”
“Ming-ge, why haven’t you come out for so long? Lao Er also wanted to ask if there’s still big ice cubes availa—”
“…”
“…”
The brisk voice stopped abruptly at the door of the bathroom. While the two people with interlocking fingers looked back, their atmosphere was ambiguously romantic.
Luo Suo’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You two…”
Zhu Tong lowered his head along his line of sight, feeling the touch between his fingers that did not belong to him. He was slightly startled, and quickly withdrew his hand.
There was a delicate friction in the palm of the hand, an electrifying touch that was very pleasant, yet fleeting all the same. Shao Ming was slightly dissatisfied, and turned his head to glare at the door.
Luo Suo was startled and immediately shrank his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see anything!”
Then he ran away in mere seconds.
A second later, he reappeared only to slam the bathroom door shut.
“Boom!”
“…”
The bathroom, which doesn’t have its lights turned on, was instantly darkened.
The closed bathroom, dim lighting, two people in close proximity, the sound of breathing intermingling…
The tactile feeling of the fingers interlocking just now lingered. Ghostly touches that send shivers to his increasingly-rapid beating heart.
This situation can’t be explained without causing misunderstandings.
Zhu Tong was stunned for a while, and then he realized. “He…”
Shao Ming: “Luo Suo has a brain deficiency, ignore him.”
“…”
“Let’s go out too.”
Zhu Tong nodded. “Okay.”
A hand slung over his shoulder. But after the “treatment” just now, Zhu Tong just froze for a while, before quickly getting used to it again.
Shao Ming hooked his lips in satisfaction.
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