Xiao Can’s heart skipped a beat.
Seeing that He Xingzhou was about to continue, Xiao Can quickly raised his hand and forcefully covered his mouth.
“No talking!” Xiao Can shouted unreasonably.
He Xingzhou was pushed back a bit by him, blinked, didn’t speak, nor did he resist, just quietly looked at him.
“I’ll say it myself,” Xiao Can lowered his head, pressing his hand harder on He Xingzhou’s mouth, “You keep quiet!”
Charlie suddenly stopped singing.
“Not you!” Xiao Can said, then paused, “…never mind, you stop too.”
The whole room became silent.
He Xingzhou was very patient, obediently being muffled, waiting quietly.
Time passed by.
Xiao Can knew he should say something quickly, but when he opened his mouth, his dry throat suddenly felt itchy. His face was burning hot, and even his skin felt swollen.
He struggled to swallow his saliva.
“He Xingzhou, listen…what I’m about to say is not asking you to take responsibility or anything, it’s just…just something, you don’t have to take it to heart, don’t need to react, it’s okay to forget about it immediately after listening. Actually, I don’t need to say it, but…but…you definitely won’t let it go if I don’t say it now, it’s just, I…” Xiao Can’s voice became smaller and smaller, “I just…have a little, that…feeling…”
Charlie tilted his head, looking at him curiously.
Xiao Can took a deep breath, lifted his head to look into He Xingzhou’s eyes, his voice almost inaudible, barely contained in his mouth, “I like you.”
Finally saying those three words, Xiao Can didn’t feel relieved, but became even more nervous. He even felt short of breath, and his fingers trembled slightly unnaturally.
He Xingzhou widened his eyes in astonishment, looking at him incredulously.
In the midst of the chaos, Xiao Can suddenly thought, he knew He Xingzhou wasn’t guessing that, fortunately he didn’t let him say it.
Since this idiot couldn’t guess it, then why did he have to expose himself?
Perhaps because it had been pent up in his heart for so long, and it wasn’t easy to bear.
Or maybe, He Xingzhou’s words and actions had secretly instilled him with a little confidence, allowing him to dare to hope.
His hand was still covering He Xingzhou’s mouth. He Xingzhou seemed to want to say something, his lips moved, but were pressed down harder by Xiao Can.
“No talking!” he unreasonably shouted.
He Xingzhou furrowed his brows in confusion.
“No talking,” Xiao Can turned his head, “I don’t want to hear it.”
This Alpha was best at being a buzzkill, always untimely. Feeling dizzy and overwhelmed was already bad enough, if he was provoked again, Xiao Can was afraid he wouldn’t even have time to cry and would pass out on the spot.
After hesitating for a while, He Xingzhou finally chose to resist. He pulled Xiao Can’s hand away, leaned forward in Xiao Can’s confusion, and quickly closed the distance between them.
Charlie, who was standing on Xiao Can’s thigh, jumped in place because of the sudden narrowing of space, and then had to shrink his body because there was no longer enough room for him to stretch out.
This was the first time Xiao Can forgot to close his eyes when being kissed by He Xingzhou.
He was dumbfounded for a long while. His vision inexplicably became blurry. After blinking his eyes, some warm liquid overflowed from his eye sockets.
As the whole world became clear again, he realized what was flowing from his eye sockets at this moment.
It was confusion, fear, helplessness, and anxiety.
But the soft touch and the faint, pleasant smell of mint between their breaths purified all the bad emotions.
In the end, even the tears that should have been bitter were tinged with a refreshing sweetness.
Just as he had expected, he cried after confessing.
But it didn’t feel bad.
“Full marks,” He Xingzhou whispered against his lips, “You secretly stole my points last time.”
“…No, I didn’t,” Xiao Can denied haphazardly, unable to give a reason.
“Yes, you did, and liking me is worth a hundred points.” He Xingzhou’s tone was soft, with a hint of a smile, almost like he was coaxing, “Xiao Can, be with me, let me be your boyfriend. Legitimately, the kind where you don’t have to wash off the marks.”
Xiao Can thought, mentioning the full marks thing from before, it must be about this.
“I know you’re shy. How about this, I’ll count to three, if you don’t refuse, it’s a yes,” He Xingzhou suddenly spoke faster, “Three.”
“Huh?”
Where did one and two go?
Before Xiao Can could protest, He Xingzhou said with a playful tone, “Thanks, you’re really nice.”
Once again, when his lips were kissed, Xiao Can was still a bit dazed.
He Xingzhou secretly reached out his arm and wrapped it around his waist, bringing them closer, leaving even less space for the little bird to survive.
But Charlie unexpectedly remained quiet, just adjusting its posture slightly, neither noisy nor troublesome.
Xiao Can suddenly felt like laughing.
Then, like every time he kissed He Xingzhou before, he willingly closed his eyes.
What finally broke the silence was a melodious ringtone.
Not from Charlie, but from Xiao Can’s phone.
It was a special ringtone set for close friends, so he had to answer it.
He tried to push He Xingzhou away while groping for his phone.
The screen displayed Mu Nianwen’s name. Xiao Can’s heart skipped a beat, only then did he remember that he had messaged Mu Nianwen before boarding the plane.
Carelessly, he had committed the offense of valuing romantic relationships over friendships.
He quickly answered the call, “Hello,” and immediately heard Mu Nianwen asking, “Where are you? Why haven’t you arrived home yet?”
Xiao Can suddenly felt embarrassed.
They hadn’t seen each other for a while, and Mu Nianwen was looking forward to his return. He probably estimated that he should have been home by now but couldn’t see him, hence the call.
“I have something to do temporarily, won’t be back for dinner,” he told Mu Nianwen.
It was silent on the other end of the call.
“…Hello?” Xiao Can asked uneasily, “Are you still there?”
“Oh, something came up,” Mu Nianwen’s tone had changed completely, “So, Mr. Xiao Can, are you coming back tonight?”
He Xingzhou was still holding him close, so close that he could definitely hear the voice from the other end.
Now, whether to say “coming back” or “not coming back” felt very strange.
Xiao Can glanced at He Xingzhou nervously. He Xingzhou was half-leaning on his shoulder, looking at him with half-closed eyes, his face expressionless, making it difficult to discern what he was thinking.
“I should…should be coming back,” Xiao Can said.
He Xingzhou visibly moved.
“Really?” Mu Nianwen’s tone was weird, “It brings back some memories.”
“Hehe,” Xiao Can laughed awkwardly.
“It seems like the last time you said this to me,” Mu Nianwen said, “Then disappeared for the night, engaging in heaven knows what kind of debauchery with that wild man—”
He Xingzhou asked in surprise, “What wild man?”
“…Who’s that?” Mu Nianwen was puzzled.
Xiao Can wanted to die.
The air fell silent for three seconds.
Suddenly, Xiao Can’s leg felt itchy, and then, a red mouth with round eyes of a green bird head emerged near his chest.
With a sudden ominous feeling rising in Xiao Can’s heart, the Demon Screeching Chicken opened its mouth.
“I like you! I like you! I like you!”
Charlie shouted several times in a row, finally feeling uncomfortable in this position and struggling to retract its head.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Xiao Can felt mentally foggy and comforted himself, at least Charlie didn’t shout “rapist” or “mark me”.
“Um…” Mu Nianwen sounded very uneasy, “Are you guys playing some weird game? Did I interrupt?”
“No, it was Charlie, it’s a bird! I…” Xiao Can couldn’t articulate his words in his confusion, “he…”
“Hello,” He Xingzhou suddenly approached the phone, “I’m He Xingzhou. Is this Mr. Mu Nianwen?”
“Hello!” Xiao Can pushed him.
But unfortunately, he couldn’t move him.
“Uh… yes,” Mu Nianwen immediately regained his composure, “Hello?”
“Would it be convenient to have a chat?” He Xingzhou asked.
His tone was gentle and polite, making Mu Nianwen naturally embarrassed to refuse.
“Sure,” Mu Nianwen said, “Convenient.”
Xiao Can frowned, reluctantly handed over the phone, and deliberately pressed the speakerphone button before letting go.
He Xingzhou didn’t show any dissatisfaction with his actions. After taking the phone openly, he finally loosened his embrace a little.
Xiao Can raised his finger and threatened in a volume only he could hear, “If you say anything strange, I’ll kill you!”
Unfortunately, it seemed to have no deterrent effect because as soon as He Xingzhou heard it, he burst into laughter with his eyes squinting.
“Xiao Can is at my house now,” he told Mu Nianwen, “I suddenly suggested picking him up and then thought of giving him a welcome dinner, so he changed his plans. Something happened just now, it was a bit rushed, so he didn’t have time to inform you.”
Mu Nianwen didn’t intend to blame him in the first place. Hearing his serious explanation, he was a bit at a loss for words, “Oh, I see! I understand.”
“I’ll drive him back tonight, so please rest assured,” He Xingzhou continued, “If it gets too late, he might stay over. As his partner, I’ll take responsibility for taking care of him.”
While Xiao Can widened his eyes in astonishment, Mu Nianwen on the other side also appeared very surprised.
“Pa-partner?” he echoed
“It happened suddenly, he didn’t have time to notify you,” He Xingzhou said, “I heard you’re his best friend, so I thought it necessary to formally greet you. Hello, I’m Xiao Can’s boyfriend.”
Xiao Can lowered his head and covered his face with both hands.
Mu Nianwen remained quiet for a few seconds before saying, “I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Do you like him?” Mu Nianwen asked.
He Xingzhou seemed to be puzzled by the question and answered in a tone that said, “Of course.”
