My fever is no more! I’m back!!
The moment he recognized the voice, Zhu Tong found a little sense of reality from his “hallucination”.
He stared blankly at the young man in front of him.
Shao Ming combed his front bangs, revealing his smooth forehead. Because of his height, his usual youthful looks were changed into a more mature look, still wholly attractive.
He lowered his face slightly, making the surrounding air pressure very low.
‘Why is he so sullen?’
‘Wait, no, how did Shao Ming come here?’
‘And what’s with this pose?’
The face was close at hand, the body fitting seamlessly. Zhu Tong’s face reddened immediately, and he instinctively shrank back, his heels pressing against the base of the rockery, with no room to retreat.
“You…”
As soon as he opened his mouth, his eyes widened.
Why did he feel that Shao Ming was getting closer and closer to him?
He’s really getting closer!
Breathing became clearer, accompanied by a dizzying heat. Their faces were only inches apart.
Zhu Tong subconsciously covered his mouth with the back of his hand.
But even so, Shao Ming didn’t stop. He paused and put the weight of his entire head on Zhu Tong’s hands. His soft lips were on Zhu Tong’s palms, leaving behind scorching marks.
It made Zhu Tong forget how to properly breathe.
He was dumbfounded and didn’t know where to look. His brain had crashed.
At the same time, someone peeking cautiously from behind the rockery also recoiled in fear, shrinking back with only a portion of their silhouette illuminated by the light from the intersection on the ground.
Shao Ming pressed himself against Zhu Tong’s face and looked behind the rockery with his corner of the eye.
After a few seconds, the long shadow disappeared.
Shao Ming withdrew his gaze and was about to release the youth from his clutch when suddenly he felt the stiffness of the person in his arms, his body tense as if turned to stone.
The hand covering his mouth, its fingers slightly trembling, curled up gently. In the palm of that hand lingered a faint scent of hand sanitizer.
The lighting here was dim. It’s impossible to discern the emotions brewing in the other’s eyes.
But even without looking at it, Shao Ming could know how the face of Zhu Tong now turned pale with shock.
He suddenly laughed softly.
His lips curved up, triggering the sensitive nerves in the boy’s palm. Zhu Tong felt a surge of electricity rushing through him, tingling and buzzing in his brain. In an instant, he snapped back to reality, and his first instinct was resistance.
But his waist was tightly bound, his body was tightly pressed, and he didn’t even know how to pull out the hand that was kissed by Shao Ming’s lips.
What is happening?
If he didn’t block his mouth just now… what was Shao Ming going to do?
Now their noses were almost touching, their breaths mingling, both heavy and hot, equally disordered and chaotic.
Outside the rockery, there was the noise of bustling conversation, while inside, between the two youths, their heartbeats resonated like the pounding of a drum, each one louder than the other.
The silence stretched, seemingly endless.
Shao Ming protected the back of Zhu Tong’s head with his left hand, and wrapped his right hand around Zhu Tong’s waist. Suddenly, as if he couldn’t help it, he released the hand on his waist and raised it to grab the hand that was separating his lips from Zhu Tong’s.
And as soon as he released his hand, Zhu Tong blinked rapidly, quickly regaining his senses. He lowered his head and pushed hard against Shao Ming, saying, “Wait… wait a moment… you just… just now…”
Shao Ming whispered back, “Just now?”
Zhu Tong completely lost his ability to think. He stammered, “W-what did you.. Ju-just do?”
“…”
Shao Ming didn’t expect this person to still be able to ask such a thing.
He smiled suddenly, leaned in and said, “If you didn’t block me with your hand just now before I ended up kissing it, wouldn’t you understand better?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
Not a misunderstanding.
So… he’s really going to kiss him?
But why?
Zhu Tong’s breath quickened as he stared blankly at him, his captured hand still held tightly by Shao Ming’s wrist, feeling the warmth from Shao Ming’s lips on his palm. He didn’t know whether to relax or to grip tighter.
He couldn’t relax, but he held it tightly, as if Shao Ming was still kissing the palm of his hand.
Zhu Tong was in a complete mess.
What the fuck should he do in this kind of situation?
Shao Ming looked at him and thought, ‘He’s completely messed up, ah.’
From the moment he walked into this private manor, he knew he was being targeted.
Why was someone staring at him? Probably out of curiosity about the purpose of his attendance in this banquet.
He was being monitored both overtly and covertly, and his interactions with Zhu Tong couldn’t escape notice. Sending someone to follow him was just a way to confirm his relationship with Zhu Tong.
When he noticed someone at the entrance of the rockery, Shao Ming simply wanted to use an action that could confirm their suspicions and prompt the person monitoring him to “back off” and hurried back to “report” as soon as possible.
He didn’t want to scare Zhu Tong, he didn’t want to really kiss him in such a place.
He was in control.
But it seemed that Zhu Tong misunderstood something. He suddenly covered his own hand, which was like handing a pillow to Shao Ming when he was sleepy, allowing him to “kiss” without hesitation or reservation.
After this “kiss”, what should he do now?
After the interfering person left, Shao Ming intended to let go, but it’s easier to go up the mountain than to come down. He couldn’t bring himself to let go.
He even thought about it.
After being pulled away, he could have explained himself.
If Zhu Tong was frightened by him, he could pretend that it was just a joke.
He often jokes with Zhu Tong, and Zhu Tong was easily fooled with such explanations.
If Zhu Tong got angry, he would apologize immediately.
But Zhu Tong’s reaction was not these two. He asked himself blankly, ‘What was I doing just now?’
It was something he had grown accustomed to and found infuriating: pretending to be ignorant.
It’s probably because he’s at this age when he’s the most rebellious – be it at his elders or his peers.
–Each previous attempt at probing seemed to have been “hoodwinked” by Zhu Tong in this way.
He didn’t know if Zhu Tong was pretending to be ignorant again. But whether he was acting or not, he was “rebellious” and wanted to make it crystal clear.
Shao Ming looked at Zhu Tong and said, “I want to kiss you, really want to kiss you. Do you understand what it means?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
Zhu Tong was completely stunned, and he said in his mind, ‘What did he say?’
The system graciously replied, ‘He said he likes you.’
Zhu Tong: ‘That’s not what he said.’
System: ‘That’s what he meant.’
Zhu Tong: “…”
Shao Ming likes him? How is this possible?
He’s a sick boy, what’s there to like?
And his favorability level is only 70%!
How could Shao Ming romantically like him?
When Zhu Tong realized he liked Shao Ming, he felt a mix of astonishment, joy, and hesitation. He hesitated about whether to tell Shao Ming, fearing that he might be rejected.
What he was afraid of was not only rejection, but also a sudden drop in his favorability.
Before, Zhu Tong cared about his favorability level in order to have the time and energy to deal with Qin Junhong. With the system’s time limit of one year to max out the favorability level, although he wanted to survive, he also thought that if he couldn’t complete the mission, at least he would have lived another year, and there wouldn’t be much regret.
He never felt that death was something to be afraid of. Yes, he wanted to live, but in fact, he was more unwilling to die – even more so when he knew that his short lifespan was due to some shitty “villain’s status”.
But the night before yesterday, when he fainted due to a drop in the favorability level… just as he felt his heart go into cardiac arrest, he was actually scared.
He started to fear death.
Suddenly knowing that Shao Ming likes him, Zhu Tong should breathe a sigh of relief and feel ecstatic.
He hadn’t figured out what was the reason for the sudden drop in favorability.
Zhu Tong did not dare to respond directly to what Shao Ming said.
The 15% drop was like a bomb hanging in my heart – he didn’t know what trigger it has until it went boom.
He tried to speak several times, but all he did was helplessly move his lips without speaking anything substantial.
Shao Ming couldn’t hold back anymore, and the hand behind Zhu Tong’s head tightened slightly as he leaned forward.
As the familiar breath approached again, Zhu Tong was startled, and quickly turned his head away and said, “Hold on, n-not… not here!”
Shao Ming paused and repeated his words, “Not here?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
So… this can be done, so long as it’s elsewhere?
It seems… not impossible.
So… he actually… means that too?
Zhu Tong panicked. “I…”
“Buzz… buzz…”
Zhu Tong’s mobile phone in his pocket rang.
Zhu Tong was saved by the bell. He hurriedly pushed Shao Ming, who still held him down, saying, “I… I’ll take a call.”
Shao Ming slowly backed away a little and said with a smile, “Come on.”
“…”
The hand that was held didn’t loosen at all, leaving only enough space for him to answer the phone.
Zhu Tong took out the phone with difficulty, pressed the answer without looking at it, put it in his ear and said, “Hello.”
“Ge, where have you been? Are you okay?” It was Xiao Xin.
Zhu Tong: “…”
Is he okay? Not even he himself knows that…
He glanced at Shao Ming, and Shao Ming had already lowered his head, playing with the hand he had just kissed.
Shao Ming slowly laced his fingers into the crevices of Zhu Tong’s.
Zhu Tong’s heart skipped a beat, and he squeezed the hand tightly, both to prevent Shao Ming from playing tricks and to encourage himself. He said calmly, “It’s okay, there are too many people in the square. I’m going back home.”
Suddenly, their fingers clasped together, Shao Ming froze and raised his head.
Zhu Tong turned his head away from him, refusing to make eye contact.
On the phone, Zhu Xin said, “I’m also in the house. I searched for you and couldn’t find you.”
Zhu Tong: “…”
“I’ll come to you in a moment.”
After speaking, he hung up the phone hastily.
