KMYB | Chapter 14

Xi Shui walked toward Zhou Zeqi, lowered his head to glance at the distance between them, then moved a little closer.

Zhou Zeqi caught his wrist in one hand and pulled him to stand between his legs.

Xi Shui was caught off guard, but unlike before, he wasn’t frightened anymore. He could vaguely sense that Zhou Zeqi was a very dominant person.

"This distance is nice," Xi Shui said with satisfaction.

He took the initiative to bend down and press his lips to Zhou Zeqi’s. Zhou Zeqi was facing the light, and the crystal chandelier on the ceiling shone into his eyes, bright as two little flames.

Xi Shui felt a little afraid to look.

He pulled back just a tiny bit and whispered, "Kiss me."

Xi Shui’s eyelashes were wet, long and thick, like smooth, glossy raven feathers. Even his white hair ribbon did not look like a ribbon, it looked like feathers, like a little swan’s white feathers.

Seeing how anxious he was, Zhou Zeqi let out a laugh, then wrapped an arm around his waist. In the blink of an eye, Xi Shui was sitting in the chair, while Zhou Zeqi looked down at him. Xi Shui was still dazed, mouth slightly open in surprise.

Zhou Zeqi’s features filled Xi Shui’s vision. Xi Shui immediately obediently closed his eyes.

His tongue, tucked inside his mouth, was hooked and sucked on, numb and aching. Xi Shui’s hands tried to push Zhou Zeqi away, but at the same time he couldn’t control himself from responding to him.

A clock hung high on the wall opposite the mirror in the rehearsal room. Tick, tick. Xi Shui wasn’t nearsighted, but even the numbers seemed to grow blurrier and blurrier.

Zhou Zeqi slowly let him go. Pressing against the corner of his mouth, he bit him once, not too hard and not too light, then licked over the bitten spot again, heavily.

The saliva seemed hot, so hot Xi Shui felt like he was about to melt.

Zhou Zeqi pinched his earlobe with his fingertips. The pale, tender ear immediately flushed red, then slowly faded again.

"Why aren’t you responding to me?" Zhou Zeqi stared at Xi Shui.

That look made Xi Shui feel like a rabbit with nowhere to run, like a bird that couldn’t take flight.

Xi Shui subconsciously licked the glossy saliva that still hadn’t dried on his lips. His eyes were filled with the mist brought out by the kiss, and he stared blankly. "Ah, I still have to respond? How do I respond?"

"Go learn it yourself."

After Zhou Zeqi said that, he noticed Xi Shui’s gaze drifting vaguely toward the back of him.

"Those are your friends," Xi Shui said.

Zhou Zeqi turned around and saw that half of the small balcony was stuffed full of Wu Fengyi and the others. Once they were spotted, they scattered in all directions. Zhou Zeqi gritted his teeth where Xi Shui couldn’t see, and when he turned back around, his expression was calm and lazy again.

"I’m heading back first."

"I was originally going to talk to you for a bit."

"But like this is fine too."

Zhou Zeqi left. Xi Shui watched him leap onto the balcony, the hem of his clothes disappearing into the thick night. The rehearsal room returned to silence, with only the hazy sound of rain outside the window. He suddenly felt a little empty inside.

Xi Shui went to wash an apple. While eating it, he recorded this in his phone memo app:

5.24, kissed for five minutes, calories burned: 5

He thought he’d be able to finish the apple. Usually he could, but today he didn’t have much of an appetite. Maybe this kind of apple just wasn’t very sweet.

Xi Shui clicked his tongue a little and felt that it still wasn’t as sweet as Zhou Zeqi’s saliva.

–

Zhou Zeqi had to go to school early for training, while Xi Shui could finish his morning practice in the home rehearsal room before slowly heading to school for his first class.

It had rained yesterday, and today still hadn’t cleared up. Xi Shui put on a very thin light-blue short windbreaker outside, which made him look even paler, white like milk just poured out, fresh and bright.

He pushed open the door, and a small kraft-paper bag hung from the doorknob.

Xi Shui took a look. Inside were a box of cherry tomatoes, a box of starfruit, and one whole big peach, so large he couldn’t even hold it in one hand.

He froze slightly, guessing who it was.

Hastily, he took out his phone. Sure enough, Zhou Zeqi had sent him a message. He just hadn’t had time to look at it this morning. He was always busy in the morning.

"I bought you some fruit. It’s already washed and cut. You can eat it yourself, or share it with your friends. There’ll be some every day from now on."

Xi Shui’s heart warmed. Zhou Zeqi was so nice.

This relationship was so worth it.

He had to be just as good to Zhou Zeqi too!

Jing University was located right at the center of the university district. The nearby schools were all famous nationwide, Jing University of Electronic Science and Technology, Jingcheng Conservatory of Music, Jinghua University, and even Jingcheng University of Technology, which was known for having its women’s basketball team brutally crush the men’s basketball team 3:0.

These schools all had a lot of events and competitions, and credits could be farmed like weeds that never ran out.

The two months from after May Day to before summer vacation had the most activities. And sure enough, Jingcheng Conservatory of Music next door was already discussing with Jingwu about planning an arts carnival.

Jingcheng Conservatory of Music… because the abbreviation for their school was Jingyin, they called themselves the elite.

Xi Shui bit into the peach Zhou Zeqi had picked for him, bought for him, and washed for him, and ate his way all the way to school. When he left home, it wasn’t raining, but by the time he got near the school, sparse raindrops started falling from above. They were cold and made people shiver.

A black umbrella covered Xi Shui’s head, saving him from the trouble of having to take an umbrella out of his backpack and open it himself. On top of that, he was already carrying food in his hands, which made it even more inconvenient.

Xi Shui looked at the person holding the umbrella for him.

?

Didn’t know them.

"Where are you going?"

Seeing that the other person’s tone was calm and his appearance was that of a student, Xi Shui let down some of his guard.

"Building J." They had art appreciation class, a general education course, first thing in the morning.

The boy smiled. "What a coincidence, I’m going to Building J too. Perfect, I can hold the umbrella for you."

Xi Shui took a bite of peach. "Thanks."

Building J had dance students taking general education classes, and also law students from Jing University taking classes inside. The dance school alone might not have that many students, but if you compared the total number of students in both colleges, Jingwu still had the slight edge. So Building J was Jing University’s largest teaching building by capacity, and the entrance was also the easiest place to get crowded.

If there were a fire or something, the probability of a stampede in Building J was probably the highest too.

The boy had a very faint woody scent on him, like the smell of grass after rain, fresh yet slightly bitter.

The peach was sweet.

Xi Shui kept biting into it, one mouthful after another, and didn’t say a single word to the person holding the umbrella the whole way.

Only when they reached the teaching building did he realize that one of the other person’s shoulders was almost completely soaked.

Xi Shui felt a little apologetic.

"You said before that you’d treat me to a meal. Does that still count?" The boy was slightly taller than Xi Shui, with a tall, elegant build. When he spoke, there was always a smile in his voice.

"What?"

"My name is Yun Chu." The other person folded the umbrella and patted the shoulder wet with rainwater. "You said before that you were looking for a boyfriend. I added you, but then you said it wasn’t necessary anymore, that you’d already found one?"

Xi Shui reacted, and his expression immediately turned both shy and panicked. He nodded repeatedly. "Y-yes, found one."

Yun Chu: "Who is it?"

"Ah?"

Yun Chu smiled a little bashfully. "I’m just a bit curious whether the person who beat me is much stronger than me."

Xi Shui didn’t want to say Zhou Zeqi’s name.

At least before that, he should have Zhou Zeqi’s permission. Even if it was his friend, Lin Xiao Jin, or anyone else, the person he acknowledged couldn’t be taken out and judged like merchandise.

Besides, what if Zhou Zeqi didn’t want other people to know he was dating him?

"Is it Zhou Zeqi?" When Xi Shui still didn’t answer, Yun Chu hesitantly said a name. Seeing Xi Shui’s surprised expression, he knew he had guessed right.

Yun Chu casually opened his umbrella again. "Even if it is Zhou Zeqi, you still have to treat me to a meal. Don’t tell him, I don’t want to get beaten up."

"You’re not going to class?"

"Oh, I don’t have class," Yun Chu turned his head and smiled at Xi Shui with his teeth showing. "I’m here to mooch a meal off you."

Mooch a meal?

He really did look like a beggar.

Yun Chu walked in the rain, his back straight. Even when his shoes stepped into puddles, he didn’t seem to notice.

Xi Shui watched Yun Chu for a while. He felt that there was something indescribably odd about him, not bad, just odd.

–

All his thoughts vanished the moment he saw Lin Xiao Jin.

The second Lin Xiao Jin spotted Xi Shui, he made a mad dash over, cupped Xi Shui’s face in both hands, looked left and right, then stepped back a few paces and said to Zhao Mengzi beside him while stroking his chin, "Xiao Xi seems to have gotten handsomer."

Zhao Mengzi’s real name was Zhao Meng, which wasn’t manly enough, so he had everyone call him Zhao Mengzi. He was helping a girl open her mineral water bottle cap, sweat all over his head. He glanced at Xi Shui when he had a spare moment and said, "He looks even healthier."

Xi Shui handed over the cherry tomatoes and starfruit in his hands. "Want some?"

Lin Xiao Jin poked his head over to look. "When did you buy these?"

There were very few ingredients in Xi Shui’s fridge, and the fruit was always apples. He was afraid he’d lose control and eat random things, so he never kept too much tasty food in the refrigerator.

"Zhou Zeqi bought them for me."

Lin Xiao Jin took two cherry tomatoes and tossed them into his mouth, his expression complicated. "You really are dating someone now."

Xi Shui: "We really are dating."

Seeing Xi Shui’s complexion, which was much better than a few days ago, Lin Xiao Jin suddenly thought of a possibility. Actually, kissing could burn calories, but in essence, the main thing was still controlling Xi Shui’s mouth. Xi Shui’s problem wasn’t something only his family knew about, he knew it too.

He was too harsh on himself, like a spring. If you compressed it too hard, the rebound would definitely hurt him terribly.

That was the main reason Xi Shui couldn’t control his weight. He always used food to relieve stress and make up for himself.

Xi Shui needed some relaxation.

Lin Xiao Jin chewed on a cherry tomato, sour-sweet juice splashing everywhere. He was a little jealous, really. Something he hadn’t managed to do in more than a year, Zhou Zeqi had done in just a few days.

"I’ve got something to tell you."

"Mm?" Xi Shui sat down at his seat and took out the book he needed for class from his bag.

Lin Xiao Jin leaned over his desk, staring at Xi Shui. "Zhou Zeqi has a match these next few days. He’ll be out early and back late, so you definitely won’t be able to see him often."

Xi Shui took out the whole box of cherry tomatoes, picked one and stuffed it into his mouth. While eating, he said, "I can go to his place to see him."

Lin Xiao Jin said, "He’s definitely going to have dinner and hang out with Wu Fengyi and the others, drink a bit or whatever. He won’t have time."

Xi Shui fell into thought.

"Also, our school basketball team cheerleading captain has a crush on Zhou Zeqi."

"A crush? But I’m already together with Zhou Zeqi." Xi Shui frowned.

"Then a lot of people have a crush on you too. What are you going to do?"

"I’m already together with Zhou Zeqi." Xi Shui was very serious. This was really a serious issue. Even if he didn’t know whether he liked or disliked it, once he was together with Zhou Zeqi, then he could only be with Zhou Zeqi.

He would be wholeheartedly devoted to Zhou Zeqi, and Zhou Zeqi had to be wholeheartedly devoted to him too.

"You need to stake your claim, let everyone know you’re together. Otherwise people won’t know and will think you’re single, so they’ll still keep pursuing you," Lin Xiao Jin felt that what Xi Shui said about love at first sight might actually be true, he just hadn’t realized it himself.

Otherwise, how did he end up choosing Zhou Zeqi?

Yun Chu was not much worse than Zhou Zeqi. In fact, he gave off a gentler and more kindhearted impression than Zhou Zeqi, but Xi Shui had almost never even considered Yun Chu.

Xi Shui started thinking. His pretty peach-blossom eyes narrowed slightly. "How am I supposed to stake my claim?"

Lin Xiao Jin rested his cheek in his hand and said, "They’re competing at the city sports arena. After your afternoon class ends, go bring him food."

Xi Shui lowered his eyes and seriously considered Lin Xiao Jin’s suggestion.

He didn’t think about it for even ten seconds.

Then Xi Shui lifted his head. "You’re right, let’s do that."