KMYB | Chapter 28

Xi Shui was like a little swan that had only just broken out of its shell a few days ago in this sort of thing, its wings not yet fully grown, clumsy, yet filled with curiosity about everything unknown.

Zhou Zeqi pressed him into the corner, forehead against forehead.

"Three minutes?"

Xi Shui blinked his wet eyes. "Huh?"

Seeing that Xi Shui didn’t understand, Zhou Zeqi decided not to say any more. He held his hand up to Xi Shui’s mouth. "Lick it, or wipe it off, your choice?"

Xi Shui carefully glanced at Zhou Zeqi.

His eyelashes trembled like a startled butterfly’s.

He stuck out the tip of his tongue and lightly licked Zhou Zeqi’s fingertip, then immediately frowned. "Wipe it off instead."

Zhou Zeqi: "…"

Xi Shui stretched out an arm to grab some tissues. Just as his fingers touched the outer wrapper of the tissues, before he could even get a proper grip, Zhou Zeqi pinned him down again and kissed him hard.

Outside, after Xi Shui and Zhou Zeqi had left, the others lost all interest in playing games.

Meng Kewen snapped the wooden stick used for the game in two on his knee, then flung it onto the little folding table. "Look, I snapped Old Zhou!"

Wu Fengyi poured mineral water into his mouth. "Pour one out for Xi Shui for a second."

Zhang Kan touched the center of his forehead and both shoulders once each, then said devoutly, "Amen."

They all knew Zhou Zeqi was unusually carefree and self-centered, and that kind of personality showed most clearly when it came to things he cared about. He would love whatever he liked with his whole life.

Even though he had already given up sports, to spite his dad he could transfer from business management to the sports institute. In the eyes of ninety-nine percent of people, someone like Zhou Zeqi seemed to have rebellion carved into his bones, doing things without considering the consequences, completely at his own whim.

Wu Fengyi had played with him for many years and had never seen him like anyone.

Man or woman, gentle or aloof, sexy or seductive, none of it worked. Old Zhou wouldn’t take the bait, and he was annoyed as hell by all of them.

But Xi Shui, what was so special about him? Special enough that Old Zhou rushed at him like a starving wolfdog that had just spotted a bone with meat on it.

He was special, all right, special in his innocence.

Wu Fengyi had never seen such a huge gap between how someone looked and who they were inside.

He clearly looked like a cold little fox, a little swan, but he was ridiculously pure.

"What are you thinking about?" Ding He asked Wu Fengyi, who had been spacing out the whole time.

Wu Fengyi looked at the pitch-black night sky. "I’m wondering why Old Zhou still hasn’t come out."

Meng Kewen let out a few heh-heh-heh laughs.

He and Lin Xiaojin exchanged a look, then the two of them laughed heh-heh-heh together.

"…"

Half an hour later, Zhou Zeqi came out first. He lifted the tent flap, looking lazy and languid, his face full of satisfaction.

As he sat down, Wu Fengyi leaned over. "Old Zhou, want a cigarette?"

"Get lost."

Lin Xiaojin asked, "Where’s Xiaoxi?"

Zhou Zeqi opened a can of beer. "He said he’d come out when the meteor shower arrived."

Lin Xiaojin nodded. A few seconds later, he got up. "I’m going to check on him."

After Lin Xiaojin left, more than a dozen people immediately gathered into little clusters and started chattering.

The first person to get chattered at was Wu Fengyi.

Meng Kewen nudged him. "You and Lin Xiaojin hit it off?"

Wu Fengyi said, "No. He’s kind of fun to watch."

"No way."

Wu Fengyi couldn’t be bothered to hide anything from his own people. He tugged at his collar and exhaled slowly. "Damn it, didn’t you say he liked me? I hinted at him this afternoon, do you know what he said?"

"I… I don’t like silly idiots."

"Brothers, brothers, just tell me whether you’re qing qing or not?"

Ding He said faintly from the side, "Why don’t you quit with the internet slang first?"

Wu Fengyi said, "What slang? I’m really going to cry."

It wasn’t strange that Lin Xiaojin had misread him. Wu Fengyi gave off the impression of being the seductive, wild type.

Meng Kewen couldn’t be bothered to deal with him anymore. He turned to look at Zhou Zeqi. "Xi Shui’s okay, right?"

Zhou Zeqi raised a brow. "What’s with that expression? You think I’d eat him?"

Meng Kewen plucked at the grass on the lawn. "That’s not necessarily impossible. Maybe even worse than eating."

Zhou Zeqi gave a low chuckle and didn’t answer Meng Kewen.

What, was he supposed to share with them how he bullied Xi Shui? No way. They could just stay jealous.

–

Lin Xiaojin walked into the tent.

"Xiaoxi?"

He called out once, but no one answered. A lump of blanket on the ground moved a few times, then Xi Shui crawled out from inside it, looking shocked. "Why did you come in?"

Xi Shui had changed clothes. He hadn’t brought any of his own, but Zhou Zeqi’s mother had left several sets of clean clothes in his car, so Zhou Zeqi had taken out one of his own shirts for Xi Shui to wear.

The shirt was a little big. He hadn’t had time to button it all the way up, leaving a small patch of fair, glossy shoulder exposed.

Lin Xiaojin let the flap fall shut behind him.

He turned and sat down beside Xi Shui, reaching out to pat him and take a look.

"He toyed with you… no, he bullied you?"

His hair was a mess too, there were bite marks on his face, and several hickeys on the side of his neck. They weren’t heavy, just a light pink. Lin Xiaojin felt Zhou Zeqi must have done his homework, otherwise with those teeth and that kind of strength, there was no way the marks would’ve been so pale.

You couldn’t kiss someone’s neck too hard, or it could lead to some unexpected accidents.

But the hickeys on his shoulder were very heavy.

Xi Shui crawled out from under the thin blanket and put his pants on properly. "I’m a little weak."

He was very honest.

Lin Xiaojin studied Xi Shui carefully and found that he even had marks on his calves. That Zhou Yama was way too perverted!

"He didn’t bully me," Xi Shui said, his voice a little rough, a little sweet.

"He helped me too."

Lin Xiaojin’s expression was complicated. "How did he help you?"

Xi Shui shared with Lin Xiaojin the heartwarming story of how he and Zhou Zeqi had helped each other.

"You… helped each other?" Lin Xiaojin hugged his stomach and laughed. "Look at you, practically bursting with pride."

"Take a look at what he did to you. Still showing off?"

Xi Shui said nothing.

After a while, he asked Lin Xiaojin in a small voice, "Xiaojin, was I only three minutes just now? Is there a problem?"

"What three minutes?" Lin Xiaojin repeated it almost reflexively.

As soon as he finished repeating it, he immediately understood, and Xi Shui didn’t need to explain again.

"Baby birds are all like that," Lin Xiaojin said carelessly.

Xi Shui thought of Zhou Zeqi’s expression earlier, as if he had been laughing at him.

"Then I’ll practice more," Xi Shui said. He was a little swan with an extremely strong competitive streak.

Lin Xiaojin was afraid Xi Shui would suffer a disadvantage in this area, so he enthusiastically shared his solid theoretical foundation with him.

Xi Shui listened seriously, occasionally interjecting, "You never take notes in class this thoroughly."

"Shut up."

"Okay~"

Xi Shui said, "You’ve dated before?"

Lin Xiaojin frowned. "I don’t even know if that counts. I asked him to teach me math, and he asked me to date him. But we only dated for three or four days. I think it doesn’t count, but maybe it does."

"Then you can use today to go after Wu Fengyi."

"I don’t want to chase him anymore, I’m over it."

Xi Shui didn’t catch on. "Why?"

"I don’t like his personality. It’s different from what I imagined," Lin Xiaojin said. "Did I ever tell you? When I date, I like being passive, being controlled, the kind where the other person has to crush me underfoot. So I’m not interested in Wu Fengyi’s type."

Xi Shui let out a soft sigh. "That’s such a pity. His face is still pretty good."

The tent fell quiet for a moment.

Xi Shui really liked this kind of atmosphere, squeezed together with friends and talking heart to heart, exchanging secrets. After that, they would be the closest, most inseparable friends.

"I feel like QiQi is exactly the kind of person you just described," Xi Shui said, twisting open a bottle of mineral water and drinking a few mouthfuls. "I can feel it."

Xi Shui was good at noticing small details.

"You like that?" Lin Xiaojin asked.

Xi Shui thought about it. "Yeah."

Because Xi Shui’s world was too pure, aside from dance, there was family and a very small number of friends. He didn’t want to think about too many things, and would rather put all his energy into the ballet he loved.

So if Zhou Zeqi was willing to handle the other trivial matters, Xi Shui felt that was pretty great.

Everything other than ballet was trivial in Xi Shui’s eyes.

Lin Xiaojin couldn’t hold it in anymore. "You like Zhou Zeqi!"

Xi Shui met his gaze without dodging. "A little."

"A little?"

"I’ll have to keep dating and see," Xi Shui said softly. "This is a very serious matter."

"…"

–

The meteorological station said the meteor shower had been delayed until midnight.

So nobody on the mountaintop slept.

Xi Shui lay on a carpet spread over the grass, drowsy. His sleep schedule had always been very regular.

Zhou Zeqi sat cross-legged on the ground, playing cards with Meng Kewen and the others.

Xi Shui slowly scooted over until he was beside Zhou Zeqi, then wrapped his arms around his waist and burrowed into his embrace.

"Wait a second," Zhou Zeqi said, setting down his cards and pulling a blanket over from the side to drape over Xi Shui’s shoulders before he continued playing.

Wu Fengyi was having rotten luck and had lost several rounds in a row. He was so fed up his face had gone dark.

Wu Fengyi said, "Zhang Kan! Old Zhou is the landlord, stop targeting me, will you?"

Zhang Kan said, "Ah, I thought you were the landlord. Sorry, sorry."

"…"

A flash of light swept overhead.

It lit up the entire mountaintop for an instant, glaringly bright, before plunging back into darkness just as quickly.

Meng Kewen tossed down his cards and took out his binoculars. "Here it comes?"

"But it’s only eleven-thirty? It came early?"

Xi Shui was hugging Zhou Zeqi’s waist and mumbling something incoherently.

Zhou Zeqi lowered his head. "What are you saying?"

Xi Shui looked up, still half asleep. "Did it thunder?"

Thunder?

Before Zhou Zeqi could react, it felt like a drop of water landed on his face.

Rolling thunder sounded behind the clouds, approaching from far away, like a force that wanted to smash the mountaintop to pieces.

"It’s raining, it’s raining!" Meng Kewen sprang up and ran for the tent with his blanket in his arms. "The weather forecast lied again!"

Everyone on the mountaintop who had been waiting to see the meteor shower immediately grabbed their gear, food, and drinks, and rushed into the tents to hide. Lights inside the tents all came on one after another.

Zhou Zeqi gathered up the cards and handed them to Wu Fengyi.

Then he wrapped Xi Shui in the blanket and carried him straight toward the tent.

Xi Shui was lifted off the ground in a daze. He sat up and saw big raindrops pounding down, reached out to catch one, and said, "It’s raining?"

Xi Shui returned to the tent.

He lay down on the thick bedding. Outside, lightning flashed and thunder roared, the rain suddenly growing louder. Xi Shui thought this felt amazing, raining and thundering outside while he slept in a tent.

Xi Shui rolled once on the quilt, then turned his head and saw Zhou Zeqi had taken off his shirt.

"Why did you take your clothes off?"

Zhou Zeqi glanced back at Xi Shui. "You don’t sleep with your clothes off?"

Xi Shui replied, "I don’t."

"Not taking them off… is fine too," Zhou Zeqi said, then simply lay down beside Xi Shui.

Xi Shui immediately went stiff.

He didn’t move at all.

Zhou Zeqi’s breathing wasn’t drowned out by the rain and thunder, and his body heat kept washing over Xi Shui from beside him.

Xi Shui stared unblinking at the hanging light on the top of the tent, at the glowing filament inside the bulb. After staring too long, the filament blurred, and his eyes started to feel uncomfortable, so he reflexively turned his head away.

He met Zhou Zeqi’s dark gaze.

"What are you looking at?" Xi Shui swallowed, realizing his throat was dry beyond belief.

Zhou Zeqi leaned in slowly. "Take a guess?"

Did he really need to guess?

"You’re looking at me."

"Then why ask?"

Their breaths collided, almost setting the air on fire.

Xi Shui hurriedly pushed at Zhou Zeqi, stammering, "I, I’m going to sleep."

"Oh? Then what?"

"You can’t kiss me now?"

Zhou Zeqi laughed softly. "Did I say I was going to kiss you?"

"N-no, but I could feel it."

"How did you feel it?"

"Don’t worry about it." Xi Shui pulled the blanket over himself and closed his eyes. "Good night."

The light was still on, Zhou Zeqi was still watching, and the rain outside was still falling.

Xi Shui closed his eyes for a while. Hearing no other movement, he figured Zhou Zeqi must have fallen asleep too, so he carefully opened his eyes.

!

He happened to meet Zhou Zeqi’s protective gaze.

He hadn’t slept!

He had been waiting for him the whole time!

Zhou Zeqi hauled him into his arms and, before Xi Shui could babble anything pointless, sealed his lips.

The shirt was undone again, and the places that had been kissed were kissed again without the slightest mercy.

Rain and thunder mixed together. The temperature on the mountaintop was already on the cool side, and once the rain fell, the air turned even more damp and chilly.

Yet Xi Shui felt like he was burning up, like he was about to melt.

He had no strength left at all.

The kiss began in the rain and ended in the rain.

Xi Shui didn’t try to hide anymore, because there was nowhere to hide. He gave up and lay in Zhou Zeqi’s arms, breathing in small, shallow gasps, silent.

After a long while, Xi Shui finally lifted his head. "From now on, try to kiss me like this less often."

His eyes were bright, both unhappy and shy.

The meteor shower they hadn’t been able to see tonight, Zhou Zeqi seemed to have found it now in Xi Shui’s eyes.

"Why?" Zhou Zeqi lowered his head and lightly bit at Xi Shui’s neck.

"I can’t take it," Xi Shui answered softly.

Can’t take it?

Zhou Zeqi buried his face in Xi Shui’s shoulder and laughed.

"Then I won’t kiss you, I can’t take it," Zhou Zeqi said, lifting his head and tangling his gaze with Xi Shui’s. "Figure out a way to balance it."

How was he supposed to balance it?

Xi Shui was troubled too. "I don’t have a way."

"Why can’t you take it?" Zhou Zeqi murmured against Xi Shui’s ear. "I think you quite like it."

It was different.

Xi Shui pushed Zhou Zeqi away. Although he was still in Zhou Zeqi’s arms, the distance opened up a little. He said, "I’m saying I can’t take it, but I didn’t say I don’t like it."

"…"

"Then if you like it, why are you telling me not to treat you like this?"

"Because I can’t take it!"

"You can’t take it, so why do you still like it?"

Xi Shui was getting dizzy from the logic loop.

He silently thought it over for a while.

He really was thinking carefully.

"Figured it out?" Zhou Zeqi saw Xi Shui lift his head, looking like he was about to speak.

"No," Xi Shui said softly. "But I think, since I like it, I must be able to take it. But why would I say that?"

"I’m acting spoiled."

Xi Shui was answering his own question with great enthusiasm.

Having figured out one thing, Xi Shui looked very happy. He took the initiative and hugged Zhou Zeqi tightly. "I get it! QiQi, from now on, kiss me as much as you want. I’m saying one thing and meaning another."

Besides, kissing this hard would definitely burn a lot of calories, and he liked it too, so it was killing two birds with one stone!

Zhou Zeqi nodded. "Mm."

Then Xi Shui’s gaze suddenly turned shy and timid. He asked carefully, "Then… do you want to keep kissing me?"