KMYB | Chapter 31

The abandoned warehouse was an island all on its own beneath the blazing daytime sun.

Inside, it was stifling hot, and even the brick walls were warm.

Xi Shui’s clumsy responses were practically meaningless under Zhou Zeqi’s onslaught. Sweat ran from Xi Shui’s chin, down his neck… Zhou Zeqi tilted his head and lightly bit at Xi Shui’s damp neck. Their breaths tangled together, hot and lingering, merging into a searing river of magma.

Xi Shui almost melted into Zhou Zeqi’s arms.

He panted in small breaths against Zhou Zeqi’s chest. It was too hot.

Zhou Zeqi’s scorching palm slid up Xi Shui’s sweat-damp back, absentmindedly rubbing up and down along the line of his spine.

When Xi Shui had rested enough, he licked his lips and said softly, "If I were like you, I wouldn’t have no friends."

His out-of-the-blue remark made Zhou Zeqi’s movements pause for a moment.

The saying that someone is actually wise by seeming foolish probably described Xi Shui.

Onstage, he was as changeable and rich as could be. Offstage, he was just as pure.

Those people… toward him, it was like fangirling, because of Xi Shui’s sense of distance, because of the untouchable way he looked onstage.

Xi Shui’s popularity was different from Zhou Zeqi’s popularity.

"Before I went to university, when I was still at the affiliated dance school," Xi Shui said, his eyes lowered, his cheeks still flushed, "I had a friend. He took the initiative to say he wanted to get to know me, but before even a week had passed, he said he still wanted to keep some distance from me."

Because the contrast Xi Shui gave people between the stage and real life was too big.

Zhou Zeqi let out a snort. "They thought you were a museum specimen that doesn’t eat or drink."

That was probably what he meant.

"Mm, maybe." Xi Shui lifted his eyes and looked at Zhou Zeqi. "You, kiss me a little longer."

He took the initiative to invite it.

"Then I’ll be carrying you, my arms will get sore." Zhou Zeqi lifted him up a little higher.

Xi Shui wrapped his arms around Zhou Zeqi’s neck. "Then don’t waste time, hurry up."

Zhou Zeqi laughed and kissed him down, and since it was Xi Shui who had made the first move, he kissed him fiercely.

–

Zhang Kan bought a box of ice cream bars and handed one out to each person on the court.

Wu Fengyi squatted on the ground, tore open a popsicle, and stuffed it into his mouth. Narrowing his eyes, he looked toward the warehouse and asked, "Should we go take a look? Are they going to start fighting?"

Ding He said, "What kind of fighting are you talking about? We’ve got a lot of kinds of fighting, you know. The kind where it’s one punch from you, one punch from me, or the kind where it goes in and out? Wu-ge, which one do you think it is?"

Wu Fengyi choked.

He got it instantly.

Sure enough, he couldn’t imagine Zhou Zeqi swinging his sanda fists at Xi Shui’s pretty face, so it could only be the latter, the in-and-out kind. That move, not bad.

"Can Lao Zhou still come play ball today?" Zhang Kan asked in confusion.

"Play my ass. What playing ball?"

All the greenery at Jing University had wilted into a droopy mess under the scorching sun. The clusters of locust blossoms were all limp too, and even their fragrance carried a hint of scorching heat.

Lin Xiaojin had already gone back to the dorm, and Xi Shui had been taken home by Zhou Zeqi.

Xi Shui didn’t know whether Zhou Zeqi was still angry.

He seemed to be in a pretty good mood, but he wasn’t smiling.

Xi Shui didn’t understand him.

Standing at the entrance to the apartment, Zhou Zeqi opened the door to his place and glanced sideways. Xi Shui was standing beside him, looking at him pitifully.

"What, you didn’t bring your keys?"

Xi Shui: "…"

Zhou Zeqi blocked the doorway. "Go home."

"Want to come to my place?"

Xi Shui nodded slightly.

"No, Xi Shui," Zhou Zeqi leaned in, "do you think I’m really that easy to coax?"

Xi Shui tugged at the strap of his shoulder bag. "Yes… yes."

?

Zhou Zeqi laughed and, with one sweep of his arm, hauled Xi Shui into his room.

Xi Shui stumbled, and before he could even steady himself, he was tossed onto the sofa. He sat up in alarm, and Zhou Zeqi was already lunging over, pinning him down hard.

Xi Shui was very proactive, so he immediately closed his eyes.

Zhou Zeqi couldn’t help it, and he laughed into the crook of Xi Shui’s neck.

The air-conditioning stayed on all day in the room.

The petals of the gardenias in the cabinet by the floor-to-ceiling window had already begun to yellow and wither, but a faint gardenia fragrance still lingered in the room.

Zhou Zeqi pulled Xi Shui into his arms fiercely, holding him so tightly it hurt a little, as if he were about to be rubbed apart.

"Then I’ll ask you to be my dance partner," Xi Shui said, running his fingers through Zhou Zeqi’s hair. It felt a little stiffer than his own.

Zhou Zeqi’s kisses fell densely on Xi Shui’s cheek. "What if I can’t?"

"Then do you want to learn?"

"You’ll teach me?"

"Do you want to learn or not~"

Seeing Xi Shui start to get anxious, Zhou Zeqi nodded. But after only a few seconds, he frowned. "But isn’t Jing Dance pretty exclusive?"

!

"Who says we’re exclusive?"

"Aren’t you guys at Jing Sports exclusive?"

"Last year people from Jing Sports were posting on the forum that everyone from Jing Dance was just a bunch of skinny bones…"

"Then people from Jing Dance said we were all muscle and no brains."

"You said we all like plastic surgery."

"You said we’re barbarians."

Xi Shui reached out to pinch Zhou Zeqi’s face. "Ah!"

Zhou Zeqi took Xi Shui’s hand and kissed his fingertips. "I know waltz. It’s just that you didn’t think of me first."

"I’m not settling old scores with you. We’ll call it even. From now on," Zhou Zeqi’s gaze shielded him, fixed on Xi Shui as he slowly curved his lips, "if anything like this happens again, I’ll fuck you to death."

Xi Shui’s breathing paused slightly. He thought for a moment before tasting the warning in Zhou Zeqi’s tone.

His eyelashes trembled a few times, and he suddenly thought of a possibility. Zhou Zeqi might have always known that from the very beginning, his intentions were impure.

So when he said the old scores, what old scores was he talking about?

He knew everything.

Xi Shui felt a little sour inside.

But when he saw Zhou Zeqi’s fierce, wicked stare, the sourness in his heart disappeared again.

–

The outdoor temperature wouldn’t really drop until night.

Xi Shui needed to shower. Originally, he planned to go home to get clothes, but Zhou Zeqi said there was no need and pulled a T-shirt out of his own closet and tossed it to him.

There was only a T-shirt, nothing else.

Xi Shui had wanted to ask whether there were pants, but after holding it up to himself, he realized the T-shirt was very big. Whether he wore pants or not seemed… not that important?

He happily went to shower and came out wearing Zhou Zeqi’s T-shirt.

The shirt was pure white, the fabric soft, and the hem barely covered the top of his butt.

Xi Shui’s legs were long and straight, the muscle definition clear and beautiful, the lines smooth, with not a trace of unnecessary flesh. After more than ten years of ballet, even if he said nothing and simply stood there, he made a scene of his own.

Xi Shui wandered around as if it were his own home, drifting from the bathroom to the living room, greeting Zhou Zeqi. Before he got a response, he drifted into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and let out a "Wow~" at the shelves full of things.

Xi Shui bent down and took a nicely packaged bottle of mineral water from the bottom shelf.

With that movement, the hem of the T-shirt slid up, revealing a bit of curve.

Xi Shui turned around and saw Zhou Zeqi standing at the kitchen door, leaning against the frame, his gaze ravenous.

He couldn’t help stepping back.

Zhou Zeqi didn’t hide it either. He strode over in a few steps and reached straight into the hem of the shirt.

He lowered his head and kissed him.

"Move in and live with me." In the dense, burning kisses, Zhou Zeqi said in a low voice.

Xi Shui rose onto his toes and tilted his neck back. "No."

"Why not?"

"Distance… creates beauty."

"…"

"Then I’ll move in with you?"

"…"

At last, there came a day when Xi Shui was left speechless.

But Zhou Zeqi respected Xi Shui’s opinion. Xi Shui’s personality meant that even if they went all the way to the final step, his emotional progress wouldn’t sync up with it.

Like a lush green orchid.

Even if it had abundant branches and leaves, long jade-green blades, vibrant with life, you still had to water it carefully, fertilize it, loosen the soil, and only then would it finally send out a bud, bloom, and release its fragrance.

–

That night Xi Shui ate boiled fish at Zhou Zeqi’s place. The first thing he did after getting home was step on the scale.

He hadn’t weighed himself in ages!

Xi Shui stood on it with trepidation.

50.1kg!

And that was after a meal!

His heart pounding, Xi Shui only finally calmed down after returning to the living room.

He took out the notebook where he’d recorded things about himself and Zhou Zeqi last time.

He propped up his tablet.

On the next page, he wrote: How do you become a qualified boyfriend?

Then he opened Baidu.

1. Be generous

Be tolerant of him, take care of him.

Xi Shui could do that.

2. Be considerate

Care about him, know how to offer warmth and concern, know what the other person likes and dislikes.

That also seemed doable.

3. Have ambition, so the other person can see a hopeful future

Xi Shui thought for a while. Zhou Zeqi majored in sports, and after graduation he’d go straight to work in his own family’s company, while Xi Shui would continue dancing, so Zhou Zeqi would definitely end up richer than him in the future…

How annoying.

4. Know how to appreciate the other person, respect the other person

Xi Shui felt he still appreciated Zhou Zeqi very much. Otherwise, how would he have come to like Zhou Zeqi?

5. Prepare holiday gifts proactively, and say I like you, I love you, openly and boldly

Openly and boldly?

So what counts as not bold?

Xi Shui muttered to himself, "I like you? I love you?"

"That’s not bold?"

"Then what’s bold?"

Xi Shui raised his voice. "I like you! I love you!"

"That’s bold?"

Xi Shui still needed to ask someone.

The answer the internet gave was: honest, direct, passionate…

Roughly speaking, if you like him, you have to express it, and if you don’t, that too.

After he finished this note, he flipped forward. Zhou Zeqi’s birthday was… the sixteenth of next month, July 16.

That matched up with the holiday gifts and surprises from just now.

He definitely shouldn’t give underwear this time.

He should give something else.

His phone buzzed a few times on the sofa behind him. Xi Shui picked it up and glanced at it. It was Lin Xiaojin.

[Lin Xiaojin: How was it? You didn’t fight, right? Hey, it’s fine, I’m telling you, the ones he listed were all bottoms. They’ve already posted their self-criticisms on the forum personal pages, the mods helped them pin them.]

[Lin Xiaojin: But what about your dance partner? Hai Tinghua already found you two pretty good ones, from the ethnic dance department next door. I know them, they’re okay.]

Xi Shui replied with his head down.

[No need. I’m partnering with Zhou Zeqi.]

[Lin Xiaojin: He can do that?]

[He said he can.]

[What if he lied to you? Think carefully, this is a competition. If you lose, it’s our whole class’s face on the line. If we lose face, then Jing Dance loses face too.]

[He won’t lie to me.]

Xi Shui believed Zhou Zeqi wasn’t that kind of person. He liked sports so much, so he would definitely care about winning and losing, and he would understand what it meant to them.

[Lin Xiaojin: Fair enough, anyway he’s handsome.]

[Lin Xiaojin: You two really didn’t fight?]

[We almost did.]

[Lin Xiaojin: What do you mean, almost?]

[I told him I like him, and then he wasn’t angry anymore.]

[Lin Xiaojin: …]

[Lin Xiaojin: Are you serious? I mean, Zhou Zeqi is that easy to coax?]

Xi Shui lay across the table, still wearing Zhou Zeqi’s T-shirt, and sent Lin Xiaojin a voice message. "No, I really like him. Not like before. He seems to know that too."

Lin Xiaojin sent one back. "I don’t understand what you’re saying."

Xi Shui said, "Before, my intentions weren’t pure."

Lin Xiaojin understood.

"Tch, you liked him from the start, okay? Otherwise, with so many people around, why’d you fixate on him?"

Xi Shui’s face instantly went bright red.

He spoke to the phone in a soft voice. "It seems… like it."

Lin Xiaojin: "…"

Lin Xiaojin: "He actually didn’t fuck you to death, so his temper’s not bad."

Xi Shui lifted his head. He’d wanted to keep talking by voice message, but the thought somehow felt embarrassing, so he switched to text.

[Is it really possible to fuck someone to death?]

Lin Xiaojin: "Everybody’s abilities are different. I don’t know about anyone else, but if Zhou Zeqi wanted to kill you, it probably wouldn’t be a big problem."

[Weren’t you saying it would feel great before?]

[…]

"Then it depends on whether his goal is to make you die or to make you feel good," Lin Xiaojin said.

Xi Shui thought about it and felt a little happy. "He definitely wants me to feel good."