KMYB | Chapter 64

"Lan Lan opened the door for me. You forgot, I went to high school with her, and I have her contact info." The journey had been long, and Zhou Zeqi had not spoken for a while. His voice was hoarse. "Baby, go get me a glass of water."

"Oh." Xi Shui got out of bed and ran to the water purifier on the second floor. He filled his own cup to the brim and brought it back. Then he watched Zhou Zeqi tip his head back and drain it in one go.

When Zhou Zeqi swallowed the last of the water, Xi Shui swallowed too. "Enough?"

"Enough."

Zhou Zeqi really was thinner than he had been two months ago, the last time they met, so his features looked even sharper now. New York in October was much colder than back home, especially in the middle of the night. Zhou Zeqi had put a khaki trench coat over his hoodie, and yet he still looked like Zhou Zeqi, unchanged.

Xi Shui reached out and touched his face, then nervously pulled his hand back. "Why did you come early?"

Zhou Zeqi set the glass on the nightstand. "I wanted to surprise you. My dad's company has a seven-day holiday, and I asked for a few extra days. I can stay here with you for half a month."

Xi Shui's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Really."

"Th-then, then I'll find you some pajamas. Go take a shower, and then we'll sleep. Tomorrow I'll take you out to eat," Xi Shui said, full of things he wanted to tell Zhou Zeqi. He opened the closet and bent down to rummage through for clothes Zhou Zeqi could wear. "Senior Lan Lan can cook, but we're both dancers, and we have performances often, so what we usually eat is pretty plain. Just some salt, black pepper… you definitely wouldn't like it."

Zhou Zeqi wrapped an arm around Xi Shui's waist from behind and pressed him gently against the closet. With his head lowered, he kissed him, licked and nipped at the back of Xi Shui's neck. His voice traveled from Xi Shui's cervical spine all the way through his body.

"I brought my own. No need for you to look."

Xi Shui turned around in Zhou Zeqi's arms. The bedroom light was off. He lifted his hand and slowly traced Zhou Zeqi's forehead, his brow, the bridge of his nose, his lips. Then he paused and wrapped his arms around Zhou Zeqi's neck. "Do you miss me?"

Zhou Zeqi gave a low hum. "I do, I miss you."

"So you rushed over here as soon as you got off work, and you didn't rest at all?"

"Seeing you, I don't need rest."

Xi Shui cupped Zhou Zeqi's face and kissed him. His kissing skills weren't bad. A smart, eager learner, he picked up everything quickly, but he was still not in the same league as Zhou Zeqi. His kisses were fine and dense, like the spring rain back home, soft and warm.

When Zhou Zeqi kissed back, it was like the scorching heat of July and August, lips and tongues colliding, both of them speaking their longing for each other.

Zhou Zeqi held Xi Shui's waist and bit his shoulder. "You've gotten thinner?"

Xi Shui hadn't had contact with Zhou Zeqi for a long time. His nails were practically digging into Zhou Zeqi's flesh, but it didn't hurt. He couldn't even make out what Zhou Zeqi was asking in his ear. Pinned into the corner of the bed, he had nowhere to retreat, nowhere to hide.

"You, be a little harder." Xi Shui bit Zhou Zeqi's ear. He needed to make sure Zhou Zeqi was truly here, right now.

Just like in China, Zhou Zeqi ended up carrying Xi Shui to the bathroom. Xi Shui was exhausted. He lifted his arm and let Zhou Zeqi wash him, while staring at the bright bathroom light. "How many times? Three times."

Zhou Zeqi worked a mountain of foam into Xi Shui's hair. Xi Shui's eyelashes were long, wet with water, and his eyes looked bright and innocent as he gazed at Zhou Zeqi.

Zhou Zeqi crouched beside the bathtub and leaned in to kiss him. Xi Shui braced his palm against Zhou Zeqi's hot chest. "I need to ask the dance troupe for leave."

"For what?" Zhou Zeqi's eyes had been red the whole time, and the whites were marked with obvious bloodshot veins.

"While you're here for the next half month, I want to stay with you, so I won't go to troupe rehearsals. Anyway, I'm just a student. I'm not the same as them." Xi Shui stretched one calf out of the water and hooked it over the edge of the tub. "I want to stay here, okay?"

Zhou Zeqi looked at the sincerity in Xi Shui's eyes and felt that his life had been doomed, right here.

–

The next morning, Xi Shui asked the troupe leader for a half-month leave right on time. He explained the reason, that his boyfriend had come to visit him, and the other party said they completely understood, wished him a good time, and asked him to send greetings to Zhou Zeqi as well.

After replying to the email, Xi Shui immediately ran back to bed and curled into Zhou Zeqi's arms. Zhou Zeqi still hadn't woken up yet. Xi Shui forced his way into his embrace, until he had pressed Zhou Zeqi all the way against the wall.

"…"

"I like you so much," Xi Shui said softly, holding Zhou Zeqi.

"Do you like me a lot too?"

"There are so many people chasing me here, but I didn't tell you, because I rejected them all," Xi Shui said half asleep, half awake. "Over there, are a lot of people chasing you too? Qiqi, did you turn them all down?"

"And when you're not working, do you still go play basketball and swim? What if you don't have abs anymore?"

"What if your pecs are gone too?"

"Will you turn into a big bear?"

"…"

Zhou Zeqi was basically woken up by Xi Shui nagging at him. After listening for a long time, he grabbed the person and dragged him under him. He stripped Xi Shui clean in one smooth motion and sent himself in without the slightest hesitation. Xi Shui immediately went silent, eyes wide as he looked at Zhou Zeqi.

Zhou Zeqi kissed him. "Did you forget I have morning temper?"

"It's only been this long, and you've already forgotten?"

Xi Shui wanted to explain, but just as he opened his mouth, it was blocked again. "What happened to the things I bought you? Have you tried them yourself?"

Xi Shui shook his head.

"I'll teach you tomorrow, and then you play with them for me, okay?"

Xi Shui's eyes filled with tears. He held it in for a long time, then cursed in a low voice, "Pervert!"

"Mm, I'm a pervert. And then?"

Xi Shui wasn't very good at cursing. On matters like this, he only ever got bullied.

–

On the first day they met, they hardly left the room at all. Aside from drinking water and going to the bathroom, Xi He and Lan Lan didn't disturb them either. A short separation is better than a new marriage, and one day apart feels like three autumns. They had been in the honeymoon phase when they split up, so after not seeing each other for two months, of course they had to cling to one another without end.

Still, not coming downstairs all day was a bit surprising to Xi He and Lan Lan.

By nightfall, Xi He and Lan Lan came back from the dance troupe. Lan Lan changed out of her sneakers and rubbed her hands together. "Fuck, it's so cold. The temperature difference between day and night is way too damn big."

Xi He agreed too, glancing at Lan Lan's thin clothes. "When you go out again, wear more. It probably starts snowing next month."

Lan Lan grinned. "Thanks, bro. I ordered a few pairs of gloves online. I'll give you and Xiao Xi one each then."

After chatting for a bit, Lan Lan was about to make dinner when she suddenly remembered there were still two people upstairs. "Damn, those two still haven't gotten out of bed!" She glanced toward the kitchen. "And they haven't eaten either. Zhou Zeqi's stamina is really something."

Xi He smiled a little. "I'll go upstairs and check."

He was just about to head up when the two of them appeared in the hallway, tugging at each other. Xi Shui's face was flushed pink, his complexion very good, even though he had barely eaten or drunk anything all day.

Seeing Xi He, Xi Shui quickly stood properly. "Third Brother."

Zhou Zeqi followed and called him brother too.

Xi He turned toward the living room and switched on the TV. "Hungry?"

Xi Shui glanced at Zhou Zeqi. He was so hungry his stomach had practically caved in, but before, he hadn't really felt like eating. "Hungry. What are we eating?"

"I'll cook," Zhou Zeqi said.

"I'll help," Xi Shui said, following along too.

Lan Lan had just taken a head of broccoli out of the fridge. She shook it at them. "How about cold broccoli salad?"

Just looking at the broccoli made Xi Shui want to puke. He looked pitifully at Zhou Zeqi, and Zhou Zeqi reached out, took the broccoli from Lan Lan, and shoved it back into the fridge. "I'll cook."

Lan Lan blinked. "You can cook too?"

Xi Shui started peeling garlic again, sitting in the corner with a proud look on his face. "His cooking is amazing, Senior Lan. You're in for a treat these next half month."

"Then what are we making?"

Zhou Zeqi dug out a pile of ingredients from the fridge. "Let's just make something simple. Xi Shui, what do you want to eat?"

Xi Shui said, "I want spicy stir-fried beef and fatty beef rice."

Lan Lan said, "Then I want soft-scrambled fatty beef rice. There happen to be a few pasteurized eggs in the fridge."

Zhou Zeqi took out two trays of fatty beef and rolled up his sleeves. The lines of muscle on his forearms were smooth and handsome, and the way he cooked somehow carried a faint sexiness.

Lan Lan also pulled over a chair and sat beside Xi Shui to help sort the vegetables. Another reason was that she was really curious about these two. "You two stayed upstairs all day. What were you doing?"

Zhou Zeqi acted like he hadn't heard her. Xi Shui answered with red ears, "Nothing much."

"Playing you?" Lan Lan teased, struggling to hold back laughter.

Xi Shui kept his head down and peeled a garlic clove for ages. His face turned as red as a shrimp.

"I'm taking this bowl of beans outside to peel with Xi He," Lan Lan said, carrying two baskets away.

Zhou Zeqi cut the chili peppers into sections, then added oil, garlic, ginger slices, and Sichuan peppercorns to the pan. After that he dumped in the peppers. Once the fragrance was stirred out, he added the beef. The range hood sucked away most of the choking oil fumes.

"The beef wasn't marinated ahead of time, so the flavor might be a bit off."

Xi Shui shook his head. "It's fine. Anyway, it's better than the salad Senior Lan makes every day with oil and vinegar dressing and salad dressing. But I cook too, and Senior Lan likes my cooking."

Zhou Zeqi picked up a slice of beef with his chopsticks, blew on it to cool it, and fed it to Xi Shui.

At that moment, Xi Shui felt like he was about to cry. "So good!"

"I want to eat three bowls of rice."

The training load here was more than double what it had been in China. Back home, there were also other general classes, so they didn't need to stay in the practice room all day.

And the eating habits here had nothing in common with those back home either. Everyone in the rehearsal room ate very little. Whole-grain bread spread with homemade jam, with two slices of fig or avocado, counted as a staple meal. Protein was shrimp blanched in water, or steak and chicken breast seared in a dry pan. As for vegetables, they were still the same old few.

Xi Shui no longer wanted to be so demanding about food. Especially when he had no need to lose weight or shape his body.

"Dinner's ready!"

Xi Shui carried the beef and fried tofu to the table. His happiness was written all over his face. He ran back to bring the rest of the dishes, and Xi He watched him dart back and forth like a kitten gone completely wild with joy, speechless for a moment.

Lan Lan took a few cans of soda from the living room fridge and sighed. "He's really happy."

"I thought Xi Shui was always like how he was before. He still joked and laughed with us, but it always felt like something was missing. Now I finally get it. He was missing a partner."

With Zhou Zeqi here, Xi Shui changed completely.

Lan Lan didn't know how to describe it exactly, but if she had to, she'd say he had become sweeter.

The table was packed with food. There was a big bowl of salad, a simple egg soup, and the rest was basically all meat dishes.

Lan Lan was honestly shocked. "You really can cook."

Zhou Zeqi brought out two bowls of rice. "Obviously?"

"…" Fine. Even if Zhou Zeqi was her favorite junior's boyfriend, she still hated that smug attitude of his. "Do you want ice in the soda? I'll go fetch a bucket."

Lan Lan came back carrying a bucket of ice, and Xi Shui handed her a pair of chopsticks.

The four of them sat down to eat. Xi He wasn't as picky as Xi Shui. He picked up a few slices of celery and spoke to Xi Shui. "Don't fall behind on training, but don't hide upstairs all day either. When you have time, the two of you can go out for a walk."

Xi Shui stuffed rice into his mouth and nodded repeatedly.

He also didn't eat much of the beef. He was afraid his ass would hurt, so he kept feeding himself spoonful after spoonful of fatty beef rice. Seeing him gobbling it down, Zhou Zeqi patted his back. "Eat slower."

"Are you going out to play tonight?" Xi He asked.

Zhou Zeqi had been about to answer, but Xi Shui beat him to it. "We're not going out tonight. Tonight, we're going to keep sleeping."

As soon as he said that, all sound at the table disappeared. It was silent to the extreme. Xi He looked at Xi Shui with a complicated expression, while Zhou Zeqi covered his forehead and lowered his head, almost unable to hold back his laughter.

Xi Shui realized he had said something wrong. He put down his spoon and gestured. "No, no, I mean Zhou Zeqi and I still need to rest."

Xi He chuckled, and it didn't sound like he believed him at all. "I know. Eat your food."