KC | Chapter 62

Chapter 71 Burning

Dusk fell, and lights twinkled one by one outside the window. Lin Yiran switched on the chandelier, and his sharp features gained a touch of softness under the light.

Lin Yiran added some chive-and-egg filling and hurriedly shoveled rice into his mouth, wanting to finish eating quickly and go back to the study to deal with serious business. Tomorrow afternoon he had to meet Uncle Zhang with Shen Yuesheng, and in the evening he had to write the monthly report. The work he owed the client these past two days all had to be done later. He set an 20:00 alarm and decided to squander the next 16 hours.

Seeing that Lin Yiran’s bowl was full of chives, Chen Xi teased, “Middle age is really awful. You can’t eat ribs, you have to leave room for chives. If you don’t supplement, you’re useless, huh?”

…I eat a couple bites of side dishes with my rice, and this little brat actually dares to question me?

Lin Yiran put down his bowl and said truthfully, “It really is. After holding back for two months, if I keep holding back, I’ll definitely be useless.”

You keep teasing me over and over. Before, when we were outside, I had to keep up appearances, but now that we’re home, how can I still let you get away with it?

The old scoundrel decided to deal with the person first, then go do his work.

The practical Lin Yiran stood up and walked to Chen Xi. Chen Xi’s brow bone was just level with the hem of his T-shirt.

One was sitting, one was standing. Lin Yiran wrapped his palm around the back of Chen Xi’s head and pressed his face toward him.

The sweatpants rubbed against Chen Xi’s soft face, and the hand at the back of his head shook his head from side to side. In his mind, tens of thousands of ground squirrels were screaming, ahhhhhhh!

The essence of being a scoundrel was this, there was only what you couldn’t think of, never what he couldn’t do.

Chen Xi’s brow bone pressed against the upper edge, his chin couldn’t reach the lower edge, it was so long, so fucking insane!

He had thought the last time was because of the lighter, but he hadn’t expected… not even the pen holder could fit it. This absolutely broke the physiological limit, help, run!

The humble little Chen struggled twice but couldn’t break free, couldn’t pull his head out, and decisively bowed to hard power. “Lin, Brother Lin, I’m full, I can…” go home?

But I drank his vanilla, I wore his underwear, and I came home with him. If I say no now, it’s just like a client signing a contract and then not paying, clearly playing me.

This had finally made some progress. If I broke my word now, how would we even get along after this?

“Th-there’s that, Brother Lin, does your house have alcohol?” Long pain was not as good as short pain. Sooner or later it had to happen. Alcohol made cowards brave, so he would gamble his life and accompany the beast.

“What, you want to drink yourself stupid and play dead?” Lin Yiran raised a brow. “If you want me to do the work, fine, settle the last payment first.”

Chen Xi: …He wanted to brush me off and muddle through it, but he was still asking me for money, that’s just heart-cutting cruelty!

“How can you…” be such a dog.

“Not getting the mood?” Chen Xi had gone through his brain before speaking, and the tone of his voice shifted just in time as he braked.

Lin Yiran chuckled lightly. “The drinking culture I know mostly means getting drunk, playing finger-guessing games, and bragging. As for the business of drunken debauchery, I really don’t understand it that well. How about you teach me the process first?”

Chen Xi: …There still needs to be a process for this? Can you stop being so businesslike?

“Let’s simulate it first, see whether I’m doing it right.” The old scoundrel pretended to be diligently eager to learn, but in fact his eyes were full of mockery. “When I get drunk later, what should I touch first?”

Chen Xi’s face turned so red it looked like it might drip blood.

–

Lin Yiran stood behind Chen Xi and bent down to pull him fully into his arms. Chen Xi leaned against the cold chair, while in front of him it felt like fire was burning.

“You said I should expand into a new business, but you won’t teach me. If I’m not familiar with the process, it’s only natural that my hands would be clumsy and I might find the wrong place, mistaking a plateau for a basin.”

Chen Xi: !!!

Lin Yiran breathed hot air against Chen Xi’s neck, and Chen Xi’s heart rate suddenly shot to 220. His breathing became rapid, and he said indistinctly, “L-Lin, Brother Lin, we just finished eating, we can’t do too intense of exercise. Can we ease up for a bit?”

The old scoundrel was afraid of scaring him, so he eased his movements a little. “I’m a beginner, and you won’t teach me, so I can only go by feeling.”

Chen Xi was made uncomfortable, unable to push away the head on his shoulder, or perhaps he didn’t bear to push hard, and he was bullied until his eyes turned red.

He couldn’t make sense with a beast, and to stop the loss in time and avoid bloodshed, Chen Xi blushed and took the initiative to confess, “Brother Lin, there’s something in the bag.”

“What thing? Canned food, or chips?” Lin Yiran asked knowingly.

If you still don’t get it after hearing this far, are you stupid again?

Seeing the corner of Lin Yiran’s lips lift, Chen Xi understood, oh, he understood, and was pretending not to.

Stinky scoundrel!

“Go look and you’ll know.” Chen Xi leaned close to the side of Lin Yiran’s face. His stubble was a little prickly.

“I’m still in class here, learning. I can’t quit halfway.”

“If I tell you to go, then go. How can you teach a lesson without teaching materials?” Chen Xi pretended to be annoyed, and finally managed to be tough for once.

“Haha, alright.” Lin Yiran withdrew his hand and stood up, taking out the bottle and box from the bag.

“Oh, you already bought everything. You want to do it that much?”

“I originally wanted to take it slow and do Plato, but I didn’t expect you to be this proactive.”

“My age isn’t really up for it, luckily I just ate some chives, otherwise I wouldn’t even be able to satisfy your needs.”

A negotiating expert’s usual tricks, repeat the other person’s words, block the other person’s mouth, turn right into wrong and confuse black and white.

Chen Xi was blocked by these fatal three questions until he was speechless, mouth open for a long time without being able to say anything.

Lin Yiran continued to add insult to injury. “Why are you opening your mouth so wide, catching dust?”

“Sigh, why do you always have this expression, naturally not fond of smiling?”

“Why is everything on this thing in English, I can’t understand how to use it. Should I pour the whole bottle in first, or pour while doing it?”

How would I know how many doses a bottle is, but the words “pour in” are definitely not appropriate, they should be changed to “apply.”

Clearly it was you who wanted this, how did a few sentences later it become that I was the one dissatisfied and unsatisfied?

The little coward was puffed up with anger, unable to win the argument and still unconvinced, his face red and boiling like a kettle, whining whenever he got bullied.

“If you don’t know, then look it up. Stop asking about everything, isn’t that annoying? You just keep shooting words at me all day. Last time you made me inflamed and I felt awful for several days. I didn’t even ask you for medical fees, but you actually turned around and tried to extort money from me. Do you have any shame?”

Chen Xi was so angry his face and neck turned red. He pointed at Lin Yiran with claws bared and teeth showing, threatening, “If you want to do it, then learn properly. If you make me hurt even a little, there definitely won’t be a next time!”

–

Lin Yiran was stunned by this completely illogical, emotional outburst of scolding. It took him two seconds before he slowly spoke. “Earlier, Wang Shuang said that you and she didn’t get along, and when she came to KA, you happened to be on your annual leave, just to put her in her place. I believed what she said at the time, and I didn’t think about you being sick. Why didn’t you tell me you felt unwell…” If you had told me, maybe I would’ve let you go.

“If I told you, would you have listened? At the fish restaurant before, I had barely started when you ran off. You think if you poke someone with a little stick and injure them, taking some anti-inflammatory medicine is enough to make it better?” The more Chen Xi thought about it, the angrier he became. This was the first time he had ever lost his temper at Lin Yiran.

Lin Yiran stuffed the things into his pants pocket, went around to the front of Chen Xi, crouched down, and coaxed him softly, “It’s my fault, I’ll learn. I won’t let you hurt anymore in the future. Don’t be angry, if you get your body worked up, how are you going to talk to key clients?”

With a pop, the mention of key clients instantly shattered Chen Xi’s defenses.

They could even argue their way into work, talking from the bed directly to clients. The leap in thinking was so huge, you really were something.

Chen Xi was originally just angry because he couldn’t stand being bullied by the old scoundrel all the time, and then got embarrassed out of anger. He didn’t really want to be mad at Lin Yiran, and now that the other side had taken the initiative to lower his head and admit fault, the steps were already given properly. There was no need to keep acting hard.

KA’s expert read expressions. Seeing that Chen Xi didn’t seem angry, he pushed his luck and put his head on his knee. Chen Xi hurriedly covered his waistband, and Lin Yiran pretended to be puzzled. “What just hit my face? It suddenly poked me, kind of hurt.”

Chen Xi: …

“Oh, so you’re still angry, that was you asking me to open my mouth just now!” Lin Yiran patted little Chen and said to it, “You can pat me a few more times, keep patting until you’re not angry anymore. I won’t hit back, really.”

Chen Xi’s silence at this moment was deafening.

“Why aren’t you saying anything again?”

“Alright, alright, I won’t tease you anymore.” Lin Yiran rubbed his head.

Chen Xi didn’t want to keep arguing logic and sorting out the timeline with the scoundrel anymore, his face full of utter despair.

Lin Yiran slipped one big arm under Chen Xi’s legs, and with the other arm around his underarms, lifted him from the chair and said as he walked, “My brain is stupid, I’m slow at learning things. Let’s change places, you can teach me properly.”

Chen Xi was suddenly lifted into midair and instinctively wrapped his arms around Lin Yiran’s neck. Although he was thin, he was still a big young man with a height of 1.8 meters. Lin Yiran’s steps were a little laborious.

The waistband wouldn’t hold him, and the old scoundrel pretended he couldn’t hold him. Every step he took, his arm brushed against the pants once, and the two legs dangled over the floor and the bedside.

Chen Xi was tossed onto the bed. The mattress was very soft, and he didn’t hit his back. The loose T-shirt covered his butt, and two long legs hung halfway off the edge of the bed, thigh muscles firm and calves straight and long, glaringly swaying in front of Lin Yiran’s eyes.

The light from the living room shone into the bedroom, and the pale legs looked crystal-clear.

Chen Xi pressed his knees together and shrank back. Lin Yiran caught his ankles and pressed in toward him. His long eyelashes brushed the tip of his nose, and Lin Yiran looked at the dodging eyes like a leopard hunting prey. “The one who wanted to do it was you, the one who bought lubricant was you, and the one who ran was also you. Why are you more troublesome than a client?”

–

Chen Xi’s face looked like burning clouds dyed by the sunset, and along with his neck and body, everything turned red, every pore becoming hot. His thin arms rested weakly on Lin Yiran’s shoulders, nose touching nose, lips meeting lips.

A dragonfly skimming the water, touching once and leaving.

The lips seemed like two soft feathers, drifting up, then drifting away.

Nose touching nose, lips against lips, Lin Yiran licked his own, then touched Chen Xi’s again.

They were so close they couldn’t see each other’s expressions clearly, only feel each other’s breathing, hot and scorching every second.

Fireworks of all colors blossomed over Chen Xi’s head, a train whistle blew through his mind, his heart made a deafening roar, and landslides and tidal waves passed through his stomach.

All the beautiful dreams in the world, when summed up, were probably just having a secret crush come true.

The kiss couldn’t continue because tears slipped down.

Scalding tears, telling of years of suppressed longing and not getting what he wanted.

A patient with schizophrenia had a fragile nervous system that couldn’t withstand stimulation. Chen Xi didn’t want to cry at this moment, but he couldn’t control himself.

Once he cried like this, it left Lin Yiran at a loss. He never quite grasped Chen Xi’s “degree,” and often couldn’t guess what the other wanted.

A forced melon wasn’t sweet, and now that the person was crying, how could they continue.

Lin Yiran thought Chen Xi was resisting, and was somewhat unhappy, though mostly helpless. He let out a soft sigh and released Chen Xi. “How are you like water.”

Chen Xi thought he was about to leave, and immediately wrapped his arms around his waist from behind.

“If I do you, you say I’m a beast; if I don’t do you, you won’t let me leave; if I say something well-meant that offends the ear, you yell at me; and if I go along with you and coax you, you still cry.”

Lin Yiran said helplessly, “Little ancestor, what exactly do you want?”

Chen Xi’s arms had always been wrapped around Lin Yiran’s waist. His body was very hot, and his head was hot too, so hot that he couldn’t think properly. He was afraid that he would blurt out the wrong thing, make Lin Yiran unhappy, and then, once again and again, run off.

His breathing became rapid, fine beads of sweat seeped out from his forehead. Chen Xi, not knowing any better, blinked his big eyes, red from being bullied, and leaned close, his long thick eyelashes brushing Lin Yiran’s neck. Lin Yiran held his hand, and from past experience came to a conclusion, Chen Xi’s emotions were unstable, and if he teased him now, he might change his mind halfway through. If they stopped in the middle, he would not feel good; if he ignored Chen Xi’s wishes and continued, there probably wouldn’t be a next time.

So he had to think of a complete solution with no future trouble.

Lin Yiran took a step back to advance, and sighed. “These past years I’ve been scared by clients’ needs. They say A, but what they actually want is B, throw in a smoke bomb C, and the real need is D. Right, I’m talking about those bastard clients like Pinsheng.”

“Your brother here really has limited brain capacity. Sometimes… no, most of the time, I really can’t figure out what you’re thinking.”

“So you might as well be straightforward and clearly state your needs, don’t always make me guess.”

A little head poked out from Lin Yiran’s shoulder, then quickly shrank back. Chen Xi opened his mouth as if to speak, seeming embarrassed, hesitating and wavering.

Time passed minute by minute. After hesitating for a long while, Chen Xi finally spoke, clearly expressing his need, and clearly telling Lin Yiran, “Brother Lin, I want to do it.”

–

Lin Yiran stroked his waist, able to feel his distinct ribs. “If you were in the famine years, you’d definitely be the first to starve to death.”

“You’re so skinny like this, and you’re still panting when I hold you. Is all that muscle just glued on? You trained for nothing.” Chen Xi, with his restless little claws, poked at the hard abs and lied through his teeth with his eyes open.

Chen Xi’s eyelashes were very long, brushing against the side of his shoulder and tickling. His body was very thin, his chest very hot, and every breath he took carried out the smell of alcohol. His young face was very white and small, and he looked very obedient overall, but his hands were extremely disobedient.

Lin Yiran let him touch openly, not saying anything and not making the next move. Those restless little claws scratched at Lin Yiran’s chest, scratching until the fire in his heart suddenly shot up eight meters. Lin Yiran held his hand down and said with restraint, “I’m performing, not selling my body. Why are you even using your hands?”

Chen Xi clung to his shoulder like an octopus, and once he latched on, he couldn’t be taken off.

Lin Yiran turned his head, and his lips brushed over the soft, rosy cheek. He bit Chen Xi’s face. It was soft and glutinous, like a tangyuan. “This time, even if you cry, I won’t stop.”

Σ(⊙▽⊙”a

“Ah!” A tooth mark appeared on the tangyuan, and it hurt from the bite.

What followed were dense kisses, spreading from his neck to his chest. Lin Yiran lifted Chen Xi’s calf and kissed his ankle.

Chen Xi couldn’t help the corners of his lips from lifting. More than unease, there was anticipation. His fingers clutched tightly at the blanket, knuckles turning white from the excessive force, but his skin was flushed with a normal red. The heat from the high temperature roasted him, hot breaths hit his chest, and every inch of skin was burning.

Maybe his brain had been burned into a haze, and his vision became blurry and indistinct.

He hadn’t cried, but he had stopped.

Lin Yiran touched Chen Xi’s forehead and frowned. “You have a fever.”

Author’s note:

Reported, changed to 500 words.