KMYB | Chapter 40

"Kind of looks familiar."

"Yeah, familiar."

The crowd standing outside the swimming pool was trying to figure out why Old Zhou’s boyfriend looked so damn familiar.

Wu Fengyi crouched on the edge of a flower bed. "How could he not look familiar? He’s the star of Jing Dance, the top name on our school forum, even more popular than Old Zhou."

Zhou Zeqi had just said Xishui’s name, but they weren’t from Jing University. They didn’t instantly connect Jing Dance’s star performer with the person in front of them. With Wu Fengyi’s reminder, it all clicked at once.

"Damn!"

"Aren’t Beijing Sports and Jing Dance completely unrelated? Weren’t the forums always full of them roasting each other? How did those two even meet?"

Wu Fengyi exchanged a look with Zhang Kan. Zhang Kan said, "Xishui was the one who confessed to Old Zhou. But Old Zhou only thought about it for… two minutes? One minute? Was there even a full minute? Anyway, he agreed pretty quickly."

Liu Wensi, the captain from the sports university, said in disbelief, "Old Zhou is that easy to chase?"

Wu Fengyi curled his lip. "You should ask who was chasing him. He was practically giving himself away."

That was true. Dancers really did have a different air about them. That presence, that build, the way they moved, there was nothing to complain about.

Zhou Zeqi came out holding Xishui’s hand. "Let’s go."

The barbecue place they talked about was newly opened. The owner really was from the north, but his wife was from the south.

The owner was a chubby young guy with a huge tattoo on his neck. The shop had air conditioning, but some students liked eating outside in the open air, going in and out all the time. Even with the AC on, it was no use. He was sweating all over, and so were several of the servers.

Liu Wensi said, "His wife’s health isn’t good. She can’t overwork herself, so she can only do the cashier stuff."

Xishui happened to hear the beautiful woman behind the cashier counter cough weakly twice, then heard her pick up the mic on her phone and say, "Idiot, cough, cough, team up!"

Wu Fengyi thought that in the future, Old Zhou might end up like this barbecue shop owner too, busy until smoke seemed to rise off his head, while Xishui sat beside him like a little immortal, all ethereal and out of reach.

The owner saw a whole crowd of tall, broad boys, and also recognized a few familiar faces. "Back again? Sit outside, there’s more room. I’ll add a few stools. How many cases of beer do you want?"

Liu Wensi roughly counted the number of people. More than twenty. "Ten cases first."

Anyway, it was Saturday tomorrow. No classes.

They lost so badly, how could they not drown their sorrows with some alcohol?

Old Zhou took first place, so of course they had to celebrate.

Xishui sat down next to Zhou Zeqi. He didn’t talk much around strangers, and seriously studied the menu in his hands.

"Tell me what you want to eat," Zhou Zeqi said, pouring him a cup of wheat tea.

Xishui pushed the cup away. "I want ice."

"…"

Zhou Zeqi kicked Liu Wensi’s stool. "Go get a bucket of ice."

"Got it!" Liu Wensi jumped up, ran into the shop, and came back with a big bucket of ice from the owner.

Xishui pointed at a dish on the menu with his finger. "I want this potato dish, and braised duck feet."

Zhou Zeqi used the pencil the owner had given him to tick both items, then tossed the menu to Liu Wensi. "You guys order."

While they waited for the food, the atmosphere somehow became awkward. No one spoke loudly. Only the people sitting close together would lean in and whisper a few words.

Or keep their heads down and play on their phones.

Xishui dumped the ice from his cup into his mouth and crunched down with a sharp crack. His gaze slowly swept over everyone’s faces, one by one.

Everyone he looked at straightened their backs without realizing it.

Because if Xishui didn’t speak, he gave off an even less approachable feeling than Zhou Zeqi.

It was Liu Wensi who finally broke the silence. He stretched his neck toward Xishui and said, "My surname is Liu, just call me Xiao Liu. I’m the captain of the swimming team at the sports university next door. These guys are my teammates."

"The one across from me is the captain of the swimming team at Jing Sports Institute. The ones beside him are from their school. The rest are all from Jing University."

Xishui nodded. "My name is Xishui, you can call me Xiao…"

Zhou Zeqi suddenly coughed. "Just call him Xishui." Not Xiao Xi. That sounded too much like little stream.

Wu Fengyi tilted his head, bit open a beer cap, and laughed.

Luckily, at that moment, the owner came over with a server, carrying two huge iron platters of grilled fish and setting them down in the middle of the two pushed-together square tables. "The fish is already cooked, you can eat it now. Start with this, the rest of the dishes will be here soon."

Xishui looked around.

This was the night market street outside Jing University’s south gate. It was all food stalls. Across from the stalls was a snack street, and at night students strolled back and forth from the school hand in hand, lively and bustling.

Looking back on his life before, it seemed like everything had revolved around the dance studio, ballet, and studying.

While he was achieving his ideals, he had also, in fact, lost some things.

Xishui spacing out finally made the whole table relax.

Beer bottles were opened one after another. Zhou Zeqi said he wouldn’t drink, and he really didn’t take a single sip.

He only focused on picking food for Xishui.

Whenever Xishui said something was delicious, he stood up with a plate in hand and dumped more into Xishui’s bowl.

"Old Zhou, you really not drinking? You’re so不给面子."

Zhou Zeqi remained unmoved. "I still have something to do tonight."

"It’s already this late. What kind of thing has to be done at night?" Liu Wen took a sip of beer and raised a thought-provoking question.

Zhou Zeqi lowered his eyes, tossed a peanut into his mouth, and said nothing. He had no intention of answering such a stupid question.

Xishui, who had already drunk two cups of beer, poked his fluffy little head out from Zhou Zeqi’s arms and looked at Liu Wensi. "It doesn’t seem very appropriate to do it during the day."

"…"

This was the first time tonight that Xishui had spoken to them on his own.

And the first thing he said was basically dropping a bomb.

Zhou Zeqi picked up the disposable cup in front of him, drained the ice water in one gulp, then pulled Xishui up to his feet. "We’re leaving first. Wings, you pay the bill. I’ll have you reimburse me tomorrow."

Wu Fengyi answered, "Okay."

Xishui was yanked up in confusion. "Duck feet, duck feet."

Zhou Zeqi lifted one duck foot from the plate and stuffed it into his hand.

"…"

Watching Zhou Zeqi leave with Xishui so casually and neatly, Liu Wensi was stunned. "Did I say something wrong?"

Wu Fengyi shook his head. "No, you just reminded Old Zhou of something."

"…"

–

Xishui walked slowly beside Zhou Zeqi. The night breeze carried a slight warmth, making Xishui’s already alcohol-dazed head even more unsteady.

But he could still walk properly, more or less.

"Wouldn’t it be rude to just leave like this?" Xishui asked as he gnawed on the duck foot.

"We don’t care about that," Zhou Zeqi said, touching Xishui’s face with the back of his hand. It was burning hot. "You really can’t hold your liquor."

Only the word "can’t" rang especially loud in Xishui’s ears.

He couldn’t accept anyone saying he was bad at something.

"I’ll work hard and get better," Xishui said.

"…"

"Get better, then what?" Zhou Zeqi asked.

Xishui didn’t know.

He only knew he couldn’t be a useless person.

"Qiqi, I want ice cream."

Xishui stopped in the middle of the road and refused to move. His eyes were fixed on the cone on a little snack cart over by the street.

Zhou Zeqi took the duck foot from his hand, then pulled a tissue from his pocket and wiped his own hand clean. "Stand there and don’t move."

Xishui hadn’t planned on moving anyway.

He kept waiting until Zhou Zeqi stuffed a sea salt-flavored ice cream cone into his hand, then lowered his head and took a big bite. "Let’s go."

–

After half an hour of dawdling, the two finally got home.

Standing at the door, Xishui turned halfway around so his back was to Zhou Zeqi. "My keys are in my backpack."

He meant for Zhou Zeqi to help him open the door.

Instead, Zhou Zeqi lifted him straight up around the waist and carried him into his own apartment. Xishui had been drinking, so walking slowly hadn’t made him feel especially dizzy. But being carried all the way like that made him feel like he was about to throw up.

"Whoa."

Zhou Zeqi hurriedly set him down on the sofa and put a trash can by his feet. "Gonna puke?"

After asking that, he looked up and found Xishui very seriously gnawing on the crispy cone at the very bottom of the ice cream.

Crunch, crunch.

When he wasn’t speaking, Xishui narrowed his eyes and smiled. His curved peach-blossom eyes made him look like a little fox.

Zhou Zeqi crouched in front of Xishui, took a deep breath, and only after he had slowly finished biting through the cone did he pounce on him and kiss him. Xishui’s mouth was full of alcohol, but it didn’t smell bad.

His already foggy head became even dizzier after all the oxygen was stolen away. Just as Zhou Zeqi was about to let go, he grabbed Zhou Zeqi’s sleeve. "More kissing."

He was already being kissed until he felt awful, but he still couldn’t resist what he wanted deep inside.

Zhou Zeqi kissed him again and again, and said in a low voice, "Want me to help you shower?"

"No." Xishui refused without hesitation.

He patted away the cone crumbs on his hand, braced himself against Zhou Zeqi’s shoulder, and stood up. "I can do it myself."

If Xishui said he could do it himself, then he could.

He was just a little slow.

Afraid he might fall, Zhou Zeqi stood guard outside the bathroom door for half an hour.

Then Xishui suddenly yanked the door open from inside, and a flood of steam poured out so thick that even the person coming out couldn’t be seen clearly.

Xishui covered his forehead. "I threw up in there, but I threw up in the trash can." He hadn’t dirtied the floor.

"I’m going to sleep first."

?

He walked straight into the bedroom, flopped onto the bed, wrapped himself in the blanket and rolled once. The cool air from the AC felt great. He had forgotten everything he said before, leaving Zhou Zeqi awkwardly standing there at the bathroom door.

Not only had he forgotten what he said earlier, he had also forgotten the mistake he made.

Zhou Zeqi stared in the direction of the bedroom for a long time, then turned and went into the bathroom.

–

Xishui’s biological clock woke him up at six in the morning, but when he remembered that today was Saturday, and that he hadn’t rested in a long time, he figured he’d skip morning practice just this once. He would make up for it tonight. So he fell back into a deep sleep.

When he woke again, the sun was hanging high in the sky. The blackout curtains, which blocked light extremely well, had almost shut out all of it, leaving only a few strands slipping through the gaps that weren’t fully closed, falling onto the floor.

Xishui stared at that beam of sunlight for a long time, then suddenly sat bolt upright.

This wasn’t the floor at his house.

Then he looked at the bed.

That wasn’t his bed either!

He had drunk last night, so he was at Zhou Zeqi’s place now.

Where was Zhou Zeqi?

Xishui looked to the side. There was no sign that anyone had slept there.

So last night, did he and Zhou Zeqi do nothing? Did he fail to do what he promised Zhou Zeqi?

Xishui’s heart was pounding wildly. He quietly climbed out of bed, barefoot, and felt his way into the living room. After circling once, he finally discovered that Zhou Zeqi was sleeping on the sofa.

"Zhou Zeqi…"

"Zhou Zeqi…"

Xishui crouched beside the sofa and called him softly.

Zhou Zeqi had long since woken up. He opened his eyes, looked at Xishui expressionlessly for a while, then turned over and faced away from him.

!

Xishui stood up, bent over, and leaned on top of Zhou Zeqi. "I fell asleep last night. I’m apologizing to you."

Zhou Zeqi was rubbed so badly he was almost getting hot, and simply sat up.

Xishui was startled. He stared blankly at Zhou Zeqi. His hair was a little messy, and his hair and eyes were equally black. Sitting on the floor, Xishui said in a small voice, "You’re really handsome."

Zhou Zeqi’s voice was a little hoarse. "That’s the point?"

Xishui immediately wilted.

"I know I was wrong, but you were wrong too."

There it was again.

Zhou Zeqi gave a low hmm and leaned back on the sofa. "Then tell me, where did I go wrong?"

"I was drunk, so of course I wouldn’t remember a lot of things clearly. You didn’t drink, so you could’ve just gone to sleep with me."

"At a time like that, you didn’t need to worry about me."

"…You’re pretty good at shifting the blame," Zhou Zeqi said with a snort.

The look of relief on Xishui’s face completely froze when he saw Zhou Zeqi’s half-smiling expression.

He had no choice.

No matter how much he said, it would never be as good as actual action.

Xishui slowly got up from the floor, ran to the entryway to find his backpack, and pulled out the T and lube from the compartment. He clenched the things in his hand and went back to Zhou Zeqi’s side, crouching down carefully. "Then, can we do it now?"

Zhou Zeqi laughed, and wanted to strangle Xishui.

Seeing that Zhou Zeqi still didn’t speak, Xishui bit his lip. His face was red beyond belief. "Or… or are you saying that actually, you want me to do it to you? Even though I’m the bottom, and I don’t have any experience, for you, I can still make changes and work hard to learn."

"…"