KMYB | Chapter 41

"Come in."

Xi Shui obediently followed Zhou Zeqi into the bedroom.

The bedroom was very dim. Xi Shui walked to the bed and tugged at the curtains. "Custom-made?"

"…"

Zhou Zeqi was gradually able to tell when Xi Shui was trying to change the subject, and when he wasn’t.

This time, he was definitely changing the subject.

He yanked the man over in front of him, snatching the box and the tube of stuff from his hands. "You want to do it?"

Zhou Zeqi lowered his eyes, his gaze covered in a thin layer of cold frost.

Xi Shui thought Zhou Zeqi was serious, so he immediately lowered his head and started fumbling at Zhou Zeqi’s clothes.

"…"

The next second, Xi Shui was tossed onto the bed whole.

The mattress was soft, so it didn’t really hurt, but being thrown down like that made him dizzy. Even his slippers flew off. Xi Shui struggled to sit up, only to have his ankle caught and be dragged to the edge of the bed. In front of Zhou Zeqi, his fighting strength was practically nonexistent.

Xi Shui’s throat felt dry. He said nervously, "I, I, what am I supposed to do now?"

Zhou Zeqi said nothing. He leaned in and kissed him. "Shut up."

Even though the air conditioner was turned all the way up, the temperature in the bedroom kept rising.

Xi Shui was kissed until he coughed a few times. His fingers gripped Zhou Zeqi’s shoulder, and sweat dripped from Zhou Zeqi’s jaw onto Xi Shui’s face. Xi Shui met Zhou Zeqi’s gaze, trying to speak, but all that came out was a long breathy sound.

Swans had always liked to keep a proud, aloof expression, whether onstage or off.

Its feathers were soaked, wet through. It collapsed helplessly, letting out low moans that rose and fell, impossible to tell whether they came from pain or excitement.

The whole room was dark, and that darkness fell over the swan’s white, soft feathers.

His slender neck stretched tight. His nails scratched the skin on Zhou Zeqi’s shoulder, but that little bit of force, that little mark, wasn’t even worth Zhou Zeqi lifting his eyelids for.

Zhou Zeqi lowered his head and kissed Xi Shui. Xi Shui’s eyes were moist as he hugged Zhou Zeqi and carefully kissed him back.

Zhou Zeqi’s kisses were as gentle as his movements were forceful.

Xi Shui buried himself in Zhou Zeqi’s neck and clenched his teeth.

Like a cream cake that was about to melt.

Soft as hell.

The sun slowly sank from the middle of the sky. The room grew even darker. Xi Shui wiped the sweat off his face with the back of his hand and wanted to speak, only to realize his voice had gone hoarse. Zhou Zeqi scooped him up around the waist.

Xi Shui stared at himself in the mirror for a moment, then shyly turned his head and met Zhou Zeqi’s dark, bright eyes.

The air was scorching hot, like sugar melted under high heat, drawing out long, elastic strands.

Xi Shui began to feel at a loss.

He reached for the shower knob, but Zhou Zeqi pinched his wrist and pressed his hand back down. Zhou Zeqi bit his ear, forcing Xi Shui to lean backward, his back pressing against the cold mirror.

"What are you rushing for? Weren’t you pretty proactive before?" Zhou Zeqi’s voice was even hoarser than Xi Shui’s.

Xi Shui lifted a hand to sweep his hair back and managed to straighten his back. "I didn’t know it would be this tiring before."

"Now you know, then what?"

"For exercise that takes this much physical effort, of course you should stop while you’re ahead." His eyelashes were wet, and he looked so serious, but also, he wasn’t wearing any clothes.

Zhou Zeqi laughed lazily. Sweat slid down the bridge of his narrow, straight nose. The air around him felt cramped, like a net tightening little by little. "I don’t think now is the time to argue with you."

"Didn’t you want to lose weight? I’m helping you."

Xi Shui: "…"

"How many calories can this burn?" Zhou Zeqi pressed his warm, damp lips to Xi Shui’s face, his brow, the tip of his nose. "Does Baidu have an answer for that?"

If Xi Shui couldn’t hear the sarcasm in Zhou Zeqi’s tone, then he was truly stupid.

"I already apologized to you."

"Oh, but I’m still angry."

"Then what do we do?" Xi Shui frowned and licked his lips.

Zhou Zeqi’s fingers traced down his waist. "Then let baby vent some more,"

he coaxed him.

Xi Shui thought, fine then.

–

Xi Shui dreamed again. In the dream, Zhou Zeqi was staring at him coldly. "Lose weight? I’ll help you."

He woke up in fright.

He turned his head to look out the window.

It was dark.

The bedroom door wasn’t closed. He could see the living room light was on, so Zhou Zeqi must be there. He just didn’t know what Zhou Zeqi was doing outside.

Xi Shui moved a little. It hurt, sore and aching, and he wasn’t even this tired after ten straight days of morning and evening practice.

And at first, all he felt was pain.

Only later did he gradually experience something different.

Xi Shui kicked the blanket. Though it had felt pretty good, something this exhausting still couldn’t be done too often.

On stamina, he couldn’t beat Zhou Zeqi, because he had passed out halfway through.

While Zhou Zeqi wasn’t in the room, Xi Shui thought about a lot of things.

All of them had to do with what happened that afternoon.

About why his stamina was somehow worse than Zhou Zeqi’s.

About how often things should happen in the future.

About whether they needed to discuss positions in more depth. He preferred being on his stomach. He didn’t like being held like that by Zhou Zeqi. It was a little too much for him.

Just as he was thinking himself deep into it, Zhou Zeqi pushed the door open and came in. The living room lights were on, bright, and Zhou Zeqi was only wearing a pair of sweatpants, his whole body radiating the satisfied fullness of someone who had eaten and drunk his fill.

His features were half submerged in the shadows of the bedroom. His gaze landed accurately on Xi Shui’s already-open eyes.

Xi Shui quietly pulled his legs back under the blanket.

"…"

Zhou Zeqi’s lazy steps drew closer and closer. When he reached the bedside and saw the little swan’s wary look, he sat cross-legged by the bed and leaned against the edge. "Come here."

Xi Shui moved a little toward Zhou Zeqi.

"What time is it?" Xi Shui asked. His throat hurt, and so did the root of his tongue.

Zhou Zeqi took the remote off the cabinet and turned the temperature up a few degrees, then looked back and kept resting on the edge of the bed while watching Xi Shui. "Almost nine. Hungry?"

Nine?

Xi Shui blinked and reached a hand out from under the blanket to pinch Zhou Zeqi’s face. "I didn’t do morning practice today, and I didn’t do evening practice either…" The habit he’d built up over so many years had been broken for a whole day, leaving Xi Shui unsettled and inexplicably guilty.

"How did you not practice?" Zhou Zeqi lifted a brow. "Didn’t you practice your splits? You can stretch your lats while you’re kneeling and leaning forward later. Your splits probably have different degrees too, right? Then you can practice each degree one by one?"

Listening to Zhou Zeqi talk, Xi Shui shyly pulled the blanket over half his face, leaving only a pair of eyes showing. "You can’t say it like that."

Zhou Zeqi was about to say something else when Xi Shui’s hand came over again, this time resting on his hair.

Xi Shui felt the texture of Zhou Zeqi’s hair, then pulled his hand back to touch his own hair. "Your hair is so stiff."

"Mm," Zhou Zeqi said lazily, propping his chin up and looking down at Xi Shui. "I don’t think it’s the stiffest."

Xi Shui froze, and his expression slowly became uncomfortable.

"You’re a little stiffer than me, and yours is hotter too." Xi Shui lifted the blanket, his eyes bright. "But mine is whiter than yours."

"…"

"I’m hungry," Xi Shui said softly. "My stomach is even caving in."

Zhou Zeqi looked at him for a while, then stood up and hauled Xi Shui out from under the blanket. Before he’d even fully gotten him out, Xi Shui suddenly struggled hard. "I’m not wearing any clothes!"

Zhou Zeqi found a very large shirt in the wardrobe and pulled it down over Xi Shui’s head. The sleeves were long, so Zhou Zeqi rolled them up for him too.

Xi Shui shook the sleeves twice like he was performing opera. "Such a big shirt. Feels like it’d be big on you too."

"My sister bought it overseas. I’ve never worn it."

"You like it? If you do, take it."

Zhou Zeqi carried Xi Shui to the dining table. Xi Shui flipped the sleeves back and looked inside. "How much was it?"

"More than twenty thousand."

"So expensive!" But Xi Shui was still too embarrassed to just take someone else’s new clothes. "Get my phone and I’ll transfer you the money."

"No need."

Zhou Zeqi went into the kitchen, took a handful of dragon beard noodles from the cupboard, and dropped them into the pot of soup, which had just reached a rolling boil. "You’re broke this month?"

That question…

Was really sharp.

Xi Shui didn’t really have many flaws, but if he had to pick a few, he was a little slow, and he also had no concept of money.

Before, any leftover living expenses or pocket money at the end of each month would be transferred back to Li Wenzhi so she could save it for him.

So that meant the amount he could spend each month was only twenty thousand.

This semester started at the end of the month, and last month’s living expenses had also been given to him the day before he bought Zhou Zeqi that eighteen-thousand-yuan pair of underwear. So in less than a month, he had already spent all his money.

"Yeah," Xi Shui answered.

"Then I don’t want this shirt anymore."

"…"

Steam billowed in the kitchen. Zhou Zeqi’s voice was muddled and indistinct. "So you really don’t have money anymore, huh? I’ll transfer some to you later."

The noodles were done quickly, just plain scallion noodles. Finely chopped scallions floated on top of the thick, pale broth, with a golden fried egg on top.

Xi Shui took the chopsticks and shifted his butt a little, immediately sucking in a sharp breath.

Zhou Zeqi sat down across from him. "I put medicine on you. Sleep for a while, and tomorrow you probably won’t feel much of anything."

Xi Shui sipped the soup in small mouthfuls. "You even prepared medicine?"

"…Very surprising?"

"Lin Xiaojin didn’t tell me to prepare medicine."

Zhou Zeqi ate one bite of noodles for every three bites Xi Shui took. He finished a big mouthful before answering, "The second-to-last one tutoring the last one, one dared to talk, and the other dared to believe it."

"You’re too big," Xi Shui said suddenly.

Zhou Zeqi choked. Xi Shui hurriedly pulled out a tissue and handed it over.

"I was already trying really hard at the time. I took deep breaths, but it still didn’t work." Xi Shui used his chopsticks to poke open the fried egg. It was still runny. "What are we supposed to do about that?"

"What are you supposed to do about what?" Zhou Zeqi glanced at Xi Shui, not quite able to guess what kind of reckless words he’d say next.

Xi Shui put down his chopsticks and gestured earnestly with both hands. "I mean in the future."

"Stop worrying about nonsense. That’s not something you should be worrying about. I’ll handle it." Zhou Zeqi gave Xi Shui the fried egg from his bowl. "Eat more. We’ll lose weight again tomorrow."

Xi Shui: "…" Could he please stop bringing up old scores all the time!