Rain struck the umbrella, making a fine, muffled sound. Lu Heyang held the umbrella in one hand and the gift in the other, touching Xu Ze only with his lips.
Xu Ze had been standing in the rain for too long, so his lips were a little cold, but that did not stop them from being soft—they really were the kind that felt good to kiss.
It was only when Lu Heyang bit him hard enough to hurt that Xu Ze came back to his senses.
Coming back to his senses did not help much. He still could not piece together a complete understanding of how this had happened, but that did not seem to be the most important thing right now.
The reason did not matter.
What the outcome would be did not matter either.
This had always been Xu Ze’s attitude toward liking Lu Heyang. Even if Lu Heyang stepped back three paces the next second and told him, “I was just drunk,” Xu Ze would not mind. He would only nod and say that it was okay.
Xu Ze clumsily and helplessly responded to the kiss—or at least he thought he was responding.
In reality, his entire body was so stiff that he could not move at all. Both hands hung at his sides, and he had no idea what to do with them. His fingers curled slightly.
He was so nervous that breathing through his nose was no longer enough, so he opened his mouth.
But Lu Heyang did not give him any air.
Instead, the kiss deepened. The tip of his tongue brushed over Xu Ze’s lower lip and slipped past his teeth.
The moment Xu Ze felt Lu Heyang’s tongue, his entire back went numb, as if someone had dragged a fingertip down his entire spine.
Unable to resist, he raised his hand and gripped Lu Heyang’s T-shirt. His back was pressed against the tree trunk, and he even wanted to rub against it a few times to ease the strange itch spreading through his body.
The mouth was an internal part of the body, and kissing was also a kind of being entered.
Xu Ze felt that his breathing had already drowned out the sound of the rain.
His eyes tightly shut, he cautiously and awkwardly tangled his tongue with Lu Heyang’s, exchanging saliva mixed with rainwater and pheromones.
Lu Heyang kept his eyes open from beginning to end.
Up close, he watched the droplets of rain slide past the corners of Xu Ze’s eyes, looking almost like tears.
He lifted his head.
Xu Ze opened his eyes as well, his face carrying the expression of someone who had suddenly awakened from a dream and was still trying to grasp the fading dream.
That expression in the dim, rainy night gave him an inexplicable sense of loneliness.
It was almost enough to make someone imagine Xu Ze waking alone, day after day and year after year, from that empty house.
He simply did not know whether Xu Ze had ever had a good dream.
Lu Heyang wiped the rain from Xu Ze’s chin—it might have been saliva instead—and said,
“Let’s go.”
Xu Ze’s gaze was unfocused. He unconsciously licked the corner of his mouth and followed Lu Heyang back onto the sidewalk.
They walked side by side toward the car.
When they reached it, Xu Ze stopped, intending to wait until Lu Heyang got into the car before leaving.
But Lu Heyang opened the front passenger door.
“Get in.”
“I can go home myself.”
Xu Ze looked at the hand Lu Heyang had wrapped around the umbrella handle, trying his best to organize his words.
“It’s late. You should go back.”
“Get in.”
Lu Heyang repeated it briefly.
So Xu Ze got into the car.
The car did not drive forward. Instead, it turned around.
Xu Ze sat stiffly in the passenger seat, having even forgotten to fasten his seat belt. He looked completely dazed.
The entire drive was silent, with only the sound of raindrops striking the car.
When they arrived at the house, Xu Ze remained in a daze for another second before slowly opening the door and getting out.
He entered through the gate together with Lu Heyang.
The living room was brightly lit.
He Wei and Gu Yunchi were sitting on the sofa eating dessert. When they heard the door open, they turned their heads.
When they saw Xu Ze following behind Lu Heyang, soaked like a drowned rat, He Wei was astonished.
“Xu Ze?”
The nanny also came out of her room.
Lu Heyang asked her to make a bowl of ginger soup, then took Xu Ze upstairs.
He Wei’s eyes followed the two of them the entire way until they entered the guest room.
He Wei turned back and asked Gu Yunchi,
“What’s going on? What is this about?”
Gu Yunchi glanced at him and could not be bothered to answer.
“Take a bath. There are clean towels in the bathroom.”
Lu Heyang turned on the faucet and filled the bathtub with hot water.
“After you’re done, stay in the room.”
When he heard no response, Lu Heyang turned around.
Xu Ze was still standing by the door, looking dazed.
His wet black bangs hung over his forehead, and when their eyes met, his gaze quickly shifted elsewhere.
Lu Heyang walked over.
He curled his right index finger and pressed the back of it gently against Xu Ze’s slightly swollen lower lip.
“Did you hear me?”
Xu Ze nodded.
“Why did Xu Ze come here?”
The moment Lu Heyang went downstairs, He Wei asked him.
“To deliver something.”
“What did he deliver? A birthday present?”
Lu Heyang said nothing.
He Wei went, “Wow.”
“How is he so nice? He’s beaten up that badly and still came all the way here to give you a present.”
At the same time, He Wei found something a little strange.
Normally, after someone had been out in the rain, their lips should have looked pale.
But Xu Ze’s lips had not.
They were even much redder than usual.
Maybe it’s because he had a match, He Wei thought.
Redness caused by his injuries.
About ten minutes later, the ginger soup was ready.
Lu Heyang told the nanny to return to her room and rest, then carried the ginger soup to the guest room himself.
The bathroom was completely quiet.
Lu Heyang knocked on the door.
“I left the ginger soup on the table. Remember to drink it.”
Xu Ze answered with a quiet, “Mm.”
When Lu Heyang went downstairs again, He Wei asked expectantly,
“Is Xu Ze done showering? When is he coming down?”
“He’s not coming down.”
“?”
He Wei was confused.
“I specifically saved some dessert for him. What do you mean he’s not coming down? I was still planning to chat with him.”
Lu Heyang glanced outside through the floor-to-ceiling window.
“The rain is about to stop.”
Gu Yunchi turned off his game.
“He Wei, let’s go.”
“Huh?”
It really was getting late.
After struggling for a few seconds, He Wei left together with Gu Yunchi.
Lu Heyang went upstairs to his own room.
He had also been caught in the rain and needed to wash his hair and take a shower.
When his hair was about half-dry, Lu Heyang turned off the hair dryer.
He took something from his drawer, then opened his bedroom door and walked out.
He stopped outside the guest room.
He raised his hand and knocked.
The door opened quickly, only about ten centimeters.
Xu Ze stood behind it somewhat awkwardly, wearing nothing on his lower body except a bath towel.
After telling him to stay in the room once he had finished showering, Lu Heyang’s instruction had actually been unnecessary.
Xu Ze had no clothes to wear in the first place.
Naturally, he could only stay in the room.
Xu Ze lowered his eyes to Lu Heyang’s hand, checking whether he had brought him some clothes.
He looked like some animal that had been captured and mistreated, peering at someone through the bars of its cage, injured and carrying a silent, cautious look of inquiry.
There were no clothes.
Lu Heyang’s hand was empty.
Xu Ze watched as Lu Heyang placed his hand on the doorknob and pushed the door inward.
Xu Ze took a step back to make room.
Lu Heyang said nothing.
Xu Ze did not ask anything either.
This was Lu Heyang’s home. Xu Ze was constantly prepared to be told to leave. As long as Lu Heyang lent him some clothes to wear—even if he didn’t, it was fine. He could go home in his wet clothes.
The door opened, and Lu Heyang walked in before closing it behind him.
Xu Ze stood there, his hair still undried, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. There was a very obvious bite mark in the middle of his lower lip, leaving behind a smear of bright red blood.
He could feel Lu Heyang examining him with that usual calm gaze, while he himself felt like a prisoner who seemed obligated to explain something under that gaze. For example, I’ve finished the ginger soup, and I washed the bowl. I should be going home now, or something like that. He had only roughly organized the words in his mind and had not yet said them aloud.
Just as he was about to speak, Lu Heyang lowered his head slightly and leaned toward him. Xu Ze thought he was going to say something, so he instinctively raised his head to listen. The angle at which he tilted his head happened to be just right, almost as though, in perfect unspoken understanding, he was offering his lips to Lu Heyang. If Xu Ze had known that Lu Heyang was coming over to kiss him, perhaps he would not have had the courage to make that movement.
Lu Heyang pushed him back against the wall. His bare back pressed against the wall, the coolness making Xu Ze shiver. He heard his own breathing suddenly grow heavier. Lu Heyang’s hand moved from the small of his back all the way upward to the back of his neck, where it gripped him—not too hard, but not lightly either.
…
“Go take a shower.” Lu Heyang came out of the bathroom and lightly patted the side of Xu Ze’s hip with the back of his hand.
Xu Ze’s face was still buried in the pillow. He fumbled around for the bath towel and pulled it over himself. “I’ll go in a little while.”
“By yourself?” Lu Heyang stood beside the bed, fully dressed, neat and composed, without forcing Xu Ze. In a perfectly normal tone, he said, “You need to put your fingers inside, otherwise you won’t be able to clean it properly.”
Xu Ze drew his shoulders in slightly. A few seconds later, he finally gave a quiet, “Mm.”
“Anywhere uncomfortable?” Lu Heyang’s gaze slid over Xu Ze’s sweaty back before settling on his pitiful butt, only half-covered by the bath towel. Lu Heyang said, “I avoided all the places where you had injuries.”
He had avoided them, to the point that Xu Ze’s neck and waist—places that had not been injured before—still felt as though they were being gripped tightly and refusing to let go.
“I’m not uncomfortable.”
“Then I’m going back to my room,” Lu Heyang said.
Xu Ze hesitated for a moment before twisting his head around and revealing half his face. His voice was a little hoarse as he whispered, “Happy birthday.”
He had braved the heavy rain to come deliver a present, yet even the words happy birthday had taken careful consideration before he could finally say them.
Lu Heyang bent down and looked at Xu Ze’s slightly damp eyelashes. “I got it.”
His fingers slipped into Xu Ze’s already half-dry hair, and he gave Xu Ze a very brief kiss.
After walking out of the guest room, Lu Heyang raised his eyes, his gaze casually sweeping over the surveillance camera in the hallway without leaving any trace. He had only done it once. From the moment he entered the guest room until now, the amount of time was within what could be considered normal, and he had not stayed for an excessively long time.