Ch8 - Warmth

Editor: MinMin

Proofreader: DarkSapphire 

Bai Xi’s apartment was on the seventeenth floor. While they were in the elevator, going upward, he kept staring at his feet. When they arrived at his door, he was all thumbs when it came to entering the password. He almost entered the wrong series of codes.

With a click, the door opened.

The inside was dark. Bai Xi’s hand reached for the switch by the door and the light in the hallway was turned on. When the warm yellow light on the corridor sprinkled in the room, it illuminated the little ming fern above the cupboard.

He didn’t have the chance to turn on the living room light. 

Because Qi Xun picked him up and kissed him deeply again as the two fumbled on the sofa.

The living room was still dark, but Bai Xi could see every subtle expression on Qi Xun.

He stretched out his arm, covered his face and whispered, “The things are in the bedroom.”

He was still too embarrassed to say those words out loud.

Qi Xun was kissing his ears. When he heard this, he chuckled at the younger man’s display in a low voice, “Xi Xi, is this considered a long-term scheme?”

The older man rarely called him by this nickname. It was a tease, but with a hint of doting in the tone.

Bai Xi’s heart trembled.

He wanted to refute, but after he thought about it, he couldn’t call his behaviour innocent either, so he could only accept defeat quietly. 

Qi Xun showered him with kisses on the sofa before carrying him into the bedroom.

Bai Xi was a bundle of nerves when he was dropped onto his bed. Although they had done this, he was drunk, and he hardly remembered the details when he woke up.

Today, he and Qi Xun were both very sober, and no one could find an excuse to escape.

He put his arm over his face, but his eyes couldn’t resist the urge to peek below. 

Qi Xun’s eyes were lowered while he was unbuttoning from top to bottom with his slender fingers. There was clearly no special expression on his face, like today was just an ordinary night after work, but upon a closer look, Bai Xi could faintly see the hormone emitting from the older man from head to toe.

His brain turned into mush, but one thought remained solid as concrete. Qi Xun is so handsome.

But he soon lost all his logic to think.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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Maybe it was easier for people to drop the modesty after a physical relationship, like how Bai Xi refused Qi Xun’s help like a chaste virgin but this time, he thought to himself that it was Qi Xun’s fault anyway, so he should take responsibility.

He sat on the small round chair in the bathroom while Qi Xun helped blow his hair. 

Under the light, Qi Xun was wearing a black bathrobe and his hair wasn’t completely dried. A few droplets rolled down from the tip of his hair to his beautiful abdominal muscles. There were several scratches on the firm chest. It was unlike his usual elegant and cold appearance, instead, it was a kind of loose and sexy.

Couldn’t hold back his curiosity, Bai Xi reached out and poked Qi Xun’s abs. It was sturdy, powerful, and beautifully outlined. He couldn’t obtain it even after being given a hundred-year advantage.

He was a little envious, but he had always lacked perseverance towards his fitness, doing less than what he set for himself. He was able to maintain his good figure all thanks to his genes.

Before he could touch the second time, Qi Xun caught the wandering hand. 

“If you continue touching, something might happen.” Qi Xun gazed down at him and asked calmly, “Do you still have the strength for another round?”

Bai Xi understood and was terrified for the next second as he quickly withdrew his claws.

Just as his hair was mostly dry, Qi Xun carried him back to bed.

It was almost midnight. So logically speaking, they should go to sleep, but neither of them was sleepy. Qi Xun usually sleeps late, while Bai Xi was physically exhausted but mentally energized. 

He and Qi Xun were in each other’s arms, smelling the same citrus shower gel on each other. It filled the quilt with its fresh and pleasant scent.

This was not his first time sleeping in the same bed as Qi Xun.

The two had known each other for six years and had travelled together before. It was by chance that they just slept in the same bed for a few nights.

At that time, even if he slept on the same bed, he knew that there was a long-distance between Qi Xun and himself. But now, even if he said nothing, he felt this person belonged to him. 

Qi Xun’s one arm was around Bai Xi, while the other reached for the picture frame placed on the bedside table.

He noticed the picture just now but didn’t look at it carefully. Now, with a closer look, it was really him in the photo.

He recognized it immediately. It was taken during his own graduation ceremony.

In this photo, he was crystal clear among a group of the crowd, and the others weren’t focused on the camera. There was a sea of people, but he stood out tall and handsomely like there was a light coming from the sky landing only on him. 

Even Qi Xun himself had to admit that the photo had a beautiful artistic style, and anyone could see the photographer’s feelings.

He asked Bai Xi, “Did you take this?”

Since Qi Xun picked up the photo frame, Bai Xi thought something was about to go down.

This picture frame had been by his bedside for a long time. 

Qi Xun’s stay tonight was a last-minute thing. He forgot to put away the photo frame. In the past, whether Qi Xun came to his house as a guest, or stayed overnight, the older man wouldn’t enter his bedroom. He was careless because of that.

This was simply a large-scale embarrassment to death on the spot.

But he still replied with a muffled “Yes” sound followed by, “I took it.”

Qi Xun asked, “Then why did you put it beside your bed?” 

Bai Xi looked at him sincerely. “Would you believe me if I told you it’s to ward off evil spirits?”

“No.”

“Then why did you have to ask?”

Qi Xun actually knew the answer but asked out of fondness. 

As he asked a different question, “Then why didn’t you put a photo of me and you? It’s not like we don’t take a lot of photos together already.”

Bai Xi blinked slowly, grabbed the loose belt on Qi Xun’s robe, and wrapped it around his fingers twice.

“A photo with just us by the bed is too much like a couple. It feels like I’m wishing too much from a one-sided infatuation.” He explained. “A photo of just you is a bit better.”

This unexpected answer startled Qi Xun. 

It suddenly occurred to him that Bai Xi had invited him to his graduation ceremony, but he did not attend.

It wasn’t on purpose, he had to work on that day so he couldn’t go. He asked his secretary to deliver gifts and flowers though.

In terms of feeling and reasoning, his response was polite and with courtesy.

But now he thought about it. If he had shown up that day, Bai Xi would have been thrilled. 

He subconsciously caressed Bai Xi’s nape, like comforting a docile cat.

Bai Xi didn’t notice the shift in Qi Xun’s mood.

Speaking of graduation, he remembered his rough years in college. Originally, he thought that after Qi Xun had graduated, he might escape from the bewitching spell that was cast on him, but it was only a delusion of hope.

But thinking back, he did have some pretty interesting experiences. 

His lips curved as he revealed to Qi Xun, “Actually, I did a lot of stupid things when I secretly fancy you in college.”

Perhaps because he had lost enough face, he didn’t mind exposing his past love intentions.

Qi Xun looked towards the younger man curiously. “For example?”

Counting all possible choices, and finding there were too many. It would take Bai Xi three days and three nights to list them all out. 

“For example, I’m not in the same major as you, but I insisted on attending your elective course. I didn’t understand a single thing. I drew plan diagrams in the back row and freeloaded for a semester. Even the professor knew me by name.”

“I also signed up for the mountaineering club because of you. On my first mountain climb, I wished I could bury myself at the foot of the mountain.”

“Also, during my senior year, I travelled to a place where I heard that locals’ blessing knots were very effective for the marriage fate. If it was given to someone, it may lead to their red threads connecting. I bought it and wanted to give it to you, but I was afraid of being discovered. Finally, I bought gifts for everyone, but I stuffed the knot in only yours.”

Speaking of this, he turned his head and smiled at Qi Xun. 

He cried pretty badly in bed just now as his eyes and nose were still red and slightly puffy, but when he smiled, he looked like a little fox who gained an advantage, quick-witted and adorable.

He said to Qi Xun. “Now that I think about it, the knot is quite effective.”

Although it took two years, heaven’s matchmaker finally listened to his wish.

Qi Xun’s heart jumped slightly. 

He actually wanted to ask Bai Xi why hold onto the feeling if it was so long and painful?

He was not someone who stubbornly hung on to his feelings. If he didn’t get it, he would choose the other path. He had been in a relationship before and also experienced a break-up. Those were but ordinary experiences in human life. If it passed, then it passed.

So he did not quite understand Bai Xi’s long period of deep affection.

But now, sleeping on the same bed with Bai Xi and feeling each other’s breaths, he gazed into those eyes and could, at a degree, understand the answer to this question. 

Maybe it wasn’t that Bai Xi did not want to give up.

His lover just never succeeded.

He searched and grabbed Bai Xi’s hand under the quilt, and interlocked their fingers.

“Let’s sleep.” He said to Bai Xi.