Ch9 - Solemn Declaration

Editor: MinMin

Proofreader: DarkSapphire  

Qi Xun got up early the next morning. He still had things to do at his company.

Bai Xi lay sleepily on the bed with eyes half opened, watching Qi Xun put on his suit. The older man was buttoning his sleeves with his head lowered. His profile was as superior as a sculptor’s masterpiece.

Bai Xi didn’t have to stare at the other man, but he was still half awake. His mind was still not fully functioning as he unconsciously stared blankly.

Qi Xun found this Bai Xi lost in thought cute. Once he was done, he kissed his lover on the cheek. “I’m leaving. See you after work.” 

He walked out of the bedroom and closed the door gently.

But the kiss fully awakened Bai Xi.

He raised the back of his hand and touched his cheek. After a while, a soft smile appeared on his face without realizing it.

.

Bai Xi lazed on his bed, playing on his phone since he couldn’t fall back asleep.

Their magazine had just been published, so the next few days were freer. He could afford to go later to the office.

He first browsed videos for a while and then logged in to his Instagram to see what was new. Usually, He was the kind of person who wouldn’t post, preferred to lurk in the dark. He was a hundred percent member of the click the like button club.

Scrolling up, scrolling down, he happened to see the newest post Qi Xun sent. 

There was no caption, just a picture.

The picture contains a hand on a dark blue silk quilt. The hand had boney and slim fingers. There was a black bracelet with a small pumpkin pendant hanging on the wrist. The very simple style enhanced the fair skin.

That was his hand.

He didn’t know when Qi Xun took the picture.  

Of course, it was impossible for Bai Xi to not recognize his own hand.

He visited Qi Xun’s profile and found that Qi Xun rarely posts on Instagram, but had quite a large number of followers, especially those who secretly admired him, and seized every opportunity to have a sense of presence before him.

Bai Xi understood this very well. He used to do it himself after all.

Qi Xun’s circle was filled with business partners, his parents and elders, so he hardly used his social media. He occasionally updated small everyday life on Instagram.  

What Qi Xun posted in the past was just like his personality. It has a whiff of self-restraint scent. But the picture he sent today had such an ambiguous flavour that it could break through the screen and climb out of the photo; only people who were blind would not see it.

This was obviously not the uploader’s own hand.

The background was on the bed.

There was no other explanation than the act of spending a night with another person. 

These could not even be explained with just ‘friends with benefits’. Based on Qi Xun’s personality, he would never expose his friends with benefits like this. 

The meaning of this photo was obviously a solemn declaration.

Below Qi Xun’s post was suddenly a burst of wail like ghosts and howl like wolves replies, as they disbelievingly asked if Qi Xun found a partner.

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.

The older man didn’t answer any of these messy inquiries.  

He was chatting with his good buddy, Zhong Yuqin, at the top of the comment section.

Zhong Yuqin: [Holy fuck, Qi Xun. Has the old tree finally blossomed? Tell me more!]

Qi Xun: [Found a partner. First time seeing an old tree blossomed?]

Pa kjr akb rtbga ilcfr, yea la kjr ilxf abrrlcu j ybwy lcab atf vffq kjafg, ralgglcu eq atberjcvr bo kjnfr. Snfc Itbcu Tedlc obiibkfv atf wjrrfr ys rfcvlcu j rfglfr bo defralbc wjgxr. 

Hl Wec vlv cba gfqis ab tlr oglfcv’r defralbcr jcswbgf. Lf kjr qgbyjyis yers klat kbgx.

But his casual reply directly snapped off all the peach blossoms that hoped to be with him, leaving only a broken heart.

Bai Xi silently liked this post and then hugged the quilt and giggled on the bed for ten minutes.

He always knew Qi Xun was good. 

He also knew that Qi Xun would not treat their relationship halfheartedly, the older man would be frank and open with him.

But he would never expect that Qi Xun could be better than his expectations. 

.

Bai Xi lingered on his bed for a while. Seeing that it was almost nine, he finally got up and did his morning routine. 

While brushing his teeth, he raised his wrist and looked at it. Thinking of the Instagram picture, he felt that Qi Xun wanted to keep some of his reputations, and only took the back of his hand. 

Because if his wrist was to turn just a little more, the bite marks on the inner side of his arm could be seen. Same with his neck and collarbone, covered in red marks. It looked as if he was tortured for answers yesterday. 

The hand holding the toothbrush slowed down. Thinking of Qi Xun’s appearance in bed yesterday, his face blushed as he silently cursed, “Hooligan.”

Even though he scolded the older man, he was in a good mood at work all day today. His black high collar shirt tightly hid the spring colour. Sitting in his office and looking at the clear sky patched with small clouds, he couldn’t resist the idea of taking a selfie and posting it on his Instagram.  

It was a very normal angle and also had no text in the caption.

Only an emoji of a blue heart.

Blue was his favourite colour.

Ten seconds later, Qi Xun liked his post. 

.

After that day, Qi Xun and Bai Xi often stayed at each other’s place.

Whoever came up with the phrase, appetite and lust were only natural, was right on the spot.

Bai Xi used to think he was a very pure-hearted person. Although he was fond of reading adult manhua and had fantasized about Qi Xun’s handsome face, he was not the type of person who valued desire as a whole. 

But now, standing in Qi Xun’s bathroom and washing his face, Bai Xi might have to reevaluate.

In the past, he had a pure heart and few desires, which was purely due to his lack of practical combat experience. Of course, military tactics would always appear different in action than on paper.

In half a month, he had almost tried all the positions he knew.

Thinking of this, he reflexively put his hand against his forehead. 

Qi Xun was also still waiting for him outside the bathroom while he was facing the mirror, feeling his waist with a serious expression. He was pretty sure he would have shenkui by now if it wasn’t for his young age.

He examined his reflection in the mirror, trying to find a trace of symptoms on his face and seriously considering whether he should restrain himself or not.

Even if he was still young, logically speaking, he should still pay attention to his future health development. 

Not everyone was a beast like Qi Xun. 

Thinking of this, he was slightly saddened. In the span of twenty days, Qi Xun had changed from a male god to a hooligan and then evolved into a beast.

But before he could finish analyzing, Qi Xun knocked on the door and asked, “Still not done yet?”

Bai Xi came back to his senses and opened the door. At a glance, he saw Qi Xun leaning against the door with arms crossed, his bathrobe loosely tied. Being stared intensely upward was beyond the definition of sexy. 

A loud snap rang in his head. 

The little man holding the ‘restrain’ sign in Bai Xi’s mind slammed the sign to the ground.

Before he could fully react, he was on Qi Xun as they fell on the bed while kissing.

.

Afterwards, Bai Xi entered the enlightenment mode and lay in bed, not wanting to move. 

He was focused on reflecting on why he couldn’t resist the temptation of this beauty.

Qi Xun wasn’t aware of his thoughts. He went out of the bedroom a while ago. When he returned, he came back with two plates of omurice. He asked the younger man, “Come and eat a late-night snack?”

Bai Xi immediately got up from the bed. “Coming.”

As he ate the food, he noticed the strangeness. 

Qi Xun didn’t like servants available at all times and didn’t really eat at home, so the caretakers only cleaned at a set weekly schedule. 

So this was definitely not cooked by the caretaker.

He asked, “Was this takeout order?”

“No, I made it.” Qi Xun said. 

Bai Xi’s eyes widened in surprise.

He wagered that, during his observation in the past six years, he secretly loved Qi Xun. The older man’s cooking level was similar to his own. This involved cooking instant noodles or dumping wonton into a pot of boiling water. When did the other man start to learn cooking?

“You can cook?” He looked doubtfully at Qi Xun. “How come I don’t know about this?”

Qi Xun’s face was calm. “Since now. Don’t you like omurice? I learned it from my caretaker two days ago when she came to clean the house. It’s pretty simple.” 

Bai Xi nibbled on his fork.

He looked very silly right now. There is sweet basil sauce on the corner of his mouth. His dark and shiny eyes were focused on Qi Xun, looking as if he wanted to laugh but was holding it back.

Qi Xun helped him wipe the sauce from the corner of his mouth and asked him strangely, “What’s wrong?”

Instead of responding, he quickly moved forward and pecked Qi Xun on the face. 

Qi Xun’s slight mysophobia acted up immediately as he pushed the younger man away. “Your mouth is covered in sauce.”

This made Bai Xi happier.

He showered more kisses that smugly smeared oil on Qi Xun’s face. The older man was at the end of his patience as he pulled the younger man over his knee for a spank before he had calmed down.

After their meal, the two redid their nightly routine and went back to bed. 

Bai Xi glanced at Qi Xun’s bedroom. More than half a month ago, this place belonged only to Qi Xun. It was decorated in a cold grey style, but unknowingly, he gradually left his footprint. The small potted plant he bought was placed on the table, several of his clothes were hung in the wardrobe, and there was an addition of his own rinsing cup in the bathroom.

As he was thinking about these things, he suddenly heard Qi Xun’s voice. “I forgot to tell you something.”

“Yes?” He looked up.

“I’m going on a business trip tomorrow afternoon. It came up at the last minute. I’ll be staying in Luohai City for about five to six days.” Qi Xun met his eyes. “I won’t be seeing you in the next few days.” 

Bai Xi gave a sluggish “Oh” like it was nothing.

Qi Xun used to travel a lot, but the older man never had the need to inform him in the past.

He yawned and patted Qi Xun on the chest. “I got it, Mr. Qi, good luck with work.”

However, Qi Xun grabbed his hand and gazed down at him. 

Bai Xi blinked slowly in question.

Qi Xun asked subtly, “Don’t you want me to stay? Even just a little bit?”

Stunned by the question, Bai Xi laughed right away.

He thought carefully on his response before finally answering honestly, “A bit actually.” 

He implicitly explained to Qi Xun, “Humans also need a work-life balance, and distance will birth beauty. I used to meet you once or twice a month, of course, I would want to see you every day. Now I do see you daily, and the amount of exercise is a little excessive. I also want to have a break occasionally.”

There was a subtle change on Qi Xun’s face.

“Are you telling me you care less now that you obtained me?” Qi Xun pinched Bai Xi’s face with the perfect amount of strength. 

Of course, the older man wasn’t angry, he was just pretending. But his cold expression was particularly intimidating and held a different kind of charm. 

Bai Xi was bewitched in a daze.

He leaned over and kissed Qi Xun’s chin. “Give me a break. You know how much I like you.”

His voice carried a hint of rebuke, but his smiling eyes said otherwise.

Qi Xun also smiled. In the dim light, he looked great with that expression, very gentle and charming. 

Bai Xi’s heart skipped a beat.

He almost blurted out: What about you? How much do you like?

But before he could ask, he came to his senses. He bit the tip of his tongue and swallowed the question back.

He didn’t want to spoil the warm atmosphere at present. 

Where he was at is enough.

The way Qi Xun looks at him is similar to that of a perfect lover.

That was enough.

Translator has something to add: 

Teo: Just a fyi, I don’t use Instagram. So I’m just translating what the author wrote on social media. Please point out if I use an incorrect terminology (hopefully my future editor(s) uses Instagram xd I’m more of a Reddit fanatic and sometimes Tumblr and Twitter person).