At this moment, Ji Xingjian was completely oblivious to his own situation, breathing slowly and quietly as he slept peacefully.
His eyelashes could not be considered thick, but they were long and curled, casting a small shadow beneath his eyelids. Huo Chengye propped up his head to watch him for a long time, unable to resist reaching out to nudge them twice. “Why are your eyelashes so long?”
“Your skin is quite fair, just like a shelled egg.” Huo Chengye’s gaze roamed uninhibitedly across Ji Xingjian’s face as he muttered to himself, “The color of your lips is pretty nice. You surely didn’t put anything on them, did you?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Huo Chengye pressed his thumb pad against them, rubbing across them with moderate pressure to inspect them closely under the dim, warm light of the bedside lamp. “They didn’t fade. Looks like it is natural.”
He instinctively brought his thumb to his nose to sniff it, but smelled nothing. “Damn it, what am I doing? He is not even an Omega, it would be a miracle if he had a pheromone scent. Still, this appearance really looks somewhat like an Omega.”
Huo Chengye stared at Ji Xingjian for over twenty minutes, finding the pajamas on his body more and more of an eyesore, his gaze practically capable of ripping them into cloth strips.
“Why wear so much to sleep? Being bare would be so nice.” The Alpha felt a fleeting sense of disappointment. “Good thing I have already gone through my rut and my pheromones are temporarily stable, otherwise I would definitely strip you.”
Right at that moment, the person who had been sleeping soundly abruptly opened his eyes, sat up suddenly, and gave Huo Chengye a fright.
“Are you awake?”
Ji Xingjian did not speak, nor did he even look at Huo Chengye. He got out of bed and put on his slippers of his own accord, then turned around to look down at him from a towering height.
“?” Was he awake or asleep?
Amidst Huo Chengye’s uncertain gaze, Ji Xingjian suddenly bent over and pulled the quilt into his arms.
Huo Chengye’s face held not only bewilderment, but also awkwardness.
Because beneath that quilt, he was completely bare. After taking a shower, Huo Chengye had casually washed his clothes. Since the weather was hot today, they would definitely be dry by tomorrow morning.
There were a few garments in the wardrobe that must have been prepared by Ji Xingjian, but Huo Chengye could not fit into them. Even if he forced himself to squeeze in, it would feel uncomfortably tight, so going without clothes was better.
“Sleepwalking is one thing, but why are you acting like a hooligan?”
Huo Chengye attempted to resist, but considering the trouble it would cause if he accidentally woke Ji Xingjian up and triggered a mental breakdown, he had no choice but to let go.
As the final shred of his modesty was dragged away, Huo Chengye could not help muttering a few curses.
In his sleepwalking state, Ji Xingjian completely ignored him, clutching the quilt as he walked out.
Huo Chengye punched the bed, grabbed a bath towel to wrap around himself, and followed right behind Ji Xingjian as he walked out. “I am going to see what on earth you are planning to do.”
Ji Xingjian’s destination was very clear, which was his own bedroom. Huo Chengye followed closely behind, squeezing through the crack of the door and casting a few glances around. The layout was similar to the guest bedroom.
Under Huo Chengye’s gaze, Ji Xingjian got into bed, lay down, and pulled the quilt he had snatched from the guest bedroom over himself, closing his eyes once more.
Huo Chengye placed his hands on his hips, seemingly amused to the point of anger. “Ha, I am truly impressed.”
Standing by the bed for a moment, Huo Chengye could not resist sitting down on the edge, childishly throwing a punch toward Ji Xingjian. Just as he was about to change his posture, his hand suddenly paused.
There was an unfinished glass of water on the bedside table, along with a bottle of medication.
“I could not tell. Aside from sleepwalking, you have other conditions.” Huo Chengye picked up the medication bottle to read the label.
“Indicated for insomnia and excessive dreaming caused by anxiety, excessive stress, and more. There are side effects? Long-term use will produce sleepwalking tendencies.” Huo Chengye looked over at Ji Xingjian, his brow furrowing.
Ji Xingjian did not stay in bed for long before getting up again, clutching the quilt and heading to the living room sofa. After repeating this cycle two or three times, he finally wandered back to the guest bedroom.
Huo Chengye had followed him the whole time and gradually grew sleepy, so he lifted the quilt and lay down. Perhaps because Ji Xingjian had been holding it for so long, the quilt carried a faint, clean fragrance identical to the scent of his body wash, which smelled very nice.
Half-asleep, Huo Chengye sensed Ji Xingjian moving again, thinking to himself that this guy really knew how to toss and turn, wondering where he was going to carry the quilt this time.
Suddenly, a hand reached over. The sudden contact caused Huo Chengye’s body to stiffen as he turned on his side to check the situation.
Ji Xingjian had somehow moved from the other side of the bed right next to him, and was continuing to inch closer.
His hand was somewhat cool, tracing along the Alpha’s waist toward his back. Finding what seemed to be a supporting point, Ji Xingjian wrapped his arms around his waist to snuggle closer, pressing his leg over him as well.
Huo Chengye hated heat, so the guest room air conditioning was set to a relatively low temperature, leaving his arms exposed. However, Ji Xingjian felt cold, so he instinctively gravitated toward the heat source, resting his head on Huo Chengye’s arm and adjusting to the most comfortable posture to continue sleeping.
The Alpha, however, could no longer sleep, beginning to feel inexplicably annoyed as his gaze darkened.
He was wearing nothing at all, and the material of Ji Xingjian’s pajamas was thin enough to be practically non-existent. Ji Xingjian was also restless in his sleep, his hands moving about constantly like feathers tickling him, becoming itchier the more they brushed against him.
This was going to be the death of him.
Although Huo Chengye was no saint, he would not take advantage of someone in a conscious state, at most just stealing a few minor perks.
To ensure he could get a sound night’s sleep, Huo Chengye wrapped both arms tightly around Ji Xingjian, restricting his movements and actions.
Just as he finally managed to fall asleep, Huo Chengye felt the person in his arms start to get restless again, looking as though he wanted to get up and change locations. Tormented thoroughly by Ji Xingjian all night, Huo Chengye’s temper flared up under the influence of exhaustion as he gave him a slap. “Behave yourself, or I will throw you out!”
Stung probably by the hit, Ji Xingjian let out a low, weak moan. The Alpha said in a cold voice, “I did not even use force, what are you whining about for nothing?”
Giving him another moderate pat, Ji Xingjian instinctively ducked back into the Alpha’s arms, curling up almost into a ball.
Huo Chengye stopped his hand, and Ji Xingjian quickly quieted down, his breathing gradually growing calm and steady.
At a little past eight in the morning, Ji Xingjian’s eyelids fluttered twice as he habitually reached out to feel for his phone, only to grab empty air.
Opening his eyes and taking two seconds to process reality, Ji Xingjian was stunned.
This was not his room, this was the guest room!
He knew he sleepwalked, which was why he chose to live alone, and even Yu Siqi rarely stayed overnight here.
Last night he had clearly instructed Huo Chengye to lock the door when sleeping, and before bed he had deliberately locked his own bedroom door as well. How could this be. Where had something gone wrong? Where was Huo Chengye?
He struggled to maintain his composure when suddenly there was a weight around his waist as an arm wrapped around him and pulled him backward.
Ji Xingjian did not even dare to breathe heavily, listening to the steady breathing of the Alpha behind him. Because he was resting his head on the Alpha’s arm, he could perceive even the most subtle rises and falls with absolute clarity.
Feeling as though a very long time had passed, he tentatively called out, “Huo. Chengye?”
There was no response from behind, as the other person was probably sleeping soundly. Ji Xingjian breathed a slight sigh of relief, cautiously extending his hand to try and remove the arm Huo Chengye had draped over him.
The moment he moved, the other man’s leg suddenly pressed down over him.