The driver needed to take An Wan to the company, so Lin Zhuo had no choice but to take a taxi to school.
Originally, An Wan had wanted to leave the driver for Lin Zhuo.
Ever since he was young, Lin Zhuo had only experienced that kind of partiality from his grandmother, so he turned her down without a second thought, saying that he and Fu Baizhou could just hail a taxi.
The taxi smelled a bit strange, and Lin Zhuo couldn’t stand it himself, so he didn’t want An Wan to experience that.
After An Wan left, Lin Zhuo sat in the private dining room for nearly ten minutes before taking Fu Baizhou out of the restaurant.
It had started drizzling at some point, and dirty black clouds blanketed the sky, looking gray and rather oppressive.
Lin Zhuo hadn’t brought an umbrella when he went out, and right now he was hesitating whether to go to school or not.
“A-Zhuo, how are we getting back?” Fu Baizhou stood beside Lin Zhuo, gazing off into the distance at the dark clouds in the sky.
This was the first time Lin Zhuo heard Fu Baizhou address him like that.
His voice was as warm and smooth as jade, and through his tone, one could feel a deeply cherished partiality.
Fu Baizhou was very obedient and didn’t call him wife in front of outsiders, even though A-Zhuo sounded quite intimate as well.
When he was back in the day, he and one or two friends would just call each other by their full names directly; how would they ever use prefixes like A- or Xiao?
Unaccustomed, he pinched his arm slightly and said, “I’ll hail a taxi on my phone.”
It was always hardest to get a taxi on rainy days. Seeing quite a few people waiting in line ahead, the system suggested he increase the fare to get more ride options. Seeing the price shooting up rapidly, his temples throbbed a few times before he finally clicked cancel.
Spending that much money on a taxi, he wasn’t made of money just waiting to burn it.
Lin Zhuo opened the navigation app. The subway station closest to the restaurant was about a kilometer away, but there was a bus stop within a hundred meters.
Quickly plotting out a route, he led Fu Baizhou to the bus platform.
The rain wasn’t falling too heavily, but Lin Zhuo’s hair gradually grew damp, clinging limply across his forehead.
The cold wind assaulted him, and since he had only worn two layers when he left, he couldn’t help shrinking his body inward.
Going to school in this condition today was indeed inconvenient.
Lin Zhuo sent a message to An Wan explaining the situation, and after waiting for a little while, the bus they needed to take came into view.
The bus stopped at the platform. Seeing how crowded it was inside, Lin Zhuo was startled and let out a helpless sigh at the same time.
Lin Zhuo scanned his QR code to board. Since Fu Baizhou didn’t have a mobile phone, he refreshed the QR code and scanned Fu Baizhou’s fare as well.
The interior of the bus was even more crowded than it looked to the naked eye. Lin Zhuo and Fu Baizhou could only stand right next to the driver’s cabin.
By the next stop, quite a few people got off, but even more got on, pushing Lin Zhuo all the way to the middle compartment.
People were pressed against people. Being tall and broad-shouldered, Fu Baizhou grabbed the handrail and used his frame to completely wrap around Lin Zhuo, letting him stay nestled against his chest to prevent others from squeezing him.
The rain was gradually growing heavier, and numerous water droplets slid across the window glass under the effect of the wind.
As the raindrops moved, they looked like strung-together pearls, and Lin Zhuo stared at them, fascinated.
His exhaled breath formed a thin mist on the glass. Lifting his gaze slightly, he caught the blurry reflection of Fu Baizhou’s face in the window, along with the crowded crowd behind him.
Fu Baizhou’s chest pressed against his back, creating friction separated by several layers of fabric as the vehicle jolted.
Embarrassed, he lowered his head and shifted without a trace, his earlobes turning red.
This posture was a bit too ambiguous. He would rather have physical contact with strangers, because at least in the eyes of others, he was just a stranger.
Lowering his gaze, Fu Baizhou caught sight of Lin Zhuo’s reddened ears. His skin had the normal complexion of an East Asian, so a little blush wouldn’t usually be very noticeable, but whatever he was thinking about, he was blushing so brightly it was obvious at a glance.
Even his neck was dyed pink, making him utterly adorable.
His deep peach-blossom eyes narrowed slightly, and the corners of his lips curved into an imperceptible arc.
Unbeknownst to Lin Zhuo, his arm slowly wrapped around Lin Zhuo’s waist.
Lin Zhuo nearly cried out in surprise. Turning his head back, his soft, red, and moist lips parted slightly, saying, “Let go of me.”
His voice was very small, and one could only guess what he had said by reading his lips.
Fu Baizhou understood, tightening the strength in his arm.
Unable to withstand the force, Lin Zhuo’s waist bent forward. Since he couldn’t throw punches on a moving bus, he could only lower his head, find the right angle, and stomp hard right onto Fu Baizhou’s instep.
Fu Baizhou still didn’t let go, instead pressing against him with his body even more mischievously.
Just as Lin Zhuo was debating whether to step on him again, the bus driver suddenly slammed on the brakes, causing everyone on board to pitch forward uncontrollably before swaying back.
He was protected securely in Fu Baizhou’s arms and avoided any impact. When his head was about to bump against the glass, Fu Baizhou even used his hand to shield it in time.
When had Lin Zhuo ever experienced such treatment, especially being the one protected in the scenario?
His heart hammered wildly in his chest, and he clenched his fingers tightly.
In an instant, his impression of Fu Baizhou shifted, and he realized that his own attitude had been rather hostile, and he needed to change that.
Fu Baizhou had killed him once, but he had killed Fu Baizhou twice, so their initial grudges were cleared even.
Besides, even if Fu Baizhou was an unidentified biological entity, through this period of time getting along, he had gradually come to understand that Fu Baizhou’s nature wasn’t bad; he was even a bit silly, and as long as he was guided properly, he wouldn’t commit any major mistakes.
Lin Zhuo decided to let go of his inner prejudices.
After the bus rocked through about ten stops, Lin Zhuo heard that the next stop was theirs, so he told Fu Baizhou, “We’re getting off at the next stop.”
Fu Baizhou nodded in response.
There were far fewer people on the bus now, with just a few scattered individuals standing in the middle of the compartment.
Everyone else was holding a mobile phone, and no one paid attention to the slightly ambiguous pair of men on board.
The bus pulled into the station. Lin Zhuo signaled for Fu Baizhou to step aside, then stood by the door waiting for it to open.
The rain was still falling, pattering down onto the concrete ground, where puddles had already accumulated in spots of varying depths.
The moment he stepped out, a cool breeze hit him. Dressed lightly, Lin Zhuo felt the cold seep straight into his bone marrow.
According to the navigation app’s route, they still needed to transfer to another bus to reach the residential complex, and there were still five minutes before the next bus arrived.
The next moment, a jacket carrying body heat draped over Lin Zhuo’s shoulders.
Fu Baizhou was wearing a loose black sweater, with a medium-length collar that came up right to his Adam’s apple.
His skin had that pale look of someone who rarely saw sunlight, making the black sweater create a sharp, striking contrast.
“Aren’t you cold like this?” Lin Zhuo didn’t know if Fu Baizhou felt the cold or not, plus the guy wasn’t even human.
Disregarding the public setting entirely, Fu Baizhou reached out and took Lin Zhuo’s hand, saying, “A-Zhuo is cold.”
His hands were as broad and large as the rest of him, and an adult man like Lin Zhuo had his hand almost completely enveloped.
Pulling his hand out, Lin Zhuo took off the jacket and wanted to drape it back over Fu Baizhou, but the height difference between the two of them was simply too vast. In the end, he could only hand the outerwear back into his hands and say, “Your body isn’t fully healed yet, don’t go catching a cold again.”
Able to feel this awkward display of concern, Fu Baizhou didn’t push back and put the clothing back on.
By the time the two of them finished tossing about and finally got home, it was already two-thirty in the afternoon.
Having been caught in the rain, Lin Zhuo felt chilled all over, and only after taking a hot shower did he start feeling better.
He told Fu Baizhou, “You go wash up too, make sure you don’t catch a chill.”
Fu Baizhou was currently tidying up. Hearing Lin Zhuo tell him to take a shower, he reached behind his back and pulled off his upper garment in one motion.
He possessed a V-tapered proportion, and his abdominal muscles weren’t exaggeratedly bulky. His mermaid lines flowed smoothly, and his gray athletic pants hung low at his waistline, nipped in tightly at the hips like a sheathed thin blade, delivering an extreme visual impact.
Turning around, his back muscles were solid and powerful, looking far more robust than he had imagined.
Lin Zhuo yanked at his own collar and lowered his head.
Comparison really kills an item, and comparing people to people makes you want to die of frustration.