Lin Wang turned his head and took a sip of water. He could not hide the smile in his eyes as he said, very obediently, “Understood. I will call you next time.”
Chi Yuan raised his hand and scratched Lin Wang’s earlobe with the back of his fingers. When Lin Wang finished speaking, Chi Yuan hooked his finger and flicked it. The force was not heavy, but it still hurt a little.
The sensation of pain, in the time Lin Wang had spent with Chi Yuan, always carried an indescribable meaning.
If he were to elaborate, Lin Wang could not quite put it into words, but he subconsciously wanted to brush the feeling aside.
“No hands allowed, hey,” Lin Wang said with a laugh, blocking Chi Yuan’s hand. He was not in a hurry to coax him, his eyes glancing at the variety show projection on the screen. “Let’s chat later. We are almost finished watching this.”
The hand on his ear was withdrawn. Lin Wang thought that was the end of it, so he rested his eyes on the projection again.
“Brother,” Chi Yuan called him in a low voice.
“Hmm?” Just as Lin Wang was about to turn his head, Chi Yuan leaned over, grabbed his shoulder, and pushed him hard to the right.
The sofa was too soft to maintain balance. Lin Wang did not even have a chance to struggle before he fell backward into the sofa with his back to Chi Yuan, his left hand pulled behind him and pressed against his lower back. His kneeling lower legs were pinned down by Chi Yuan’s knees, restraining him as if he were catching a criminal.
It did not hurt, but he was unable to move.
Lin Wang twisted his arm and called out to him helplessly, “Don’t mess around. It hurts a little.”
Chi Yuan knelt on the sofa, his upper body straight as he looked down at Lin Wang. One hand gripped Lin Wang’s wrist, forcing him down so he could not sit up, while the other stretched out to grab a glass cup. Holding the rim of the cup, he tilted his head back and drank the remaining milk in a few gulps.
His throat made an indistinct gulping sound while swallowing. Lin Wang, with his face pressed into the sofa and unable to catch his breath, had to turn his head to the side. The light from the projection fell into his eyes, as if he were fantasizing about how Chi Yuan’s Adam’s apple was rolling up and down.
The next second, the cup struck the tile floor, making a harsh, shattering sound. “Crash.”
Lin Wang’s nerves tightened, and his lower legs moved uncontrollably. Chi Yuan did not give him half a chance, pressing down harder with his knees.
His arm was twisted until it ached, and the air entering his chest was diminishing as his body contorted. Besides the sound of his own increasingly heavy breathing, Lin Wang seemed to be experiencing an auditory hallucination, repeating the sound of the glass shattering in his ears.
Chi Yuan stroked the inside of Lin Wang’s wrist with his thumb, then leaned over, bowing his head close to Lin Wang’s neck. His lips brushed against Lin Wang’s pulsing carotid artery, feeling the warm blood flow through the thin layer of skin and blood vessels.
A low, hoarse whisper pressed tight against Lin Wang’s ear, asking softly, “Brother, where does it hurt?”
The skin that had been touched broke out in subtle shivers. Lin Wang rubbed his ear against the sofa as if trying to avoid it, then said in a hoarse voice, “Where else would it hurt? You are pinning me down. My arm hurts, and my leg hurts too.”
After saying this, he raised his free right hand and pushed against Chi Yuan’s waist, exaggerating, “Get up quickly. My arm is about to break.”
Chi Yuan easily grabbed his hand and pinned it to the side. With his eyes lowered, his emotions unreadable, he spoke very obediently, his tone even sounding a bit reflective. “I am sorry. I apologize.”
Lin Wang did not dare to accept an apology from Chi Yuan in this state; there was no telling how many ways he might find to torment him. He took a heavy breath, his back pressed against Chi Yuan’s chest, and coaxed, “No need to apologize. Just let me up.”
When Chi Yuan heard him, he pursed his lips and took a hard bite of Lin Wang’s neck. When he let go, he left a very deep mark. Lin Wang shuddered from the pain; his shoulder and the line of his spine ached, and his pinned lower legs were trembling on the sofa.
Chi Yuan kept his face against Lin Wang’s ear and said enigmatically, “Brother, the milk is gone, and there was no sugar in it.”
Lin Wang shifted his shoulders, his breathing unstable, and said without thinking, “I will make you a new one.”
The warm breath lingering by his neck slowly drifted away. The tip of his nose brushed over the tooth-shaped indentation, rubbing and pressing against the damaged skin.
Lin Wang swallowed his saliva. His shoulder was pulsing with a dull ache, and the pain ignited a fire inside his body, making him feel feverish and uncomfortable.
Chi Yuan was quiet for a few seconds. He gripped Lin Wang’s hand, his fingertips drilling between Lin Wang’s fingers until their fingers were interlaced, allowing his fingertips to easily graze Lin Wang’s palms. This made Lin Wang so itchy he wanted to hide but could not escape.
Only then did Chi Yuan lower his eyes, kiss the burning earlobe, and say playfully in a low voice, “Brother makes them really fast; it is already ready to drink.”
The urge Lin Wang had been trying to hide since a moment ago was discovered by Chi Yuan. He closed his eyes, as if he could feel Chi Yuan’s gaze looking down from behind him.
It was a mocking, teasing, and frivolous look that saw through him from top to bottom, turning his composed disguise into a shameful, clumsy joke.
The more he thought about it, the more he could not stop. Lin Wang simply buried his face in the sofa and said in a muffled voice, “Chi Yuan, let’s leave this matter in the past…”
Lin Wang’s neck was already burning red from embarrassment. Chi Yuan let go of one of his hands and turned to press his fingertips against the back of Lin Wang’s neck.
His long, narrow eyes glanced at the side table, casually stinging Lin Wang. “Did Brother already plan this earlier, which is why you took two glasses?”
As soon as Lin Wang’s hand regained its freedom, he braced himself against the sofa to get up, only to be pressed back down by Chi Yuan’s hand on his neck. He could only say, “I am not crazy. Don’t be reckless, okay.”
His voice stopped abruptly. Sweat seeped from his temples and ran into his eyes, stinging them painfully.
He did not know how much time had passed. The air felt humid and stifling, as if something significant had happened, but in reality, Chi Yuan was able to pull back at the edge of the cliff every time, leaving Lin Wang with infinite space and time to let his imagination run wild.
When Chi Yuan finally released Lin Wang’s wrist, Lin Wang was finally able to straighten his legs. His shoulders ached as if they were truly about to break, and he lay on the sofa, soaked in sweat, without moving for a long time.
After the faint sound of glass clinking against glass appeared, Lin Wang’s ear tips twitched. He sat up suddenly, as if electrocuted, and looked at Chi Yuan in shock. “You.”
Chi Yuan knocked on the glass with his fingertip with a normal expression. Ding, ding. His lips were deep red and congested, and after he wiped them roughly with his fingertips, they looked even more like they had been injured.
Lin Wang did not care about his pride anymore and reached out to pinch Chi Yuan’s chin to see if he was alright. Just as his brows furrowed, Chi Yuan suddenly licked the corner of his mouth and said hoarsely, “Not thirsty anymore.”
Lin Wang truly resisted the urge to crawl into a hole. It took a long time for him to find his voice, his face too hot to even look at. “…I will call you next time. I will call as many times as you want.”
Chi Yuan leaned back on the sofa in a leisurely manner, tilting his head back with a “Hmm.” He did not hide the curve of his lips at all.
This night, Lin Wang did not sleep well. It was late October, and the floor heating in the villa was making him dizzy, so he left the window open all night.
With the cold wind and hot air blowing against him, he woke up the next day seeing the ceiling spinning. It was not until he washed his face that he felt a bit better.
Lin Wang started feeling sleepy as soon as he got off the plane and into the car. He slept vaguely along the way and was only woken up by Xu Wenyang when they arrived.
“What did you two do last night instead of sleeping? You slept the whole way with your heads leaning against each other, brothers.” Xu Wenyang carried both of their bags off the car. He had said it casually, but the listener took it to heart, making Lin Wang feel embarrassed.
Thinking about it now, Lin Wang also felt that Chi Yuan had been too unruly yesterday; he was so young, he did not know where he had learned so many tricks.
He had been thinking about getting to know him slowly, step by step, but before the gentle stream of his long-term plan could even begin to flow, Chi Yuan had bypassed that step and started the floodgates.
The location for this variety show was in the northern grasslands. The weather had turned cool, and the lodging the production team prepared for them consisted of several yurts.
The guests first went into the largest yurt to chat and have dinner. With the cameras filming on the side, the eight people had plenty to catch up on after not seeing each other for two weeks. Lin Wang sat next to Chi Yuan, listening while eating.
Su Xi had also attended the charity gala Chi Yuan went to. When the two of them were talking, Chi Yuan glanced at Lin Wang.
Lin Wang sighed. He felt a bit like laughing again, so he lowered his head to focus on eating, pretending he had not seen anything.
As they talked about food, Liu Linjia said, “I just heard Director Lu say there will be a bonfire and barbecue tomorrow night.”
“Barbecue is good,” Tao Yunqing said, swallowing the mutton in her mouth hard and stretching her arm to reach for some water. “I hope Director Lu prepares plenty of milk tea for us; it is too choking.”
Lin Wang handed over his own unopened bottle of mineral water. Tao Yunqing twisted it open, took a big gulp, and said, “Thanks, Brother Lin!”
Lin Wang said it was nothing, but he was also feeling a bit thirsty from eating. He picked up his water cup from the side, but hesitated unnaturally before bringing it to his mouth, and put it down again after two seconds.
He did not take a single sip.
After that, the group chatted for a long time. The sky was visibly darkening, and Director Lu told them to go out for a walk on the grassland to enjoy the night view. The cameras filmed them in 360 degrees.
Lin Wang had watched the edited variety show videos, so he knew that even if he did not say anything, the post-production could cut it to create a quiet, silent effect. He spent time with Chi Yuan in the most comfortable way, walking forward with their shoulders brushing against each other, both of them rarely speaking.
Lin Wang was quite capable of enduring hardship; he could tolerate thirst and heat very well. He held out until night, and only when the livestream ended and Director Lu let them go back to the yurts to rest did he drink his first sip of water.
Chi Yuan sat on the side, watching him. When Lin Wang turned his head, Chi Yuan pursed his lips meaningfully.
Lin Wang nearly spat out his water, coughing and laughing while scolding him a few times as a “young pup.”
Seeing that it was ten o’clock, the two of them finished showering and prepared to sleep.
As Lin Wang lay down, he saw Chi Yuan take an opaque bottle out of his bag and pour out a few gummy-like things to eat.
Lin Wang asked, “What are you eating? Melatonin?”
He used to have friends around him who suffered from insomnia. It was not serious enough to require prescription medicine, so they would just take that stuff. They had even wanted Lin Wang to taste it, claiming it was sweet.
Lin Wang had not eaten it. It was not good for anything, so why take it if you were not sick?
Chi Yuan took a sip of water. “Yeah, Xu Wenyang bought it.”
They were sleeping on floor mats in the yurt. Lin Wang felt it was even softer than a bed, but Chi Yuan said, “It is uncomfortable, I cannot fall asleep.”
Lin Wang was still looking at the bottle. “What does the instruction manual say? Isn’t five or six at a time a bit too much?”
Chi Yuan threw the bottle into Lin Wang’s lap for him to see for himself. Lin Wang picked it up and glanced at it, his brows furrowing immediately. “They say to take at most two.”
Chi Yuan curled the corners of his mouth like he was being unreasonable. “Who is ‘they’?”
Lin Wang did not understand medicine either, and fearing he might eat enough to cause a problem, he quickly went online to search if taking too much melatonin was okay. The doctor’s replies varied, with some saying it damaged the liver, some saying it damaged the kidneys, and others suggesting drinking plenty of water to flush out the toxins. He could not tell which was real.
Only a very small lamp was lit in the yurt. Lin Wang rubbed his eyes, feeling that he had not read as many books as Chi Yuan and was not confident in his knowledge in this area, so he held out his phone to show him. “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere? Do you need to go to the hospital?”
Chi Yuan supported his chin with his hand, looked down, and swiped a few times on the screen. He picked out a comment saying “nothing to worry about” from the ones about body damage and showed it to Lin Wang.
He said indifferently, “Believe this. Let’s sleep.”