Li Yingxue fumbled slightly before actively slipping his hand into Lu Yun’s palm. His cool fingertips lightly hooked around the other man’s warm fingers, signaling that he wanted to be led.
Lu Yun’s fingers twitched slightly. His thumb subconsciously brushed over the hand in his grip—soft, almost boneless. The thought flashed through his mind before he abruptly snapped back to himself, irritated by his own momentary distraction. He immediately turned his face away with a dark expression, staring straight ahead without looking at him.
Li Yingxue walked very slowly. For Lu Yun, who was used to long strides and fast movement, it was nothing short of torture—he felt increasingly constrained, as if all his strength had nowhere to go.
Not long after they started, fine beads of sweat had already formed on Li Yingxue’s smooth forehead. His breathing grew noticeably uneven, his chest rising and falling slightly.
Lu Yun’s attention kept drifting toward him. He could clearly hear the increasingly ragged breaths beside him, and his irritation inexplicably deepened.
He himself couldn’t quite understand where this irritation came from. This delicate, pampered person—who had previously been overly dependent, insisting on being held when tired, fed when hungry, and clinging to him at night just to fall asleep, acting as if he couldn’t survive without him—was now stubbornly forcing himself to endure it. Even after walking so far, he still refused to say he was tired or couldn’t go on.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Yun glanced over.
Li Yingxue’s already pale face had been flushed faintly from the heat and exertion, like white jade tinted with rouge.
His light-colored lips, softened by heat and breathing, had turned a delicate pink. Against his refined features, it created a breathtakingly fragile beauty.
Anyone with eyes could see he was forcing himself. Yet Lu Yun still didn’t understand what exactly he was trying to prove.
Of course, Li Yingxue had no idea what Lu Yun was thinking. He was only miserably worrying that without the car, he didn’t know how far his broken body could last.
He just hoped Lu Yun wouldn’t find him too slow or too troublesome and abandon him halfway. Right now, even Lu Yun’s slowed pace was something he was barely managing to keep up with, biting down on the soreness in his legs just to avoid becoming more of a burden.
In a moment of distraction, his leg suddenly gave out and he tripped over himself. Instinctively, he cried out softly and grabbed tightly onto Lu Yun’s arm, barely managing to steady himself before falling.
Fortunately… he didn’t fall.
Breathing unsteadily, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a trembling hand. The daytime heat was noticeably worse than before, and the stifling air made it hard for someone like him—who almost never exercised—to breathe.
Just as he was about to adjust his breathing and continue walking, he suddenly realized something was wrong. Lu Yun had stopped.
“Darling, why aren’t we moving?” he asked, confused.
Lu Yun did not respond immediately. His dark eyes fixed on Li Yingxue’s flushed, sweat-dampened face, especially the small red mole under his left eye, as if trying to see through something.
Uneasy, Li Yingxue tilted his head and took a small step closer. “Darling… what’s wrong?”
“You’re too slow,” Lu Yun blurted out, still staring at the red mole.
Li Yingxue immediately understood—he was being disliked for being slow.
His eyelashes fluttered rapidly, and a pitiful expression instantly appeared on his face. His voice dropped. “I… I’m sorry.”
As soon as he said it, Lu Yun himself froze for a moment. A trace of annoyance crossed his expression as he turned his head away and closed his eyes, as if suppressing something.
After a moment of silence, he wordlessly adjusted his backpack to the front of his chest, then crouched down in front of him. His voice was lower than before. “Get on. I’ll carry you.”
Still lost in thought, Li Yingxue finally caught onto the source of his earlier sense of inconsistency. The coldness and occasional impatience in Lu Yun’s behavior did not match the image of a deeply in-love boyfriend. That contradiction confused him greatly.
He was so distracted that he only reacted after a beat. “Ah?”
“I said, I’ll carry you,” Lu Yun repeated flatly.
Li Yingxue lowered his head and tentatively reached out with his foot, only to feel Lu Yun’s solid back. He quickly shook his head. “No need, Darling… I can walk faster. I won’t hold you back.”
Lu Yun didn’t bother arguing further.
He simply reached back, hooked his arm around Li Yingxue’s lower legs, and pulled. In an instant, Li Yingxue let out a small startled sound and lost his balance, falling forward onto his back.
“Ah!” he exclaimed, hurriedly wrapping his arms around Lu Yun’s neck.
Lu Yun stood up smoothly, even bouncing him slightly to adjust his position.
It was exactly like this… as Li Yingxue lay on his back, that strange feeling in his heart grew even stronger.
Lu Yun’s words, his tone—cold and impatient. Yet his actions were entirely consistent with someone who deeply cared, even going so far as to risk danger to bring him back from the forest.
This extreme contradiction left Li Yingxue completely puzzled.
Maybe… this was what people meant by being tsundere—cold on the outside but soft inside? Maybe he was overthinking it, and Lu Yun was simply bad at expressing himself?
He was genuinely exhausted. Once his body made contact with Lu Yun’s warm and steady back, his tense nerves relaxed.
Softly resting his chin on Lu Yun’s shoulder, he couldn’t help leaning closer to his ear.
“Darling… am I heavy?”
“You are,” Lu Yun said.
Li Yingxue immediately tensed and started struggling to slide down. “Th-then put me down. I can walk…”
But Lu Yun held him firmly in place and continued walking at a steady pace, expression unchanged. In his mind, however, he thought: light as a feather—he could barely feel him at all. No wonder he couldn’t walk far without looking like he was about to collapse.
Feeling the movement on his back, he added flatly, “I’m lying. You’re not heavy.”
With that, he continued forward at a brisk pace, carrying him securely with one arm supporting his legs.
Lying on his back, Li Yingxue listened to the steady heartbeat and the sound of the wind. His chaotic thoughts were gradually swallowed by exhaustion, leaving only a faint sense of temporary safety.