The bathroom was filled with steam. Wu Hui stopped halfway through his shower and turned off the faucet. “What is it, Senior?”
Outside the unlocked bathroom door, a blurry silhouette appeared. The person outside said, “I want to take a shower.”
Wu Hui replied patiently, “I am almost done. Please wait a moment.”
The person outside fell silent for a moment before saying, “I am uncomfortable. I cannot wait.”
Wu Hui turned the shower pressure down and slowly rinsed his arms. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, but his voice sounded conflicted. “Why are you uncomfortable again? But I have not finished yet.”
Pei Huaiye said, “I can shower with you.”
“Shower together?” Wu Hui replied. “Is that not too intimate?”
Their contract included all forms of intimate contact, so showering together was naturally not a big deal. As the warm water flowed over his arms, Wu Hui seemed to yield. “Alright.”
Before he could finish his sentence, the bathroom door was pushed open. Pei Huaiye walked in fully undressed and hugged him from behind without a word. The bathroom floor was slippery, and Wu Hui almost lost his footing, steadying himself against the wall and causing the showerhead to drop. He turned his head, wet strands of hair clinging to his fair cheeks.
“Why do I get the feeling that you are not suffering from your usual affliction, Senior?”
Pei Huaiye buried his head against the back of Wu Hui’s neck, breathing like a feverish addict, his breath scorching. “We are not intimate enough,” he said in a deep voice.
Wu Hui could not escape. “What kind of intimacy do you want?”
The bathroom was filled with the scent of body wash—the fragrance Wu Hui always carried, lingering and intoxicating, yet carrying a certain aggression. It was a danger that made one want to indulge and sink deeper.
Wu Hui’s soft voice emerged. “Was the reason you sought me out in the beginning not to find solace during your episodes? We eat, sleep, and live together. We are together whenever we are not in class. We are more intimate than anyone else, so how is that not enough?”
Pei Huaiye grabbed his chin. “You think this is enough?”
Wu Hui’s eyes were glistening. “What I think does not matter.” He turned around and hooked his arms around Pei Huaiye’s neck. “Tell me, Senior.”
Pei Huaiye leaned down and kissed him. “You asked me to say it, but you exposed yourself in the process.”
“Don’t.”
More than half an hour later, Pei Huaiye walked out wrapping a bath towel around Wu Hui.
“You should find someone else if you have such needs, Senior,” Wu Hui grumbled.
Pei Huaiye placed him on the bed. “Who else would I look for? I have one hidden in my room.”
The physiological tears on Wu Hui’s eyelashes had not yet dried, and the corners of his eyes were red, as if he had been subjected to something merciless. “I have figured it out,” he said, his eyes glinting with mischief. “Do you really enjoy hearing me call you ‘brother’?”
“Do you not enjoy it too?” Pei Huaiye did not deny it. “You were even more excited than I imagined.”
Wu Hui’s ears turned redder, and he pulled the quilt over himself. “You should put some clothes on.”
Pei Huaiye went to get dressed. When he returned, he brought a hairdryer to dry Wu Hui’s hair. Wu Hui sat on the bed with his back to him, and Pei Huaiye’s fingers combed through his soft locks. After a semester, his hair had grown longer. He could tie it up, but since it was warmer to leave it down in winter, he had not bothered.
After drying his hair, Pei Huaiye noticed he was sleepy and turned off the dryer. “Let us sleep. We have both been tired lately.”
It was easy to feel exhausted after indulging. Sleepiness washed over Wu Hui, and he asked, “Are you not sleeping?”
“I need to make a phone call. I will be back to accompany you soon.”
Wu Hui had moved in to help Pei Huaiye through his episodes, but at some point, it had become a routine where Pei Huaiye had to accompany him to sleep every night.
Old Man Pei was nearly asleep when he received the call. “Did you get the recording I sent you? You should know by now what kind of person that Chu Yu is.”
Pei Huaiye stood on the balcony. “Do not go looking for him ever again.”
“You!” Old Man Pei said, “I am your own grandfather. Do you think I would harm you? Do not blame me for being strict; only when you marry Tanyi can I be at ease.”
Pei Huaiye’s tone was mocking. “What kind of peace of mind are you seeking?”
Old Man Pei hoped for a qualified heir for the Pei family. He did not care that his power had been seized, but even while retired, he still wanted to interfere in matters of marriage. He was the classic type who would rather see others miserable than let them have what he could not.
“I said, do not go looking for him again.”
Pei Huaiye rarely spoke much with his grandfather. Even though he was still young, he already displayed a more ruthless heart than his father. His tone was flat, but the underlying warning made a chill run down Old Man Pei’s spine.
“That is, if you still want to be buried next to your first love.”
As people grow old, they love to reminisce about the past. People and things they could not obtain in their youth become like a cinnabar mole carved into the bottom of their hearts. To highlight their sentimentality and devotion, they often perform acts of redemption and compensation in the name of righteousness.
Old Man Pei wanted to be buried with his first love, and Pei Huaiye’s threat proved highly effective. No one came to bother Wu Hui again.
With only a few days left before the final exams, Wu Hui remained unhurried. He logged into the game to check in for his client and noticed that his friend, Jiang Liexing, had clocked sixteen hours of gameplay yesterday. He was currently online.
[Jiang Liexing] invited you to join the team.
Aside from them, there were two other classmates from the same major. Wu Hui accepted and turned on his microphone. “Who was it that said they were going to the library to study?”
Jiang Liexing sounded serious. “I have been diagnosed.”
Wu Hui replied, “Then do you want to go to the Los Angeles First People’s Hospital for treatment?”
“Jiang Liexing said, “I have a foot fetish; I love hugging the Buddha’s feet at the last minute.”
Wu Hui understood these college students very well. “That is the talk of a quack doctor. It is the last few days; you probably will not reach the Buddha’s feet. You likely have an exhibitionist fetish; you just like to take your exams naked.”
Jian Qiu: “Our group is almost filled with college students. Their resentment is heavier than a ghost’s.”
Jian Qiu: “It will be better after the next mission.”
Wu Hui: “What is the next mission?”
Jian Qiu: “Acting as a temporary worker.”
The resentment of workers was no less than that of college students. For Wu Hui, it did not matter. Since coming to the Spacetime Alliance, he had visited many worlds and lived many different lives. He found most of them bearable. To him, it had not yet reached a point where he could not tolerate it.
“Who has an exhibitionist fetish?” Pei Huaiye asked, having heard the voice as he walked over. “Do not associate with people who have such habits.”
Jiang Liexing remained silent.
Wu Hui spun his pen. “Before you talk about others, Senior, should you not reflect on yourself?”
Pei Huaiye never liked wearing clothes to bed. Even if he started the night wearing them, they would be gone by the time he woke up. Sometimes he slept with his upper body bare, and sometimes he was completely naked, wearing only boxer shorts. Wu Hui could not escape it.
“If you do not wear clothes to sleep next time, I will…”
Pei Huaiye remained unrepentant. “Will what? Even if I wear them, I will just take them off anyway.”
Wu Hui said nothing.
He truly did not know when Pei Huaiye took his clothes off. It was as if it were programmed into him.
Jiang Liexing shouted, “That is enough! I said that is enough! Chu Yu, your microphone is on!”