The dim yellow lighting dispelled the darkness, casting a warm glow over the surroundings.
Bo Chengjing lay on his side in bed, propping himself up on one elbow as he looked at Shen Zhinian.
He had no idea why Shen Zhinian had suddenly asked such a question.
“Why ask this all of a sudden?” he inquired.
Squatting beside the bed, Shen Zhinian remained silent, simply staring at him.
He looked just like an aggrieved, innocent little wolf cub.
When he refused to speak, Bo Chengjing could only guess. Pondering the events of the daytime, he asked, “Did Shen Tiancheng say something to you?”
Shen Zhinian nodded.
Bo Chengjing smiled. “Then what do you think?”
“I don’t know,” Shen Zhinian replied, sinking down to sit on the carpet beside the bed.
Bo Chengjing gestured for him to continue.
After a moment of thought, Shen Zhinian said, “You’re very good to me, and you’re very good to Xia Zhichu too. You treat us like family.”
“Mhm,” Bo Chengjing acknowledged.
“You take care of everything for us,” Shen Zhinian continued. “You’re a great older brother, and you’re our pillar of support.”
“Mhm,” Bo Chengjing responded again.
“If you have a family of your own, a wife, and children, you’ll definitely treat them very, very well,” Shen Zhinian said. “And that kind of care will likely surpass the care you give us.”
“Why?” Bo Chengjing asked.
“Because they’ll be your wife and your children,” Shen Zhinian said. “It’s different from us. Their relationship with you is much more intimate, and the emotional bond is inherently different. The person you choose to marry will definitely be someone you truly love, or you wouldn’t take that step into marriage.”
Bo Chengjing looked at him in silence.
The look in his eyes drifted far away, as though he were lost in thought.
Lost in his own inner turmoil, Shen Zhinian failed to notice Bo Chengjing’s expression.
He pressed on: “Someone you love deeply, someone who is also your closest confidant, you’ll pour even more love into them, put them at the center of your world, and cherish and pamper them all the more. So, will you end up neglecting us by then?”
Pulling his thoughts back, Bo Chengjing met Shen Zhinian’s gaze.
As they locked eyes for a moment, Bo Chengjing said, “Zhinian, do you know that these are two entirely different kinds of feelings?”
“Of course I know. I’m not an idiot,” Shen Zhinian retorted. “If you have a wife, what you share is romantic love, whereas what we have is familial love, we’re family.”
Bo Chengjing’s eyelashes fluttered ever so slightly. “You really are a little fool.”
Frowning, Shen Zhinian glared at him, extremely displeased with that evaluation.
Noticing his expression, Bo Chengjing paused before saying, “Since they’re two different kinds of feelings, what is there to compare? My feelings for you won’t be taken away and given to someone else.”
Shen Zhinian fell silent once more.
Bo Chengjing didn’t speak either.
After a quiet moment, Shen Zhinian asked, “Are you telling the truth?”
“Mhm,” Bo Chengjing said.
Shen Zhinian stared at him a little longer. “What if you break your promise?”
“I won’t break my promise,” Bo Chengjing said, looking straight into his eyes. “Never.”
Shen Zhinian held his gaze, listening to his voice, yet the restless anxiety inside his heart failed to be soothed.
He still felt like Bo Chengjing would eventually be taken away.
Seeing that his words offered no comfort, Bo Chengjing said, “Zhinian, why are you feeling anxious over something that hasn’t even happened?”
“But it’s bound to happen eventually,” Shen Zhinian murmured.
Bo Chengjing’s lips parted slightly as if he wanted to say something, but he held back.
“Everyone ends up getting married and having kids,” Shen Zhinian muttered.
Watching him, Bo Chengjing thought he looked just like a dejected, oversized dog, a dog that had shed all its defensive edge.
Rubbing his fingertips together, Bo Chengjing asked, “What about you?”
“What about me?” Shen Zhinian asked.
“Getting married and having children,” Bo Chengjing said.
Shen Zhinian froze.
Bo Chengjing continued, “You’ll get married and have kids too. You’ll also meet someone you love very, very much, and you’ll pour your entire heart into them. That person will love you wholeheartedly in return, and by then, you probably won’t need my care anymore. Someone else will take over the role of providing the care and pampering you need.”
Hearing those words, Shen Zhinian felt a rush of internal defiance, completely failing to notice why Bo Chengjing had paused mid-sentence.
He blurted out, “No way!”
“What’s out of the question?” Bo Chengjing’s tone remained gentle.
That it was impossible for him not to need his care.
Yet the words died on his lips before he could actually say them.
He felt like that was what he ought to say, but all at once, uttering those words felt somehow wrong.
Yet he couldn’t pin down exactly what was wrong about it.
If he didn’t say that, the only alternative left was the impossibility of him ever marrying and having children.
But why?
Why wouldn’t he ever marry or have children?
Waiting a moment and seeing that he stayed quiet, Bo Chengjing reached out and gave his head a gentle tap. “Stop overthinking things that haven’t happened yet. Go back to your room and sleep.”
Shen Zhinian didn’t move.
Bo Chengjing warned, “Waiting for me to discipline you?”
Shen Zhinian still didn’t move.
“Hurry up,” Bo Chengjing urged again.
Reluctantly, Shen Zhinian stood up.
He braced his hands against the bed to push himself up.
As he rose, he cast a glance toward Bo Chengjing.
Bo Chengjing was lying on his side on the bed, propping his upper body up with one elbow.
He was wearing a bathrobe, and the belt wasn’t tied very tightly, it was somewhat loose.
Bending over to stand, Shen Zhinian happened to glance down and caught sight of a large expanse of bare skin exposed at Bo Chengjing’s chest, stretching down just a bit further to reveal his abdominal muscles.
The muscle lines were aesthetically striking, powerful yet not overexaggerated, simply gorgeous.
Under the warm yellow light, the fairness and smoothness of his skin were practically palpable.
Shen Zhinian couldn’t help lingering for a couple of extra seconds before finally straightening his posture.
Lifting his eyes, Bo Chengjing instructed, “Go back to sleep.”
Casting one last look at him without a word, Shen Zhinian turned and walked out of the room.
Listening to the sound of the door closing behind him, Bo Chengjing stared off aimlessly into space, lost in thought.
After a good long while, he let out a soft sigh, sat upright, retied the loosened belt of his bathrobe, and lay back down in bed.
Back in his own room, Shen Zhinian didn’t sleep either.
Lying in bed, he kept turning Bo Chengjing’s question over and over in his mind.
Before coming over tonight, his sole concern had been what he should do after Bo Chengjing got married.
Now, lying in bed, his mind was consumed by why he had frozen up when answering Bo Chengjing’s question.
After mulling it over for practically the entire night, Shen Zhinian finally drifted off to sleep just as a sliver of light appeared on the horizon.
Yet barely two hours later, he was startled awake by a nightmare.
Shen Zhinian bolted upright in bed, thin beads of sweat trickling down his neck, his chest heaving heavily as his sharp eyes stared fiercely at a random spot on the bed.
His eyes were narrow and long, with deep, narrow double eyelids that created a slight heavy-browed gaze. When he lowered his head slightly, his aggressive aura was so intense that it made others afraid to meet his eyes.
After a long moment, he closed his eyes, swallowed hard, and caught the scent of his own pheromones.
The room, saturated with pheromones, constantly reminded him of what he had dreamed about.
And what shocked him to the core was that the person in his dream had been Bo Chengjing.
Drawing his knees up, Shen Zhinian raised his hands to bury his face.
How could I have dreamed of Bo Chengjing?