Cen Jin had Xzianus drop him off directly, though he didn’t let him drive all the way to the house, having him stop a hundred meters away instead.
Since Xzianus possessed teleportation abilities and could carry others with him, Cen Jin had essentially repurposed him as a personal chauffeur.
This was also one of the conditions of their collaboration: Xzianus had to appear promptly whenever Cen Jin required him.
Sounds rather like he’s your dog.
The voice in Cen Jin’s head dryly chimed in with a deadpan remark.
Pushing open the front door, he was greeted by the rich aroma of a freshly prepared meal.
Zelan was sitting on the living room sofa. The moment Cen Jin stepped inside, his gaze locked directly onto him.
The sight of Zelan instantly brought the blood bag from his pocket to mind.
Instinctively, his hand brushed against his pocket, it was empty.
It seemed Xzianus must have taken it.
“You didn’t come back at noon. Where did you go?”
Zelan’s eyes fixed unwaveringly on Cen Jin as he removed his shoes, tracking down from his arched waist to the slightly snagged stockings.
With a cold flash in his gaze, Zelan’s look snapped up to meet Cen Jin’s face.
“At school.”
Cen Jin lingered for a moment in the foyer, maintaining that distance as he locked eyes with Zelan.
What is his deal…?
A wave of unease crept over him.
You need to act “naughty” a bit more naturally.
Even the voice inside his head felt compelled to interject, given that the lie was obvious enough to be seen through at a glance.
The housekeeper, busy bustling about in the kitchen, broke the tense deadlock upon spotting Cen Jin’s return.
“Second Young Master, you’re back.”
“Come, dinner is ready. Let’s eat.”
The massive dining table seated only Cen Jin and Zelan. Without looking up, Zelan casually inquired:
“Did you drink it?”
Assuming he was referring to the blood bag, Cen Jin answered, “I drank it.”
“Mn.”
Silence descended upon them once more.
Unable to bear the stifling atmosphere any longer, Cen Jin began frantically transferring food onto his plate, nibbling at it in tiny, deliberate bites.
In truth, he had zero appetite; ever since experiencing the taste of human blood, his desire for regular human food had plummeted dramatically.
Thus, he ate at a glacial pace, as though lingering longer at the table might trick others into thinking he had consumed a hearty meal.
Zelan’s gaze drifted toward Cen Jin intermittently, predatory like a serpent, sending a prickle of chill through every spot it touched.
Feigning total ignorance of Zelan’s scrutiny, Cen Jin finally couldn’t stand the pressure a moment longer and threw a quick, covert glance across the table.
Oddly enough, Zelan wasn’t even looking at him.
Feeling like he was sitting on a bed of nails, Cen Jin kept restlessly shifting his posture, causing the soft cushion beneath him to slide back and forth with his restless waist.
He waited anxiously for Zelan to finish his meal.
Catching Zelan setting down his chopsticks out of the corner of his eye, Cen Jin watched him head upstairs, waiting until the footsteps faded entirely before rising to retreat to his own room.
Tossing his schoolbag onto the bed, Cen Jin opened the wardrobe to pull out a change of clothes for a shower.
Noticing that the clothes and pants he had worn yesterday had been washed, dried, and neatly hung back up in the closet, he figured the housekeeper must have taken care of them.
“Are you seriously not going to tell me how I managed to take a shower last night?”
You’ll find out tonight.
The mysterious voice decided to play guessing games with him again.
Cen Jin gave a disgruntled pout.
Speaking with such deliberate mystery made it sound like they were intentionally trying to terrify him.
I don’t have that kind of morbid sense of humor. It’s just that even if I told you, you wouldn’t necessarily believe it, so you might as well see it for yourself.
You’ll find out tonight.
A sudden chill crawled up Cen Jin’s spine. Shivering involuntarily, he broke into a small jog toward the terrace to pull the sliding glass door shut before firmly engaging the latch.
Though he lacked any solid clues, his sixth sense whispered that the vampire who had bitten his neck was the exact same one who gave him a bath at night.
“Am I right?” Lifting his chin, Cen Jin addressed a random patch of empty air.
You’ll find out tonight, the voice echoed, repeating the exact same phrase.
A wave of melancholy washed over him. He seriously doubted a locked balcony door could stop a vampire.
Standing in the center of his bedroom and sweeping his gaze around the room, he sprinted over to lock his bedroom door as well.
To be extra thorough, he dragged a single-person sofa over to barricade the back of the door.
Only after ensuring all precautions were met did Cen Jin finally feel secure enough to grab fresh clothes from the wardrobe and head toward the bathroom.
Curling his fingers, he sorted through the neatly folded undergarments in search of something slightly less scandalous.
He bypassed all the hollow, lace-patterned options, pulling out several pairs of flimsy, thin fabrics that looked conservative at first glance only to discover a rather significant design flaw.
Why did every single one of these look brand new?
Surely they hadn’t been worn just once and immediately discarded?
He could have simply asked the housekeeper who did the laundry, but after a moment of hesitation, Cen Jin decided against it.
Doing so would practically advertise that wearing styles like this came with some peculiar personal hobby of his.
At that realization, a blush crept up his neck once more.
Forget agonizing over it, this one will do!
Clutching a strip of white cotton fabric, he swiftly averted his gaze and trotted off toward the bathroom.
He stripped off his school uniform and socks, tossing them into the laundry hamper. When he reached for his last undergarment, the silk ties were so impossibly fine and slick that a gentle tug caused the ribbon knot to unravel instantly.
Clutching one string tightly, Cen Jin hurriedly tossed the tiny scrap of fabric right on top of the laundry basket. His flustered, mortified expression made it look as though he were handling someone else’s contraband rather than his own clothes.
A burning flush crawled up his shoulders and neck. Biting his lip, he forced himself not to look at the embarrassing garment, though his peripheral vision kept darting back toward it anyway.
Nibbling the full curve of his lower lip, he bent down in a fit of flustered irritation to scoop up the clothing items resting inside the laundry basket, piling them high on top to thoroughly bury the underwear.
Mindful of the potential hidden danger and the stinging pain whenever his scraped hands and feet came into contact with water, Cen Jin accelerated his shower routine significantly.
In the end, he merely gave himself a hasty rubdown with a towel before pulling on his pajamas.
The sleepwear consisted of a long-sleeved, long-legged set; though thin, it covered his limbs completely, finally affording him a semblance of safety.
The collar was cut a bit low, however, leaving half of his collarbones exposed even when buttoned up to the very top.
Damp strands of hair clung to the nape of his neck, letting water droplets slide down the tips to leave faint, short damp trails across the moisture-absorbent fabric of his pajamas.
His body not fully dried, a layer of lingering mist clung to his skin. Once it soaked into the sleepwear, the thin fabric plastered itself flat against his frame.
After washing his face, his skin looked clear and translucent. Having accidentally splashed a bit of water into his eyes, he was busy wiping his face with his sleeve as he pushed open the bathroom door to step outside.
Blinking away the wetness, he failed to notice the figure standing right outside the threshold until he walked straight into them.
Cen Jin’s reflexes kicked in instantly. Before he could process what was happening, his heart leaped into his throat like a blaring alarm bell, startling him so badly that he spun around and bolted straight back into the bathroom.
Whoever stood outside was clearly prepared; right as Cen Jin attempted to turn away, an arm shot out and swept him back into an embrace.
Due to the lack of restraint in the movement, Cen Jin’s side banged squarely against the man’s solid chest.
A muffled groan slipped past the right side of Cen Jin’s ear. Though the sound felt vaguely familiar, he had zero mental bandwidth to trace whose voice it belonged to at the moment. Locked tightly within the stranger’s arms, he struggled furiously without stopping.
Extending his arms forward, his hands clawed against the doorframe while the intensity of his frantic twisting wrung tiny, animalistic whimpers from the depths of his throat.
“Let go of me…”
Tightening his voice, Xzianus rasped, “It’s just me.”
One of Cen Jin’s hands remained hooked over the doorframe while the other batted weakly at Xzianus’s arm.
Having failed to recognize the voice right away, he gradually calmed down upon realizing the person posed no active threat to him.
Glancing back over his shoulder, he spotted Xzianus—though the realization did precisely zero to lower his guard.
“I’ll let you go, just stop screaming.”
Despite saying that, Xzianus showed no immediate intention of releasing him.
Once Cen Jin stopped thrashing, he found himself passively cradled against the man’s side. Through the thin layers of their clothing, he could vividly feel the steady rise and fall of the other’s chest.
The lingering body heat from his recent shower hadn’t faded yet, and the milky scent of his body wash mingling with the natural, alluring sweetness humming through his blood charged straight into Xzianus’s senses.
Unconsciously tightening his grip around the waist, Xzianus lowered his head, pressing his nose firmly against the sensitive skin right behind Cen Jin’s ear and inhaling deeply.
A shiver ran down the back of Cen Jin’s neck as his shoulders hunched upward in reflex.
“What are you sniffing me for?!”
Struggling again, he wrenched his torso away toward the opposite side.
Xzianus felt every single movement of the boy pressed against him with crystalline clarity; even the sudden tremor rippled directly through their touching frames into his own body.
Gripping Cen Jin by the upper arm with a single hand that easily spanned the entire circumference, he noted that the arm wasn’t merely skin and bones.
The soft flesh felt pleasantly warm and yielding against his palm, prompting Xzianus to give the arm another firm, uncontrolled squeeze.
The sensation sent wave after wave of sensitive tingles rolling over Cen Jin, his voice trembling uncontrollably as he protested:
“Ng… Let me go!”
A sudden wave of softness melted Xzianus’s resolve. As his fingers loosened, Cen Jin broke away like a freed fish, shoving the obstructing arm aside to dive back into the bathroom and slam the door shut, locking Xzianus outside.
Staring at the wood paneling, Xzianus blinked in bewilderment before resting a hand against the doorframe with a helpless chuckle.
“Why are you so easily spooked?”
The deep, velvety voice filtered clearly through the barrier of the bathroom door, carrying the faint, repressed trace of a smile.
Leaning his back heavily against the door, Cen Jin mentally equated Xzianus with the frustrating pervert from the previous night.
Lowering his head to stare at the healing scabs forming over his palms, a sour ache pricked at the bridge of his nose.
He instantly regretted agreeing to partner up with Xzianus; no matter how he looked at it, Xzianus was reaping all the benefits while he was getting the short end of the stick.
Why didn’t you warn me? If you had given me a heads-up, I never would have teamed up with him in the first place.
Unloading all his pent-up frustration, Cen Jin directed a string of complaints straight at the voice in his head.
“Hello?”
“What are you hiding for? You trampled all over my bed earlier, so I don’t have a place to sleep tonight, you’re obligated to put me up.”
“Did you hear me?”
“Cen Jin? Cen-cen?”
“Seriously not coming out?”
“If you don’t come out, I’m coming in.”
Perhaps realizing how bizarre and stalker-ish his behavior sounded, Xzianus settled for giving the doorknob a symbolic twist or two before stopping.
Ignoring him entirely, Cen Jin lowered his head to pick at a scab softened and loosened by the moisture, planning to wait until Xzianus finally got bored and left.
After a brief wait during which no further sounds came from the hallway, Cen Jin crept forward on tiptoe, turning to press his cheek flat against the door panel.
Certain that all was quiet, he turned the handle, cracked the door open by a narrow sliver, and peeked a single eye outside.
Left: nobody. Right: nobody either.
He tilted his head upward: nobody on the ceiling, either.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Cen Jin started to straighten up when a massive shadow abruptly materialized out of thin air, casting a dark pall over the door right in front of him.
At the exact same time, a rich, intoxicating wave of blood-scent drifted in from behind.
Cen Jin’s eyes widened in sheer horror
“Ah!”