Lin Qing’an thought to himself that it really was like speaking of Cao Cao, and wondered what this particular Cao Cao had come here to do.
With his heart feeling as sweet as honey, Lin Qing’an greeted him with a smile.
“Why are you here?” Lin Qing’an’s gaze followed Xie Tingchuan closely as he moved, his eyes and brows brimming with happiness.
The very first thing Xie Tingchuan noticed was the crutches beside Lin Qing’an and the cast on his foot. Having assumed it was only a minor sprain, he hadn’t expected it to be this severe.
With a look of concern, Xie Tingchuan asked, “What did the doctor say?”
“It’s nothing major,” Lin Qing’an replied with a smile, giving the cast a light, forceful pat. “Just need to rest and recover for two or three weeks. The cast just looks a bit frightening.”
Lin Qing’an spoke so casually, completely forgetting who the person shedding tears at the hospital had been.
“Mhm.” Xie Tingchuan glanced sideways at the suitcase nearby and asked, “Are you getting ready to go home?”
“Yeah,” Lin Qing’an smiled. “A blessing in disguise, I don’t have to go to school for the remaining week, and since staying here isn’t very convenient, I’m heading home early to recuperate.”
“Going home is fine too.”
After offering a few brief words of concern, Xie Tingchuan announced his departure.
Lin Qing’an wanted to ask him to stay, but the words wouldn’t come out, leaving him to simply watch that tall figure walk out the front door.
As soon as Xie Tingchuan left, Lin Qing’an collapsed limply onto the sofa.
Seeing him like this when she returned from seeing the guest out, Qin Zhiyi found it quite amusing. “Weren’t you acting all proper just a moment ago? How come you turned into a wreck the second he left?”
Waving a weak hand, Lin Qing’an let out a soft sigh. “Just putting on a brave face, Zhiyi. My foot hurts.”
“Serves you right.” Having already learned the ins and outs of the story from Lin Qing’an earlier, Qin Zhiyi shot him a look of exasperation mixed with disappointment.
“I see you just didn’t hurt enough this time. Let this be a lesson to you, and don’t ever let there be a next time.”
“Mhm, mhm.” Lin Qing’an nodded perfunctorily, picked up his phone, and checked the time.
“Why hasn’t Duan Xuan come back with the food yet?”
“He should be here soon,” Qin Zhiyi said as he dialed a number. “I’ll rush him.”
“Jingle-ling-ling, jingle-ling-ling, jingle bells ring all the way.”
The music played for barely two seconds before the call was answered, and Duan Xuan’s cheerful voice rang out from the phone.
“Zhiyi baby, what’s wrong?”
As soon as “Zhiyi baby” escaped his lips, Lin Qing’an looked at Qin Zhiyi with a gaze full of curious exploration, as if he had just discovered a new continent.
Pretending not to care, Qin Zhiyi turned his head away to give Lin Qing’an his back, though the moment he turned, his brows instantly furrowed as he spoke through gritted teeth.
“Where are you?! Why aren’t you back yet?”
“Oh, I forgot.” Duan Xuan’s voice suddenly dropped, laden with heavy guilt. “Waiting for the elevator right now, coming up immediately.”
Two minutes later, when Duan Xuan returned home, he found Qin Zhiyi sitting awkwardly at one end of the sofa, turning his head away and refusing to look at Lin Qing’an under any circumstances.
Meanwhile, Lin Qing’an was lounging sideways like an emperor, cradling a plate of strawberries in his arms while observing Qin Zhiyi’s embarrassed expression with keen interest.
“Oh, look who’s back, Big Boss Duan.” Spotting Duan Xuan’s return, Lin Qing’an seized the initiative and spoke up.
“What good stuff did you buy for our Zhiyi baby?”
Duan Xuan merely chuckled, placing the food he had bought onto the coffee table one by one.
“Barbecue, side dishes, spicy crawfish, and a few meat burgers.”
“Oh, barbecue~ fresh vegetables~ spicy crawfish~ meat burgers~” Lin Qing’an let out a deliberately mournful sigh.
“Looks like you guys didn’t keep this patient in your hearts at all, not a single thing I like to eat.”
“Alright, can’t food keep your mouth shut?” Embarrassed, Qin Zhiyi picked up a skewer of barbecue and shoved it right against Lin Qing’an’s lips, forcing him to open up and bite down.
“Isn’t everything here stuff you like? So many complaints.”
After eating their fill, the three of them each occupied a corner of the sofa.
To be precise, Lin Qing’an had commandeered an entire large sofa all by himself, while Duan Xuan and Qin Zhiyi were squeezed together onto a small single-seater armchair. The space was so cramped that their chests and backs were pressed tight against one another, yet not a single person moved away.
After Duan Xuan brashly introduced their new relationship to Lin Qing’an, the latter fell into silence, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two of them.
“So, you two ?”
“Mhm.” Duan Xuan nodded with absolute certainty, the corners of his mouth curling up so high with happiness that they almost reached his ears.
Qin Zhiyi, on the other hand, appeared somewhat shy. “Qing’an, we didn’t mean to keep it from you; we just hadn’t figured out how to tell you yet. After all, same-sex relationships aren’t something everyone can accept.”
After hesitating for a moment, Lin Qing’an let out a long breath.
“As long as you two are happy.”
After a short pause, Lin Qing’an spoke up once more, his tone shifting abruptly into a solemn attitude.
“No matter what you two think, since you’re together now, treat each other well. If one day you stop liking each other, just say so directly—no playing around with changing affections, cheating, or stepping out on the side, you hear me!”
Hearing this, Duan Xuan and Qin Zhiyi put on serious expressions as well, nodding solemnly in agreement.
“Don’t worry, Qing’an. Don’t you know my character by now, Duan Xuan? Since I’ve set my mind on Zhiyi, that won’t change.”
Qin Zhiyi echoed the sentiment, looking toward Duan Xuan with a smile, his gaze so full of tender affection that it left Lin Qing’an feeling puzzled.
“What made you guys decide to finally get together?”
“Love, of course!” Duan Xuan laughed, his arm resting unceremoniously around Qin Zhiyi’s shoulder in an extremely intimate manner.
“I mean, why did you decide to step out of the comfort zone of friendship and choose an unstable romantic relationship?” Frowning slightly, Lin Qing’an spoke with a sense of bewilderment in his eyes, his pounding heart urgently seeking an answer.
Hearing this, Qin Zhiyi gave an answer without a moment’s hesitation.
“It’s that desire for exclusive possession, the inability to control wanting the other person’s gaze to rest entirely on me, and wanting a more legitimate, rightful claim to the most intimate relationship by their side.”
“Hey, Zhiyi baby.” Eyes sparkling, Duan Xuan looked at Qin Zhiyi and pulled him into an exaggerated, tight embrace before releasing him to gaze at the cheeks that had turned slightly pink from laying his feelings bare.
“Turns out you wanted to monopolize me, that’s simply fantastic.”
Duan Xuan abruptly stood up and swept Qin Zhiyi up into his arms. “I can’t hold back anymore, I want you right now.”
Caught off guard, Qin Zhiyi hurriedly threw his arms around Duan Xuan’s neck, only to hear that bold declaration in the next second. Flustered, he tried to cover Duan Xuan’s mouth, but manual control failed completely.
“Qing’an, I’m borrowing your guest room.”
“Duan Xuan, shut your mouth!” Yet Qin Zhiyi’s resistance proved completely ineffective.
With a loud ‘bang,’ the guest room door slammed shut, followed immediately by Qin Zhiyi’s furious roar echoing through the barrier.
“Duan Xuan, you stop right there.”
Everything happened so fast that Lin Qing’an struggled to process it all. Leaning on his crutches, he hopped step by step over to the guest room door.
Knock, knock, knock
“Duan Xuan, Zhiyi, do you guys need anything? Like, little balloons or something?”
The noise inside the room suddenly ceased. Lin Qing’an felt like he was intruding on something, but wouldn’t it be bad for their health if they didn’t prepare properly?
The moment the thought crossed his mind, Lin Qing’an felt a twinge of pain in his tailbone and opened up a food delivery app without a moment’s hesitation.
“I ordered delivery and used Duan Xuan’s phone number. When the delivery guy arrives later, remember to come out and get it. I’m going upstairs to ask Xie Tingchuan to take me in, don’t look for me today, you two make yourselves at home with this apartment, I’m out of here.”
With that, Lin Qing’an turned and left on the spot, terrified of hearing anything he shouldn’t. He had barely taken two steps when he heard Qin Zhiyi’s voice calling out from behind.
“Qing’an, you.”
The tone was clingy and mushy, cutting off midway before disappearing entirely.
Listening to that voice belonging to Qin Zhiyi, which sounded completely different from its usual cadence, Lin Qing’an hurried his pace, grabbed his phone off the sofa, and bolted out the door.
Even as the front door closed completely, Lin Qing’an still felt a lingering fear, silently offering a moment of silence for Zhiyi’s backside and hoping it would still be intact by tomorrow.
Though, that seemed rather unlikely.
Back when they used to go to hot springs together, the three of them had compared sizes, and both Lin Qing’an and Qin Zhiyi had wished Duan Xuan’s future partner good luck, given that having too much equipment wasn’t necessarily a blessing sometimes.
As a result, right now.
Making the sign of the cross across his chest, Lin Qing’an muttered a low blessing: “Zhiyi, good luck.”
Ten minutes later, standing outside Xie Tingchuan’s front door, Lin Qing’an couldn’t help making the sign of the cross once again.
“Lin Qing’an, good luck.”
Taking a deep breath, he pulled the corners of his mouth upward into a standard smile showing eight teeth, and summoned the courage to knock on the tightly shut door before him.
“Good night!”
The instant the door swung open, Lin Qing’an opened his arms wide toward Xie Tingchuan, the smile on his lips gradually fading as the other person showed zero reaction.
Then, hoisting his smile right back up, Lin Qing’an brought his palms together and gazed at him pathetically.
“Please, I’m begging you to take me in for one more night.”
“Good night.” Sidestepping to let Lin Qing’an inside, Xie Tingchuan couldn’t help frowning when he saw his slow, cumbersome movements.
“Where are your friends?”
“You’re my friend too!” Lin Qing’an smiled. “The two of them have some private matters to attend to.”
“What kind of private matters could make them leave you all by yourself?” Picking up the phone from the coffee table, Xie Tingchuan unlocked it casually and glanced at the chat interface, there was still no reply.
A whole day had passed; the last replying message was from eight in the morning, meaning twelve whole hours had gone by without receiving a response from the other party.
Xie Tingchuan’s mood wasn’t exactly sunny, prompting him to send another message to ‘Little Green Tangerine’ once more.
Ding-dong
The phone ringtone sounded abruptly, cutting quite clearly through the quiet living room.
Lin Qing’an hadn’t paid much attention at first, assuming the chime came from a message sent by either Duan Xuan or Qin Zhiyi. But the moment he pulled his phone out of his pocket, another ding-dong rang out.
Xie Tingchuan!
A jolt of panic surged through Lin Qing’an as his body stiffened abruptly. He pressed his lips tightly together, terrified that his heart, which had leapt right into his throat, would burst out of his chest.
It was a message from Xie Tingchuan.
The ding-dong chime sounded yet again. Enduring the probing gaze right beside him, Lin Qing’an swiped his fingertips rapidly across the screen, deleting Xie Tingchuan’s chat window entirely while simultaneously putting his phone on silent mode.
“Lin Qing’an!?”
A tall figure blocked the overhead light, casting Lin Qing’an entirely beneath Xie Tingchuan’s shadow.
Raising his head with a trembling motion, Lin Qing’an was frozen in place the moment he caught sight of the shifting, unreadable gaze gleaming in Xie Tingchuan’s eyes.
“Unlock your phone.”