What Sang Suiyu and Tan Chen had been rehearsing over the past few days were all fake kisses.
The technique was very simple: when cradling the other person’s face, extend a thumb and press it firmly over their lips. That way, when leaning in for the kiss, one was actually kissing their own thumb. However, because the face blocked the view, it created the illusion of a real kiss.
For the two of them, this operation was quite easy.
It wasn’t anything new for Tan Chen to cup his face—he used to do it every time he had something to say. The only difference was whether he stared into Sang Suiyu’s eyes or rested his forehead against his.
Now, Tan Chen only needed to slightly adjust the position of his thumb. Sang Suiyu wouldn’t dodge out of fluster; he would simply drop his eyelids obediently, carrying zero risk of being caught due to tense body language.
So Sang Suiyu felt that he and Tan Chen definitely wouldn’t blow their cover this time. His only anxiety was that the shock to Tan Chen’s parents might be so great that he would end up getting thoroughly chewed out.
While heading to the kitchen for water, Sang Suiyu composed himself and quietly prepared mentally. Yet the moment Tan Chen stepped inside, his calm state was shattered.
In particular, Tan Chen cupped his cheeks without a word and leaned down to kiss him right away, catching Sang Suiyu off guard and making his heart skip a beat.
“Wait, Tan Chen, hold on!”
“Did your parents even walk over yet before you started kissing?!”
If he hadn’t reacted quickly and blocked him with his palm, Tan Chen would have almost kissed him for real.
Even so, Tan Chen acted like a dog, leaving a warm, moist sensation against the palm of his hand, making him almost think the act had begun right then and there.
Before he could even process it further, a thick shadow blanketed him once more, forcing him to turn his head in shock—only to run straight into Tan Chen’s rapid, burning gaze.
Inexplicably, he felt an invisible, implicit excitement flowing out of Tan Chen. After two consecutive failures, Tan Chen didn’t even seem the least bit frustrated.
Realizing he could no longer take him by surprise, Tan Chen leaned in close and lowered his voice: “Don’t move yet.”
“When I walked in just now, my parents were already watching me.”
Those words made Sang Suiyu freeze completely.
He turned nervously to look outside, but trapped in the corner by Tan Chen, his line of sight was entirely blocked by the rolled bamboo curtain.
As a result, his most acute sense switched to his ears. He heard the scrape of chairs being pulled back in the dining room and the vague, muffled chatter of Tan Chen’s parents, which sounded like it was drawing closer.
The two weren’t worried at all about his parents not coming over. As long as they stayed in the kitchen long enough, Tan Chen’s parents, with their tempers, would definitely be unable to sit still.
The problem was that they were coming faster than expected, and their figures could appear at any moment, causing Sang Suiyu’s blood flow to quicken involuntarily.
He could only whisper quickly, “Alright then, go ahead.”
After saying that, he cooperatively took two steps closer, his chest practically pressed against Tan Chen’s. He tilted his head up slightly, revealing his clean, beautiful jawline and a pair of bright, glistening eyes.
Tan Chen smoothly cupped his face again, his thumb pressing tightly against his lips just as agreed, but his heart was beating with extreme violence.
In truth, if Sang Suiyu had been more vigilant, he would have noticed the unnaturally dark, surging emotions in Tan Chen’s eyes. His body temperature was terrifyingly hot, and when he lowered his head to kiss him, his breath sounded heavily suppressed.
The first few times went just like the rehearsals—Tan Chen kissed his own thumb each time. Yet because the distance was so close, several times Sang Suiyu almost fell for the illusion that he was being kissed for real.
While enduring the fake kisses, Sang Suiyu kept listening for noise outside. He could indeed feel Tan Chen’s parents getting closer and closer; with a clearer viewing angle, they were bound to see what was happening inside.
What he couldn’t be sure of was when they would see it. Flustered by Tan Chen’s strangely gentle, lingering brushes, he couldn’t help muttering softly, “Don’t just kiss—take a second to check if they’re here yet!”
“No time,” Tan Chen’s breath tangled with his, a rare, eerie light glinting deep in his dark pupils. “How about we switch?”
“Let’s switch then,” Sang Suiyu forced himself to stay calm.
Once Tan Chen released him, Sang Suiyu stood on tiptoe slightly to cup his face and attempt to kiss him. But because Tan Chen turned his head to check outside, Sang Suiyu’s lips could only brush against the side of his face.
Since they needed to put on a show at a moment’s notice, Sang Suiyu didn’t dare pull back while clinging so close. Just then, it sounded as if Tan Chen’s parents had abruptly stopped outside, causing both of their hearts to leap into their throats.
That was when the accident happened.
It wasn’t even clear whether Tan Chen’s movement was too sudden or if, in that lightning-fast instant, Sang Suiyu simply hadn’t had time to block with his hand.
The moment Tan Chen turned his head back, he leaned forward as if simply keeping their agreement. Sang Suiyu was abruptly enveloped in an overwhelming shadow, followed by the plump flesh of his lips pressing against an equally soft texture—a warm, solid sensation without any buffer in between.
It was brief and light, yet it left a deep, indelible impression on Sang Suiyu, who had never truly been kissed before.
His pupils trembled in shock as he stared at Tan Chen. His mind went completely blank, like a storm had swept through. He couldn’t imagine how he could have made such a blunder.
It was only a brief brush.
But he had actually kissed Tan Chen.
Sang Suiyu was utterly stunned.
Equally stunned were Tan Chen’s parents standing outside.
They swore they really just wanted to know why the two of them had gone to the kitchen one after the other and hadn’t come out for ages. They had unresolved doubts in their hearts that they were eager to question them about.
Who could have known that the half-rolled bamboo curtain would sway, exposing everything to them? Sang Suiyu had both hands covering Tan Chen’s face, while Tan Chen was leaning down, kissing him intently.
The dim kitchen cast them in shadows, making their expressions look even darker and harder to read. In that atmosphere, Sang Suiyu’s hands didn’t look like they were initiating a embrace, but rather pushing Tan Chen away.
“!” A storm instantly raged in Qing Qing’s mind. She recalled how intimately and happily Sang Suiyu and Tan Chen used to get along in past years, and then she thought back to the faint dark circles under his eyes today, as well as his undeniable, worry-weary fatigue.
Speculations rushed in wave after wave. Tan Chen’s unruly, dark temperament seemed like a persistent phantom, making Qing Qing tremble all over as her thoughts reached their dark conclusion.
She couldn’t tolerate this any longer. Qing Qing had to get to the bottom of things today—she needed to know how the two of them were actually dating, and whether Sang Suiyu was truly doing this willingly.
“Tan Chen,” she said sternly.
“Come out. We need to talk.”
Her voice penetrated from outside, falling with crystal clarity into the ears of both Sang Suiyu and Tan Chen.
As Tan Chen casually lifted the curtain, Sang Suiyu was finally able to clearly see his parents standing outside, feeling his scalp tingle slightly.
Speaking in such a tone meant they must have seen the intimate contact just now. Their faces were filled with disbelief and rage; if they weren’t forcefully holding it in, they would have been shaking.
Just how big of a shock was this? Sang Suiyu was astounded that the effect was so strong this time, while his heart uncontrollably leaped into his throat.
Not until he felt his palm gently squeezed did Tan Chen subtly reassure him. Once he confirmed Sang Suiyu was fine, Tan Chen stepped past the curtain and walked out.
From inside, Sang Suiyu could still hear his cold voice: “Don’t lose your temper here and scare Yuyu.”
Sang Suiyu: “…”
Needless to say, that line was bound to add fuel to the fire and make his parents explode. Sure enough, the sound of their footsteps going upstairs was much heavier than usual, followed by a loud BANG as the study door slammed shut.
Sang Suiyu’s eyelids twitched along with the noise, but a moment later, he let out a heavy sigh of lingering dread and relief.
No matter what, judging by the near-furious attitude of Tan Chen’s parents, their plan this time was mostly a success.
Although Tan Chen might suffer and get chewed out severely in the study, at the very least, they had made astounding progress.
Soon, muffled sounds of an argument drifted down from the study. Sang Suiyu knew it wouldn’t end anytime soon, so he walked over to the living room to wait.
The living room was relatively quiet. Sitting alone for a while, Sang Suiyu felt waves of overwhelming exhaustion wash over him. The nerves that had been stretched taut ever since stepping into this house finally couldn’t hold out any longer and slowly relaxed.
And once a crack opened in his composure, all sorts of unravellable thoughts floated to the surface.
The accident that had happened in the kitchen involuntarily replayed in his head over and over again, filling him with an unprecedented restlessness and shame that was hard to voice.
Even now, he felt utterly perplexed.
How on earth could he have messed up and actually kissed Tan Chen?
Relying on memory and instinct, it must have been because Tan Chen turned his head to look outside, so he could only temporarily cup the side of his face, preventing his thumb from pressing onto his lips.
Then, because his parents’ movement came too suddenly, both Tan Chen’s reaction and his own were pushed to the absolute limit. This caused the moment he leaned in to synchronize with Tan Chen turning his head back, while the fingers meant to block weren’t ready in time.
Was that really it? The speed at which Tan Chen leaned down to kiss him was far faster than he had imagined—there was even a subtle excitement and urgency to it. Back then, even those dark eyes of his had burned terrifyingly hot.
Sang Suiyu’s heart thudded wildly. Even though he felt something was off, he didn’t dare think too deeply about it.
Because as long as he dwelled on the details, he would suddenly feel the lingering sensation on his lips, and even the image of Tan Chen’s fluttering eyelashes as he lowered his eyes was still vivid in his mind.
How could this happen!
Sang Suiyu couldn’t help burying his face deep into his arms, truly at a loss for how to face his own guilt.
Sometime later, the door to the upstairs study opened. Tan Chen, whose argument had reached another stalemate, walked out looking cold as ice, but his expression suddenly softened as he stepped behind Sang Suiyu.
Seeing Sang Suiyu motionless with his face buried in his arms, Tan Chen stood behind the sofa and gently leaned over him. Surprised, Sang Suiyu suddenly spun around, almost bumping into the tip of his nose.
Perhaps still affected by the kiss blunder, now whenever he saw Tan Chen’s face up this close, he would recall countless details, causing even his pupils to quiver slightly.
“Don’t move,” Tan Chen suddenly exerted force, almost forcefully trapping him within the crook of his arm, whispering, “Don’t raise my parents’ suspicions.”
Sang Suiyu froze, instantly hearing the hidden meaning in his words.
Even without that reminder, Sang Suiyu shouldn’t have reacted this way. He indeed hadn’t managed his composure well, but after being reminded, he snapped back to his senses almost immediately.
Right after, he sharply noticed that the door to the study upstairs was open. Not only had Tan Chen’s parents’ anger not dissipated, but for some reason, the air was inexplicably filled with suspicion and scrutiny.
Subtly avoiding their line of sight, Sang Suiyu couldn’t help asking softly, “What did they say to you?”
“It’s very strange.” Tan Chen looked deeply at him. “I don’t know where they got the idea, but they feel there’s something wrong with our relationship.”
“Yuyu,” Tan Chen continued.
“Do you think it’s because we weren’t acting intimate enough?”
Sang Suiyu: ?