Chapter 71: Under Another’s Roof
The moment Huo Beixing grabbed onto his weak spot, he struck directly.
“So you’re going to be a scumbag?”
An Yi froze in surprise for a second. “No.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he shot Huo Beixing a warning look.
I’m not. Don’t talk nonsense.
Huo Beixing said, “Wasn’t it you who just kissed me?”
An Yi had not expected him to turn the tables like this, completely forgetting his own hooligan behavior. “I was forced.”
Huo Beixing narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t even use any strength just now.”
“……”
An Yi instantly flushed bright red. Thinking about it carefully, that did seem true. Aside from using force with his mouth, Huo Beixing had only loosely wrapped an arm around him. An Yi had dodged, but he had not actually broken free.
An Yi could not help but start doubting his own ulterior motives. His gaze drifted aside, his whole face full of guilt.
The truth was, for one or two moments, he really had wanted to experience it.
But only that much.
They were still getting divorced.
Huo Beixing pressed on with ruthless precision. “After kissing me, you want to abandon me?”
An Yi said nothing.
Huo Beixing asked, “Why aren’t you talking?”
An Yi answered, “Until my lawyer gets here, I won’t say another word.”
Since he could not explain his way out of it, he might as well play dead.
The more you say, the more chances you have to say something wrong. But as long as he said nothing, he could not be wrong.
Huo Beixing said, “You feel guilty.”
An Yi: ……
An Yi broke out of his arms and instantly sprang two meters away, putting distance between them, all while already thinking about what to eat for breakfast.
He had only just moved back home two days ago, and there was not much in the fridge. After rummaging around, An Yi found two cups of instant noodles.
Out of habit, he asked Huo Beixing, “Which flavor do you want?”
Huo Beixing frowned at the two cups in An Yi’s hands. “You’re eating that for breakfast?”
An Yi looked at him, then at the noodles in his hands. “Isn’t that obvious?”
“……”
Huo Beixing said, “Put the instant noodles back. I’ll take you out to eat.”
An Yi stared at the noodles for a few seconds. “No. I want instant noodles this morning, and you’re eating them with me.”
Huo Beixing was a little stunned. He had assumed An Yi would refuse and had not expected him to invite him to share instant noodles instead.
He did not refuse. After all, one more second together was still one more second.
But he still had to ask a bitchy question. “Why?”
An Yi’s expression turned solemn. Holding the cup noodles level with his face, he declared righteously, “Because they expire tomorrow.”
Huo Beixing: ……
He had overestimated himself.
Still, he shamelessly chose to stay.
Even though he had never really done housework before, boiling water was still something he knew how to do. Huo Beixing rolled up his sleeves. An Yi’s kitchen had limited tools, so he just grabbed a pot. Once the water boiled, he poured it over the noodles to soak them.
While they were eating, An Yi noticed the dark circles under Huo Beixing’s eyes. He had already seen them this morning when he walked out the door and found him standing outside with Zhao Ningzhuo. Though he had no idea when Huo Beixing had actually arrived at his front door, he definitely had not rested well the night before.
An Yi asked, “After you finish eating, go home.”
Huo Beixing stayed silent.
An Yi said, “Go home and rest. You didn’t sleep well last night, did you?”
Huo Beixing replied, “I can rest even if I don’t go home.”
An Yi asked, “You mean you’re planning to sleep in the park?”
Huo Beixing: ……
An Yi had seen more than enough people sleeping in parks at night for various reasons.
As his former half-guardian, An Yi generously offered some compassion. “Then I’ll get you some newspapers later.”
A must-have item for sleeping in the park.
Huo Beixing: ……
The man took a deep breath. After finishing his noodles in two or three mouthfuls, he watched An Yi quietly slurping away at his own bowl.
Actually, An Yi understood perfectly well. He just did not want to let him stay.
But Huo Beixing knew that playing pitiful worked. An Yi always fell for that.
“It’s not that I don’t want to go home.”
Sure enough, An Yi lifted his head from over his bowl.
“Then why not go back?”
Huo Beixing’s handsome face darkened. “Last night, I said in front of the media that I was a virgin. I’ve already embarrassed myself completely. Now people laugh at me wherever I go, let alone if I go home. If I go home, they’ll only look at me with pity.”
An Yi frowned. “Who’s laughing at you?”
Huo Beixing answered, “Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu, Zhao Ningzhuo.”
If he had not tacked Zhao Ningzhuo on at the end, An Yi would have thought the first three names were made up on the spot.
An Yi thought back to that morning when he had gone out to throw away the trash. “But Zhao Ningzhuo was right beside you this morning. I didn’t see him laughing at you.”
Huo Beixing said, “He laughed secretly.”
An Yi: ……
He did sound kind of pitiful.
Still, because Huo Beixing was so tall and broad, An Yi could not quite bring himself to feel sorry for him.
An Yi hesitated. “But I only have one bed at home.”
Huo Beixing had a flash of inspiration. “That’s okay. We can sleep together.”
An Yi: ……
Yet An Yi still did not let up. So Huo Beixing continued, “And it’s not just that I don’t want to go home. I don’t even dare go out now. There’s already a bunch of paparazzi and reporters waiting outside my company building to dig up dirt on me. In this era of rapidly developing internet and instant information spread, if anyone recognizes me, they’ll definitely point fingers and gossip.”
Hearing that, An Yi softened a little. “Then one week. Got it?”
Seven days was still seven days. Huo Beixing had no objections.
After breakfast, An Yi still had work to do, so he quickly got dressed and left.
And Huo Beixing truly did as he said—he neither went out nor went home, instead staying obediently at An Yi’s place and living the life of a full-time househusband.
He had even already decided on dinner: some Japanese food from a restaurant, delivered right to the door.
When An Yi got home from work, dinner was already set out.
To be honest, that subtle feeling of returning home was rather strange.
Huo Beixing skillfully took An Yi’s portfolio bag and coat from his hands. “Wash up and eat.”
An Yi felt a little unused to it. Huo Beixing’s face showed nothing unusual. Everything was proceeding in an orderly way, just as they had agreed that morning.
He would not grope him. He would behave himself and stay here quietly for one week.
Still, normal was better than not normal.
After washing his hands, An Yi sat down to eat. Once dinner was over, the two of them sat on the sofa and watched television together—Where Does the Runaway Bride Run To—as if nothing had changed from the previous two years.
When the clock hand reached ten, Huo Beixing turned off the television. “It’s time. Go wash up and sleep.”
“But I’m not sleepy yet.”
“You still have work tomorrow.”
An Yi wilted. “Fine.”
Afraid he would have nothing to change into for bed, An Yi dug out a few of Huo Beixing’s old summer T-shirts and pants from his suitcase and handed them over.
He had actually smuggled them out when packing his things, because in a certain sense Huo Beixing was also his design muse. Keeping a few clothes as a reminder was his way of thinking of him.
Only now they were finally being used.
Trying to justify himself, An Yi said, “Don’t overthink it. I accidentally packed these when I was moving.”
Huo Beixing’s expression did not change. “I won’t overthink it.”
Everything would be exactly how An Yi wanted it.
There was only one bathroom in the apartment.
An Yi asked, “Do you want to wash first, or should I?”
“You go first.”
Taking his pajamas, An Yi went into the bathroom. About twenty minutes later, he came out toweling his hair, his pale little face flushed pink from the hot water.
Huo Beixing’s gaze drifted over him.
An Yi said, “I’m done. You go.”
Taking the T-shirt and pants, Huo Beixing went into the bathroom while An Yi sat on the bed reading by the bedside lamp.
By the time he had gotten through ten or so pages, Huo Beixing still had not come out. Checking the time, An Yi saw that he had already been in there for over an hour.
?
Huo Beixing had not fainted inside, had he?
An Yi got out of bed in his slippers and walked over to the bathroom door. “Huo Beixing, are you okay?”
There was no answer from inside. Alarmed, An Yi turned the handle and went in directly. The moment the door opened, he caught a faint but strange smell, though it was so light that it seemed to have already been mostly washed away.
The scene he had imagined was nowhere to be seen. The sound of running water filled the room. Huo Beixing was standing shirtless at the sink, his strong upper body bare, washing something.
When An Yi focused his eyes—
it was his underwear.
His brows jumped, and he hurried over to snatch the white fabric out of Huo Beixing’s hands. He had thrown all his dirty clothes into the laundry basket after changing, and now all the other clothes were still there. Only the underwear had been fished out by him.
An Yi’s face burned. “Why are you washing my underwear?”
Huo Beixing’s face remained calm as ever. “Living under someone else’s roof.”
“Then why didn’t you wash my other clothes?”
“Those can go in the washing machine.”
An Yi had no answer for that. Flushing red, he scolded him, “I don’t need you washing them.”
Then, stretching the fabric out, he added, “Your hands are too strong. You pulled it out of shape.”
Huo Beixing knew how to advance and retreat, acting like a meek little wife. “Then I’ll use less force next time.”
An Yi: ……
Was the problem really your strength?!
The problem was whether you should be washing them at all!
An Yi was not the sort of person who lost his temper easily. Normally he handled people and situations with great calm. Yet every time he was around Huo Beixing, he ended up bristling and jumping around.
Huo Beixing took a step closer. “Don’t be mad. I won’t wash them next time.”
Standing behind him, he was only half a step away. An Yi could even feel the heat still radiating off him from his shower.
Thinking about it, Huo Beixing had only been trying to help. His expression had been perfectly normal, with no dirty thoughts behind it. It was An Yi who had let his imagination run wild.
So An Yi finally calmed down. “It’s late. Dry yourself off and let’s go to bed.”
Huo Beixing nodded. “Okay.”
But the moment An Yi stepped out of the bathroom, a crafty gleam flashed through those peach blossom eyes.
Coming out after him, Huo Beixing climbed into bed in an almost absurdly proper manner, pulled the blanket up, and closed his eyes as if he were going straight to sleep.
From head to toe, he radiated I am very innocent.
The two of them had slept together for two years before, so there was nothing particularly unfamiliar about it. Once the bedside lamp was switched off, they were supposed to drift off to sleep.
Yet half an hour later, An Yi was still wide awake.
Huo Beixing had been acting so unusually normal all day that An Yi still could not quite get used to it. But that was a good thing—it meant improvement. After all, he had promised not to put his hands on him.
Then suddenly Huo Beixing’s soft voice sounded beside his ear. “Wife, are you asleep?”
Not knowing what he was up to, An Yi said nothing.
After several seconds of silence, An Yi felt the mattress sink beside him.
“Asleep?”
His voice was testing the waters.
The next second, lips came down on his.
An Yi: ……
I’d have to be a complete idiot to believe you.
