Daily Life of Being Turned Gay by the Male Lead After Transmigrating into an Apocalypse – CH103

Chapter 103: Sponge Bath

Sleeping like this was bound to be terribly uncomfortable. Besides, he had just broken out into a heavy sweat, which made it all too easy to catch a cold.

Lin Xiao’s brows furrowed again. The worry that had only just settled, along with an inexplicable sense of irritability, began stirring in his chest once more.

He hesitated, glancing toward Little Yu, who was sleeping soundly on the floor. Then, he quietly pulled the door open, stepped out into the hallway, and clicked it shut behind him.

The corridor was dead silent, save for the occasional gust of wind rattling against the exterior windows.

Lin Xiao stood before the door to Li Yu and Wang Qiang’s room. He raised a hand to knock, then let it drop back to his side. It was genuinely awkward to disturb people this late at night, especially over such a… private matter.

Still, he did not have any stored water of his own.

Thinking back to Su Mubai’s damp, clingy pajamas—which looked thoroughly miserable to sleep in—Lin Xiao gritted his teeth, lifted his hand again, and tapped softly on the door.

A moment later, the door creaked open a crack to reveal Wang Qiang’s sleepy, bewildered face. “Brother Xiao? What’s going on? Did something happen?” He kept his voice hushed, wary of waking the others.

“Sorry, Qiangzi, I hate to interrupt your sleep,” Lin Xiao said, feeling embarrassed as he scratched the back of his neck. “Um… I wanted to ask, is Li Yu asleep? Could she… trouble herself to make a little water? Not a lot, just half a basin for a quick wipe-down.”

Just then, Li Yu stepped up behind Wang Qiang with a jacket draped over her shoulders. She looked just as sleepy, rubbing her eyes, but her tone remained warm and accommodating. “It’s fine, Brother Xiao. It’s almost dawn anyway. Do you need some water?”

Noticing Lin Xiao’s awkward demeanor and sensing that he was reluctant to give details, she politely refrained from prying.

“Yeah, just a basin of water. Sorry for the trouble,” Lin Xiao replied, doing his best to sound casual.

“Sure, no problem at all,” Li Yu said with a nod. She turned back inside to grab a relatively clean plastic basin from the corner. “My energy has recovered a bit, so conjuring some water is easy. Give me just a second, Brother Xiao.”

In no time, half a basin of clear water was ready.

Lin Xiao quickly took it with both hands and offered his sincere thanks. “Thanks, Li Yu, Qiangzi. Really sorry to bother you two!”

“Don’t worry about it, Brother Xiao. It’s the least we could do,” Wang Qiang said with a wave and a muffled yawn.

Carrying the basin, Lin Xiao made his way back to Su Mubai’s room.

The door was unlocked, so he nudged it open with his elbow, slipped sideways through the gap, and pushed it shut behind him with another nudge.

The moment he stepped inside, he met a pair of eyes that remained bright despite the dim lighting. Su Mubai had not fallen asleep after all. He was lying there with his eyes wide open, looking visibly exhausted.

“Why are you still awake? Or… have you not slept at all?” Lin Xiao lowered the basin carefully onto a nearby chair and asked in a quiet murmur.

“I can’t fall asleep. My body feels sticky and gross,” Su Mubai answered. His voice was still weak and raspy, though noticeably clearer than when he had first woken up. “Did you… go get water?”

“Yeah!” Lin Xiao walked over to the edge of the bed, putting on an airy, teasing tone. “See how thoughtful your brother is? I went out of my way to fetch a basin of fresh water to wipe you down, Young Master Su, fresh off your brush with death. Touched?”

Su Mubai blinked in surprise, and a helpless smile touched his pale lips. “I can wash up myself. You really didn’t need to go through the trouble, Old Lin.”

Even as he said it, a quiet warmth bloomed in his chest. He had not expected the other man to be so considerate.

“Right, with your limbs feeling like wet noodles, you’d probably knock the whole basin over,” Lin Xiao scoffed. Brooking no argument, he pulled a clean towel from Su Mubai’s backpack, dipped it into the water, and wrung it out until it was damp. “Lie still and don’t move. Be good. A patient should act like a patient.”

Seeing that there was no arguing with him, Su Mubai gave up. He obediently settled back against the mattress and let his body relax.

At first, Lin Xiao went about the task routinely. Working around the damp fabric, he gently wiped down Su Mubai’s face, neck, and bare arms.

Yet trying to clean around the clothing felt clumsy, especially since the pajamas were already drenched through.

Lin Xiao’s brow knitted. Staring at the light-colored sleepwear plastered against Su Mubai’s torso, he hesitated for a brief second before setting the towel aside and reaching down to undo the top button.

Su Mubai’s body went rigid. His hand shot out on instinct, catching Lin Xiao by the wrist. “What are you doing?”

Lin Xiao paused, looking back at him with an entirely frank, straightforward expression. “What does it look like? Cleaning you up! Your clothes are soaked through. What’s the point of a wipe-down if you’re keeping these on?”

“Hurry up and take them off so you can actually get a comfortable night’s sleep.”

Faced with such an open, unapologetic gaze and feeling the greasy, damp discomfort clinging to his skin, Su Mubai’s grip on the wrist weakened. He murmured reluctantly, “…Fine, I’ll do it myself.” With that, his other hand reached weakly toward the buttons.

“Forget it, you’re moving like a snail.” Seeing how slow he was, Lin Xiao simply took over. His touch was not overly delicate, but neither was it rough, as he deftly unfastened the buttons one after another.

The light-colored fabric parted to either side, exposing a pale expanse of skin and the sharp lines of a slender collarbone. Lower down lay a flat chest leading to a lean, tapering waist.

Lin Xiao’s eyes inadvertently drifted to that waist.

He had already noticed how thin the other man was back in the kitchen, but seeing it uncovered, he had not realized just how narrow his waist truly was. The fair skin held a soft luster in the faint light, completely smooth and relaxed from sheer fatigue. One could faintly make out the subtle definition of his oblique muscles, shifting gently with each steady breath.

An unbidden thought flashed through Lin Xiao’s mind: How is this guy so pale?

He’s whiter than most girls… and he actually looks… pretty…

“What is it?” Feeling the sudden stillness and the intense stare, Su Mubai asked softly, feeling a little self-conscious.

Lin Xiao snapped back to his senses, jerking his eyes away as if he had touched a hot stove. He cleared his throat hastily. “Nothing. Just looking at how skinny you are. Make sure you eat more from now on.”

To cover his fluster, he snatched up the towel, dipped it in the water once more, and wrung it dry. “Lie back and stay still. Let me finish this quickly so you can go to sleep.”

He went back to wiping, though his fingers inevitably brushed against Su Mubai’s shoulders and chest. From the lingering cold sweat, the skin felt slightly cool to the touch, yet it was remarkably soft and smooth, like fine porcelain.

Lin Xiao’s breath hitched almost imperceptibly. He forced himself to focus entirely on the practical task of cleaning, though his movements grew slightly stiff. He repeated an internal mantra to keep himself grounded: He’s my brother. Taking care of an injured brother is completely normal. Stop overthinking it… I’m just exhausted, which is making my head weird.

His body, however, was brutally honest.

Leaning forward, he supported Su Mubai’s shoulder with one hand to roll him onto his side, using the other to wipe down the lower curve of his back toward his waist and hips. In the process, his fingertips accidentally grazed the subtle, delicate dimples just above the base of Su Mubai’s spine.

In an instant, an unfamiliar, intensely sharp rush of heat surged straight up from deep within his lower abdomen—swift, fierce, and utterly beyond his control.

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