Doomsday Grocery Store – CH267

Chapter 267

Under the blue-hued tree, Mo Yu gently kissed Ai Lu on the lips.

Ai Lu’s ears turned bright red, but he didn’t pull away. Instead, he reached up to grasp Mo Yu’s shoulders, leaning slightly forward, closing his eyes to enjoy this loving kiss.

Tang Yu’an, hiding behind the tree, stared in awe, but then… a pair of hands reached out from behind him, blocking his view.

Tang Yu’an, who had been watching eagerly, suddenly found himself obstructed and looked up in dissatisfaction.

Of course, the one blocking his view was Zhou Qi.

The young man was looking down at him, his eyes dark and unreadable, filled with strong emotions that Tang Yu’an couldn’t quite decipher.

The atmosphere became subtly awkward.

Tang Yu’an’s gaze flickered, briefly scanning Zhou Qi’s lips. Looking at those enticing lips, he swallowed and his eyes quickly shifted away.

“Brother Qi…” he murmured.

“Let’s go,” Zhou Qi replied, already hiding his expression. He gently took Tang Yu’an’s hand and pulled him away.

“But…”

Tang Yu’an came to his senses, unwillingly looking back.

It was the first time he had seen someone kiss in real life, and he hadn’t had enough of it yet!

“This is impolite,” Zhou Qi said.

“Then… okay…”

Tang Yu’an had no choice but to obediently retract his gaze.

The shadow umbrella above them paused briefly before continuing to drift with them.

They walked quietly along the small path, lined with blue-hued trees whose lush branches rustled in the wind.

Tang Yu’an suddenly thought of something and said, “Do you think October is spying too? I wonder if it understood what it saw?”

Zhou Qi stopped walking and turned to look at him.

“Did you understand?” He asked, fixing his gaze on Tang Yu’an.

Tang Yu’an froze. “Understand what?”

“Did you understand what Mo Yu and Ai Lu were doing?” Zhou Qi carefully observed the boy’s expression.

“Yeah, Mo Yu and Ai Lu are…”

Tang Yu’an suddenly stopped speaking. He looked at Zhou Qi, instinctively swallowing.

“What are they doing?”

Zhou Qi took a step closer.

Tang Yu’an didn’t know why, but his heart suddenly started racing and his ears felt warm.

“They… they’re kissing,” he finally said.

Zhou Qi studied him, noticing the boy’s increasingly awkward demeanor, and asked again, “What do you think about that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Two men kissing, don’t you think it’s strange?”

Tang Yu’an blinked. Well, it was a little strange.

In movies and TV shows, kisses were always between a man and a woman, and he hadn’t really seen male-male kisses in books either.

But he didn’t seem to mind what Mo Yu and Ai Lu were doing. In fact, he felt a little envious.

With that thought, his gaze moved again, drawn to Zhou Qi’s attractive lips.

Previously, his height only reached Zhou Qi’s chin, but now… as long as he maintained eye level, he could see Zhou Qi’s lips.

They were a light coral color, not too bright but clearly outlining the shape of his lips. The lower lip was fuller than the upper, glistening with a semi-transparent glaze in the cold winter sunlight.

Tang Yu’an didn’t quite understand the word “sexy.” He just knew that his mouth was dry now.

After a long silence without an answer from Tang Yu’an, Zhou Qi leaned forward, bringing his gaze level with the boy’s. His deep, dark eyes locked onto Tang Yu’an’s.

“Let me ask you differently.”

Zhou Qi’s voice dropped low, cautiously probing as he spoke. “I asked you before, what kind of relationship do you think Mo Yu and Ai Lu have?”

Tang Yu’an’s mind wandered back to the moment in the Poison Valley, where they had indeed had a similar conversation.

“What do you think their relationship is?” Zhou Qi had asked then.

“Mo Yu and Ai Lu?”

“Yeah.”

“They’re good friends! Hmm… best friends?” That was his answer back then.

“Just like us?” “Yeah! Just like us!”

As Tang Yu’an recalled this, he saw Zhou Qi step forward again. Those mesmerizing, galaxy-like black eyes were now staring at him with an intense gaze.

Zhou Qi asked in a hushed voice, “Do you still think our relationship is like theirs?”

Tang Yu’an felt a little confused.

Yeah, Mo Yu and Ai Lu, this… probably wasn’t just being best friends, right? So what if he kissed Brother Qi, what would that make them?

Something inside him stirred, trying to break free from ignorance and grow.

And Zhou Qi, seeing the boy’s confused and innocent gaze, couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness. But then he remembered that secret kiss in the attic, when he was frozen in place…

He parted his lips, finally summoning the courage to ask the question that had been buried deep in his heart.

“Tang Yu’an, do you like me?”

At that moment, Zhou Qi felt a weight lift off his chest, like a burden had been released.

His youthful feelings had always been carefully hidden, buried deep in his heart, and he thought they would gradually fade with time. But to his surprise, this untimely affection hadn’t disappeared. Instead, it kept resurfacing, refusing to be suppressed.

No matter how much he tried to hide it, it finally overflowed, occupying his entire heart, and time… had turned it into a deeper, more unforgettable love.

Tang Yu’an had really grown up.

After being apart for more than a month, Zhou Qi could clearly sense this.

Though Tang Yu’an was still youthful, that little boy who had always been with him, the one he had treated like a younger brother, was slowly shedding his childishness and undergoing a transformation right before his eyes.

The boy was becoming more and more dazzling, making it harder for Zhou Qi to look away.

“Tang Yu’an, do you like me? Like how Mo Yu likes Ai Lu?” Zhou Qi asked again.

Tang Yu’an stared at him, stunned.

When Zhou Qi had asked the first time, Tang Yu’an had immediately wanted to nod without thinking.

Of course, he liked Brother Qi! How could he not like Brother Qi? But when Zhou Qi asked again, he stopped.

What kind of “like” was it, like Mo Yu and Ai Lu’s?

“What about you?” Zhou Qi had once taught him that when unable to answer, he could toss the question back. Tang Yu’an now finally put that advice to use.

“Do you like me?” he asked.

“Mm.”

To his surprise, Zhou Qi directly admitted it.

He looked at Tang Yu’an seriously and said, “Tang Yu’an, I like you, just like Mo Yu likes Ai Lu. I like you.”

“…”

Tang Yu’an was at a loss. He thought for a moment and asked, “What kind of liking is that exactly?”

“Well…” Zhou Qi’s voice trailed off before he gently spoke, “The kind of liking between a couple, wanting to kiss and hug you.”

After speaking, Zhou Qi observed Tang Yu’an and saw him suddenly widen his eyes, his face flushing red.

So he really can’t accept it?

Zhou Qi lowered his lashes, hiding the disappointment and sadness in his eyes, while also thinking about how to remedy the situation. However…

“B-but I’ve never kissed anyone, and I don’t know what it feels like…”

Tang Yu’an’s mind was buzzing, almost short-circuiting.

Cou…ple?

When the word reached his ears and was processed into something his brain could understand, he felt like a kettle of boiling water, the heat rising from his feet to the top of his head.

Be… be a couple with Brother Qi?

This was a thought that had never crossed his mind, and now he didn’t know how to respond.

Was his liking for Brother Qi the kind of liking couples have? But…

“What if we try it?”

Zhou Qi looked up and saw the boy’s eyes sparkling as he gazed at him.

“Try what?” he asked.

“Well… kiss.”

Tang Yu’an’s face turned bright red, but his eyes were filled with strange excitement and expectation. He grabbed Zhou Qi’s arm and said, “If we try, we’ll know if we like it or not, right?”

Zhou Qi: “…”

This was completely different from what he expected.

His gaze lowered, briefly landing on Tang Yu’an’s soft, plump lips. He quickly averted his eyes.

Zhou Qi refocused on the boy’s bright eyes, and after a brief silence, he spoke, “So if after trying… you don’t like it?”

“How would I know if I don’t try?”

Tang Yu’an wouldn’t accept that reasoning. This time, he took a small step forward.

The distance between them had now become very small, and Zhou Qi’s gaze swept across the boy’s lips again, before he felt the need to look away.

His throat tightened and dried, and his lips felt tingly.

However…

Zhou Qi finally stepped back, and when Tang Yu’an tried to move closer, he stopped him.

“An’an, do you want to kiss me because you like me or… are you just curious?”

Curiosity was normal. An’an was already sixteen; it was only natural to be curious about such things, but…

This wasn’t what he had imagined. It wasn’t what he wanted.

Tang Yu’an tilted his head and frowned, saying, “What’s the difference? I’ve never tried it, how would I know if I like it?”

“Let’s kiss then, we’ll know right away!”

The boy hugged Zhou Qi’s arm, speaking sweetly, though his face was flushed, and his words held no shyness.

Tang Yu’an was indeed very curious.

Since Brother Qi turned into a mermaid and wanted to kiss him, that thought had left a mark on his mind.

Now, every time Brother Qi spoke, he couldn’t help but glance at his lips, wondering what it would feel like to kiss him.

Since Brother Qi also wanted to kiss him, then… why not try it?

“Just let me kiss you!”

The boy slightly stood on tiptoe, pouting as he leaned toward Zhou Qi. In the sunlight, his flushed face was so cute.

Zhou Qi watched as he drew closer and closer, his chest pounding and his heart in turmoil.

He didn’t know whether he should push him away or indulge Tang Yu’an’s curiosity while also satisfying the longing he had suppressed for so long.

Just as their lips were about to touch, Zhou Qi sighed and slightly turned his head.

Tang Yu’an missed and ended up leaning against his shoulder.

Zhou Qi instinctively wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close. He inhaled deeply the familiar scent that made him yearn for the boy, then gently let go.

He took two steps back, distancing himself from the dazed Tang Yu’an.

“Brother Qi?”

“I promised Uncle Tang and Aunt Tang that I’d take good care of you. I can’t lead you astray while you’re still so innocent.”

Zhou Qi said seriously.

Tang Yu’an wasn’t happy about it. He pouted and said, “What ‘astray’? Are you on that path?”

Zhou Qi paused, then nodded.

“Then it’s not astray.”

Tang Yu’an moved closer again, forcefully holding onto his arm, not letting go. “As long as you’re here, it’s the right path!”

Zhou Qi felt his heart soften.

He looked down at Tang Yu’an, the boy’s emotions intense and straightforward. Though he couldn’t tell what kind of liking this was, he could clearly feel his importance in Tang Yu’an’s heart.

“You’re still too young,” he said softly after a long pause, with a hint of helplessness, though also with an unrecognized tenderness.

Tang Yu’an grew increasingly unhappy. “You’re only three years older than me!”

“That’s still a lot.”

“Hmph! Do you believe I’ll take back your teleportation privileges and send you to another dimension for three years? Then we’d be the same age!”

Zhou Qi froze, looking at the boy’s puffed-up face. He quickly softened his voice.

“I was wrong, don’t be impulsive.”

He reached out and ruffled the boy’s hair. “I wouldn’t want you to be alone in another world for so long.”

Tang Yu’an huffed, his body instinctively leaning toward him. He continued to act coy, “Kiss me, kiss me, and I won’t be mad at you anymore.”