Chapter 38
Pei Zhi really wanted to kiss Xie Ning.
He wanted to kiss him. Wanted to kiss him.
The feeling had never been this strong before.
Xie Ning’s lips were beautifully shaped, delicate and lovely, as if they had been drawn bit by bit with a fine brush. Every line and curve was perfect, impossible to fault.
Seeing that Xie Ning’s not-yet-clear face was still full of hesitation, Pei Zhi refused to give up and continued coaxing him. “I was the one kissing you just now. For fairness’ sake, this time it should be your turn to kiss me.”
Now he wanted to talk about fairness.
Xie Ning was not used to intimate contact with other people, much less taking the initiative to touch someone himself. His expression was hesitant as he repeated, led along by Pei Zhi’s words, “I kiss you?”
“Yes, you kiss me,” Pei Zhi said. “Just do what I did to you just now. You’re so smart, you’ll definitely know how.”
Pei Zhi was not someone who was naturally good with words. On the contrary, he hated the sort of people who always used sweet talk to coax and deceive others. Yet now, he himself had become that sort of person.
He was saying things so shameless that even he thought they were shameless, coaxing Xie Ning to open his mouth and kiss him.
Xie Ning still had not fully recovered. Pei Zhi’s voice sounded so persuasive beside his ear that he was actually moved by it.
By now, Xie Ning’s breathing had already returned to normal. Only his mind was still a confused mess. He slowly pushed himself up from Pei Zhi’s body, swaying slightly as though he had drunk too much.
A pair of large hands clasped his waist on both sides, helping to steady him. Xie Ning shifted from kneeling and sitting into kneeling upright on Pei Zhi.
There was a clear difference in their height and build, and yet now, from Xie Ning’s angle, he was a little higher than Pei Zhi. He had to lower his head, while Pei Zhi had to tilt his chin up to look at him.
Under the light, Pei Zhi’s face was covered with a sickly flush, especially his eyes—dark, deep, and so intense that it bordered on excess. His broad shoulders, the way his Adam’s apple kept bobbing uncontrollably, the aggression and sense of danger coming straight at him—all of it made him look like a cheetah on the grasslands poised to strike.
That gaze was simply too forceful, as though… it wanted to devour him whole.
Xie Ning briefly turned his head away and dazed out for a moment before looking back again, lowering his gaze to Pei Zhi.
Then he slowly lowered his head.
His movements were very slow. Because he still had not fully gotten over the mental barrier, many of his motions were even a little clumsy. Pei Zhi encouraged him, “Spread your legs a little more.”
Xie Ning parted his legs further.
“That’s right. This will make it easier.”
Not long after, though, Pei Zhi changed his tune. “Actually, maybe that’s still not very convenient. How about I hold your waist instead?”
Xie Ning’s lashes trembled slightly. “Mm.”
“Lower your head.” Pei Zhi’s large hand settled on Xie Ning’s waist. Just one hand resting there made Xie Ning’s waist look even slimmer by contrast. He continued guiding him, “Right, a little closer.”
“Open your mouth a little more. Let me see your tongue.”
But they were already very close.
Xie Ning’s long lashes quivered slowly. After struggling internally for a moment, he finally parted his lips and stuck out a small bit of his tongue. The tip of his tongue, already sucked until damp and red, timidly emerged between his lips and trembled slightly, inexperienced and suggestive at the same time.
Both his lips and tongue were naturally pale in color, perhaps because of how cleanly he ate. But now, after being sucked and licked over and over again, they had turned the vivid crimson of something fully ripened, with a shiny layer of moisture clinging to the surface.
“So good.”
Pei Zhi’s gaze darkened. His voice turned hoarse. “Stick it out a little more.”
This was too strange.
Being guided step by step by Pei Zhi, and in such an ambiguous tone at that, while Pei Zhi’s big hand remained on his waist, his fingertips rubbing against him now and then.
For some reason, Xie Ning felt ashamed. This was an emotion and sensory experience he had never had before, and it made him instinctively want to shrink back.
The tip of his tongue trembled helplessly in the air, turning uncertainly and shyly. More saliva gathered in his mouth. His mouth felt too small to hold it all, and he wanted to pull his tongue back in—
But then Pei Zhi suddenly gripped his chin.
The soft flesh of his lips was squeezed slightly out of shape, and clear saliva with a faint sweet scent trickled irregularly from the corner of his mouth, silently flowing onto Pei Zhi’s fingers and the back of his hand, leaving behind a winding trail.
Xie Ning’s face, always so cool and elegant, now carried a few extra shades of flushed dampness, and his brows were full of visible struggle and restraint, as though he had been driven into this.
He had no idea how enticing he looked.
Pei Zhi looked at the wetness on the back of his hand, leaned in, and slowly licked it off with the tip of his tongue. The familiar sweet scent excited him a little.
“How did you drool this much?” Pei Zhi wiped the corner of Xie Ning’s lips with his thumb, leaning closer to smell the tongue Xie Ning had just stretched out. “You even got my pants wet.”
“Like you wet your pants.”
It was as if all of Pei Zhi’s cruel little impulses had been fully stirred awake.
At the same time, Xie Ning’s mind was becoming clearer and clearer. The numbness in his senses caused by his skin hunger was also steadily fading, moving toward wakefulness.
The familiar voice suddenly sounded next to his ear. Xie Ning froze for a moment, as though his thoughts and reason were still separated by a hazy veil. He shook his head slightly, wanting to tear through that fog—
But Pei Zhi had already leaned in again, parting his lips as he prepared to take Xie Ning’s tongue into his mouth.
Xie Ning snapped fully awake.
Turning his head aside, he made Pei Zhi’s lips brush past the side of his face instead. His brows drew together slightly, and in the end he said helplessly, “Pei Zhi, you…”
The voice was still soft, but it had regained its usual composure.
Pei Zhi understood at once.
Xie Ning was awake.
Just moments ago, he had still been a little wicked, even deliberately luring Xie Ning into opening his mouth and sticking out his tongue, so excited that he seemed almost abnormal. But in an instant, Pei Zhi returned to normal.
Xie Ning was still kneeling upright on Pei Zhi’s lap. The posture made him feel a little ashamed. He had never known before that he could be this thin-skinned. And perhaps because he had just kissed Pei Zhi, he felt particularly flustered now.
Pei Zhi would not let him go, and he gave him no chance to escape. His arm slid around Xie Ning’s waist, and he pressed his face to Xie Ning’s chest in an unmistakably dependent posture.
“I just wanted to test it,” Pei Zhi explained. “You looked all dazed just now. I didn’t know if it was because of your skin hunger. So I wanted to test it. If you were fully awake, you definitely wouldn’t have kissed me.”
Xie Ning just listened to Pei Zhi’s shameless excuse-making.
Pei Zhi even added, “Besides, us kissing was part of the test anyway.”
“And what did you test out?” Xie Ning asked.
“I like kissing you. I like you,” Pei Zhi said. “I’m gay.”
Silence.
Then Pei Zhi asked, “What about you?”
“I…”
How was Xie Ning supposed to think about that right now? At the time, the only thing going through his head had been, So kissing can actually feel this good? His whole mind had only been filled with the two words feels amazing.
Other than that, he could not think of anything else.
And Pei Zhi was right—he really had been dazed. That was why he had been so obedient, letting Pei Zhi do whatever he wanted, letting himself be completely devoured inside and out.
Pei Zhi could tell what he was thinking. “Even if you’re not sure about anything else, at the very least you can be sure that it felt good, and that you didn’t reject it. Right?”
Xie Ning nodded. “Mm.”
“Then let me help you.”
Pei Zhi took hold of Xie Ning’s hand. “Since you don’t reject me, then whenever you need me, just use me directly. It’ll save you all the torment in between.”
“My mouth is sealed. I won’t go around talking, and I definitely won’t tell anyone.”
This conversation was starting to feel a bit off.
Why did it sound like they were arranging some strange underground affair…
“Well?” Pei Zhi leaned in close like a big dog, only to have Xie Ning push his face away with one hand.
“Wait… let’s talk about it later. Let me wash my face first.”
His mind still was not clear enough.
Xie Ning had always known he was more sensitive than most people, and that his body reacted strongly even to ordinary touch. That was exactly why he hated contact with others so much.
But he had never expected that kissing Pei Zhi would leave him in this state.
It was simply… too strange.
Pei Zhi picked Xie Ning up in his arms. “Do you want to take a shower too, while you’re at it? You just came in from outside.”
Then he added, “We could shower together.”
“No,” Xie Ning refused.
“Alright, then just your face.”
He sounded a little displeased, but he could only accept it. Even so, as though trying to coax Xie Ning into reconsidering, he repeated resentfully, “Not together?”
Xie Ning closed his eyes and pretended not to hear, while silently saying three words to himself.
Childish brat.
When the faucet was turned on, cold water came out first. It would take more than ten seconds before it ran warm. Pei Zhi fetched a basin to fill it for Xie Ning.
“I want cold water,” Xie Ning said.
“Mm-hm, cold water.”
And yet the faucet was very clearly turned toward the hot side.
Xie Ning fell silent for a moment. Did Pei Zhi think he was blind?
In the end, Xie Ning still failed to wash his face with cold water. Pei Zhi secretly switched it to hot water. Then he took the warm towel and covered Xie Ning’s face with it, wiping him very carefully and seriously.
After washing with hot water, Xie Ning seemed to get even dizzier. He shook his head lightly, sending his hair flying in all directions, water droplets scattering everywhere, some of them splashing onto Pei Zhi’s face as well.
Xie Ning calmed down a little and saw the wetness on Pei Zhi’s face. “Sorry, I splashed you. I’ll wipe it for you…”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Pei Zhi slowly wiped Xie Ning’s fingers dry as he said, “So, have you thought about it? If you agree, not only do you not have to pay me, I can even pay you instead.”
Xie Ning turned his face away. “If you keep talking like that, I won’t consider it at all.”
“I was wrong. Think about it a little more.”
His face was wet from the splashing, and even his bangs were damp, yet he still rubbed his face against Xie Ning’s palm and coaxed him, “Xie Ning, Baby Ning, baby, treasure… give me a chance.”
Xie Ning thought about it very seriously.
If things were done the way Pei Zhi suggested, then from Xie Ning’s perspective there really was not much downside. If anything, he would be the one benefiting. Up until now, he had always believed that if Pei Zhi did not know the truth, then using him like this would be unfair.
But now Pei Zhi did know, and he still wanted to help.
Nor could Xie Ning continue thinking of Pei Zhi as some especially warm-hearted good person. Pei Zhi was willing to help him, but not without his own motives.
Pei Zhi wanted to pursue him.
“Stop rubbing on me first.” Xie Ning was trying to think, while Pei Zhi kept rubbing all over him. Once he reprimanded him, Pei Zhi really did stop moving.
After a moment, Xie Ning finally said, “Actually, what you said does make some sense. I’m afraid of becoming addicted. But if I expose myself enough, and get enough stimulation from it, then eventually I’ll become numb even to ordinary contact.”
It was like junk food. If someone always tried to suppress the urge to eat junk food, it would not truly make the craving disappear. It would only make them want it more. But if they just ate junk food often enough from the beginning, then once they got used to it, the stimulation it brought to the taste buds would not feel like much anymore.
Skin hunger worked by the same principle.
“I can help you.”
Pei Zhi immediately became excited and seemed like he was about to lean in and kiss Xie Ning again. Xie Ning raised a hand and covered the lower half of Pei Zhi’s face, saying expressionlessly, “But you… can’t keep saying weird things. Otherwise, I’ll do exactly what you said before and lock you up.”
Lock him up? What did that mean? Had he really said something like that before?
Pei Zhi thought carefully about it, and… yes, he actually had.
He had once said that if Xie Ning wanted to lock him up, or tie him up with ropes, that would be fine too. At the time, it had only been a joke. When he was in front of someone he liked, words often came out without passing through his brain first.
Had Xie Ning really taken it seriously?
And now he was even using it as a threat.
Because Pei Zhi kept saying strange things.
Thinking back to it, Pei Zhi could not help imagining the scene. Xie Ning locking him up… maybe in a dark basement with no daylight, or perhaps in a small black room full of chains. His breathing suddenly quickened, and his throat tightened.
Pei Zhi really did not want to get excited.
Getting excited by something like this made him seem exactly like a pervert.
But he simply could not help it.
His shining eyes were like those of a beast in the darkness, glowing with exhilaration. “Really?”
Could something that good actually happen?
If he got locked up, then every day the only person he would see would be Xie Ning. The moment he opened his eyes, there would be Xie Ning. And when he closed them, it would still be Xie Ning. His whole world would contain no one else.
And Xie Ning had skin hunger too, so he would need physical contact often. Once Pei Zhi was locked up, maybe he would not even be allowed to wear clothes.
That way, the moment Xie Ning came back, he could touch him however he liked.
And to prevent him from escaping—even though he would never run away—there would definitely be cameras in the room. Xie Ning would be able to watch him at all times, and he would never be out of Xie Ning’s sight. It would be like Xie Ning was??ing him in another way.
Then, later, Xie Ning’s needs might grow stronger, and the sacrifices Pei Zhi would have to make would grow greater too. But maybe his hands and feet would be restrained, so Xie Ning would have to sit on top of him and do it himself.
No. He could not think about this anymore.
He was about to get a nosebleed.
These days, Xie Ning could only hear Pei Zhi’s inner thoughts occasionally. He could not quite grasp Pei Zhi’s real state of mind anymore. He only thought that no normal person would enjoy being locked up and stripped of freedom, so perhaps the excitement on Pei Zhi’s face right now was just his imagination?
Maybe Pei Zhi was actually furious?
Xie Ning paused for a moment, then quietly leaned his ear against Pei Zhi’s chest, trying to hear something. Unfortunately, the inner voice now seemed to appear completely at random. At the very least, it was much less frequent than before.
His expression was serious and focused, like a student secretly cheating during an exam, completely unaware that every tiny look on his face was being seen by Pei Zhi.
Pei Zhi reached out and stroked Xie Ning’s cheek.
So cute.
So unlike the usual Xie Ning. Compared to normal, there was a little more life in him now. He no longer looked like a cold, artificial doll, but instead like a vivid, living person.
In the end, Xie Ning heard nothing.
Only then did he lift his head and say, “Mm. Really. If you keep saying weird things, I’ll lock you up.”
After thinking for a moment, he added, “In a pitch-black room. I’ll lock you up with chains, put in surveillance cameras, and not let you wear clothes.”
Pei Zhi: “……!”
His breathing grew rapid, and he stared at Xie Ning with dark, heavy eyes. Then he pressed his face to the side of Xie Ning’s face and rubbed against him like a big dog. After that, he turned his head and tried to kiss Xie Ning on the lips.
Xie Ning still remembered the way Pei Zhi had kissed him just now—deeply, so deeply it made him dizzy, suffocated, as if he might die.
He hurriedly pressed his lips shut.
This time he kept them tightly closed. His cool brows and eyes were flushed with vivid red, and even the glare he shot Pei Zhi in warning was wet with moisture.
Pei Zhi’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He saw the broken skin on Xie Ning’s lips—the bite mark he himself had left there. Feeling guilty, he coaxed softly, “Sorry. I got a little carried away.”
He lowered his head and touched the wound on Xie Ning’s lip, distressed. “Was I too rough?”
Xie Ning turned his face away and pressed his lips together without saying a word.
He really did not want to discuss that topic, let alone have a detailed review of the kiss and its sensations with Pei Zhi afterward.
A look resembling embarrassment and restraint appeared on Xie Ning’s face. As his brows knit faintly, it felt as though Pei Zhi’s own heart trembled with it.
Was he really this easy to embarrass?
Normally, Xie Ning always acted cool and detached, as though nothing in the world could stir him. And perhaps that was indeed true—there really were few things in the world capable of affecting him emotionally.
Which was why these changes in him felt all the more precious.
And now Pei Zhi finally understood why, after agreeing to let him help, Xie Ning had fallen silent.
Because he was embarrassed.
He felt awkward about this new relationship between them.
Pei Zhi suddenly wanted very badly to kiss Xie Ning again.
But in the end, he decided against it.
He was afraid that if he kissed him any further, Xie Ning might really start becoming homophobic.
…
Xie Ning let Pei Zhi hold him for quite a while before he finally could not take it anymore.
He needed to shower.
Even though this kind of skin contact felt incredibly good, he had come back from outside and still had not bathed.
Normally, by now he should have been utterly unable to tolerate that.
But today, skin hunger had actually overpowered his cleanliness issues.
As soon as Xie Ning finished showering, Pei Zhi went in right after him.
When Xie Ning was about to tidy up the dorm, he discovered that while he had been in the shower, Pei Zhi had already finished doing everything.
Standing by the desk, Xie Ning drifted off for a moment—only to be hugged from behind.
Pei Zhi’s whole body was still carrying damp heat, and his scorching breath landed at the side of Xie Ning’s neck as he kept sniffing.
One of Xie Ning’s hands was grasped and pinned in front of his waist, while Pei Zhi behind him kept rubbing against his neck. Xie Ning helplessly tried to push him away, only to have his wrist caught again.
A light kiss landed on the back of his hand. Sensing Xie Ning’s shiver, Pei Zhi then pressed his cheek to it and rubbed gently against it, almost obediently.
“What am I supposed to do?” Pei Zhi said softly. “I kept thinking about you the whole time I was showering. Not even for a second did I want to be apart from you.”
“I think I’m sick too. I think I have skin hunger too.”
Xie Ning was speechless.
“That’s not skin hunger,” he said. “That’s a sex addiction.”
The contrast of his clear, cool voice saying something like that was oddly striking.
Pei Zhi froze, then said in disbelief, “Can you believe it? I actually got really excited hearing that.”
Seeing that Xie Ning did not seem especially inclined to respond, he hurried to explain, “But I don’t actually have that. Really. Most people get those urges in the morning, but I rarely do. Only when I’ve been training especially hard and my hormone levels are up do I occasionally get that in the morning.”
“But don’t worry, I’m still a virgin. And I rarely take care of it myself either. I usually just leave it alone.”
Then he asked, “What about you?”
“…You don’t need to go into that much detail. I’m not curious about that.” Still, Xie Ning answered, “I rarely do either. Maybe because I keep regular hours.”
“A disciplined good boy.”
There he went again.
Pei Zhi had started talking like that again.
Xie Ning always told him not to speak that way, but in the end it never seemed to have much effect. Pei Zhi still kept saying these strange things that made Xie Ning feel odd and, at times, flushed.
But there was no real way for him to correct Pei Zhi either, because technically, Pei Zhi had not said anything all that outrageous.
Xie Ning sighed silently and said, “You’re really very different from how you usually are.”
Pei Zhi held him and said, “I thought you’d prefer someone calm and steady, someone who talks less.”
“Someone a bit more mature.”
That did indeed fit the image Pei Zhi usually projected.
At first, Xie Ning really had been fooled by it.
He had thought Pei Zhi was some cool, composed, aloof type—cold on the outside, fiery on the inside.
Who knew that in reality, he was like this.
Though to be fair, Xie Ning had not found out too late. Pei Zhi’s inner thoughts had long since betrayed him.
Xie Ning had meant to wash his underwear, but to his surprise, Pei Zhi had already washed that too. Since it was raining outside and nothing could be hung on the balcony, Pei Zhi had hung Xie Ning’s underwear and socks on the head and foot of his own bed.
Then, extremely naturally, he climbed into Xie Ning’s bed.
The moment the curtain was pulled back, Xie Ning saw a pair of eyes practically shining with excitement. Pei Zhi stared fixedly at him, his brows filled with a kind of exhilaration he did not even seem to realize was there.
And yet Pei Zhi still said, in a restrained and polite manner, “Your underwear and socks are hanging at the head and foot of my bed, so it’s not really appropriate for me to sleep on either side.”
At last he revealed his true purpose.
“Can I sleep with you?”
In that situation, how was Xie Ning supposed to say no?
“Come in.”
The curtain was lifted. The blanket was lifted too. Then Xie Ning was pulled into a burning, broad embrace.
The moment they hugged, Pei Zhi let out a long sigh of satisfaction.
Lowering his head, he kissed the top of Xie Ning’s hair. “Xie Ning.”
“Mm?”
“Can I have a goodnight kiss?”
The moment kissing was mentioned, Xie Ning immediately thought back to that overly deep kiss from earlier. His ears heated up, and a faint blush rose over his cheeks too.
“No.”
“Alright then.”
“But can we hug?”
“Not just one hug. I mean hugging all night.”
Pei Zhi was already hugging him.
Xie Ning said, “Okay.”
The dorm lights were turned off. In the darkness, rain pounded heavily outside the balcony, the sound enough to make anyone uneasy.
But unexpectedly, the close, inseparable embrace seemed to carry some kind of magic. It made Xie Ning feel deeply safe.
While Pei Zhi was not paying attention, Xie Ning quietly rubbed himself against Pei Zhi’s chest a little more, finding a more comfortable position.
His lashes trembled softly, and his eyes narrowed slightly in contentment. It made Pei Zhi think of a lazy kitten bathing in sunlight and slowly licking its paws.
Then, with a crisp little sound, Pei Zhi suddenly lowered his head and kissed Xie Ning’s cheek.
Maybe he had sucked a little too hard, because Xie Ning looked dazed for a second and frowned. Pei Zhi immediately apologized, “Sorry. I couldn’t help it.”
“To make up for it, how about I take my clothes off for you to cuddle, okay?”
Xie Ning had originally meant to say a few token words at least, maybe give him a warning that he could not just kiss him whenever he wanted. But the moment Pei Zhi said that, Xie Ning’s eyes actually stopped moving.
Because for someone with skin hunger, that suggestion really was rather tempting.
Xie Ning lazily raised his lashes. His pale lips were still slightly swollen and red, and the flush on his face had not faded either. He tugged faintly at the corner of his lips, giving him a beauty that was almost soul-stealing.
“Alright.”
He smiled. “Take them off.”
What Xie Ning had not expected was that Pei Zhi would move so fast.
Not only his pajama top, but even his pajama bottoms were already coming off. Xie Ning’s temple throbbed, and he quickly pressed down on Pei Zhi’s arm to stop him. “The underwear can stay.”
Pei Zhi had never actually intended to remove those. He had only wanted to scare Xie Ning a little.
Taking advantage of the situation, he pulled Xie Ning back into his arms. His big hand rubbed the back of Xie Ning’s head and messed up his hair slightly. Then he asked, “Does it feel better to hug me like this?”
By now, Xie Ning’s mind was already going a little foggy again. He rubbed his cheek against Pei Zhi’s chest. Because of all his training, Pei Zhi’s chest muscles were full and well-shaped, and they felt very good to the touch too.
The real flesh and blood, the burning body temperature, the tight embrace—all of it left him feeling deeply content. His face showed an expression of satisfied pleasure.
“Mm.”
Xie Ning was never very good at lying. With his voice muffled against Pei Zhi’s chest, he said a little indistinctly, “It feels really good.”
Just like that, Xie Ning had spoken his true feelings aloud.
That soft, blurred voice made heat explode through Pei Zhi’s body. His blood crashed wildly inside him, and even his breathing became disordered.
“Xie Ning.”
Pei Zhi called softly.
When Xie Ning raised his lashes at him in confusion, Pei Zhi asked in an even softer voice, “Then… in the future, should I just not wear clothes at all?”
“Mm? Mm.”
“Do you think I’m very obedient?”
Xie Ning was in a good mood at the moment, so he simply went along with him. It was no big deal.
“Obedient.”
The praise immediately smoothed Pei Zhi’s fur the way one would soothe a big dog. He looked refreshed and glowing. But soon after, he glanced at Xie Ning again and tested the waters. “Then can you call me brother once?”
Xie Ning lifted the corner of one eye and glanced sideways at him. “I’m older than you.”
That casual glance, tinged with lazy satisfaction, made the fire in Pei Zhi’s heart burn even hotter. He lowered his head and rubbed against Xie Ning’s face, squishing his cheek a little out of shape, his breaths already roughening. “Please? Baby Ning, baby…”
What Xie Ning could not endure most was Pei Zhi clinging to him like this, especially while using such shameless terms of address. He hurried to cut him off. “Alright, alright, alright. Stop talking. I’ll say it.”
Pei Zhi looked at him expectantly.
Being stared at with such bright, heated eyes made Xie Ning suddenly feel a little awkward. He gently pressed his lips together.
Objectively speaking, this sort of title should not have meant much to him. It was only one word—brother. So what? If he called Pei Zhi “brother,” did that somehow really make Pei Zhi older than him?
Just like how Pei Zhi kept calling him “wife”—that did not mean he…
He decided that question could be set aside for later.
Still, under this kind of gaze from Pei Zhi, Xie Ning felt inexplicably uncomfortable, especially because he was currently nestled in the arms of a shirtless Pei Zhi.
Calling him “brother” under those circumstances made such an ordinary term seem tinged with a kind of ambiguous sensuality. Suddenly it became hard for him to say out loud.
“Baobei…”
“I know, stop rushing me.”
Xie Ning pressed his lips together again. Without realizing it himself, a layer of moisture had already gathered over his swollen lips.
He hesitated as though he wanted to say something and yet could not. After a long while, he lowered his eyes, rested his head against Pei Zhi’s chest, and finally called him very softly,
“Brother.”
Pei Zhi had asked him to say it, and Xie Ning really said it.
Heat instantly surged through Pei Zhi’s body.
Even he felt ridiculous. Xie Ning had only called him that once, and yet he was already making this much of a fool of himself.
He thought that there was no way he would be able to sleep tonight. Even if he did sleep, he would definitely dream—and every dream would be full of Xie Ning.
Pei Zhi rubbed his face against Xie Ning’s and secretly tried to kiss his lips, only to be caught before he could.
Xie Ning pushed his face away and turned his head aside, revealing an ear tip faintly pink. “Take care of yourself first before hugging me again. Otherwise I won’t be able to sleep.”
Pei Zhi had no intention whatsoever of taking care of it. The physical urge was strong, yes, but he already had Xie Ning in his arms, and that was enough to satisfy him.
He grabbed a blanket from the side and wrapped it behind Xie Ning’s waist, also covering his backside.
“There. Protected.”
Then he leaned in again and whispered into Xie Ning’s ear, his voice low and hoarse, “I won’t secretly push it in.”
“You—!”
There was a faint sheen of tears at the corners of Xie Ning’s eyes, and he was nearly overcome with embarrassment and anger.
Seeing Pei Zhi laughing openly, clearly just teasing him on purpose, Xie Ning finally calmed down enough to feel rather speechless. “You’re so childish.”
“Yes, I’m childish.”
“Like an idiot.”
“Yes, I’m an idiot. You’re the smart one.”
Pei Zhi was happily insulting himself, and yet somehow looked even more delighted for it. Xie Ning watched him for a moment and said softly, “You’re like a big stupid dog.”
Pei Zhi only seemed even happier.
He rubbed his face against Xie Ning’s and merely answered, “Mm. I am.”
Then he added, “Baobei, the way you scold me sounds like you’re??.”
Xie Ning closed his eyes and decided to go to sleep.
He was not going to respond to this person anymore.
His face was red beyond belief. Usually he was someone who kept early hours, but tonight he could not get sleepy at all. Pei Zhi, who was holding him, did not move around much either. He simply held him tightly and, while Xie Ning was not paying attention, secretly kissed the corner of his lips.
“Good night, baobei.”
Pei Zhi rubbed his cheek against Xie Ning’s ear tip. “A goodnight kiss.”
Xie Ning thought that Pei Zhi really might be a little stupid.
And also… even clingier than he had imagined.
…
Pei Zhi had a dream.
In the dream, the setting was still the dorm, and it was still pouring rain outside. There were only the two of them in the room, and the door was locked from the inside.
The thunderstorm outside was bitterly cold, but inside the room, everything burned with heat.
Xie Ning was sitting on his lap, held there in Pei Zhi’s arms. One of Pei Zhi’s hands gripped his slender waist, so narrow it looked like it could snap. Their lips kept grinding and rubbing together over and over, while Xie Ning’s soft red tongue was drawn out, sucked and licked with wet, sticky sounds, only to be sent back in again.
Xie Ning’s hair rose and fell in front of him. After countless times, Xie Ning slumped against his shoulder, trembling faintly all over.
His mouth had already been sucked red, and saliva was everywhere. In a trembling voice he begged, “Don’t… don’t…”
The words were familiar. The kiss felt similar. But the scene itself was completely different.
Maybe because it had been raining, Xie Ning’s pants had gotten wet, so they had been taken off and tossed aside. But even so, a large patch of Pei Zhi’s sweatpants was already soaked through, and even the chair and the floor had begun to collect irregular puddles of liquid.
Xie Ning’s legs were long, straight, and well-proportioned. Usually he looked so slim, yet his thighs and backside were soft and full, as though all the flesh on his body had gathered there.
Pei Zhi kept sucking on his lips. “Don’t what?”
Xie Ning could not speak. His eyes were tightly shut, saliva spilling messily out of his mouth while his lips were being devoured. At great difficulty, he finished the rest of the sentence in broken gasps.
“Don’t do this…”
He looked like he was suffering terribly. He reached out to cover his stomach. His belly was burning hot, yet Pei Zhi kept going like a mad dog.
Finally, Xie Ning broke down. Curling up helplessly, he cried and pushed at Pei Zhi, refusing to let him keep kissing him. “Don’t do this…”
“Do what?”
Pei Zhi asked. “I don’t quite understand. Or maybe—this?”
“Pei Zhi!”
The voice in the dream overlapped with reality.
Pei Zhi jerked awake and opened his eyes, meeting Xie Ning’s slightly reddened gaze.
The end of Xie Ning’s tone lifted, almost like a frustrated cry. Pei Zhi froze for a second, only then realizing that he was holding Xie Ning in his arms, face-to-face.
He was about to apologize when he suddenly noticed that the front of Xie Ning’s sleep shirt around his waist and stomach was in a complete mess.
Without thinking, he reached out to touch it. His fingertips came away damp and sticky.
A hot, wild scent lingered there, like a primitive beast marking its mate with its own scent.
The hem of Xie Ning’s sleep shirt had been rubbed up a little, exposing a narrow, slender waist. His waist was thin, without much flesh. His navel was wet, and the skin around it gleamed too, for some reason even a little red, standing in sharp contrast to the pale, flawless skin beside it.
Pei Zhi fell silent.
He had not expected that, in his sleep, he would rub himself all over Xie Ning like this.
“I’m sorry. I…”
“It’s fine.”
Xie Ning had only just woken up too. If Pei Zhi had not gotten so excessive toward the end, Xie Ning probably would still have thought it was part of a dream.
Because of basic biology, the early morning was dangerous to begin with.
Still a little sleepy, his gaze drifted over the exaggerated bulge beneath Pei Zhi’s clothes.
His stomach felt uncomfortable, as though a giant rock had pressed into him all night. Worse yet, this rock could move and gave off continual heat.
When he woke, Pei Zhi had still been asleep. He had been hugging Xie Ning tightly, rubbing against him in his half-conscious state. To someone with skin hunger, the areas where their skin touched felt like a sudden rainstorm dousing a raging wildfire, and Xie Ning had been unable to stop himself from letting out a soft little sound.
But Pei Zhi had not heard it. He knew nothing about it.
What made Xie Ning even more uneasy was not that.
Just now, held tightly in Pei Zhi’s arms, layer upon layer of Pei Zhi’s body heat had poured onto him, lighting a corresponding heat in him as well.
His usually cool face was now completely flushed red. He pushed himself up and said, “I’m going to wash up first.”
“Mm.”
Pei Zhi had originally meant to follow him down, but then he saw the reddish tinge on the tip of Xie Ning’s ear, along with the way Xie Ning was deliberately trying to conceal something.
So he lay back down again, staring at the ceiling as though he had still not fully woken.
His blood was burning, thrilled and hot.
He had not seen wrong.
Xie Ning… had reacted too.
