Chapter 58
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However, Fan Yuan didn’t say anything at all. He just walked into the kitchen after lunch and poured a large glass of pineapple juice with ice cubes added, which he handed to Gu Yang.
Gu Yang took the straw and took a sip. The sweet taste of pineapple spread from his mouth to his stomach.
“Why did you suddenly make me some juice to drink?”
Fan Yuan gave Gu Yang a full glass again after he finished the first one.
“To reduce swelling.”
Gu Yang suddenly realized that pineapple juice could reduce swelling. He touched his swollen lips and found that they didn’t hurt as much after drinking the cool pineapple juice.
When he was drinking the juice, Gu Yang had been carefully holding the straw in his mouth because of the swelling. Fan Yuan sat beside him and watched him the whole time. When Gu Yang’s gaze fell on the TV and he felt Fan Yuan’s persistent gaze, he looked back strangely and found that Fan Yuan showed no sign of being embarrassed. His gaze seemed to have fallen on Gu Yang’s mouth, but when Gu Yang noticed, Fan Yuan quickly averted his eyes, only to look back again shortly after.
Gu Yang felt that Fan Yuan was acting strange today.
After Gu Yang finished two glasses of pineapple juice, Fan Yuan handed him a steaming hot boiled egg with the shell already peeled.
Gu Yang looked at the egg in his hand and thought for a few seconds before opening his mouth to take a bite. However, Fan Yuan stopped him.
Fan Yuan took the egg from Gu Yang’s hand and sat next to him. He lifted the egg to Gu Yang’s lips.
As soon as the hot egg touched his swollen lips, Gu Yang cried out in pain. Fan Yuan saw that Gu Yang was in tears from the pain, so he became more gentle. He rolled the egg on Gu Yang’s lips for two circles before handing it back to him.
“Massage it yourself.”
After the initial pain, it was quite comfortable to apply the egg to the swollen lip. Gu Yang took the egg that had already cooled down and rolled it back and forth on his mouth. Fan Yuan sat next to him watching TV and didn’t move away.
Although he said he was watching TV, his gaze occasionally fell on Gu Yang.
It wasn’t until the egg in Gu Yang’s hand had lost most of its heat that he stopped and opened his mouth to bite off half of the egg and put it in his mouth.
Just as he was about to take a second bite, Fan Yuan suddenly leaned over and swallowed the half of the egg that Gu Yang was holding in his hand. Because the action was so quick, Fan Yuan’s canine tooth even brushed against Gu Yang’s fingertips.
Gu Yang stared at Fan Yuan in confusion, slowly chewing on the egg. He watched as Fan Yuan’s gaze fell on his lips while he was chewing, as if he was looking at some kind of appetizer.
After finishing the egg, Fan Yuan stood up and went into the bathroom.
After a while, he came out with a lip balm and a towel wrapped around an ice pack. Fan Yuan sat back next to Gu Yang again. Despite being smaller than Gu Yang, he looked serious as he pinched Gu Yang’s chin, turning his head to face him.
Gu Yang felt inexplicably nervous. Fan Yuan was very close to him now, and his gaze kept falling on his lips, making Gu Yang unconsciously lick his lips, and then immediately wrinkle his brow in pain.
Fan Yuan lightly tapped Gu Yang’s lips with his cool fingertips and warned him, “Don’t lick.”
Gu Yang softly replied, “Okay.”
The sound of the lip balm cap opening was very light, but it sounded like a bell ringing in Gu Yang’s heart.
Fan Yuan kept getting closer with the lip balm, even though he was only applying it, the distance was so close that their breaths were already intertwined.
The lip balm was mint-flavored and applied coolly on the lips, which was very effective in reducing swelling.
Fan Yuan applied it carefully and meticulously, repeatedly applying it on Gu Yang’s lips.
Gu Yang’s waist slowly became a little soft and sore, and he moved back a bit. Whenever he moved back, Fan Yuan would move closer until Gu Yang’s hands were propped behind him, and his body almost leaning back. Fan Yuan then pulled Gu Yang’s arm to sit upright.
“Why are you hiding?” Fan Yuan asked.
Gu Yang looked at Fan Yuan’s clean black pupils, feeling a little guilty and avoiding eye contact, as if he had done something wrong.
“No, I’m not hiding,” Gu Yang replied.
Fan Yuan closed the cap of the lip balm and put it in Gu Yang’s hand, reminding him, “You have to apply it every day from now on.”
Gu Yang grumbled, “Why? It’s like I’m a girl.”
Fan Yuan looked up and quietly stared at Gu Yang, making him shrink his shoulders and meekly promise, “I know, I’ll apply it.”
Fan Yuan then pressed the ice-wrapped towel on Gu Yang’s lips. The towel was very cold, and when he pressed it, Gu Yang couldn’t help but move back and complain, covering his mouth and saying, “No, it’s too cold!”
Fan Yuan paused for a moment, pressing the ice pack against his own lips to test it. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he didn’t press the ice pack onto Gu Yang’s lips again. Instead, he pressed his own fingertips onto the ice pack.
After pressing for a while, he lifted his fingertips and slowly rubbed them over the corners of Gu Yang’s lips. Fan Yuan’s cool fingertips moved slowly towards the middle of Gu Yang’s lips, circling back and forth. When his fingertips became warm again, he pressed them on the ice pack once more.
After repeating this process a few times, Gu Yang felt that his swollen lips were especially comfortable. He lowered his head to look at Fan Yuan’s fingertips, which were now somewhat whitened from pressing on the ice pack. He felt a little bit sorry for Fan Yuan and also felt warm in his heart.
“I can’t believe I fell so hard. It’s so painful and troublesome.”
Fan Yuan lifted his fingertips again and slowly pressed them onto the center of Gu Yang’s lips, staring at his lips and asking softly, “Does it hurt a lot?”
Gu Yang nodded and complained, “It hurts a lot, it’s so painful!”
Fan Yuan pressed Gu Yang’s lips more lightly with his fingertips, and a hint of annoyance flashed across his brow.
“Be more careful next time.”
Fan Yuan’s voice was very low, and Gu Yang didn’t hear him clearly, so he asked again, “What did you say?”
Fan Yuan looked up at Gu Yang, withdrew his hand, and walked towards the bathroom.
“Be more careful next time.”
Gu Yang pouted when he heard this and threw himself onto the sofa.
With his face buried in his arm, Gu Yang secretly touched his lips. After Fan Yuan’s repeated treatment, his lips had become less swollen and painful. Thinking of Fan Yuan’s gentle touch on his lips, Gu Yang’s fingers became hot, and he pulled them back, afraid to touch his own lips again. In his other hand, he held a mint-scented lip balm, feeling quite content.
It seemed that Fan Yuan was becoming more and more concerned about him.
Gu Yang didn’t expect that when Fan Yuan came back, he even gave Gu Yang three small cakes of different flavors.
Usually, Fan Yuan doesn’t agree with Gu Yang eating too much. He only occasionally gives him one to eat. Sometimes Gu Yang secretly ate a few more, but would have to be punished if he was caught. Today, Fan Yuan actually gave Gu Yang three at once!
Handing the three small cakes in a plate to Gu Yang, Fan Yuan sat back next to him.
Gu Yang looked at the three different flavored small cakes and was so happy. He even took one out and handed it to Fan Yuan. After Fan Yuan shook his head, Gu Yang immediately stuffed it into his mouth, taking a big bite.
His mouth wasn’t as sore now, and he ate much more cheerfully. The rich and dense cream on the small cake was all over his mouth.
Gu Yang felt it and reached out his fingertips to wipe it off, but he couldn’t clean it up. Instead, he wiped his mouth and left cream everywhere.
Fan Yuan just watched quietly as Gu Yang ate the cake, watching him eat with cream all over his lips and fingers, and didn’t speak up to stop him.
Until Gu Yang finished the three small cakes, let out a small burp, and was about to get up to get the tissue on the table, was he pressed back by Fan Yuan.
With one hand covered in cream still raised in the air, Gu Yang looked at Fan Yuan in confusion.
Fan Yuan leaned in close to Gu Yang, raised his head and lightly smelled the cream on Gu Yang’s lips, a sweet and greasy aroma.
“Finished eating?”
Gu Yang nodded, wanting to speak but couldn’t help letting out a small burp.
“Fi-finished.”
Fan Yuan sniffed Gu Yang’s mouth, then reached out and grabbed Gu Yang’s wrist, his slender fingertips resting in Gu Yang’s palm and gently rubbing it.
“Was it delicious?”
Gu Yang vigorously nodded his head and said, “It’s delicious! Very delicious!”
Fan Yuan’s black eyes reflected the figure of Gu Yang, as if Gu Yang was immersed in darkness.
“Is it? I also want to try,” Fan Yuan said.
Gu Yang was about to get up, but Fan Yuan pressed him down.
“No need, I’ll just try it,” Fan Yuan said.
As Fan Yuan approached, he slightly opened his mouth and licked off all the cream around Gu Yang’s mouth.
Gu Yang felt a warmth on his lips and his heartbeat slowly increased, like a drum. He had been staring at Fan Yuan inexplicably for a long time today, and couldn’t find the reason. But now he suddenly realized something.
Did Fan Yuan want to kiss him?
With a good feeling of 37, Gu Yang thought this guess was probably correct.
When Fan Yuan approached again, Gu Yang immediately turned his head to him, but Fan Yuan suddenly raised his hand and pinched Gu Yang’s chin, just eating the cream on Gu Yang’s lips.
Gu Yang’s mouth pouted and he mumbled, “Fan Yuan, do you have a problem or something? You won’t even kiss me?”
After eating all the cream, Fan Yuan raised his hand to wipe away the wet marks on Gu Yang’s lips. Then he stood up, moved back, and folded his arms, quietly looking over with his black eyes.
“Let’s talk about it when you can remember,” Fan Yuan said.
Then he continued, “Gu Yang, can you still kiss me even though I look like I’m thirteen or fourteen years old?”
Gu Yang stiffened, turned his head to look at Fan Yuan’s current appearance, and felt the heat in his chest disappear. He was left with only suspicions about Fan Yuan’s words “remember.”
He asked, puzzled, “Can remember? Remember what? What did I forget? Fan Yuan, why don’t you tell me?”
Fan Yuan ignored him, turned around and went upstairs, stopping again at the corner of the stairs:
“Come up, it’s time to study.”
Gu Yang was so angry that he “hmphed” and turned his head pretending not to pay attention to him, but he secretly observed Fan Yuan waiting at the corner of the stairs from the corner of his eye. Seeing that Fan Yuan didn’t speak but just kept waiting there, Gu Yang slowly stood up and walked over step by step.
In the afternoon, the two of them studied diligently.
Strangely, today Gu Yang didn’t daydream much, but it was Fan Yuan who would inexplicably pause for a moment whenever he gave Gu Yang a problem to solve. When Gu Yang looked over, he found that Fan Yuan was silently staring at him with his black and deep eyes. When he was discovered, he calmly shifted his gaze and continued to give the problem.
This happened several times, which made Gu Yang increasingly feel that Fan Yuan was a little strange today.
Fan Yuan noticed that Gu Yang was observing him from time to time, so he finally stopped looking at Gu Yang and just asked him:
“Is your mouth still sore?”
Gu Yang pursed his lips, felt it for a moment, and then shook his head:
“I don’t feel anything anymore. It should be completely fine by tonight.”
Fan Yuan’s eyelashes drooped, blocking his thoughts. He looked at the exercise in front of him, and the tip of his pen quickly started to calculate.
“Really? It won’t hurt at night?”
Gu Yang had no idea what Fan Yuan was thinking, and he nodded his head enviously as he watched Fan Yuan’s fast problem-solving speed.
“Yes, it won’t hurt at night. Fan Yuan, you solve problems so quickly. I’m always so envious when I watch you.”
Fan Yuan wrote without slowing down and talked to Gu Yang while multitasking:
“Go to bed early tonight.”
Gu Yang nodded and asked with a bit of doubt, “What time is considered early?”
When they were in school, they wouldn’t finish until after 9 pm, and then they had to go home, finish their homework, and do other things. They usually went to bed in the middle of the night, even during winter break. Sometimes they even stayed up past midnight.
Fan Yuan didn’t give Gu Yang a specific time, but just said, “As early as possible.”
Gu Yang didn’t mind and picked up his pen to slowly start working on his test paper.
Usually when Fan Yuan taught Gu Yang and asked him to do a test paper, he would give him two or more sets to complete. When Gu Yang didn’t want to study, he worked slowly and sometimes lingered until late at night.
Today was no exception. After dinner, Gu Yang brought a bunch of snacks to the study, opened his test paper, and started to nibble on the snacks while writing.
Next to him, Fan Yuan wrote quickly and finished the test paper in no time. He put down his pen, packed up the test paper, and pulled Gu Yang’s wrist up.
“Let’s go to bed.”
Gu Yang looked at the time and was surprised. It was only a little past 8 pm. They usually weren’t even done with school at this time! Were they really going to bed so early tonight?
“It’s only 8 pm. I won’t be able to sleep,” Gu Yang said, sitting still.
Fan Yuan took away Gu Yang’s snacks and tossed them aside. He then bent down, picked up Gu Yang, and carried him.
Fan Yuan, who had returned to his normal size, had no trouble carrying Gu Yang. Gu Yang suddenly felt disoriented and kicked his legs a bit.
“Fan Yuan, why are you so strange? Why do we have to go to bed so early tonight? You can go to bed by yourself, I won’t be able to sleep,” Gu Yang complained.
Fan Yuan didn’t listen and carried Gu Yang all the way to the bedroom. He put Gu Yang in bed, turned off the light, and got into bed all at once.
Gu Yang realized that Fan Yuan had deliberately asked him to take a shower right after dinner to go to bed early. But why?
Even if they wanted to go to bed early and wake up early, 8 pm was too early!
Gu Yang curled up in his blanket and couldn’t sleep. He opened his eyes and looked around randomly, then flipped over a few times before being held down by Fan Yuan and hugged tightly.
Fan Yuan raised his hand and patted Gu Yang’s back, gently stroking him as if soothing a child.
“Go to sleep, I’ll stay with you.”
Gu Yang was still a little confused and muttered softly, “Why sleep so early? It’s so boring.”
However, as Fan Yuan gradually lulled him to sleep, Gu Yang gradually closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. For Gu Yang, Fan Yuan was his biggest reliance and the source of all his sense of security in this world in a book. Lying next to the person who made him feel the safest, it was easy for him to relax and fall asleep.
Fan Yuan’s palm lightly patted Gu Yang’s back, feeling his breath slowly becoming steady against his chin.
“Gu Yang?”
But Gu Yang, who was already asleep, did not answer Fan Yuan. Fan Yuan stopped patting Gu Yang’s back and instead leaned on him, shifting his position and pressing his entire body against Gu Yang’s.
The heavy blanket covered the two of them, and the long time they had spent together made the temperature inside the blanket keep rising. Gu Yang’s forehead gradually showed small beads of sweat, so Fan Yuan grabbed the remote control of the air conditioner and lowered the temperature inside the room.
As the temperature dropped, Gu Yang unconsciously burrowed himself deeper into Fan Yuan’s arms. Fan Yuan then pinched Gu Yang’s neck to prevent him from hiding further. He pressed his forehead against Gu Yang’s and gently pressed on his neck, while his other hand carefully touched Gu Yang’s lips.
The texture was soft and the touch was warm.
“It’s not swollen anymore,” Fan Yuan sighed lightly, whether in wonder or something else.
Soon, Gu Yang’s even breathing became indiscernible, as if he had been swallowed up by someone else’s breathing. Occasionally, a slight sound would come out, but it was no longer calm.
The low temperature of the air conditioner could not stop the temperature inside the blanket from rising. Fan Yuan, who was pressing against Gu Yang to kiss him, felt that Gu Yang seemed uncomfortable after a while. Gu Yang’s hands in his sleep unconsciously pulled at Fan Yuan’s clothes, and only then did Fan Yuan flip over with Gu Yang in his arms, half-leaning against the bed, holding Gu Yang and pressing him against his body.
Once Gu Yang fell asleep, he slept deeply. At this time, the person who had been pressing on him and making it difficult for him to breathe left, and even in his dream, Gu Yang remembered to take a few deep breaths as if he felt exhausted.
Before Gu Yang could catch his breath, the pressure came crashing down on him again.
He didn’t sleep comfortably during this nap, as he had all sorts of dreams. Sometimes he was drowning in water and couldn’t come up for air, or he was choking on a piece of meat stuck in his throat. Other times, he was chewing on cotton candy that wouldn’t dissolve and was making him tired of keeping his mouth closed.
The clock in the bedroom ticked slowly, and the sound gradually faded into the background noise, eventually disappearing altogether.
The noise persisted throughout the night, occasionally stopping for a moment before quickly resuming, replacing the ticking of the clock and marking the passage of time.
In the later part of the night, Gu Yang was somewhat awake due to falling asleep early.
He opened his eyes slightly, feeling disoriented and noticing that his lips were burning and his body was hot.
As soon as he opened his eyes, a warm palm covered them.
Gu Yang moved a bit, feeling uncomfortable with his mouth wet, and tried to rub it against the blanket but ended up rubbing it on Fan Yuan’s shoulder.
Then Fan Yuan’s voice, with a huskiness that was not usually there, came into his ears.
“Gu Yang, are you awake?”
Gu Yang mumbled in response and couldn’t help but complain softly:
“Fan Yuan, my mouth feels so uncomfortable. Why is it wet?”
Fan Yuan still had his hand covering Gu Yang’s eyes and lowered his head to dab the water off Gu Yang’s mouth.
“It’s not uncomfortable now.”
Gu Yang reached out and grabbed Fan Yuan’s collar, nodded slowly, and fell asleep again after a while.
His breathing had just become steady when it was covered by another breath.
Gu Yang had just fallen asleep and wasn’t too deep in slumber. He could still hear the ticking sound of a clock faintly. Gradually, he couldn’t hear it anymore, and instead, his own breathing became clearer and heavier.
Soon, another breath entered his ears, and Gu Yang started dreaming, colorful dreams.
As dawn approached, Gu Yang woke up again.
He hadn’t opened his eyes yet but reached out to touch the other side of the bed, but it was empty.
“Fan Yuan?”
Gu Yang got up slowly and felt his head was particularly heavy, as if he had lacked oxygen for too long.
The other side of the large bed was in a mess, and the sound of water dripping from the bathroom was continuous. Fan Yuan was in the bathroom.
Gu Yang grabbed the phone under the pillow and looked at it. It was only a little past four in the morning.
Why was Fan Yuan taking a shower at this time?
Gu Yang got up and walked unsteadily to the bathroom door and knocked.
“Fan Yuan? Are you taking a shower?”
The sound of water stopped immediately, and Fan Yuan came out with wet hair and just a simple bathrobe.
Gu Yang was still groggy and immediately leaned his forehead on Fan Yuan’s chest, but he quickly stepped back and was a little confused, covering his forehead.
“Fan Yuan, you’re so cold.”
Fan Yuan raised his hand and pushed Gu Yang’s lower back, urging him back to the bed.
“Why did you get up?”
Being pushed back, Gu Yang fell back onto the bed, with his long hair messy and his nightgown pulled up.
“He blinked his blurry eyes and blew his hair away from his face.
“You weren’t here…”
Fan Yuan reached out and smoothed out Gu Yang’s hair from his face, then pulled down the night gown that Gu Yang had lifted up, and laid back down beside him, pulling up the blanket.
“It’s not yet dawn, sleep a little longer.”
Gu Yang reached out and held one of Fan Yuan’s hands, holding it close to his chest, nodding and falling back asleep.
Sleep is a strange thing, the more you sleep, the more confused and difficult it is to wake up.
But Gu Yang woke up a bit earlier today than yesterday, crawling out of bed around ten in the morning. He hummed and grumbled as he walked to the bathroom, holding his heavy brain from sleeping too much. Just as he squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush and was about to put it in his mouth, he made a sharp hissing sound.
He leaned close to the bathroom mirror and looked at his mouth, a little puzzled.
“Why is it so swollen again?”
Enduring the pain, Gu Yang finished washing up, applied the lip balm that Fan Yuan gave him, and went downstairs.
It was not yet noon, so Fan Yuan was still preparing lunch in the kitchen.
Gu Yang walked into the kitchen and leaned against the door, watching Fan Yuan’s back as he complained while applying lip balm.
“I don’t know what’s going on, my mouth is swollen again! Did I eat too many salty snacks yesterday? Or is it because the temperature in this room is high and a mosquito has come and bitten me?”
As soon as Gu Yang finished complaining, he saw Fan Yuan suddenly crush a bright red tomato in his hand.
Watching the fresh tomato juice on Fan Yuan’s right hand, Gu Yang was stunned for a moment, and cautiously took a step back.
“Fan Yuan, what’s wrong with you?”
Fan Yuan turned to face Gu Yang, lifted his hand with tomato juice to his lips and took a sip. The tomato juice stained his lips, and the bright red color looked like fresh blood.
Gu Yang and Fan Yuan’s dark eyes met, and he swallowed his saliva.
Fan Yuan, with tomato juice on his fingertips, looked at Gu Yang and asked softly,
“Do you think it was a mosquito bite?”
Gu Yang replied with a lack of confidence,
“Ma-maybe?”
Fan Yuan slowly reached out to Gu Yang, spreading out his hand with the tomato juice, and gestured for Gu Yang to come closer.
“Gu Yang, come here, and I’ll tell you how a mosquito bites.”
Gu Yang hesitated, looking at the smaller Fan Yuan in the daylight, constantly encouraging himself in his mind.
Anyway, Fan Yuan was shorter than him now. Even if he can’t beat him, he can outrun him, right?
So Gu Yang strode over, and Fan Yuan looked up at him as he approached, slowly hooking his mouth.
Come to me, Gu Yang.
No matter what time, come to me.
Author’s note: Be careful of mosquito bites in winter~
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