Shoutout to Kari for the commission!
On Saturday, Tan Xiaobai asked Le Cheng out for a meal at the restaurant they often went to.
While they were waiting for their food, Tan Xiaobai told Le Cheng about his plan. “The new-member orientation is next month. This time, the honor of our entire club is going to depend on you.”
“When the time comes, just get yourself ready and hold up a sign… No, you don’t even need to do the sign-holding. I’ll do that. You just stand there, and I guarantee a whole bunch of people will come over!”
Le Cheng was skeptical. “Is it really that useful?”
“Of course. Can you have a little confidence in your appearance?” Tan Xiaobai said. “Once Chu Yue does your makeup, you’ll look even better!”
Le Cheng wasn’t putting himself down. He was simply skeptical about the strategy of using his face to attract people to join the club.
“Okay, then let me know when the time comes.” Le Cheng nodded.
Tan Xiaobai exaggeratedly sniffed. “Then it’s all up to you, Little Le Cheng.”
After the food arrived, the two ate together. Every now and then, Le Cheng’s phone would ring. He would pull it over with one hand and reply to the messages.
After watching for a while, Tan Xiaobai tapped his plate. “What are you doing? You’re even looking at your phone while eating.”
Le Cheng lowered his eyelashes. “Zhou Shirui is messaging me. I have to reply.”
“No way.” Tan Xiaobai was shocked. “You two have been dating for over a year by now, right? Zhou Shirui is still this clingy?”
It had been ages since Tan Xiaobai had first proposed his clinginess theory. Le Cheng didn’t look up, his fingertips tapping away at the screen. “No, Zhou Shirui isn’t clingy. He just likes checking up on me.”
Tan Xiaobai was speechless. “What’s the difference between that and being clingy?”
Le Cheng seriously explained to him, “When the two of us are at home together, he’s completely normal. He’s only like this when we’re apart, so I don’t think that counts as being clingy.”
Tan Xiaobai said, “Isn’t that just being controlling? You have to tell him everything you’re doing.”
Le Cheng agreed, but since he could do it and didn’t feel burdened by it, he said, “Actually, it’s fine.”
Tan Xiaobai stroked his chin and delivered another assessment. “You two really are mutually enabling each other’s illness.”
Le Cheng never got angry whenever he said things like that. He smiled and said, “Don’t be mad. I’ll stop replying to him in a bit.”
Sure enough, after Le Cheng replied to Zhou Shirui’s last message asking what time he would be home, he turned off his phone.
After eating, they went to see a rerelease of a movie. When they came out, the two discussed the plot, and Tan Xiaobai finally sighed. “Maybe sometimes imperfection is what makes something perfect.”
Le Cheng nodded. They walked out of the theater lobby, and by then, it was completely dark outside. Zhou Shirui’s tall figure was extremely conspicuous in the parking lot.
Tan Xiaobai pursed his lips. “Zhou Shirui’s here.”
Le Cheng waved goodbye to him, then jogged over. Zhou Shirui touched the exposed back of his neck and asked, “Why is it so cold?”
He then draped the clothes over his arm around Le Cheng’s shoulders.
Le Cheng felt hot. The weather was still warm in early October, and he didn’t really want to wear it. “Maybe the air conditioning in the theater was too strong. I don’t want to wear it. Let’s get in the car.”
“There’s air conditioning in the car too,” Zhou Shirui said. “Put it on first.”
Seeing Le Cheng’s reluctant expression, Zhou Shirui added, “Don’t want your neck to hurt again?”
Le Cheng’s cervical spine wasn’t in very good condition, which was related to the long hours he spent hunched over his desk. He didn’t pay much attention to it because he felt it wasn’t something he could easily change, but Zhou Shirui took it very seriously. He took him for massages and acupuncture, and with careful maintenance, the only issue left was that Le Cheng was more prone to catching a chill than ordinary people.
Le Cheng hadn’t felt uncomfortable for a long time over the past six months. It was only at times like this that he would feel that Zhou Shirui’s controlling nature really was a little strong. He wanted to control when Le Cheng ate, how much water he drank each day, what time he came home after going out, how thick his clothes should be, and he also liked helping him shower. Every time afterward, he would carefully help him get dressed…
Every one of these little details reflected his strong desire to control.
If he converted it into percentages, Le Cheng figured that he controlled Zhou Shirui about ten percent, while Zhou Shirui controlled him ninety percent.
Le Cheng still protested. “But it’s really hot.”
“That doesn’t matter.” Zhou Shirui refused him outright and said succinctly, “Put it on.”
Le Cheng wasn’t very pleased, but could only express it by drooping the corners of his mouth. In reality, his body was already very obediently reaching out, letting Zhou Shirui put it on him.
Zhou Shirui opened the car door for him. As he walked around to get into the other side, he heard Le Cheng muttering quietly. Once he was seated in the passenger seat, Zhou Shirui heard him say, “In weather this hot, I’m probably the only person wearing a jacket.”
As if he were implying something.
Zhou Shirui’s reaction was indifferent. “Other people aren’t you.”
Le Cheng felt that Zhou Shirui was overly nervous about him, so he argued back, “I’ve been fine for six months already.”
“That’s because you’ve been protected properly all this time,” Zhou Shirui said.
Le Cheng couldn’t argue with that. He sputtered for a while without saying anything. Zhou Shirui glanced sideways at him, then pressed a finger against his cheek and lifted the corners of his drooping lips.
His voice was very low when he said, “You only have to wear it for this short stretch of the journey.”
Le Cheng was amused by the gesture, his eyes curving into a smile. Before long, he had completely forgotten his grudge and started chatting with Zhou Shirui about how good the movie they had watched was, saying that they could watch it again together at home sometime.
Zhou Shirui naturally reached over and rubbed his cheek, started the car, and agreed. Anything was fine.
After they got home, the auntie had already finished cooking and left. Le Cheng washed his hands and eagerly came over to eat.
After dinner and a short rest, Zhou Shirui would sometimes go to the gym to exercise for a while, and sometimes he wouldn’t. Le Cheng would then go to the study to finish the work he hadn’t completed that morning, or return to the living room to watch TV.
One TV program Le Cheng particularly liked was Animal World. He liked both the ocean and the land animals, but he especially liked watching cheetahs and snow leopards because they were cute.
Zhou Shirui’s evening workouts were very short. By the time Le Cheng finished an episode, Zhou Shirui had already come out to shower.
The TV was showing a mother cheetah struggling to survive with her four cubs. On top of that, she was bullied by a lazy male cheetah, forcing her to cross mountains and rivers in search of new territory.
Le Cheng was furious watching it. When Zhou Shirui came out after showering, he heard him still saying, “Why?”
The faint scent of shower gel gradually approached. Zhou Shirui sat beside him, turned his head, and kissed his cheek, then his chin, gradually moving lower to kiss the side of his neck.
The kisses tickled Le Cheng. He scrunched up his neck and reached out to push him away. “Hahahaha, that tickles… I haven’t finished watching yet. What are you doing…”
Zhou Shirui caught his wrist and pulled him over, pressing him onto his lap. One hand gripped his waist while the other held his chin, leaving him no chance to dodge.
When Le Cheng was in a daze, he would sometimes think that the greatest use of Zhou Shirui’s working out was probably being used on him.
“I… I haven’t showered yet…!” Le Cheng struggled to state his request, so Zhou Shirui scooped him up by the backs of his knees and carried him into the bathroom.
With Zhou Shirui gripping his waist, Le Cheng could only touch the floor with one foot. The position felt both stimulating and exhausting to him. Because of their height difference, he could only cling tightly to Zhou Shirui and bury himself against his neck, tears falling into the crook of it.
But at times like this, Zhou Shirui seemed completely unmoved. Unlike Le Cheng, he liked this completely controlling position. It was as if all of Le Cheng’s emotions at that moment, the excitement, the breakdown, the screams, came entirely from him, with everything having to depend on him. The feeling of having his heart completely filled made his blood boil.
In the end, he even had to cover Le Cheng’s mouth with his hand, making Le Cheng unable to help cursing him as tears fell in streams. Zhou Shirui kissed him, seemingly helpless, and said, “…Too many times isn’t good. How come there are as many tears as there is water?”
This made Le Cheng’s face suddenly turn red. He cursed him for being annoying.
After everything was completely over, Le Cheng’s entire body was trembling. Zhou Shirui stroked his back to soothe him and told him to drink some water.
By the next day, once Le Cheng had recovered, he would inevitably complain about him, not very happily, while eating. Zhou Shirui, in his usual good temper, sat beside him and served him soup. At times like this, he was completely normal again, as though the person from the previous night hadn’t been him.
“Did you even hear what I said?” Le Cheng kicked him lightly under the table.
It was very gentle, more like he was playing around. Zhou Shirui naturally rubbed his calf, found that it wasn’t cold, then put his hand down and said, “Mhm, I heard you.”
Zhou Shirui didn’t act like this every time they did it, either. It was less likely to happen when Le Cheng was completely at home. But when Le Cheng was frequently going out, or when Zhou Shirui himself was frequently going out, it would suddenly become more intense and continue for a while.
It was as if going outside depleted his health bar, and once he came home, he had to replenish it twice as much.
Le Cheng couldn’t figure out the pattern. He only felt that Zhou Shirui would occasionally get like this.
***
It was only much later, on a day that happened almost by chance, that Le Cheng learned from someone else that Lin He had once liked him.
He was very surprised because, in his impression, Lin He had never given him any hints. Even when he invited him out, it had always been together with people from their club, and he hadn’t been particularly enthusiastic. At the time, although Le Cheng and Zhou Shirui weren’t officially together yet, Lin He had known that he had a boyfriend.
Le Cheng didn’t believe it. He didn’t think Lin He looked like he liked men. The other person simply told him, “Go look at Lin He’s latest Moments post.”
Le Cheng didn’t check Moments often, maintaining a frequency of about twice a week. Hearing this, he took out his phone and saw Lin He’s official announcement photo with his new boyfriend. The two looked very well-matched.
Le Cheng returned home with complicated feelings.
If someone else could tell, had Zhou Shirui noticed it too?
Recalling everything that had happened before, Le Cheng felt that this explanation was quite believable.
When he got home, Zhou Shirui had already returned early. Le Cheng slowly walked to the study and sat beside him without saying anything.
Zhou Shirui noticed him and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Le Cheng shook his head, then nodded. “Did you know a long time ago that Lin He used to like me?”
“Mhm.” Zhou Shirui was completely frank. “I knew.”
“Then why did you…” Le Cheng couldn’t quite describe the feeling. Somehow, Zhou Shirui secretly being jealous while acting completely calm on the surface made him feel uncomfortable.
“I didn’t want to say.” Zhou Shirui pulled him closer and touched his face. “I didn’t want to say it back then, and I didn’t really dare to.”
Every person who approached Le Cheng made him feel a sense of crisis. His mindset at the time was different from now, so he had chosen silence and concealment.
As for the reason he didn’t say it aloud, Le Cheng understood.
He hadn’t dared because he didn’t feel secure, because he was afraid. Le Cheng wrapped his arms around his neck knowing that the reason it hurt was because his heart hurt.
“But it doesn’t matter anymore.” Zhou Shirui said it lightly. “Lin He made his relationship official two days ago.”
Le Cheng couldn’t help feeling sad, yet also somewhat amused. After thinking for a while, he said seriously, “I’ll always be by your side. I’ll always love you.”
Zhou Shirui said okay.
Perhaps it was just like Tan Xiaobai’s reflection on the movie. Maybe imperfection was what made something perfect. Neither he nor Zhou Shirui was perfect, but they complemented each other so well that being together was perfect.
Le Cheng kissed him and then asked, “Then do you still mind me keeping Lin He’s contact information?”
Zhou Shirui said, “I don’t mind anymore.”
“Really?” Le Cheng studied his expression. “Don’t pretend you don’t mind.”
Zhou Shirui asked him in return, “Am I really that petty?”
Le Cheng smiled, his eyes curving into crescents. Zhou Shirui reached out and pinched his cheek like he was kneading dough. “Stop smiling.”
It took Le Cheng a while to catch his breath again. Zhou Shirui heard him make a couple of little humming sounds. “Okay, okay, I believe you… King of Pettiness.”
