Chapter 87: Scaring Me?
The dorm window faced the sunrise. The curtains hadn’t been fully closed the night before, so the sun shone through the glass, making the whole room bright and warm.
The natural environment outside the dorm was excellent. When Wen Ling woke up, he could hear the birds chirping outside.
Whenever he slept with Cheng Ge before, Wen Ling was always the one being held. Every time he woke up, he could kiss Cheng Geās chin just by tilting his head, or rub his forehead against Cheng Geās collar. Sometimes, if Cheng Ge woke up early, heād see his busy back in the kitchen and could hug him within a few steps.
However, this morning, when Wen Ling opened his eyes, he saw the back of Cheng Geās round head.
The big boy was buried in his arms; surprisingly, he was the one holding Cheng Ge.
Wen Ling found this feeling miraculous, even sacredāas if a person like Cheng Ge was very dependent on him and couldn’t leave him at all. Wen Ling loved this feeling far too much.
Wen Lingās breathing softened. He mimicked the way Cheng Ge usually coaxed him to sleep, gently patting Cheng Geās back and stroking it occasionally.
But some things are meant for professionals, or perhaps Cheng Ge just wasn’t destined for a life of luxury. Being patted by Wen Ling caused him to let out a couple of muffled coughs, and he woke up.
Cheng Ge didn’t know what Wen Ling was trying to do by scratching and touching his back. A fine, dense itch spread from his back to his backside, making him unable to stop himself from laughing.
Cheng Ge narrowed his eyes and pressed down on Wen Lingās mischievous hand. “What are you doing?”
The sunlight hit Cheng Ge directly, making his hair look like it was glowing with golden light. He was so handsome that Wen Ling was dazed.
A morning like this was too blissful. After sleeping peacefully through the night, he woke up to find Cheng Ge holding his hand and smiling at him. This beautiful version of Cheng Ge felt almost like a dream.
Cheng Ge saw Wen Lingās stunned expression, looking as if heād forgotten how to breathe. So, he jokingly put his index finger under Wen Lingās nose. A light breeze brushed past, and Cheng Ge nodded: “Still alive… Ah!”
Cheng Ge quickly retracted his fingerāthe finger that had been bitten before the joke was even finished.
“What was that for?” Cheng Ge rubbed the small tooth marks on his index finger, knitting his brows to act fierce.
Wen Lingās eyes curved into crescents as he spoke in a muffled voice: “Things feel a bit unbelievable.”
“It feels like a dream.”
Cheng Ge was also struck by how “unbelievable” he was: “So you bite me because itās unbelievable?”
“Are you a puppy?”
“Does it hurt?” Wen Ling asked.
“The tooth marks are visible, what do you think?” Actually, Wen Ling hadn’t used much force, so it didn’t hurt much, but Cheng Ge could act. He tried to scare him: “It hurts so much Iām dying.”
“You won’t die. If it hurts, it’s real. Itās not a dream.”
Cheng Ge squinted at Wen Ling. “If you want to tell if itās a dream, bite yourself. Why bite me?”
“I trust Cheng Ge more.” Wen Lingās small face was written all over with sincerity.
Cheng Ge locked eyes with those sparkling, large eyes for a moment, then lowered his head and laughed helplessly.
“F*ck.”
Seriously, everyone had their own logic, and Wen Lingās nonsense was apparently the most logical of all.
Cheng Ge cupped Wen Lingās face and rubbed it several times, only letting go after Wen Lingās face was flushed red. Finally, he got out of bed to wash up as if nothing had happened.
Not long after Cheng Ge started brushing his teeth, Wen Ling followed him in, sticking to his arm to brush his teeth together.
“Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.” Cheng Ge tilted his head back to rinse, and a “gurgle, gurgle, gurgle” sound came from beside his ear as he lowered his head to spit.
It made him want to laugh for some reason. Wen Lingās imitation nearly choked him to death; he couldn’t help but cough twice.
This fellow, Wen Ling, really loved to copy everything, and he did it quite well, tooāshort of mimicking the sound of Cheng Ge choking.
Cheng Ge looked at Wen Ling in the mirror. He seemed to be washing up seriously with his head down, but in reality, his eyes kept darting over to Cheng Geās side.
Now, Wen Ling didn’t hate mirrors as much, but he still didn’t like looking at them. Therefore, he didn’t realize Cheng Ge was “monitoring” him through the mirror above the sink.
Comrade Xiao Wen was still peeking at Cheng Ge as if no one were watching, washing up in perfect imitation.
Cheng Ge used a towel to wash his face, and Wen Ling immediately followed suit. The warm steam made their faces look rosy and translucent.
Suddenly, Cheng Ge felt that he couldn’t just let the matter of Wen Ling biting his finger go; he had to pay him back.
So, he pinched Wen Lingās chin, leaned in, and bit down “viciously” on that pink cheek.
He saw Wen Lingās eyelashes flutter twice, and his pupils seemed to dilate quite a bit. Cheng Ge felt a bit smug, but before he was even done feeling smug, he looked at the faint red mark on the other’s face and felt he was being too childish.
Forget it, childish is fine, Cheng Ge comforted himself. The most childish one was still Wen Ling.
Cheng Geās thumb, separated by the towel, rubbed Wen Lingās cheek twice: “Thatās for earlier.” With that, he vanished from the spot.
Wen Ling watched Cheng Geās departing back and blinked, not understanding why Cheng Ge had suddenly kissed his cheek.
He especially liked a proactive Cheng Ge.
But what did Cheng Geās words mean? “Thatās for earlier”? When did Cheng Ge owe him a cheek kiss?
Outside the bathroom, Cheng Geās left hand unconsciously pinched his own reddened ear, while his right hand swiped on his phone to order takeout.
After picking a few items, Cheng Ge walked back to the bathroom. Looking at his phone, he asked, “Do you want custard buns?”
Wen Ling still had water in his mouth and nodded: “Mhm, mhm.”
“How about dumplings? The carrot and corn ones.”
Wen Ling nodded again. After rinsing his mouth, Wen Ling said, “I also want preserved egg and pork congee.”
His lips, touched by cold water, were moist and rosyāmore translucent than jelly. Cheng Ge looked away. “Already ordered.”
Cheng Ge turned to leave, but suddenly heard Wen Ling let out a low gasp from his throat. He quickly rushed over. “Whatās wrong?”
Wen Ling remained in the posture of reaching for a towel, his arm bent and raised slightly. He frowned, his gaze moving from the mirror to Cheng Ge. “Itās bleeding.”
Cheng Ge looked at the red patch on the inside of Wen Lingās arm and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “No, thatās not blood. Itās the medicinal oil I applied for you last night.”
“Medicinal oil,” Wen Ling repeated. He lowered his head to look at the red patch and grumbled in a muffled voice: “I don’t like this medicinal oil. Don’t use this one on me.”
“I won’t use this kind next time,” Cheng Ge promised. He remembered there was another type of transparent yellow medicinal oil for abrasions, but he hadn’t used it on Wen Ling because the scent was a bit pungent at first.
“Why do you dislike this oil so much?” Seeing Wen Lingās expression, it seemed he even hated the red color.
“Ugly,” Wen Ling said. “Scary.”
His tone was serious yet carried a hint of grievance.
Cheng Ge hadn’t expected Wen Ling to find it scary. He had thought Wen Ling wasn’t afraid of any visualsāafter all, he had previously found Wen Lingās own paintings macabre, yet the guy had stared at him persistently wanting praise. The same went for movies; Wen Ling could fall asleep during such terrifying films, so what could he possibly be afraid of?
“Scary? Itās alright,” Cheng Ge said.
“Anyway, I don’t want this one.”
Cheng Ge smiled. “Alright, alright. I’ll use the colorless one for you later.”
Only then was Wen Ling satisfied, his tone softening: “Thank you, Cheng Ge.”
Exiting the bathroom, Cheng Ge saw that the delivery wouldn’t arrive just yet, so he continued handling the matters he hadn’t finished last night.
After a night of fermenting, although some people had regained their senses, even more were following the crowd and parroting others. The situation overall was escalating, and it was clear that someone was fanning the flames.
Cheng Ge originally wanted to go to the monitoring room to retrieve the surveillance footage, but Wen Ling would definitely follow him if he did. He didn’t want Wen Ling to see those images again. After weighing his options, he exchanged points with 001 for the surveillance recording.
Wen Ling finished washing up and came out, sliding his chair over to sit next to Cheng Ge, resting his chin on Cheng Geās shoulder.
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