Chapter 17: Alcohol’s Assist
Shen Zhouyue was feeling guilty, so he immediately pretended not to know Yu Tingzhou and walked straight past him.
But his acting skills weren’t that good. The guilty expression he revealed from time to time exposed his current mood completely.
“Are you here at the hospital to act like a thief? Why so guilty?”
Yu Tingzhou said this with a hint of a joke, but Shen Zhouyue looked as if he had been poked in a sore spot, looking even more guilty.
“I…”
In his nervousness, Shen Zhouyue didn’t know what to say. He was like a taut string; a little external force would make him snap.
“You were seeing a friend; how did you end up at the hospital?”
Shen Zhouyue found his wits in the emergency and started asking back.
Yu Tingzhouâs attention was diverted, and he didn’t continue to dwell on Shen Zhouyueâs appearance at the hospital.
“That classmate of mine accidentally got into a car accident earlier and broke his leg. I came to the hospital to see him.”
Shen Zhouyue thought Yu Tingzhouâs attention had been diverted and breathed a sigh of relief.
“So that’s it!”
It seems he didn’t come for An’an. That’s great…
“What about you?”
“Didn’t you say you were going to wander around today? How did you wander to the hospital?”
Yu Tingzhouâs tone carried a hint of suspicion and probing.
He had sensed that Shen Zhouyue was hiding something from him, and perhaps it was related to his appearance at the hospital today…
“I…”
In his urgency, Shen Zhouyue noticed the wound on his palm and immediately thought of a suitable excuse.
“My body has some coagulation dysfunction. I did a checkup at this hospital before, so I came for a re-examination and to get some medicine.”
Once this reason came out, Yu Tingzhou really didn’t think much more of it, turning to say, “Why didn’t you let me accompany you?”
“It’s just a small matter, and I decided on a whim.”
Not wanting Yu Tingzhou to mention the hospital, Shen Zhouyue remembered there was a food street nearby, so he said, “I’ll take you to a place.”
Saying that, without waiting for Yu Tingzhou to refuse, he directly took Yu Tingzhouâs hand and walked toward the location he knew.
Shen Zhouyueâs fingers were slender, a size smaller than Yu Tingzhouâs hands, just enough to be completely wrapped by Yu Tingzhouâs hand.
While running, Shen Zhouyue didn’t pay too much attention. When they arrived at the food street and stopped running, the hand being held could clearly feel the other person’s body temperature, which made Shen Zhouyue feel very uncomfortable.
He moved his hand, wanting to pull it out of Yu Tingzhouâs grip, but Yu Tingzhou held it somewhat tightly, and he couldn’t pull it out at all.
Helpless, he could only let Yu Tingzhou hold his hand, his ears red.
“This is the place you wanted to bring me to?”
Shen Zhouyue nodded. “Many things here taste good. It just happens to be getting late, so let’s have a simple meal here?”
Seeing Shen Zhouyueâs interest in this place, Yu Tingzhou wasn’t the type to dampen someone’s spirits, so he nodded and agreed immediately.
Before long, Shen Zhouyue was holding a lot of food.
But with too many things in his hands, it was inconvenient to eat. Shen Zhouyue looked at the food in his hands, looking troubled.
“Give it to me!”
Shen Zhouyue looked blankly at the empty-handed Yu Tingzhou. “Huh?”
“If you don’t eat some of this food soon, it won’t taste good.”
Hearing this, Shen Zhouyue didn’t hesitate anymore and handed a portion of the food in his hands to Yu Tingzhou.
Yu Tingzhouâs hands were immediately occupied by food. Seeing this, Shen Zhouyue felt a bit guilty, so he shared some of the things he liked to eat or food that tasted good with Yu Tingzhou.
Given that Yu Tingzhou temporarily had no hands to feed himself, Shen Zhouyue directly held the food to Yu Tingzhouâs mouth.
The dim streetlights added a gentle hue to Shen Zhouyue. He held up his hand; his arm was already a bit sore, but Yu Tingzhou still had no intention of opening his mouth.
Shen Zhouyue felt awkward and had thoughts of retreating.
He silently intended to retract his hand, but at that moment, Yu Tingzhou bit off the warm pastry from the skewer.
Shen Zhouyue had already retracted the skewer, but Yu Tingzhou leaned in again. The distance between the two was very close, close enough that Shen Zhouyue could smell the scent of cedarwood on Yu Tingzhou and even feel the slight airflow from his breathing.
Shen Zhouyue stepped back uncomfortably. “The taste… the taste is not bad, right!”
He stammered, changing the subject, looking reserved, like a little rabbit encountering a predator. This inevitably brought a hint of a smile to Yu Tingzhouâs eyes and raised a bit of mischievousness in his heart.
Yu Tingzhou deliberately leaned into Shen Zhouyueâs ear and whispered, “The pastry Zhouyue likes is indeed sweet.”
The moist breath hit his ear, and a blush immediately surfaced on his ear, showing signs of spreading toward his neck and face.
He… is he seducing me?
Shen Zhouyue froze, his phoenix eyes full of confusion and shyness.
“You… what are you doing… why… why are you leaning so close…”
Shen Zhouyue was somewhat incoherent. He walked forward quickly, trying his best to ignore the gaze Yu Tingzhou cast on him and the low laughter from behind.
The temperature outside at night was still a bit low. The cool wind blew past, taking away Shen Zhouyueâs shyness and calming his mood.
He thought of An’an’s longing for him and Yu Tingzhouâs behavior just now, feeling that tonight might be a good opportunity.
His footsteps headed toward a convenience store not far away, buying some things that might be needed and some alcohol with not-so-low alcohol content.
Yu Tingzhou only saw Shen Zhouyue paying and didn’t know what he bought, but he didn’t ask much.
Back at the hotel, Shen Zhouyue entered the bathroom and washed himself clean. His fair skin was turned a shade of pink by the heat in the bathroom.
He deliberately didn’t bring clothes in and shouted to Yu Tingzhou outside, “Tin… Tingzhou, are you there?”
“What’s wrong?”
Yu Tingzhou walked quickly to the bathroom door.
The bathroom door opened a crack, and Shen Zhouyueâs exquisite face, tinged with pink, appeared before him.
He seemed a bit nervous. The pink tip of his tongue swept across his lips, and he whispered, “I… I was in a hurry to shower just now and forgot… forgot to bring clothes…”
Yu Tingzhouâs gaze followed the pink tip of the tongue, and his Adam’s apple rolled slightly involuntarily.
Clearly, he hadn’t drunk alcohol, yet he felt a bit intoxicated now.
“Tingzhou?”
It wasn’t until he heard Shen Zhouyue call his name with some confusion that he snapped back to reality, rubbing the tip of his nose awkwardly. “You go in first. The air conditioning outside is low; don’t catch a cold.”
“I’ll bring the clothes to you in a moment.”
Images of the two sharing a bed and the ambiguous scenes from that accident a few years ago appeared in Yu Tingzhouâs mind.
The originally blurry face of the other person was replaced by Shen Zhouyue.
He only remembered that the person was a friend of his junior and he had seen him at his junior’s wedding. He only vaguely remembered that he looked very much like his junior, but he didn’t remember anything else.
Could Shen Zhouyue be that person from back then?
He had an accident last year, and some things weren’t remembered clearly; otherwise, he wouldn’t be conflicted now.
If Shen Zhouyue was indeed that person, did he know about him liking the junior?
Then what was his purpose in appearing before him?
Yu Tingzhou felt confused inside, and was absent-minded while doing things.
Clearly, he should have fetched Shen Zhouyueâs clothes, but he took his own clothes instead, and forgot to take the intimate small cloth piece, handing them to Shen Zhouyue just like that.
Shen Zhouyue looked at the black shirt in his hand, looking blank, but thinking of his plan, he didn’t say much and accepted the shirt directly.
The texture of the shirt was very soft, very comfortable to wear, and carried a lingering scent of cedarwood.
Shen Zhouyue walked out of the bathroom step by step and saw Yu Tingzhou sitting on the sofa, pondering something.
He took small steps to the sofa and sat down. The shirt rode up with his movement, revealing his pale, round thighs.
The sofa was a single-seater. Sitting together, they inevitably had to press somewhat close.
Yu Tingzhou felt another person’s body temperature and snapped back to reality immediately, seeing Shen Zhouyue wearing his shirt, his expression shy yet carrying a hint of anticipation.
A surge of hot blood rushed to his heart immediately, and Yu Tingzhou hurriedly looked away.
Shen Zhouyue acted as if he didn’t notice, smiling and chatting with Yu Tingzhou, and poured a glass of the alcohol he bought, handing it to Yu Tingzhou.
Yu Tingzhouâs throat was dry. Seeing the water Shen Zhouyue handed him, he didn’t think much and poured it into his mouth, trying to cool down this way.
But in the cup was not water, but alcohol.
The spicy liquor choked Yu Tingzhou into coughing. When he recovered, he frowned and asked, “Why did you buy alcohol?”
Shen Zhouyue paused for a moment, pretending to be innocent. “I… I thought it was water…”
He picked up the bottle on the side and looked carefully. “Hey, it really is alcohol.”
“I was saying why it was so expensive; turns out I bought the wrong thing.”
Shen Zhouyue scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly. “Since it’s already open, shall we drink this wine?”
“No, you can’t drink.”
In the US, Shen Zhouyueâs state after drinking too much had tormented Yu Tingzhou considerably; he didn’t want to experience it again.
“Then you drink it. This wine isn’t cheap!”
Yu Tingzhou didn’t like alcohol very much. Just as he was about to refuse, Shen Zhouyue poured him a full glass, revealing an eager look.
Worried that if he didn’t drink, Shen Zhouyue would, Yu Tingzhou immediately picked up the glass and drank it in one gulp.
His alcohol tolerance was decent, but after drinking only two glasses today, he felt dizzy, and Shen Zhouyue before him appeared in double vision.
He estimated it was because he drank too fast, so the alcohol took effect.
He stood up, pretending to be calm, packed up the wine bottle, and walked toward the bathroom.
Hot water accelerated the evaporation of alcohol. By the time he came out of the bathroom, Yu Tingzhou felt his already muddled brain had lost its rationality, becoming a paste.
He staggered toward the bed but didn’t notice the chair in front of him, almost tripping over. Fortunately, Shen Zhouyue stepped forward and supported him.
His hand landed on Shen Zhouyueâs slender waist. The thin shirt couldn’t hide the beautiful scenery beneath the clothes at all.
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