Chapter 14
Jian Huaiyi didn’t want to monitor Liang Xun like this.
Even though they were best friends, they needed to respect each other’s boundaries.
But Liang Xun was just too disobedient!
He told Liang Xun not to work late these past few days, and Liang Xun seemed to listen, but he just brought his work home.
Late at night, the lights in the upstairs study were still on, and the spacious living room was filled with the sound of Liang Xun flipping through documents.
It was very noisy.
Jian Huaiyi couldn’t take it anymore and went upstairs in his slippers.
Knock knock knock—He knocked on the study door.
“Come in.”
Liang Xun’s voice was cold and weary, as if containing grit, sounding somewhat hoarse.
The study was lit with warm-toned lights. The young man stepped into the light, his face extremely cold.
“Are you going to sleep or not, Liang Xun?” Jian Huaiyi first asked softly.
Liang Xun pinched his temples. He was almost done with the documents. He didn’t want to leave them until tomorrow, deciding to finish them before going to bed.
“You rest first.”
Jian Huaiyi sighed heavily, his silk pajamas rising and falling with his movements.
“You’re making so much noise flipping through those papers, how am I supposed to sleep?”
Liang Xun was stunned, reflecting on whether his movements were too loud to disturb Jian Huaiyi, who was watching TV in the living room downstairs.
Was the study door not soundproof?
Possible.
Liang Xun apologized, “Sorry, I’ll be quieter.”
Jian Huaiyi’s lips pursed, completely exasperated.
Is this even the point?
According to Jian Huaiyi’s usual personality, he would have long ago left Liang Xun alone in the study. He could stay up late, pull all-nighters, overwork himself, and even faint – none of it was his concern.
He was immune to both soft and hard approaches. Excellent.
Jian Huaiyi’s chest heaved, and he suddenly said softly, “Liang Xun, you’ve changed.”
Jian Huaiyi was telling a blatant lie: “Before, you never defied me.”
A white lie wouldn’t hurt. He was also thinking of Liang Xun’s health.
Liang Xun’s eyebrows twitched slightly. His knuckles curled, pressing down on the folder, his long fingers pushing it down.
[How to make amends with a boyfriend after suspected emotional abuse?]
Measure one: Take every word your boyfriend says to heart; obey him, comply with him, and submit to him.
Remembering the post he had looked up earlier, Liang Xun marked the unread portion, closed the folder, got up, and walked to Jian Huaiyi’s side.
“Let’s go, let’s sleep.”
Jian Huaiyi smiled contentedly and returned to the master bedroom with Liang Xun.
“You sleep on the inside tonight.” Jian Huaiyi declared.
Liang Xun paused in his motion of unbuttoning his shirt, without making any comment, he took his pillow and placed it on the inside.
“Good boy,” Jian Huaiyi praised inwardly.
He wasn’t being overly cautious; Liang Xun had a history of this.
He remembered that during university, Liang Xun had a period where he particularly liked to get up in the middle of the night to secretly do things.
At that time, something happened to the Jian family, and Jian Huaiyi and Liang Xun were forced to stay at school for a few days.
Because it was temporary accommodation, only two people stayed in the four-person room. They put their luggage on the upper bunks and slept separately on the two lower bunks.
Every night, they chatted about their papers and played games until late at night, and when they were tired, they would sleep together with their heads touching.
At that time, Jian Huaiyi’s sleep quality was very good; unless someone shouted his name loudly, he wouldn’t usually wake up suddenly in the middle of the night.
Until one night, they played games until they were energized, and after lying in bed, Jian Huaiyi was still replaying in his mind why they had lost that game.
He went through the entire game process again from beginning to end and finally concluded: It was the elo mechanism.
Because he and Liang Xun had won too many times, the system automatically matched them with three useless teammates. Especially that jungler, with a 3.5 rating, he really wanted to imagine someone was behind the operation.
In short, a losing match was unwinnable.
Jian Huaiyi rested his head on his arm, turned over, cursed at the useless teammates, finally feeling somewhat relieved, and closed his eyes.
In his dream, it was also the scene of that game. Liang Xun played the shooter, and he played the mage. The two big carries couldn’t even win against the jungler.
It was infuriating.
Jian Huaiyi vaguely woke up again. He heard rustling sounds, amplified infinitely in the silent environment. He vaguely heard someone calling his name.
“Jian Huaiyi… Yiyi…”
Cold, hoarse, as if suppressing something.
Jian Huaiyi opened his eyes, completely awake. A little light shone through the crack in the bathroom door. He put on his slippers and cautiously moved to the bathroom door.
He had heard that some school dormitories were haunted because of deep-seated resentment among students. He wouldn’t be so unlucky, would he, to be chosen by a ghost…?
Just as Jian Huaiyi was daydreaming, the bathroom door opened from the inside.
Jian Huaiyi’s eyes widened. Seeing Liang Xun, damp from the shower, the prickles he felt subsided.
“Liang Xun?”
Liang Xun’s body clearly stiffened, but it was too dark, and Jian Huaiyi didn’t notice.
Now he was even more curious about why Liang Xun was showering in the middle of the night.
“Did I wake you?” Liang Xun held a towel, his sharp brows and eyes fixed on the young man in front of him, his thin lips slightly pursed.
Jian Huaiyi looked into the bathroom and found that there was no steam at all, and the mirror hadn’t fogged up.
He felt even more that something was wrong with Liang Xun.
“You’re taking a cold shower in the middle of the night. Do you have something on your mind?” Jian Huaiyi asked sincerely.
Liang Xun pursed his lips tightly, pushing Jian Huaiyi’s shoulder outwards, his voice hoarse. “Sleep.”
There’s something going on.
The next day, Jian Huaiyi deliberately stayed up until midnight to see what Liang Xun was doing at night.
The sound of the bedsheets being lifted. Jian Huaiyi instantly perked up, closing his eyes, using his mind to sense Liang Xun’s movements.
Liang Xun put on his shoes and walked forward, one step, two steps, three steps; the footsteps got closer and closer, the shadow flickering past Jian Huaiyi’s eyelids.
“Jian Huaiyi.”
Why did he hear someone calling him?
Liang Xun looked helplessly at the person pretending to be asleep, “Stop pretending.”
Jian Huaiyi: ?
Jian Huaiyi opened his eyes, meeting Liang Xun’s deep, unfathomable black eyes.
Click—Liang Xun turned on the dormitory light. Jian Huaiyi sat up, leaning against the headboard, watching Liang Xun go to the balcony and pull out a wooden box, the smell of soil wafting over.
Liang Xun moved the wooden box to the middle and gestured for Jian Huaiyi to come over.
Jian Huaiyi got out of bed and approached Liang Xun. Their shadows squatted side by side, their heads touching.
Liang Xun moved the box away, revealing a reddish-brown flowerpot—a night-blooming cereus about to bloom.
The white petals had a faint blue tinge, the long, green leaves supporting the bud in the center. The stamen resembled a gypsophila. Without any warning, the bud slowly opened, the “yellow gypsophila” poked its head out, blooming briefly before closing again.
The night-blooming cereus blooms only once a year, making the few hours one can witness its bloom truly precious.
Jian Huaiyi’s breath hitched. He touched Liang Xun’s arm and said in a whisper, “You’ve been sneaking out every night to look at this?”
Liang Xun snorted.
Jian Huaiyi realized something was wrong, turned to look at Liang Xun, his light-colored pupils widening.
“Then why were you taking a cold shower in the bathroom?”
Liang Xun’s fingertips paused, his expression unchanged. “Got dirt on me, it’s dirty.”
Jian Huaiyi was half-believing, but after thinking about it for a long time, he felt that Liang Xun had no reason to lie to him, so he nodded and reluctantly believed him.
In the following days, Jian Huaiyi discovered that Liang Xun secretly got up in the middle of the night again, but not to see the night-blooming cereus, but to secretly… smoke!
His memory returned, Jian Huaiyi leaned against the headboard, his wine-red silk pajamas unbuttoned at the top, revealing his delicate collarbones.
Liang Xun was pouring water to take his medicine.
As the saying goes, the hardest part is the beginning. After Jian Huaiyi had stared at it several times, he no longer felt that taking medicine was a very painful thing.
The deep blue pills slid down his throat, Liang Xun frowned, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he forced it down.
The bedsheets sank, and the scent of another man invaded.
Jian Huaiyi’s cold expression softened slightly, his lips pursed, he said to Liang Xun, “I’m a light sleeper.”
The implication being: Don’t think about doing anything sneaky, sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night.
Although it sounded childish, Jian Huaiyi felt that this was something Liang Xun was capable of.
Liang Xun’s eyes flickered, and he replied, “Mm.”
Jian Huaiyi pretended to be calm and lay down. His best friend was lying beside him. He lowered his head and saw his wide-open collar. Nervously, he buttoned them one by one.
Liang Xun lay on the inside, originally planning to go downstairs to finish his unfinished work after Jian Huaiyi fell asleep.
But now…
Very light breathing came from beside him, gradually becoming steady.
Forget it.
Liang Xun turned over, facing away from Jian Huaiyi, and closed his eyes.
Good times are always short-lived. The week-long vacation ended, and Elder Brother Jian, a night owl, sent a voice message promptly at 00:01.
Elder Brother Jian: Little brother, are you rested? Big brother is looking forward to seeing you today!
Jian Huaiyi didn’t hear Elder Brother Jian’s kind greetings until early the next morning, and his desire not to go to work reached its peak.
On the other side, Elder Brother Jian had just gotten into the car when his phone dinged— “Second brother has a report to make.” He opened the message and saw a concise word, perfectly in line with his second brother’s cold and aloof persona.
Second Brother Jian: Scram.
Elder Brother Jian shook his head helplessly. Then he remembered something, the corners of his lips rose, and he typed a few words and sent them.
Jian Huaiyi sat cross-legged on the bed, hugged a pillow from the side, and dazedly buried his face in it.
Entering the first stage of waking up: the grumpy stage.
The duration of this posture depends on when the grumpiness ends.
Liang Xun changed his clothes—his usual dark shirt and darker slim-fit wide-leg pants—and walked into the bedroom. “Jian Huaiyi.”
Jian Huaiyi suddenly raised his head, revealing a pair of light brown eyes. Liang Xun’s gaze shifted down to see the familiar pillow in his arms, his voice pausing.
Jian Huaiyi was still dazed. “What’s wrong?”
Liang Xun asked in a low voice, “What time do you get off work tonight?”
Jian Huaiyi’s brain spun around, replying, “Five o’clock.”
Liang Xun nodded, briefly replying, “Mm.” His arm draped over his blazer, he turned and left.
After being dazed for a few more minutes, Jian Huaiyi loosened his grip on the soft pillow, the confusion in his eyes gradually fading, replaced by an aloofness that kept people at a distance.
He frowned, feeling like he had forgotten something. He unbuttoned his pajamas, and the wine-red silk pajamas were thrown aside, landing right on the pillow.
His expression suddenly showed a moment of unnaturalness. A terrifying thought came to him. Jian Huaiyi carefully turned his body, seeing the scattered pajamas, and the pillow under the pajamas that didn’t belong to him.
His pupils constricted.
…
His mind flashed back to the scene where Liang Xun had suddenly stopped speaking.
Jian Huaiyi: …