Chapter 50: Faint, Pleasant Smell
As Cheng Ge pressed closer, Wen Ling’s nose was filled only with Cheng Ge’s scent.
He felt Cheng Ge was kissing somewhat urgently, like… like Cheng Ge yearned to possess him, to be intimate with him. Wen Ling liked this. At the same time, he also yearned to possess Cheng Ge; every cell in his body was clamoring for Cheng Ge’s closeness.
This kiss was very long. Wen Ling’s breathing couldn’t quite keep up. His hand moved restlessly, but was pressed back down by Cheng Ge.
Cheng Ge stopped to give Wen Ling time to adjust his breathing, reminding him: “There’s a needle; don’t move your hand around.” After speaking, he gazed into Wen Ling’s eyes, which were filled with watery light and red at the corners, then clasped the back of his head and kissed him again.
“…Cheng Ge,”
“I don’t want to… ngh… be in the hospital.”
“Hm?” Cheng Ge paused for a moment, waiting for Wen Ling to finish speaking.
Wen Ling’s voice was muffled and hoarse: “I don’t want to be here. I hate getting injections, and I hate the smell of disinfectant.”
“Okay.” Cheng Ge lowered his eyes and seriously kissed Wen Ling’s cheeks, the tip of his nose, and the corners of his eyes. Fine, dense kisses landed on Wen Ling’s face. Cheng Ge stroked Wen Ling’s back to soothe him. “We’ll leave after this IV bag is finished.”
Injections couldn’t be given at the school infirmary. The school doctor had given Wen Ling fever reducers and told someone to take him to an outside hospital for the drip. Then Wen Ling’s teacher had called a car to send the two of them to the hospital, leading to the current scene in the ward.
Cheng Ge leaned over to grab a bowl of porridge from the table beside the bed and opened the lid. “Eat something first.”
When Wen Ling was unconscious, he had been frowning and clutching his stomach. Cheng Ge knew this person hadn’t eaten properly today, leading to stomach pain.
“Sniff the smell of the porridge, and you won’t smell the disinfectant.” Cheng Ge brought the porridge to Wen Ling’s mouth; it smelled delicious.
Since the IV was in Wen Ling’s right hand, Cheng Ge was afraid it would be inconvenient for him, so he simply started hand-feeding him. However, Wen Ling’s reaction was too slow. Even with the spoon pressed against his lips, he didn’t know to open his mouth to eat; he only knew to fix his gaze straight on Cheng Ge’s face.
Cheng Ge didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, wondering if the fever had made this guy silly.
“Open your mouth.”
Wen Ling shifted his gaze to the bowl of porridge. He had never tried eating like this, nor did he know he could eat like this. He found it novel, and he also really liked the Cheng Ge who treated him this way.
Wen Ling ate a spoonful of porridge. He couldn’t tell what kind it was. The taste was okay, but not as good as the preserved egg and lean meat porridge Cheng Ge made.
Soon, only half a bowl remained. Cheng Ge suddenly asked Wen Ling, “Did you not eat breakfast today?”
“…Mn.”
“Why didn’t you eat?”
“If I don’t want to eat, I don’t eat.” It sounded like he was throwing a tantrum.
Cheng Ge’s tone was very gentle: “No appetite? Because of the fever? Were you in a bad mood too?”
“Mn.”
Cheng Ge didn’t continue questioning. After a long silence, he spoke up: “It wasn’t that I didn’t care whether you ate or not. If you don’t eat breakfast, your stomach hurts. I saw your stomach wasn’t hurting, so I assumed you had eaten.”
But Cheng Ge seemed to have missed a point: if Wen Ling didn’t want to show it, he could chat casually right in front of you with a straight face even if he was in pain enough to die.
Wen Ling thought for a moment, decided he could accept this explanation, and kissed Cheng Ge on the cheek.
Cheng Ge’s hand holding the bowl trembled slightly, but he immediately continued feeding as if nothing had happened.
When Wen Ling finished the bowl of porridge, Cheng Ge pulled out a tissue for him to wipe his mouth. He tidied up the packaging and wiped the table clean.
Cheng Ge sent a message to the teacher to report that they were safe. When he returned after washing his hands, he saw Wen Ling’s brows knitted tightly. He was pinching his nose with his left hand, looking at him with great grievance and dissatisfaction.
“What are you doing?” Cheng Ge found Wen Ling’s appearance somewhat amusing. He walked to the side of the bed, but unexpectedly, Wen Ling directly wrapped his arms around his waist, burying himself in his chest and moving around.
Cheng Ge was afraid of disturbing the needle in Wen Ling’s hand. He endured the ticklishness, not daring to move recklessly. After observing for a good while, he realized Wen Ling seemed to be sniffing the scent on his body.
Cheng Ge discovered that Wen Ling was truly sensitive to smells. Why did he hate the smell of disinfectant so much?
“You’re like a puppy.”
Wen Ling grabbed Cheng Ge’s hand and bit his arm, neither lightly nor heavily. He retorted grumpily, “You’re the puppy.”
Cheng Ge was amused by Wen Ling’s reaction. To be honest, he said, “I really wasn’t scolding you. I was praising your nose for being sharp.”
“Hmph.”
Cheng Ge was ticklish from Wen Ling’s rubbing. Tensing his body, he asked, “What exactly are you sniffing?”
Wen Ling said, “The scent on Cheng Ge’s body. It smells good.”
“You can smell it too? What does it smell like? Wang Lei said it smells like cooling oil.”
“Who is Wang Lei?”
“My roommate.”
“You let him hug you like this too?”
Cheng Ge was baffled. “???”
Cheng Ge lowered his eyes to meet Wen Ling’s gaze. He figured it out; Wen Ling wasn’t just asking casually. The mental abacus calculating his score was clicking loudly in his heart.
“Of course not,” Cheng Ge hurriedly denied, speaking honestly. “I’ve grown this big, and only you have hugged me like this. He said it when he sat next to me in class that day. Like the smell of cooling oil—very refreshing, but I can’t smell it myself.”
Wen Ling went quiet for a while, probably discerning the truthfulness of his words. After a long time, he continued, “It’s the smell of mint, mixed with a bit of orange, because your hair is orange-scented.”
Listening to Wen Ling’s description, Cheng Ge imagined himself as a strange creature with a mint body and an orange head. Or perhaps like mint grew on his body while someone pranked him by covering his hair with orange peels. Either way, it was weird.
“Maybe it’s the smell of my shampoo and body wash?” Cheng Ge wasn’t very clear about his bathing supplies. He only remembered the scent was too strong and a bit pungent, but because it left his body feeling cool after washing, he liked using it.
” Isn’t that very choking? And that mixture sounds weird.”
“Faint. Good smell.”
For some reason—perhaps because Wen Ling’s breath hit Cheng Ge’s body when he spoke—when he heard Wen Ling say “Good smell,” Cheng Ge’s heart felt like it had been gently scratched by a fluffy kitten. It was itchy.
Cheng Ge coughed lightly. He positioned Wen Ling’s hand with the IV properly, told him not to move, and then sat on the edge of the bed, generously letting Wen Ling lean on him.
Cheng Ge stroked Wen Ling’s head. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “This morning… what was up with that guy?”
“I don’t know,” Wen Ling yawned. “At first, he asked if he could sit next to me. I thought he wanted that seat, so I said yes, then went to another group because I didn’t want to be too close to anyone.” Wen Ling paused here, looking up slightly, his innocent big eyes staring straight at Cheng Ge.
Cheng Ge immediately understood. He lowered his head and kissed the corner of Wen Ling’s lips. “Mn, I understand.”
Only then did Wen Ling continue. “But he followed and sat over there again, saying he couldn’t see the blackboard from over there. So I moved seats again, but he still followed me. He was clearly doing it on purpose.”
Wen Ling stopped again. Cheng Ge was still pondering that guy’s objective. Seeing this, he quickly agreed, “Mn, mn, right.”
“Then I wanted to leave and not sit there anymore. I told him to go away, but he smiled and told me that wasn’t my private seat, blocking me and not letting me leave. He was clearly provoking me!”
Provoking? Cheng Ge thought about it based on Wen Ling’s description. That guy’s smile probably wasn’t a provocation, was it? Cheng Ge found it interesting. Could this count as a variation of “throwing winks at a blind person”?
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