Chapter 20: Morning in Bed
Tang Yue felt like he’d had a long dream.
In the dream, he’d actually risen from a vicious supporting character to the protagonist, even audaciously stealing the male lead.
But it wasn’t exactly “stealing,” because Xicháo ge had a boyfriend.
The captain wasn’t as indifferent as Tang Yue had imagined; he was actually a crybaby, his eyes reddening because of Tang Yue’s hug.
This dream was too absurd.
But the embrace was so warm, the scent of ebony almost made Tang Yue feel completely soaked, making him unconsciously lean closer to the source of heat.
Has my Meimei grown up? The hand stroking my head has gotten so much bigger.
Will Meimei grow up to look more like Jiang Shulu?
That would be good; unlike me, I’m always called clumsy.
At least the captain was smart from a young age. I heard he skipped grades in school and won many awards.
I’m different. I never received higher education from a star academy; luckily, being a member of a boy band didn’t require written exams, otherwise I definitely wouldn’t have made it.
Will they discover I’m not the original Tang Yue from this world?
Is it heaven hoping I’ll fulfill my wish, so the DNA test with Liang Yi showed a blood relationship?
Am I and the Tang Yue in the book mirror images of each other?
Will I still have that unavoidable tragic ending?
Tang Yue was afraid of pain; he still remembered the weightlessness of being hit by a car right after the moment of his time-travel, a meteor falling from a collision of planets.
It was terrible.
Even though he was anesthetized during Meimei’s birth, the incision post-surgery was very painful.
Even now, on rainy days, he still feels a faint ache.
Wait, Tang Mian couldn’t have grown this big overnight!!
Tang Yue suddenly opened his eyes, realizing that what he was holding wasn’t the corner of his five-year-old son’s clothes, but an adult man’s pajamas.
A familiar scent.
Tang Yue didn’t dare to look up; who could give him this familiar yet strange feeling?
What happened yesterday?
Did I just fall asleep?
After dinner, I walked back and drank a glass of wine handed to me by my second brother.
The taste was good, but it was a little spicy.
A little spicy, so I got drunk.
Tang Yue closed his eyes, suddenly feeling desperate. He still remembered getting terribly drunk after his 18th birthday.
He slept until noon the next day and was woken up by Jiang Shulu.
Tang Yue didn’t dare ask what else he had done.
Because he saw Jiang Shulu’s pants drying outside and Yao Lixin leaning against the doorframe gloating.
“Xiao Yue, you’re really scary when you’re drunk. You even vomited like morning sickness.”
Tang Yue looked at Jiang Shulu and was about to say sorry when Jiang Shulu touched his forehead, probably worried he had a fever.
He then handed him a glass of water.
Outside, the manager was pacing restlessly, her high heels clicking impatiently, urging them to hurry.
Yao Lixin: “But you talk nonsense when you sleep. You actually called me sister, that’s going too far.”
Yao Lixin never stopped talking, completely baffling Tang Yue.
Tang Yue was afraid he had said something he shouldn’t have and quickly apologized. Yao Lixin winked, “Seriously, you were thinking about becoming a father right after turning eighteen. Unexpected.”
Tang Yue was anxious for days because of that sentence, repeatedly questioning Yao Lixin before finally relaxing.
His teasing second brother seemed to think Tang Yue was eager to marry a beautiful sister.
Later, Tang Yue was very restrained, even if he craved it, he only drank sparkling water.
During those five years, Liang Yi would bring some wine every time she visited. Tang Yue thought his alcohol tolerance had improved, but this homemade village wine was surprisingly strong.
Tang Yue cautiously looked at the camera in the room. He didn’t know what time it was or if the livestream was on.
He wanted to find his phone but found it wasn’t by his pillow. He peeked and saw it on Jiang Shulu’s side of the bed.
It was still dawn outside, the window blocking the hazy light.
The only light in the room was the nightlight, but it was enough for Tang Yue to see Jiang Shulu’s sleeping face.
Why did I feel like I was dreaming even after waking up?
He’d forgotten when he last seriously looked at Jiang Shulu.
It was which year, which month, which day in the band, because an event was delayed, they were arranged in a waiting room.
Many celebrities were at that event. Liu Xicháo went to visit senior entertainers, and Yao Lixin went to chat with a neighboring boy band.
Jiang Shulu didn’t go out because he had a cold. He didn’t look well, resting on the sofa with his eyes closed.
Tang Yue sat on the sofa next to him.
He was reading a novel on his phone.
It wasn’t the funny “carrying a child and running away” that Liu Xicháo had found amusing, but a youth novel — He’s Brighter Than a Meteor — that even the stylist who had done his makeup had found moving — about painful love.
The author described the male lead as incomparably handsome, also cool and handsome, making it difficult for Tang Yue to imagine a range.
Catching sight of Jiang Shulu, who was listening to music with his eyes closed, he immediately thought that he was the rightful male lead.
Right, Shulu ge was originally the male lead.
A top-notch wealthy family, graceful, capable of everything, even more gentle and considerate than the cool, arrogant, and domineering CEO in the novel.
As for the male lead’s necessary large size, Tang Yue didn’t know.
Tang Yue was embarrassed to look closely.
And Jiang Shulu was a bit reserved compared to the others.
When the group went out for events, they would stay in a suite together.
Yao Lixin was narcissistic and loved showing off his body in front of fans, whether it was his abs or his legs, making the manager remind him not to be too oily.
The opposite of Yao Lixin was Jiang Shulu, who dressed modestly; even in summer, he liked to wear an extra layer of clothing and didn’t like to show skin.
Fans had complained that the captain was too restrained but could occasionally let loose.
Jiang Shulu wouldn’t go shirtless in private; on the contrary, Tang Yue liked to walk around his room without long pants.
Jiang Shulu knocked on the door to call him for dinner but got no response, pushing the door open to be startled and hastily closed it.
The sound of the door closing and Yao Lixin’s sarcastic voice, “Did Tang Yue’s naked body scare you?” reached Tang Yue’s ears.
Tang Yue blushed crimson and reminded himself to wear long pants, thinking wearing only underwear was inappropriate.
The stylist knew Jiang Shulu’s habits, so his stage outfits were never wild.
The revealing outfits were left to Yao Lixin, jokingly said that all the extra fabric was piled on Jiang Shulu.
In the empty waiting room, Tang Yue’s gaze went from Jiang Shulu’s cuffs to his collar.
From his chin to his lips, his high nose bridge, his beautifully shaped eyes even when closed.
He was so handsome.
Handsome when his eyes were closed, handsome when he blinked, handsome when he smiled, and handsome even without a smile.
Tang Yue had forgotten that he was still reading a section about a domineering CEO’s forceful love in the novel, not realizing that he had been staring at Jiang Shulu, almost captivated.
Enough to make him think and dream about it for five years, sleepless nights.
Now, at dawn, Tang Yue looked at Jiang Shulu for several minutes, finally withdrawing from his arms, trying to reach for his phone on the nightstand.
But he was afraid the cameras were on, so he pulled the thin blanket up, wanting to avoid being seen.
Reaching over Jiang Shulu was difficult enough. Tang Yue struggled to reach forward, but still couldn’t reach the phone.
He didn’t realize that the person he was covering was already awake.
Jiang Shulu was literally woken up by Tang Yue’s staring.
He had never slept with Tang Yue before, and had no idea that Tang Yue’s sleeping posture was incredibly bad and that he liked to pinch people’s earlobes while sleeping.
Jiang Shulu, who had never had a bed partner, couldn’t sleep at all.
He finally managed to fall asleep in the latter half of the night, but after only a few hours, he was kicked awake by Tang Yue.
After kicking him, Tang Yue hugged Jiang Shulu, calling for Meimei and mumbling things like, “Why have you grown so big? Dad can’t hold you in his arms anymore,” and so on.
Jiang Shulu suddenly realized he didn’t understand Tang Yue at all.
This kid wasn’t obedient at all, he was probably faking it.
For example, while seemingly obediently saying, “Captain, I won’t drink too many drinks anymore,” he secretly got up in the middle of the night to drink until his stomach ached.
Jiang Shulu was already a bit hazy before Tang Yue woke up. When Tang Yue woke up and stared at him, Jiang Shulu suppressed his urge to open his eyes for a long time.
Tang Yue was too close, his breath spraying on his face; this distance was excessive for Jiang Shulu.
He had never had such an intimate person since he was young.
Other people’s adolescence involved dating; school romances, kisses on the rooftop, weekend dates with chauffeured luxury cars.
Jiang Shulu’s adolescence involved fulfilling the Jiang family’s strict demands and participating in competitions he no longer enjoyed.
He wasn’t envious; he just felt that he was inherently missing something.
But he didn’t know what it was or where to find it.
Yet, on this torturous night, Jiang Shulu, whose earlobe was being pinched by Tang Yue, helplessly looked over.
The boy had grown into a young man, seemingly unhappy even in his dreams.
Tang Yue always seemed melancholic, as if no one helped him solve his problems, only swallowing them, unaware that every glance was a cry for help.
Hoping someone would hug him, get close to him, enter his depths.
Now Tang Yue had to get out of bed and cross over Jiang Shulu to reach his phone.
But the wooden bed creaked loudly; it seemed that any movement would make a deafening sound.
Tang Yue was nervous, lifting his foot to step onto the edge of the bed, but the sheet was too slippery. Eager to get his phone, he fell towards the floor.
The blanket fell over his head; Tang Yue almost cried out, expecting an inevitable fall.
A hand grabbed his waist, flipping Tang Yue over. The white thin blanket was like a veil, perfectly covering Tang Yue’s head.
Tang Yue collided with a pair of helpless eyes.
At the same time, a clear clicking sound rang out; the room’s cameras automatically turned on.
Many viewers who had set alarms to watch the livestream rushed in.
The split screen of the two rooms made everyone subconsciously look at Tang Yue and Jiang Shulu looking at each other on the bed.
“They wouldn’t have stayed in this position all night, right?”
“Should I be under the bed?”
“I almost thought Tang Yue was wearing a bridal veil; I must be still asleep.”
“The lighting is amazing, like it’s been added noise, are they kissing??”
“I almost thought I’d entered Away’s doujinshi world, otherwise why can I see Jiang Shulu and Tang Yue, who are the least familiar, so close together?”
“Strongly recommend adding a camera at the head of the bed.”
Tang Yue was mortified; he didn’t dare look at Jiang Shulu, yet the question he’d been staring at blurted out—
“Captain, what’s wrong with your mouth?”
He lowered his voice and burrowed further into the blanket, but ignored the fact that he was lying on top of the other person; the morning’s movements were hard to ignore.
Tang Yue shifted, his face burning up. He didn’t know why the content of the novel suddenly turned into the barrage flashing through his mind.
—Jiang Shulu has an excellent figure, his overly… sexy… body is very…
Don’t think of that kind of thing now.
Jiang Shulu: …
The culprit could ask such an innocent question.
“What what? I can’t hear you?”
“They’re cheating! Whispering in bed.”
He took a deep breath, also feeling a little embarrassed.
More than embarrassment, it was the feeling of their beating hearts pressed together.
Tang Yue’s heart was beating too fast.
Jiang Shulu: “Mosquito bites.”
Tang Yue nodded, realizing a moment later, “No way, how could a mosquito bite leave such a mark…”
The more he spoke, the more guilty he felt; he already had the answer.
Jiang Shulu didn’t mind their current posture, reaching out to hand Tang Yue his phone.
Smiling, he asked, “So which little rascal do you think did it?”