Chapter 17: Attacked on Both SidesĀ
The psychologist continued to apologize: [I’m sorry. What I meant was to let your friend have more contact with his brothers.]
Wen Yuhuai: [What kind of contact?]
Psychologist: [This requires gradual desensitization. You can tell your friend to stay in the same space as his good brothers as much as possible and slowly try to shake off that feeling. If he can achieve that, he can take it a step further and have appropriate physical contact with them.]
Wen Yuhuai thought for a moment and continued to ask: [To what extent of physical contact?]
Psychologist: [You can start with shaking hands, then gradually transition to sitting together and chatting, then putting arms around each other’s shoulders, hugging. If you feel that’s not enough, finally, you can try sleeping in the same bed. After all, these are very normal behaviors between brothers.]
He had slept with them when they were drunk before, and he didn’t feel anything then, but nowā
Wen Yuhuai frowned slightly, patiently typing: [Isn’t that transition a bit too fast?]
Psychologist: [If you feel it’s too fast, you can appropriately slow down the pace. It doesn’t matter; everything depends on your wishes. [Smile.jpg]]
Wen Yuhuaiās eyelid twitched violently. He emphasized for the third time: [It’s not me! It’s my friend!!!]
The psychologist didn’t reply again; perhaps he went to chat with someone else. Wen Yuhuai tipped him another five hundred yuan and exited the app.
He didn’t want to find a psychologist offline. It was too easy to be discovered. If that happened, wouldn’t what happened during the half-month he was kidnapped be exposed?
Chatting online was enough. The other party didn’t know who he was, so meeting offline was out of the question.
Wen Yuhuai chatted with the psychologist for half the night, so he inevitably slept a bit late. When he opened his eyes the next morning, there were already other people in the ward, and more than one.
As soon as he woke up, he met two pairs of eyes staring at him. Wen Yuhuai hadn’t quite reacted yet, slowly sitting up against the headboard.
“Brother, you’re awake. I bought you breakfast.”
Song Xingmian lunged to the bedside carrying breakfast, blatantly currying favor in front of the others.
His brain, fresh from sleep, was still a bit foggy, so all his reactions were the most genuine. Wen Yuhuaiās gaze subconsciously landed on the packaging bag in Song Xingmian’s hand. After seeing the logo on it clearly, his eyes revealed a look of undisguised disgust.
It was from that restaurant again.
The smile on Song Xingmian’s face froze instantly. He lowered his eyes pitifully. “Does Brother not like it?”
Only then did Wen Yuhuai realize his reaction was too obvious and he had hurt the kid’s feelings. He braced himself, took the breakfast, and placed it on the bedside table. “No, it’s just that I ate it a bit too often a while back, so I wanted to change tastes recently.”
Song Xingmian’s expression improved slightly. He tugged at Wen Yuhuaiās sleeve and continued to act coquettishly. “I thought Brother still liked their food as much as before. I got up especially early today to queue. If I had known, I wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.”
Wen Yuhuai plucked a grape from the fruit basket on the bedside table and stuffed it into his mouth. “It’s not easy queuing for so long. Eat the breakfast yourself; don’t waste it.”
After speaking, his gaze landed on Lin Shiyu, who was standing to the side with his arms crossed. “Didn’t I tell you not to come? Why did you come anyway?”
Perhaps because he came specifically to see him today, Lin Shiyu wasn’t wearing a formal suit. His hair wasn’t styled either, hanging loosely over his forehead. The casual outfit made him look less like a cynical playboy; at a glance, he looked like a university student who had just left campus.
Wen Yuhuai silently tsked in his heart. An old cucumber painted greenāacting tender in front of him.
Lin Shiyu didn’t know what he was thinking. With a smile on his lips, he walked forward unhurriedly until his knees touched the edge of the bed. “What, not welcome?”
Wen Yuhuai threw off the covers and got out of bed, yawning as he walked toward the ensuite bathroom in the ward. “Welcome. How would I dare not welcome you? You guys sit first; I’ll go wash my face.”
He dawdled in the bathroom for a while, vaguely hearing the sound of the door opening in between. Wen Yuhuai didn’t think much of it, but when he pushed open the bathroom door, four pairs of eyes fell on him in unison.
“Have you guys… eaten?”
He wanted to ask if they were bored out of their mindsācoming yesterday and coming again todayābut thinking they meant well, he held back and changed it to a more cordial greeting.
Gu Yanxiu still smiled gently, lifting the thermal box in his hand. “I specifically asked the housekeeper to make some porridge. Eat together?”
Wen Yuhuai thought about it and refused. When Auntie Chen left yesterday, she said she would bring him breakfast this morning, and he had agreed.
Gu Yanxiu looked as usual, his tone hovering between gentle and lazy. “Alright, seems I’ll have to finish it myself.”
As they spoke, the ward door was pushed open again. Auntie Chen stepped into the ward carrying a thermal bucket. Seeing a room full of people, she was startled, but a warm smile quickly appeared on her face. “All the young masters are here. Perfect, I made seafood porridge. Taste my cooking and see if my skills have regressed.”
None of them refused. In the blink of an eye, they sat in a row on the sofa set by the window, surrounding the small coffee table tightly.
Wen Yuhuai watched, dumbfounded. No, does anyone remember this is my ward and they are drinking my porridge?
“Ah Yu, come, sit here.” Fu Xingjian patted the seat next to him, beckoning him over.
Song Xingmian wasn’t to be outdone. “Brother, sit here. It’s deadly crowded over there.”
The other two didn’t speak, but their gazes were clear: they wanted him to come over.
Wen Yuhuai didn’t want to go to either side. Just as he was about to roll his eyes at them, he suddenly remembered the psychologist’s words.
He stood quietly in place for a moment, observing all four of them. Finally, he walked toward Fu Xingjian. On his other side happened to be Gu Yanxiu. If he remembered correctly, he had the biggest reaction to these two yesterday. He would use them for the desensitization test.
But as soon as he sat down, he regretted it somewhat.
Both men were taller than him, sandwiching him in the middle. His every move was restricted, and long legs under the table rubbed against him from time to time. Although he knew they didn’t mean it, it still made him sit on pins and needles.
“What’s wrong, Ah Yu?”
Gu Yanxiu used the serving chopsticks to pick up some refreshing side dishes for the porridge and placed them in his bowl, looking down at him with concern.
Their thighs were already pressing together under the table, the heat transmitting to him through the fabric bit by bit. Wen Yuhuai shook his head stiffly, leaning toward the other side imperceptibly. He kept his legs obediently together, finally breaking physical contact with him.
He breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Nothing.”
But before he could finish releasing that breath, his thigh on the other side pressed against Fu Xingjian’s knee. Whether intentionally or not, the knee rubbed against the sensitive skin of his inner thigh several times.
This time, Wen Yuhuaiās chopsticks froze directly in mid-air, and he found himself in a dilemma.
Fu Xingjian chose this moment to look up at him. His gaze was calm and focused, looking as if he knew nothing about the situation under the table.
“What, is this dish not to your liking? What do you want to eat? I’ll get it for you.”
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