Chapter 22

Lu Si drooped his eyelids and slowly loosened his lips.

Eyelids slightly pricked, Lu Si stared at Gu Fang's slightly panting face, a rare deep color emerging from his cold eyes. Raising her fingertips, she gently wiped away the wetness on the back of his neck.

After a while, Gu Fang's panting chest gradually calmed down.

Lu Si lifted the loose hair on his forehead and finally helped him to push it behind his ears and straighten it.

"You don't hate my pheromones," Lu Si said in a low voice, "right?"

Gu Fang's drooping thick eyelashes trembled, and his fingers slid down from the strand of Lu Si's hair to the corner of his beige sweater, gripping it tightly.

He shook his head: "I don't hate it."

...More than just not annoying.

He sipped the sweet taste on the tip of his tongue, and the darkness in his eyes temporarily faded away because of the satisfaction he got from the mark.

"Oh." Lu Si nodded calmly, as if asking casually.

She rubbed his head again with her palm: "How is it? Are you still feeling uncomfortable?"

Lu Si's phone started vibrating again, and then the phone in Gu Fang's pocket also started vibrating.

Gu Fang raised his eyes, his gaze fixed on Lu Si. Lu Si had never seen anyone else with eyes as pure as his. He stared at Lu Si and shook his head, his voice clear, "It doesn't hurt anymore."

The two of them fell silent. The only sound around them was the vibrating of their phones. The wind blew through the forest like a rising tide, bringing with it the scent of damp earth. The lingering scent of mint and orchid gradually faded into the wind.

Lu Si thought that after marking the items, Gu Fang would say thank you, just like he always did after helping him. But this time, Gu Fang just stared at him without saying anything.

Lu Si realized it belatedly and took out his cell phone, then answered the call.

It was Xiao Yuanshan who called, and the first person he spoke was Le Jiayu, who was anxious: "Fang Fang! Are you okay? Are you in heat? I just went back to the car to get the inhibitors, and I'm on the way now. Are you okay? How much longer can you hold on?!"

Lu Si suppressed the inexplicable guilt in his heart, raised his eyebrows slightly, handed the phone to Gu Fang, and motioned him to answer.

Gu Fang coughed, his ears still burning under Lu Si's eyes. He lowered his voice and held Lu Si's phone: "I'm fine, Lele... Well, it's not the estrus period, don't worry... I've recovered now... Well, I'll meet you at the foot of the mountain soon."

When Lu Si got his phone back, he couldn't help but half-close his eyes and glance at Gu Fang again. Gu Fang's face had returned to normal, and the hot blush on his face disappeared quickly.

Lu Si had made a new discovery about Gu Fang. He appeared obedient on the surface, yet could lie without blinking an eye—in reality, he was a dishonest little white rabbit. And because he was usually so well-behaved, people wouldn't doubt anything he said.

Lu Si turned around and squatted down in front of him as usual. He felt that the person behind him hesitated for a while, thinking about something, but in the end he just lay down obediently.

Lu Si carried him steadily on his back. The afternoon sun filtered through the pine forest, casting tiny specks of light onto them. From an angle Gu Fang couldn't see, the corners of Lu Si's lips curled up slightly, finally revealing a rare sense of holiday comfort and joy.

After descending the mountain, Le Jiayu was once again filled with worry and nagging when she saw Gu Fang had sprained his ankle. His bulging backpack was packed with not only suppressants, barrier agents, and other common Omega items, but also medicine for injuries and disinfectant.

Mo Ji couldn't help but complain to Gao Hanying: "Is Le Jiayu really Gu Fang's nanny? She just twisted it a little, it doesn't seem that serious."

After the downhill chase, the relationship between the two sides became inexplicably more harmonious.

"..." Xiao Gao didn't really understand their "abnormal" relationship, but he had to stand firm, so he shot back, "It's true that he's fine. He can walk, jump, and run. But wasn't your brother Lu so worried that he carried him down the mountain and is still with him?"

Mo Ji: “…”

He held it in for a long time, his eyes shifting back and forth between Gu Fang and Lu Si, who was helping Gu Fang apply the medicine. Finally, he said, "This is called helping others! Being friendly to classmates! You know nothing!"

The newly opened hot spring hotel is not far from the foot of the mountain.

Even though he was confirmed to be fine, Gu Fang still had no choice but to accept Le Jiayu's support.

Before climbing the mountain, Lu Si and his group's bags and luggage were also stored in Jing Xingye's car. When Xiao Gao drove the car into the hotel, a waiter came to carry the luggage.

When checking in at the counter, Xie Ziyao handed his ID card to the young lady inside. He glanced at the reservation on Jing Xingye's phone and couldn't help but exclaim in wonder, "A presidential suite on the top floor, one for each person. Amazing, Mr. Jing!"

"Mr. Jing." The young lady gave a typical smile. "Here's your ID card. The room password has been sent to your phone. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. I wish you a pleasant stay and a happy vacation."

Jing Xingye hummed in a haughty manner.

Xie Ziyao asked again: "How do they know you? And they call you Mr. Jing?"

Gao Hanying parked the car and came back, dangling the car keys at his fingertips: "Because this hotel is owned by his family."

"His father is Mr. Jing," Le Jiayu added casually, "so he can only call him Little Mr. Jing."

The young lady at the counter gave a standard smile and nodded, and her performance in front of the young boss was worthy of five stars.

While they were chatting, Gu Fang took back his ID card and pretended to be casual and eavesdropped on the conversation between the counter staff and Lu Si.

"How do I redeem the 40% discount?"

"Here's the thing, guest. When you check out, as long as you leave us a positive review on the booking platform, we'll give you a discount on the difference."

"Oh," Lu Si nodded calmly, "Okay. What are the specific requirements for a good review?"

The lady smiled and said, "A good review only needs to be 20 words long and include a picture. Your room number and password have been sent to your phone. The room is on the fifth floor. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. I wish you a pleasant stay and a happy vacation."

Fifth floor.

When entering the elevator with Le Jiayu and the others, Gu Fang glanced at the buttons.

The floors are quite different.

He glanced at Jing Xingye faintly.

Jing Xingye was playing with his phone when he inexplicably felt his gaze: "Why are you looking at me?"

Gu Fang raised his graceful chin slightly and watched the number on the floor continue to rise: "Nothing."

A suburban hot spring hotel, built so high? ...What a lunatic design.

No wonder Uncle Jing always loses money when investing in the tourism industry.

Le Jiayu's room was next door. Jing Xingye and Gao Hanying had already entered the room. Before Le Jiayu entered, he suddenly took out a bottle of barrier agent from his pocket and handed it to Gu Fang: "Spray some before you go out, Fang Fang."

Gu Fang glanced at him, as if he understood something.

Le Jiayu pouted, looking unhappy: "You and Lu Si were too close, his scent was so strong on you."

Gu Fang took the bottle of spray silently, had nothing to say, and nodded.

There were only two sets of clothes in the bag, so there was no need to organize them. Gu Fang threw the small bag on the cabinet, took out a set of clean clothes, closed the curtains, and walked to the bathroom.

He deliberately changed out of his original clothes, and the barrier agent emitted a faint fragrance in the air, covering up the original smell on his body.

Gu Fang stroked the back of his neck and looked in the mirror. Not a single tooth mark remained, and the red mark had faded. His eyelashes drooped, and in the faint shadow beneath his lashes, a sense of loss lingered.

Why don't you get to the point? You look so fierce.

Gu Fang hugged the pile of changed clothes, fell back on the soft mattress, and buried his lost head in the pile of clothes.

It seemed as if I could still smell the damp soil of the forest and their pheromones tangled in the wind.

After a while, the pair of dark blue eyes raised from the clothes.

The estrus period has been very irregular recently. It clearly came once in October, but it came again less than two days later... Lu Si thought that the last estrus period had not ended yet, but Gu Fang, as the person involved, knew clearly that these were indeed two separate estrus periods.

He touched the gland again, but apart from the symptoms of the sequelae, he felt no other discomfort.

...It wasn't that he didn't have any. Lu Si's alluring pheromones seemed to be the trigger for his estrus. And his own desires began to develop in an increasingly perverted direction.

Maybe it's just a coincidence.

Gu Fang covered his eyes with his arms.

Wen Chuji's words had truly hit home with him. Selfishly, he had no intention of bothering his family with such trivial matters unless there was irrefutable evidence. Furthermore, if he truly spoke out, even if it was most likely a coincidence, his father wouldn't allow him to go to school again.

Tiny rays of light stream in through the gaps in the curtains. In that narrow opening of light, even a tiny particle like a speck of dust knows how to find the right opportunity and dance to its heart's content.

Gu Fang hasn’t seen enough of the scenery that his peers have seen.

Lu Si’s youth, which comes only once in a lifetime, he has not seen enough.

He believed that his greed, after being suppressed, was not much to begin with and he could not retreat any further.

At dinner time, among the small group of four, Jing Xingye suggested trying the open-air barbecue in the garden behind.

This barbecue is a buffet, you order your own food and grill it yourself. Gao Hanying said, "It's boring to eat too much for four people. When it comes to barbecue, isn't the more people, the better?"

It happened that in the hotel lobby, we met Xie Ziyao and his group who were also out looking for food, so the two sides hit it off and had a barbecue together.

The back garden, nestled at the foot of the mountain, was tranquil and filled with tents of varying sizes, each with a grill, tables, and chairs, much like camping. It was lunchtime, and many of the tents were already occupied. The aroma of barbecue sizzled from the grills, and the occasional clink of beer mugs echoed.

The waiter led them to a more secluded tent.

Jing Xingye handed them the menu: "You guys order, this meal is on me."

"No, Mr. Jing," Xie Ziyao glanced at Lu Si and shouted, "Let's split the bill. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing to sit here."

Jing Xingye tutted in annoyance: "Then you two can split the bill."

The waiter lit the fire, waited until it reached the right temperature, and demonstrated to them how to grill the meat again before leaving.

Although the two sides had just had a fight at the beginning of the school year, during the barbecue, Xie Ziyao and his friends started to get close to Jing Xingye and Gao Hanying, treating them like brothers.

As the only adult, Gao Hanying legitimately ordered a pitcher of beer. But in the end, he only managed to grab one bottle, while the rest ended up in the hands of others.

Seeing that everyone was having a great time eating and drinking, Gu Fang looked across the table at Lu Si who was standing in front of the barbecue grill.

Lu Si didn't touch the bottles of wine and ate little. He was concentrating on grilling a rack of skewers with both meat and vegetables. His cold profile melted into the slightly tipsy light. The sizzling and fragrant smell of fireworks ruffled his hair, but he seemed like a different world from his surroundings.

"Is this baked by Lu Si?" When he first ate it, even Jing Xingye's eyes widened. "What did he add? Why is it so different from what we bake?"

Xiao Yuanshan said calmly, "Do you think we're just calling you dad for fun?"

"Dad! Give me ten more skewers of mutton and ten more skewers of roasted sweet potato skin!" Xie Ziyao leaned back in his chair and yelled at the grill, his filial piety more cheerful than anyone else. "Add more chili peppers, I'm not afraid of spicy food!"

By the end of the meal, the grill had become Chef Lu’s exclusive property.

His control over the heat, seasoning, and evenness of heating makes one wonder whether he can do it to two decimal places, just like he does math problems.

Xie Ziyao commented, "With this skill, what's the point of taking a higher exam? Is it good enough to open a national chain of food stalls?"

Every time Lu Si came back from grilling and picked up some skewers, when he passed by Gu Fang, he would always grab half of them and put them not far from Gu Fang, and then throw the remaining half to the group of drunkards.

Le Jiayu came back to get the skewers after finishing her drink, looking shocked: "Fang Fang, why don't you have less or more here?"

"Maybe," Gu Fang took a string of noodles slowly and glanced at Lu Si's back, "Am I eating too slowly?"

Le Jiayu grabbed a handful at once.

"No," Gu Fang hurriedly protected the food, "I have to keep it." Some people didn't eat much.

"You saved some for a midnight snack?" Le Jiayu was suspicious. "With your cat-like appetite?"

Gu Fang's face flushed, but he still did not let his guard down: "It's a midnight snack."

"Okay." Seeing how tightly he was guarding him, Le Jiayu assumed the kid was really hungry from climbing the mountain—he had completely forgotten how Gu Fang got back down. He didn't bother trying to grab more and went back to drinking.

After Lu Si finished grilling the last bit of ingredients, he came back and found that his seat had been taken by Le Jiayu.

At the other end of the table, Gu Fang stared at him with bright eyes and waved slightly.

Lu Si wiped her hands, took off her apron, and sat down next to him.

A pile of hot skewers was handed over to him, and Gu Fang held them tightly as if they were treasures. He lowered his voice, as if he was doing something sinful with his back to others: "Eat quickly, eat quickly, these are all left for you."

Lu Si was a little amused by him, and raised his eyebrows slightly: "Why are you so cute?"

Gu Fang was helping him get a tissue. His ears were slightly off, and the drunks were shouting all around him. He couldn't hear clearly for a moment, and his eyelashes fluttered a few times: "What?"

Lu Si's expression was indifferent, and there was no clue. He took the tissue, thanked him, and said casually, "Nothing."

Gu Fang didn't ask any more questions.

After a while, Lu Si raised his eyelids.

"Are you still feeling uncomfortable?" He looked at the back of Gu Fang's neck meaningfully.

Gu Fang always felt that Lu Si was more relaxed tonight than usual, as if something very good had happened to him today.

What's good? A holiday?

Gu Fang propped up his jaw and watched him nibble off the small piece of meat on the skewer bit by bit, his neck shaking slightly: "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Thinking of the good things that happened today, Gu Fang's eyes curved into two small crescents: "Temporary mark..." He paused deliberately, "Very useful."

Lu Si's hand paused slightly, then returned to normal after a moment. He raised his eyelids and glanced at him lightly.

"As long as it's useful."

The hotel invested by Mr. Jing mainly features the natural forest hot springs. People who come here for vacation usually have to experience it, otherwise it would be a waste of time.

Jing Xingye reserved a separate small pool for each person, but Gu Fang's physique was not suitable for hot springs. After soaking for more than ten minutes, he felt dizzy and his skin was hot, and he couldn't stay there any longer.

After donning a bathrobe, Gu Fang came out and sat on a sofa in the central hall. The waiter asked him what he wanted to drink. Gu Fang asked if they had AD calcium. The waiter's smile froze for a moment, and he quickly replied with professionalism, "Yes, how many bottles do you want?"

Gu Fang tilted his head and thought for a moment: "Two bottles will be fine, thank you."

He had just finished a bottle and was thinking of going back to soak for more when he saw Lu Si, dressed in a bathrobe with his clothes draped over his arm, emerging from the hot springs. He walked straight to the elevator, his gaze fixed, expressionless, his steps only slightly hurried.

Gu Fang happened to be sitting behind two green plants and was not seen by him.

Gu Fang was silent until the elevator door closed, and suddenly he didn't want to continue.

After leaving a message for Yue Jiayu, he went back upstairs to change his clothes. He put on his mask and sneaked back to the elevator, staring at the floor buttons.

After a while, as if he had made some important decision, he pressed the fifth button.

Before he knew it, the bottle of AD calcium in his hand had become warm.

I wanted to go directly to the room number I remembered, but when I glanced at the end of the corridor, I saw Lu Si sitting on the balcony holding a guitar.

Gu Fang would never mistake that figure. He was startled, then turned and walked to the end of the corridor. The balcony outside was a public space, very large, with a small garden and even a small pavilion.

Lu Si was sitting on the stone steps of the pavilion, facing sideways towards the corridor, with one of his long legs stretched out and the other half bent, in a very casual sitting posture.

Was it a sudden inspiration?

Gu Fang's hand on the glass door paused and did not move.

As quiet as the music beneath the boundless moonlight, it slowly flowed from Lu Si's fingertips. He didn't even have time to change his clothes. He had hastily thrown on an off-white knitted jacket over his bathrobe, looking a bit out of place. His hair was wet and disheveled, sticking up irregularly, yet possessing a decadent beauty.

The barrier of the glass door makes the music more polished and softer, inviting people to listen more attentively.

Gu Fang recognized that this was a new song because he had never heard their band perform it before.

Lu Si's expression also resembled a creative one. A small, orange halo of streetlight enveloped him, its light like a gentle, warm rain, gently falling on his face. He lowered his eyelids in concentration, his slender fingers plucking the guitar. His sharp, slender brows occasionally furrowed in a frown, but gradually relaxed as he continued to strum.

He was very quick in composing. In less than twenty minutes, Gu Fang heard a complete new song that he had tried to play.

Melodies, brisk music, and clear rhythm, like a waltz in the cool night of early autumn.

Lu Si's face finally relaxed completely, the eagerness to catch inspiration disappeared. He put down the guitar, leaned on the stone steps, and stretched lazily.

Gu Fang suddenly woke up and hurriedly put down his hand that was on the glass door, but he didn't hold the AD calcium in his other hand tightly and it fell to the ground.

Perhaps because he felt guilty, he felt that the noise was too loud. Seeing that Lu Si was about to turn around, he even forgot to pick up the things and ran away.

It wasn't until he got into the elevator that he heard the pounding of his own heart.

But it's strange...why would he run? Even if he was discovered, he could just say he came to see him out of boredom, right?

Lu Si pushed open the glass door and picked up the bottle of AD calcium that had fallen to the ground. He wiped the bottle clean and then, his narrow, slightly myopic eyes narrowed, looking thoughtfully at the closing elevator door.

After a moment, as if he thought of something good that happened during the day, Lu Si's eyes showed a mischievous smile, which passed by in an instant and soon disappeared in his eyes.

He weighed the bottle of AD calcium in his hand, tightened the guitar strap on his shoulder with his other hand, and without changing his expression, put the drink that only children like to drink into his pocket.

Holidays are indeed conducive to relaxing the body and mind.

Lu Si used to think he had run out of ideas and was about to go bald. But now he can confidently say that composing music is nothing special and that even the best piece can only be finished in twenty minutes at most.

The Muses in mythology are all goddesses.

And his muse turned out to be a little rabbit whose fur had not yet grown fully and was still startled.

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The clip will be posted the day after tomorrow, so tomorrow's update will be at midnight tonight. Love you guys~