Chapter 20: It is easy to kill someone but hard to dispose of the body. But you are a few steps away/I can't hear...

As usual, each member's solo is included in this regular album. The one for Li Xi is a jazz-style song with a sexy dance style, which Li Xi has never tried before.

This kind of dance requires one to immerse oneself in it before being able to dance out a lazy and seductive feeling. But at first, Li Xi was a little hesitant to let go. He had no idea how to express sexiness. Especially when he just started practicing, the members were watching and making noises. Li Xi blushed and almost begged for mercy: "Can you guys come and watch later? Let me practice first."

Yuan Zhiyan was so excited that he said in a strange voice, "Why are you shy, brother?"

Li Xi: "Do you want some chocolate egg tarts?"

Yuan Zhiyan: "...I'll just leave."

Before leaving, he encouraged her: "Believe me, your face is sexy enough as long as you throw a few seductive glances, come on!"

The others also left, but Tang Ruining remained where he was, with no intention of moving.

Li Wei asked him, "Why don't you leave?"

"I'm not laughing at you." Tang Ruining said, "Let me see."

Well, Li Wei compromised, but he didn't go to such lengths. It was also good to have Tang Ruining by his side to give him some guidance.

The song started playing and Li Wei began to dance. He was still unfamiliar with the first few sentences, but he has a strong learning ability and found his state quickly, focusing on his expression in the large mirror in the dance studio.

His arms were half-raised and slowly passed in front of his eyes. The wide sleeves of his sweatshirt fell down, revealing his beautifully shaped forearms. When his hair was longer, he often had a hairband around his wrist, sometimes two. Now that he couldn't tie his hair anymore, his wrists felt empty, which made Tang Ruining feel a little regretful. Those wrists were clearly too suitable for wrapping something around them.

There was a short choreography where he had to sit on a chair, but he forgot to move the chair over, so he simply sat on the floor, leaning back with his legs crossed - he was supposed to cross his legs while sitting on the chair, but now he could only sit flat, stretch his legs and cross them together, making his legs look longer.

He raised his head, as if thinking about his next move, his eyes looking towards the ceiling, his chin and entire upper body stretched out in a graceful curve.

Tang Ruining looked at his face again. His bare face without makeup revealed innocence, but his eyes were charming. When he was serious, he was very cold, and when he smiled, he was very gentle. When he raised his chin to look at people like this, he was indescribably charming without realizing it. Tang Ruining had already imagined in her mind the scene of Jiang Yilan putting on makeup and dancing this dance. The heavy eye makeup was very suitable for this song. If she wore a pair of blue contact lenses, her inhuman sexiness would be even more prominent.

The melody of this song is lazy and meaningless, but the lyrics are about being unable to get the love you want, creating a sense of conflict. The song enters the bridge halfway through, and the dance also reaches its important part.

Li Xi turned around and saw Tang Ruining standing not far away. The other person seemed to be very engrossed, staring straight at his face.

Li Xi walked a few steps closer, put her arm around his shoulder, and gave him an inviting smile.

This dance has dancers, but Li Xi is currently only practicing on his own and has not joined the dancers. He also had a sudden idea and asked Tang Ruining, who happened to be present, to cooperate with him. There aren't many scenes for backup dancers, and only this bridge segment requires cooperation with Li Xi.

Accompanied by Li Xi's sad voice coming from the speakers, Li Xi hooked her arm around him, took a few steps back, and half-huggled him from behind.

"I'm most afraid of your monologue/saying that you and I are just an accident"

Li Xi faced the mirror, gently touched his chin from behind, and lip-synced the lyrics.

"We have some obstacles / It's all up to you"

He held Tang Ruining's shoulders and asked him to turn around so that he faced him. But even though he didn't make any big movements, Tang Ruining's breathing seemed very rapid.

"But you are just a few steps away/and can't hear me say love"

Li Xi grabbed Tang Ruining's hand and placed it on his chest. Here, the female dancer tried to push him away gently, singing along to the lyrics of "You're a few steps away". Tang Ruining didn't push him. Li Xi took two steps back to cooperate with the performance. Tang Ruining didn't return to his original position. He just kept looking at him as if in a daze.

Li Xi found his expression somewhat amusing, so she smiled and turned around to finish the rest of the dance.

After the dance, Li Wei asked Tang Ruining, "Are you okay?"

"……ah?"

He pulled out of the song very quickly, and his expression, which was immersed in the dance in the previous few seconds, changed instantly. He asked a little worriedly: "Is the effect okay? Is it a bit too much?"

"No." Tang Ruining suddenly looked down at the floor, "I think it's good."

"That's good."

"Um..." Tang Ruining raised his head slightly, "Do you have to be so intimate with your dancers in this dance?"

"Was it intimate?" Li Xi recalled the action and said, "It was okay?" He just touched the chin of the dancer, and the dancer pushed him away.

“Fans might have an opinion.”

"No way, it's nothing." Li Wei said, then walked to Tang Ruining and reached out to touch his chin, "That's it, not the kind that touches the whole face."

Then he touched Tang Ruining's ear, then his chin, and then his neck. He smiled and said, "Is this considered intimacy?"

No one answered him. Tang Ruining looked at him very quietly, and even his breathing could not be heard.

The look was so heavy that Li Xi couldn't understand it. The neck under his palm bulged, it was the sound of Tang Ruining swallowing. Li Xi put his hand down, and just as it left Tang Ruining's skin, it was suddenly grabbed again.

Li Xi looked at him hesitantly. Tang Ruining moved closer and the strength of his hand being held was not right.

The background music was set to play in a loop. When it played for the second time, the words "You can't hear me say I love you" seemed to hit Li Xi's ears, causing his heart to skip a beat.

The following songs seemed to be muted and could not reach my ears. Li Xi stared blankly at the person so close to him. Everything in those eyes that he couldn't understand just now seemed to become clear in an instant. Everything could be traced -

"I'm back!" Yuan Zhiyan's voice came from the door before anyone else. Li Xi suddenly pulled his hand back and took several steps back.

"I bought some coffee!" Yuan Zhiyan trotted over. He himself didn't like coffee, but Jiang Yilan and Tang Ruining drank it often, so he ordered coffee for them.

Tang Ruining took it silently and finished the glass in a few sips.

"Are you so thirsty?" Yuan Zhiyan saw him gulping down his coffee and said, "Then I came just in time!"

"It's just in time." Tang Ruining squeezed the coffee cup in his hand and said something ambiguous.

"How about it, brother? Dance for me?" Yuan Zhiyan was very interested.

"good."

Yuan Zhiyan had seen the dance teacher teach and knew there would be dancers, so when Li Xi danced to that part, he joined in very consciously, looked at Li Xi affectionately, then gently pushed her away, performing with great devotion.

"No need to practice anymore, brother, this is great!" After this round, Yuan Zhiyan clapped his hands vigorously, and then went to seek Tang Ruining's opinion, smiling and said, "Don't you think so, Master Dancer?"

Li Xi slowly looked towards Tang Ruining, who was looking at him calmly. The desire and restraint in his eyes a few minutes ago had been hidden, making Li Xi wonder if he had misunderstood something.

If it's a misunderstanding... even better.

Back in the dormitory, Li Wei made the chocolate egg tarts for Yuan Zhiyan as she had promised him. Normally, Tang Ruining doesn't eat dinner unless he has a dinner party or needs to eat when recording a variety show. This time, Li Xi brought out the baked egg tarts and invited everyone to eat, and Tang Ruining was not absent.

"Hey, you want to eat something so sweet so late at night?" Rong Xiao asked with a little surprise when he saw him.

Yuan Zhiyan felt sad that he might have to eat fewer eggs, "Don't you dislike egg tarts?"

"I didn't like it before, but I like it now." Tang Ruining looked at Jiang Yilan and said, "Is it okay?"

"Okay, okay," Yuan Zhiyan said, "But after all, how could anyone not like egg tarts? Especially chocolate egg tarts, who can refuse that!"

"Eat slowly, it's hot inside." Li Xi reminded.

"There are still plenty of ingredients. If it's not enough, I can make some more."

Yuan Zhiyan was about to speak when he suddenly remembered what Tang Ruining said that time, "Don't make it a habit to order people around." He stopped talking and looked at Tang Ruining guiltily.

"Brother Ruining, do you still want to eat?" Yuan Zhiyan asked.

Tang Ruining raised his eyebrows, "Why, you want to give me yours?"

"No! I didn't, don't talk nonsense!" He covered his plate as if protecting his food.

Li Xi has gone to the kitchen again.

The tart crust was ready-made. Li Xi heated the evaporated milk and chocolate, took out the eggs and white sugar, and measured the grams into a bowl.

"Do you need any help?" Tang Ruining's voice appeared behind him.

Li Xi paused, handed him the bowl, and said, "Please help me stir it."

"good."

The two of them were doing their own things quietly. Li Xi arranged the tart crusts one by one and poured the stirred egg tart liquid into them.

"Did I make things difficult for you?" Tang Ruining asked when Li Wei poured the third tart crust.

The person holding the bowl tilted his hand and a few drops of egg tart liquid dripped out. Li Xi took a piece of paper and wiped it clean without looking up. "No. I just... I just didn't expect it."

Tang Ruining went to take the bowl from his hand, "Let me do it."

He then poured the third egg tart in and asked again, "Does that make you feel sick?"

"No!" Li Wei quickly denied, "Don't think so. I never think so."

Tang Ruining curled his lips, poured all the egg tart liquid, and put it in the oven.

The egg tarts were slowly becoming crispy and expanding in the oven. The two people stared at them intently without saying a word, as if they were observing something.

After a long while, when there were only a few seconds left in the countdown, Li Xi said, "Can I ask, when did it start?"

"I have no idea."

With a "ding" sound, Tang Ruining opened the oven door and the heat and fragrance hit him in the face.

"It was already like this when I found it." He put on his heat-insulating gloves and said to Li Xi, "I'll serve it. You go sit down."

The egg tarts were eaten up, Yuan Zhiyan rubbed his stomach contentedly and suggested, "Shall we go to the gym in an hour?"

Li Xi: "You guys go ahead. I'm tired after practicing dancing all day."

"I'm not going either." Tang Ruining said, "I'm not in the mood today."

"You're still not in shape even after eating so well." Yuan Zhiyan snorted.

Tang Ruining ignored him and said to Li Xi, "If you are tired, go to bed early."

Li Xi raised her eyes towards him, then lowered them again, "...Okay."

Rong Xiao glanced at the two of them.

When the three of them came back in the evening, Tang Ruining and Li Xi had already returned to their rooms. After taking a shower, Yuan Zhiyan wanted to go to Li Xi's room to find him as it was still early.

"You shouldn't go to bed so early." Yuan Zhiyan said as he was about to knock on his door.

Tang Ruining appeared out of nowhere, grabbed his collar from behind, and whispered, "He's asleep, don't bother him."

"How did you know? It's only nine o'clock." Yuan Zhiyan glanced at the wall clock and said, "It's okay to sleep. I'll just lie down quietly next to him."

"?" Tang Ruining pulled him back a little, and his already low voice now sounded a little gnashing: "Can't you sleep by yourself?"

"I sleep more soundly in Brother Lan's bed." Yuan Zhiyan struggled forward.

"You sleep soundly, but can he sleep well? You are such a big person squeezing in next to him."

"I won't squeeze him. His bed can accommodate all three of us even if you join us!"

Tang Ruining fell silent. Feeling the grip on his collar loosen, Yuan Zhiyan turned to look at him, and three seconds later he suddenly realized: "You don't really want to join, do you? Ah, you should have said so earlier!"

"No." Tang Ruining said calmly.

"Oh! It doesn't matter! Who wouldn't want to lie on Brother Lan's bed? If you want to sleep, just tell him directly. Brother Lan will welcome you! You——"

His voice got louder and louder at Jiang Yilan's door, so Tang Ruining covered his mouth with one hand and dragged him to his room.

“Mmmmm—”

Tang Ruining was very strong, and as Yuan Zhiyan was dragged away easily, seven big words flashed through his mind: It is easy to kill someone, but difficult to dispose of the body.

"You sleep with me tonight." The murderer smiled at him.