Mini cookies
The lights in the room had long been off, and Chen He's breathing was long and even, as if he had sunk into darkness and become completely quiet.
Chen Yuchuan had his eyes closed, but his mind was far from quiet; a jumble of thoughts were swirling around him.
After an unknown amount of time, he opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling, then turned his head to look in the direction of the sunken river.
Shenhe slept peacefully, lying on his side, the bone at the back of his neck slightly exposed, its outline clear in the night, even the rhythm of his breathing seemed a little unreal.
Chen Yuchuan stared at it for a while, then slowly moved a little in that direction.
It's not that I want to do anything, I just want to get closer and see things more clearly.
Then he reached forward again, and as if by accident, wrapped his arm around Chenhe's waist through the blanket.
The movement wasn't big, but when he pressed against her, Chen Yuchuan felt as if something had grabbed his heart.
He held his breath and waited a few seconds, but Shenhe didn't react; he was still asleep.
Just cuddling like that doesn't seem like a big deal; it's not much, and it doesn't cross any lines. Let's just say it's like we're being restless in our sleep.
He closed his eyes, his nose close to the back of Chenhe's neck.
Shenhe was awakened by the cold. He opened his eyes, moved his shoulder, and found someone behind him.
They were so close that he could feel the other person's breath on the back of his neck.
The man was sleeping very casually, almost pressed against him, with one arm draped naturally over his waist, as if casually placed there in his sleep, but held very tightly. He moved slightly, but the other man didn't react, his breathing was heavy, he was sleeping soundly.
Last time he wanted to stay a hundred and eight thousand meters away from him, but this time he's so close. He glanced around and then at the air conditioner. The air conditioner was indeed turned up too high. He didn't expect this kid to be so afraid of the cold.
Shen He frowned, then realized that his calves were also freezing, and silently pulled the blanket closer to himself. But as soon as he moved, Chen Yuchuan subconsciously tightened his arms, hugging him even tighter.
Shen He didn't think much of it and casually patted Chen Yuchuan's arm.
The other person opened their eyes, their gaze unfocused for a moment, their hair sticking up in disarray, their face clearly saying "not enough sleep," probably still dreaming. They then snuggled closer, pulling him into their arms. Chen Yuchuan's body was very hot, and Shen He, unable to bear it any longer, pulled his hand away. Chen Yuchuan seemed to come back to his senses and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.
Shen He stared at him for a few seconds, then asked suspiciously, "Am I really a bad sleeper? Why do you still look like you haven't slept all night..."
Chen Yuchuan rubbed his temples without saying a word, but his lips twitched as if he was trying to get his mind back on track.
Shen He didn't press further. He threw off the covers, got out of bed, and his movements were as swift and decisive as ever, leaving only one sentence behind him:
"Don't force yourself to share a bed with someone next time."
Shen He left after saying that, without even looking back at him, as if it were just a casual reminder.
Last night, when I secretly approached him and went to the river, I didn't find anything. I didn't ask any questions, didn't show any disgust, and didn't refuse. I even let him hold me for a while longer.
But it was precisely this calm and collected response that made him even more clear-headed.
Shen He remained as indifferent as ever, so indifferent that he dared not touch her or say a word.
Chen Yuchuan lay motionless for a while before turning over and sitting up. He buried his face in his palms, pressing his knuckles hard to suppress the dull, aching throbbing in his temples.
Then, as if nothing had happened, she got up to wash up.
Shen He was sitting on the sofa scrolling through his phone. It was already daylight, but the weather wasn't great; it looked like it was drizzling. He was considering whether to go out for breakfast or just order takeout when the doorbell suddenly rang.
He looked up, somewhat puzzled, and got up to open the door.
Two men stood at the door, carrying food boxes, and politely gave a room number: "This was arranged by Mr. Chen."
Shen He paused for a moment, then glanced down as he took the food; it was all his favorite dishes.
He closed the door, returned to the sofa, took out the breakfast and put it on the table. Chen Yuchuan also finished washing up and came over, still looking like he hadn't woken up properly.
"Why are you making such a formality?" Shen He pointed to the table.
“I was worried you’d be hungry.” Chen Yuchuan rubbed the back of his neck and took one of the dishes. “You ate all that junk food yesterday, could you last until morning? I couldn’t.”
Shen He didn't stand on ceremony with him, casually picked up a portion, and teased him, "You're quite thoughtful, Mr. Chen."
Chen Yuchuan chuckled: "It's mainly because the air conditioning was too cold last night. I can't just take advantage of you for nothing, right?"
"Why don't you turn it up a bit?" Shen He asked lazily.
"How could I move when I was frozen like that?" Chen Yuchuan took a bite and mumbled, "I survived purely by willpower."
After finishing breakfast, Chen Yuchuan was still drinking strong coffee. The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier, and the chill in the room went straight to his legs and abdomen.
Shen He walked to the air conditioner vent, reached out to test the airflow, and frowned a little more.
“This air conditioner is really faulty,” he said. “I’ve been adjusting it for ages and it’s still the same temperature.”
"Didn't you notice last night?" Chen Yuchuan yawned. "I thought you were asleep and too lazy to move. Did you really think the temperature was normal?"
"I'm going to change rooms."
"Don't change it." Chen Yuchuan sat up and swiped his phone. "I just checked, the hotel facilities are just average to begin with, so it'll probably be about the same no matter how you change it."
He said lazily, "I've had someone book a new place, it's close by, let's move there now."
Shen He glanced at him: "Didn't you say you couldn't book a room?"
“Last night was a match day, peak season, so we definitely couldn’t book a room. It’s different now.” Chen Yuchuan said in a matter-of-fact tone, “Get ready, I’ll have the car wait downstairs.”
Shen He didn't bother to say anything to him. He packed up the rest of their things, and the two of them went downstairs to change hotels.
The hotel the young master found was indeed quite nice; the room was even more grand and spacious than the lobby of the previous hotel, but it still only had one large bed. Shen He took a nice hot shower, and Chen Yuchuan followed closely behind, rushing into the bathroom as soon as he came out.
Shen He scrolled through his phone out of boredom. After a long while, Chen Yuchuan finally came out of the bathroom. His bathrobe was half-open, inadvertently revealing the firm muscle lines of his abdomen. He looked rather indecent. While drying his hair, he said, "I'm going to do a live stream in a bit and give some treats to my fans."
"Is this a legitimate benefit you're giving out?" Shen He looked at him, her tone carrying a barely perceptible hint of disdain.
Chen Yuchuan paused, opened his luggage and rummaged through his casual clothes, his tone deliberately relaxed, "Only you have seen my great [censored], okay? Wearing clothes like this with that handsome face, the live stream would be banned in 1 second."
"Then what kind of benefits can you give out looking like that?" Shen He's disdain was no longer concealed.
"Isn't it a perk that the most handsome ADC and the most handsome jungler in the Rift showed up for a live stream to duo queue?" Chen Yuchuan changed the subject. "These days, professional players stream so infrequently that I'm already considered a conscience of the industry for voluntarily starting a stream."
Shen He looked up at him, a smirk playing on his lips. “I’m an i-person. We i-persons feel suffocated just posting photos on social media. The thought of showing our faces on live streams gives me a headache.”
Chen Yuchuan was momentarily stunned by his smile, but then realized that his words were sarcastic. He pretended nothing had happened and said, "I'll show my face, I'll do a live stream, you find a comfortable place to lie down and watch my live stream."
He added, "When you want to play, just let me know, and I'll provide you with the best duo queue experience while streaming, okay?"
Shen He smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and found a spot where the camera was out of reach to lie down. It was indeed more comfortable to sleep in this kind of weather.
The next second, Chen Yuchuan's phone rang. It was a message from his assistant that the live stream was ready. Chen Yuchuan changed his clothes, opened the game and platform to test the peripherals, tossed his phone to Chen He, and casually said, "Send a live stream notification for me."
"Aren't you afraid I'll pry into your privacy?" Shen He asked him.
“I diligently play games and practice my skills every day. What privacy could I possibly have that you can just rummage through?”
Shen He opened his account and casually typed "start broadcasting". After thinking about it, he felt it was monotonous and didn't quite match Chen Yuchuan's flamboyant temperament. He opened the photo album to select a selfie, but when he swiped his finger, there weren't many photos, and not a single new selfie.
He originally thought Chen Yuchuan's phone would be the kind that takes tens of thousands of photos at a time—selfies, photos from matches, travel, daily life, game screenshots—but it didn't.
It's too clean.
The newest photo in the album was taken by the media during the last competition. The two were on opposite sides of the stage, one on the left and one on the right, quite a distance apart. Above that were several screenshots of Shen He's cold expression during an interview. Shen He thought he was just being sarcastic, but it turned out they actually took the screenshots.
He flipped through a few pages, and they were all photos from several years ago. Most of them were taken when they traveled together, but there were also photos taken at home and at school, of beaches, snow-capped mountains, food, starry skies... There were selfies and group photos, some of which he took for Chen Yuchuan, and a few of which Chen Yuchuan secretly took of him. The angles were terrible, and he looked sneaky. Shen He couldn't help but laugh when he saw them.
After flipping through the photo album for a while, Shen He felt a pang of nostalgia. He exited the album and, just like when he used to take photos of Chen Yuchuan, without looking for the right angle or even focusing, casually pressed the shutter button and snapped a picture of Chen Yuchuan adjusting the microphone.
The light was a bit dim, and the rain was still falling outside the window. His back was straight, languid and quiet.
Then, a simple caption was added: "Ready to go live."
"Why are there so few photos in your album?" he asked casually.
"I find it troublesome and don't like taking pictures." Chen Yuchuan said casually, "I'm just like you, an i-person."
"Then why did you keep all those things from before?" Shen He laughed.
"What do you think?" Chen Yuchuan finished adjusting the camera, glanced back at him, and said, "Keep it if you want, it doesn't take up much space anyway."
Shen He didn't reply. He shifted to a more comfortable position, stretched out his legs, and looked like he could fall asleep at any moment.
"I'm starting now," Chen Yuchuan reminded him.
"Um."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
