Chapter 176 IF Line: Childhood Sweethearts (09)
Lin Yao's conclusion was based on a compilation of various strategy guides.
The guide says that in a flirtatious relationship, you should take the initiative, maintain a distance, and seize the absolute upper hand.
So, after hearing Pei Yizhong go upstairs, he quietly went into Xie Xingchen's room next door, lifted the covers, and lay down inside.
I hadn't planned on doing anything, but this person...
Now, using climbing into bed as an excuse, she pinched his calf and slowly questioned him, "Answer me."
Lin Yao struggled to pull away, but the other person was too strong and he couldn't move. He could only look up at him: "If it's another Alpha... we'll see who it is..."
Xie Xingchen's hand moved up his calf, staring intently at him: "Do other Alphas also lie there motionless and let him touch them like this?"
Lin Yao's breathing became erratic, and he asked in return, "Are you very concerned about this?"
"I do care." Xie Xingchen's hand continued to move upwards, even though he had already crossed the line, but he still spoke words of discipline, "You are so disobedient, you should be punished."
"What should the punishment be?"
Lin Yao had just finished asking the question when his head was flipped over in the next second.
With a sharp snap, it was swift and decisive, without hesitation, and with a force that was neither too light nor too heavy.
Lin Yao turned his head indignantly, his face flushed red. Chen Ge stopped yelling, "Xie Xingchen, did you hit me?"
He's always been the one beating others up; he's never suffered this kind of humiliation.
Xie Xingchen looked down at him, her tone indifferent: "Did it hurt? Who told you to be naughty?"
Lin Yao's face was tense: "Or should I try hitting you? With that kind of force, you'll get swollen!"
"Then let me massage it for you again." Xie Xingchen said, his palm landing on the soft skin, suppressing a smile.
Lin Yao turned back around, burying his face in the pillow, feeling so ashamed he wanted to die.
Xie Xingchen leaned down, comforting him while warning him in a low voice: "If I find out you dare to climb into someone's bed in the middle of the night, it won't just be three times next time."
"What right do you have to tell me what to do?" Lin Yao retorted with difficulty.
"Because you've called me Brother Chen for over ten years." Xie Xingchen bent down even lower, his lips brushing against Xie Xingchen's earlobe. "Because we're still playing the couple game for three days now."
Lin Yao felt a burning sensation on that area of skin, not because of the hard hit, but because his technique, which was supposed to be comforting, felt more like flirting.
He cleared his throat, and his voice came from under the muffled pillow: "Take your hand away, what are you touching?"
"I thought you'd matured after watching that kind of thing in the media room that day, and you'd know the consequences of sneaking into someone else's bed in the middle of the night." Xie Xingchen's hand didn't move. "If you can't even handle this much, what's the point of playing around?"
Lin Yao's face turned bright red, and the images in his mind were pushing him to the limit.
It's simply unwinnable. If things continue like this, we won't find out anything and will lose everything.
He forced himself to make an excuse, awkwardly got up, and changed the subject: "You really hit me hard, you're so annoying."
Xie Xingchen smiled slightly and withdrew his hand: "I didn't use much force, you're so delicate."
Lin Yao: ".........."
Indeed, compared to regular training, those few moves were child's play.
He said dryly, "I'm going back to sleep, it's boring."
"Then what's the point of doing this?" Xie Xingchen reached out and grabbed his wrist, his gaze slowly falling down. "You didn't do anything, why such a big reaction?"
"I don't understand what you're saying."
Lin Yao's cheeks turned completely red. He kicked Lin Yao's shin in anger, retaliated, and ran out of the room without looking back.
Xie Xingchen didn't chase after her; he just stood at the door and said goodnight.
Lin Yao lay half-reclined on his bed, raised his hand to cover his face, and muttered to himself, "I lost. How could I let myself be beaten up like that? It's too embarrassing."
It was an absolute disgrace. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. It took me two or three hours to finally fall asleep.
Lin Yao's phone vibrated beside him. Still half asleep, he saw the caller ID, picked it up, and answered, "He Li? You're up too early, it's only 6:30."
"I'm sober now." He Li's tone was calm, as if he were half dead. "I just had some strange images flashing through my mind and wanted to confirm them with you."
Lin Yao, with his eyes half-closed, bluntly stated, "We kissed. It was with Cheng Boyan, and you took the initiative."
He Li raised his voice: "Huh??? What!!!"
"Isn't this what you wanted to confirm?" Lin Yao frowned. "Then why did you call?"
He Li was still in shock, and said in a daze, "No, I clearly beat someone up, ah, wasn't that part?"
Lin Yao: "You're overthinking it. Who are you going to beat up?"
He Li instantly snapped out of it, feeling a wave of panic wash over her: "I... I forcibly kissed Cheng Boyan? Did I do something else too? No wonder I couldn't understand his message."
"What did he say in his message?" Lin Yao asked lazily.
"He said he's cleared my name and wants me to take responsibility for him." He Li gasped. "No way, no way, I didn't lose my mind and force myself on him, did I?"
Lin Yao: "Who do you think you can beat? Do you have some kind of self-doubt?"
Based on his understanding of Cheng Boyan, he knew it was impossible for them to go to the final step without knowing the details. It must have been a deliberate ambiguity to easily fool that idiot He Li.
He Li was still wailing on the other end of the phone: "It's over, I can't face him anymore, is it too late for me to change my college application?"
"It's too late, and besides, we applied to live in the same dormitory." Lin Yao ruthlessly shattered his fantasy of running away. "You should think about how to take responsibility for him."
"Tell me, why didn't I force a kiss on you, force a kiss on Xie Xingchen, but force a kiss on Cheng Boyan?" He Li muttered.
Lin Yao blurted out, "That means you like him."
He Li asked blankly, "I thought this was just because you were drunk and confused. So, when you kissed Xie Xingchen in the corridor, did you like him too?"
The two fell into an eerie silence.
Lin Yao coughed twice suddenly, mumbling, "What are you talking about? If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up. I'm sleepy."
"Wait, wait, wait!" He Li seemed to have discovered something incredible. "You really like Xie Xingchen? You've had a crush on him? Good heavens, you actually!!! Good heavens!!! Can I grab a megaphone and shout this everywhere???"
"You dare," Lin Yao gritted his teeth and threatened, "I'll be at your house in ten minutes to assassinate you."
He Li chuckled: "When are you going to confess your feelings?"
Lin Yao was stumped by the question and, unusually, admitted frankly, "I dare not."
Even though she kissed and hugged him in jest, and even used an unknown Alpha to provoke him, Xie Xingchen always acted indulgently, as if he was just afraid that she would do something unconventional outside, so he compromised and accompanied her, without losing control of his emotions in the slightest.
He began to regret that he had started his relationship with Xie Xingchen by joking around last night.
Now that things have come to this point, I still can't figure out his true feelings.
Lin Yao lowered his eyes and said softly, "I think Xie Xingchen doesn't like me. He's just used to being nice to me and treats me like a doting younger brother, nothing more."
He Li wanted to slap himself across the face. He deserved to die for asking that question.
He opened his mouth, trying to comfort him: "What if, just a little bit?"
Lin Yao, his head buried under the covers, mumbled, "I don't think so. Last night I went into his room and even lay down on the bed, and he just beat me up. Nothing happened."
He Li felt like she was about to burst from all the gossip, and exclaimed in surprise, "You're so cool, you even climb into bed...wow..."
"Forget it, I knew it wouldn't do you any good to talk to you." Lin Yao said sullenly. "You go and handle things with Cheng Boyan yourself. I'm hanging up."
"Hey, wait a minute, I have a plan." Before hanging up, He Li suggested with difficulty, "Just tell him directly that you have someone you like, the kind you really like, and see his reaction."
Lin Yao was stunned for a few seconds. He had been joking all along, so Xie Xingchen hadn't taken it seriously. He had even been using the word "play" to describe his interactions with Xie Xingchen.
“You’re right.” Lin Yao said seriously. “Let me think about it.”
While eating breakfast, he sat at the table, looking at Xie Xingchen across from him, his mind filled with thoughts of how to organize his thoughts.
Having a crush is so hard.
Balancing relationships is more difficult.
"Why are you two so quiet today? Have you gone mute?" Pei Yizhong sensed that something was wrong.
Xie Xingchen raised his eyes and said meaningfully, "I'm thinking about where to take Yao Yao to play today."
Lin smiled and said, "That's true. You guys finally have a holiday, so go out and travel more. Camping and traveling are both fine. Anyway, with you taking care of Yaoyao, Yizhong and I feel super at ease."
"Mom, don't worry about it." Lin Yao glanced at her hurriedly, then lowered his head to eat again.
He thought that over the long years, everyone had assumed that Xie Xingchen would treat him well, which was why he had now stumbled into this dead end.
They need to break free from all the relationships they've built up before they can have any new possibilities.
After finishing his meal, Lin Yao put on his shoes and went out to see Xie Xingchen off to take a taxi home.
"You haven't said much today." Xie Xingchen turned to look at him and smiled. "What's wrong? You climbed into my bed last night, and you're embarrassed today?"
"I drank last night and my mind wasn't clear. I said a lot of nonsense and did a lot of inexplicable things."
Lin Yao turned around, took a deep breath, and looked at him. "Let's end our game early. We're done playing."
Xie Xingchen rarely showed a stunned expression: "I hit you, are you really angry?"
"No, I'm not angry." Lin Yao looked into his eyes, his voice very soft, "It's just..."
"I have someone I like, and I don't want to let him down."
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