Chapter 13
Smells so good.
He always smelled good, a faint, soapy scent. The closer I got, the better the clean, soapy scent became. I wanted to get closer, to find the source—perhaps sensing his intention, the legs around my neck tightened.
He leaned forward due to inertia, his nose hit the inside of his thigh, and he almost breathed out of his nose.
It's soft and smells so good... No, no, no! Now's not the time to be thinking about this. If I don't do something, I'll die!
Xiang Mingqi took it for granted and touched his right leg, rubbing it vigorously with both hands, back and forth, again and again. Perhaps because he was too strong, the firm thigh flesh became even stiffer under his touch.
He thought. The touch of his calf was really good, especially when he pinched it, the muscles twitched nervously, making Xiang Mingqi feel like he was bullying him.
Seeing that his senior was gritting his teeth and remaining silent, he had no choice but to grab his knee with one hand and slid his other hand under his thigh, sliding it towards his trembling lower back. Pei Huai straightened his shoulders and hurriedly loosened his legs, his knee retaliatingly hitting his cheekbone.
"Mr. Pei?" Shan Li was also frightened by his sudden action.
Saved.
Xiang Mingqi rubbed his cheek, then dived into the gap between his legs as if exhausted, waiting for an opportunity to peek at him.
From this angle, Pei Huai's forehead twitched from biting his lower lip. He shook his head at Shan Li, signaling he was fine. But when he lowered his head, his brows didn't relax, and a hint of embarrassment lingered at the corners of his eyes. This otherwise calm face made one's heart beat faster and their throat dry.
It seems that he really doesn't like being touched by others. Xiang Mingqi swallowed his saliva and smiled at him.
As if his eyes were stung by the smile, Pei Huai raised his foot and stepped on his hand, pushing it down. The latter also shrank back wisely, not daring to say another word.
The conversation at the dinner table continued, mostly revolving around food and work, with only occasional mention of the past. Shan Li's concern was hard to resist. There was a unique aura about his words, a warmth and understanding, as if telling Pei Huai that it didn't matter if he didn't respond.
So, he wisely chose to remain silent.
Xiang Mingqi's situation wasn't very optimistic. As the dishes arrived, he saw more legs moving back and forth in his narrow field of vision. Fearing discovery, he twisted his body and continued to move toward Pei Huai—this made contact between his breath and skin even more unavoidable.
The itchy and hot feeling swept all the way to the waist and hips.
Pei Huai reflexively put his legs together, trying to stop him, but he knew that he couldn't move too much.
"Give me some grapes." When his lips were about to kiss Pei Huai's waist, he put his arms around her legs, opened his mouth and pointed at his tongue.
Pei Huai was furious, but he couldn't react immediately. He forced himself to remain calm, unfolding a tissue and using it as cover to toss a grape. Xiang Mingqi caught it, crushed the fruit, and swallowed it, seed and all.
He shook his head from side to side, stretched his elbows forward, and rested them on his senior's legs, with an innocent smile on his face: "Thanks for the feed, woof." He pointed to his mouth again, "I want more."
His forehead twitched, and his fists clenched instantly. Pei Huai remained calm, his chest rising and falling. As the waiter passed by, he quickly crumpled the napkin into a ball and stuffed it into Xiang Mingqi's mouth.
"Is that enough?" he mouthed. The poor man, his mouth gagged, immediately whimpered. Pei Huai, unable to bear it any longer, lifted his foot and planted his boot firmly between Xiang Mingqi's legs, forcing him to reel back and stop struggling.
"Mr. Pei." When the former had to look up to deal with Shan Li's unnecessary concern, his peripheral vision did not have time to catch a glimpse of Xiang Mingqi's changes.
The fear on his face vanished, leaving only a blush that spread to his ears. He breathed heavily, glanced down at his body, and his Adam's apple trembled unbearably.
Then he twisted his body, resting his head on Pei Huai's legs in extreme excitement, rubbing against him shamelessly.
Shan Li only noticed that his expression was a little unnatural.
"Is this meal not to your liking?"
"No." Pei Huai said, kicking his foot down and raising his glass in greeting. "Since my brother's death has been proven to be a misunderstanding, then, did the pleasantries last too long?"
"You really like to get straight to the point." Shan Li clinked his glass with his, swaying gently. "Inviting you here, besides resolving misunderstandings and reminiscing about the past, there's indeed much more that hasn't been discussed. I imagine you don't like to keep jumping around, Mr. Pei. Are you curious about my purpose?"
"You are free to answer. It has nothing to do with curiosity." Pei Huai rejected him bluntly, "If there is nothing else, I should leave. Thank you for inviting me today."
He put down his cutlery, wiped his lips, and stood up to say goodbye. Shan Li, sitting in the chair, unsurprisingly put down his goblet and called him over: "—There's a piano performance coming up soon, and I'd love to invite you to join me."
They stared at each other as if there was something between them, one smiling, the other empty. Pei Huai asked him, "What do you need?"
"No, I don't need you to pay anything. This is just an invitation." He expected the other party to ask this question and smiled self-deprecatingly. "If you have this intention, please feel free to contact me. By the way, if you want to leave now, please be sure to let me take you home."
"unnecessary."
"Mr. Pei, I bear no ill will towards you, nor do I have any other plans. I simply wish to pursue you." The man who had spoken these words stood up, resting his hands on the edge of the table, his shoulders thrust forward. His gaze seemed to conceal a hint of ambiguity. "Ever since that rainy night, I've always, always wanted to tell you this in person."
Pei Huai turned and left.
Under the table, unnoticed, Xiang Mingqi sat cross-legged, biting his thumb, his lower teeth digging into the crack between his nails. His eyes were fixed on his senior's retreating figure, and he didn't even notice the blood trickling down to his wrist.
At the very end, he sucked his thumb hard, turned his head away and spit out a small piece of nail.
***
It was shift change when Xiang Mingqi left the restaurant. He found a time when no one was patrolling, slipped out, put his hands in his pockets, and walked back silently along the long street. Before reaching the station, he looked up and saw only a lonely figure standing under the streetlight.
It was a sharp feeling like a blade, and the deep outline alone was enough to separate the night.
He leaned his back against the streetlight, holding a cigarette butt between two fingers of his right hand, raised his chin, and stared blankly at the blurry smoke.
Seeing Pei Huai, Xiang Mingqi jumped on the spot and ran over: "Brother, brother, could it be - could it be that you are really waiting for me? Are you the good mother who came to pick up the good student from school? I'm so happy!" He opened his arms, rushed over, hugged Pei Huai's neck from behind, and turned around excitedly.
Pei Huai flicked the cigarette away and threw him away with an over-the-shoulder throw. With a single stride, he walked back the way he had come.
"You haven't answered yet, why are you waiting for me?" Xiang Mingqi got up from the ground and quickly caught up, not even having time to brush off his trouser legs. "Are you worried about me? It doesn't matter. I majored in public relations when I was in school--"
"A little finger-sized restaurant like that isn't worth mentioning to a fresh graduate like me." He couldn't hide his excitement as he stretched out his arms, stood on tiptoe, clapped his hands, and spun in circles. "But you actually waited for me at the station. I'm so happy!"
"I wasn't waiting for you."
"——Brother, you're saying one thing and doing another! You were clearly waiting for me here, yet you still refuse to admit it, humph." He rushed over again, hooked his arms around the senior from behind, and clung to his back, refusing to leave. "Besides me, who else here is worth waiting for? You were clearly ready to leave the moment you saw me, but you're so stubborn. Are you arrogant..." A slap on the forehead bounced off, and Xiang Mingqi covered his head and squatted on the ground. "Ouch, it hurts!"
Pei Huai looked down at him, shook his wrist, and smoothed his wrinkled shirt sleeve.
"Don't pull it."
"Ugh, it hurts, it hurts, but I'm really happy." He remained squatting, hugging his knees, and winking at his senior. Unable to convey his feelings, he pulled Pei Huai's trouser leg and asked, "If what I said is not right, then why are you still waiting here for me?"
"Why do you think I'll go first?"
Xiang Mingqi didn't expect that he would be outmaneuvered by him, and he was at a loss for words: "Because, because... because you don't like me?"
"I'm not that naive."
"What? You actually think hating someone is childish?" He looked up at him in slight surprise. "Haven't you ever hated someone before? I did in college. That person had a lot of close friends, but he loved to speak ill of them in private. Anyone who hung out with him for a while would end up getting smeared. I really hate people like that."
“What a waste of emotion.”
"What waste... Wait, I remember now. Last time, you seemed to have said, 'I have no prejudice against me.'" Xiang Mingqi, who had just been flicked on the forehead, felt a little aggrieved. He followed him sadly, "So, you're willing to wait for me just because I'm not worth wasting your feelings on, just because I'm the junior you need to take care of?"
Pei Huai didn't say anything, perhaps he agreed.
"Wow—Ahhh!" Xiang Mingqi raised his head and cried out to the sky in grief and anger, "I can't take it anymore. My heart is going to break into pieces. This feels like you picked me up from school and told me at the door that you're not my mother and that you only took me away because you thought I was easy to bully!"
"Stop arguing."
"But brother, you actually think I'm not worth wasting your feelings on. I'm so hurt."
Pei Huai sighed helplessly and turned to look at him. "If I really want to hate you, then I've already got too many people to hate in my life. It's really troublesome." He looked the young man up and down and shrugged. "Aren't you going to treat me? Lead the way."
"Oh, right, Curry! You still remember our agreement, yeah, I love you the most." - Pei Huai was about to turn around when Xiang Mingqi, who was jogging towards him, bent his knees, put his arms around his knees, pushed him up, picked him up with a horizontal hug, and continued to sprint.
As he ran, he exclaimed, "You're so light, and you feel so thin. I feel like I could run three kilometers holding you. Do you want to try?"
“…Let go.”
"No, no, I don't want to. I'm so happy today that I want to run with you to the end of the world—ah, don't pinch my face! It will get bigger and bigger, and it hurts so much! I was wrong!"
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