To Tong Qiu, life truly was like a play.
He had just finished asking Huo Zhixing about catching a movie together, and right as the romantic mood was starting to grow, there was a loud clap of thunder against his ear. A few seconds later, it began pouring.
“Shit!” When Huo Zhixing had set off, he hadn’t paid attention to the weather. And given that it was nighttime, who would have gone out of their way to check if the already-dark skies were gloomier than usual? He had initially slowed down his pace so as to romance Tong Qiu and although he had succeeded, the ‘waves’ of romance seemed to have become rather miserable.
Tong Qiu sat at the back and quickly took off his jacket. He held the jacket above Huo Zhixing’s head but Huo Zhixing turned around and hollered, “Cover your own head! Don’t worry about me!”
How could Tong Qiu not worry? He was a teacher of the people!
If the two of them were to brave the rain and keep going, they would no doubt be soaked through. Huo Zhixing didn’t mind, but he couldn’t let Tong Qiu get drenched too. They passed by a bus stop that had a shelter to shield them from the rain. It just so happened to be empty so he made a beeline for the shelter, propped the bike off to the side, and dragged Tong Qiu inside to escape the rain.
“I miscalculated,” Tong Qiu shook off the water from his clothes. “When I left the school, I figured I wouldn’t get rained on. But who would have thought that I’d run into Fang Baicheng.”
Huo Zhixing patted his pants pockets but didn’t find any tissues. It was actually Tong Qiu who pulled some out of his bag and helped wipe the rain on Huo Zhixing’s face.
“Tong-laoshi’s so thoughtful,” Huo Zhixing smiled as he gazed back at him. “Are all teachers like you?”
“……nope, it’s just me.” Tong Qiu’s shamelessness was running wild, and he stuffed the tissues in Huo Zhixing’s hand so that he could wipe it himself. “You got lucky and hit the jackpot.”
Huo Zhixing thought to himself, I really did hit the jackpot.
“Oh that’s right, weren’t you saying something about a movie just now?”
Huo Zhixing’s reminder jogged Tong Qiu’s memory. Before it had started raining, he had been in the middle of asking Officer Huo out on a date.
“Feng Kaiwen gave me the tickets.” Tong Qiu rifled through his jacket pocket but after a while, he only managed to find one ticket.
Huo Zhixing gazed at him and watched as Tong Qiu’s face fell.
“Oh no.” Tong Qiu turned and looked in the direction that had just come. “It might have fallen out when I was trying to block the rain.”
It was rather upsetting.
Before, he was debating whether or not to ask Huo Zhixing to go with him. The movie was definitely going to be boring – it was the kind of trash movie that you could make fun of for hours. However, the truth was, he actually did want to go. And to be perfectly honest, he wanted to sit in the couple’s seat with Huo Zhixing.
Tong Qiu felt that human nature was terribly unpredictable. In the past, he hadn’t really looked forward to spending time with just the two of them but now that they were apart, he wished he could see Huo Zhixing every day and hang around him all the time.
Was it true that good sex could change someone’s entire life?
Why did Tong Qiu feel as if he was seeing Huo Zhixing in a better light?
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Tong Qiu glanced at Huo Zhixing in surprise. Huo Zhixing grinned and wiped at the rainwater on the tip of his nose. “So, what movie is it?”
“‘Madness of the Tomb’,” said Tong Qiu. “It’s a horror movie. Do you like those?”
Huo Zhixing couldn’t bear to poke fun at it, even though he wanted to say that he could tell it’s a trash movie as soon as he heard the title. But since Tong Qiu wanted to watch it, it didn’t matter if it was trash – he would happily risk his life to keep his ex-husband company, even if it was for three whole hours of trash.
“Then let’s go,” Huo Zhixing replied. “My work schedule tomorrow hasn’t changed so I can leave at four. I can go to your office to find you, we can grab a bite to eat and then head to the theatre.”
It really did sound like a date now.
Tong Qiu thought back to when they were just starting to get to know each other. It was pretty much the same process as before – dinner and a movie, plus some strolling around afterwards. Back then, Tong Qiu had acted all proper and tried to sound like an intellectual when they chatted just to impress Huo Zhixing.
“Sounds good,” Tong Qiu said. “I have class in the morning tomorrow but none in the afternoon. I’ll leave early once you get there.”
“I’m sorry about all this rain,” Huo Zhixing shifted closer to him. “I’ve taken up so much of your time today.”
Tong Qiu glanced at him, delighted. “So what?”
“So…nothing. Now that I’ve apologized, I’m just going to go ahead and take up more of your time.”
—
The rainstorm came suddenly, but disappeared just as quickly. The clouds were blown away by the wind and the rain naturally left too.
The two used up all the tissues to wipe down the bicycle, then continued towards Tong Qiu’s place.
Huo Zhixing walked Tong Qiu to his building and Tong Qiu said belatedly, “I still don’t get why we didn’t simply call a cab.”
Tong-laoshi had once again managed to get to the crux of the problem.
Huo Zhixing steadied the bike with his hands as they stood outside the building’s front doors, and could only smile helplessly back at him.
Tong Qiu spoke again. “And if we were going to take the cab, I don’t understand why we didn’t just do it from the start. Then you wouldn’t have had to take me home.”
Huo Zhixing echoed him and said, “So what?”
“So…nothing,” Tong Qiu replied. “Thanks, anyway. Do you want to come up for a drink of water?”
As if he were afraid that Huo Zhixing would reject him, Tong Qiu immediately added, “Your clothes are soaked through. It must be pretty darn uncomfortable.”
“Do you have a police uniform at home for me to change into?” Huo Zhixing teased.
“I’m just inviting you in to dry your hair, maybe drink some hot tea.”
Huo Zhixing was about to refuse since he hadn’t clocked out yet, but at that moment, Zhao Heyu sent a message saying that everything had been taken care of. The guys on the next shift had arrived early so Officer Huo didn’t have to worry.
Upon seeing Zhao Heyu’s message, Officer Huo was more than happy to take advantage of his privilege. He put away his phone and glanced up at Tong Qiu. “Alright, then I’ll come bother Tong-laoshi for a bit.”
—
Huo Zhixing locked up the bicycle downstairs, then followed Tong Qiu up.
When they had just gotten divorced, Tong Qiu couldn’t have imagined that there’d be a day when his ex-husband would become a frequent visitor in his new home.
Once they were inside, Tong Qiu took off his jacket. The t-shirt he was wearing inside was drenched as well.
“I’ll wash it first and give it back to you some other time.” Tong Qiu was still wearing Huo Zhixing’s clothes and after taking them off, he hung them up off to the side.
His wet t-shirt was a bit chilled and it clung to his skin. He went and grabbed a towel and handed it to Huo Zhixing, who was in the middle of undoing the buttons on his uniform. Before Tong Qiu had even handed over the towel, he already felt the blood rushing to his head.
As someone with a uniform fetish, watching a uniformed Huo Zhixing undoing his buttons was honestly going to be the death of him.
Huo Zhixing had long, good-looking fingers. There was strength in them too, and they were just the type that Tong Qiu was fond of. The hands undid the buttons of the police uniform with practiced ease, and Huo Zhixing casually removed his jacket.
“See something you like?” Huo Zhixing asked with a smile.
Tong Qiu’s ears felt as if they were burning, and he averted his eyes with a guilty conscience. “Wipe your hair first.”
Huo Zhixing watched him, amused, and reached for the towel.
“Do you have to go back to the station later? Your uniform underneath is wet too but I don’t have anything you can change into.” Tong Qiu walked into his bedroom and stuck his head inside the closet. While he rifled through his clothes, he forced himself to recover his senses. “I’ll find a tank top for you to wear underneath. It’ll be a bit more comfortable.”
“Sounds good.” Huo Zhixing stood in the doorway and very politely stayed outside. “Tong-laoshi’s so considerate.”
“I’m alright.” It took some effort for Tong Qiu to squeeze out the image of Huo Zhixing taking off his police uniform. However, when he turned around, he was met with the sight of Huo Zhixing unbuttoning his shirt as he stood at the doorway, a mere two meters away from him.
Tong Qiu had a feeling that Huo Zhixing’s sole purpose tonight was to crush him and stop him from living a peaceful existence.
“Here you go.” Tong Qiu was too afraid to look. If he glanced over one too many times, he was probably going to get hard. It was too embarrassing.
His brain’s reaction time was already slowing down. He stepped around Huo Zhixing and ran quickly towards the jacket he had hung up.
Huo Zhixing’s eyes followed him, then watched as Tong Qiu pulled out a small tube of ointment from the pocket.
“What happened to you?” Huo Zhixing asked.
Tong Qiu jumped, like a startled rabbit. When he turned around, Huo Zhixing had already taken off his shirt and was bare from the waist up. His muscles were firm and the lines of his body were incredibly sexy. There were even a few old scars marking his skin.
Tong Qiu felt as if he had gotten drunk again, but without the aid of any alcohol this time. He thought back to last night and suddenly felt the urge to check if the bite marks he had left on Huo Zhixing’s shoulders last night were still there.
Huo Zhixing put on the white athletic tank that Tong Qiu had given him. Tong Qiu’s clothes were all a size smaller than his, so the tank top was a bit tight on him. It was tight enough that the shape of his abs were clearly visible underneath. It made him look even sexier.
However, he seemed completely oblivious and walked over to take the ointment from Tong Qiu’s hand.
“……” Huo Zhixing felt as if he might have an inkling of what was going on.
“It’s all your fault,” Tong Qiu said. “I’ve suffered the whole day.”
Huo Zhixing smiled, and his voice suddenly became lower and softer, “Any regrets?”
Tong Qiu stole back the ointment and walked back inside his room, his ears bright red. “No, grown-ups like us don’t have any regrets.”
His words drew a laugh from Huo Zhixing and as he walked inside, the ‘chief culprit’ trailed after him.
“Go change into your pajamas first and then I’ll help put the ointment on you.”
Tong Qiu sucked in a breath. “You don’t have to.”
He was worried that it wouldn’t just be the ointment that was going to be ‘on’ him later. Even if it felt incredible, doing it two days in a row wasn’t something he was able to endure. After all, proper teachers have to stand at the front of the class during their lessons!
“Don’t worry about it,” Huo Zhixing said. “It’s all my fault that you’re like this, so I have to take responsibility.”
After speaking, he grabbed the hem of Tong Qiu’s t-shirt and helped pull off the cold and wet material. There was a hint of a smile in his eyes as he gazed at Tong Qiu. “Go take a hot shower, I’ll wait for you here.”
—
Translator’s Note
Thanks so much for reading! The audio drama cut for the bed sharing scene can be found here! If you’re interested in listening to more audio dramas, I’ve also started subbing a drama called ‘Settle Up‘. It’s just as funny and fluffy (and sexy!) as ‘Ex-Husband’s Call’ so feel free to check it out if you’d like!
Once again, I just want to stress that the police officers depicted in this novel are very idealized and shouldn’t be confused with the atrocities that IRL police officers have committed. I understand that novels are an escape for many people (myself included), but if you do find the time I encourage you to learn about BLM and racism/police brutality faced by black and POC communities.
thanks so much for this chapter! tong qui is adorable and i’m so excited to see their date still go on despite the lost tickets!
Thank you so much for reading! And re: the date, the show must go on~ 😉
Thanks for translating this chapter! I have the same thought as TQ… they should have call a cab. Hehe but riding bicycle is more romantic.
Hahaha yes romance > practicality, especially when you’re trying to woo your ex :DD Thanks for reading!
Ahh thank you so much for the chapter and the audio drama cut! You worked hard today too ❤
Thank you so much for reading and listening! And no worries at all, I love sharing the fluff :DD
Lol we have tong Laos isn’t perspective on wet uniform but I bet officer huo was following him around cause of the wet tshirt :3
Yes, probably! I like the way you think 😉 Thank you for reading 😀
Listening to the audio cuts of Settle Up and Ex-Husband’s Call, I enjoyed it. Thank you darling for such amazing translations 😘
Ahh thanks so much for listening and I hope you enjoy! And thanks for reading too <3
They ended like two drenched rats, but the Rain was a good excuse to invite Huo Zhixing over and see each other half naked 😆
Thanks for the chapter!
Thank you very much for the chapter <3
Thank you so much for the chapter!(๑´>᎑<)~❤
I’d be sure to check out the audio drama!
Hohoho (☆▽☆)
Thank You for the chapter ♡(ӦｖӦ｡)