After opening the security door, Xu Ze stood face-to-face with Lu Heyang for a few seconds before taking a step aside. He had no experience in inviting people into his house—especially someone he had feelings for. So he stood awkwardly in silence, meeting Lu Heyang’s eyes before finally saying, “Please come in.”
Lu Heyang stepped into the house and stood in front of Xu Ze. He raised his hand to pinch the brim of Xu Ze’s cap and lifted it to reveal his entire face. Lu Heyang tilted his head to look at the corner of Xu Ze’s mouth, “Does it still hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore.” The corner of his mouth was still swollen, so how could it not hurt, but the pain was not worth mentioning. Xu Ze took off his cap, paused, and shut the door.
“Were you going out for something?”
“To buy suppression patches,” Xu Ze was dazed and answered whatever Lu Heyang asked. He also explained the reason, “I might be entering my rut.”
“I brought two boxes,” Lu Heyang said.
He walked over to the small dining table and set down the items he was carrying. Xu Ze’s house was small and had only two rooms. The living room was almost empty except for a dining table, a chair, and a trash can. It was evident that only one person had been living in the house for a long time.
Xu Ze realized Lu Heyang needed a chair, so he went to the bedroom to get one. He placed it at Lu Heyang’s feet. Lu Heyang sat down, lifted the lid of the insulated container on the table, and nudged the bowl and chopsticks toward Xu Ze.
After a short hesitation, Xu Ze sat across from Lu Heyang and rested his hands on his thighs. He asked, “Why are you…”
“I want to apologize,” Lu Heyang smiled, “Are you still angry?”
Xu Ze wasn’t angry, he thought there was no reason to be angry. If he was angry, it would be with himself. Xu Ze believed that Lu Heyang hadn’t done anything wrong—he didn’t want him to worry too much about people like him. Even if Lu Heyang had made a mistake, Xu Ze would immediately forgive him.
“I’m not angry,” Xu Ze lowered his voice.
“But you told me not to come see you anymore.”
Xu Ze frowned with a thoughtful expression on his face. He recalled that wasn’t what he had said last night. He thought he had only asked Lu Heyang not to go to the club in the future.
Or did he remember wrong?
While he was thinking about it, Lu Heyang had already stood up, “In that case, I’ll get going.”
Xu Ze wasn’t expecting this. He instinctively stretched out his hand but stopped at the edge of the table. He got up a little flustered, “Don’t.”
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.
Oe Lfsjcu ibbxfv ja tlw.
It’s not that I don’t want you to come see me—this sentence was too strange. Lu Heyang might not think much of it, but Xu Ze definitely couldn’t say it.
Mbgaecjafis, Oe Lfsjcu kjr nfgs mbcrlvfgjaf bo tlw. Qtfc tf rjk We If rageuuilcu, tf rwlifv jcv rjlv, “P kjr pera xlvvlcu. Ofa’r fja.”
Oe Lfsjcu xfqa ibbxlcu ja tlr qtbcf veglcu atf wfji, ktlmt wjvf We If offi ifrr jkxkjgv. Coafg fjalcu, We If qea atf vlrtfr jkjs ab kjrt atfw, yea Oe Lfsjcu gjlrfv tlr tfjv jcv rjlv, “Ofjnf atfw. Ktf tberfxffqfg klii ajxf mjgf bo atfw ktfc P ufa yjmx.”
“I ate, so I should wash the dishes,” Xu Ze insisted. In his mind, Lu Heyang’s housekeeper only needed to serve the Lu family. He didn’t see any reason why he should let Lu Heyang take the bowl back to be washed after he had eaten.
He went into the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Lu Heyang could see Xu Ze standing at the sink from where he was sitting. Xu Ze was washing the dishes with his head bowed. He looked focused and calm. He seemed to be very meticulous in everything he did. The gauze and band-aids on his arms and neck didn’t hinder his housework.
Xu Ze finished washing the dishes. He had planned to dry the dishes with a towel and pack them for Lu Heyang to take back right away. Yet, he paused for a few seconds, not daring to look at Lu Heyang, and said, “Maybe we should wait, wait until the dishes dry before packing them.”
He stammered a little in just one sentence. Xu Ze felt a strong sense of guilt and feared that Lu Heyang would see through his flimsy excuse.
“No problem.” Lu Heyang put his elbows on the table and propped his chin up to look at him.
Xu Ze came out of the kitchen and attempted to come up with some topics to talk about, but as expected, he couldn’t even utter a syllable. All he could hear was the sound of his heartbeat.
“Go on to your room.” Lu Heyang picked up the two boxes of suppression patches from the table, “Put on the suppression patch and get some rest.”
“Right,” Xu Ze nodded.
Xu Ze’s room was furnished with more items than the living room, with a bed, wardrobe, desk, and a fan. The room was well-organized with minimal clutter. The bed had navy blue sheets and a thin blanket folded neatly into a square in the center. The bed and desk were on opposite sides of the room with a window in the middle. The white curtains were partially drawn, swaying gently in the breeze, revealing the tops of the lush trees outside the window.
“Sit on bed,” Lu Heyang said.
Xu Ze walked over without a second thought and sat down on the edge of the bed. Lu Heyang opened the package of suppression patches, took one out, and peeled off the adhesive layer.
Only then did Xu Ze realize that Lu Heyang was going to apply the suppression patch on him. His hands clenched the edge of the bed, and he instinctively lowered his head to expose the back of his neck. He looked at the floor and noticed that the sunlight cast different patterns on the wall as it moved with the curtain.
Xu Ze had prepared for the possibility that Lu Heyang would question why he was the only one living in this house, but Lu Heyang never asked.
All the things Xu Ze didn’t want to talk about didn’t need to be told to Lu Heyang—Xu Ze presumed that the reason why Lu Heyang didn’t ask was due to his lack of interest.
He felt Lu Heyang gently press the suppression patch onto his glands and then noticed that Lu Heyang’s fingers gently stroked the edges to make sure it stuck firmly to the skin.
The suppression patch contained borneol, which was supposed to make it feel cool, but Xu Ze strangely felt hotter.
His neck and ears turned slightly red from the heat, which was one of the symptoms of an approaching rut. Lu Heyang lowered his eyes to look behind Xu Ze’s ear, where he had a few short stray hairs.
Lu Heyang’s fingertips brushed the area behind Xu Ze’s ear and tucked the stray hairs away. As a result, Xu Ze’s entire body shivered, appearing to be sensitive.
“Sorry,” Lu Heyang apologized first, then asked him, “Are you that ticklish?”
Xu Ze’s ears seemed to redden even more, and his shoulders and neck stiffened. He hung his head and looked hesitant before finally nodding honestly.
“Take off your wristband,” Lu Heyang said, “Doesn’t it feel uncomfortable?”
It was indeed uncomfortable, especially during the period when the pheromones were unstable. Such a low-quality wristband could only roughly and forcefully suppress pheromones, which caused tremendous discomfort. Xu Ze replied, “It doesn’t matter, I’m used to it.” But he still obediently took off the wristband.
He glanced at Lu Heyang, then suddenly didn’t know what to do. Xu Ze never dared to think about Lu Heyang coming to his home, but now the person was standing in his room, next to his bed. Xu Ze’s gaze drifted around for a while without focus, and finally, he asked, “Would you like to sit on the chair?”
“Sure.” As if Lu Heyang had figured out all of Xu Ze’s reactions, he went to the chair by the desk and sat down.
He placed his hand on the books on the table and asked Xu Ze, “Can I take a look?”
Xu Ze nodded.
Lu Heyang opened Xu Ze’s homework. The Preparatory School never assigned too much homework on the weekends, so even people like He Wei could do it on time.
The characters in the book were vastly different from Xu Ze’s personality. The writing style was cold, sharp, and unrestrained with a clear-cut style, and it didn’t seem sloppy at all.
“Your handwriting is beautiful,” Lu Heyang said.
It was just a compliment on his handwriting, but Xu Ze was still shaken by it for a second before replying, “Thank you.”
Xu Ze felt unable to sit still and hide his nervousness, so he stood up to close the window. As he stood by the window, the wind blew his hair and T-shirt. The intense sunlight revealed the outline of his body underneath the clothes. Xu Ze held the billowing white curtain—his slender fingers clutched it as if he were holding a bouquet of flowers with white wrapping.
It should be a bouquet of gardenias because the wind carried the scent of gardenias.
Xu Ze closed the window, released his grip, and drew the curtains. The room became darker and much quieter.
Lu Heyang withdrew his gaze from Xu Ze. He turned on the floor fan next to the desk and pointed it at Xu Ze’s bed.
“You should get some sleep. If your rut comes in the evening, you won’t be able to sleep well at night.”
“Okay.” Xu Ze’s head was already spinning, and his throat felt itchy as if he wanted to cough. The early symptoms of a rut were very similar to those of a cold and fever: heat, drowsiness, and chills.
He lay down on the bed. As his head hit the pillow, fatigue and drowsiness washed over him. He hadn’t slept well last night because his whole body was aching, and he hadn’t rested after returning home this morning. At this moment, with an overwhelming sense of tranquility, Xu Ze didn’t have the energy to think anymore. He pulled the blanket up until it covered the lower half of his face and curled up on his side.
His eyelids dropped heavily. Xu Ze blinked slowly as Lu Heyang’s figure became blurry in his field of vision. Xu Ze opened his mouth and mumbled, “If you have something to do, you can leave. Just remember to close the door.”
He wasn’t trying to chase Lu Heyang away, he wished more than anyone that Lu Heyang would stay a little longer. He was just afraid of wasting his time.
Whether Lu Heyang responded or not, Xu Ze wasn’t sure. Before he completely closed his eyes, he thought that from the moment Lu Heyang knocked on the door until now, it might have all been a dream he had during his rut.
Not long after, Xu Ze vaguely heard the sound of Lu Heyang’s footsteps, followed by the sound of the bedroom door closing and then the main door and the security door closing.
Very well, the dream was over. Xu Ze fell into a deep sleep.
Author’s note:
Xu Ze, you don’t think Lu Heyang really left, right… Also, when Lu Heyang went to a dangerous place like the underground club the bodyguards would barge in if he was out of their sight for too long. But since he was only visiting a schoolmate’s house, it wouldn’t matter if he stayed a little longer.
Thank you for the update 😊
Thank you for the chapter ☺️
The thing is… what if all of this was just a dream? QnQ
Xu Ze is falling hard. I am still trying to guess the level of interest that Lu Heyang has for Xu Ze… more to come, I guess 😊