Chapter 13: What I like is being with you

Ye Yao was in for a bit of a shock.

As a secret admirer, he has of course fantasised in the dead of night about what he and Lu Xun would do together.

For example, they kissed each other skin to skin every night and then fell asleep in each other's arms. Every day he gets a kiss before bed and when he wakes up, which is followed by a loving "I love you".

These are the secrets that Ye Yao has buried deep in his heart, and he thinks that there is no chance that these things will ever come true other than to sleep together, but he was caught off guard when he heard the words "I love you" here.

The culprit was still patting his back to smooth his breathing, completely unaware of the reason he would choke.

He knew Lu Xun was imitating others, but how did Lu Xun manage to say "I love you" to him in full view of everyone?

"Don't say such things casually, okay?" Ye Yao slowed down, shoved the water back into Lu Xun's hand, swept a glance at the audience next to his and lowered his voice, "There are so many people watching, don't say anything."

The tips of Ye Yao's ears were still stealing red, Lu Xun slightly narrowed his eyes at the alabaster ears, and then raised his lips to a smile: "Okay, I'll listen to you, I won't say it in public later."

Ye Yao :"......"

As the whistle blew for the game to continue, Ye Yao had no time to say anything else and headed out onto the pitch again.

Lu Xun retreats to the sidelines, ignoring the looks of excitement or amusement from the others, and drops his eyes in thought.

He had sometimes been too forceful before and probably really put Ye Yao off.

And this time Ye Yao's tone softened.

This worked for Ye Yao, who ate it up.

Since this is the case, the distance Ye Yao wants to push ...... away is brought closer again by his own hands.

*

Ye Yao won the basketball tournament.

Ye Yao got on his bike in a good mood and drove a weakened Lu Xun back to the hostel.

The cool breeze on his cheeks did not make Ye Yao feel cold even after his workout, only comfortable.

Lu Xun's arm is around his waist, but this is normal behaviour when carrying someone on a bicycle, and Ye Yao's mind is calm and no other thoughts arise.

Suddenly, something pressed against his back.

That's Lu Xun's face.

Lu Xun speaks against his back, his voice is even more muffled than usual as he whispers in Ye Yao's ear, as if he has just woken up.

Lu Xun had a smile in his voice: " Brother Ye, that last three pointer you made was so cool."

Ye Yao's grip on the handlebars tightened, but his voice was still smooth: "Cool what, that's how everyone pitches it."

"Nonsense, they don't cast as well as you do. Haven't you noticed, everyone is looking at you." Lu Xun paused for a moment and softly picked up the next sentence, "I've been looking at you too."

Ye Yao: "......"

Damn, is he starting to lose control of his expression again, luckily he has his back to Lu Xun.

No one can remain unperturbed by such a compliment from their crush, and Ye Yao wanted to respond but didn't know what to say.

"It's a pity I hurt my leg, otherwise I should have entered the pitch at the end of the game, wrapped my arms around your waist and picked you up so that everyone would envy me. Anyone who tries to make friends with me in future I'll refuse and ask them, are you as handsome as our Brother Ye? I won't make friends if you're not." Lu Xun said slowly.

Ye Yao couldn't help but smile, and he had to say that Lu Xun's words amused him. Given that Lu Xun used to say flirty things every day, he didn't have any doubts: "Okay, stop blowing off, it's too much and you'll get all mushy."

Lu Xun saw the corner of Ye Yao's mouth raised and closed it with satisfaction.

Ye Yao likes sweet words, so he will say them to Ye Yao every day, so that Ye Yao will not be fooled by the sweet words of messy people.

*

Back at the hostel after dinner, Ye Yao had to face a problem.

According to the doctor's instructions, Lu Xun's hands should not be touched by water as much as possible, so he should either not wash them or someone else should wash them for him.

This other person, apparently, was the only candidate.

Ye Yao pinched his brow and mentally flinched at the prospect of confronting Lu Xun's body again.

When you do the math, it seems that every time he confronts Lu Xun's body, he becomes prone to reveal the crush buried in his heart for various reasons.

Ye Yao was pondering when Lu Xun, standing in front of his wardrobe, picked up his collar and sniffed it, then turned his head towards him with a slight frown of disgust.

"You've been working too hard these last few days to bother with anything else. It's fine not to wash every day anyway in the cold weather, and we won't be sleeping in the same bed for a few days, so just let me be stinky and uncomfortable by myself." Lu Xun had a strong face of feigned strength.

"...... is acting a bit too obvious." Ye Yao was helpless, "Forget it, get your clothes and I'll take you to the shower."

It should be fine, right? Lu Xun had been injured and he had clearly told Lu Xun before that he didn't like doing that kind of thing, he just didn't believe that Lu Xun had any more awesome operations waiting for him.

After all, Lu Xun is a straight man, so he can't do anything to him.

*

To be on the safe side, Ye Yao dressed normally, only taking his jacket off.

Lu Xun didn't say anything as he adjusted the flow of the shower to try to keep the water from hitting Ye Yao.

Lu Xun is like a leopard, a fierce and violent leopard, but in front of Ye Yao, he is docile and stretches his head meekly to let Ye Yao smooth his fur.

Ye Yao was working when, as an afterthought, he recalled a film he had seen with Lu Xun.

In his senior year, after they had both turned eighteen, Lu Xun invited him to a movie to celebrate both of them becoming adults.

At that time, he probably had a brain fart and said yes to Lu Xun even though he was busy with his studies.

So in the dead of night, they huddled together in a bed under the covers and watched movies together on their phones.

It was also Ye Yao's first time watching a film of this genre and he soon found himself uninterested and deserted, recalling in his mind the exam that had ended that morning.

It was also the desertion that made him largely unimpressed with that film, and it was only at this time that he recalled that it seemed to be about something similar to what they were doing now.

Ye Yao's movements pause for a moment before pretending to continue as if nothing had happened.

At that point, the male lead's line seemed to be ......

"I didn't used to like it, but it's fun to be with you, no matter how dull and uninteresting it is."

The exact same words rang in his ears, and Ye Yao slowly raised his eyes to meet Lu Xun's smiling ones.

In the film, this phrase is used by the hero to express his love for his girlfriend, and now it is spoken to him by Lu Xun.

It was probably because the space was too small and too hot, Ye Yao felt a little hard to breathe. He averted his eyes, mentally warning himself not to get carried away, and said lightly, "Remember so well, you like the heroine?"

Lu Xun is a straight man, and there seems to be no other reason for Lu Xun to be so impressed than that.

"No, I don't like it, what do I like about it." Lu Xun laughs and shakes his head, "I didn't even watch it much, I wasn't focused on it, I just suddenly thought of this line."

"You didn't see much?" That's something Ye Yao didn't expect, "Did you desert, what were you thinking?"

At that time, he thought, the female lead was not even as good-looking as Ye Yao, not to mention the male lead, who was a million miles away from Ye Yao and made people feel disgusted just by looking at the male lead.

Then later he thought he was really sick, why would he want to watch a film about two strangers, what was so interesting about this stuff?

But he was reluctant to offer to end the viewing, for how could he do so at a time like this when Ye Yao was sitting next to him with his legs under his, with them under the same blanket, breathing the same air, with the hot scent of Ye Yao's orange-scented shower gel wrapped all over him?

After watching them both, Ye Yao took Lu Xun straight to maths tuition.

Now looking at Ye Yao's curious eyes, Lu Xun blinked and lied: "I think I was thinking about how to improve my academic performance quickly."

Ye Yao was very pleased: "No wonder your academic performance improved so much later on."

Lu Xun smiled and suddenly returned to the subject, "So are you happy?"

Ye Yao certainly likes it, and because he likes this one person, he likes everything associated with that person.

He lowered his eyes and avoided answering, "Ask your girlfriend about that sort of thing later, not me."

The sound of water rushing out of the shower and dripping onto the tiled floor, and in the midst of this unceasing sound of water, Ye Yao hears Lu Xun's reply.

"But I'm only as happy as you are across the street." Lu Xun says.

The sound of his heart beating almost covered the sound of water inside Ye Yao's ears, and he turned to get his things while trying to analyse them as calmly as possible.

Lu Xun has no sense of boundaries with him, is on best terms with him and doesn't have a girl he likes yet, so what he says now can't be taken seriously.

He must not lock eyes with Lu Xun at this time or he may be exposed.

Skip this topic and talk about something else.

What to talk about?

Ye Yao's head was rarely short and he couldn't think of a new topic, so he continued with the conversation about the two of them watching a movie together earlier.

"I used to think you were like me, uninterested in a lot of things and able to study right after leisure and entertainment, until I went to university and realised that wasn't the case, at least you were interested in pulling me along."

Lu Xun did not answer, and Ye Yao did not pursue the matter.

As he was about to finish his work, Ye Yao's head was suddenly lifted up by a large hand on the back of his neck.

"You were right before, I am indeed not interested." Lu Xun's voice was lower than usual as he looked at Ye Yao, the depths of his eyes dark, "Wasn't it obvious enough why you were pulled?"

Lu Xun, who is half a head taller than Ye Yao, bends down slightly and presses his thin lips into Ye Yao's ear so that the sound can be heard clearly.

"All I'm interested in ...... is being with you."