“Ji Xun was lying on the bed, and Huo Ranyin was asleep beside him. That intense, frenzied… intimate exchange had ended a few minutes ago.
Quietness returned to the room. The main bedroom light was off, leaving a single bedside lamp. The orange-yellow light hit Huo Ranyin’s sweaty face, like a hand gently stroking his handsome brows and the fatigue on his face, making Ji Xun want to touch this face he’d seen every day recently. Thinking this, he actually reached out, placing his hand on Huo Ranyin’s face, feeling the retreating warmth of his skin.
Huo Ranyin opened his eyes, his gaze idly sweeping over to him. The daze from before was gone, replaced by a deep weariness, but it quickly became its usual self, concealing daggers and swords: “What is it?”
“Let’s go take a shower together,” Ji Xun said. He hadn’t really intended to do anything, but he found something to say; his sticky body was indeed uncomfortable.
“No need,” Huo Ranyin directly refused, “I’m tired and want to rest for a while.”
“Then I’ll go first.”
“There’s a brand-new, unworn set of pajamas in the right side of the closet, dark green,” Huo Ranyin said absently.
Ji Xun got up. He opened the closet and found the clothes Huo Ranyin mentioned. Holding the clothes, he paused between the two bathrooms in Huo Ranyin’s apartment. He decided the one in the room would probably disturb Huo Ranyin, so he left the bedroom and went to the living room bathroom.
The water rushed down. The cooler temperature washed over Ji Xun, calming his faintly burning body. Standing under the showerhead, he reflectively touched the mark Huo Ranyin had bitten into his shoulder.
After a man and a woman are together, their relationship always undergoes a subtle, intimate change.
What about after a man and a man are together?
… It was actually too fast. Before he went out today, including when he was having dinner, when he told Huo Ranyin that “the two of us haven’t reached that point,” it was one hundred percent, absolutely, from the bottom of his heart.
It was just that later, Huo Ranyin in that moment was too beautiful, and knew him too well, making him want to completely soil him.
And after that… it was even more joyful, and quite painful, of course.
Ji Xun turned off the water.
He used Huo Ranyin’s bath towel to casually dry himself, and then put on the new pajamas Huo Ranyin had provided. This reminded him of their first meeting: he brought Huo Ranyin home, and Huo Ranyin showered and changed in his apartment, wearing his clothes. In less than a month, they had reversed roles and repeated the same actions, and the things that should have been done were completely finished.
He thought with interest, stepped out of the bathroom, and even grabbed a hot, damp towel, intending to go into the bedroom to wipe Huo Ranyin down.
But the bedroom was empty. Huo Ranyin, who had just been lying there, was gone. Only a pile of messy sheets and blankets remained.
Where did he go?
Ji Xun turned back, wandered around the unfamiliar apartment, and soon found Huo Ranyin lounging on the balcony outside the living room’s floor-to-ceiling window.
Huo Ranyin wore a loose bathrobe, curled up on the small sofa on the balcony. His hand rested on the armrest, a stemmed glass clutched loosely between his fingers. The glass held half a cup of red wine, ready to spill over the rim. Stars in the velvet blue sky watched curiously at the man on the balcony, but Huo Ranyin on the balcony remained serene, calm, and indifferent.
It was as if all the passion in his body had been completely expended just now.
Huo Ranyin didn’t turn his head when he heard Ji Xun’s footsteps, only speaking in a cold, detached manner: “If you’re a light sleeper, pick a bed and sleep in it yourself, guest room or master bedroom, whatever you prefer.”
Ji Xun rubbed his nose, feeling a little awkward. He recalled his own pretentious lines from their first meeting and felt that this karma had come a bit too soon. He tried to change the subject:
“… Want some late-night snack? I’m a little hungry,” Ji Xun added, “I’ll cook, you eat.”
“No need.” Huo Ranyin was quiet as a statue.
“Did you just take a shower?” Ji Xun tried another conversational opening.
“Mm.”
“Are you tired then? Do you want me to give you a massage.”
“Ji Xun, stop with the superfluous talk, it’s not like you,” Huo Ranyin finally spoke a full sentence. “Does getting into bed give you a different feeling? I thought only women would have such delicate emotional tendencies.”
“Then what is like me?” Ji Xun raised an eyebrow.
Huo Ranyin swirled the thin wine in his hand, set it aside, and wearily rubbed the space between his eyebrows, saying: “People’s emotions are like a polarizing filter, making them subconsciously put on a bias to judge others, thereby missing the truth. Ji Xun, you’re trying to sympathize with me—that, ha—what happened between us was purely a release. If you use it to treat me as some kind of weakling and make excuses for me, it’s just ridiculous. If you want to do it again, let’s do it. If not, go to sleep.”
“Oh? What truth do you think I’d be missing? Are you playing this emotional game—or ‘release’ game, as you call it—to give me some kind of hint, to make me approach something? For instance… let me guess… to ask you about the exercise book on your WeChat profile picture right now?”
The statue on the small sofa suddenly came alive.
Huo Ranyin turned his gaze back. The weariness in his eyes vanished, and that intense warmth and focus returned to him.
I hit the mark again, Ji Xun thought boredly. It wasn’t difficult for him, but since they had just finished, he constantly felt an urge to say something tender.
Huo Ranyin smiled slightly.
The wine in his hand, the city beyond the balcony, could no longer hold his gaze. His entire focus, all his attention, returned to Ji Xun. The sharpness in his eyes also softened and clung to Ji Xun.
“Want to know? If you want to know, I’ll tell you…”
Ji Xun had to admit that despite Huo Ranyin having another side, this side was the one that suited him best. It was probably also the side he liked the most.
Embracing the sharpest sword brought the deepest pain and the most heart-piercing stimulation.
It made one feel alive.
He took a step forward, a move without warning, and directly lifted Huo Ranyin sideways from the sofa.
Huo Ranyin was momentarily stunned for a few seconds.
A few seconds were enough. Ji Xun carried the person who was catching a draft outside back into the living room and set him down by the dining table: “It’s February. You just showered and you’re out here catching a breeze? Aren’t you worried about the cold? Sit here for a bit. I’m hungry. I’ll make a bowl of noodles. Join me for a little bit later. As for your little question about the exercise book, we can talk about it after we wake up tomorrow. Tonight—”
He tapped his head with his finger.
“My brain isn’t quite working.”
Ji Xun finished speaking, turned and walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge for a quick look. Perhaps because they had made dumplings on New Year’s Eve, the fridge wasn’t too bare. There were vegetables, fruits, and meat. He decided to make himself a bowl of plain noodles.
He could at least make this simple food.
He boiled water separately, threw the noodles into the pot to cook, and prepared some seasonings in another bowl. Then he took out a small bok choy, washed it, manually tore the leaves off, and threw them into the pot to cook with the noodles.
By the time the kettle boiled, the noodles and bok choy in the pot were almost done. He scooped them into the bowl and poured in the hot water.
That was about right.
Ji Xun whistled, brought the noodles to the dining table, and called out to Huo Ranyin: “Come and have a bite.”
“I’m not hungry.” Huo Ranyin kept refusing, sounding disinterested.
“Then have a sip of the soup.” Ji Xun took a small step back.
Huo Ranyin was too lazy to refuse again and tacitly agreed. But before he could pick up a spoon to drink the soup, Ji Xun beat him to it, holding the spoon to Huo Ranyin’s lips and feeding him that sip of soup.
“…”
Huo Ranyin, feeling his hands and legs were being forcibly removed, got up, suddenly bit Ji Xun on the edge of his lip, then went into the kitchen to grab another set of tableware, and took half the food from Ji Xun’s bowl.
“Satisfied now?”
“Satisfied,” Ji Xun licked the corner of his mouth, feeling comfortable in his heart.
The two didn’t talk much at the dinner table. After finishing the late-night snack, Ji Xun chose the guest room, but he followed Huo Ranyin into the master bedroom—more accurately, he stopped at the master bedroom doorway, watching Huo Ranyin sit on the bed.
Huo Ranyin gave him a questioning look.
Ji Xun leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed: “You sleep. I’ll turn off the light for you.”
“I have hands,” Huo Ranyin said.
“Your hands won’t be working tonight,” Ji Xun said with a roguish smile.
“…” Huo Ranyin let out a slow breath, lay on the bed, and pulled up the covers. The exhaustion of the night was catching up to him, and as soon as his head hit the pillow, his eyelids drooped with sleepiness.
But there was still a person right at the doorway…
Before this thought could fully form in Huo Ranyin’s mind, there was a snap, the light went out, and the world went dark.
Ji Xun said: “Good night.”
And then the door closed.
The room was completely quiet, leaving only himself… perhaps something else remained, like Ji Xun’s scent, or the feeling of being held by Ji Xun. Huo Ranyin’s ears uncontrollably flushed hot. He turned over, buried his head in the pillow, masking a trace of frustration on his face.
In the hallway outside the door, Ji Xun turned off a few more lights and walked towards the guest room.
There were no other light sources in the house, leaving only the clear moonlight, spilling onto his body.
In those few steps, many complex thoughts surfaced in Ji Xun’s mind. He thought about the very old-looking, seemingly scalded or burned scar on Huo Ranyin’s left shoulder blade, then about the brown penetrating wound on Huo Ranyin’s collarbone, then about the prominent, undulating spine hidden beneath Huo Ranyin’s skin… Finally, he thought about himself.
He thoughtfully flexed his arm.
Although there was no problem with his physical strength—he could certainly carry someone—his physique… should he perhaps take some time to exercise a bit?
Volume Three: The Sun Never Sets in the Painting”
