Chapter 29: You’re so thoughtful, you’re a habitual criminal

This bed is a generous two meters wide, quite spacious, and could even accommodate another room. However, as Su Lixu watched Fu Xingran take out a spare blanket from the cabinet and carefully spread it on the floor, smoothing out the wrinkles and arranging the pillows, he couldn’t help but feel that this guy was ecstatic.

It was as if he had meticulously planned, eagerly anticipating Su Lixu to join him.

Sure enough, Su Lixu did jump in.

“We’ll head back after watching the sunrise tomorrow morning.”

As Fu Xingran finished speaking, he saw him preparing to take off his hoodie, lifting the hem of his shirt. In that moment, the strong and well-defined muscles of his lower back were exposed before Su Lixu.

The adolescent scent, an emanation of hormones, was something Su Lixu hadn’t experienced before. The contours moved with each gesture, and the powerful aura of muscles beneath the skin exuded a dominant presence.

Almost involuntarily, he hooked his fingers onto the pocket of Fu Xingran’s jeans at the back.

Fu Xingran, in the midst of removing his hoodie, abruptly stopped. Already halfway undressed, his abdominal muscles fully exposed, he seemed to sense the action at the back pocket. He lowered his hand, peeking his head back through the neckline.

Glancing down, Su Lixu noticed his hand had grabbed the back pocket of Fu Xingran’s jeans.

“What’s wrong?”

Su Lixu lifted his gaze, meeting Fu Xingran’s half-smiling expression. For some reason, he found this smile particularly mischievous, as if hitting the mark, and silently withdrew his hand.

“It’s late autumn now, even with the heater on, you shouldn’t… sleep like this. You might catch a cold.”

Why sleep like that in front of him?

Wait, why did he suddenly start caring about this?

It’s not like he hadn’t seen roommates do this during college, after all, they were all guys.

“But I’m hot.”

Su Lixu watched as Fu Xingran put his clothes back on and gave him a glance.

“But I’d rather be a bit hot than not feel your warm concern for me, just like your body temperature.” Fu Xingran’s hand went behind him, touched the pocket, and with a lowered gaze, he smiled, “This action feels warm too.”

Su Lixu: “…” He turned over, immediately lying down, covering himself with the blanket, and then turned away from Fu Xingran, saying, “I’m going to rest.”

The hand hidden under the blanket, especially the one that had touched the pocket, suddenly felt a tingling sensation, accompanied by the imagery of Fu Xingran’s words.

This action indeed seemed…

A bit too intimate.

But at that moment, he didn’t know why he did it, it just happened involuntarily. He closed his eyes, tightly pressing down on the hand that had lost its restraint, as if trying to control the tangled thoughts in his mind, yet unable to suppress the lively beating of his heart in his chest. The thumping sound resonated in his ears, causing dizziness.

Why did the sensation feel so intense?

It felt like an eternity had passed.

He must be going crazy.

Suddenly, a light rain began in the middle of the night, the drops tapping on the window.

Su Lixu, half-asleep, heard the sound of raindrops and opened his eyes. Sitting up, he looked towards the floor-to-ceiling window with the curtains not completely drawn. Through the white and flowing curtain, illuminated by the gentle and dim light of the bedside lamp, he saw droplets sliding down the window.It was raining.

He leaned out to glance at Fu Xingran sleeping at the bottom of the bed, covered tightly with a blanket, the head not visible. Despite having the heater on and it not being particularly cold, it gave the impression of someone bundled up against the chill.

He suddenly felt a bit guilty.

“Xingran.”

“…Xingran.”

He got out of bed, squatted next to Fu Xingran, tapped the pillow gently, and called out a few times, attempting to get him to come up and sleep to avoid catching a cold later.

Perhaps Fu Xingran was deeply asleep, showing no response to his calls.

“Xingran, go up and sleep, it’s raining,” he said again.

The only response was Fu Xingran’s soundly sleeping breath.

Su Lixu crouched by the bedside, glanced at his own bed, then at the peacefully sleeping Fu Xingran on the floor, as if weighing something. Just as he was thinking of pulling the blanket down to cover Fu Xingran, he was suddenly pulled into the covers by a hand around his waist.

“…It’s so cold.”

Su Lixu lifted his head in shock from Fu Xingran’s chest, as if he hadn’t expected to be pulled into the covers like this. Yet, Fu Xingran had his eyes closed, giving the impression that it was just a casual motion, like pulling over a pillow.

Then he heard Fu Xingran mumble something in his ear and felt himself being embraced even tighter.

Cold?

In this guy’s arms, it was as warm as a furnace.

Su Lixu attempted to pull away from Fu Xingran’s chest but found himself being held even tighter. Even his legs were pressed down; Fu Xingran’s feet were directly between his legs, making it impossible for him to get up.

Listening to the steady breathing of Fu Xingran beside his ear, he rested in the curve of Fu Xingran’s arm. Through the thin clothing, he felt the warmth of this irresistibly cozy cocoon, accompanied by the rhythmic sound of raindrops. Gradually, his eyelids grew heavy.

Logic told him he shouldn’t be sleeping next to this guy.

However, the feeling gradually overwhelmed his reason, and after an unknown duration, the warmth led him to a compromised surrender.

So warm.

Fell asleep.

Fu Xingran opened his eyes, gazing down at the man peacefully sleeping in his arms. A faint fragrance of August night osmanthus passed by his nose, and Su Lixu’s sleeping figure in his embrace seemed many times gentler than the scent of the perfume.

Thinking about the few calls Su Lixu made next to his ear just a while ago, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Fu Xingran’s lips.

Carefully pulling Su Lixu closer to his chest, he extended his other hand from under the covers, pulling the bedsheet up until it covered both of them. Fu Xingran, now contentedly holding the sleeping Su Lixu, began to drift into sleep. It became even warmer this way.

He knew Su Lixu would give in eventually. He waited patiently for Su Lixu to soften, and now he had it.

He would keep waiting.

Until Su Lixu fell in love with him.

Su Lixu was awakened by the heat.

Upon opening his eyes, he was startled by the enlarged face in front of him and instinctively leaned back, resulting in a “thump.” The back of his head accidentally hit the bed corner, making him groan in pain.

Now he realized how absurd their sleeping position with Fu Xingran was. No wonder it was so hot – two grown men with their faces close together, huddled under two duvets. How could it not be hot?

He sat up, leaned against the bed, and rubbed the sore spot on his head. Glancing absentmindedly at the drifting snow outside the curtain, he froze.It’s snowing.

The first snowfall of the year.

Hearing the “thump” sound, Fu Xingran abruptly opened his eyes. He saw Su Lixu sitting by the bed, rubbing the back of his head while staring blankly outside. Fu Xingran immediately turned over, knelt up, and took Su Lixu’s hand to inspect the area he was rubbing, thinking he had hurt himself.

“What happened? Where did you hit?”

“It’s nothing, not painful. Look, it’s snowing.” Su Lixu pointed outside.

Fu Xingran followed Su Lixu’s hand to look outside. The other half of the floor-to-ceiling window, which hadn’t been covered by the thick curtain, revealed a clear pattern of grid lines. Through it, the balcony floor and railing were thinly dusted with snow.

The sky seemed to have been painted white, the grey sky tinged with a faint sunrise orange, piercing through the clouds. The falling snow merged with the sky, creating a gentle scene.

Due to the low visibility from the snowfall, they couldn’t see the sunrise. However, they witnessed the first snowfall of the year.

And sitting next to him was his favorite person.

Fu Xingran turned his head to look at Su Lixu. He noticed a few strands of his hair curling, so he reached out to touch them, a slight smile on his lips. “I saw it, so beautiful.”

Truly, a good day begins with a beautiful morning. His mood today was splendid.

Su Lixu pulled away Fu Xingran’s mischievous hand, easily discerning what he meant. Without looking at his expression, he folded the scattered bedding and said, “I woke up feeling hot this morning. Did you pull the blanket down last night?”

“Isn’t it that Brother crawled into my bed first? How come you’re accusing me when you’re the bad one?” Fu Xingran leaned against the bed, knees bent, supporting his head lazily, his gaze captivated by Su Lixu, who was kneeling and folding the blankets.

With long legs kneeling on the white sheets, delicate feet against his buttocks, and the pillow being reached for revealing an elongated waist-hip line, a glimpse of the snow-white waist exposed unintentionally. It was like a sniper’s target, sensuous enough to make Fu Xingran feel breathless.

“What do you mean, crawling into your bed?” Su Lixu turned his head upon hearing these distorted words, squinting his eyes at Fu Xingran. “Clearly, you pulled me in.”

Fu Xingran withdrew his gaze when Su Lixu turned his head, swallowing down the surging emotions. He pretended to be casual. “Then, why did you approach me so willingly?”

Su Lixu looked at him for a second, as if realizing something. “You knew I approached you?”

Fu Xingran: “…” Slipped up, miscalculated.

“You pretended to be asleep?” Su Lixu instantly understood Fu Xingran’s intentions. “Your schemes are quite ‘meticulous,’ a repeat offender.”

Knowing that he would give in, Fu Xingran feigned sleep, waiting for his next move. Even acted distant to make him soften further. Then, he initiated the move to warm him up. Everything seemed without too obvious traces.

About to stand up with the blanket, just before he did, Fu Xingran preemptively took the blanket from Su Lixu’s hands. Then he heard Fu Xingran say, “I’m only meticulous with my thoughts for you. Even if I’m a repeat offender, I’m only yours. I won’t do these things to others because I only like you.”

In this world, the only one who could make Fu Xingran meticulously plan and think ahead was Su Lixu.

—Because I only like you.

Su Lixu watched as Fu Xingran opened the cabinet, placed the blanket inside, and then closed the cabinet door. Somehow, every small movement of Fu Xingran seemed infinitely magnified in his eyes.

It was as if this guy’s presence had also been infinitely magnified in their relationship, transforming into a pursuer and the pursued.

He pondered.

The word “only” ignited a rush of panic in his heart early in the morning. To Fu Xingran, he was “only,” and it made him feel that his indulgence towards Fu Xingran was also “only” because he couldn’t allow anyone else to get close like Fu Xingran.

Only, and exclusively.

He thought that only Fu Xingran could get this close, exclusively, that only Fu Xingran would do such things for him.

At this very moment, only in front of Fu Xingran, he entertained this somewhat childish idea.

“Fu Xingran.”

“Hmm?” Fu Xingran turned his head upon hearing the call.

Su Lixu opened the floor-to-ceiling window, feeling the cold wind blowing in. His body involuntarily shivered, but still, he suggested, looking at Fu Xingran, “Wanna go out in the snow? It’s the first snowfall of the year.”

A hint of surprise appeared in Fu Xingran’s eyes, as if he didn’t expect Su Lixu to say that. Yet, hearing it from Su Lixu, there was an indescribable.

..Adorableness.

He smiled and walked towards Su Lixu. “Sure.”

Just playing in the snow and feeling the cold wind.

As long as Su Lixu is happy, he can do anything. He believes that for Su Lixu, he can do anything in this world.