When do humans blush? The answer is when they feel shy or nervous.

Yú Chén, who wouldn’t eat people, doesn’t look fierce, and isn’t angry, definitely wouldn’t be nervous with his psychological qualities that could score full marks in Yú Chén’s “Psychology of War.”

So, the only reason left for Yú Chén to blush must be feeling embarrassed and shy about lying to him, right?

Yún Xúnlán thought her deduction was very reasonable. In fact, the truth was quite close to what Yún Xúnlán had guessed—Yú Chén was indeed shy.

However, his shyness stemmed from Yún Xúnlán’s sudden, unexpected, and subtle hint and confession—“We are both alphas; would you mind that?”

The former was Yún Xúnlán hinting to him: “I’m a gay man.” The latter was Yún Xúnlán confessing to him: “If you don’t mind being a gay man too, then we can continue to sleep together.”

Yú Chén thought he hadn’t been a gay man before, but if his romantic partner was Yún Xúnlán, then being a gay man in the future wouldn’t be a big deal. Why would that bother him?

However, having never been in a relationship before, and perhaps due to his sensitive period, no matter how much Yú Chén tried to control his emotions, he couldn’t suppress his heart that was gradually racing and the warmth spreading from his ears.

A strange excitement and joy filled his body, making it impossible for him to calmly look back into the young man’s eyes. Every time he glanced at those golden pupils, Yú Chén would recall the profane yet gentle memories of when he opened the lychee rose petals and smelled the floral scent on his fingertips.

At that moment, the silver-haired alpha took a step closer to him, leaning in, and asked in a slightly hoarse and alluring voice, “Yú Chén, you’re blushing. Are you shy?”

Yú Chén immediately denied it, “No.”

Yet, his face turned even redder, all the way to his neck, making his denial quite unconvincing.

Yún Xúnlán then said, “It’s okay, if you really mind…”

Before he could finish, Yú Chén interrupted him, “I really don’t mind.”

Then Yú Chén closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled heavily, his long eyelashes half-drooping as he helplessly said, “Alright, I admit, I am a bit… shy.”

“After all, I’ve never thought about these things before, and we haven’t known each other for long… But that doesn’t matter now, because I’ve figured it out—”

The blue-eyed alpha lifted his feather-like eyelashes, his irises reflecting the calm sea of the sky, rich and pure, with a serious and earnest glint in his eyes as he called out Yún Xúnlán’s name: “Yún Xúnlán, no matter if you are an alpha, beta, or omega, as long as it’s you, I am… willing. I swear.”

Yún Xúnlán stared at the blue sea in the alpha’s eyes, which reflected his own figure, stunned.

“Listen, listen!” the system asked Yún Xúnlán, “I’m about to cry, can you still doubt that he’s lying to you?”

“I don’t doubt him anymore, I’m just a bit… surprised.”

Yún Xúnlán paused for two seconds before finding a suitable word to describe his feelings.

“So, he already had such a deep friendship for me without me knowing.” He said to the system, “After all, if Yú Chén were an omega, I definitely wouldn’t dare to sleep with him. AO relationships are not intimate, and AB wouldn’t work either.”

Yet Yú Chén could ignore these external factors and wholeheartedly be his brother.

While Yún Xúnlán sighed, he was also very touched, feeling that the book “Interstellar Journey: The Supreme New Emperor” hadn’t deceived him. Good brothers can indeed sleep together; he and Yú Chén had only slept together once, and it already had this effect. If they slept together a few more times, who knows how deep their friendship would grow?

He really wanted to fast forward to the weekend and return to Zhǎn Yuè Bāndǎo, where the bed was big.

Thinking this, Yún Xúnlán also said it out loud: “Yú Chén, it’s quite late, and you’ve worked hard all day. You should go back and rest early. It’s a pity the bed here is a bit narrow; otherwise, we could…”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” This time it was Yú Chén asking Yún Xúnlán, “Do you mind?”

Such an unexpected surprise?

Yún Xúnlán quickly replied, “Of course I wouldn’t mind, but I don’t have new pajamas here.”

Although Yú Chén had long known that Yún Xúnlán was deep and scheming, after deciding to accept and respond to Yún Xúnlán’s feelings for him, he was mentally prepared for the possibility of further intimate contact in the future. But when this kind of thing really happened, his ears, which had finally cooled down, started to heat up again.

He couldn’t be blamed.

After all, Yún Xúnlán wanted him to sleep naked!

Yú Chén felt that they hadn’t even held hands or kissed yet, and jumping straight to sleeping naked was too fast. He asked, “What about old pajamas?”

In just four short sentences, Yún Xúnlán’s “Wait, I’ll have Nǐ Chūn bring you a new set of pajamas” was blocked.

He thought for a moment and replied to Yú Chén, “There are three sets, one of which is a robe; you should be able to wear it.”

Robe isn’t picky about body shape; whether it’s big or small, it can be worn. Plus, Yún Xúnlán thought it was no big deal for good brothers to wear each other’s pajamas for a night; it’s not like they were wearing old underwear. Moreover, it was late, and he had already sent Nǐ Chūn back, so it was really unnecessary to call someone over for such a small matter.

Besides, Yú Chén didn’t mind wearing his old clothes, saying, “Okay, let’s wear that one.”

So Yún Xúnlán unlocked the door and brought Yú Chén into his dormitory.

This dormitory only had one bathroom, so they couldn’t shower at the same time.

Yún Xúnlán found the robe and handed it to Yú Chén: “You go wash first.”

Yú Chén took the robe into the bathroom, and just as he was about to take off his shirt and put his fingers on the belt, he suddenly remembered that besides not having a new robe, there were also no new underwear. However, the last time he slept in Yún Xúnlán’s bedroom at Zhǎn Yuè Bāndǎo, he had a complete set of new pajamas and new underwear.

But when he rummaged through the pile of clothes Yún Xúnlán had handed him, he found a pack of brand new, unopened men’s underwear.

When he opened it and picked it up, he realized the size was too small.

…This must be what Yún Xúnlán had prepared for himself, right?

Yú Chén crumpled the white fabric into a ball, tightly gripping it in his hand, and the redness on his ears and neck wouldn’t fade away. He became increasingly certain that Yún Xúnlán had planned to sleep with him at Zhǎn Yuè Bāndǎo.

As for sleeping together tonight, there was a high probability it was also Yún Xúnlán’s scheme.

What about not having new pajamas, and what about the ill-fitting new underwear…

It was probably all part of Yún Xúnlán’s conspiracy to make him choose to sleep naked.

He absolutely couldn’t fall for it.

At least not now.

So after showering, Yú Chén stubbornly put on the tight-fitting underwear.

When Yún Xúnlán saw Yú Chén walk out of the bathroom as if nothing had happened, not mentioning the underwear, he was surprised and said to the system, “Ah, you can’t judge a book by its cover. Yú Chén’s body is wider than mine; I thought he couldn’t wear it, but it seems a bit inappropriate not to prepare a new one for him.”

“Yes.” The system replied, “Since he’s already wearing it, you mustn’t ask him if it fits; give him some dignity.”

Yún Xúnlán agreed, “Okay.”

Then he pretended to be nonchalant and walked into the bathroom to shower, change into pajamas, and lie down next to Yú Chén in bed.

Thanks to the narrow bed, Yún Xúnlán didn’t have to worry about searching in the dark for where Yú Chén’s feet were; as soon as he lay down, their legs were already touching, and their upper bodies were also pressed closely together, allowing them to clearly feel each other’s body heat.

Yún Xúnlán couldn’t help but sigh to the system, “Only two alphas who aren’t gay can sleep like this. If it were a gay alpha, or an omega and beta, how would they sleep? I’m having a hard time falling asleep.”

The system asked him, “What’s keeping you awake?”

“Yú Chén’s body is so hot.” Yún Xúnlán said honestly, “The air conditioning isn’t set low enough; I’m hot.”

“That’s right; if you’re hot, Yú Chén must be hot too. After being hot for a while, he won’t be so close to you anymore.” The system advised him, “If you set the air conditioning too low, you’ll get cold, and while sleeping, you might end up hugging each other tighter. How can you still sleep as brothers? Be careful not to end up as lovers.”

Yún Xúnlán closed his eyes, “Then I won’t worry about it. Good night, Xiǎo Jū.”

System: “Good night.”

But Yú Chén couldn’t fall asleep.

—He was also hot.

This heat wasn’t just about temperature; it included the restlessness inside him, so much so that Yú Chén began to be grateful that this underwear was tight enough, making him not dare to get too close to Yún Xúnlán, or else it would seem like he was playing hard to get.

He kept his eyes open, enduring the triple torment of tightness, restlessness, and heat, and when it was five o’clock and dawn hadn’t broken yet, and Yún Xúnlán still hadn’t woken up, he hurriedly got up and returned to his dormitory to change clothes.

Unexpectedly, he was stopped halfway by Fù Yánxī and Guì Yán.

Fù Yánxī sternly questioned, “Yú Chén, you went to send the Third Prince back to the dormitory yesterday, and after sending him, you didn’t come back all night.”

Guì Yán also spoke harshly, “Tell us! What did you do last night?”

Yú Chén: “…”

Yú Chén: “I was with the Third Prince…”

“Don’t tell us you went to tutor the Third Prince all night again.” Fù Yánxī seemed to guess what he was about to say and sneered coldly, “You’ve been tutoring him all night for two consecutive nights; aren’t you afraid of dying from exhaustion?”

“It’s okay, Fù Yánxī, Guì Yán.” Yú Chén raised an eyebrow at their words, throwing back what they had said to him, “Today, even if I die here, I must go tutor the Third Prince all night.”

Guì Yán: “…”

Fù Yánxī: “…”

“Let me and Xi Ge bear this kind of blessing… no, this kind of suffering.” Guì Yán persuaded Yú Chén, “Yú Ge, look at your dark circles; they’re showing.”

Yú Chén indeed had dark circles; he hadn’t slept for two nights in a row, how could he not have them?

Now that he was back in the dormitory, he could catch a little nap, so Yú Chén pushed Fù Yánxī and Guì Yán aside and returned to his dormitory for a quick rest.

On Yún Xúnlán’s side, he woke up and didn’t see Yú Chén, so he wasn’t anxious. After all, the guards had to get up early for morning training, and their wake-up times were different. He only went to the training ground to find Yú Chén to “complete” his daily tasks. When he saw the man had faint dark circles under his eyes, he said to the system, “I still need to have Nǐ Chūn change my dormitory bed to a wider one; that bed is too small, and Yú Chén didn’t sleep well last night.”

The system agreed, “Sure, this way it’ll be very convenient for you two to sleep together every day, speeding up your friendship.”

“Yeah, I feel it’s getting closer.”

After saying that, Yún Xúnlán opened his light brain and clicked into the homepage of the novel “Interstellar Journey: The Supreme New Emperor,” wanting to give the author a tip to thank him for helping him and Yú Chén become good brothers.

However, when he scrolled down to the reading area, Yún Xúnlán saw that the reader who had been crying and shouting for everyone to check out the friendship line between the male lead and his brother had posted a new comment. Although it hadn’t been pinned by the author, it had been liked by other readers and pushed to the homepage.

“Damn it!!! Avoid this book; the stupid author actually said he can’t write friendship, so he wrote a pair of gay men and insisted they are friends!!!”

Yún Xúnlán: “……?”