Lu Lin supported Shi Sheng with one hand and opened the full-length mirror in the closet door. It looked very nice like this, but couldn’t be described in detail. Lu Lin gave him the candied fruit he bought during the day, sour and sweet, but most importantly, cold. And Shi Sheng was feeling quite hot, so the taste of the candied fruit became even more wonderful.

It was already very late outside, birds chirped between the trees, Shi Sheng leaned on Lu Lin’s shoulder, eating candied haws one after another until he was full. Lu Lin touched his belly.

The owner of this shop made really good candied haws. The transparent syrup melted away, making them very delicious. Lu Lin asked him, “Where did you buy them? Next time I’ll buy more for you.”

“No need,” Shi Sheng stiffened, shrunk in Lu Lin’s arms, and said stubbornly, “I’ll get tired of eating them after a while.”

“”I fed you, why don’t you rest for a while?” Lu Lin rubbed his head and asked softly.

“Okay.”

Shi Sheng was drowsy and a little unclear. Lu Lin carried him to the bed, and when Lu Lin hugged him close and kissed him gently, their lips touched and made sounds, stimulating the nerves.

The people on TV were applauding, it was raining outside, and raindrops in the puddles were rippling rapidly. Shi Sheng hummed as he moved towards the pillow, but was pulled back by Lu Lin grabbing his ankle. Then, a storm broke out outside, with consecutive attacks causing shivers. Eventually, Shi Sheng just stuck close to Lu Lin.

………..

Later on, Shi Sheng felt like he probably rolled under the bed due to his bad sleeping position but didn’t have the strength to adjust back and fell asleep again in a daze.

Faintly, it seemed like the sound of a shower was coming, waterdrops hitting his back spreading warmth, which felt very comfortable. But his waist and hips were sore. He opened his eyes, and Lu Lin said his sleeping posture was bad; others got a stiff neck, while he rolled under the bed. Lu Lin was washing him.

Shi Sheng felt slippery like an eel, and when Lu Lin was holding him, something slid down his thigh. But he was too tired to see what it was and fell asleep in Lu Lin’s arms.

He was really exhausted. When he woke up, it was already noon. The curtain couldn’t block the light coming in from the window. A blanket was covering his waist and legs, and he wasn’t wearing any clothes.

Shi Sheng moved a bit but still felt weak and sore. The closet was still open, and he could see his thin body in the floor mirror, his skin very fair, but covered in hickeys, and red marks.

“Freaking Lu Lin.”

His throat hurt even swallowing saliva. There was a glass of water on the bedside table. He crawled over and took a few sips, feeling much better. He opened his phone and saw Lu Lin asking if he was awake, how he was feeling, and that he had taken a day off for him.

Shi Sheng collapsed on the bed, feeling like he had more days off and working from home than actually going to work. It was a miracle he hadn’t been fired.

“Awake?” Lu Lin called, sounding quite cheerful.

“Yeah…”

“Does it hurt? I applied ointment for you. I don’t know if it will help.” Lu Lin had a Bluetooth headset on. A colleague brought over some documents, and he nodded to indicate that he was on the phone, while signing them. “I ordered takeaway for noon, can you go downstairs to pick it up yourself?”

“No.”

Lu Lin shook his head with a smile, returning the documents to his colleague. “What should we do then? I can’t come back at noon either.”

“Then I’ll just starve,” Shi Sheng replied dryly, with a bit of attitude. To Lu Lin’s ears, it sounded like a kitten sulking, lacking any real impact.

“I’ll have Lu Yin bring it to you. Anyway, she’s idle.”

Shi Sheng didn’t say anything. The phone suddenly went quiet, and Lu Lin seemed busy with something. Shi Sheng thought Lu Lin would say something else, but he didn’t. He thought he was going to take the initiative, but in the end, he was taken advantage of. Lu Lin was very gentle after sleeping with him, but he was quite fierce last night.

He should have listened to Su Qi; he shouldn’t have given him too much advantage.

“What else do you want?” Lu Lin took off his Bluetooth headset and got up to pour some water.

“Anything I ask for, you’ll give?”

Lu Lin raised an eyebrow, swallowing a mouthful of water. “Hmm.”

“Then write a reflection essay, no less than eight hundred words.” Shi Sheng pressed a finger down and hung up the phone.

Lu Lin was drinking water and spat it out with a “puff”, then coughed and wiped his mouth.

In the end, Shi Sheng felt embarrassed to let Lu Yin come over, so he called Su Qi. The key to Shi Sheng’s house was hidden under a flowerpot, and Su Qi knew about it. She hurried over as soon as she received the message.

She brought food upstairs, and Shi Sheng had already struggled to put on pajamas, lying weakly on the bed.

“Did you two really do it?”

“Yeah.” Shi Sheng looked through the takeaway box, all of it was quite bland. “He went out to work all energetic early in the morning, and look at me, I can’t even get out of bed. I’m not happy about it.”

“Haha,” Su Qi didn’t expect him to be upset about this, “then you should counterattack, make him do something for love.”

“Forget it,” Shi Sheng shook his head. “Being a top isn’t easy either.”

He closed his eyes, feeling dizzy and heavy-headed. Actually, he was too embarrassed to say it out loud. Waking up to an empty room with only himself lying on the bed, last night’s events seemed blurry like a dream, leaving only a body full of pain.

It made him feel a bit insecure.

If he could wake up to Lu Lin’s presence, with that guy holding him, feeding him, taking care of him, and asking him if he was in pain, it would be better.

But due to professional reasons, taking temporary leave was not easy for Lu Lin. Shi Sheng thought he couldn’t be too sentimental, so he didn’t say anything.

“Are you okay?” Su Qi put down the bowl.

“I feel uncomfortable.” Shi Sheng shrank back under the blanket, his face showing an abnormal blush. “I woke up feeling very uncomfortable. I have no strength, and my head hurts.”

Su Qi reached out and touched his forehead.

“You damn well have a fever.”

“I have a fever?” Shi Sheng struggled to open his eyes.

“You’re such a grown-up, yet you don’t even know your own physical condition,” Su Qi stood up, opened the drawer, and found the thermometer, asking him to hold it in his mouth. “I’ll call Lu Lin and ask him to come back this afternoon.”

“…No need. It’s just a normal bodily reaction.” He closed his eyes and curled up, feeling his nose exhaling hot air, “Jie, could you boil some hot water for me? I should feel better later.”

On the other side, completely unaware, Lu Lin finished writing an eight-hundred-word reflection essay. He looked at his watch, about to call and check on Shi Sheng’s condition, whether he had eaten.

Suddenly, the alarm bell rang.

The broadcast came on, “All personnel on duty at the full attendance command post, gather downstairs! The current incident is classified as a fire rescue at 204 Tongzhou Road, Nanhua District. Dispatch vehicles 13579, gather downstairs!”

Lu Lin was stunned. He quickly put his phone in his pocket and rushed out, sliding down the fireman’s pole.