Chapter 47: “Does your tongue hurt?”

The intention was punishment, but when their lips finally met, all that mattered was the person in front of him, and everything else faded away.

In the close proximity, the pupils reflected scattered light, and Lu Liu moved, making those lights tremble before being covered by eyelids.

The mint candy hadn’t melted completely, and Lin Zhi’s mouth was filled with a cool, stimulating sensation that both cleared his mind and left him in confusion. The lingering taste of alcohol, however, overshadowed the freshness, leaving the two of them, who had just tasted it, intoxicated.

The redness from the alcohol had mostly been cooled off by the autumn night breeze, but after a bit of pushing and pulling in a dark, secluded corner, it returned to Lin Zhi’s face, now a deeper shade of embarrassment.

After the “punishment,” Lin Zhi had become more obedient, not saying anything provocative and also avoiding looking at the person who had punished him. He kept his head lowered, pursing his lips, his tingling tongue swirling around the mint candy.

Huh? He clearly remembered that Lu Liu had given him two pieces of mint candy earlier, so why was there only one left in his mouth?

Lin Zhi raised his eyes suspiciously and secretly glanced at Lu Liu, only to see his cheek puffing out slightly. The next moment, he heard a faint “crunching” sound.

Damn, Lin Zhi wasn’t happy. Not only had Lu Liu “stolen” his candy, but he wasn’t even treating it properly!

“Hard candy is supposed to melt, okay?” Lin Zhi reminded him.

“Oh?” Lu Liu turned to him with a half-smile, “Finally awake?”

Lin Zhi felt embarrassed and weakly defended, “I wasn’t really drunk…”

Actually, in his previous life, he could hold his alcohol pretty well, but that was in the past. Back then, his alcohol tolerance had naturally developed from drinking a lot. This time, without anything bothering him, he hadn’t had a chance to drink his worries away, so he became more easily numbed by alcohol.

He didn’t think too much about it, assuming he had inherited everything from his past life. But who knew that this was different from memories? He couldn’t control his body’s reactions.

“Not drunk?” Lu Liu said angrily, “So everything you said earlier was true?”

Lin Zhi hurriedly reassured him, “Not completely…”

The small amount of beer certainly didn’t get him drunk, but it made his head spin. He kept feeling like his mouth and brain were disconnected, each one out of control.

Lu Liu, persistently probing, asked, “Which parts were true and which weren’t?”

“It’s true that I’ve liked you for a long time,” Lin Zhi had learned to read the mood and only picked the pleasant things to say, “And it’s also true that no matter what you become, I’ll still like you.”

Lu Liu wasn’t blinded by sweet words. He directly asked, “Have I lied to you?”

“No, no,” Lin Zhi hurriedly shook his head, “Of course not! I was just rambling.”

“Who is he?” After all that circling, they came back to this question, “Was that a lie too?”

Lin Zhi didn’t want to erase the existence of “Zhi,” but didn’t know how to explain it to Lu Liu. He could only grit his teeth, looking at Lu Liu with pleading eyes.

The more he refused to answer, the more curious Lu Liu became. The candy that had been chewed seemed to have been soaked in vinegar, and it made Lu Liu’s chest tighten with a sour feeling. He gruffly said, “Who is he? If you don’t tell me, you’re not going back to school tonight.”

Lin Zhi: “…Then should we book a room? But I didn’t bring my ID.”

“It’s fine, I brought mine,” Lu Liu replied unconsciously before regretfully saying, “That’s not the point.”

Lin Zhi played dumb, “It’s not the point when we’re at the point of needing an ID?”

Lu Liu stared at him for a while, then said, “Forget it,” his eyes lowered as he pretended to look extremely wronged while stepping forward, softly saying, “Let’s go, I’ll take you back to school.”

In less than three seconds, his arm was pulled back by Lin Zhi, and a reluctant voice came, “Are you mad?”

Lu Liu would have loved to write “Hurry up and coax me” on his face, but he refused to admit it, saying, “No.”

“You’re definitely angry,” Lin Zhi said.

Lu Liu almost laughed out of frustration. Since Lin Zhi already knew, why wasn’t he coaxing him? He replied, “I’m not angry. If we don’t leave now, it’ll be late.”

“Then we won’t go back,” Lin Zhi muttered, “Since you’re angry, I have to stay and coax you. The internet says that couples shouldn’t go to bed angry.”

Then why don’t you coax me! Lu Liu yelled in his mind, but kept his face calm and said, “This isn’t even an argument.”

It was clearly just him getting tortured unilaterally.

“Alright, don’t be angry,” Lin Zhi gently shook Lu Liu’s arm, “Isn’t it enough that I admit I was wrong?”

What Lu Liu really wanted to hear wasn’t this. He asked, “What did you do wrong?”

Wrong for liking the same person for two lifetimes without realizing it? Wrong for not being able to explain anything about reincarnation?

But those couldn’t be considered his fault. Lin Zhi’s face showed no shame in admitting his mistakes. “As long as you’re angry, it’s all my fault.”

Lu Liu was both amused and helpless. In fact, most of his anger had already been dissipated by the mint-flavored kiss. He raised his hand and messed up Lin Zhi’s hair, saying, “Okay, I’m not angry anymore.”

Who doesn’t have their own little secrets?

“I actually made a mistake too,” Lu Liu said, “I shouldn’t have forced you to talk about something you didn’t want to.”

“It’s okay, I forgive you,” Lin Zhi said generously, waving his hand, “Lu Liu, let’s make a deal.”

“What?”

“If we argue again in the future, for a small argument, we’ll hug it out. For a medium argument, we’ll kiss. And for a big argument…” Lin Zhi thought about it, considering how their relationship had only developed to kissing so far. He licked his teeth and said, “For a big argument, we’ll kiss twice. Anyway, no cold wars.”

“Alright,” Lu Liu agreed without hesitation. As for how to classify the different levels of arguments… who cares? When the time comes, he’ll just call it the smallest level.

“Then you kissed me just now,” Lin Zhi bargained again, “And even bit my tongue. So, we’ve made up, and we can’t argue for a short period of time.”

Lu Liu suddenly laughed softly. “Does your tongue hurt?”

“It doesn’t,” Lin Zhi replied truthfully, “Just a little numb.”

After that, both of them felt somewhat awkward. Lu Liu reached for Lin Zhi’s hand and held it as they slowly walked along the farthest edge of the sidewalk. After a long while, he asked suggestively, “Are we going back?”

Lin Zhi swallowed quietly, not showing any emotion. “…Let’s go back.”

After their exchange, they fell silent again. Lu Liu seemed to be concentrating on the road as if he were just learning the way. While Lin Zhi enjoyed the ambiguous atmosphere, he couldn’t resist breaking the silence. “Have you read novels?”

“Yes, but not many.”

That was enough for Lin Zhi. He asked, “Do you know there’s a genre called ‘reincarnation’?”

“I know, but I haven’t looked into it deeply.”

Good, that was all Lin Zhi needed. He confessed, “Actually, I’m someone who’s been reincarnated.”

“…” Lu Liu slowly responded, “You’re amazing.”

“Don’t doubt me,” Lin Zhi said seriously, “The story comes from life. The person who wrote the first reincarnation novel might have been reincarnated themselves.”

Lu Liu: “Then you should write one when you have time, it would definitely be full of true feelings.”

“Don’t you believe me?” Lin Zhi used his trump card, “Then let me ask you, how do I know your alternate WeChat account? Why did I have to go to B City? Why…”

Lin Zhi asked a series of questions, each one hitting exactly where Lu Liu’s doubts were.

After asking, Lin Zhi answered for himself, “It’s because before I was reincarnated, you pretended to be ‘Zhi’ and dated me. I came here to find you.”

It made sense, but… it was too far-fetched, even more ridiculous than Lin Zhi’s dream of meeting a noble person.

“Why would I pretend?” Lu Liu asked, “Isn’t it better to just date you like we’re doing now?”

Lin Zhi: “…I wanted to ask you the same thing!”

Lu Liu raised his hand and messed up Lin Zhi’s hair, which he had just combed, saying, “Alright, alright, I won’t press you anymore.”

Lin Zhi angrily pulled his hand down, brushing through his hair as he thought, forget it, whatever. He had said what he needed to say.

That night, because of Lin Zhi’s explanation, Lu Liu actually dreamed about some of the scenes Lin Zhi had described. He purposely added Lin Zhi on his alternate WeChat account and slowly approached him. At first, he only wanted Lin Zhi to be happier, but unexpectedly, without meaning to, Lin Zhi took the initiative to propose they date. He happily but cautiously agreed…

Lu Liu was shaken awake by his roommate. It was the first time in many years of school that he had slept so deeply. His roommate had been calling him but couldn’t wake him up, as if he had fainted.