Chapter 4: Living Together, Oh

Finally, the two took a taxi home.

Jian Mingzhou was still regretting the “drunk driving together” incident even when he entered the apartment building.

The two climbed the stairs, one after the other.

After a few steps, Jian Mingzhou couldn’t help but speak, “It was a slip of the tongue just now.”

“…,” the person in front stopped. Xie Jing chuckled, turned around, and said, “Okay, I got it.”

Jian Mingzhou stood in place and looked over.

Why is he laughing? Doesn’t he believe what I said?

The light in the corridor fell from a diagonal angle.

Xie Jing stood a step higher, leaning his shoulders against the wall, making him appear tall and straight. Jian Mingzhou was originally going to explain again, but unexpectedly, he spaced out.

After a few more steps, they reached the doorstep. Jian Mingzhou held his breath, pulled out the key, and opened the door.

“Wait a moment… Go home first.”

Xie Jing obediently stopped talking, standing behind him.

Click, and the key turned a bit but didn’t open.

This apartment was bought a long time ago, and the lock was somewhat old. Occasionally, the key would get stuck.

Jian Mingzhou twisted his eyebrows slightly, added a hand, and twisted it towards the side with force—there was finally a crisp sound from the keyhole.

The corridor fell silent for two seconds.

Xie Jing, who was in front, didn’t move. “Uncle?”

“One bad news,” Jian Mingzhou stepped back a bit, turned his head, and tried to sound calm. “The key broke in the door lock.”

Xie Jing, “…”

“And even worse news.”

“… What?”

Jian Mingzhou took a deep breath. “This seems to be someone else’s door.”

Xie Jing, “!”

—

Twenty minutes later, the locksmith arrived as promised.

Seeing the broken key, he exclaimed in surprise! After learning that it broke in someone else’s door lock, he became even more sighing:

“Also, it’s burying one’s bones in a foreign land.”

Jian Mingzhou, “…”

Don’t make his door key sound like some hero character.

Fortunately, the locksmith was skilled, and he quickly removed the remnants of the key. The neighbor downstairs was familiar with him, and after hearing his apology upon opening the door, she burst into laughter.

“Xiaozhou, how can you make such a mistake?”

After the laughter of Aunt Guo, she noticed Xie Jing beside him and said, “Oh, this handsome young man, why haven’t I seen him before?”

Jian Mingzhou introduced him: “He’s the kid living in my house.”

Xie Jing politely said, “Hello.”

They exchanged a few words, and soon Aunt Guo’s husband’s voice came from inside the house: “It’s so late; let Xiaozhou go back and rest!”

Aunt Guo snorted a couple of times, and when she closed the door, Jian Mingzhou vaguely heard her happily saying to someone inside,

“You don’t understand, there are two handsome guys!”

“…”

After the whole episode, it was close to ten o’clock when he got home.

The earlier banter about “drunk driving together” didn’t continue. The two of them each went to their rooms after cleaning up.

Jian Mingzhou slept until noon the next day.

Waking up and checking his phone, there were several urgent missed calls and a message:

[cc Xiaolu]: Your life is at stake! Save me, Zhoubian!!!

“…”

He had clearly asked not to be called that.

Jian Mingzhou sighed, got up, and decided to have lunch first before rescuing the Xiaolu.

When he opened the door to leave the bedroom, he ran into Xie Jing.

The latter seemed to be going out and turned when he heard the sound. Their eyes met, and Xie Jing looked him up and down for a while before speaking.

“Uncle, do you remember what happened last night?”

What did he mean by that?

Jian Mingzhou nodded. “Of course, I remember.”

Xie Jing asked, “Don’t you have anything to say about it?”

Say what? Jian Mingzhou checked himself: He remembered traffic rules, didn’t show any inclination toward BL, except for accidentally breaking the key in someone else’s door lock…

But they had successfully resolved it in the end.

He thought for a moment: “We had a great time yesterday. Thanks.”

Xie Jing:…?

After a silent pause, Xie Jing finally said, “You’re welcome,” and turned to leave for school.

—

Jian Mingzhou went to Xiaolu’s house after having lunch.

Last time, he helped her cross the death line, and this time, it was an additional scene that couldn’t make it into the tankōbon.

For this late-stage procrastination patient, Jian Mingzhou speculated that their motto must be: There’s always tomorrow.

When he pushed open the door, Xiaolu and her three assistants were sitting around the table in distress. Upon seeing Jian Mingzhou, their eyes simultaneously lit up with hope.

“Adult!”

“Camie—”

“Savior!!!”

Jian Mingzhou calmly looked at the blank manuscript paper on the table, and after a few seconds, he gently spoke, “I thought I came here just to review manuscripts.”

He looked at the silent group and asked, “What is this? An isekai from scratch?”

The four heads were buried low into their chests.

After a while, Jian Mingzhou took a deep breath, put down his canvas bag, sat down at the table, and took out his notebook.

“Give me a reason for having a progress of 0.”

All three assistants turned to look at Xiaolu.

Xiaolu, with a pained expression, said, “I’m stuck at the beginning! I can’t think of anything! I can’t think of a reason for the uke and seme to not come home all night, go halfway up the mountain, and watch the stars.”

Jian Mingzhou felt a twinge of pain too. “…so why did you have to draw them going up the mountain to watch the stars at midnight?”

“Sitting side by side under the starry sky is romantic!” Xiaolu defended herself. “And I posted a preview on Weibo in advance…”

Assistant Xiao Li squeaked, “I burned the bridges.”

Assistant Ah Cheng, “Dug your own grave.”

Assistant Xiao Ji pondered, “Dug… dug your own grave!”

“Stop.” Jian Mingzhou interrupted their sudden idiom chain and finally understood why there had been no progress.

He rubbed his forehead. “Let me think.”

The room fell silent, hoping for the only reliable adult in the room.

Jian Mingzhou lowered his head in contemplation. Countless images and imaginings flashed through his mind. A subtle revelation, accompanied by a strange sense of familiarity, surged into his heart—

“Here’s an idea, have the seme and uke break the key in the door lock when they return home.”

Jam the door lock, and no one can go back!

Everyone at the table: …

Xiaolu pounded the table. “Hahaha, how could there be such a silly—”

Jian Mingzhou looked at her like a breath of spring.

Under the warm and quiet gaze, Xiaolu instantly had a shock, and the topic instinctively shifted.

“…Silly but cute.”

Jian Mingzhou softly said, “Start drawing.”

…

With Jian Mingzhou helping with the manuscript review, the progress of the drawings was completed swiftly.

Busy until the evening, Jian Mingzhou’s phone buzzed on the table.

He turned and saw that it was a WeChat message from Xie Jing.

Probably inconvenient to type, he sent a voice message. Jian Mingzhou directly opened it and heard Xie Jing’s voice through the speaker:

“Uncle, I’ll be practicing tonight and won’t be back for dinner.”

He probably just finished running; his low voice carried a bit of panting.

Jian Mingzhou didn’t think much of it, but there was suddenly a scream from beside him.

“Oh my god!!!”

His fingertips shook, and he looked up. Xiaolu and the three assistants were all staring at him, their eyes shining with an extremely familiar light.

“Who! Who is this sexy handsome guy!?”

Jian Mingzhou, “…”

How could they tell he was sexy?

—Although Xie Jing indeed was.

Xiaolu was excitedly gossiping, “Oh, oh, oh, Editor, you’re living with a handsome guy~”

“But he calls you Uncle… Could he be your nephew?”

Jian Mingzhou explained, “He’s my friend’s nephew, staying over for a while.”

Xiaolu’s eyes sparkled instantly. “No blood relation!”

One of the assistants whispered, “Wouldn’t it be more exciting if there were?”

Jian Mingzhou, “…”

Unable to bear it any longer, he warned by knocking on the table, “Be careful; this is not lawless territory!”

—

After a day of rushing to meet the manuscript deadline, the additional scenes were finally completed.

As Jian Mingzhou was getting ready to leave, the sky outside had already turned dark.

“Wait a moment, editor.” Xiaolu took out a sandwich and onigiri from the fridge, packed them into a lunch box, and handed them over. “You worked hard today; take this home and eat!”

Jian Mingzhou took it and said, “Thanks… It’s not expired, right?”

“Of course not!”

He left and hailed a cab to go home.

Jian Mingzhou asked the driver to stop at a supermarket outside the residential area, planning to buy some things.

As he stepped out of the supermarket, rain started to fall.

Summer rain came suddenly, and in less than half a minute, a heavy downpour began.

Strong winds rustled through the treetops, making the leaves brush against each other.

Jian Mingzhou glanced at the distant, not-so-close distance and decided to run all the way back.

When he arrived home, soaked to the bone, he realized that Xie Jing was already back. Xie Jing glanced at him, turned, and brought a dry towel from the bathroom.

“Uncle, wipe yourself dry.”

The dry towel fell into his hands, and the living room’s light spilled into the entrance.

Having lived alone for a long time, for a brief moment, Jian Mingzhou felt a bit dazed.

It was like a snail youth…

“Thanks.”

A wet mark appeared on his neck, and his thin T-shirt clung to his body. After taking the towel, he casually placed his canvas bag on the nearby table.

Clang… The strawberry-patterned lunchbox slipped halfway out of the bag.

Jian Mingzhou didn’t notice it, wiping his head with his neck bent.

Just when he was halfway through, he suddenly heard Xie Jing, who was leaning beside him, speak slowly, “It seems I guessed wrong.”

He looked down from under the towel.

Xie Jing’s arm was resting on the edge of the table. “My classmate asked if you have a girlfriend, and I said you probably don’t.”

His gaze followed the line of sight and landed on the strawberry lunchbox.

Jian Mingzhou reacted after a moment and knew he had misunderstood.

“No, this was a favor from a colleague, a token of gratitude for helping out.” He casually explained, “Why would I have a girlfriend?”

He said it so matter-of-factly.

Xie Jing continued to inquire, “Why can’t you have one?”

Jian Mingzhou’s movements paused, thinking about his hobbies.

Imagine this: If he had a girlfriend, the two of them peacefully enjoying BL manga together under the setting sun, laughing together with silver bell-like giggles…

His train of thought shook: Wouldn’t they be like sisters?

“What are you thinking?” Xie Jing reminded him intimately. “Your pupils contracted.”

“…”

Jian Mingzhou snapped out of it.

Whether it was due to getting caught in the rain or some other reason, he faintly started to feel warm. If it were a usual day, he might have used the most appropriate wording to say something like “just not interested.”

But now, wiping his wet hair, and with a side glance, he said:

“In any case, no one would want to date me.”