Kang Shengzhe felt a little panicked.
While it was true that the number of people gradually decreased the further he ran, the fact that he was carrying someone over his shoulder became more conspicuous instead. With a head full of cold sweat, Kang Shengzhe put You Liangxing down.
In the darkness, You Liangxing’s expression was not fully discernible.
Alarm bells were ringing in Kang Shengzhe and he did not know what he should say. After expending a lot of courage to squeeze an ‘I’, You Liangxing’s head twisted and he walked away without looking back.
The figure of his back was both cold and frightening, causing a chill to seep into Kang Shengzhe’s heart. With big strides, he followed and as they were travelling back to their apartment, You Liangxing’s expression was cold and hard, not even issuing a single utterance and he had never been graver.
Although Kang Shengzhe was freaking out in his heart, he did not dare to say anything on the road back.
He was being serious, he had nothing.
Opening the door, You Liangxing entered his apartment and he was about to slam the door shut with one hand when Kang Shengzhe – sharp-eyed and quick to react – immediately stuck a long leg out and happened to use his ankle to stop the door from closing. His pain receptors fired and Kang Shengzhe yelled loudly: “Liang Liang I was wrong!”
His piteous cry reverberated and shattered the tranquillity in the corridor. You Liangxing scowled, and it was only under the increasingly ugly facial expression Kang Shengzhe was exhibiting that You Liangxing allowed him in. Kang Shengzhe seized the chance to roll in and immediately hugged his own leg and sat on the ground near the entrance.
“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!”
You Liangxing ignored him which was the cue for Kang Shengzhe to stop yelling. Before You Liangxing could walk away, he hugged You Liangxing’s legs and cried out: “Liang Liang, I was wrong! I was wrong I was wrong I was wrong!”
Kang Shengzhe did not bother to say anything else besides repeating that he was wrong. At the start, his voice was anxious and quick but as it approached the end, his volume got smaller and smaller, and it became even more pitiful.
“I’m really in wrong, Liang Liang, don’t be angry please…”
You Liangxing let out a deep sigh before he finally knelt by his side. With the closing of the distance, Kang Shengzhe could clearly observe the expression on his visage. However, he discovered there was no trace of anger, nor was he irritated. When he searched the depths of his eyes, he unexpectedly found a thick sense of helplessness and loss.
That gaze was more terrifying than anything he could say in a fit of anger. Kang Shengzhe became despondent and his voice faded off.
“Liang Liang…”
You Liangxing: “Where were you wrong?”
Kang Shengzhe froze. In this sort of scenario, the question was so weighted he did not know how to answer. He lowered his eyes and similarly, his voice dropped too. “I was wrong…. Because I shouldn’t have carried you away in a moment of impulse.”
You Liangxing said: “What else?”
Kang Shengzhe: “I shouldn’t have gone up on stage to give you a flower.”
You Liangxing: “What else.”
Kang Shengzhe: “Shouldn’t have been rowdy on the stage.”
You Liangxing’s ensuing laugh was chilly. “Is that what you think?”
Kang Shengzhe went silent and it took him a while before he could speak again. “Is it not?”
There was an unfathomable taste to his replying snort. A moment later, he spoke in a flat tone that lacked all emotion. “When you carried me out today, have you ever considered how the school will start perceiving you from tomorrow onwards? Kang Shengzhe, if the characteristic of ‘gay’ were to become definitive, do you think you will still have a way out?”
Once those words were said, what else was there to misunderstand? Kang Shengzhe blinked and responded: “I’ve always went ahead to do the things I wanted to do, and I’ve never cared for the opinions of others. I don’t need a way out, Liang Liangk2026; do you need one?”
You Liangxing gazed at him, wordless. Kang Shengzhe did not wait for his reply before he continued to speak: “I wasn’t thinking when I went up on stage just now; my brain became feverish and I just acted. But since I went up the stage unconsciously, it means that I wanted to go up on stage, and even if we were to do this again, I would do the same thing.”
“Liang Liang… I like you! More than Liang Chuhan and everyone who gave you flowers tonight, I like you more than them!”
You Liangxing interrupted him: “Are you done speaking?”
Kang Shengzhe did not know where his courage came from as he said in a rush: “No! I haven’t said it enough, I like you, I want to be together with you!”
His spoken words might belong to an overbearing president but the expression on his face conveyed that he was terrified and he had been forced. Kang Shengzhe lowered his head again, loathing the fact that he could not bury his head in the ground.
“What you’re trying to say is that, you still don’t feel like you’ve done anything wrong, right?”
Kang Shengzhe gritted his teeth: “Right!”
He did not see You Liangxing’s reaction but he heard You Liangxing sneering. In the next second, You Liangxing’s voice told him: “Raise your head for me!”
It was reprimanding in tone and Kang Shengzhe’s shoulder shook. He was 120% percent certain that once he lifted his face, he would be receiving a punch. Despite his trembling, the little giant still raised his head up high.
“I’m not afraid of getting hit anyway…”
His words were stopped halfway through. The sounds coming from Kang Shengzhe’s throat stopped and he could not say anything in the moment because what was before him was not the fist he had been expecting but a tender and beautiful scarlet red rose.
You Liangxing’s rose.
You Liangxing said: “What, you don’t want it?”
Hastily, Kang Shengzhe said: “I want it, I want it!!”
His heart could not wait to receive it but because of the overwhelming excitement he felt, he could not lift his hands up. You Liangxing was helpless, and he could only fold the stalk gently until a small part of the stem was left. Then, he raised his hand and tucked the flower in Kang Shengzhe’s hair.
A beauty wearing a flower had its own lingering charm; although Kang Shengzhe was a man, he was a beauty as well.
As You Liangxing scrutinised him, he said, “Sure enough, I do like this face.”
Kang Shengzhe could not help but sniffle.
You Liangxing stared at him: “What are you sniffling for? Hold it back.”
Kang Shengzhe tried his best to resist and he sounded nasal as he asked: “Liang Liang, you’re not angry?”
“I was never angry to begin with,” You Liangxing replied.
Carefully, Kang Shengzhe said, “This flower…”
You Liangxing: “I’m giving it to you.”
With regards to what the mutual exchange of flowers meant according to the rules of the evening party, Kang Shengzhe could not be clearer about it. He stared into You Liangxing’s eyes, riveted, and asked: “Liang Liang, are you sure? If you give me this flower, you’re not allowed to regret it.”
You Liangxing said: “I have never regretted anything in my life.”
You Liangxing was speaking the truth; even if Kang Shengzhe hadn’t gone up on stage to make a commotion, he was planning to leave this flower for Kang Shengzhe either way. However, he did not expect that Kang Shengzhe would be such an uncommon card when he decided to act, and it would go to the extent where he acted in front of the entire school.
However, it was meaningless to speak of these things now. You Liangxing asked him: “Kang Shengzhe, do you understand me?”
Kang Shengzhe said with some hesitation. “I probably… understand you… yeah.”
You Liangxing gave a pause and told himself not to get angry twice internally. Then, he said: “I am a very persistent person, more tenacious than anyone you have met thus far. As long as I set out to do something – it doesn’t matter what it is – I will never give up on it until I have done it well. If you accept this flower today, I definitely won’t let go of your hand.”
Kang Shengzhe said: “You’ll never let go of my hand?”
You Liangxing: “I won’t let go.”
A resplendent smile blossomed on Kang Shengzhe’s visage and he replied: “Isn’t that exactly what my heart desires?”
As he looked at him, You Liangxing smiled too. Kang Shengzhe leaned closer to him and said: “Stop talking, let’s kiss.”
You Liangxing did not avoid him; when the lips of his beauty pressed closer, he did not close his eyes. He carded his fingers through Kang Shengzhe’s hair and in the final moment before they kissed, he warned him, “Think about it well and hard, I mean what I say.”
Kang Shengzhe’s breaths were coming out quick as he said lowly: “Liang Liang, I’ll return your words to you, I’m never letting go of your hand in this lifetime, I’m definitely not letting go.”
This kiss was deep and stirring, and when it ended, Kang Shengzhe and You Liangxing realised that there was something different in each other’s gaze.
All that had broken was just a thin layer of paper but their relationship was irrevocably changed.
You Liangxing’s heart had never felt this hot and he wanted to smile for no apparent reason but he stopped the corners of his mouth from rising.
Kang Shengzhe giggled, “Today is a good day, Kang Shengzhe Wei Shang Xi-Ti Liang Liang.”
You Liangxing laughed again.
After kneeling on the ground for a long time, his legs were getting tired. You Liangxing wanted to stand up but Kang Shengzhe did not give him a chance, leaning his body forward and pushing You Liangxing to the ground. Their bodies overlapped and the heat rose quickly. Feeling anxious, You Liangxing blurted out: “Kang Shengzhe, this is the entrance.”
Kang Shengzhe said: “What about the entrance?”
Upon seeing You Liangxing knit his brows together, Kang Shengzhe immediately blocked his lips, “Then we’ll go on the bed.”
… On the bed.
It was hard not to misconstrue that phrase and You Liangxing immediately grasped all the profound meanings those words were insinuating and it made him feel a little helpless. Speaking of which, there had been moments where he and Kang Shengzhe got incredibly close to that stage, but they would stop at kissing every time. However, with the new developments, it was obviously not something people in a very intimate relationship could avoid.
Kang Shengzhe tangled himself with him again and he looked like a live, rolled up glutinous rice ball as he slumped on his body, seemingly boneless. You Liangxing tried to push him off but Kang Shengzhe took the opportunity to move his own body up and ask: “Liang Liang~~ do you have condoms in your house?”
You Liangxing’s brains jammed and he said: “What?”
Kang Shengzhe: “You don’t?”
Without a doubt, he had none.
Did You Liangxing seem like a person who kept condoms in his house?
But the problem was not that. You Liangxing mulled over it for a while before he spoke with a certain sense of admiration, “How do you manage to ask such a question so openly?”
Kang Shengzhe smiled, “It isn’t simple, by being shameless, yeah~”
You Liangxing had no choice but to be convinced.
However, it was good that he did not have condoms because You Liangxing was not prepared to begin with. Thus, he tried to push it away as he said: “Since there’s none, why don’t we…”
“Go buy it.”
You Liangxing: “……”
Kang Shengzhe blinked his eyes amicably, and the pair stood up right away. One of them was light-footed and fast while the other moved at a slower pace, and with what seemed like an extreme polarisation, they left the apartment.
You Liangxing was in a dilemma because he could not help but feel like their development was a little off. But when he raised his head to see Kang Shengzhe’s red cheeks which aptly displayed his anticipation, he swallowed his words of rejection again.
…Putting it into perspective, they had to do it sooner or later. Furthermore, going along with the atmosphere and doing it today might not be a bad thing.
Their apartment building had a convenience store downstairs, and at the rack in front of the cashier, their ‘objective’ was placed there in a neat and tidy manner. However, it would be rather strange if two men went in to buy condoms with red faces so You Liangxing could only stop at the entrance and ask Kang Shengzhe: “You…”
Kang Shengzhe: “En?”
You Liangxing was honestly too embarrassed to say it out loud, and it took him a long time before he spat out: “What size?”
Truth to be told, Kang Shengzhe was not certain either, “I don’t know, aiyo, I’ve never worn it before, but it should roughly be this big.”
Saying that, Kang Shengzhe raised his big hand and formed a ring, but he felt like it was not accurate after he did so. Then, he raised his other hand and overlapped it with what he had previously formed and gestured at it. “En, this is more accurate, it’s this big.”
You Liangxing only wanted to die after seeing it.
The sheer vulgarity of the content in his gesture need not be mentioned first; even if You Liangxing remembered how big it was, it was not like he could go into the store and compare it. Feeling his head start to hurt again, You Liangxing said coldly: “Forget it, I’ll just buy two of each size.”
Kang Shengzhe stopped him, saying: “Buy four, two is definitely not enough.”
You Liangxing: “……” Would it kill you not to speak?
The trip to the convenience store was literally the most embarrassing thing that You Liangxing had ever experienced. And to make matters worse, even after he managed to conclude the purchase with much difficulty, You Liangxing’s hands had involuntarily trembled when he was receiving the shopping bag.
Then, as they stood in the lift, the nervousness which came from knowing that his first time of learning from practical experience was about to arrive tided over Kang Shengzhe. He raised his head and took a deep breath. Nothing had happened, but both of them were already finding it unbearable.
They entered the apartment. Without needing a signal or the spoken language, Kang Shengzhe pushed You Liangxing into the bedroom directly and the pair fell onto the bed together.
T/N: KK actually memed in his official confession, I wanted to die. This chapter takes #2 spot for shamelessness, besides the pp one.
(Y’all know what is coming next, see you tomorrow :))