CH 67

Chapter 67 – Immoral Competition

Did I win

Clearly, Pei Tingsong had still been an arrogant and grumpy young master before this, but for some reason, now, he was more obedient than anyone. He looked just like a big dog, just missing a wagging tail. 

Fang Juexia couldn’t convince himself to refuse Pei Tingsong no matter what, so he could only be cajoled by him into the bathroom.

Pei Tingsong said that he would set out a small stool, and he really did set out one. He put it next to the bathtub, and then also gave him a thick cushion to place on the seat, out of fear that he’d be uncomfortable. “See, isn’t this perfect?”

What perfect ah? Fang Juexia started filling the bathtub with hot water without saying a word. He caught a glimpse of a box of bath bombs on the shelf, so he took one out and threw it into the water. The small bath bomb melted, and milky-white bubbles, tinged with a little light blue, quickly started floating in the bathtub. A soft vanilla nutmeg fragrance mixed with a very light sea salt scent also made itself known.

“So many bubbles?” Pei Tingsong teased him deliberately, “It couldn’t be that you’re afraid of seeing something, so you just filled it up with bubbles? Out of sight, out of mind ba.”

Fang Juexia hadn’t thought of that when he threw it in, he had just thought it would feel nice. He hadn’t thought that Pei Tingsong would misinterpret it so much, so he naturally explained, “No, I didn’t think that far.”

“That’s true, you’ve seen pretty much everything already.”

Pei Tingsong wanted to continue speaking, but Fang Juexia quickly covered his mouth. “Are you going to take a bath or not?”

“Wu,” Pei Tingsong nodded, and then he kissed Fang Juexia’s palm. Fang Juexia removed his hand from his mouth and gave him a look. “Then hurry up.”

“Understood.”

It wasn’t convenient to move around with a cast. Before he was discharged from hospital, he had been wearing a very loose sweater with wide cuffs, so his left hand was propped up and then his sleeves were rolled up. Putting it on had already been very hard work, and taking it off now would also be a difficult task. Fang Juexia stood behind him, untied the sling for him first, and then carefully took off his sweater. Initially, Fang Juexia had felt awkward, but now, his heart just remained suspended in mid-air, for he was afraid of bumping Pei Tingsong’s hand into something, so he didn’t have the time to feel embarrassed.

“It’s too hard.” Upon finally getting his top off, Pei Tingsong let out a long sigh of. As soon as he leaned over, he wanted to use Fang Juexia as his support. “My situation is too difficult.”

Fang Juexia used his hand to hold him steady. “Don’t move around randomly.”

“My pants are still left ah.” Pei Tingsong grabbed his hand and put it on his waist. “I can’t just take a bath in jeans ba.”

He was right. Fang Juexia had no way out, and when he put his fingers on the metal buttons there, everything felt hot. The temperature in the bathroom was very high, hot and humid, making people unable to take any breaths.

It was clearly still spring, but it seemed as if he had fallen into a hot and humid summer.

Fang Juexia turned his head and looked at the bubbles on the edge of the bathtub. They dangled there, and as each small bubble burst, each tooth of the tight metal zipper loosened, opening with the slow sound of it being pulled down. 

The light of the bathroom was shining on Fang Juexia, covering him with a clean halo. His long hair was pulled behind his ears, and his exposed ears had turned a hot red, along with all of his neck that was exposed at his collar. 

How could he blush so easily, how was he going to survive later?

The corners of Pei Tingsong’s mouth rose slightly, and he tilted his head to see Fang Juexia’s turned away face. “Gege, lift up your head and look at me bei.”

Fang Juexia held his breath and looked straight up at him, and for no reason, seemed to carry a kind of heroic air about him as he did this. 

Pei Tingsong finally couldn’t help laughing and knocked his own forehead against this person’s. “I want to eat ice cream.”

“Now?” Fang Juexia’s eyes and brow were full of doubts. 

“Yes ah.” Pei Tingsong supported his arm with his right hand and turned him around. “Help me get it.”

“Is there ice cream in the dorm?”

“I just bought it.” Pei Tingsong said, “Go quickly.”

Having been ordered out of the bathroom rather inexplicably, Fang Juexia opened the freezer, took out a tub of vanilla Haagen Dazs ice cream from the inside, found a spoon, and walked back, only to encounter a burst of hot steam enveloping him when he opened the bathroom door. Fang Juexia entered and locked the bathroom door, only to realise that Pei Tingsong had already gotten into the bathtub by himself, with his injured hand hanging on the edge of the bathtub against the wall. When Pei Tingsong heard movement, he lazily tilted his head and looked at him. 

As soon as he saw Fang Juexia, he smiled. He looked especially attractive when he smiled. 

“I randomly picked a flavor.” Fang Juexia walked over and sat on the small stool arranged by Pei Tingsong. “Why did you buy so much?”

“Don’t you like it?”

Fang Juexia had to use a bit of effort to pry off the lid of the ice cream tub. When he heard this, he was a little surprised, and cold air suddenly blew onto his face.

“How did you know?” The ice cream had frozen solid. Fang Juexia held the spoon and tried to dig into it, but he couldn’t get into it at all. “I don’t seem to have said anything about that before.”

“When I was giving the presentation this afternoon, the girls in the back row of the auditorium were talking about you. As soon as they took a break, they’d start chatting about you.” Pei Tingsong was afraid that Fang Juexia’s hands would become cold, so he took the ice cream tub from his hands, put it on the bathtub shelf attached to the wall, and then held his fingertips in his hands. “They started with discussing your astrological sign, then ended up talking about your hobbies and interests. They also dug up a post taken when you were your college’s campus idol, and said that because you love having ice cream in the summer, a girl had bought a whole trunk of ice cream cones for you, in order to chase you, but you just split them later with your class.”

As he recounted all this, Pei Tingsong grew unhappy. “Tch, wanting to entice you away with just a trunk of ice cream cones ah, dream on. Someone actually thought up of such a stupid way to pursue their crush.”

Fang Juexia was so amused by him that he started laughing. “Then with you buying this much Haagen Dazs, does that make you more powerful than her?”

Pei Tingsong drew closer. “If Haagen Dazs isn’t powerful enough, I’m powerful ah.”

“Where do you get your confidence from ah?” Fang Juexia looked both helpless and doting as he smiled. 

“Didn’t you say you like confident people?” Pei Tingsong stated it as a matter of course, “I was forced to be confident.”

He was so full of false reasoning. Fang Juexia couldn’t withstand all this, so handed the spoon to him. “Wait for the ice cream to melt a bit before eating it.”

Pei Tingsong took the spoon with a smile in his eyes. “I know, that is just what I will do.”

He didn’t know if it was due to his subtle influence, but Fang Juexia, who had always had straightforward thoughts before, could now actually understand the double meaning contained in Pei Tingsong’s words instantly.

Eat after it melts a bit.

Fang Juexia didn’t know what he would melt into. After he had met Pei Tingsong, he had started to realise that he didn’t really know anything about himself. This was very frightening, and it really wasn’t in line with the logic of his once adjustable and controllable behavior.

But the unknown was really too fascinating.

Fear and attraction to the unknown was probably a bug naturally added when human beings were created ba.

“What happened here?”

Fang Juexia returned to his senses and saw Pei Tingsong holding the back of his hand, with his brow all wrinkled. “How are there so many bruises here?”

The bony joints on the back of his hand were a little blue and purple, and it wasn’t that obvious. Fang Juexia explained, “When you fell down, I also jumped down. There were too many people, and it was a mess, so my hand got stepped on a few times.”

Pei Tingsong was extremely distressed. He gently kissed the little bruises, especially lightly.

“When there are many people in the future, protect yourself first.” He raised his head and looked at Fang Juexia. 

However many more times such a thing happened, Fang Juexia would still jump down to get to him. But if he said that, Pei Tingsong wouldn’t let the matter drop. In order to coax him first, Fang Juexia could only nod and agree, “Understood. I’ll wash your hair.”

He moved the stool to the side of the bathtub, where Pei Tingsong’s head was, and poured warm water on it carefully. “Too hot?”

“Not too hot.”

After squeezing some shampoo into his hands and rubbing his hands together, Fang Juexia placed his hands on Pei Tingsong’s head and rubbed it gently. Looking at his silvery white hair, Fang Juexia laughed. “You had this on top of your head while doing your presentation today, didn’t the teacher say anything to you?”

“I was wearing a hat.” Pei Tingsong said, “The teacher did say something to me ah, they said that I presented especially well. And there were a lot of girls taking pictures of me, I saw them all.”

“Because you are very handsome.” Fang Juexia’s tone was calm and direct, as if he was making a factual statement. “This hair color also looks very good, it’s like that of a cartoon character I liked before.”

Pei Tingsong tilted his head back and looked up at him. “So do I look better or does he look better?”

“Hm…” Fang Juexia’s eyes drifted up, and it seemed as if he was seriously contemplating this matter. Pei Tingsong wasn’t satisfied, feeling that he should have blurted out the answer ‘you’, so he scooped up a little water in his hand from the bathtub and splashed it on Fang Juexia. Fang Juexia smiled while ducking, teasing him, “You, you look better.”

Perfunctory.

Pei Tingsong suddenly started squinting with one of his eyes. “Ah, I got it in my eyes, it really hurts.”

“You reap what you sow.” Fang Juexia pulled his own clean face-towel towards himself and then pushed away the hand that Pei Tingsong wanted to use to rub his eye. “I’ll wipe it for you, don’t move.”

He leaned his upper body forward and drew close to Pei Tingsong. His fingers gently pressed against his upper eyelid while the index finger of his other hand poked gently through the towel, asking, “Is it better?”

Suddenly, a hand gripped the back of his neck tight, after which, Pei Tingsong raised his head, kissed him on the forehead and then released him while saying, “It’s good now.”

Fang Juexia straightened up and covered his forehead without knowing why he did so. “You tricked me again?”

“No,” Pei Tingsong looked up at him and said with a smile, “I really just got something into my eyes.”

The always-so-passive Fang Juexia complained a little in his heart before warning him, “You’re not allowed to move, I’m going to rinse you off now.”

“Can you count all of them now? How many do I owe you now, little math genius?”

He was talking about the number of kisses, and Fang Juexia certainly knew it clearly, but he acted as if he couldn’t hear him. The little clock in his heart had now turned into a small account book, and the number jumped out on its own.

“Who says I am keeping count?”

Hot water flowed between his fingertips and Pei Tingsong’s hair, and the bubbles couldn’t remain forever. Fang Juexia’s eyes couldn’t help but peek over. Pei Tingsong had closed his eyes, and both sets of his eyelashes were very long and dense, with the lines of his face that were both sharp yet still carried a youthful feel being a very rare feature. As his eyes kept drifting lower, what entered his view were the very muscular lines of Pei Tingsong’s body that were half-submerged in foam.  

“Done rinsing.” Fang Juexia wiped his face with the towel and said, “I’m leaving, and you shouldn’t soak for too long.”

“No way.” Pei Tingsong sat up all of a sudden. When he flipped his wet hair back, he splashed Fang Juexia thoroughly with water. “Don’t go ah.” Then he picked up the tub of ice cream and said, “This can be eaten now. You just sit here, have some ice cream, and stay with me for a while longer.”

Fang Juexia couldn’t out-stubborn him. “In a moment, everyone else will be back.”

“They won’t be that fast,” Pei Tingsong said, holding the ice cream tub. “What’s more, what are you afraid of with them coming back, we aren’t doing anything.” The hot steam in the bathroom wafted around, and when the spoon dug into the ice cream, it had already gone soft, so it went in easy. He scooped up a little, ate some himself first, then scooped up a bigger spoonful and offered it to the side, in Fang Juexia’s mouth’s direction.

They really hadn’t done anything.

He had just helped Pei Tingsong take a bath, listened to him talk, and stayed for ice cream.

Fang Juexia wasn’t used to being fed, especially by the youngest person in the group. This feeling of being taken care of was subtle. The ice cream had already reached his mouth, so he could just open his lips and eat it. Milky white ice cream sprinkled on his lips, softly sticking there.

When Pei Tingsong looked at him, a fever started burning in his heart, and he put the ice cream aside and said, “You still have some on your mouth.”

Fang Juexia reflexively reached out to touch it. “Where?”

“Here.” Pei Tingsong didn’t point out where with his hand, instead drawing forward the moment his voice fell and licking the melted cream off his lips.

Stunned, Fang Juexia watched him withdraw away from him with his own eyes, then saw him toss his wet hair with his hand and smile at him.

“So sweet.”

His body ignited in a flash, and his blood boiled up under the dazzling light of the bathroom. The scene from just now replayed repeatedly in Fang Juexia’s mind, and his heart beat so fast that it was really close to jumping out of his chest.

He couldn’t stand this sudden attack of Pei Tingsong’s. Every single time, it would mercilessly strike his heart, without leaving any time to apply first aid.

“Eat it yourself ba.” Fang Juexia was ready to get up, but Pei Tingsong pulled at his wrist and said, “You want to run away just like that? I haven’t even done anything yet.”

It seemed that running away was also very humiliating, making it seem as though he was the kind of person who couldn’t bear to be teased. Fang Juexia thought to there, and the stubbornness in his bones reasserted itself a bit, so he looked at Pei Tingsong and said in as confident a tone as he could muster, “Then what else do you want to do?”

“There are so many things I want to do, and they’ll have to be ticked off one by one.” Pei Tingsong rubbed his wrist, feeling Fang Juexia’s protruding bones that were covered with a thin layer of skin. Rubbing his thumb against it gave a special feel, which was accompanied by a kind of thin, rich youthful kind of sexiness. 

“You also know, this is the first time I’ve ever dated anyone. Both parties are novices, so we have to start everything from the beginning and learn slowly.” Pei Tingsong raised his eyebrows and approached him under the sound of rushing water. His injured hand was on the edge of the bathtub, and his body was covered in beads of water that glittered under the warm light of the bathroom. “Aren’t you very good at practicing? Why don’t we practice kissing?”

Practice kissing?

Fang Juexia’s whole body was thrown into turmoil, and his brain exploded with a buzz. He didn’t know how Pei Tingsong had the face to utter these words so naturally. He was too different from himself, and he couldn’t explain the logic of his behavior at all.

The other side continued his victorious pursuit. “If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as you agreeing.”

“Pei Tingsong.” Fang Juexia couldn’t say anything harsh, so he could only call out his full name.

“Here.” Pei Tingsong smiled for a bit, then continued with his proposal; it was justified, well founded, and naturally unfolded. “See, you are three years older than me. You’re a Gege, and naturally you understand more than me. So, will you teach me how to kiss?”

“Me?” Fang Juexia had a lump in his throat. He also had no experience in this area. Could this kind of thing really also be classified based on age?

“…… I haven’t kissed before, I don’t know how,” Fang Juexia pursed his lips and answered.

“That’s true, you are also a novice. Then what should we do?” Pei Tingsong purposefully sighed. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something. “Hey, how about we compete ba? One person at a time, and we’ll see who is better. Whoever is better will be the one to teach the other.”

Fang Juexia’s ears were completely red. “How can this be compared?”

Kissing competition, just hearing about it made it sound ridiculous.

Pei Tingsong was actually very serious, and his whole being was filled with energy. “Since there is no third person, we can only judge each other. How’s this, we’ll each go once, and you go first.” With that, he drew close to Fang Juexia, coming to a stop right in front of him, and seemed to be waiting for something.

“I won’t compete,” Fang Juexia retained the last bit of his clear-headedness and refused. “There’s no use in winning anyway.”

“Whoever said that?” Pei Tingsong tempted him, “If you win, I’ll listen to whatever you say. Okay, Gege?”

This obviously wasn’t some kind of worthy chip to play, no matter how he calculated it. Fang Juexia, a person who only relied on rational judgment and strategic decision-making for everything, had grown dizzy ever since he had met Pei Tingsong, and his logic and whatever else had all long been cast to the winds. Especially when hearing him call out “Gege”, he would become someone barely hanging on for his life. 

“…just one round,” Fang Juexia replied as his eyes drifted down. 

“Alright, just one round.” Pei Tingsong laughed contentedly. “One round to decide the outcome. You first.”

After hesitating for a few seconds, Fang Juexia felt that his breathing had grown even more ragged, but since he was several years older than Pei Tingsong, he shouldn’t be completely helpless like this. Thinking in this way, he put his hand over Pei Tingsong’s eyes and summoned up the courage to draw their faces close together and stick his lips against his.

He knew this was nothing and wouldn’t rank in the kissing hierarchy at all. So he tried his best to search for relevant pictures in his brain, but his knowledge in this area was really too poor, so even if he had tried his best, he just barely tasted Pei Tingsong. A gentle bite was already his limit.

This bite was Fang Juexia’s limit, but in Pei Tingsong’s perception, it was totally a seduction, a simple and clumsy seduction.  

“That’s it, I’m done.” Fang Juexia left him with hot cheeks and pulled back his hand.

“Alright.” Pei Tingsong cracked his neck and said, “Player No. 2, Pei Tingsong is ready.”

Fang Juexia was far, far away from him, and like a small animal hearing the footsteps of a hunter, was completely on guard. Pei Tingsong wanted to laugh. “Hey, for the sake of injured Player No. 2, can you get closer and make things more convenient?”

Only after listening to him say this did Fang Juexia draw a bit closer. “I forgot.”

“That’s fine.” Saying that, Pei Tingsong stretched out his right hand to hold the back of his neck, and his whole person leaned up against Fang Juexia, kissing him while carrying the damp and hot water on his body, respecting his opponent’s offensive posture. The carefully set trap turned slippery and soft at this moment. Prying into the depths, reaching into depths that he had never breached before, cleaning up all the oxygen there that could be plundered, leaving the other person with no chance for resistance.

They didn’t know whether it was a coincidence or some kind of punishment from God for their immorality, but a sound came from the outside. It was the sound of the dormitory door closing. His hearing had become extremely sensitive at this moment, and Fang Juexia could hear these sounds clearly through the bathroom door. He heard the sound of Lu Yuan placing the key on the porch cabinet at the door, and then the sounds of him changing his shoes and walking in.

Not good. He tried to push Pei Tingsong away and interrupt this absurd and unfair competition.

However, it was of no use at all. He was just a prey jumping into a trap.

“No one here?”

Through the door and the wall, Lu Yuan’s voice grew clearer and clearer. “Are you in your room, Xiao Pei?”

The person in question was hiding in the bathroom and was totally incapable of responding.

The voice outside the door changed into an uncertain monologue, “It can’t be that he’s wearing headphones again ba…Weird, where’d my cellphone charger go…”

Fang Juexia’s hands were powerless against Pei Tingsong’s chest. Originally, he had wanted to push him away, but in the end, it turned into a hesitant embrace. He had been softly hooked and then stirred, and now like a whirlpool, he was being pulled down. The more he struggled, the deeper he sank. 

As their hearts beat together, the remaining aroma of the ice cream drifted through their wet exchange. 

Pei Tingsong’s hand gently rubbed the soft tendon on the back of Fang Juexia’s neck. He also didn’t know why, but it seemed as if that was the only muscle still propping him up, so when Pei Tingsong kneaded it, Fang Juexia felt his whole person soften.

The ice cream melted on his lips, and he melted into Pei Tingsong’s arms.

His sensitive nerves relaxed, then became paralyzed in the process of their entanglement, and they were about to reach the critical point, where he would end up losing all his wits. Yet, all of a sudden, Lu Yuan’s voice came near again, this time sounding out from very close, almost as if it was right outside the door.

“It’s really hot.”

When the door lock on the bathroom turned, Fang Juexia woke up suddenly. The fear of being caught made him struggle ceaselessly, and he desperately wanted to push Pei Tingsong’s shoulder away, but such an action was completely futile. This devil incarnate, who was impervious to reason or advice, feared no one. 

“Strange ah, is there anyone inside?”

“Xiao Pei?”

This sound was magnified by the humidity, magnified by atmosphere, and lingered in his ears, creating a double-layered attack with the tactile sensations. This attack grew more and more intense, and Fang Juexia felt just like a character in a game. His health bar went down, shortening, and shortening again, and was at the moment right before it would go zero.

He was saved.

Pei Tingsong let go, with his hand on the back of his neck falling on his back. He turned towards the door and spoke to the voice outside as if nothing had happened, “Yuan Ge, I’m in the bath.”

“I was just talking about how I couldn’t find you anywhere.” Lu Yuan, who was outside, said, “Is your hand okay?”

“It’s fine, don’t worry ba.”

“That’s good, call me if you need something ah. I’ll go play a game.”

When the last sentence in this exchange finished, Lu Yuan’s footsteps also grew further and further away. It was really too dangerous to be separated by only one door. Fang Juexia’s hand slid down, holding the wet edge of the bathtub as he gasped for breath. His mind was dizzy, and the oxygen in the bathroom was thin. This kind of feeling, where his heart continued to beat crazily, didn’t fade away. 

Pei Tingsong embraced Fang Juexia, smiling at him, and rubbed the corner of his mouth with his thumb.

“Did I win, Gege?”

In his eyes was a fire that had not yet been extinguished, burning wild in the wet rainy season.

Fang Juexia tried very hard to restore his breathing to its usual speed. His forehead was damp and hot, and he couldn’t tell whether it was from sweat or water vapor. He directly skipped the topic of winning or losing because this was an unfair competition in the first place. 

“Scared?” Pei Tingsong lowered his head and pulled away the hair sticking to the side of his face. 

“We were nearly discovered,” Fang Juexia let out a breath and whispered.

“It’s only exciting like that.” Pei Tingsong raised his eyebrows. “Don’t you think it’s like we’re having a clandestine love affair?”

“No.” He replied with the opposite answer, then tried to wriggle out of this embarrassing description by pretending to find fault with him, so he asked him, “Are you really in love for the first time?”

Pei Tingsong liked seeing Fang Juexia interrogate him like this, with his voice carrying a little bit of willful temper. Normally Fang Juexia had none of this, and no one had ever seen it.

“Why do you ask like that? You don’t believe me?”

Fang Juexia looked up at him. “Because you don’t seem like a novice at all.” He deliberately grasped his neck and said, “Talk, where did you learn that?”

“Do I even have to learn that?” The corners of Pei Tingsong’s mouth rose, and he put his arms around Fang Juexia’s waist to draw him in closer.

“I graduated the moment I saw you.”