CH 39

Gentle and lingering.

“I accept.”

Bai Zhi’s reply sounded and Ji Guichen’s eyes brightened. After a moment, the corners of his lips hooked upwards and he lowered his head, revealing a slight smile. 

“Then I’ll charge a bit of interest.”

“What?”

Bai Zhi didn’t understand the meaning of these words from Ji Guichen. In the midst of his confusion, he saw Ji Guichen approach close with a few steps.

Ji Guichen was very tall, taller than Xie Siliu by a head. In the past Bai Zhi didn’t pay much attention to this, but now he really couldn’t not notice.

The person in front of him used his height advantage to firmly block his view. Bai Zhi instinctively stepped back, and his leg bumped into the lamp post of the streetlight.

Dead end.

The little demon thought silently.

Ji Guichen had already noticed Bai Zhi’s distracted state. He didn’t say anything, only standing calmly in front of him and fixing his eyes on him unhurriedly.

The streetlight gave off a faint white radiance, reflecting off Ji Guichen’s hair, casting Bai Zhi’s face in shadow. Bai Zhi finally came back to his senses and raised his head to look at Ji Guichen in front of him. The distance between that person and himself was already very close. Bai Zhi could clearly hear his breathing, in and out, tickling his ears.

Ji Guichen slowly bowed down, bent his left fingers at the knuckles, and drew a circle of shadows on Bai Zhi’s face. Bai Zhi lowered his head uncomfortably, gripped the corners of his shirt with his hands, and then he heard a bout of light laughter. Bai Zhi looked up and blinked his eyes, and then Ji Guichen lowered his head.

The lip-to-lip contact was both gentle and lingering. As the clock struck eleven at night, the bell tower on their street presently rang, its melodious sound ringing in all four directions. Bai Zhi tilted his head back, with both eyes closed tightly and both hands unconsciously pressed against Ji Guichen’s back.

Dong, dong, dong. The clock lazily sounded eleven times. The kissing shadows of the two under the streetlight gradually separated.

Bai Zhi buried his face in Ji Guichen’s chest. With his head lowered, he didn’t say anything. Ji Guichen kneaded the back of his neck soothingly, and presently reached out to pull him into his embrace:

“I will take responsibility.”

Bai Zhi replied in a small voice: “I, I will also take responsibility.”

Ji Guichen had laughed in spite of himself by someone’s silly answer: “Okay.”

“Pinky promise.”

Bai Zhi looked up and extended a finger: “As long as Heaven is above, you must not violate your oath.”

“Where did you learn to say these kinds of things?” Ji Guichen reached out and patted his head.

Bai Zhi became unhappy: “Do you pinky promise with me or not?”

Ji Guichen hooked his pinky right away, pressing down with his thumb to seal it heavily: “Swear on this pinky to not change in a hundred years.”

Bai Zhi smiled suddenly. Ji Guichen lifted his wrist and checked the time, saying:

“It’s getting late, you should go back and rest.”

Bai Zhi nodded reluctantly. On his way back, he kept turning his head back to look in Ji Guichen’s direction.

Ji Guichen stood where he was with a small smile as he watched Bai Zhi go upstairs. He stayed until the lights on Bai Zhi’s floor went out, and only then did he take a deep breath, turn around slowly, and walk away.

When the sun rose the next day and Bai Zhi woke, his mind was still occupied by the kiss from last night.

He touched his own lips in a daze, sitting on the bed for half a day before coming back to his senses:

“Uncle, yesterday, Ji Guichen and I officially got together right?”

The system snorted: “A man’s faith, a deceitful wraith. [1] Who were the two people last night who swore to be responsible for each other last night and forgot all about it after one night of sleep?”

Bai Zhi furrowed his brow: “I didn’t forget!”

“Oh?”

“I was too happy, so I kept on thinking it was just me dreaming again.” Bai Zhi smiled embarrassedly: “Then I’m going to school to meet Ji Guichen now.”

When he arrived at the classroom Ji Guichen happened to be exiting it. With one step of his equalling three of others’, Bai Zhi walked in front of him and spoke up: “Good morning Ji Guichen.” 

Ji Guichen nodded: “Did you finish your homework?”

[1] 男人的嘴，骗人的鬼 – lit. a man’s mouth, a lying ghost. (I changed it a bit to rhyme in English :p ) Used to describe the stereotype of men who promise things out loud (esp in love) without really meaning it.