CH 12

The next morning.

Qiu Yanzhi woke up from his coma and immediately saw He Zhou sleeping sweetly beside him.

He Zhou seemed to have a faint but satisfied smile on his face.

Qiu Yanzhi, however, was in so much pain that his teeth were chattering.

Qiu Yanzhi's body trembled with anger as he looked at He Zhou's contented expression. He wanted to strangle this guy to death.

In the end, he managed to endure.

Only when Qiu Yanzhi finished dressing while trembling the whole time did the privacy mode automatically lift.

Big Yellow fluttered over with his wings and a smile filled with hidden meanings. He teased, "How did it feel? Are you finally satisfied?"

Qiu Yanzhi wanted to become One Punch Man and give it a deathblow. He said through gritted teeth, "Log me out. Right now."

Big Yellow widened his eyes in confusion. "Why? This is such a good moment! You can warm up to him a bit..."

“I’ll warm up to your mother. Laozi wants to go. Now."

Before he left, a window popped up in front of him.

"Do you want to pause time in-game during your absence?”

Qiu Yanzhi hesitated for a second before selecting yes.

Although he was a little reluctant to face He Zhou, it would be pretty hard to explain his sudden disappearance.

He didn’t want to keep lying either.

It was only after coming out of the game pod that the bone-deep pain in Qiu Yanzhi's body finally disappeared.

And yet, maybe due to psychological trauma or lying in one place for so long, he still felt sore all over.

There was not an inch of him that didn’t ache.

Qiu Yanzhi took a bath and rested on the bed for a while, but he still didn’t feel too good.

He picked up the thermometer in his bedside table and took his temperature.

It was 38.9 degrees. So he had a fever.

No wonder he was so uncomfortable.

Qiu Yanzhi rummaged through his first aid kit but couldn’t find any antipyretics.

He sighed and randomly put on some clothes to venture into the pharmacy downstairs and buy some.

Qiu Yanzhi’s left foot had just stepped out when he looked up and saw a  dark-haired girl walk out from the suite opposite his and close the door behind her.

The girl only wore a tight sweater with a low neckline. There was a faint pink hickey on her pale neck.

When she saw Qiu Yanzhi, a trace of embarrassment flashed across her face. She hurried to put on the black jacket resting on her arm.

Only then did Qiu Yanzhi suddenly remember that he had a boyfriend, Fei Sihao.

And Fei Sihao lived in the suite across from him.

And Fei Sihao had brought this girl back to said suite last night.

And this girl knew that he was Fei Sihao's boyfriend.

Qiu Yanzhi looked at how uncomfortable the girl was and felt embarrassed on her behalf.

Qiu Yanzhi closed his door and shrugged his shoulders at the girl. He casually said, "I'll pretend I didn't see anything."

After saying that he walked away without a care in the world.

The girl looked at Qiu Yanzhi's back and seemed to see something there. She suddenly raised her eyebrows and smiled.

She also walked forward unhurriedly and caught the same elevator as Qiu Yanzhi.

When the elevator reached the first floor, the girl suddenly turned back when she was about to leave and blinked at Qiu Yanzhi.

"I'll also pretend that I didn't see anything."

Then she smiled at Qiu Yanzhi and left on her high heels.

What a strange lady.

Qiu Yanzhi shook his head and quickly threw the girl's words out of his head.

Actually, if Qiu Yanzhi had eyes behind his head...

He would’ve noticed the bright red hickeys adorning the back of his neck. There were even vague tooth marks there.

--The relatively fresh and hot from the oven kind.

The girl got into her car and was about to start the engine when her phone screen lit up. Then a ringtone started to play.

It was Fei Sihao.

The girl's slender fingers tapped on the screen a few times before she finally answered the call.

"Lanlan, did you forget to take something?" Fei Sihao said with a smile.

"What is it?"

"Your silk stockings." Fei Sihao paused, his tone becoming ambiguous, "Do you want to come...pick them up tonight?"

The girl leaned back against the seat and lit herself a cigarette. Her tone was aloof, "Is that fake boyfriend across from you coming back tonight?"

Fei Sihao carelessly replied, "Don't worry. So what if he comes back? Qiu Yanzhi’s so native he won't notice a thing."

Naive? Him?

The girl's mind suddenly flashed back to that pair of beautiful and cold eyes that were like a cat’s that she'd met on her way out the door.

And the fresh hickeys on the back of the man's neck.

The man on the phone was still cajoling her, his attitude complacent and his tone suggestive.

The girl casually ended the call with Fei Sihao.

After hanging up, the girl immediately blacklisted his number.

She shook her head and chuckled lightly.

"...What an dumb*ss."

When Qiu Yanzhi returned with the medicine, he just happened to bump into Fei Sihao who was going to work.

Fei Sihao's suit had a fitted camel-colored coat over it. It highlighted off his excellent proportions and upright figure.

Hmph. Not bad. At least he looked like a human on the outside.

...He didn't look like a beast at all.

Seeing Qiu Yanzhi, Fei Sihao smiled mildly, "Zhizhi, did you just come back from school?"

"En." Qiu Yanzhi stepped forward and stopped Fei Sihao, "Don't move. Your tie’s a little crooked."

Then he carefully helped Fei Sihao straighten up his tie.

Qiu Yanzhi was slightly shorter than Fei Sihao, and the two of them were very close together. Warm and moist breaths of air caressed Fei Sihao's neck.

Fei Sihao's body stiffened imperceptively.

...Tsk. So he’s a little homophobic too.

Qiu Yanzhi originally wanted to give Fei Sihao a kiss on the cheek, but after thinking about the way he had passionately kissed that girl last night...he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he leaned into Fei Sihao's ear and whispered.

"Bye… I'll be waiting for you to come back."

After all that, he seemed to shyly take a step back.

He looked up at Fei Sihao and smiled somewhat awkwardly before going inside his suite.

Before he closed the door, he quietly opened it again to look at Fei Sihao. Their eyes happened to meet. To Fei Sihao, Qiu Yanzhi’s cheeks seemed to be a little red and his dark eyes shone with a mysterious light before he closed the door again.

Fei Sihao was a little startled as the door shut completely this time.

Whatever he was thinking of made Fei Sihao stiffened and shake his head as if to dispel those thoughts.

At that moment, Fei Sihao's phone rang.

When Fei Sihao saw the name on it, he unconsciously glanced at the closed door in front of him and took two quick steps away before answering the phone.

"Sihao, how are you and Zhizhi getting along now?" Qiu Xicheng casually asked.

Fei Sihao's mind suddenly recalled the way Qiu Yanzhi had just looked into his eyes.

"Sihao?"

It was only then that Fei Sihao realized that he had just spaced out.

He smiled and said to the man on the phone.

"Your brother seems to be even more innocent than I thought."

"How so?"

Fei Sihao was very smug.

“I wasn’t sure sometimes a few days ago, but after taking a look today, I’m certain that he’s fallen head over heels for me.”

Qiu Yanzhi drank the medicine, ate some food, and curled up under his blanket for a nap. His fever seemed to have subsided a bit when he woke up.

Then Qiu Yanzhi sat by his computer to start on his paper. However, his gaze landed on the full dive game pod nearby when he turned his head.

Qiu Yanzhi reflexively shuddered and shook his head. He hunkered down to get to work on this paper.

An assignment that would usually take him two hours to do ended up costing him double that. His head really wasn’t in the game this time.

Qiu Yanzhi submitted the paper to his professor and got back under the covers.

As he laid on the bed, his eyes still occasionally drifted over to that full dive pod.

In the corner of the room was a pure white capsule with a sleek and streamlined appearance. Several lines of pale blue lights ran through it, making it particularly hard to ignore.

Qiu Yanzhi silently cursed that trash He Zhou again and turned his back on the game pod. As they said, out of sight, out of mind.

Qiu Yanzhi rested for two days before he barely managed to soothe his wounded soul.

Qiu Yanzhi felt that, if his life wasn't so boring, he wouldn't even want to set foot in that game ever again.

Alas.

His life was just that boring and dull.

Zhong Yabai was more caring than all his family members, and Zhang Yuxuan was kinder than all his friends. He had a boyfriend in real life, but he was even more devious and two-faced than He Zhou.

But Qiu Yanzhi wasn’t lonely. He was just bored.

When Qiu Yanzhi logged into the game again, everything around him remained unchanged.

Including the physical discomfort of the morning after.

Qiu Yanzhi took a long breath of cold air. His face even twisted a little as he adjusted the pain sensitivity downward as fast as he could.

Only then did he finally manage to catch his breath.

He Zhou was still oh so sweetly asleep on the bed. In the dim room, his eyebrows were relaxed as if he was dreaming of something beautiful.

Qiu Yanzhi's metal state had already become twisted. He couldn’t bear to see He Zhou so comfortable right now. He stomped over to the window and yanked the curtains apart. The bright sunlight spilled into the room.

The sudden brightness made He Zhou frown unconsciously on the bed, but he still had no intentions of waking up.

Qiu Yanzhi went over to He Zhou's side and maliciously pulled the blanket over He Zhou’s head.

Sure enough, He Zhou soon felt out of breath and pulled the blanket off. He looked drowsily at Qiu Yanzhi.

"...Why are you awake so early?" He Zhou said in a confused voice. He pulled Qiu Yanzhi back onto the bed and snuggled with him.

Qiu Yanzhi found it hard to move in He Zhou's arms. He couldn’t hold back and tactfully asked, "...He Zhou. How was...last night?"

He Zhou didn't say anything.

Qiu Yanzhi sighed in his heart. He was about to comfort He Zhou and assure him that he didn’t mind working on it or staying abstinent forever.

Before he could say anything, He Zhou nuzzled the top of Qiu Yanzhi's head. His husky voice was very satisfied. "It felt...unexpectedly good. We seem to be a good match in this regard."

Qiu Yanzhi: "......"

A good match?!

Qiu Yanzhi wanted to spit out blood.

He looked up at the ceiling and screamed in his heart.

--Why can’t this guy just...

Get. A. Grip. On. Reality?!