Su Lian: "?"
Are you straight guys so accustomed to inviting strangers to share a bed?
He shook his head in refusal: "No need."
Logically speaking, it's not like they hadn't slept together before. After living together for years, he even knew about the mole below Chi Wang's navel.
But now, apart from that face, Chi Wang was no different from a stranger. No matter how he thought about it, it felt awkward.
Moreover, if two grown men were to squeeze together for a whole night, there would inevitably be physical contact.
If he unconsciously did something in the middle of the night, it would be quite embarrassing.
If he were to go to a hotel for the night...
Being penniless now, perhaps only an advance on the hourly wage of 250 could save him.
Seeing the refusal, Chi Wang shrugged, not insisting, and casually asked, "So are you going home, or sleeping on the streets?"
Su Lian lowered his eyes to his watch, planning to turn back the hands to evening self-study time.
After all, now that the surveillance had yielded results, confirming that Chi Wang wasn't up to anything bad, there was no need to stay any longer.
His fingertip touched the watch hands, slowly turning them back. The surroundings changed instantly, and at a certain moment, the hands suddenly got stuck.
Almost simultaneously, accompanied by a sudden heart palpitation, he felt dizzy and nearly suffocated.
He blinked hard, suppressing the uncomfortable reaction before opening his eyes again. The hands were stuck at exactly twelve o'clock, seemingly unable to move further.
This time-travel mechanism... It had been so smooth the previous few times, but at this crucial moment, it had jammed.
Could it be that he could only jump back and forth within the same day?
Come on, even with a cheat code, the time limit was so strict. What the hell was this?
Feeling hopeless and dejected.
Su Lian had no choice but to turn the hands back to the moment of the question, feeling his composure crumbling.
Controlling his facial expression, he forced himself to ask calmly, "Really just one bed?"
"We three each have one." Chi Wang glanced at him, extinguishing his cigarette in the trash can by the door, and said nonchalantly, "Besides, what's wrong with two guys sharing a bed?"
"Wait." Gu Anjiu hugged himself, looking terrified, "Let me prepare myself mentally, I've never slept with anyone before."
"I don't mind, but I'll probably kick the person off the bed," Lin Yan stated calmly.
"....." Su Lian was taken aback by this wave of rejection.
Beggars can't be choosers, forced to choose one out of three.
He looked straight at Chi Wang, trying to make his tone sound gentler: "Then please, I'm tired and want to sleep now."
"So punctual, quite the healthy lifestyle." Chi Wang chuckled vaguely, then looked up at everyone, "Thanks for coming, brothers. Let's call it a night."
"Don't mention it, Wang. Come on, brothers, let's have a big night, battle till dawn."
Someone shouted, and the crowd dispersed noisily.
Gu Anjiu, mindful of the minor protection law, quickly reached out to grab a yellow-haired guy: "You're not eighteen until next month. Get lost, no internet for you."
"Bro Nine, no need to be so strict about age. Round it up, and I'm practically eighteen," the spiky-haired guy yelped as he was grabbed, his non-mainstream punk outfit a stark contrast to his truly humble expression.
Gu Anjiu laughed in exasperation: "Then let's not be so strict about gender either. Why don't you cross-dress and work as a hostess? I'll pay you 250 per hour."
"...I still have some dignity." The yellow-haired guy softened his tone, weakly bargaining, "Just one hour? Or maybe twenty minutes?"
Chi Wang strode past, laughing and adding: "If that doesn't work, the black internet cafe next door, turn right downstairs, see yourself out."
"Fuck, I have principles. I won't give the competition even a penny more!" The yellow-haired guy touched his nose, deflated.
Su Lian followed behind with his bag, watching this bunch of little hooligans seemingly being constrained to reform, and gained a bit more respect for Chi Wang's unconventional social brother role.
"Don't mind them." Chi Wang jerked his chin towards the end of the corridor, taking big strides inside, "Come on, health freak, I'll take you to bed."
The words sounded sarcastic. Su Lian stepped up to follow, staring at his back for a while before commenting: "You're actually not that bad of a person."
"I'd feel guilty if something happened to a pure and handsome high school boy like you wandering the streets."
Chi Wang pushed open the inner room door, turned on the small ceiling light, and a soft yellow glow spread out, making the place look cozy.
He took out a summer quilt from the cabinet, explaining: "It's been aired out after the renovation. You're the first to grace my bed. Surprised? Honored?"
The barrage of words hit Su Lian's ears, making him want to sew Chi Wang's mouth shut.
The Chi Wang he knew was more often silent, focused on his work, few words but very steady, giving a sense of security.
Now with this frivolous demeanor, it was really hard to get used to.
Su Lian's gaze swept around the rest room, landing on the small bed, visually estimating its width at 1.2 meters, painfully narrow.
He looked around, compromising: "I'll sleep on the couch."
Chi Wang raised an eyebrow, kindly reminding: "The couch is small, you'll roll off."
"I sleep very still."
"How would you know? Slept with others before?"
"How do you know I don't know?"
Are we playing word games here?
Su Lian snorted lightly. Back then, he woke up in Chi Wang's arms every day, year after year, never changing position.
Having been praised countless times for sleeping well, his confidence was sky-high. Though the couch was narrow, he was sure he could remain motionless.
Chi Wang clicked his tongue, turning to leave: "Fine, suit yourself. I still need to hold out a bit longer, don't wait up for me."
"Wait, do you own this internet cafe?" Su Lian called out.
"The cafe belongs to Lin Yan, I just help manage it," Chi Wang said indifferently, sliding his finger over the light switch at the door.
Su Lian remembered how tight Chi Wang's finances were when they first met, and couldn't help but ask: "Not studying hard in high school, what money are you making? Are you that short on cash?"
"I'm not really short, but I think I have quite a business acumen, and besides, I enjoy the process of making money," Chi Wang said, getting excited about the topic and boasting, "I bet if I start a company in the future, it'll definitely go public. Do you believe me?"
Quite ambitious, and he actually hit the mark, just the tone was too childish.
Su Lian was speechless, but out of medical kindness, he kindly advised: "I suggest you sleep early to avoid premature balding."
Chi Wang looked up at him: "You seem to really like minding other people's business?"
"Only an idiot would care. Get lost." No good deed goes unpunished. Su Lian angrily threw his bag onto the couch.
The force was a bit strong, and his ID card slipped out of the side pocket, falling to the ground.
Chi Wang bent down to help pick it up, staring at the photo on it for a few seconds: "I have to say, your ID photo is quite handsome."
He changed his tone: "Almost as good as mine, I'd say."
"...Give it back." Su Lian reached out, his tone somewhat impatient.
Chi Wang's gaze moved down, stopping on the string of numbers: "Wait, September 5th, it's your birthday today? What a coincidence?"
With his mood swinging wildly due to Chi Wang's transformative change, Su Lian had almost forgotten about it himself if it hadn't been mentioned.
For him, birthdays were more like a curse or a nightmare. A constant reminder, repeated torture.
On his twentieth birthday, in pouring rain, he stood on the hospital rooftop, teetering on the edge, utterly desperate.
If he hadn't met Chi Wang passing by that day, reaching out a hand, he might have died.
Who would have thought that after all the twists and turns of time travel, on his birthday, Chi Wang would bring him back again, as if by fate.
Su Lian was quite spiritual, and he wondered if this was what Buddha called unfinished karma.
"I'm asking you, is it true?" Seeing no response, Chi Wang waved the ID card in front of his eyes.
Su Lian was lost in memories, his hand unconsciously rubbing inside his pocket, feeling like it had blistered, painful to touch.
After a long while, he remembered to answer the question: "Yeah, it's today."
"Happy birthday then." Chi Wang scratched his hair, chuckling softly, "I don't have a cake here, want me to light a flame for you to make a wish?"
As he spoke, he turned off the room light with one hand while pulling out a lighter from his pocket with the other.
The wheel rolled, with a 'tch' sound, a flame sprang up, dancing in the darkness.
Su Lian lowered his eyes, suppressing his emotions: "No need. I appreciate the thought, but I don't celebrate birthdays."
"It's just once a year, and you're not even cherishing it."
Chi Wang nudged him with his elbow, waving the lighter and urging: "Come on, hurry up. If the wind blows, it might burn your hair."
This guy wasn't just an idiot, but also childish, so different from the steady Chi Wang he knew.
As he spoke, his dark pupils were illuminated clearly by the firelight.
Su Lian suddenly felt that Chi Wang at fifteen or sixteen, impetuous and passionate, might not be such a bad thing after all.
He closed his eyes, thinking that no matter what, he hoped Chi Wang would live a long life.
When he opened his eyes again, he blew out the lighter, and the flame suddenly extinguished, plunging the room into darkness.
Chi Wang's casual voice came through, sounding quite sincere: "Then I wish you, may your wish come true."
Su Lian stared at the dim shadows in the room, momentarily unable to distinguish time and space, feeling a bit dazed.
The moonlight from outside filtered in slightly, and the silhouette of the young man gradually became clearer, slowly transforming from ethereal to real. The face in his memory slowly overlapped with the one before him, the deep features becoming more youthful and sharp.
That slender hand was playing with the lighter, spinning it around idly, a habit that the Chi Wang he knew wouldn't have.
In the end, they were still quite different.
Su Lian said with a sense of loss, "Thank you."
"Hey, the internet cafe has speakers, want me to sing you a free birthday song?"
Chi Wang got excited, his voice tinged with laughter: "Chinese, English, Thai, Singaporean, Indonesian, which version do you want to hear? Or how about 'Say Goodbye to All Your Troubles'?"
This guy was truly unparalleled at ruining the atmosphere. Su Lian was quite troubled at the moment: "...Please, don't make a fuss. I'm about to sleep."
The internet cafe was now packed with people, and he really couldn't bear to face a second social death.
This idiot truly had no connection to the person he liked.
Chi Wang let out an "oh," his tone sounding quite regretful.
He bent down to throw the blanket from the bed onto the sofa, then turned around and left casually, leaving the room empty.
Su Lian took off his shoes and lay down, pulling the blanket over himself, feeling that all of this still wasn't quite real. He had already passed his biological clock, his eyelids were heavy, but his mind was clear.
What exactly had happened to Chi Wang later, for his personality and habits to change so drastically?
He knew himself to be stubborn and difficult, prone to irritation, yet he had met the more gentle and meticulous Chi Wang, and had been somewhat spoiled in those years.
But now, the person who had warmed him was long gone, and he seemed to have returned to a state of loneliness. Coming and going alone, a solitary figure.
It was clearly that person who had actively approached him, so how did he just disappear?
As the night deepened and the dew settled, Su Lian wrapped himself tightly in the blanket, falling into an uneasy sleep.
At three in the morning, when Chi Wang entered the room yawning, Su Lian had already moved to the edge of the sofa, teetering on the brink of falling.
The thin summer blanket was in disarray on the floor, the hem of the white sweatshirt lifted up, revealing a small section of his lean waist. Above that, that usually expressionless cool face looked somewhat pale, almost transparent in the moonlight, with a kind of piercing fragility.
However, his long arm was dangling over the edge, fingers clutching the sofa fabric, stubbornly struggling, quite amusing.
"Your sleeping posture is really something," Chi Wang grumbled, grabbing the narrow wrist and tossing it back onto his abdomen.
Su Lian frowned slightly, turning to lie on his side, his breath muffled by Chi Wang's loose t-shirt fabric, mumbling, "You fucking liar."
Even while sleeping, his temper was this bad, truly impressive.
Chi Wang, inexplicably caught in the crossfire, stared at the face almost buried in his abdomen, reached out to flick it with his finger, and asked in a low voice, "Hey, want to sleep on the bed?"
Su Lian mumbled something inaudible, then suddenly opened his mouth and bit down hard on the fingertip, as fierce as a little wolf pup.
"Fuck, you really are my nemesis." Chi Wang quickly withdrew his finger, which now bore a rather sharp set of teeth marks.
Having shown enough care and done his duty, he couldn't be bothered to deal with it anymore.
Just as he turned around, he heard a thud behind him, a muffled sound in the quiet night.
Chi Wang was shocked, turning back to see the person lying on his back on the floor, the bangs on his forehead in disarray. His eyes were tightly shut, only the wrinkles between his brows had deepened.
Who in their right mind had praised his sleeping posture? They must be crazy.
It was almost autumn, and the floor was quite cool at night.
He looked for two seconds, and finally felt a twinge of compassion.
"Considering it's your birthday, I won't hold it against you," Chi Wang muttered vaguely, turning around again.
He hooked one arm under the neck, the other under the knees, bent down to lift the person up, and carefully placed him back on the bed.
The blanket was bundled up and thrown onto the bed, covering up that exposed strip of waist.
Chi Wang turned his back, crossed his arms, took off his t-shirt, and lay down on his side next to the bed.
He had just put his elbow under his head when he felt a breath, barely there, brush across his back, deep and shallow, somewhat ticklish.
The breath, wrapped in the dry, stuffy air of late summer, instantly caused a thin layer of sweat to break out all over his body, making him feel sticky again.
One thing that had been said wasn't wrong, two grown men sleeping in one bed was quite cramped.
Belatedly sensing someone beside him, Su Lian habitually moved over a bit, mumbling, "Good night."
The response was steady breathing; Chi Wang had fallen asleep.
Su Lian's biological clock was extremely accurate, and he naturally woke up at six in the morning.
He had several chaotic dreams that night, and when he opened his eyes, he was confused for a moment before realizing where he was.
Blinking, what came into view was an infinitely magnified sleeping face, close enough to see the distinct eyelashes and the sharp jawline clearly.
Half of that face was hidden in the corner of the blanket, as if stung by the morning sun, a hand clumsily pulled the blanket up another notch.
What's going on, still dreaming?
Su Lian closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the touch in his palm was too warm, and his eyes suddenly opened again.
His palm was resting shamelessly on Chi Wang's muscular chest. The pale knuckles and healthy skin tone were pressed together, creating a stark contrast that was visually striking.
The shocked Su Lian woke up in an instant: "?"
He was supposed to be sleeping on the sofa, how did he suddenly move so far?
Could it be that while dreaming, he had groggily climbed into bed on his own in the middle of the night?
With this thought, the usually calm cool guy felt a bit flustered, even his ears turning red.
This was truly embarrassing. He had to run while the other was still asleep.
Su Lian carefully withdrew his hand, lifting a corner of the blanket.
He had just raised one leg, not yet touching the ground, when Chi Wang's eyes suddenly opened. As if catching him in the act, he looked at him with an ambiguous smile.
Su Lian panicked internally, fumbling to turn back the clock.
Rewinding within a day shouldn't violate the jumping rules.
However, this person's sleep was incredibly light. Su Lian tried several times, back and forth, attempting various fancy ways to get out of bed, his movements becoming increasingly gentle, yet he was still caught red-handed every single time.
Chi Wang lowered his gaze, his eyes filled with amusement: "Why are you running?"
Su Lian was exhausted, and his elbow, which had been supporting him on the bed, suddenly lost its anchor point.
His entire body abruptly fell onto the other person, quite reminiscent of throwing himself into someone's arms.
Their eyes met, and the atmosphere became somewhat tense.