ASSHKHME Chapter 42
by VolareChen Zhuo was stifling a laugh so hard his shoulders were shaking.
Under Xie Yu’s resentful and urging gaze, he turned over, adjusted the phone’s brightness, and aimed it.
Xie Yu propped himself up on the bed, lifting his shirt and wincing in pain, “I’m telling you, it’s definitely swollen.”
Before he could see clearly, a bright beam of flashlight suddenly shone over like a spotlight.
Only to hear Zhao Jiashu’s abrupt shout, “No hitting…” After seeing clearly, he slammed on the brakes, his tone changing, “Oh my god, Brother Yu, are you feeding milk?”
It’s no wonder Zhao Jiashu misunderstood; the pose was a bit too subtle, very much like a mother waking up in the middle of the night to breastfeed her baby.
Chen Zhuo finally couldn’t hold back, bursting out with a “pfft,” his eyes curved like crescent moons, clutching his stomach and laughing, “Hahahaha…”
Xie Yu closed his eyes in anger, the veins on his forehead popping, but Zhao Jiashu was still shining the flashlight with no awareness of the situation, “Why aren’t you sleeping in the middle of the night, Brother Yu? Why did you run to Zhuo’er’s bed?”
Xie Yu raised his hand to shield himself from the blinding flashlight, his handsome face falling into shadow, giving Zhao Jiashu a slight smile, revealing his stark white canines, “Little Shu, a tree that isn’t pruned won’t grow straight; your dad is going to prune you today!”
Zhao Jiashu let out a puzzled “ah.”
Before he could react, Xie Yu had already jumped off Chen Zhuo’s bed, darting to his bed like lightning. In a fit of annoyed embarrassment, he snatched the flashlight and pinned the person down.
The flimsy iron bed frame instantly let out a sound of being unable to bear the weight.
The flashlight, like a voice-activated lamp, shook along with Zhao Jiashu’s wails, projecting a miserable shadow onto the white wall, like a murder scene in a suspense film.
Zhao Jiashu screamed, “Ah! My hip bone, elbow, kneecap! Brother Yu, Brother Yu, I was wrong, I was wrong! Save me! Li Zi! Zhuo’er! Save me, ahhhh—”
Li Ang on the opposite bunk had a look of unbearable horror on his face, shaking his head and sighing, “I told you, kids shouldn’t meddle in adult affairs. May you rest in peace.”
In the continuous sound of rain, Chen Zhuo wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes and said, “Xie Yu, don’t provoke the dormitory auntie, stop it.”
Xie Yu snorted coldly, releasing the miserably “beaten” Zhao Jiashu, rubbing his stinging chest, and slowly got off the bed.
After the commotion, the dormitory returned to silence, only the sound of drizzling rain could be heard tapping on the windowsill, the thunderstorm gradually subsiding.
The little episode was muddled through. Xie Yu didn’t dare to violate common sense and head straight for Chen Zhuo’s bed again; otherwise, it would be difficult to explain.
The two exchanged a look in the dimness. They were clearly close at hand, within reach, but it was as if there was a transparent wall between them.
Chen Zhuo didn’t say anything more and lay down, as if nothing had happened.
Xie Yu felt very stuffy because of his attitude, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
He thought darkly, it would be good if there was another thunderstorm, so he would have a reason to hug that pretentious little hedgehog.
At one o’clock in the morning, the sound of snoring rose and fell.
Xie Yu peeked at the sleeping Zhao Jiashu and Li Ang, followed his instincts, and carefully crossed the bed railing, smashing through that unfathomable glass wall, poking Chen Zhuo through the quilt, “Are you asleep?”
Chen Zhuo’s eyes were tightly closed, his breathing was very light, and he didn’t move.
Xie Yu sighed and said through gritted teeth, “A heartless Scumbag who throws you away after using you, how can you be able to sleep at this time?”
As he turned to crawl away, the edge of his pajamas was tugged.
Xie Yu was stunned, turning his head to meet Chen Zhuo’s bright, smiling eyes. Although he couldn’t see clearly in the night, he felt that the corners of Chen Zhuo’s mouth were raised.
Xie Yu lay down beside Chen Zhuo awkwardly, chuckling, “I knew you weren’t asleep.”
Chen Zhuo’s hand reached into his sleeve, and after touching a cold wrist, he lifted the quilt and wrapped Xie Yu in it, covering both of their heads.
Instantly, Xie Yu was surrounded by the warm, citrusy scent, his vision plunged into darkness, no one could see anyone, and could only feel the other’s warm breath spraying on the side of his face, tickling.
Chen Zhuo asked him softly, “After a week of calmness, have you figured it out?”
Xie Yu hesitated and shook his head, realizing that Chen Zhuo couldn’t see, he said in a somewhat guilty, small voice, “Not yet, give me a little more time, I’m very smart, I’ll figure it out soon.”
Chen Zhuo chuckled, and for some reason, he was particularly gentle tonight, “Okay, then take your time.”
Xie Yu was dazed by the continuous citrusy scent, leaned over to kiss his mouth, but only grazed his cheek.
His breathing quickened.
“Chen Zhuo’er, I feel like I can think faster when I’m by your side. Can I move back to the dormitory?”
Chen Zhuo didn’t say yes, nor did he say no.
Like wet firewood tightly against a fire source, unmoved, only following his own train of thought.
Chen Zhuo gently coaxed, “Do you want to know if you’re gay, or do you want to know if you like me? Which of these two questions is harder to answer?”
The moment the word “like” came out of Chen Zhuo’s mouth, Xie Yu heard a roar from his heart.
Chen Zhuo leaned over, only a tiny gap away, almost touching Xie Yu’s lips as he said, “Xie Yu, don’t think about whether you like men, think about whether you like me.”
Xie Yu subconsciously chased after him to kiss him, but Chen Zhuo retreated, not letting him kiss him.
He was a little annoyed, “Is there a difference between these two questions? If I like you, doesn’t that mean I like men?”
Chen Zhuo said softly, “But if you just like men, you might not like me.”
Xie Yu frowned, “Besides you, which other man could I like?”
Chen Zhuo smiled, his fingers fiddling with the buttons on his collar, his fingertips making ambiguous turns, “I mean, only like me, don’t like other men.”
Xie Yu couldn’t bear it any longer under his teasing.
He grabbed Chen Zhuo’s wrist roughly and pressed it over his head, lowered his head and kissed him.
Viciously, as if he was going to eat Chen Zhuo’s head.
“Okay, then you have to like me too, no, only like me, only see me in your eyes, you’re not allowed to look at those sports students, or those Rub the edges male internet celebrities, that’s fair.”
Chen Zhuo couldn’t resist Xie Yu, but pretended to be in control.
His hand rested loosely on his shoulder, panting in the gap, “Okay, depends on your performance. If you perform well, I’ll only like you.”
Xie Yu became very excited, calling his name again and again, “Chen Zhuo’er, Chen Zhuo’er…”
“Damn it, you really are…”
Chen Zhuo’s ears were about to burn, he covered his mouth, his face red, and whispered, “Okay, you go back, if you make any more noise, we’ll be discovered. We have class tomorrow, go back to sleep.”
Xie Yu breathed heavily, unhappy after being interrupted, and said muffledly in his palm, “Then give me a kiss.”
Chen Zhuo scoffed and taunted him, “Mr. Straight, we’re not dating yet, why should I kiss you?”
Xie Yu was unconvinced, and an eye for an eye, he retaliated by attacking Chen Zhuo through his clothes.
A light kiss, in the same spot.
“Uh!” Chen Zhuo suddenly widened his eyes, covering his mouth with force.
His palm seemed to still carry the warmth of Xie Yu’s breath.
Xie Yu chuckled softly, a soft kiss falling on the back of Chen Zhuo’s hand, his voice sticky, “Good night, Little Zhuo’er.”