TLDMDTBS Chapter 39

Chapter 39

The restaurant in the large amusement park rarely has an absolutely quiet environment; it’s filled with laughter and lively music at all times.

Ji Ruan looked very calm while answering the phone; from his expression, one couldn’t guess what the other party was saying.

His roommates were focused intently on Ji Ruan, holding their breath involuntarily, making their table an oddity in the entire restaurant, quiet and out of place.

“Mm… okay… I understand, senior… it’s fine…”

Ji Ruan smiled as he hung up the phone, and Han Xiaolin immediately asked, “What did the senior say?”

“Nothing much, just apologized to me,” Ji Ruan rubbed his ears; the surround sound system in the amusement park was constantly playing rhythmically loud music, which was a bit noisy for him.

Qin Shan scratched the back of his head, “That’s it?”

In his view, the senior shouldn’t be just a person who expresses things verbally. Even though she was not at fault in this matter, with her personality, she would definitely make Lin Qing apologize to Ji Ruan in person.

Ji Ruan smiled, saying, “She also said she wants to meet in person, very solemnly indicating that she will give me a satisfactory result. It’s probably to have Lin Qing come herself.”

Qin Shan showed a look of understanding: “That’s more like it.”

Han Xiaolin crossed his arms, “Just apologizing isn’t enough; we can’t let him gloss over this matter with mere words, right? I really can’t stand his pretentiousness.”

Ji Ruan absentmindedly pinched his ear, leisurely saying, “The senior said there will be a result, so it must happen, we can see then—eh?”

He suddenly turned his head to look outside the window, but his eyes were unfocused, as if he were looking at something abstract.

Han Xiaolin also immediately reacted: “Why did the music stop? Is there a malfunction?”

Li Yu peeked out the window: “No… it hasn’t stopped, just turned down.”

Han Xiaolin listened carefully again: “Right, right, it’s much lower.”

Gu Xiuyi had been looking down at his phone, seemingly messaging someone; hearing this, he looked up: “Is it still noisy?”

Qin Shan said with a laugh, “Not bad, not bad, this is just right. It did get a bit rowdy just now; I think even the people in central control couldn’t bear it, haha.”

Li Yu took a sip of water with a smile: “No wonder my throat feels so dry; it was all yelling just now, and I didn’t even notice.”

The music finally lowered to a reasonable level, and Ji Ruan quietly breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, everyone fell silent, and the atmosphere became strangely quiet.

Ji Ruan instinctively turned his head and found Gu Xiuyi was looking at him, as if what Qin Shan and the others said didn’t mean anything; it was imperative to get an answer from him.

Gu Xiuyi had clean-cut features, from his eyebrows to his facial contours, which could be described as detached in more sentimental terms.

Ji Ruan was clear about this the first time he saw him and had never been surprised.

But now he caught a glimpse of a hint of what could be called tenderness on that face, not strong, but very elusive and subtle.

In fact, Ji Ruan had often felt this recently, especially when the two interacted in the most ordinary ways. Gu Xiuyi seemed to be speaking casually, yet it felt like he was revealing emotions far deeper than the surface meaning of his words.

This gaze made Ji Ruan feel a bit uncomfortable; he licked his lips, “…It’s fine now.”

Gu Xiuyi seemed completely oblivious to Ji Ruan’s distraction, nodded, looked back at his phone, sent out his last message, then turned off the screen.

[It’s fine now.]

He turned to Ji Ruan, who was sitting next to him quietly, no longer rubbing his ears.

He took Ji Ruan’s now-cold milk tea and asked, “What time did Miss Cheng say to meet?”

Ji Ruan only had eyes for the milk tea, his gaze reluctantly following Gu Xiuyi’s hand as it drifted away.

Gu Xiuyi had to hold his chin and turn his face back so they were looking at each other: “You can’t drink it if it’s cold; it’ll upset your stomach.”

Ji Ruan wasn’t someone who craved food particularly; more than truly feeling reluctant about that cup of milk tea, he felt dejected because he had already drunk most of it, and it was suddenly taken away.

But Gu Xiuyi wasn’t wrong; the tangible harm to his body and the slight discomfort in his mind, of course, the bodily harm was more important.

He dropped his gaze, lazily nodded: “Got it…”

Gu Xiuyi gently patted his cheek in a reassuring manner: “Good, when we get back, let Ayi Zhao make you some.”

“…No need.” Ji Ruan covered his mouth and yawned.

“Ji Ruan.”

“Mm?”

Gu Xiuyi said nothing but lifted Ji Ruan’s chin, watching his eyes turn red after he finished yawning, not just slightly, but also very glistening.

Ji Ruan’s eyes had always been beautiful, but what others didn’t know was that he looked the most beautiful when his eyes contained a hint of moisture.

“Why aren’t you speaking?” Ji Ruan tilted his head, his eyes shimmering.

Gu Xiuyi withdrew his hand, stepped back to a safe distance, took a sip of water to soothe his somewhat dry throat.

“When are you going to meet?”

Ji Ruan blinked: “Tomorrow.”

Gu Xiuyi set his water cup down, nodded imperceptibly; Cheng Zizhang was somewhat competent; now that it was late, asking someone out at the last minute wasn’t very suitable, and—

He glanced at Ji Ruan, and it was clear this kid was a bit tired.

Ji Ruan was the kind of person whose physical condition easily showed on his face; sometimes he might not even realize it himself, but those who cared about him could easily see how he truly felt.

For instance, right now, his lips were noticeably paler than when he left home in the morning.

“Let’s head home first.” Gu Xiuyi stood up and pretended to help Ji Ruan.

Ji Ruan hadn’t taken a nap and had played all day, so he was indeed feeling somewhat drowsy. He didn’t argue, rubbed his eyes, and obediently stood by Gu Xiuyi, looking at Han Xiaolin and the others: “Are you guys going back?”

His roommates were all maintaining the same posture of playing on their phones, attempting to self-isolate from the close interaction between the two to avoid harm. Upon hearing Ji Ruan’s words, they all said in unison: “Not leaving!!”

Ji Ruan didn’t understand why they reacted so strongly suddenly. He was stunned for two seconds before he touched his nose: “…Well, take your time playing, I’m going back to sleep.”

He hugged the large bouquet of flowers, his hands full, unable to wave goodbye, just pursed his lips and smiled: “Bye-bye~”

The three of them watched their departing figures; President Gu had bought Ji Ruan a huge bouquet, and Ji Ruan, being small and thin, looked like he was buried inside it.

Then Han Xiaolin saw President Gu naturally wrap his arm around his good friend’s shoulder, reminding him to watch his step, every action serious and proper.

Ji Ruan also seemed surprised, sweetly smiling at President Gu and thanking him.

Han Xiaolin: “…”

Freshman Han Xiaolin deeply felt the cunning of a thirty-year-old man.

This amusement park was the largest indoor amusement park in the city, and it took a long time to walk from the restaurant to the entrance. Ji Ruan soon started to pant and stopped.

Gu Xiuyi looked down at him: “What’s wrong?”

Ji Ruan’s lips parted slightly, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. With his thick hair, it would easily get messy if not careful, and a few strands were tangled with the purple little pom-pom on his head.

Gu Xiuyi couldn’t help but think about his cat when they first brought it home, a long-haired kitten in that awkward phase, always messy at home and getting dirty.

Despite being so small, heaps of fur made it look round, shrinking to palm size only when bathed.

Ji Ruan was very much like that messy cat right now.

He pulled the hair that got caught in Ji Ruan’s pom-pom free, stifling a laugh, and asked again, “What’s wrong, little friend?”

Ji Ruan’s lips moved: “I can’t hold it anymore…”

That bouquet he had just cradled against his chest had now drooped to his thighs, making it clearly difficult to carry.

Gu Xiuyi was taken aback; he hadn’t expected this at all.

He didn’t feel any weight when he held the bouquet, but it seemed overwhelming for Ji Ruan.

“…” He wordlessly took the flowers, but his hand resting on Ji Ruan’s shoulder showed no sign of loosening; he wrapped Ji Ruan into his side and continued walking forward: “Really delicate.”

After getting to the car, the large bouquet occupied the front passenger seat by itself, while Ji Ruan and Gu Xiuyi sat in the back.

Though he was clearly very sleepy, Ji Ruan was unwilling to fall asleep, focusing instead on picking the fuzz off Gu Xiuyi’s clothes.

—All of it was fuzz from Ji Ruan’s purple sweater that somehow stuck.

Ji Ruan flicked a few strands into the air to watch them float in the stuffy car, ultimately landing back on Gu Xiuyi.

This happened several times; no matter how far he blew them, the fuzz would always drift back, clinging tightly to Gu Xiuyi’s black coat.

“…Did your clothes become magnetic?” Ji Ruan frowned.

His eyebrows were delicate, thin and light; when his forehead furrowed slightly, he looked particularly elegant, even when impatient like now.

Gu Xiuyi’s gaze lingered on his face for a moment before he sighed lightly: “Then don’t bother; let Zhao Ayi help you when we get back.”

Ji Ruan found it troublesome, but Gu Xiuyi certainly felt discomfort too.

Just like those fuzz always coming back to him, every breath Ji Ruan exhaled would also land on his neck.

The warm, humid breath directly touching his skin was an unbearable test for Gu Xiuyi.

He clasped Ji Ruan’s hand, pulling it into his palm, and gently massaged his wrist.

Ji Ruan’s skin was delicate and smooth, which oddly made helping him feel not troublesome but rather enjoyable.

The warmth enveloped him, and Ji Ruan’s wrist pain alleviated significantly. He happily squinted his eyes: “Boss Gu’s massage skills have improved.”

Gu Xiuyi chuckled: “What can I say? You said your hands were tired.”

“That was from carrying flowers,” Ji Ruan pouted, “So why did you buy so many? It’s so heavy.”

Gu Xiuyi had long gotten used to Ji Ruan’s complaining style of acting cute and went along with him: “Hmm, it’s my fault, now I know your hands are precious.”

Ji Ruan, who was already a bit tired, felt the warmth from Gu Xiuyi wrapping around his hand. The drowsiness hit him all at once, and his head drooped lower and lower.

“By the way,” Gu Xiuyi asked just before Ji Ruan completely fell asleep: “Tomorrow, should I accompany you?”

After what happened at the hospital, he didn’t want Ji Ruan to handle Lin Qing alone any longer, always feeling it was unwise to tire him out.

Ji Ruan lifted his head, sleepily sniffed: “Aren’t you going to work?”

Gu Xiuyi paused; he did have an important meeting tomorrow.

“It’s fine,” Ji Ruan closed his eyes: “We’re meeting at the hospital tomorrow. The senior can’t be discharged yet, and the teacher will be present. We’ll just say a couple of words and leave.”

Gu Xiuyi thought carefully before saying: “Then how about this; I’ll take you over, and I’ll come to pick you up when you’re done.”

After all, he would need to be picked up either way; it didn’t matter whose car he took, so Ji Ruan had no reason to refuse.

He was so tired that he couldn’t even nod his head and rubbed against Gu Xiuyi’s shoulder: “Okay…”