ASSHKHME Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Kettle

The thunderstorm gradually subsided, and the rain pattered against the eaves, creating small splashes of water.

The green mountains were hidden in the darkness of night, and the lush branches and leaves swayed gently in the light breeze and drizzle.

Xie Yu remained silent, and the only sounds at the dinner table were the soft clinking of cutlery against the porcelain plates.

Chen Zhuo drank two bowls of rich and fragrant old pigeon soup, which warmed his stomach. The overly tense nerves from earlier had relaxed, and he regained his usual lively and unrestrained demeanor.

Chen Zhuo kicked Xie Yu’s shoe under the table: “Why did you suddenly stop talking? Is something stuck in your teeth?”

The orange-yellow light of the dining room lamp cast a warm glow on Xie Yu, adding a touch of gentleness to his sharp eyebrows and eyes. He raised his eyes to glance at Chen Zhuo, then quickly lowered them again, muttering, “One should not speak while eating or sleeping.”

It was the night’s fault, making people drunk for no reason.

Xie Yu thought that it must be the strong after-effects of the two glasses of sake he had in the afternoon that made him unable to resist staring at Chen Zhuo’s lips.

He couldn’t help but feel that they must be very soft.

“So pretentious. I’m done eating. You can eat slowly.”

Chen Zhuo stretched lazily, picked up his bowl of fermented rice dumplings, and went to the living room. He scooped up a small dumpling and turned back to ask him, “Do you want to try one? They’re pretty good.”

Xie Yu’s gaze landed on the ceramic spoon that Chen Zhuo had put in his mouth and tasted. He turned his head away as if avoiding a great plague, and said stiffly, “No, I don’t want to eat something you’ve eaten. Isn’t there saliva on it?”

Chen Zhuo put the rice dumpling in his mouth and chewed, raising an eyebrow.

Like a cat who had found a mouse, he found it amusing and leaned closer to ask, “Xie Yu, are you homophobic?”

Xie Yu leaned back, widened the distance between himself and Chen Zhuo, and cautiously asked, “What do you mean?”

Chen Zhuo smiled mysteriously, deliberately trying to scare him, and whispered, “Haven’t you heard? Homophobia is a deep closet. You just haven’t met a man who makes your heart flutter.”

A crack appeared in Xie Yu’s expression, and he slammed his chopsticks on the table with a “smack”: “You’re talking nonsense! Who would like a man’s ass! How disgusting!”

The words were crude and vulgar, but Chen Zhuo was unusually not angry. He shrugged his shoulders: “Who told you that you have to go all the way? There are many people who like platonic relationships.”

Xie Yu turned to look at Chen Zhuo, who had walked into the living room, and subconsciously asked, “Including you?”

“Guess.”

Chen Zhuo laughed, put the unfinished fermented rice dumplings on the coffee table, leaned back on the sofa, and comfortably picked up the remote control to change channels.

“Not interested in guessing.” Xie Yu glared at the old pigeon in the casserole, who died with eyes wide open.

In his heart, he grumbled that Chen Zhuo looked like he was just asking for it…

Asking for a beating!

Xie Yu didn’t want to stay in a room filled with homosexual viruses. He was about to be infected and become abnormal!

He was about to get up to call room service to have them clear the table when he suddenly heard a very eerie giggle.

Xie Yu’s movement of pulling the chair stopped instantly, his back went cold, and his hair stood on end: “Chen Zhuo, what are you watching?”

Chen Zhuo yawned and said with a straight face: “Mirror Horror, a domestic horror film that was just released this year. It doesn’t seem that interesting.”

Xie Yu tried to appear calm and said, “If it’s not… not interesting, then turn it off. It’s getting late, it’s time to sleep.”

Chen Zhuo seemed to sense something, turned to look at him, his eyes flickering slightly, hiding his mischievous look, and readily agreed: “Okay.”

After speaking, he actually picked up the remote control and clicked it, and the hellish background music stopped.

Xie Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

The internal telephone was next to the end table by the sofa, and Xie Yu walked over without much defense.

He saw Chen Zhuo give him a bright smile. Before he could react, Chen Zhuo had already pressed the play button on the remote control.

Xie Yu subconsciously glanced at the TV screen, and unexpectedly met the eyes of the pale, hanging, red-clothed female ghost, and fell silent.

The expected scene did not arrive, and Chen Zhuo found it boring. He turned the remote control in his hand, “What’s wrong? So you’re not afrai…”

Before he could finish speaking, Xie Yu had already started screaming like a kettle that had just been boiled, “Aaaaaah! Fk! Fk fk fk!!! Turn it off! Turn it off quickly! Chen Zhuo, you big idiot!!”

Coincidentally, in the midst of Xie Yu’s screaming, the lights in the room flickered strangely for two seconds and then went out suddenly.

His vision was completely dark.

Chen Zhuo was startled by the commotion and sat up abruptly, “What the hell?”

The blanket covering his body slipped off with his movement, and the tassels on the blanket brushed against Xie Yu’s ankle.

Xie Yu’s mentality collapsed: “Chen Zhuo!! Aaaaaah! A ghost is biting my ankle!! Chen Zhuo, aaaaaah!!!”

Chen Zhuo didn’t expect Xie Yu to react so strongly, and his eardrums throbbed with pain, “Stop yelling, it’s a power outage.”

Chen Zhuo fumbled around, trying to find his phone to ask what was going on. Who knew that Xie Yu would pounce on him and slam him directly into the sofa.

The soft leather sofa instantly made a “creak” sound, unable to bear the weight.

Chen Zhuo saw stars.

Pressed down by Xie Yu’s weight, Chen Zhuo almost couldn’t catch his breath, and struggled to pat his shoulder.

“Xie Yu, get up! I was wrong, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have scared you, hurry, get off me…”

Before Chen Zhuo could finish speaking, a furry head suddenly burrowed into his neck.

Xie Yu’s hair brushed against Chen Zhuo’s cheek, and his voice trembled, “Chen Zhuo, a ghost really did bite my ankle just now!”

His breath fell on Chen Zhuo’s ear, and a layer of fine goosebumps rose on that patch of skin.

Chen Zhuo’s breathing stagnated, and he turned his head to coax him: “It’s an illusion, it’s all fake, I was scaring you, get up quickly! I’ll go ask when the power will be back on.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the chandelier flickered twice, and the room returned to brightness.

The movie continued to play, and the terrified wails of the cannon fodder extras echoed in his ears.

Xie Yu regained his sanity in the light, awkwardly propped himself up, and looked down at the embarrassed Chen Zhuo.

Chen Zhuo was sunken into the sofa, his hair was messy, and there was a bit of blood on the corner of his mouth.

The neckline of his T-shirt had been pulled down, revealing a small section of his pale collarbone.

Chen Zhuo angrily pushed Xie Yu, “Why aren’t you getting up?”

Xie Yu was stunned, “Why is your mouth bleeding?”

In the chaos just now, Xie Yu’s lips had bumped into something, and the soft flesh inside his mouth had been broken by his teeth, filling his mouth with a strong metallic taste.

He used his fingertip to rub Chen Zhuo’s lips as if guided by a ghost, and they were indeed very soft.

Just now it seemed like…

Chen Zhuo suddenly realized and easily pushed Xie Yu away in anger: “Of course it was from you hitting me!”

He saw that the bowl of fermented rice dumplings on the coffee table had been knocked over at some point, and the sticky mess was all over the floor. It was a disaster.

Xie Yu turned off the TV first, sat on the sofa with his head lowered, his face flushed, and said in annoyance: “Who told you to scare me! Would this have happened if you hadn’t scared me?”

That was his first kiss! And it was gone just like that?

The other person was not only a man, but didn’t even know it had happened!

He was the only one who felt stifled and awkward, and he couldn’t even say it out loud.

Chen Zhuo scratched his head, and said like a scumbag: “Alright, alright, it’s my fault. How would I know you were so scared.”

Xie Yu argued: “Something really did touch my ankle just now!”

Chen Zhuo’s expression suddenly became heavy and serious, and he stared straight at the back of Xie Yu, “Behind you…”