ASSHKHME Chapter 95

Chapter 95: Growth

The sunlight outside the window was bright and a little harsh.

A young couple walked out of a store hand in hand, their faces radiant with happy smiles.

Chen Zhuo watched them express their affection so openly, a hint of envy flashing in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

It wasn’t that Chen Zhuo feared being the center of gossip and criticism; he was afraid of affecting Xie Yu.

Xie Yu was loyal and valued relationships. He had grown up bathed in love since he was a child. Even if he could endure his parents’ scolding and even beatings, could he withstand their disappointed gazes and tears?

Chen Zhuo believed that Xie Yu truly loved him and genuinely wanted to be with him. But he wasn’t narcissistic enough to think that his place in Xie Yu’s heart could surpass that of his parents.

At this age of growth, without the capital to challenge his parents, it was best to remain low-key, low-key, and even lower-key.

However, Xie Yu was, after all, two months younger than him. Youthful exuberance could be understood. He, as the older “brother,” just needed to take better care of him.

Xie Yu fell silent after hearing Chen Zhuo’s words.

He remembered what Dr. Ling had told him before the Lunar New Year. Dr. Ling said that Chen Zhuo had experienced too much at a young age, and his thinking would be deeper, more comprehensive, and more realistic than his.

Dr. Ling said to give Chen Zhuo a lot of security. He had clearly followed the doctor’s advice and tried to express his love, wanting Chen Zhuo to know how firm he was in their relationship, but it seemed to have backfired.

His flamboyant and exuberant joy seemed to have gone overboard, not only failing to provide security but also putting more pressure on Chen Zhuo.

Xie Yu felt a little frustrated, thinking he was stupid, and a little aggrieved because he had been so sincere.

Xie Yu turned on his hazard lights and pulled the car over to the side of the road, saying sullenly, “Compared to you, I’m like a brainless idiot.”

Chen Zhuo unfastened his seat belt, reached out to ruffle his hair, and then gently knocked on his head twice with his knuckles.

Under Xie Yu’s puzzled gaze, Chen Zhuo said with a straight face, “Didn’t hear any water, it’s solid, you have a brain.”

Xie Yu’s lips twitched slightly, and most of the frustration in his heart dissipated. He muttered, “Why are you making fun of me again? So annoying.”

“I just want you to know that in this relationship, I haven’t thought about turning back. I want to walk with you forever and ever.”

“Didn’t you used to worry that I was a straight guy just messing around, always wondering if I was gay? To be honest, I still think I only like you. I wouldn’t like any other man or woman, but I want to act like I’m gay in front of other people, do you understand what I mean?”

Chen Zhuo listened quietly. The sunlight shone through the windshield onto Xie Yu, illuminating his eyes, which were filled with him.

Seeing that he didn’t speak, Xie Yu asked, “Do you understand what I mean?”

Chen Zhuo smiled. The curled ends of his hair intertwined with the halo of light, swaying slightly as he nodded, like twinkling stars in the daytime.

Of course, he understood. He understood all of Xie Yu’s clumsy and reckless intentions.

Secretly showing affection in front of his parents wasn’t to provoke them.

It was to let him know that sooner or later, Xie Yu would introduce him to his parents as someone he was dating, and no longer as a roommate or the child of his mother’s old friend.

Openly declaring their relationship to his roommates and friends, approaching him without hesitation in public, wasn’t a whim.

It was to prove to him that even if he himself didn’t think he was gay, he was still willing to let others think he was. He didn’t want a way out; he wanted a path he and Chen Zhuo could walk together.

Maybe it seemed reckless and brainless, but this was all that the nineteen-year-old Xie Yu could give. Although childish, it was passionate.

The car was quiet, with only the “click, click” sound of the hazard lights.

Xie Yu leaned closer to Chen Zhuo and asked softly, “Really understand?”

Chen Zhuo was slightly turned, and he only needed to tilt his head slightly to kiss Xie Yu’s lips. His gaze followed Xie Yu’s nose down.

Before it landed on Xie Yu’s lips, Xie Yu leaned down and touched the corner of his lips, “I love you, more than you can imagine.”

The warm air from the car’s air conditioner seemed to be blowing even harder. A thin layer of sweat broke out on Chen Zhuo’s back. He said, “Me too.”

The atmosphere was ambiguous and tender. Chen Zhuo raised his hand and caressed the back of Xie Yu’s neck, the meaning unspoken.

Xie Yu chuckled softly and obediently kissed him.

Suddenly, a childish voice came through the thick car body: “Daddy! Someone’s kissing in the car~”

Xie Yu immediately pulled the hood of Chen Zhuo’s down jacket over his head, blocking Chen Zhuo’s face, and glared unhappily at the little boy outside who lacked social awareness.

The little boy’s father, seeing that there were two men in the car, hurriedly covered his son’s eyes and dragged him away, muttering something under his breath.

Xie Yu couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it probably wasn’t anything nice.

Chen Zhuo’s face was flushed in the hood, urging him, “Damn, what an embarrassment! Let’s go, let’s go!”

Xie Yu quickly took a picture with his phone, stepped on the gas, and drove away.

—

The winter vacation was as short and brilliant as fireworks rising in the night sky, disappearing with the smell of gunpowder lingering in the air.

Chen Zhuo and Xie Yu, as the only two locals in the dorm, consciously took on the responsibility of cleaning and airing out the bedding.

They returned to the dorm two days early. The moment they pushed open the door, a musty smell hit them in the face.

Chen Zhuo immediately covered his mouth and nose, then covered Xie Yu’s as well, cursing, “Ventilate it for a while before coming in, it’s easy to get a lung infection. How could that idiot Zhao Jiashu pull the curtains so tightly? Even a sunny dorm is moldy?!”

The two unfortunate souls stood at the door for ten minutes, waiting for the smell to lessen. Under Chen Zhuo’s direction, Xie Yu pulled open the curtains and opened all the windows to ventilate the room.

Chen Zhuo climbed onto his bed and pulled open his bed curtains. Fortunately, his quilt had been aired the day before he left school. Besides being a little damp, it wasn’t moldy.

Xie Yu climbed the bed ladder to check and felt quite disappointed.

If Chen Zhuo’s quilt was moldy, he could rightfully ask Chen Zhuo to live with him off campus.

He had enjoyed too many good days during the winter vacation, and being in the dorm with the bed curtains drawn, only being able to have fleeting intimacy, could no longer satisfy him.

Chen Zhuo reached over the bed railing to check Xie Yu’s quilt. Xie Yu said leisurely, “I’m not sleeping in this bed anyway. It doesn’t matter if the quilt grows mushrooms.”

His quilt was fine, but a small mushroom had actually sprouted from Zhao Jiashu’s buckwheat pillow.

Chen Zhuo was speechless. He asked Xie Yu to hand him his phone, took a picture and sent it to the dorm group, then typed furiously, attacking Zhao Jiashu.

[You Shao]: [It’s growing mushrooms, Little Shu, smile.jpg, congratulations, you’ve become the first man in the dorm to have two little mushrooms.]

[You Shao]: [The curtains followed you, really didn’t suffer at all. Why did you pull them so tight! Are you afraid the ghosts will peek at your little mushrooms!]

[You Shao]: [The grass hasn’t even sprouted yet, and the bed boards are growing green hair. Our dorm is really full of spring and vitality, Zhao Jiashu!!!]

Xie Yu sat in the computer chair, watching the constantly vibrating phone, not daring to say a word.

What a venomous mouth, reminding him of when he first entered school and was scolded until he couldn’t retaliate…

But it doesn’t matter, as long as the kisses are sweet~