To My Youth [BL]

[31] Confession (2/3)

All Lan Yuning could let out was a quiet, "What...?"

Upon hearing his words, Gu Xiao met Lan Yuning's gentle black eyes and became extremely flustered, and the clear reflection of his face in the other's eyes made the astringent feeling in his heart slightly fade despite it pounding restlessly against his chest.

"Um, good evening."

And with strength that came from nowhere, Gu Xiao quickly pulled his hand that held onto Lan Yuning's palm and turned his face away. But when Gu Xiao tried to pull away, Lan Yuning caught it and refused to let it go. 

Gu Xiao only felt his fingers, which had been frozen into ice, land on a small, warm hand that Gu Xiao heated up himself. 

From his palm to his fingertip, they were all tightly wrapped and pressed together.

"What did you just say?" Lan Yuning asked, his ears and neck turning red as if he was being tanned over a flame.

"Good evening?"

"No. Before that..."

Gu Xiao bolted up from the bed, letting a nervous laughter break out and sweat to drip down his forehead.

"Well, well, would you look at the time? It's time for my favourite evening classes to start," he stuttered, turning away in hopes of dashing out of the infirmary.

When Gu Xiao headed outside his bed area, Lan Yuning stood up and went after him, but he tripped over his chair and hit his leg on the sharp metal edge of the bed.

"Ow..." Lan Yuning crouched down, pressing his palm onto the stabbed area as he attempted to stifle in the sharp and burning pain.

Alerted, Gu Xiao darted his head back and dashed to Lan Yuning. 

He crouched down and tried his best to be on the same eye level as him.

"Are you alright? What happened?" he panicked, holding onto Lan Yuning's ankles, though he quickly hid his leg behind the other.

"It's... nothing."

"No. Let me see," Gu Xiao beckoned, but Lan Yuning still refused to move his hand away as though the stabbing pain had paralysed his entire body, or it might've been because of something else.

"I'm alright..."

A sigh left Gu Xiao's lips. He reached out, one arm around Lan Yuning's back and the other swooping under his knees. Lan Yuning jolted by the sudden contact as Gu Xiao lifted him up and carried him to the edge of the bed.

From the bottom, Gu Xiao rolled up Lan Yuning's pants, revealing his thin and pale calves that had probably never met the sun. 

A bit of his skin had peeled off, and a burning redness spread around the scratch. 

The cold weather didn't make the sharp sensation of the scrape any better that all Lan Yuning could do was suppress the stinging rush.

Lan Yuning held onto Gu Xiao's finger. "I'm fine, but what you said before..."

Had Gu Xiao not been well-versed in controlling his emotions, he would've blurted a bunch of nonsensical words already. 

Lowering his head, he rubbed the back of his neck in a rather reserved manner. 

No matter what he was going to say, the atmosphere was sure to be awkward. 

If he said anything wrong, it might change everything that was going to happen from this point onwards.

"...You heard it all?"

Seeing Lan Yuning's embarrassed and unwilling look, Gu Xiao scratched his head as his face flushed into splashes of crimson.