In the morning, Xiao Zhan woke up in Wang Zhe's cozy, warm embrace. Even though the bed was obviously large, the two of them were as close together as they'd been in the dorm. Xiao Zhan himself felt it was nauseatingly lovey-dovey.
After brushing his teeth, he walked downstairs in his pajamas, absentmindedly combing his fingers through his unkempt hair. He spotted He Yan eating breakfast at the dining table and abruptly recalled that there was another person living with them like this.
His appearance put him in a bit of an embarrassing awkward predicament, but he'd already smashed the first face-to-face meeting, so he sat down naturally and tried to find a casual topic of discussion.
"Ge, did you make this breakfast?"
He Yan smiled, "It was here when I came down. It ought to be A-Yibo who got up early in the morning to make it."
Xiao Zhan took up the spoon and stirred the rice congee in its bowl. He glanced at the fried egg and ham sandwich on the plate, acknowledging Wang Zhe's housekeeping skills once more in his heart.
"Zhan ," He Yan pointed at his neckline with a ponderous expression, "wear your clothes properly. The weather is cold, take care not to get sick."
The central heating in the house was plenty warm enough, so Xiao Zhan was baffled until he ducked his head and caught sight of a red mark under his collarbone.
This time he really did feel a little embarrassed.
Last night while the two of them were lying in bed, resting, he'd been browsing on his phone, looking over He Yan's social media page1. He'd wanted to see if there was a photo of Wang Yibo from the past when suddenly the silly dog went mad, burying his head against his neck and slowly rubbing back and forth. Several times his lips had run across his gland, going so far as to lick a few times.
He'd nearly gotten hard again and pushed Wang Zhe's head down to stop him. Wang Yibo had taken advantage of the opportunity to suck hard beneath his collarbone before laying back down in his original position obediently.
As a result, it seemed he had left behind such an obviously intimate mark.
Xiao Zhan squeezed his shirt collar shut, his ears a little red, and he coughed softly, "He's like a dog, so annoying."
From beside Xiao Zhan , there came the sound of a chair being pulled out. Xiao Zhan turned his head only to find that Wang Yibo had finished washing up and come downstairs who knew when. His face seemed empty of vitality.
"Xuezhang, morning. Morning, Ge."
He Yan put down his bowl and chopsticks, "Morning! I was able to eat well, thank you very much. But this fried egg was a little raw, be careful about bacteria."
Wang Yibo's spoon paused, "Xuezhang likes to eat soft-boiled eggs. I'll fry them separately next time."
Xiao Zhan didn't want to inconvenience him. "It's okay. Mine can be fried with the rest, just do it according to Ge's preference."
Wang Yibo took a big bite of his own sandwich, the fried egg splitting and leaking yellow. His cheeks bulged as he chewed and his tone was a bit unclear, "Mhm."
Xiao Zhan thought for a while and said, "I'd better make breakfast from now on. Ge, what do you like to eat?"
"I don't care. I'll eat anything you make," He Yan said with a smile. He glanced at his watch, "I have to go to the company. Enjoy your meal."
Xiao Zhan politely got up to send him off at the door and Wang Yibo also followed, his attitude rather solemn.
"What are you two doing? I said you don't need to be so polite." He Yan smiled brightly, "I'm heading out, see you tonight."
After they sent Han Ye off, the two returned to the dining table and sat next to each other. While eating his congee, Xiao Zhan thought over what Wang Yibo liked to eat, plotting up a menu plan in his thoughts. Wang Yibo, who'd been sitting quietly next to him, suddenly opened his mouth, "Xuezhang, my biaoge......what do you think about him?"
Xiao Zhan replied without thinking, "Not bad, better than other people."
"What's......good about him?"
"Oh, his looks are pretty good, his temperament isn't bad. He's outstanding in all aspects. Why hasn't your Ge had a partner up until now? Seems wrong."
"Probably hasn't met the right one......" Wang Yibo said softly. He lowered his head and continued to eat.
It had begun snowing again early in the morning, so by now a thick layer had accumulated that each step would leave a deep print. Xiao Zhan wasn't in the mood to go out in this kind of weather, so after breakfast, he went into Wang Yibo's empty study to pass the time.
There was a display case in the study with many trophies and prizes, all previously earned by Wang Yibo. Most of them were from competitions. In particular there were marathons and karate competitions among the rest.
"Pretty awesome." Xiao Zhan remembered that Wang Yibo had previously said that his grades were very good, but it seemed that he was being modest even then.
Wang Yibo put a freshly-poured glass of snow pear juice on the desk, "Just some small competitions, nothing that great."
Xiao Zhan nestled barefoot into the sofa and took a sip of the snow pear juice. It was sweet in his mouth and moistened his throat.
"Delicious."
Wang Yibo's eyes curved in a smile, "Then I'll make some more later."
Xiao Zhan met his bright, warm eyes and teased, "Silly dog, looking so harmless, so how can you fight so fiercely? Did you often secretly go outside to cause trouble? I heard from your Ge that you almost broke the bone of a classmate during a fight before? This time too, winning three-on-one, so fucking awesome2, I should be calling you Yibo Ge. "
In a flash, Wang Yibo became nervous because his dark history had been brought up. He crouched down in front of him and raised his hand to swear, "I only fought those two times. Absolutely no other times, I promise!"
Xiao Zhan looked at him cautiously and solemnly looking back at himself and his heart softened a bit to the point of collapse.
So obedient and so tender when it comes to your own matters, never retaliating when bullied, but on my behalf, you fought two times.
He was really lucky to have picked up someone who treasured him so.
Xiao Zhan secretly took a deep breath. He hid his state of mind and asked suddenly, "Where did you get my pen?"
Wang Yibo was startled, "Xuezhang, how do you know......"
"Your Ge told me." He didn't hesitate to sell Yan He out.
Wang Yibo became even more flustered. "Ah, that...that day when Xuezhang returned to school after finishing the exam, I took advantage of you going to lunch and went in to take it......"
"Oh? So it turns out it was stolen," Xiao Zhan said with a cold expression.
"I, I......" Wang Yibo couldn't find a justification to retort back, so he bit his lip anxiously and cast his gaze towards the corner of the bookcase. "Sorry, I shouldn't have stolen Xuezhang's things...... I still have that pen, so if Xuezhang wants it, then I can return it right away......"
He said this, but his face showed a look of complete reluctance.
Xiao Zhan dropped all courtesy, standing up and walking to the front of the bookcase. With one glance, he saw a wooden box placed on the second shelf. When he opened it, he saw there was a very ordinary black pen resting inside on a satin cushion. It had been worth a dollar in the stationary store, so if he'd lost one or two of them, he would've never realized. The pen cap was cracked, but since it was packed in such an exquisite box, it looked like a horrible flaw.
"I'll take it then." He stretched out his hand in the pose of preparing to grab it.
Wang Yibo immediately blocked him, "Xuezhang, it can't even be used for writing anymore because it's broken. It'd be useless if you took it back......"
"You should get rid of it if it's useless. I might as well throw it away."
"No!" Wang Yibo was so anxious that he nearly pressed him into the bookcase. "Xuezhang, gift it to me, I beg you."
"Why should I give it to you? Give me a reason."
"Because......because this is all I have, the only thing of yours......" Wang Yibo bowed his head to look at him earnestly, the expression in his eyes pitiful.
Xiao Zhan went blank for a moment. His first reaction was 'how is this possible?'. Although he didn't spoil Wang Yibo very much, he'd still given him plenty, so how could this be the only thing?
He thought it over carefully. It seemed that what he'd given had all been things to eat or play with, there really hadn't been anything he could keep.
In this respect, he'd been really negligent. Moreover, they were stuck together every day, so they naturally had no need for keepsakes to mope over or whatever and so, to no surprise, he'd neglected that. But Wang Yibo obviously doesn't think so. For him, he needed something that he could pin his feelings on.
This silly dog is maybe a bit too insecure.
Xiao Zhan 's thoughts swirled and he immediately came up with a solution. He calmly put the pen back again and closed the lid.
"Then I'll give it to you. In the future, just ask me directly if you want something."
Wang Yibo hugged him happily, "Thank you, Xuezhang! You're so great!"
Xiao Zhan patted his back, a small smile on his face.
If a broken pen satisfies you this much, you'll be pleasantly surprised in a few days.
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Footnotes:
1. Social media page (朋友圈): pengyouquan aka Friend Circle, the social media aspect of WeChat called WeChat Moment ↩
2. Niubi (牛比): literally cow vagina, slang meaning fucking awesome/cool/great/terrific ↩
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