Chapter 21
It was very late when they got back home.
Lu Bai with his half-dried hair was draped in a blanket and eating a bowl of steaming ramen. Ruan Jiangjiu sat next to him, quietly watching him, surrounded by the warm and bright light in the living room.
Lu Bai finished eating all his noodles cleanly and finally regained his spirits, as well as warmed thoroughly up.
When he saw that Lu Bai had finished his food and his face finally looked better, Ruan Jiangjiu lowered his eyes and attempted to bring up the topic that had been weighing on his mind. “Xiao Bai, actually I…”
“Xiao Ruan. You are right,” Lu Bai blurted out at the same time. Then he looked Ruan Jiangjiu straight in the eyes and continued in a serious tone, “Qu Xueyu is a big bastard!” He grit his teeth saying this, and his face, which was still a bit pale from before had become red from anger. Lu Bai thought that Qu Xueyu must have used this trick in order to □□□1It was like this in the Raws. and have him get into trouble. It was too much, and now he was really a little scared to continue finding trouble with Qu Xueyu according to the original plot.
Ruan Jiangjiu: “…”
Lu Bai then hugged a pillow comfortably in his arms and blinked, “Oh, Xiao Ruan, you were gonna say something?”
Ruan Jiangjiu’s eyebrows twitched suspiciously and said, “I, uh, wanted to ask you… Xiao Bai, would you like some fruit?”
Lu Bai’s entire body sank comfortably into the sofa. He nodded as he hugged the soft pillow and extended his paw2A cutesy way to say hand, as with a previous chapter, can also be used as a negative. Here though it’s positive. towards the other party with a look as if he wanted to be fed: “Yes.”
Ruan Jiangjiu’s mind was in a rare mess. Yet seeing the young man’s appearance, he couldn’t help but bend his eyes into a smile: “Good.”
~~~Late at night.~~~
Lu Bai’s bedroom has a small night light, and the whole room is warm and dim like usual, but tonight his body was rigidly curled into a ball, the round rabbit lamp clutched in his arms.
Lu Bai’s breathing was a little heavy, and his forehead was covered with cold sweat.
He had just woken up from a nightmare.
At this time, the plot was off-course. He had already planned to accept the discipline from the world of the plot. He was safely at home, and he had his night light and the rabbit lamp that Xiao Ruan had given him. He was no longer twelve years old, and it was only painful, not something that he couldn’t endure at any rate.
But strangely enough, the world hasn’t punished him yet. Not as it had the first time when he hadn’t fulfilled the scenario when he was twelve. Although he felt puzzled, it was a good thing nonetheless. The day had been exhausting, so he had quickly fallen asleep.
Perhaps it was the memory of the punishment from before that triggered something. He then had a nightmare that seemed all too real – not so much a scary or bad dream, but rather just reliving that certain scene from back then. He woke up panting and chilled, unable to fall back asleep after that.
It was already pretty late at night, and outside the white curtains was endless darkness.
Lu Bai clung to his blanket and rabbit lamp, even the tip of his nose was glistening with drops of cold sweat. He took some deep breaths and tried to calm himself down, but his unsteady breathing remained out of his control. Lu Bai stared blankly down at the rabbit lamp’s cute ears as it finally occurred to him that he was not alone in the house.
Some kinds of temptation are really irresistible. Lu Bai got up and out of bed, leaving his blanket behind, and stumbled towards his bedroom door without even bothering to stop and put on his slippers.
The hallway was quiet but felt lively, Ruan Jiangjiu knew that Lu Bai was afraid of the dark, so he installed small nightlights in every corner of the house.
Clutching his rabbit light and standing in front of the others’ door, Lu Bai hesitantly bit his lower lip while he reached out and pushed it open.
Unlike his imagination of it being dark inside, Ruan Jiangjiu’s room was actually saturated in a dim, warm yellow, also being equipped with a small night light. Ruan Jiangjiu has always been a light sleeper, so he was easily woken up by the sound of Lu Bai opening the door. He propped himself up, his hair a bit sleep-tousled. Supporting his head to look at the other person, he was seemingly not upset by the sudden intrusion, only the smile on his face was completely different from the daytime: “What’s wrong?” His voice was hoarse and languid, completely different from usual.
Lu Bai was startled and subconsciously retreated two steps. Ruan Jiangjiu’s smile and voice were so foreign that he perceived a slight hint of danger, but failed to fully understand how.
Ruan Jiangjiu knew he had just frightened him, and smiled helplessly, before clearing his throat and repeating: “What’s wrong?”
Only then did Lu Bai subconsciously breathe a sigh of relief and shamefully blurted out, “Can I, can I sleep with you tonight?” He felt somewhat embarrassed to say such a thing, and his eyes wandered around before finally looking at the ground.
Ruan Jiangjiu looked at the cute toes that the other had scrunched up into the plush carpet and his eyes flashed as he took a deep and steadying breath. Then he lifted a corner of his quilt and smiled gently, “Come here.”
Lu Bai was delighted and hastily hugged his small lamp as he burrowed into the other person’s quilt. There was a residual warmth and a clean, pleasant scent coming from Ruan Jiangjiu’s quilt. As Lu Bai’s body sank into its’ soft embrace, he could finally take a deep, soothing breath and felt the shadows in his heart dissipate.
Ruan Jiangjiu watched the young man who was already nonchalantly lying down beside him as he slowly and flirtatiously teased, “It is after all, one of the most important jobs of a canary. To accompany and sleep.”
“N-no, that’s not this.” Lu Bai’s ears were a little red at the tips, but he was incredibly earnest as he said, “Xiao Ruan, please don’t worry. I will definitely never try to do anything to you.”
Ruan Jiangjiu glanced up at the ceiling and languidly exclaimed, “Oh.” Then he grabbed a pillow and got out of bed, about to go to find a blanket and futon for the floor. Then he suddenly felt something cling to the corner of his shirt. His movements stuttered as he turned slightly to look at the blushing young man who held onto the corner of his shirt.
“I promise that I won’t do anything to you. So… just for tonight, can we sleep in the same bed?”
Ruan Jiangjjiu’s eyes narrowed, as he quietly observed the youth whose body was nestled inside his cloud-like quilt and who had stretched out one tentative hand to grasp the corner of his shirt, so soft, and so… irresistible. His voice seemed to contain grievances, just like the prickly yet soft paws of a little kitten, gently scratching across his heart. The color of his eyes then grew increasingly deeper.
The young man did not seem to be aware of the situation and was still holding the corner of his shirt and saying those desperate things: “Xiao Ruan, we have been living together for so long, so you should have the most basic trust in me, right? Of course, if someone else makes such a request to you when you are outside you can punch him. Hard. No matter who the other party is, I will bear the consequences.”
“But, I’m not the same as them.” This statement seemed to have a strong sense of grievance in it.
There was silence for a transient moment as Ruan Jiangjiu sat on the edge of the bed and quietly looked over the young man, with just his eyes that were so very dark.
“You and them, are of course, different.” He gently removed the hand gripping the corner of his shirt and placed it under the quilt, and then tucked the quilt around the youth. Then he met the other’s eyes, “Rather, Xiao Bai. It’s that you are unlike anyone else.” For him, this young man was the most special.
Lu Bai’s eyes twinkled then pouted and feigned sadness: “But, even being so different from others, I am not permitted to share a bed with you. Xiao Ruan, this really makes me heartbroken.”
Ruan Jiangjiu: “…”
Ruan Jiangjiu took a deep breath and raised his eyebrows, “Do you really want to sleep with me?”
Those deep and dark eyes stared. Which Lu Bai failed to see, as he nodded hastily; “Uh huh! You can relax, it’s purely sleep.” If only for tonight, he wanted to always feel Xiao Ruan’s presence.
Ruan Jiangjiu lowered his head and let out a low laugh, then seemed to sigh slightly. Then finally, he stepped closer to the bed and motioned while touching the corner of the blanket covering Lu Bai, “You can sleep with this, I’ll go get another blanket.”
“No!” Lu Bai was afraid that the other party would regret it if he was able to leave, and grabbed the other party’s wrist, adding, “No, we can share it together.”
Ruan Jiangjiu hesitated briefly before giving in, “Alright then.” It’s not much of a difference whether there’s one comforter or two, there’s only one outcome of him not being able to sleep more tonight anyway.
After finally getting what he wanted and being able to sleep alongside someone else, Lu Bai could finally put his fear aside and closed his eyes comfortably: “Xiao Ruan, you’re so good.” Half of his face was now buried in the pillow, and his voice was muffled.
‘Well, I can second that.’ Ruan Jiangjiu lay flat and stiffly stared at the ceiling and thought.
After the youth’s breathing became deeper, he rolled onto his arm, nestling against his neck. Feeling the warm breath puffed on his neck, Ruan Jiangjiu took a deep breath himself, but in the end, he couldn’t resist turning sideways and reaching out his free arm towards the unsuspecting youth – but ultimately, he only gently tapped his finger on the tip of his cute nose: “Little dummy.” he sighed in a quiet whisper, his voice containing pampering that even he did not notice.
~~~~~~~~
It was the same endlessly long nightmare: there was darkness, pain, and a thick smell of some kind of cheap plastic under a heavy layer of dust. He was curled up in a ball on the cold, dirty floor, shivering and shaking, because no matter what, he never seemed to be able to find the exit into the light.
He had struggled desperately to find his way to the door, which was cloaked in the same darkness.
No one would come find him, and no one would come to rescue him.
He was left alone like this. Hurt, cold, and trapped in a state of boundless despair.
Bang!
It seemed that the invisible steel door had been violently kicked open. The bright moonlight spilled into the room without hesitation, as if to sweep away all the darkness.
There in that backlit doorway with fine dust swirling around excitedly, stood a teenager. All of him was bathed in the moonlight as if he were a beautiful illusion, and Lu Bai’s eyes were stung by the sudden brightness to the point of tears, making it even harder to see the teenager’s face.
‘Maybe he is an illusion.’ Lu Bai thought to himself- This must just be a beautiful hallucination, it is said in books that one sees the most desired illusions in their most desperate moments. His eyes gradually dimmed from the certainty as he thought of this.
“Are you okay?” Lu Bai heard that illusion-teen’s voice anxiously ask and he tried to open his eyes wider and focus, but he didn’t have any more strength. He then felt the other person pick him up and put him on his back with his slightly cool yet warm hands, ‘Not a hallucination then’.
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll take you to the hospital.”
Lu Bai wanted to say thank you, but he could not control his body and could only drift off to sleep on the other’s shoulder. As he lost consciousness, Lu Bai mused, “This person smells really good.”
Maybe, this time was a beautiful dream.
~~~~~~~
The early morning breeze rustled against the curtains, with sunshine spilling into the house through the gaps between them.
Lu Bai opened his eyes as he stretched out comfortably.
“Are you satisfied with this companion’s sleeping service?” A pleasant voice that contained a hint of laughter sounded in his ears.
Lu Bai flinched in surprise, and for a moment it was as if he had still been in that dream. Then he turned around and saw Ruan Jiangjiu lying on his side, with his head propped up on his hand, looking at him with a smug yet playful smile on his face, his eyes arched – he just didn’t know how long he had been watching.
Lu Bai recalled that he had pestered him to share a bed with him late last night and blushed, but he still nodded quite honestly: “Satisfied.” He has not slept so well for a long time, a good sleep is too satisfying.
“So,” Lu Bai looked at Ruan Jiangjiu with a look of innocence and a sincere attitude when he said, “Xiao Ruan, from now on, can you sleep with me all the time?” Lu Bai also knows that this kind of request is too shameful. If it were the original story and he was one of those who wanted Ruan Jiangjiu to have ‘fun’, he would definitely be suspected of sexual harassment. But Xiao Ruan said he was different, so such a request should be okay, but in the end, he couldn’t let him sleep with him for nothing, so he bashfully added: “I, I will add money, add a lot of money.”
Ruan Jiangjiu: “…”
——-
Edited: Krone
