Chapter 103
Before the holiday began, Shi Luo hadn't quite understood why Yu Sui was reluctant to go to Hangzhou with his teammates.
It was their own "little honeymoon," and traveling with others would be inconvenient, but the hotel the team booked had excellent soundproofing. They had a rare holiday, and everyone else from the club would be doing their own thing anyway—who would pay attention to whether they shared a room at night? Even if they spent every night together for those three days, others might not necessarily notice. Not going to the hotel meant they'd have the base to themselves for a few days of peace and quiet, but eating would be less convenient than at the hotel, and the bed wasn't as big either. Upon closer inspection of comfort levels, staying at the hotel was definitely far superior.
But after one day and one night into the holiday, lying on Yu Sui's bed with eyes barely able to stay open, Shi Luo thought through sheer exhaustion: thankfully they hadn't gone to Hangzhou.
When they had first gotten together, Shi Luo had for a while thought he was being too lovesick—too clingy, too greedy for warmth, too whiny and clingy.
In contrast, Yu Sui was much more restrained. When Shi Luo said they shouldn't go public, OK, they wouldn't. When Shi Luo said no sharing a bed, fine, they'd sleep separately first. Everything was according to Shi Luo's wishes. Even when they occasionally crossed the line, Yu Sui would usually just take care of Shi Luo one-sidedly. Every time Shi Luo offered to help him afterward, Yu Sui would mostly just smile and say it was too late, and that if they messed around more they'd be unable to train tomorrow. Then he'd go take a shower, never lingering with Shi Luo too long to waste the precious sleep time during the competition period.
Everyone's state after falling in love is different. Shi Luo had for a while thought Yu Sui might just be this type of person—someone with a slow-burning, mild temperament. He also thought maybe Yu Sui's body wasn't as good as before after his previous stomach bleeding illness, and being two years older, he wasn't like Shi Luo who was like a firecracker that went off at the slightest provocation.
It wasn't until halfway through the short holiday... that Shi Luo's previous thoughts completely shattered, and he gradually came to understand the reality.
Yu Sui didn't care whether they went public or not, simply because he truly didn't care how others viewed him. He'd survived being condemned by the entire internet two years ago—what others said about him simply didn't matter to him. Since his boyfriend would care, he'd just go along with his boyfriend's mood.
And every time Yu Sui finished caressing Shi Luo, he'd decline Shi Luo's offer to "return the favor." It wasn't that he didn't feel anything—purely, he just looked down on these little tickles and minor games.
Going back to the original question, Shi Luo once again felt grateful they hadn't gone to Hangzhou.
The rest of the team not necessarily noticing if they spent every night together was one thing, but the problem was... they weren't just spending every night together.
Yu Sui, that playboy, had a different understanding of certain matters than Shi Luo did.
Not necessarily at night.
Not necessarily on the bed.
At the base, free of others, early morning, in the dormitory with the "Whisper" ID, on the thick wool carpet in front of the wardrobe, Shi Luo was so tired his eyes could barely stay open. He pulled the blanket that had fallen to the floor over himself, his voice hoarse: "Captain... I'm really going to be broken..."
Yu Sui sat on the carpet, leaning against the wardrobe, easily scooping Shi Luo up with one arm, holding him from behind. He picked up a small square plastic packet.
Shi Luo's spine trembled the moment he heard that plastic sound, and then he heard Yu Sui laugh lightly behind him, murmuring softly: "You're perfectly fine, not broken at all..."
Shi Luo stared blankly for a moment, suddenly understanding what Yu Sui meant. His ears immediately burned red.
"Besides, Time God, aren't you feeling it now?" Yu Sui wrapped one arm around Shi Luo, the other hand holding the small packet, lowering his head to tear the plastic open skillfully with his teeth, his tone carrying a hint of gentleness: "Let the captain help you..."
Shi Luo closed his eyes, wanting to protest but unable to find the words...
It's clearly you who rubbed against me and flirted first thing in the morning! Flirted me up and then acting like the good guy, acting innocent, acting all peaceful and serene!!
...
...
Afterward, Shi Luo was about to shower on his own, but since he'd dug his own grave, Yu Sui, using the excuse of "the captain needs to check if you're really broken," dragged Shi Luo into the bathroom by semi-force. Then for nearly two hours, Shi Luo couldn't get out of the bathroom.
...
The cleaning lady at the base was also on holiday, so no one was cooking, but Yu Sui hadn't let Shi Luo go hungry. Three meals a day, he'd have a familiar private kitchen deliver right on time, going downstairs to pick up the food at meal times. He'd arranged Shi Luo's diet and schedule even more regularly and healthily than usual. Shi Luo was eating while looking Yu Sui up and down...
While eating, Yu Sui had his head slightly lowered, two strands of hair falling down, making his already thin and deep-featured face look even more gaunt. Below that was a loose long-sleeved sweatshirt, Yu Sui had rolled up the cuffs a few times, exposing perfectly shaped, slightly bony wrists. Below that were the sports pants that looked pretty much the same to Shi Luo, the countless pairs of them. On his feet were a pair of flats that had been stepped flat on the first day of wearing, the shoe quarter forcibly used as slippers.
From head to toe, simple, clean. When eating quietly like this, no matter who came to evaluate, he'd seem like an innocent and pure college student.
Shi Luo swallowed a bite of food, then abruptly muttered: "Playboy looks..."
"Hm?" Yu Sui raised his eyes, picked up a bottle of mineral water and took a sip. "What did you just say?"
"Nothing." Shi Luo stuffed another bite of food into his mouth. After a while, he again abruptly said, "Before, everyone joked that you looked like you were for sale. They really didn't冤枉 you."
Yu Sui: "..."
Shi Luo didn't dare look at Yu Sui, lowering his head to mumble: "I underestimated you. Your stamina like this, really... you could definitely handle it."
Yu Sui smiled amusedly, not refuting. He picked up a bok choy stem and placed it in Shi Luo's bowl: "Eat your meal properly. Don't cry about being hungry after doing nothing much, as if I can't fill you up."
Shi Luo was speechless, eating grudgingly. He still couldn't resist saying: "Can I contact Zhou Huo?"
Yu Sui raised his eyes: "What do you want with him?"
"Let me go to Hangzhou!" Shi Luo wanted to throw down his chopsticks, but there was no one else at the base anyway. If he offended Yu Sui, he'd have to suffer the consequences himself. Shi Luo rarely backed down, but he did now: "I... can I take an afternoon nap later? Don't mess with me..."
"You can't go to Hangzhou anyway. The whole club knows you're not going out because you got drunk at the victory banquet. Besides, speaking of which..." Yu Sui turned his head to look at Shi Luo, speaking cryptically: "Time God, as long as you don't react, I definitely won't force you... I'm not a流氓."
Shi Luo's chest ached. Yu Sui the playboy... taking advantage of being able to flirt and provoke him with just casual dirty talk, had completely lost all shame and was doing as he pleased.
But even though Yu Sui said that, at noon he still let Shi Luo sleep a full nap.
Whether Yu Sui was being overly sentimental or not, during these days of living together, he always felt Shi Luo's sleep quality was getting better and better.
Shi Luo used to have the problem of suddenly waking up in his dreams—not serious, the cause was hard to pinpoint. Maybe he was exhausted, maybe his guard was too high, maybe it was a problem left over from moving around without a stable home since childhood. Shi Luo would wake up at least once every night.
But now Shi Luo rarely woke up startled anymore.
At most he'd move suddenly in his sleep. Yu Sui slept lightly, and after noticing, he'd rub Shi Luo's back. This had become a habit over time—Shi Luo was increasingly fond of sleeping pressed against Yu Sui. As long as he was close to Yu Sui, he could sleep soundly through the night, rarely even dreaming.
The entire afternoon, Yu Sui leaned against the head of the bed, Shi Luo's head resting on Yu Sui's lap, sleeping deeply and peacefully.
Yu Sui's left hand occasionally ran through Shi Luo's short hair, gently pinching Shi Luo's ears in a soothing way. Finally having time, he turned on his phone to check WeChat.
**[Manager Zhou]:** [Yu Sui... did you fall off the grid? So many people are looking for you, just respond! What are you doing? I can't take it anymore. You threw a string of bombs and then went into hiding to enjoy peace and quiet. Everyone's been asking me where you are!]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [The neighboring team's owner has been gossiping with me about you! Zhao Feng from IAC and I have had bad blood before, but even he added me just to hear gossip about you!]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [The fans are going to explode too, you know?]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [Puppy has been livestreaming non-stop, the whole team has appeared on camera one after another, only you and Shi Luo haven't shown up. Your fans aren't stupid—they know you both didn't come to Hangzhou.]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [You suddenly went public with a relationship, and your fans are going crazy. They just want to know who this "fascinating beauty" is.]
There were still many long paragraphs of messages from Zhou Huo above. Yu Sui couldn't be bothered to read them carefully, skimming and replying briefly.
**[Whisper]:** [If they ask, just say it's personal business, not convenient to disclose.]
Zhou Huo replied immediately: [You're finally online? Goodness, two days and two nights—what have you been doing?]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [Evil... cough, really that clingy?]
Looking at the messages, Yu Sui smiled, couldn't resist taking a screenshot, planning to show it to Shi Luo when he woke up.
**[Manager Zhou]:** [Cough cough, setting that aside—the main point is! The fans are going to blow up the official account! I can't hold them off!]
Yu Sui shifted slightly, finding a more comfortable position, then typed.
[I didn't steal or rob anyone, and I'm an adult. What's the big deal about being in a relationship?]
Not two seconds after Yu Sui sent the message, his phone buzzed again. Zhou Huo had sent a string of messages one after another.
**[Manager Zhou]:** [Although you have many girlfriend fans, they won't exactly forbid you from dating. That's not where the conflict lies.]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [That interview of yours already exploded across the community. Everyone has been analyzing it, studying every word you said.]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [Our fans were afraid you'd be unhappy, so they originally didn't dare openly ship you two! But Shi Luo also hasn't shown up for two days! Thinking about your various special treatments for him—fans can't help but think about it! The moment they thought you two might be together, the fans of you both are exploding!]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [Right now there are two theories, and the two sides are deadlocked. One is that you might have found some outsider minx. The other is that as the saying goes, living long enough you'll see everything—you might be with Shi Luo.]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [The fans just want to know who it is.]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [Although saying this is a bit strange...]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [But from my perspective, rather than you finding some flower who takes your money and drains your essence, your fans would rather you be with Shi Luo.]
Yu Sui really wanted to reply to Zhou Huo: Did you think Shi Luo isn't a minx?
Young Master Shi, this heart-arsonist, apart from not taking his money, has left nothing undone.
**[Manager Zhou]:** [If you two are together, they'll accept it, treating it as their two loves being with each other.]
Yu Sui smiled slightly. The fans were actually quite adorable. He thought for a moment, then replied: [I'll handle it.]
Zhou Huo breathed a long sigh of relief: [Please hurry. You're at peace, but the internet is going to be crazy these past two days, okay?!]
Yu Sui didn't bother Zhou Huo anymore. He exited WeChat, opened Weibo, logged into his official account, and followed Shi Luo's alt account—all in one go.
"This shouldn't count as going public, right..."
Yu Sui lowered his head and ruffled Shi Luo's hair, his tone light: "Now, the pressure is on Time God's side..."