Lin Feiran retreated into the corner, so nervous that even his toes curled. Stubbornly, he said, “It’s mine. I took it off on the bed, and then forgot it…”
After all, school uniforms all looked the same. Even though Gu Kaifeng’s measurements were one size above Lin Feiran’s, such a small difference couldn’t be seen at a glance.
Lin Feiran was lying, and his gaze slid restlesly around the room.
Gu Kaifeng watched him with a smile. “Is it?”
Looking everywhere at random was one of Lin Feiran’s big tells that he was lying, but most people aren’t especially aware of their own particular mannerisms, and Gu Kaifeng had no intention of telling Lin Feiran.
Lin Feiran nodded. “It is.”
Gu Kaifeng replied with faint “Oh,” then prepared to get out of bed.
“Quick, go to sleep. What are you getting up for?” Lin Feiran hastily sat up and grabbed Gu Kaifeng’s wrist, enthusiastically inviting Gu Kaifeng to share the bed with him.
Gu Kaifeng’s tone was calm but a hint of teasing flashed through his eyes. “Suddenly, I want to take inventory of my school uniforms.”
Lin Feiran’s face instantly reddened like a little cherry tomato. “……”
Gu Kaifeng grew even more confident and the corners of his mouth lifted, “Little liar, are you going to tell the truth?”
“…It’s yours.” Lin Feiran shamefully buried his face into the blanket over his knees so only his ears, which were totally red, could be seen.
“What are you putting my uniform under your blanket for?” Gu Kaifeng reached out his arm and wrapped it around Lin Feiran, trying to pull him upright, but Lin Feiran stubbornly kept his body pressed against his knees and refused to raise his head. “Mm? Baby, say something.”
Lin Feiran couldn’t think of anything besides ‘Actually, I’m a pervert who likes to smell unwashed school uniforms.’ Nothing that could actually be spoken and that conformed to logic was coming to mind. There was an awkward silence that Lin Feiran maintained as a form of passive resistance while fantasizing that if Gu Kaifeng didn’t get a response, he would feel snubbed and go back to the bottom bunk to sleep.
But he had clearly underestimated the thickness of Gu Kaifeng’s skin!
Gu Kaifeng said, “You hid my school uniform beneath your blanket and suddenly want to sleep on your own…”
Suddenly, a bad premonition rushed through Lin Feiran’s heart!
Gu Kaifeng pinched Lin Feiran’s waist and said in a slightly hoarse voice, “If you’re beating the airplane, why not include me?”
Lin Feiran was so embarrassed he almost exploded on the spot. He sat up straight and yelled, “I’m not beating the airplane!”
“Then what were you going to do?” Gu Kaifeng asked. Seeing Lin Feiran purse his lips and refuse to speak, he surmised that his guess was accurate. He pushed Lin Feiran back onto the bed and lay lightly on top of him, urging in a low voice, “Tell me.”
Lin Feiran was terrified that Gu Kaifeng would kiss him until he couldn’t breathe again. He turned his face away in a hurry, unknowingly presenting his alluring neck and profile before Gu Kaifeng’s hungry gaze. “I really wasn’t going to do that. You, you’d better get off me first. Let’s talk properly,” Lin Feiran stammered.
“You weren’t going to beat the airplane.” Gu Kaifeng eyed Lin Feiran’s neck, his eyes almost radiating a green light. He lowered his head and touched his lips to Lin Feiran’s neck. When he next opened his mouth to speak, his warm and moist breath fell softly on Lin Feiran’s fair neck. “You just want to tease me to death, don’t you?”
Lin Feiran’s brain worked on autopilot. He huffed, “Yeah, yeah! I want to tease you to death so I can inherit your Chinese literature homework! Are you satisfied!?”
Gu Kaifeng snorted. The suggestive atmosphere was almost spoiled by Lin Feiran; but at this time, the lights in the dorm went out.
Since the day Lin Feiran climbed into Gu Kaifeng’s bed because of ‘a nightmare,’ Gu Kaifeng had started placing a little night light on his desk, making a habit of turning it on every night before going to bed. At first, it was really because he was worried Lin Feiran would get scared, and later it became habit. In the dim and suggestive lighting, the youth who was carefully keeping a safe distance from him now looked even more enticing. Gu Kaifeng’s mouth felt dry. He lay down next to Lin Feiran, stretched out an arm to encircle his waist, and pulled him into his embrace.
The instant he was pulled into Gu Kaifeng’s arms, Lin Feiran was shocked to discover that there was something hard poking against his rear.
“You…” Lin Feiran went red to the tips of his ears. He struggled free of Gu Kaifeng’s arms, but the dormitory beds were only that big and there was nowhere for him to run.
Gu Kaifeng scooped the escaped Lin Feiran back against him. He tightened his grip around Lin Feiran, holding him close once more, and teased, “Here, baby, let’s help each other out.”
Lin Feiran broke down and said, “Are you asking for a fight?!”
“Yes,” Gu Kaifeng replied leisurely. A wayward hand slid into Lin Feiran’s pajamas, fingers exploring the edge of his pajama bottoms suggestively. “Draw your sword.”
“You’re mad!” The little sticky cake, thoroughly embarrassed and angry, announced his ire as if he were forecasting the weather. “Gu Kaifeng! I’m going to get angry!”
After he spoke, Lin Feiran grabbed the blanket and rolled toward the wall, taking with him the part of the blankets that had been covering Gu Kaifeng.
He refused to share the covers!
This could be said to be a very unambiguous way of showing a visitor the door…
Damn, teased him too far. Gu Kaifeng forced down the wicked fire in his heart and pulled Lin Feiran back to him, blankets and all. He pleaded gently, “I was wrong. I won’t fuss any more. Go to sleep.”
Lin Feiran didn’t move and didn’t say anything. He went on doing his selfish calculations in his heart, trying to find a tactful excuse to chase Gu Kaifeng away.
But then, Gu Kaifeng sat up and tossed the balled-up uniform shirt and trousers onto the bottom bunk. “Damn things, getting in the way.”
“……” Lin Feiran’s selfish calculations came to nothing in an instant!
After all, he couldn’t take them back right in front of Gu Kaifeng!
“I’m cold. Let me under the blankets.” Gu Kaifeng lifted a corner of the covers. “Be good.”
Lin Feiran groaned and moaned as he held back the blankets. Under the protection of the covers, he tugged his manhood, which at some point had started to rise, so that it stood straight and flat against his abdomen. He then yanked down his pajamas to conceal it completely. He was terrified that Gu Kaifeng would notice something was amiss.
I’ve really seen a ghost! Lin Feiran thought guiltily as he broke out in a cold sweat.
Gu Kaifeng saw Lin Feiran messing around in the blankets and more or less guessed what was going on. But since Lin Feiran had gotten so embarrassed earlier, Gu Kaifeng did not expose him. He lifted the corner of the blankets again and wheedled Lin Feiran with a few more words, then successfully slid beneath them and carefully placed one arm on Lin Feiran’s waist. This time, Lin Feiran did not resist. He lay with his back toward Gu Kaifeng, both ears red. Gu Kaifeng was in high spirits and blew a breath on Lin Feiran’s exposed ear before he said, “RanRan, goodnight.”
Lin Feiran replied softly, “Goodnight.”
Gu Kaifeng shut his eyes and did nothing further.
It was as if he had finally succeeded in ripping open the delicious little sticky cake’s wrapper, but couldn’t eat it because the little sticky cake was afraid of being eaten. He could only hold, touch, and smell that small, fragrant white ball and not be satisfied!
But this is fine too, Gu Kaifeng thought. Lin Feiran is too cute. He was willing to slowly savor the various stages of their interactions. After all, if a food is too delicious, one is often loath to eat it all in one bite.
After passing what could be said to be a rather embarrassing night for Lin Feiran, the city experienced a sudden drop in temperature. The little warmth that had remained some days ago had now disappeared along with the sun, which was hidden behind a cover of heavy gray clouds. A bitter wind howled from the north, violently blowing against the trees that lined the footpath outside the window so they leaned precariously to one side. Just looking at it was enough to make one feel cold.
Lin Feiran got out of bed and pulled out a thick sweater from his closet before also pulling out a pair of cashmere long johns that would invite hatred from any fashionable person. He was about to take off his pajamas to put them on when his gaze suddenly met that of Gu Kaifeng on the top bunk. Gu Kaifeng had awoken and was currently supporting his head with one hand as he lay on his side. A pair of black and laughing eyes swept suggestively over Lin Feiran, who had been about to take off his clothes.
This was too much excitement for so early in the morning.
“……” Lin Feiran’s face went hot under that gaze. He picked up the sweater, long johns, and his school uniform, then walked out of the room.
“Where are you going?” Gu Kaifeng hurriedly sat up and leapt down the ladder in only two steps.
Lin Feiran glared furiously at the lecher. “I’m going to the toilet to change clothes.”
“Just change here. The toilet’s cold.” Gu Kaifeng did not feel bad for being glared at so fiercely by Lin Feiran. On the contrary, he felt that Lin Feiran’s glare was even more attractive than other people’s fawning glazes. He could not help but stretch out his hand to gently pinch Lin Feiran’s supple cheek. Then, he picked up his washbasin and hurried past Lin Feiran to the water room to wash up first.
Lin Feiran let out a breath and quickly changed his clothes in the dorm. Pulling out the two pens and notebook from under his pillow, he stuffed one pen into his pants pocket and put the rest back in their original places.
Before long, most of the morning had gone by.
It satisfied Lin Feiran immensely when his observations from his experiments showed that the leftover Yang energy in a pen used by Gu Kaifeng for a single class could suppress the Yin-Yang eyes for about twenty minutes. After this time had elapsed, the pen’s Yang energy would be exhausted and it would become useless. Other small objects behaved in a similar manner. Notebooks, textbooks, scratch paper, pens… Whenever Gu Kaifeng wasn’t paying attention, Lin Feiran would sneak a small item from his side, hide it, suck its Yang energy dry, then secretly return it. In the world of thieves, this would be an admirable feat.
With these items to protect him, Lin Feiran had not taken the initiative to touch Gu Kaifeng today. On the other hand, he had been touched many times by Gu Kaifeng…
Near the end of third period, it began to rain outside. The rain that came with the changing of seasons from autumn to winter was the worst. It was so gloomy and cold it could penetrate to the bone, and with the low temperatures, the ground took a long time to dry. With the additional drop in temperature overnight, a thin layer of ice would cover the ground in the morning. Lin Feiran moodily watched the rain through the window. He tugged the sleeves of his sweater down so they enveloped both his cold hands.
Ten minutes later, the bell rang for dismissal.
Shortly after the bell rang, Lin Feiran’s Yin-Yang eyes began to stir up trouble.
This time, Lin Feiran braced himself and did not touch any of Gu Kaifeng’s things. He had figured that while in class he would need to pay attention, and if he saw a ghost he would not have the heart to study. But after class, he could still work on building up his courage. So Lin Feiran propped his forehead on one hand like he was deep in thought and stared at the open book on his desk. But a moment later, his eyes were casting glances at his surroundings, seeking ghosts.
When Lin Feiran glanced again at the ghost of the top student who had draped himself over Zhang Xu with a single-minded persistence and determination, he was taken by surprise when he caught sight of a cat. The cat stood in the aisle and was covered in thick, fluffy white fur. It had two clear azure eyes, and though it did not look like a pedigreed cat, its appearance was very charming. Only, the filthy streaks of mud and fresh blood on its body made it look quite pitiful.
The cat mewed anxiously. Every time it passed a student, it would pounce at them and try to bite their pant legs, but every time it would come up empty. Cats probably do not understand how things that die can become ghosts; it did not seem to realize that it was no longer living.
This was the first time that Lin Feiran had seen the ghost of an animal. Perhaps because it was a different species, he discovered he was far more receptive to animal ghosts. He felt barely any fear. He looked at the cat, and when its gaze met his, he mouthed, “What’s the matter?”