PD Chapter 32: Before Sleeping

When Wen Xunchuan walked out of the bathroom, hair still wet and wrapped in a bathrobe, He Linzhou, who was sitting on the sofa petting Chun Mei, glanced over at him and asked, “Took off your contacts?”

Wen Xunchuan responded with a simple “Mm,” and shuffled toward the bedroom in his slippers.

“Going to sleep?” He Linzhou asked casually.

“Mm.”

“Oh.” He Linzhou shifted his gaze back to Chun Mei, using both hands to ruffle her head while keeping his head down. “Goodnight, then.”

“Goodnight.”

Wen Xunchuan lay on his side in bed, half-asleep, when he felt a slight dip in the mattress beside him. Without turning around, he said, “Go sleep outside.”

He Linzhou, who had just stealthily lifted a corner of the blanket, promptly dove under it, pretending to be asleep.

Wen Xunchuan sat up, glancing down at him. “Get up.”

“The bed outside’s too hard; it makes my neck hurt,” He Linzhou muttered, pulling the blanket over his head and shamelessly mumbling, “Besides, it’s not like we haven’t shared a bed before… Let’s just sleep, goodnight.”

Wen Xunchuan pressed his fingers to his forehead, reached out to tug at the blanket, and said, “Stop talking nonsense. Get out.”

He Linzhou shot back, “My butt hurts. If someone’s going, it’s you—not me.”

Wen Xunchuan looked speechlessly at the guy cocooned in the blanket beside him, who had still been drinking and carousing just that evening, acting like an “LGBT little warrior.” He tugged on the blanket again, but He Linzhou held onto it like his life depended on it. Wen Xunchuan tugged two more times but still couldn’t pull it free.

After a pause, He Linzhou lifted the blanket slightly, peeking out with a puzzled look in his eyes. “Wait, didn’t you drink too much?”

With a dawning expression, he lifted the blanket and sat up, squinting suspiciously at Wen Xunchuan. “So that whole ‘half-dead’ act was just an act?”

The blanket draped over He Linzhou’s waist revealed his toned, honey-colored chest, dotted with ambiguous red marks stretching from his neck down to his shoulders.

“How long could a few bottles of beer keep me drunk?” Wen Xunchuan looked away and answered nonchalantly, “I was mostly sober by then.”

He Linzhou rubbed his nose, muttering under his breath, “Does kissing sober you up or something?”

Wen Xunchuan pretended not to hear and asked, “Are you leaving or not?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, He Linzhou flopped backward onto the bed, pulled the blanket over his head, and briskly replied, “See you tomorrow.”

Watching He Linzhou’s fluid, practiced maneuver, Wen Xunchuan was rendered completely speechless. Resigned, he turned off the light, lay on his side with his back facing He Linzhou, and closed his eyes.

After a while, he heard the rustling of the blanket and felt a slight shift on the mattress behind him.

Without moving, Wen Xunchuan said, “Move your hand.”

He Linzhou silently withdrew the arm he’d placed around Wen Xunchuan’s waist.

There was a brief silence. Then, hearing the even breathing beside him, He Linzhou whispered, “Hey, Wen Xunchuan?”

There was no response from Wen Xunchuan’s side.

He Linzhou turned to face his back, asking again, “Are you asleep?”

Still no answer.

He Linzhou reached out and poked him in the back. “Wen Xunchuan?”

Half-asleep and irritated, Wen Xunchuan slapped his hand away in frustration and asked, “What?”

“Nothing, just wanted to see if you were asleep.” He Linzhou chuckled.

“…Get lost.”

“Goodnight,” He Linzhou said, grinning.

A few minutes later, there it was again: “Wen Xunchuan?”

Wen Xunchuan took a deep breath, barely containing his irritation. “What now?”

“It’s just that…”

Before he could finish, Wen Xunchuan interrupted in an icy tone, “Call me one more time, and you’re dead.”

He Linzhou laughed. “Hey, hey, I’m just kidding. This time I really have something to say.”

Wen Xunchuan, eyes still closed, sighed in exasperation. “Spit it out.”

“How about we start dating?” He Linzhou asked.

Wen Xunchuan didn’t hesitate. “Not happening.”

Stunned by the quick rejection, He Linzhou propped himself up, glancing at Wen Xunchuan’s head illuminated faintly by the moonlight sneaking through the curtains. “But don’t you like me? Why not?”

Too tired to care about where He Linzhou got the wild idea that he “liked him,” Wen Xunchuan dismissed him without thinking. “Because you’re broke.”

Speechless, He Linzhou finally managed to stammer, “…Damn.”

“How can you be so shallow?” he complained, visibly annoyed. “I’m an only child.”

Wen Xunchuan gave a half-hearted “Mm” from his nose.

“My dad doesn’t have any illegitimate kids either,” He Linzhou continued after some thought. “Even if he did, they wouldn’t get a cent of the He family’s money as long as my mom’s around.”

Another disinterested “Mm” from Wen Xunchuan.

He Linzhou clicked his tongue, a hint of pride in his voice. “All the family’s assets will be mine sooner or later. Why would you worry about money if you dated me?”

Another “Mm” from Wen Xunchuan.

He Linzhou, propping himself up again, poked him gently in the spine. “So how about it? Be my boyfriend?”

“Not happening,” Wen Xunchuan said without missing a beat.

He Linzhou poked him again. “Why not?”

Wen Xunchuan frowned and slapped his hand away. “Because right now, you’re broke.”

There was a pause before He Linzhou grumbled, “Damn it, how did I not realize you were so money-obsessed?”

“You’re just blind.” Before he could continue, Wen Xunchuan cut him off. “This is the last time I’m saying this—shut up. Say another word, and you can get out.”

“…” He Linzhou lay flat, staring at the dark ceiling. After a pause, he sat up again, looking at the back of Wen Xunchuan’s head with a look of determination. “Then let me top just once.”

As soon as he spoke, Wen Xunchuan sat up, switched on the lamp with a dark expression, and said, “Didn’t I just tell you?”

The sudden brightness made He Linzhou squint, instinctively lifting a hand to shield his eyes. “What…?”

Before he could finish, Wen Xunchuan raised a leg and kicked him square in the waist, sending him tumbling off the bed with his blanket. He Linzhou glared up from the floor, “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

A pillow flew at his head, followed by Wen Xunchuan’s exasperated shout: “Get out!”

A minute later, He Linzhou lay curled up with Chun Mei on the narrow, hard futon outside, muttering to himself, “Damn, with a temper like that, who’d want to date him anyway?”