UI CH 26

Startled by their movements, the two men in the distance quickly got up and left. Zhao Jiyu sat down and gently stroked Shen Ran’s back,
“Don’t be nervous, it’ll be over soon.”

Shen Ran’s ears were even redder than before. He nodded and turned his face away, facing Zhao Jiyu with the back of his head.
He didn’t speak, and Zhao Jiyu didn’t disturb him, stopping his gentle strokes.

The two sat side by side, but the atmosphere was completely different from when they first arrived. Shen Ran didn’t understand why he was so nervous. It was an uncontrollable reaction, and it wasn’t just him. He told himself to calm down and ignore it, but it didn’t work.

Zhao Jiyu wasn’t making any noise, but sitting behind him gave him the illusion that Zhao Jiyu was watching him.

In fact, the gaze he felt was not an illusion. Zhao Jiyu’s eyes moved inch by inch from the wet hair on the back of his neck, sliding down with the water droplets over his reddened spine, and then quietly diving into the water. His fingers, resting by his side, gently caressed the tiled surface behind him.

Zhao Jiyu was savoring the feel of his waist in his mind. Unlike the flatness of the tiles, Shen Ran’s waist was slender and powerful, and when held, he could feel the changes in muscle tension, which felt very good.

The person being scrutinized seemed to feel this distant caress and unconsciously straightened his back, then quickly stood up and said without turning his head,
“Let’s go up.”

Zhao Jiyu followed behind Shen Ran, and they both walked back to the shower room. The individual showers were already full, so Shen Ran found a spot against the wall in the public area, turned the valve to cold water, and stood facing the wall, silently rinsing himself.

There were people in the two spots next to him, so Zhao Jiyu had to walk a few steps away and turned on the warm water. Zhao Jiyu looked at him twice while rinsing.

Shen Ran kept his head down and didn’t move, rinsing for a long time before turning the water to lukewarm. Zhao Jiyu returned to the changing room to put on his bathrobe first, and Shen Ran came to change shortly after. His expression had returned to normal. Zhao Jiyu said,
“Going from cold to hot can easily lead to a cold. Let’s go steam for a while.”

Shen Ran also felt tired from the earlier ordeal, so they found an empty cave to go into together. There were three rows of caves in this area, each designed to accommodate three to four people, with a slightly higher temperature, giving people a sense of security inside.

Zhao Jiyu lay down first, and Shen Ran, after sitting for a while and sweating, also started to feel sleepy. After he lay down, Zhao Jiyu asked,
“Are you still uncomfortable?”

His Adam’s apple rolled under his skin, and Shen Ran covered his eyes with his right arm, saying in a low voice,
“I’m fine now.”

Zhao Jiyu turned to look at him, “Did you find those two people disgusting?”

“Not really,”
Shen Ran said calmly. He just didn’t like the way they were affecting others in a public place, regardless of gender. Zhao Jiyu fell silent. Just as Shen Ran’s consciousness was drifting away and he was about to fall asleep, he asked again, “Do you still mind when I mention Li now?”

Shen Ran’s voice was a little fuzzy, “Mention what?”

“How did you fall in love with her in the first place?”

A bead of sweat at the corner of his temple dripped onto his earlobe, feeling a little itchy. Shen Ran became more awake and simply turned to look at the suddenly gossipy person next to him,
“Why are you asking this?”

Zhao Jiyu said, “I’m a little curious.”

“What’s so curious about this?”

“I want to know what it feels like to be in love.”

Originally, Shen Ran didn’t want to say much, but hearing this, he was also intrigued by the gossip,
“Ah? You haven’t been in love at your age?”

Without avoiding his probing gaze, Zhao Jiyu calmly asked, “Do you regret falling in love with her?”

Zhao Jiyu’s expression was too serious, making Shen Ran’s earlier joke seem a bit abrupt, and he didn’t know how to answer. After looking at the low arched ceiling for a moment, Shen Ran said with a sense of feeling,
“More than regret, it’s more disappointment. Thinking about it calmly, my being with her was a bit impulsive.”

“Impulsive?”

“Yeah,”
Shen Ran placed his hands behind his head, his bare right leg extending from under the hem of his bathrobe and resting on his left foot.
“Back then, people started spreading rumors after I just had one private meal with her. They said my attempts to curry favor were useless, since Li Ting always held her head high.”

“Some people even used eating at small restaurants near the school to attack me, telling me to recognize the gap between my family and Li’s, and not to overestimate myself.”

With a self-deprecating laugh, Shen Ran turned to Zhao Jiyu, “At first, I was really unconvinced, but now it seems like they weren’t entirely wrong.”

“Because Li Ting didn’t like me, she wouldn’t have cared what my family background was.”

His brow furrowed slightly, and before Zhao Jiyu could speak, Shen Ran continued,
“Let’s not talk about this, it’s boring.”

He turned over, lying with his back to Zhao Jiyu. Staring at his reddened ears and the beads of sweat rolling down his neck, Zhao Jiyu said softly, “Sorry, I didn’t think you’d be upset.”

“I’m not upset,”
Shen Ran’s tone was emotionless.
“Anyway, it’s all in the past.”

Zhao Jiyu gently touched the back of Shen Ran’s bathrobe sash with his fingers and asked one last question.
“Will you ever see her again?”

Shen Ran answered almost immediately.
“No.”

For a long time afterward, Shen Ran didn’t move.
Zhao Jiyu had anticipated that Shen Ran would be upset when he brought up Li Ting, so he stopped after a brief mention. He waited until he felt Shen Ran’s emotions had calmed down before patting his shoulder, wanting to call him out.

The temperature in the cave was not suitable for staying inside for long, but Shen Ran didn’t respond even after Zhao Jiyu patted him twice. Looking closer, he saw that Shen Ran was covered in sweat, even the tip of his nose was wet, yet he was still asleep in this environment.

Zhao Jiyu sat up and, without waking him, bent down and carried him outside. He found a private resting room in the VIP area and placed him on the tatami mat.

Shen Ran’s bathrobe was also soaked with sweat. Zhao Jiyu opened the closet, took out a clean one to change him, and wiped the sweat off his body. When he reached his thighs, Zhao Jiyu remembered his reaction in the hot spring and couldn’t resist teasing him for a while.

Shen Ran, who was usually busy with part-time jobs, slept very well when he was tired, and even when Zhao Jiyu teased him, he showed no signs of waking up.

Seeing his flushed face and slightly rapid breathing, Zhao Jiyu lowered his head, first kissing the corners of his mouth twice, then staring at his lips. Finally, he couldn’t resist and gently kissed those soft lips, parting his teeth to tease his tongue, enticing him to unconsciously entangle with him.

Zhao Jiyu kissed very restrainedly, but Shen Ran still showed faint signs of waking up. Feeling his eyelashes flutter, Zhao Jiyu immediately released him.

Fortunately, he wasn’t truly awake, and he just let out a soft sigh before falling back asleep.

Looking at his unguarded sleeping face, Zhao Jiyu thought of the two months he dated Li Ting, wondering if he had ever fallen asleep like this in front of her. With his fingertip gently caressing those slightly swollen lips, Zhao Jiyu leaned into his neck, leaving a red mark on the back of it.

This spot was rather tricky, and Shen Ran wouldn’t notice it unless he turned over. Seeing this mark that belonged only to him, Zhao Jiyu left two more similarly damp red marks on the back of his waist before releasing him and standing up.

After taking a shower, Zhao Jiyu returned to find Shen Ran still sleeping in the same position. He took a light blanket and covered both himself and Shen Ran’s stomachs, then pulled Shen Ran into his arms to sleep.

Zhao Jiyu had released his pent-up feelings in the shower, and he slept soundly that night, but Shen Ran, in his arms, kept having dreams.

In his dream, a man with his back to the light, whose face was unclear, performed absurd and indescribable actions on him, and he didn’t resist, until he was awakened by his own high body temperature. When he opened his eyes, his limbs felt sore, his chest was heaving, and he had a long-lost sense of relaxation.

This state was not unfamiliar to him, but then he realized he wasn’t wearing underwear.
He opened his mouth in surprise, remembering that he had come to the hot springs with Zhao Jiyu last night, and Zhao Jiyu was now sleeping next to him, lying on his side facing him.

Shen Ran’s neck was resting on Zhao Jiyu’s arm, and he moved his right hand, which was pressed between them, and as soon as he placed it on his abdomen, he felt a damp fabric.

The room’s curtains didn’t block out the light, and moonlight filtered through the white gauze curtains by the window. In the dim light, he saw what he had just touched and immediately sat up in shock.