Chapter 53

Ruan Xin was silent for a moment before suddenly realizing something. After Mi Zhao entered the room, she quietly pulled the door shut.

Well, now she didn’t even need to make arrangements.

Mi Zhao hesitated upon seeing that Li Sipei was asleep, but with the door already closed behind him, he had no choice but to tread lightly forward.

He reached the hospital bed and looked down.

Li Sipei’s leg, wrapped in a cast, was still elevated. He lay flat on the bed, eyes tightly shut, brows slightly furrowed, with the blanket covering only his other leg.

Mi Zhao pulled the blanket up to Li Sipei’s chest, carefully smoothing it out, then took a chair from beside the window and sat by the bed.

The hospital room was so quiet that the only sound was the faint hum of the heater. Mi Zhao sat still, staring at Li Sipei’s face, lost in thought.

But the longer he stared, the more he noticed something off.

Although Li Sipei’s eyes were closed, his eyelids were thin. If one looked closely, they could see the eyeballs underneath shifting slightly from time to time.

Mi Zhao narrowed his eyes and leaned in closer.

His breath fell on Li Sipei’s face, and perhaps due to nervousness, the eyeballs under those thin eyelids began to shift even more.

Well, well.

So he was faking sleep!

Mi Zhao propped his chin up with both hands and watched for a while. Seeing that Li Sipei could hold his act well, he deliberately blew warm air onto Li Sipei’s face under the pretense of whispering.

“Li Sipei,” he called in a hushed voice. “Are you asleep?”

Li Sipei remained still, but the shifting under his eyelids stopped.

Mi Zhao paused briefly before moving even closer, his lips nearly touching Li Sipei’s nose. “Li Sipei.”

He deliberately softened his voice, speaking slowly, each syllable stretched out.

Li Sipei seemed to be deep asleep.

But the next second, his eyelashes trembled ever so slightly.

Mi Zhao pressed his lips against the tip of Li Sipei’s nose, clearly feeling the other man’s body tense up slightly. Since the man was still pretending, Mi Zhao decided to play along.

His light butterfly-kiss trailed downward until it reached Li Sipei’s lips.

Mi Zhao hesitated for only a moment before slipping the tip of his tongue between those lips.

Li Sipei instinctively wanted to push him away, but then quickly remembered that he was supposed to be asleep. Left with no other choice, he let Mi Zhao’s tongue explore unimpeded.

For about thirty seconds, Mi Zhao took the lead entirely. Then, as if finding it boring, he let his lips continue downward—

Until they reached Li Sipei’s neck.

Imitating what Li Sipei had done to him before, Mi Zhao bit his Adam’s apple, using his teeth to lightly nibble along the edges. It was his first time doing something like this—unfamiliar, unaccustomed, and so embarrassing that he almost laughed.

As he continued, he finally couldn’t hold it in and let out a small chuckle.

Because he was propped up above Li Sipei, some of his saliva had landed on Li Sipei’s neck, even splashing onto his face.

Mi Zhao quickly raised his hand to wipe it off, but halfway through, he started laughing again.

When he looked up, he met Li Sipei’s eyes, which had unknowingly opened at some point.

Mi Zhao’s laughter became even more unrestrained, and he simply plopped onto the bed.

“Aren’t you supposed to be faking sleep? Why did you stop?”

Li Sipei’s gaze was dark as he said coolly, “You got your saliva on my mouth.”

“…” Mi Zhao’s laughter stopped abruptly. His cheeks instantly heated up, and he instinctively reached out with the back of his hand to wipe Li Sipei’s lips.

But before he could, Li Sipei suddenly stuck out his tongue and licked his lower lip.

Mi Zhao froze. He slapped a hand against Li Sipei’s chest. “Didn’t you say my saliva was on your mouth?”

“It’s gone now.”

Mi Zhao frowned. “And you don’t find that gross?”

Li Sipei looked at him steadily. “No.”

Mi Zhao had only meant it as a joke, but Li Sipei answered so seriously that his breath hitched. His heart started beating faster as he met Li Sipei’s gaze.

Flustered, he roughly wiped at Li Sipei’s neck and jaw with the back of his hand, then raised a brow and asked casually, “Why were you faking sleep?”

Years of seclusion had made Li Sipei’s skin exceptionally fair. Perhaps because it was also thin, the areas Mi Zhao had just rubbed were now visibly reddened.

But Li Sipei himself seemed oblivious to it. He hadn’t even noticed that his ears had turned red as well. Still wearing his aloof mask of “distance breeds beauty,” he replied indifferently, “I wasn’t faking sleep.”

“Yeah, right!” Mi Zhao grabbed his chin, preventing him from turning away. “You were totally pretending—I saw your eyes moving.”

Li Sipei tilted his head slightly but couldn’t shake off Mi Zhao’s grip. Left with no choice, he met Mi Zhao’s gaze, lips pressed together in silence.

Mi Zhao asked, “Did you not want me to come back?”

Li Sipei hesitated for a long moment before answering, “I didn’t not want you to.”

He had only wanted to see how Mi Zhao would react. If Mi Zhao had turned around and left, he would have immediately “woken up” and called him back.

But he hadn’t expected Mi Zhao to see through his act so quickly.

Mi Zhao pouted. “Childish. Even my elementary school cousin doesn’t play these kinds of games anymore.”

Li Sipei remained silent, neither agreeing nor refuting.

The two of them fell into silence again.

By now, Mi Zhao had figured out Li Sipei’s personality.

This man was the type to never say anything outright. He kept all his thoughts to himself, never showing them, never expressing them—just waiting for Mi Zhao to guess, to take the initiative.

So, during that one month of cold war between him and Li Sipei, it wasn’t that Li Sipei didn’t want to reach out—he was just waiting for Mi Zhao to make the first move.

Unbelievable.

Mi Zhao withdrew his hand, ruffled his hair, and asked, “What do you think now?”

Li Sipei’s light-colored eyes seemed to ripple like water as he looked at Mi Zhao. “Think about what?”

“About us.” Mi Zhao tapped his own chest, then tapped Li Sipei’s. “What do you think? Just friends?”

As soon as he said that, the air around Li Sipei noticeably turned cold, even his gaze sharpened. “You want to be just friends with me?”

“…” Mi Zhao didn’t think that at all.

Who would want to be just friends with someone they had already seen naked? That would be way too awkward!

But before he could say anything, Li Sipei spoke first. “Do you kiss your friends? Do you bite your friends’ necks? Do you climb all over your friends?”

Unable to take it anymore, Mi Zhao slapped a hand over Li Sipei’s mouth. “That’s why I’m asking you!”

Li Sipei’s eyes darkened, his expression unreadable. He raised a hand, gripping Mi Zhao’s wrist, but didn’t immediately push his hand away.

Mi Zhao was still wondering what he was planning when, suddenly, Li Sipei opened his mouth and bit down hard on the flesh beneath his thumb.

A sharp pain shot through him.

“Hiss—” Mi Zhao’s face contorted in pain. “Li Sipei! You bit me again!”

First, it was his neck, now his hand.

Was this guy part dog?!

Mi Zhao tried to yank his hand back, but Li Sipei held it tight. Then, as if to soothe him, Li Sipei ran the tip of his tongue over the bite mark.

“I haven’t even washed my hands. You really don’t care about hygiene, huh?” Mi Zhao pulled his hand back and took a look—two deep rows of bluish teeth marks were visible on both sides, slightly reddened, showing just how hard Li Sipei had bitten.

Mi Zhao was so angry he felt like steam was about to rise from his head. Clutching his hand, he glared at Li Sipei.

He couldn’t just grab Li Sipei’s hand and bite him back the same way, so he just sat there fuming. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Puffing out his cheeks, he turned over and prepared to get off the bed.

But Li Sipei caught his wrist again.

“Let go.”

Li Sipei didn’t. “First I was your sugar daddy, now you want to be friends. What’s next? Friends with benefits? A casual fling?”

Mi Zhao looked at him in shock.

“Mi Zhao, oh, Mi Zhao.” For the first time, Li Sipei’s expression showed real emotion, his voice carrying a hint of gritted teeth. “You really have no heart.”

Mi Zhao’s heart trembled. He stammered, “I…”

“Why can’t we be lovers?” Li Sipei cut him off quickly, as if afraid of hearing something he wouldn’t like. “Or do you think I’m too old for you?”

“…” Mi Zhao knew it—of course, Li Sipei had remembered what happened earlier that day. He hurriedly cleared himself of suspicion. “I never said that!”

Li Sipei’s eyes remained cold.

At this point, Mi Zhao momentarily forgot about the pain in his hand and anxiously explained, “I was just worried you were still holding onto the past, so I thought maybe we should start as friends first.”

Li Sipei’s voice was indifferent. “I don’t want to be your friend.”

Mi Zhao hesitated. “Then… lovers?”

Li Sipei answered without hesitation. “Okay.”

The shift was so sudden, so smooth, that it felt like a dream. Mi Zhao sat there stunned for a long moment before throwing himself forward to hug Li Sipei. But remembering the cast on Li Sipei’s leg, he restrained himself from being too rough.

“So, from now on, we’re boyfriend and girlfriend?”

Li Sipei gently rubbed his back and corrected him, “Boyfriend and boyfriend.”

“Oh, right, we’re both guys.” Mi Zhao leaned back slightly and pinched Li Sipei’s cheek. “ Is this real?”

Li Sipei nodded. “It is.”

“Then it’s not a dream.” Mi Zhao wrapped his arms around Li Sipei’s neck again, rubbing his face against his jaw just like he used to. The familiar sensation gradually grounded him in reality. Holding onto Li Sipei, he sighed. “This morning, I really thought we were over for good.”

Li Sipei silently hugged him back.

Only two months had passed, yet Mi Zhao had lost weight. With all the layers of winter clothing, it wasn’t obvious to the eye, but the moment he touched him, he could tell—Mi Zhao’s waist and back were almost skin and bone.

Li Sipei had so many things he had wanted to say, so many questions he had wanted to ask, but now, holding Mi Zhao in his arms, all those words were swallowed by something unspoken.

He sighed inwardly.

Forget it.

“Come on, come on.” Mi Zhao let go of him, puckered his lips, and leaned in, his voice muffled, “Gimme a kiss.”

Li Sipei: “…”

His lips, which were pursed so exaggeratedly that they could hold an oil can, were immediately grabbed and pinched by Li Sipei.

“Mm?” Mi Zhao widened his squinting eyes in confusion, staring at Li Sipei.

Li Sipei stared at his lips, which he had just squished into a duckbill shape. He almost laughed but held it in. “It’s late. You should go home.”

Then he let go.

“Ah—” Mi Zhao groaned in protest. “But I just got into a relationship!”

Li Sipei shot him a glance. “You want to spend your first night as a couple in a hospital?”

Mi Zhao thought seriously for a moment. “I mean… it’s not impossible.”

Despite his seemingly earnest expression, Li Sipei strongly suspected that whatever was currently running through Mi Zhao’s mind was anything but pure.