HCILH Ch. 105

Chapter 105: Restricted Dating

Hou Mo rode back on his bike.

He had been in a rush when he left and forgot to bring his gloves. Riding in this weather was really cold.

The cold wind felt like it had a knife, scraping at his skin with each gust. Coming back from the damp cold to the dry cold, he even felt like his nostrils were completely dry, and breathing was uncomfortable.

He wrapped his hands in the sleeves of his down jacket, buried his chin in his collar, and forced himself home. He quickly locked his bike and went upstairs.

When he opened the door to his apartment, he first glanced at the entrance, and saw that Sui Houyu’s shoes were still in the house.

His biggest fear was Sui Houyu running off somewhere. On such a cold day, the last thing he wanted was for a drunken person to fall asleep outside; that would drive him crazy.

If Sui Houyu was still at home, he would feel half at ease.

Entering the room, he heard Da Ge’s warning roar, and he immediately realized what was going on.

When he actually saw that Sui Houyu was so frustrated that Da Ge had to swipe at him with his hand, he couldn’t help but laugh.

When Sui Houyu let down all his defenses and revealed his true nature, he was absolutely a mischievous child, definitely the type of owner cats hated the most.

He took off his jacket and said: “Brother Yu, I’m back.”

His jacket still carried some of the cold air, which would make Sui Houyu, who had been indoors the whole time, feel cold. He casually draped the jacket over the armrest of the sofa and tidied up the things on the sofa.

Then he walked into the room and took a look at the desk. The tablet was still on, automatically playing a tutorial video. There were some dried fruit peels and four empty bottles of fruit brew on the desk.

He picked each bottle up and shook it; they were all empty.

Sui Houyu had drunk four bottles this time, which seemed even more than last time.

Sui Houyu finally stopped teasing Da Ge and walked over to Hou Mo, glaring at him fiercely and asking: “Where did you go?!”

“I told you, I went to my grandmother’s house to celebrate New Year’s Eve.”

“Why didn’t you take me?”

“They still don’t quite accept that I’m gay. Also, during the New Year, there are a lot of relatives, and they’re bound to nag about things. You’d definitely get angry. If you don’t argue back, you won’t have a good holiday.”

Sui Houyu kept staring at him, getting closer with every step.

Hou Mo could only smile and admit his mistake with a good attitude.

Even though he had already given a heads-up and Sui Houyu had agreed, it seemed that Sui Houyu was still upset. He realized it was his fault.

He hadn’t handled things carefully enough.

Being pushed by Sui Houyu, he could only step back until he reached the edge of the room’s side cabinet and stopped.

He leaned against the side cabinet, lifted his hand to support Sui Houyu, and begged for mercy: “Houyu, I was wrong.”

Sui Houyu kept staring at him, his gaze circling his face before finally locking onto him: “I’m going to bite you.”

“Sure…”

Before he could finish, Sui Houyu kissed him.

The kiss seemed like intentional revenge, lightly biting his lips. It wasn’t hard, but it made Hou Mo feel excited.

Brother had initiated the kiss!

His heart raced as if it had been startled by a loud sound in the jungle, with birds flying and rabbits hopping.

He was so surprised that his fingertips trembled. A person who normally had great physical control suddenly became clumsy.

He was afraid his hands were cold, so he reached out and wrapped them around Sui Houyu’s body, holding his head with one hand, responding to the kiss.

Even though it was Sui Houyu who initiated it, Hou Mo was kissed back so intensely that he leaned back slightly, instinctively grabbing Hou Mo’s sleeve to steady himself.

Then, Sui Houyu reached out and tugged at Hou Mo’s shirt.

Realizing Sui Houyu’s intent, Hou Mo stopped, bracing himself on the side cabinet, his body slightly leaning back.

Sui Houyu took the opportunity to continue…

Hou Mo lowered his head and looked at Sui Houyu.

He had never expected that his Brother Yu would be so eager for “pink.”

He bit his teeth in pain, feeling a little sore.

He let Sui Houyu fool around for a while, then said: “Brother Yu, if you keep doing this, I’ll treat you the same way you treat me.”

Sui Houyu finally stopped, raised his head to look at him, and smiled: “Just you?”

“Hey!” Hou Mo got really fired up, lifting Sui Houyu onto the bed. “Just me!”

Sui Houyu lay back on the bed, and when Hou Mo came over, he directly took off his sweater, uncharacteristically relaxed.

Then, Hou Mo leaned down and asked: “Do you think you overestimated me?”

“Overestimated what?” Sui Houyu raised the corner of his mouth, looking at him playfully.

“I’m really not some gentleman.”

Sui Houyu wasn’t scared; instead, he laughed, which made Hou Mo really angry.

Was it easy for him to endure?

And now, after all that, he was being mocked?

Hou Mo said again: “Brother Yu, tomorrow, when you wake up from your hangover, don’t be shy.”

“Did you get shy when you were timid?”

“…” Hou Mo stared at him for a long time, then finally made a move.

Everything Sui Houyu had done to him, Hou Mo did the same in return.

Later, Hou Mo couldn’t hold back. Even when Sui Houyu didn’t do something, Hou Mo did.

Sui Houyu, even drunk, still had some lingering resistance. In the end, he kicked Hou Mo off the bed and asked: “I know you’re gay, but are you the top or the bottom?”

Hou Mo just got to his feet when he heard this question. He was stunned for a moment, then asked in shock: “Do you think I look like a bottom?”

“You’re so pale! And pink! And your butt’s so perky! And you tell me you’re a top?”

“No…” Hou Mo only realized then, “Wait, do you think you’re a top?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Look at your little body!”

“What’s wrong with my little body? I’m full of energy, and if I want to, I can make you keep your legs apart!”

Hou Mo laughed and turned around to look for his pajamas at Sui Houyu’s house.

After being kicked off the bed, he had sobered up and wasn’t planning to continue. Now wasn’t the right time to go further.

Sui Houyu was so annoyed by his laugh that he got out of bed, barefoot, and chased after him, asking, “What are you laughing at? Are you not convinced?”

“If you were with someone else, you’d probably be fine… but with me, you can only last five minutes, no more than that.”

Sui Houyu’s face instantly turned red upon hearing this.

Whether he fell asleep wasn’t something he could control!

Besides, just because he fell asleep doesn’t mean he’s incapable! He definitely can do it! He can!

But seeing Hou Mo’s smile, he instantly exploded.

The first few minutes, it was a blazing fire.

The next few minutes, it was chaos.

Sui Houyu, in a fit of rage, chased Hou Mo, wanting to fight him. He wouldn’t give up unless they did.

At that moment, Hou Mo couldn’t bring himself to fight back and could only dodge. The two of them ran around the room for a while, and in the end, Hou Mo managed to hold Sui Houyu down.

“Brother Yu, calm down, calm down. We’ll talk about this later. Don’t get angry now.” Hou Mo hugged Sui Houyu, including both his hands, preventing him from struggling any further. Then he lifted him and carried him to the bed, trying his best to control him.

“Then let me…”

“There’s no room for negotiation on this.”

Sui Houyu became even angrier and continued struggling.

And Sui Houyu really wasn’t being very cooperative—five minutes later, he fell asleep.

Hou Mo propped his head up and looked at Sui Houyu lying next to him. Suddenly, he felt a sense of confusion.

Wasn’t it said that this circle is “without any connections” and “scattered everywhere”? How did he and Sui Houyu end up arguing over this?

How should this issue be resolved… just thinking about it gave him a headache.

*

At the same time.

Sang Xian walked out of the airport, and the car arranged by his family was already waiting for him.

After getting into the car, he didn’t see Ran Shu, so he picked up the phone and called the driver in the front seat, asking: “Is Ran Shu still staying at home?”

“Mm, yes.”

“Why didn’t he come?”

“He went to the dance studio this morning.”

He hung up the phone and looked at his own phone.

No new messages.

After getting home, Sang Xian got out of the car in the underground parking lot, and the housekeeper helped him pull his luggage while he walked ahead alone.

His villa was a circular building, with three stories on the lower levels and five on the higher ones. It had his own living area, guest rooms, a study, a private garden, a gym, a tea room, and other rooms.

There were two underground levels, one of which was a garage.

The Sang family thought Sang Xian, being a boy, would like to buy cars, so they made the garage quite large. However, Sang Xian had no interest in cars, so it was always empty.

The villa had an elevator, which only he and the housekeeper could use. The household servants had to use the stairs.

After exiting the elevator, he entered the living room and saw Ran Shu holding a tray, walking toward the dining room. When Ran Shu saw him, he said, “I-I prepared some food for you.”

Sang Xian’s expression softened slightly as he asked: “Did you make this yourself?”

“I-I ordered the dishes personally. Auntie made them.”

“Oh, thank you for your trouble.” Sang Xian sat down and looked at Ran Shu. He felt that since his return, Ran Shu hadn’t changed much, still acting as carelessly as before.

After Ran Shu sat down, he gestured: “Shall we start eating?”

“Is there fried chicken?” Sang Xian glanced at the table and asked.

“Mm, yes, I didn’t know what you like, so I ordered according to my own preferences.”

“…” Sang Xian stared at the table and stayed silent for a full thirty seconds.

Why didn’t he just ask Auntie?

There’s no sincerity at all.

Sang Xian finally picked up his chopsticks. After training with the team at the camp, he ate whatever the cafeteria served, so he was no longer picky about food. It wasn’t that he minded the food, but he did feel a little disappointed.

It seemed like he wasn’t being considered at all.

Forget it… Ran Shu didn’t seem like someone who would care.

He avoided the fried foods and ate for a while before receiving a video call from his mom. When the call connected, his mother’s cheerful voice came through: “Xian Xian, have you come back?”

“Yeah, I’m back.”

“Why don’t you come stay with us for a few days? It’ll be more lively with the New Year coming.”

Only in the Sang family would they make a phone call to invite someone over. In other families, they would just shout from the living room to call someone out of their room.

Sang Xian responded flatly: “No, it’s too noisy there, and Ran Shu is here with me.”

During the New Year, there were always many people visiting their house, most of them business partners. Sometimes his parents weren’t even home, which he found annoying.

His mother laughed: “Alright then, you two spend the New Year together. I’ll be stepping out for a bit, and you can call us if anything comes up.”

“Mm.”

After hanging up, Ran Shu asked: “Auntie didn’t ask me why I’m not going home?”

“Why would she ask? If you’re not going, it must be for your own reasons. If you don’t bring it up, it means you don’t want to talk about it, so she won’t ask.”

“Auntie is pretty nice, huh. If it were my family, they’d definitely ask me everything.”

They didn’t seem to care much about the daily details, but in other aspects, they were excessively concerned.

After eating, Sang Xian went upstairs alone.

Once back in his room, he quickly tidied up his things and then took a bath.

It had been so cold at the training camp that he only washed off the sweat each day, but this time he had a proper bath.

He walked out in a bathrobe, picked up his phone, and saw several missed calls from Ran Shu.

He was about to return the call when he heard a knock on the door.

He opened the door to see Ran Shu hurriedly saying: “Do you have a charging cable? The kind with this port.”

Sang Xian glanced and replied: “Ask the housekeeper. He should have one with different ports.”

“Oh.”

Ran Shu had clearly just finished his bath, with his hair still damp and water dripping onto his bathrobe.

He had left his charging cable in the dance studio earlier, and by the time he came back, his phone had little battery left.

He had called Sang Xian before his bath to borrow the cable but hadn’t answered, so after his bath, he saw the messages from Sui Houyu but hadn’t replied yet. His phone then automatically shut off.

If he didn’t reply, Sui Houyu would worry, so he had to rush over in a hurry.

As Ran Shu was about to leave, Sang Xian stopped him by holding the door.

Ran Shu was momentarily stunned. The door was in front of him, and behind him, Sang Xian’s solid chest pressed against him. The narrow space made him feel a bit flustered, unsure whether he should turn around and face Sang Xian.

“Are you still busy? Can I at least charge my phone?” Ran Shu asked, looking up at Sang Xian with his back to him. He leaned back a bit too much and ended up resting against Sang Xian’s chest.

“In such a hurry?” Sang Xian raised his hand to support him.

“Mm, I-I have to reply to Brother Yu’s message. If I don’t, he’ll worry all night.”

“Huo Mo is with him.”

“Today, Huo Mo went to his grandma’s for the New Year. He’s not at home. I have to keep him company and chat.”

“And me?”

“What about you?”

“I just got back today.”

Ran Shu finally turned around to look at him and nodded: “I know.”

“Is that it?”

“No… What do you want today?” Ran Shu had noticed that Sang Xian seemed a bit off. It was hard to explain, but he couldn’t quite understand what the “CEO” was upset about. If he didn’t know better, he’d think the CEO had turned into a jealous wife.

Sang Xian just stared at him, lips pressed into a straight line, not saying anything.

Ran Shu rolled his eyes helplessly and asked: “Is this your silent way of acting spoiled?”

“…”

“Alright.” Ran Shu stood on tiptoe, hooking his arm around Sang Xian’s neck and giving his lips a light peck. “Is that enough?”

Just as he was about to leave, Sang Xian leaned in again, cupping Ran Shu’s chin with both hands, and lowered his head to kiss him.

Perhaps from the first kiss, Sang Xian never knew what it meant to kiss like a dragonfly skimming the water, nor did he understand the concept of a fleeting touch.

His kisses were always intense, intoxicating like strong liquor.

Such a kiss was like poison, enough to drown a fish in the water or drive a bird to its death in the sky.

His back hit the door, the raised patterns on the door pressing painfully into his back. He could only lean against the door for support.

His hands were at a loss, and in the end, he only held onto Sang Xian’s arm.

Finally, Sang Xian released him. He took a deep breath, finally able to regulate his breathing, and thought Sang Xian was about to let him go. But unexpectedly, Sang Xian picked him up, cradling him like a child, adjusting their heads to the same height before kissing him again.

It turned out the kiss wasn’t enough; it was just that he was tired of bending down.

Ran Shu had never felt short before. He had always thought of himself as a male idol, perfectly handsome.

But standing in front of this 1.9-meter tall, muscular man, he realized how vast the height difference really was.

He could only wrap his arms around Sang Xian’s shoulders to stabilize himself. Despite the awkwardness of the position, it still felt steady.

When he was laid on the bed, he hadn’t expected that Sang Xian would be much faster than he imagined.

He watched in shock as Sang Xian took something from the bedside table: “When did you prepare this? Do you often bring people back?” he asked.

“You’re staying here for a while, aren’t you? Haven’t you heard others say that I never bring anyone home? Even Hou Mo has only been to my parents’ villa.”

“T-Then, all this…?” When did you prepare it? Do you always keep this on hand?

“I bought it after you moved in here.”

Ran Shu was a little flustered. He knew Sang Xian was serious, but he wasn’t mentally prepared yet. He turned around, trying to run out.

Sang Xian grabbed him with one hand, stopping him: “You’re of legal age, right?”

“No!”

“I attended your coming-of-age ceremony. Back then we weren’t close, but I’ll make it up to you with a gift later.”

Ran Shu was really quite powerless at that moment. He could have run, but curiosity got the better of him. He turned back and asked: “What are you going to give me? Can you get me a pair of those limited-edition collab shoes? I can’t get my hands on them.”

He’d been thinking about this for a while, and several times he wanted to ask Sang Xian how he got them, but never had the courage.

“Yeah, alright.” Sang Xian pulled him back and kissed him again.

…

Ran Shu had considered that he might not be able to accept Sang Xian.

He thought he might struggle with it.

But he never imagined he would end up in such a terrible situation.

Sang Xian brought a glass of warm water and placed it by the bed, wanting to help him sit up and drink.

Ran Shu had been so weak from crying earlier, his body ached, and in a hoarse voice, he cursed: “You’re acting all proper now, but what the hell were we doing earlier? If we were playing something exciting, we’d need a camera used for marathon races. That machine would show a blur even of your waist.”

Sang Xian was cursed from start to finish, and he never expected someone to curse so constantly while making love. The swearing was so fluid, it didn’t sound like someone with a stutter—he was practically rapping.

Sang Xian was no saint either. The more Ran Shu cursed, the more ruthless Sang Xian became.

At that moment, Sang Xian, feeling guilty, lowered his voice: “Stop talking, your throat’s hoarse.”

“I don’t care! The only thing working right now is my mouth! Who wound your clock before you took a shower? Or are you a pestle in your past life, upgraded to an automatic version with a motor? Are you excited because you finally have a place to use it? You should be practicing Latin dance, not tennis!”

“Mm.”

“My whole body is so stiff.” Ran Shu thought about the painful spots he remembered and gritted his teeth again.

Sang Xian extended his hand to help him sit up: “If it really hurts badly, I can call the family doctor.”

Ran Shu was so angry, he nearly choked on the water.

He asked again: “What if he comes, should I just bend over and show him?”

“I’ll describe it to him.”

“Don’t you dare! If this gets out, will people think that I, Ran Shu, was crying my heart out at a classmate’s house to pay off my debts?”

Sang Xian suddenly realized something was wrong and asked: “You think of me as just a classmate?”

“Who else? Am I your father? I don’t want a son like you.”

“We’ve kissed, been to bed, but you still think we’re just classmates?”

Ran Shu thought about it for a moment and asked cautiously: “Then… are you my sugar daddy?”

Sang Xian, infuriated, put the water glass aside and didn’t speak for a long time.

After he calmed down, he fell back into a mode where nothing seemed to work.

Ran Shu suddenly realized something, leaned forward, and asked: “What, do you like me?”

Sang Xian looked at him, his chest tightening with frustration. It felt like there was cotton blocking his heart, gradually expanding to the point of exploding, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

Ran Shu finally laughed, crawled over to him, and revealed his smooth back, with clear bite marks on his shoulders and neck.

Reaching Sang Xian’s side, he smiled mischievously and said: “Then why don’t you pursue me?”

“Pay me back.” Sang Xian said simply.

Ran Shu’s face instantly changed: “What? If I’m with you, is that like my pocket money?”

“Yeah.”

“Is that for real?”

“Do you want to be with me?”

“Yeah.”

Sang Xian finally smiled. It was just a normal smile, but Ran Shu still felt like it was a CEO’s smile.

*

Afterward, the family doctor came to Sang Xian’s house, drew two tubes of blood from Ran Shu, and did an allergy test.

Ran Shu was puzzled: “What, if I’m dating you, you have to check if I’m sick?”

Sang Xian answered: “It’s just a routine check-up.”

About forty minutes later, the results came back, and Ran Shu was lying on Sang Xian’s bed receiving an IV drip.

He was so angry, it was like being stabbed by a needle…

And it was called anti-inflammatory treatment.

Sang Xian didn’t dare to stay by his side because he didn’t know how Ran Shu managed to get so angry that even the IV started to react.

Ran Shu’s voice was so hoarse, it sounded like gravel being dragged over glass, very uncomfortable.

Sang Xian had a lot to say, but he could only avoid him so that Ran Shu could rest. He would occasionally peek through the door, checking if the IV was finished.

It felt like he was sneaking around in his own house, and Sang Xian felt wronged.

The housekeeper, being thoughtful, asked: “Young Master, should I bring a chair so you can sit by the door?”

Sang Xian was a little embarrassed and replied: “Uh… no need.”

Important notes from the author:

The subplot for the side characters ends here, and their storylines will appear in the extras rather than the main text. The following parts of their plot will be similar to the ones for Deng Yiheng and Lu Yanxin—appearing only when necessary and not written as separate chapters.