HCILH Ch. 38

Chapter 38: Continuing the Shower

After handing over the disposable underwear, the two were at a standstill again.

Sui Houyu stopped undressing and stood to the side, waiting for Hou Mo.

Hou Mo awkwardly stood for a while, feeling like he couldn’t back out now. He cleared his throat, set the ice pack aside, tugged at the hem of his shirt, and prepared to undress, but in the end, he turned his back.

This was the last bit of modesty from a tough guy.

Sui Houyu had no particular interest in watching either. He undressed beside him, grabbed toiletries from Hou Mo’s cabinet, and headed for the shower room.

When Hou Mo turned around, all he saw was Sui Houyu’s retreating back.

Each shower stall had a frosted glass door and walls on both sides, giving each person a private space.

Sui Houyu tested the water temperature, then started showering.

Since he only wanted to rinse off the sweat, he wasn’t too thorough. As he tilted his head under the water, he vaguely heard footsteps, followed by someone entering the stall next to him.

When Sui Houyu reached for the toiletries, he noticed they were all imported brands—definitely not something Hou Mo would typically buy. He immediately deduced: they were gifts from Sang Xian.

This realization left him with complicated feelings. He had grown up with Hou Mo and was now his doubles partner, yet he still couldn’t figure out what was going on between Hou Mo and Sang Xian.

What exactly was their deal?

After finishing his shower, Sui Houyu rinsed off the toiletries and then knocked on the adjacent door.

Hou Mo, ever cautious, only cracked the door open enough to extend a hand. Sui Houyu understood and passed the items over.

After taking them, Hou Mo closed the door again.

Sui Houyu stood at the door and asked: “Does it hurt?” 

After a moment, Hou Mo responded: “It comes and goes.”

“I’m done. Heading out now.”

“I hung the towel on the door across from you.” Hou Mo replied, pointing in that direction.

Sui Houyu walked over, grabbed the towel, draped it over himself, and used the hairdryer at the sink to dry his hair.

Hou Mo showered quickly, but as the sound of the hairdryer dragged on, it became clear that Sui Houyu wasn’t returning the towel.

Peeking through a crack in the door, Hou Mo saw Sui Houyu from behind—the towel draped over his back, barely covering his thighs, with his long, slender legs exposed.

Hou Mo swallowed hard, pulled back into the shower, and wiped the water from his face, trying to calm himself. He pounded his chest with his fist, adjusting his breathing.

When Sui Houyu finished drying his hair and realized Hou Mo hadn’t come out yet. He listened carefully and didn’t hear the sound of water, then walked to the door and asked: “Still not done?”

“Uh… waiting for the towel.”

“Oh.” Sui Houyu handed it over through the door. “It’s a bit damp.”

“It’s fine; I’ll make do.”

After passing the towel, Sui Houyu went back to change clothes.

Hou Mo used the towel to dry himself, suddenly realizing the dampness came from the water on Sui Houyu’s body. He started scratching his head in frustration.

Pretending to be a straight guy was pure torture—especially since the constant stimulation was too much for him, and he was no saint.

Hou Mo finally emerged from the shower with the towel wrapped around him.

Unlike most guys, who wrapped the towel around their waist, Hou Mo wrapped his from the chest down.

Sui Houyu glanced at him and couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Sensing that Hou Mo might feel awkward, Sui Houyu stepped out, saying: “I’ll wait for you outside.”

“Sure.”

After the door closed, Hou Mo exhaled in relief and started changing.

Whenever Sui Houyu was around, Hou Mo felt like every hair on his body stood on end.

*

After every shower, Sui Houyu usually bought bubble tea or some other drink from a nearby store.

There was a shop like that on campus, not far from the bathhouse, and it did especially well during this time of day.

But recently, Sui Houyu couldn’t indulge, so he could only glance longingly at the shop before sighing.

Hou Mo came out, noticed him looking at the store, and asked: “Are those drinks good?”

“They’re alright. You’ve never tried one?”

“Before I was a student athlete this wasn’t popular, so I never tried it—only regular drinks.Now that I am one, I can’t drink them, so I’ve never known what they taste like.”

Sui Houyu gave him a sympathetic look.

Hou Mo sighed, exasperated. “Is it really that bad?”

“People like you have been training for a long time and strictly control your diet. Once you retire from sports and stop training, if you start eating freely, you’ll probably get fat. By middle age, you’ll be just another greasy old man^[1].”

Hou Mo shook his head. “No way! My parents didn’t get fat.”

“They didn’t go through the same kind of training as you.”

“My dad was in the army.”

“He…” Sui Houyu started to say something, but then realized that Hou Mo’s father had likely passed away before even being discharged, meaning he never experienced that kind of transition. Sui Houyu trailed off. “Never mind.”

Sui Houyu pulled another ice pack from his bag, crushed it to activate it, and placed it on the back of Hou Mo’s head to help with the swelling.

Hou Mo reached out to take it, but Sui Houyu refused: “I’ll hold it for you.”

Hou Mo glanced at Sui Houyu’s backpack, which was stuffed with disposable ice packs, with the corner of a jacket faintly visible.

He didn’t refuse and walked toward the dormitory with Sui Houyu.

Soft clouds drifted like scattered cotton, as if unraveling strands of black silk.

Moonlight coated the world with a silver frost, while shadows of trees swayed gently. A breeze carrying the last warmth of summer swept over them, breaking apart and swirling around them.

The ice pack brought a wave of cool relief. Sui Houyu applied just the right amount of pressure, carefully controlling his force.

As they climbed the stairs, Hou Mo finally took the ice pack—otherwise, their walking posture would have been too awkward.

 Sui Houyu asked him seriously: “Do you feel dizzy on the stairs?”

Hou Mo turned his head, unsure how to respond. It seemed that in Sui Houyu’s eyes, being hit on the head was as if he’d contracted some serious illness, leaving him incapable of taking care of himself.

“All good, I can walk briskly.” Hou Mo finally answered after a while.

“Oh, that’s good.” Sui Houyu sighed in relief.

When they returned to the dorm, Sui Houyu went over to his bed and told Hou Mo: “You should sleep in my bed tonight. I’m afraid you might fall off the top bunk.”

Hou Mo: “…”

How was he supposed to explain to Sui Houyu that it was only the back of his head that hurt, and everything else was fine?

After a long pause, Hou Mo gave a wry smile and replied: “Okay.”

Since his head hurt, Hou Mo could only sleep on his stomach. He brought his own pillow down from the top bunk, buried his head in it, and rested with his eyes closed. Before long, he actually fell asleep.

Once Hou Mo was asleep, Sui Houyu gently parted his hair to check the injury. He found a swollen bump and carefully touched it. 

It was quite large.

Normally, Sui Houyu couldn’t sit still. He hated staying idle and preferred moving around—he’d even rather clean the room than sit quietly.

But today, he managed to calm himself. With one hand holding the ice pack for Hou Mo, he used the other to open a study app on his phone and started working through some practice problems.

*

The next morning, Hou Mo woke up to find Sui Houyu already washing up.

Deng Yiheng had just gotten out of bed and came over to ask Hou Mo: “Senior Brother, feeling better?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt as much now.”

“Brother Yu felt really guilty.”

“Yeah, I could see that.”

“See what? You were sleeping so soundly.”

Hou Mo took out his things and looked up at Deng Yiheng. “What?”

“Brother Yu was taking care of you the whole time yesterday. I don’t know if he was worried that the phone’s light would disturb you, but he kept his body far from you and could barely hold the ice pack in place. He kept alternating between icing and pausing. In the middle of the night, he even got up to change the ice pack. I don’t know if he slept at all.”

After finishing, Deng Yiheng grabbed his washbasin and went out to freshen up.

Hou Mo realized that Sui Houyu must have kept his distance, probably afraid of disturbing him while he slept.

Holding the ice pack at arm’s length all night long?

His movements paused for a moment, as if strange vines sprouted inside his chest, creeping toward his heart, tickling it with their tentative tendrils—it made his heart itch.

Carrying his things, he headed to the washroom. On the way, he ran into Sui Houyu, who was just coming back. Hou Mo instinctively stepped in front of him, blocking his path, and stared at him, trying to see if he had dark circles under his eyes.

Sui Houyu, as always, looked energetic, showing no signs of fatigue—there were no telltale cracks in his composure.

“Didn’t sleep much last night?” Hou Mo asked quietly.

“Got some rest in the latter half of the night.”

“You really didn’t have to—it’s not that serious.”

“That bump on your head is swollen like it’s carrying a baby.”

“No way!”

Just as Hou Mo finished retorting, someone nearby greeted him, “Yo, Senior Brother, from a distance, it looked like you tied a braid back there. What’s that, a lucky lump on the back of your head?”

“Shut up!” Hou Mo snapped irritably.

Sui Houyu gave Hou Mo a little push: “Go wash up already.”

After saying that, Sui Houyu sidestepped him and walked off.

Hou Mo turned to watch him disappear into the dorm room, feeling a subtle reluctance to part ways.

Sui Houyu was truly awkward—he never expressed concern verbally, but his actions always revealed it.

If he wasn’t paying close attention, it would be easy to miss Brother Yu’s quiet kindness.

During morning self-study, most of Class Seventeen was busy finishing their homework.

Especially the student athletes, who rarely had time to work on assignments and now raced against time like their lives depended on it.

Some, having given up entirely, only bothered to copy multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank answers, ignoring everything else.

After finishing his homework, Hou Mo yawned and rested his head on the desk, quickly falling asleep.

When he woke up, he felt a tickling sensation on his nose. Instinctively, he reached out and grabbed something—a finger.

Puzzled, he opened his eyes and saw Sui Houyu standing at a slight angle in front of him, with one hand extended toward him. Hou Mo realized with a start that Sui Houyu was checking whether he was still breathing.

At that moment, Hou Mo’s mind nearly broke.

“Brother Yu, I’m fine. I’m not going to die.” Hou Mo said in despair.

“Turn around. I’ll apply some ointment.” Sui Houyu said, pulling a small jar of ointment from his bag and coming back to sit next to him.

“Alright.”

The ointment was stored in a small round container. Sui Houyu unscrewed the lid, scooped a bit out with his finger, and carefully applied it to the bump on the back of Hou Mo’s head.

Perhaps because the skin there was more sensitive, the pain was sharper. Hou Mo could clearly feel Sui Houyu’s hand trembling—not from fear, but from being too careful.

That itchy feeling in Hou Mo’s chest returned, stronger this time.

Maybe this was the first crack in the wall around his heart.