NASAY CH 7

Luo Xing thought he had misheard, so he didn’t react immediately, letting out a confused  “Huh?”

“That’s twice now.”

Luo Xing was even more confused.

Huo Xingzhou looked at his slightly bent figure, his long, dark eyelashes casting shadows over his eyes. Although he hadn’t gone home to sleep last night, there wasn’t a trace of sweat on him—just a faint, pleasant scent that was hard to describe.

His gaze trailed down Luo Xing’s sharp jawline, but his neatly buttoned-up collar offered nothing of interest. Huo Xingzhou’s eyes drifted back up, just in time to meet Luo Xing’s gaze.

His pupils were light, like a cat’s, and the tear mole at the corner of his eye gave him a captivating charm. For no reason at all, Huo Xingzhou’s heart skipped a beat.

Huo Xingzhou raised his hand. Luo Xing instinctively covered his forehead, but Huo Xingzhou surprised him, switching targets and gently sliding his finger down the bridge of Luo Xing’s nose.

“Ignore me again, and you’ll get it.” Huo Xingzhou looked into his eyes and said fiercely, “Got it?”

Luo Xing pursed his lips and nodded.

“So, do you want to switch desks?”

This time, Huo Xingzhou was so close that Luo Xing could hear him clearly. At that moment, a surge of excitement rushed through him, nearly impossible to contain.

He could sit next to him now? After living together, they could also be desk partners?

Luo Xing tried hard to suppress his giddiness. He was happy but didn’t dare speak too much, afraid Huo Xingzhou might notice something unusual.

After all, Hu Jiawen had said Huo Xingzhou was straight.

He had no intention of turning Huo Xingzhou gay. He just wanted to spend as much time as possible with him in this final year—just looking at him would be enough.

Luo Xing didn’t dare think further. He shook his head and said softly, “The teacher assigned me to sit here. Switching seats without permission wouldn’t be right.”

Huo Xingzhou, in a rare good mood, didn’t mind his refusal. Tapping the desk lightly with his fingertips, he glanced sideways at Luo Xing and said, “I’m not asking the teacher. I’m asking you—do you want to?”

Luo Xing looked into his eyes—slightly slanted, with shallow double eyelids—casually gazing at him with an undeniable sense of pressure.

“Yes.” Luo Xing nodded slightly. “I do.”

Once Huo Xingzhou was satisfied, he got cocky. Give him an inch, and he’d take a mile.

“What if the teacher punishes you? Will you still come?”

Luo Xing bit his lip, looking a bit troubled. Huo Xingzhou could tell right away—this kid was a model student who treated teachers’ words like sacred commandments.

Not wanting to make it hard for him, Huo Xingzhou smirked. “Forget it—”

“I’ll come.”

“Hmm?” Huo Xingzhou froze for a second, rewinding his memory to recall what he had just said. When it clicked, he grinned. “Then come on over.”

Zhang Xuan, still sulking, saw Luo Xing move and immediately jumped at the chance to mock him. “Didn’t you tell me not to take up your study space? And now you’re turning your head to chat, taking up my gaming space too!”

The whole class burst into laughter.

Huo Xingzhou laughed too. Not really angry, he kicked Zhang Xuan’s chair lightly. “Let me offer you a win-win solution.”

“What kind of solution? You gonna kick him out of my space?” Zhang Xuan asked, glancing away from his game screen for a second before quickly turning back. “Crap, crap, I’m about to die!”

Huo Xingzhou nodded.

Zhang Xuan’s character died, his screen turning black and white. He turned around, grinning mischievously. “Where are you sending him? To Class 8 downstairs?”

Huo Xingzhou raised his eyes and said calmly, “No, I’m bringing him over to my desk.”

“Huh?” Zhang Xuan was dumbfounded. “What did you just say?”

Huo Xingzhou ignored him, not bothering to ask for his permission. Instead, he simply dragged his own desk aside, forcing a space against the wall.

“Move over.”

Luo Xing suppressed the tremor in his fingertips and calmly gathered his things, moving to the last row to sit beside Huo Xingzhou.

Feng Jia had just woken up. He yawned and casually turned around, exclaiming, “What are you doing, Luo Xing?”

Li Lefan, who had witnessed the whole thing, filled in the blanks for the confused Feng Jia: “Huo Xingzhou, the social king, did a good deed today.”

Feng Jia was still dazed for a couple of seconds before saying, “Are you the one who hasn’t woken up yet, or is it me?”

Huo Yanshan had been attending classes at the school for the past few days and occasionally “accidentally” passed by Class 9, making Huo Xingzhou feel uneasy.

To cope, he waited until Huo Yanshan left after work in the evening and used self-study time to play basketball and blow off some steam.

Luo Xing glanced at the empty seat beside him, then quietly started working on his homework. He wanted to finish early and complete the rest of his translation project tonight. He hadn’t had much sleep for two days and nights, and another all-nighter seemed unbearable.

Suppressing a yawn, he rubbed his eyes and continued writing.

Evening Self-study Ends.

When Ye Qiaoqiao turned off the lights, she saw Luo Xing using his laptop and walked over to ask, “Luo Xing, you know our school doesn’t allow students to bring laptops. What are you doing with it?”

Luo Xing could tell that Ye Qiaoqiao was genuinely reminding him, not out of curiosity or to report him, so he didn’t bother hiding anything.

“I have an online course, and I need to submit some assignments.” Luo Xing paused and added, “I’ll finish it today and won’t use it in the classroom anymore.”

Ye Qiaoqiao nodded and handed him the key. “Finish early and don’t pull another all-nighter. If Teacher Cheng finds out, he’ll have something to say.”

Luo Xing nodded. “Got it. Thanks, class monitor.”

***

The translation was done.

Luo Xing connected to the hotspot and sent the translated document to the editor’s email. He stood up, stretched, and checked the time—it was already 11 p.m. The dorm lights would be turned off soon!

He confirmed the submission and immediately shut down his laptop, stuffed it into his bag, locked the classroom door, and rushed back to the dorm.

The three-person dorm was different from the eight-person dorm. While lights-out was officially at 11 p.m., they could apply for an extension, though they had to pay for the extra electricity themselves.

Luo Xing didn’t want to disturb his roommates, nor did he have money to cover the extra cost, so he chose to finish his work in the classroom before returning.

He pushed the dorm door but found it locked, so he pulled out his key and opened it.

Feng Jia had just finished showering. He walked out of the bathroom wearing a pair of shorts, his hair still dripping with water. His belly jiggled slightly before he had a chance to suck it in.

Luo Xing stood at the door, feeling a bit awkward. He couldn’t help but chuckle.

Feng Jia instinctively covered his belly and coughed coldly. “Your stuff’s over there. Deal with it yourself. We have a private bathroom, but make sure to keep it clean. Huo Xingzhou gets really mad if he sees someone not flushing after doing their business. After showering or washing your face, clean the sink too.”

Luo Xing silently thought: The ‘someone’ Feng Jia is talking about is probably himself, right?

Luo Xing placed his bag on the nearby desk and looked around the dorm room.

The living conditions here were much better than those at No 4 Highschool. There was air conditioning, wardrobes, and two large desks piled with miscellaneous items, which seemed unused.

Behind the dorm building was a large grove of dove trees, making the lighting a bit dim. One of the branches had even extended through the window, blocking most of it from closing properly. Because of this, both Huo Xingzhou and Feng Jia slept on the other side of the room.

The bed facing the window was vacant.

He opened the military duffel bag on the floor. Inside, there were a pillow, mattress, bed sheets, blanket, and mosquito net—all neatly packed.

Luo Xing laid everything out one by one on the bed. While he was kneeling on the bed, tidying the corners of the blanket, the door suddenly opened with a series of light thudding sounds. Luo Xing looked up and saw a basketball bounce right into the water basin he had just taken out.

Huo Xingzhou glanced at Luo Xing, who was kneeling on the bed with a blanket in his arms, his head slightly tilted up to look at him. His light-colored eyes made him look like a cat that had just taken on human form.

Huo Xingzhou suddenly remembered earlier that day at the bathroom entrance when Luo Xing had bumped into him, startled, with those misty, wide eyes. For no reason, a warmth spread in his chest. He coughed to cover it up.

“What are you doing? Greeting me with such a big bow just because I came back?”

Luo Xing was tying the straps on the duvet cover. Hearing that, he looked down at himself and hurriedly tied the remaining straps.

“I wasn’t… I didn’t mean to.”

He soon realized that Huo Xingzhou wasn’t actually asking for an explanation, just teasing him casually. Huo Xingzhou laughed, then took off his clothes while heading to the bathroom. He had just finished playing basketball and felt uncomfortable with all the sweat sticking to him.

Luo Xing’s bed was directly under the window. A branch of the dove tree had extended into the room, with half of it resting on the bed’s headboard, making it impossible for him to sleep. He reached out to push it back.

Feng Jia saw his movements and quickly sighed. “Don’t touch it! Old Cheng said that branch is more valuable than my arm. If I can’t break it, neither can you.”

Luo Xing looked at the branch, which stretched out like it owned the place. As he moved it, it swayed twice as if asserting its dominance.

***

When Huo Xingzhou finished his shower and came out, he didn’t like wearing pajamas, so he had only a towel loosely wrapped around his waist. It looked like it might fall off with just one more step.

Feng Jia, with his back turned, was busy playing a game. “Kid, dare to fight your Father? I can fly, you know? Forty feet away. If you hit me, I’ll call you father.”

Luo Xing cautiously glanced at Huo Xingzhou’s back. His upper body was bare, every inch of his muscles clearly defined and smooth—not overly bulky, but exuding a youthful, wild kind of sexiness.

A droplet of water gathered on his hair, slid down his shoulder, past his back, and disappeared under the towel wrapped around his waist.

For no reason, Luo Xing swallowed, his eyes lingering for a moment longer on Huo Xingzhou’s waist.

Huo Xingzhou noticed Luo Xing spacing out on the bed. He grabbed a towel and roughly dried his hair, then knocked on Luo Xing’s bedframe. “Hey, kid, what are you thinking about? If you don’t shower now, the lights will go out. You skipped it yesterday. Do you want to go two days without washing?”

“I wasn’t thinking about anything!” Luo Xing snapped back to reality and exhaled lightly. Seven years without seeing him, and he’s changed so much… Just one glance is enough to make my heart race.

Kid…

When Huo Xingzhou called him “kid,” Luo Xing noticed the faint smile lines at the corner of his lips. Since they were standing so close, the light scent of Huo Xingzhou’s body wash drifted over to him.

Luo Xing’s ears suddenly turned red. His hands trembled, and he almost spilled the contents of the box in his hand. Flustered, he quickly covered everything with his blanket. “I-I’m going!”

Huo Xingzhou watched his frantic movements and chuckled. “What are you hiding? Let me see. I won’t let you down until you show me.”

Luo Xing clutched the blanket even tighter, looking like he’d fight to the death if Huo Xingzhou dared make a move.

“Hey, what’s with that look? Is it your girlfriend’s stuff? Or some personal items from someone you like?”

Luo Xing didn’t deny it but stubbornly refused to let him see. The two of them stared each other down for a while, but neither gave in.

“Tch, little lovesick fool.”

————-

Author’s Note:

Feng Jia: “I’m the most pitiful one here. These two are flirting all day long, and I was still under the impression they didn’t get along.”