WCG Chapter 68

Jiang Shi’s first reaction was shock.

Xie Xu really had an eight-packs!  

Even through his clothes, Jiang Shi could feel the well-defined contours, which meant these abs were real.  

The darkness made Jiang Shi’s boldness grow, and he even wanted to try touching them for real to see what it felt like.  

He also had abs, and while showering, it was inevitable to touch them, but none of those moments made his heart race or his blood rush like Xie Xu’s did.  

But just as Jiang Shi moved, his wrist was suddenly grabbed.  

Xie Xu’s voice came from the darkness, a bit hoarse, “Do you know what you’re doing?”  

They were very close, and Xie Xu’s voice came right into Jiang Shi’s ear, making his ears instantly turn red. His hand quickly left Xie Xu’s abs and tried to pull away, but Xie Xu held it tightly.  

Jiang Shi didn’t dare struggle too much and let Xie Xu hold his wrist. He muttered quietly, “Captain, you’re awake?”  

Could it be that he was woken up by him touching his abs?  

But Xie Xu’s voice didn’t sound sleepy.  

Whether Xie Xu had been woken up or was pretending to sleep, either way, it was bad news for Jiang Shi.  

Xie Xu felt Jiang Shi’s fist tightly clenched in his palm. His fingertips moved slightly, then he released his hand. “I just woke up.”  

Jiang Shi, still unaware of what had just happened, let his hand fall back onto Xie Xu’s abs due to gravity.  

Both of them suddenly fell silent, and the atmosphere in the dark room was strange.  

Jiang Shi’s heartbeat was racing, and the wrist that Xie Xu had held felt warmer than the rest of his body, and it was making him feel very uncomfortable.  

Finally, Xie Xu moved again and shifted his hand, removing it from Jiang Shi’s abs.  

Jiang Shi stiffened, shifting slightly to lie flat on his back, trying to escape the overwhelming heat of the blanket.  

Along the way, he tried to justify his actions. “Captain, I need to use the bathroom. I called you earlier, but you must have been asleep and didn’t hear me.”  

“It was too dark, and when I got up, my hand accidentally landed on your stomach.”  

Jiang Shi’s voice carried an apologetic tone, as if his earlier actions of touching Xie Xu’s abs were just an accident.  

But as he lay flat and tried to turn around casually to leave Xie Xu’s bed, he noticed something else.  

His left hand was tucked into Xie Xu’s palm, and he was tightly holding Xie Xu’s three fingers.  

Jiang Shi: “…”  

If he said this hand-holding was an accident too, would Xie Xu believe him?  

At this angle, Jiang Shi’s thumb was pressing against a small mole on Xie Xu’s right hand, and feeling awkward, he couldn’t help but press on the small raised mole.  

Realizing what he had just done, Jiang Shi closed his eyes, then pulled up the blanket and buried his head in it.  

It would have been fine if Xie Xu was asleep and he could take advantage of the situation, but how could he do this while Xie Xu was still awake! 

However, just after he buried himself in the blanket, Xie Xu pulled him out.  

“Don’t cover your head while sleeping, it makes it hard to breathe.”  

Xie Xu’s voice was no different, though it was slightly lower than usual, making it sound even more pleasant.  

Jiang Shi rubbed his ears and obediently admitted, “Captain, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have touched your abs secretly.”  

At this point, there was no point in hiding it anymore.  

“But… you can touch mine too, you know? I have six, not as good as yours, but don’t mind.”  

Jiang Shi followed his principle of mutual exchange.  

“You can reach inside my shirt if you want.”  

After all, he was missing two abs, so he couldn’t let Xie Xu come out ahead.  

But just as Jiang Shi was about to lift his shirt, Xie Xu pressed his hand down.  

Xie Xu’s voice was tense, “No need.”  

Jiang Shi could tell from Xie Xu’s tone that he wasn’t going to allow it, so he regretfully said, “Okay.”  

The room fell silent for a moment, and then Xie Xu took the initiative to speak, “Jiang Shi, who taught you all this?”  

Usually, Jiang Shi wouldn’t dare to make excuses to sneak into his room, let alone climb into his bed and touch his abs.  

Jiang Shi blinked, without hesitation, he replied, “Bamboo taught me. He said I should be more adult-like if I want to chase you.”  

That means, of course, about bed activities. 

Xie Xu: “.”  

“Like the fans in the livestream, you shouldn’t follow all of Bamboo’s advice.” 

Jiang Shi nodded, realizing Xie Xu couldn’t see him and then said, “Okay, Captain.”  

His tone was incredibly obedient.  

Xie Xu rubbed his head and hummed in response.  

After being patted on the head, Jiang Shi obediently returned to his own blanket.  

So, Xie Xu still liked the Obedient Jiangjiang?  

Then why wouldn’t Xie Xu accept his confession?  

As Jiang Shi wondered about this, Xie Xu suddenly asked, “I saw someone mention your ex-boyfriend in your livestream today?”  

Jiang Shi’s heart skipped a beat when he heard that.  

He immediately explained, “Captain, we haven’t been in contact for a long time, don’t overthink it.”  

Xie Xu raised an eyebrow when he heard Jiang Shi’s hasty denial, “He wasn’t your white moonlight?”  

Jiang Shi: “…”  

How much had Xie Xu seen of his chats with the fans? Wasn’t he supposed to be sleeping?  

But at this point, Jiang Shi could only brace himself and say, “He was my first boyfriend, I guess you could say he was my white moonlight, but Captain, have you ever heard of this saying?”  

Xie Xu: “Hmm?”  

Jiang Shi’s tone was firm, “White moonlight should be preserved in formalin at its most perfect moment, and for me, that’s already in the past.”  

Xie Xu should be able to tell that he only loved him now! Why bring up his ex-boyfriend?  

To make Xie Xu believe he had cut ties with his ex, Jiang Shi even said that he was young and foolish back then, and most of those things were forgotten by now.  

Jiang Shi spoke until his mouth was dry, but Xie Xu didn’t respond.  

“Captain?” Jiang Shi turned his head to the left, confused.  

In the darkness, he couldn’t see his expression but heard Xie Xu murmur a faint “Mm.”  

Jiang Shi blinked. Shouldn’t the ex-boyfriend issue be over by now?  

“Captain, earlier I said I liked you…” Jiang Shi coughed, “You haven’t responded to me yet.”  

“But I’m not in a hurry. I can wait, take your time to think about it.”  

After all, they were on the same team. He’d see Xie Xu every day, and with enough effort, he’d succeed eventually.  

Jiang Shi finished speaking, lowering his voice, “I’ve been thinking about this all day. I didn’t eat much, and only gathered enough courage tonight to tell you. I might’ve used the wrong approach, don’t get angry.”  

Xie Xu thought back to the food that Jiang Shi had eaten most of, and the frozen pear he had bitten into…  

Not only that, this whole speech felt oddly familiar.  

When his online boyfriend confessed to him back then, he had said the same thing — he’s not in a hurry, Xie Xu can take his time. But then, his online boyfriend sent a picture of his unfinished meal to show he was nervous and had trouble eating.  

Now that Xie Xu thought about it, the tactics were exactly the same.  

But back then, he had agreed, only to be deleted from contacts the next day, and couldn’t find him anywhere in-game. Only a private Weibo account remained.  

Now, Xie Xu could feel Jiang Shi’s gaze on him, burning.  

This little liar.  

His gaze flickered slightly, and he decided to go along with Jiang Shi’s words, “Then I’ll think about it some more.”  

“Okay, then we’ll talk—” Jiang Shi began, but suddenly realized something was off.  

?

Wasn’t he thinking that after Xie Xu agreed, he could get into his bed and touch his abs freely? Why was Xie Xu saying to think about it some more?  

After the disappointment, Jiang Shi felt a bit annoyed and buried his head back in the blanket, stubbornly saying, “Do whatever you want.”  

Even though his voice was muffled by the blanket, Xie Xu could still hear the frustration in Jiang Shi’s tone.  

Xie Xu, relying on Jiang Shi’s liking for him, felt confident. After all, Jiang Shi had sold himself to TLG and couldn’t escape.  

Meanwhile, Jiang Shi pushed all his complicated feelings aside and sulked as he went to sleep.  

After a while, Xie Xu patted the blanket above Jiang Shi’s head.  

“Jiang Shi.”  

Jiang Shi stubbornly stayed under the covers but bumped his head into the place where he felt Xie Xu’s hand resting.  

He was still angry. 

Xie Xu felt the bulge under the quilt moving, and said in a helplessly fond tone, “Put your head out.”

Jiang Shi didn’t say anything, but he rubbed his head slightly, revealing a little hair.

Xie Xu’s fingertips touched a few soft hairs and gently held them. “I wanted to ask you if you want to hold hands when you sleep.”

Jiang Shi peeked out from inside the quilt. “Really?”

He wants to touch that little mole when he sleep!

Jiang Shi felt that he sounded a little too eager, so he pulled the quilt up to cover half of his face. He let out a cough, trying to sound more reserved. “Then put your hand into my quilt.” 

He couldn’t be the one who always initiates, right? 

As soon as he asked that, Jiang Shi felt the quilt move on one side, and Xie Xu’s fingers touched his waist.

Jiang Shi shuddered. “Don’t tickle me, I’m ticklish.”

Xie Xu was about to retreat his hand, but Jiang Shi pressed down that hand and pinned it down under his own hand.”Just hold it like this.”

Using his legs to push his own quilt to the floor, Jiang Shi inched even closer until he shared the same quilt as Xie Xu. He held the older man’s hand, and took a deep breath.

Ah, the air outside was so fresh.

---

Jiang Shi slept very peacefully that night.

Unlike the day he was drunk, today he was very clear that he and Xie Xu were sleeping in the same bed, holding Xie Xu’s hand.

In his dream, he would press and rub the little mole from time to time. He even managed to scoot himself into Xie Xu’s quilt, and slept in an intimate pose he always wanted. 

Sadly, during this blissful moment, he heard a buzz coming from a mobile phone.  

Jiang Shi was a little annoyed and pulled the quilt over his head, but when he thought of something, he pulled it down again in a daze, exposing his head.

With his head covered, Xie Xu refused to let him hold his hand.

Jiang Shi was about to turn sideways to hug Xie Xu, but he only hugged a soft blanket.

The buzzing sound scratched his ear. Jiang Shi stubbornly closed his eyes, but to no avail. In the end, he answered the call.

“Who is it?”

So cruel, not letting him sleep happily this morning. 

Yuan Yang heard Jiang Shi’s voice. He was surprised. “Xiao Shi?” 

Baffled, he rechecked the identity of the phone number he called. The display was clear – he called Xie Xu’s number! 

–And judging from Jiang Shi’s voice, he clearly just woke up. 

Yuan Yang decided to think positively! “Where is Xu?”

Jiang Shi’s eyes opened a crack when he realized the caller was Yuan Yang. He looked around the bed, but couldn’t find anybody. However, he heard faint sounds of running water coming from the bathroom. “Captain is taking a shower. Yang-ge, what happened?” 

He was afraid that Yuan Yang had something urgent to do early in the morning. He quickly sat up and happened to see Xie Xu coming out of the shower.

Jiang Shi got out of bed and handed the phone to Xie Xu, “Captain, Yang-ge is looking for you.”

When handing the phone, Jiang Shi touched Xie Xu’s fingers, which made him shiver with cold.

Didn’t Xie Xu just take a shower? Why are his hands so cold?

Before he could think clearly, he saw Xie Xu took the phone. He didn’t rush to talk to Yuan Yang. As he looked at Jiang Shi’s bare feet, he said, “Remember to wear socks before getting out of bed next time.”

Jiang Shi hummed in assent and lied back down the bed. 

Through the phone, Yuan Yang could even hear the thumping sound of bare feet on the floor.

Xie Xu seemed to have just remembered that he was on a call. “Is there something?”

Yuan Yang: “Yes.”

“Call 120[mfn]Number for calling police, if I remember correctly[/mfn] for me.”