⌈”Douglas, come and eat.”⌋
Lu Ran opened the car door and stepped out.
Ji Min got out of the car as well, walked over, and said, “The VR gaming console you wanted has been assembled.”
Lu Ran paused in his tracks.
A few seconds later, he turned his head and asked hesitantly, “Really?”
Ji Min nodded with a smile.
Lu Ran glanced at him before continuing toward the villa.
Ji Min quickly pulled him back and asked, “Aren’t you going to take a look?”
Lu Ran lowered his head to look at the wrist being held and said with a slight tilt of his chin, “I need to let my grandpa know first.”
“And… I’ll need to bring my puppy too.”
Only then did Ji Min release his grip.
Lu Ran went back into the villa.
After a busy day, Old Master Shen had already retired for the night.
Lu Ran informed the butler, went upstairs, and came back down holding Douglas—the big, yellow dog. He then got into Ji Min’s car.
The driver was in the front, while Lu Ran and Ji Min sat in the back with the dog carrier placed between them.
When they arrived at Ji Min’s home.
The puppy, which had been sleeping all day, was now full of energy. It scrambled out of the carrier and darted around the room.
Lu Ran started fiddling with the gaming console, leaving the task of feeding the dog to Ji Min.
When he turned back, he saw Ji Min holding some softened puppy food mixed with goat milk powder, calling out to the tiny pup: “Douglas, come eat.”
Lu Ran: “…”
The puppy, who had been chewing on Lu Ran’s shoe, perked up at the strange name and glanced at the two humans in the room.
When it didn’t come over, Ji Min patiently called again, “Douglas, Douglas?”
Lu Ran felt his toes curling in embarrassment.
He had completely forgotten about this.
What kind of ridiculous name had he come up with?
Da Huang was just fine as a name. Why did he have to act pretentious and give it some fancy foreign name just to avoid Ji Min’s teasing?
If this got exposed now, wouldn’t it be even more awkward?
Da-Douglas-Huang hesitated, glancing at its owner curled up on the sofa.
Lu Ran earnestly toyed with the VR headset in his hands, pretending not to notice anything.
Luckily, even though the puppy didn’t know who Douglas was, it did recognize food.
After a brief hesitation, it trotted over happily.
Lu Ran let out a heavy sigh of relief.
He focused on playing the game.
After finishing two matches, he took off the VR headset.
When he looked up, he saw Da Huang rummaging through the trash can.
Without thinking, he instinctively shouted, “Da Huang! Don’t dig in the trash!”
The words had barely left his mouth and the puppy hadn’t even emerged from the trash can yet, when a soft chuckle came from beside him. “Isn’t it Douglas?”
Lu Ran: “…”
Ahhh!
Lu Ran forcibly calmed himself, trying to suppress the urge to escape the planet.
He awkwardly tried to salvage the situation, “Now that I think about it, Da Huang is actually a pretty good name. Da Huang is… is…”
He faltered for a long moment before blurting out, “Da Huang is a very important traditional Chinese medicine!”
Ji Min walked over, pulled the puppy out of the trash can, and started laughing as he did so, his shoulders shaking from suppressed mirth.
Lu Ran was furious. Grabbing a cushion from the sofa, he hurled it at the man. “You’re not allowed to laugh!”
Ji Min caught the cushion and, fearing Lu Ran might storm off, quickly said, “Okay, okay, I’m not laughing.”
Lu Ran ignored him, turned around, and continued playing his game.
At home, his grandpa always went to bed early and kept a close eye on him, not allowing him to stay up late.
So, whenever Lu Ran came to Ji Min’s place, he indulged in a bit of rebellious entertainment.
But tonight, after playing for a while, he found it a bit dull.
Lu Ran took off the VR headset and set it aside.
Ji Min came over with a glass of milk and plopped down cross-legged on the plush wool carpet in front of the sofa, mimicking Lu Ran’s posture.
The man was broad-shouldered and imposing, his presence impossible to ignore.
As he sat down, his shoulder subtly bumped against Lu Ran’s, making it hard not to notice him.
Lu Ran turned to glance at Ji Min.
The man was casually hunched forward, his wide back and shoulders relaxed.
Lu Ran quickly looked away, directing his gaze forward.
But out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Ji Min’s long legs. With his knees bent, they were so long they bumped against Lu Ran’s.
Ji Min was truly a massive presence.
When Lu Ran was a kid, he often daydreamed that he’d grow up to be as big and strong as Ji Min.
Now, though he wasn’t short, his frame was nowhere near Ji Min’s level.
“Drink the milk, then go to bed.” Ji Min handed him the glass.
Lu Ran didn’t take it, keeping his head down as he fiddled with the game controller.
Ji Min sighed. Resigned, he extended his arm to place the glass on the small side table next to Lu Ran.
As his arm passed behind Lu Ran, it lightly brushed the edge of his ear.
He leaned in for a brief moment before pulling back quickly.
But at that close distance, Lu Ran could still catch the scent of the man’s body wash.
And… the sudden warmth of his breath.
Lu Ran’s fingers slipped on the game controller, pressing the wrong button.
With a “snap”, the game on the screen shut off.
Lu Ran: “…”
He put down the controller, deciding not to play anymore.
Ji Min didn’t move.
Seeing that the boy’s attention had finally shifted from the game, he brought up the same question again, softly asking: “Still angry? Gave me a life sentence?”
“You want me to take you off my blocklist?” Lu Ran shot him a sidelong glance.
Ji Min nodded. “Yes, I’m begging you.”
Lu Ran felt like laughing but held it in.
He tilted his chin slightly, teasing, “No way. Unless…”
“Unless what?” Ji Min asked in a low voice.
Lu Ran turned to face him, a mischievous glint appearing in his eyes.
“Unless you let me touch your abs.”
“…” Ji Min was silent for a second.
“If you don’t want to, then forget it.” Lu Ran leaned back again.
Ji Min sighed.
In the end, he beckoned to the boy, “Come here.”
Lu Ran’s spirits instantly lifted. He turned and knelt on the floor.
Looking up at Ji Min in front of him, he noticed that the man had clearly showered after coming back. He was wearing a casual knitted sweater and sweatpants.
Now Ji Min was leaning against the sofa, his eyes half-closed, his posture relaxed, an air of complete surrender about him.
Lu Ran climbed onto Ji Min’s lap, straddling him.
Taking full advantage, he smirked, “You’re the one who agreed, so no getting mad.”
“Who would dare get mad at you?” Ji Min sighed.
Satisfied, Lu Ran reached out to lift Ji Min’s sweater.
But just as his fingers touched the fabric, Ji Min caught his hand.
“Hm?” Lu Ran looked up in confusion.
Ji Min gazed at him and said, “A deal’s a deal—add my contact back first.”
Lu Ran: “…I’ll do it later.”
“No,” Ji Min raised an eyebrow. “You’re not exactly reliable in these matters.”
Lu Ran: “…”
Reluctantly, he pulled out his phone, unblocked Ji Min, and accepted his friend request.
Seeing Ji Min’s profile picture, he was a little surprised.
Ji Min’s account had been in Lu Ran’s friend list for over a decade, with the same profile picture—a little yellow duck that had never been changed.
Now, after not seeing it for half a year, it has been updated.
His new profile picture was a pillow.
Lu Ran immediately recognized it as the pillowcase from Ji Min’s bedroom.
He clicked on it and examined it for a while but couldn’t figure out what was special about the pillow.
There wasn’t anyone sleeping on it, just a tuft of messy hair in the corner of the shot.
Lu Ran glanced at it indifferently and put his phone down.
The interruption from Ji Min had slightly dampened the inexplicable excitement he’d felt earlier.
But he was still curious.
Reaching out again, Lu Ran lifted Ji Min’s shirt.
This time, Ji Min didn’t stop him.
Seeing the sharply defined abs beneath the dark gray sweater, Lu Ran couldn’t help but exclaim enviously: “How did you even manage this?”
Ji Min: “I already taught you, didn’t I?”
Ji Min lowered his gaze, feeling the sensation of Lu Ran’s fingers and consciously keeping his muscles relaxed despite the boy’s random, uncoordinated touches.
“You’re lying! I followed your method exactly, but I still didn’t get results like this.”
Lu Ran ran his hands over Ji Min’s abs a couple of times, then glanced up to check his expression.
The man’s long, dark lashes cast shadows over his eyes, making it hard to read his emotions.
But he didn’t seem angry.
Lu Ran instantly grew bolder.
Although he had only asked to touch Ji Min’s abs, his fingers ventured beyond the boundaries of the rectus abdominis, sneaking over to poke at Ji Min’s pecs.
Ji Min didn’t react at all, not even a slight hitch in his breathing.
However, when Lu Ran’s fingers started counting each individual section of his abs, moving lower and lower, Ji Min suddenly reached out and stopped him.
In a deep voice, he said, “Lu Ran.”
Lu Ran froze immediately.
He glanced at where his hand had stopped and realized it might’ve been a bit much.
Softening his tone, he apologized, “Sorry, sorry. I just wanted to count them.”
Then, realizing how unconvincing that sounded, he hastily added, “I swear I wasn’t trying to be a pervert.”
Ji Min raised his gaze, staring directly at him.
Lu Ran: “…”
Why did it feel like the more he explained, the worse it sounded?
Finally deciding to give up, he blurted out, “Don’t be mad! Fine, I’ll let you touch my abs in return.”
Saying this, he lifted his own shirt slightly, boasting, “Though they’re not as defined as yours, they’re not bad, right?”
Ji Min looked away almost instantly.
He said nothing and certainly didn’t entertain Lu Ran’s ridiculous offer.
After a brief pause, he firmly gripped Lu Ran’s waist, lifted him off, and placed him back on the carpet.
Then Ji Min stood up and said to the boy, “Drink your milk and go to bed.”
With that, he turned to head back to his bedroom.
After taking a couple of steps, Ji Min seemed worried that the boy might think he was angry. He softened his tone and added, “Be good.”
For some reason, Lu Ran felt a bit uneasy, like he’d done something wrong.
Without any fuss, he obediently returned to his room to rest.
But even after lying in bed, Lu Ran couldn’t stop thinking.
The abs were all the same, yet why did the texture feel slightly different from top to bottom?
Just as he was drifting off to sleep, a sudden realization jolted him awake.
It was probably because…
Ji Min had done some hair removal.
Lu Ran: “…”
He buried his head in his pillow and silently chanted, “Go to sleep, go to sleep!”
Once he fell asleep, he’d forget all about it!
—
The next morning, Lu Ran left Ji Min’s place, carrying his dog.
He had plans to hang out with Fang Chen that day.
Still feeling annoyed, Lu Ran vented about how Ji Min had almost kissed him.
The engagement between Lu Ran and Ji Min wasn’t public yet.
Only a few close acquaintances knew about it. Fang Chen was one of them.
Hearing Lu Ran’s story, Fang Chen’s eyes lit up. “Wow, so the engagement’s real, huh?”
“Not necessarily,” Lu Ran replied, sipping on a straw.
“You haven’t cleared it up yet?” Fang Chen asked.
Lu Ran: “…”
It suddenly occurred to him that during his visit to Ji Min’s house, he hadn’t clarified anything about the engagement.
Nor had he asked why Ji Min had tried to kiss him.
He’d only ended up touching Ji Min’s abs.
“And you didn’t ask your grandpa?” Fang Chen probed.
“I did,” Lu Ran said. “My grandpa said if I like him, I should be with him. If not, then forget it.”
“So, do you like Ji Min?” Fang Chen pressed.
“How would I know?” Lu Ran rolled his eyes. “I’ve never liked anyone before. How am I supposed to know what it feels like?”
Fang Chen: “…”
He was left speechless by his friend’s blunt and self-assured response.
After saying this, though, Lu Ran went quiet, still sipping on his drink.
“But there’s one thing I do know,” Lu Ran finally said.
“What is it?” Fang Chen asked curiously.
Lu Ran stared at the bustling street outside the café for a while, watching the lively crowd pass by.
Then, in a startlingly straightforward and honest tone, he said: “I want to sleep with him.”
“Pfft!”
Fang Chen spat his drink out in shock.
Fang chen and Lu rans friendship being consistent in the alternate lifetimes and them being childhood friends is the best part of this extras for me, they are adorable. honestly i just like that Lu ran has a friend he can talk to.
I’m glad that Fang kid was his childhood friend in this, the kid was really funny, I like him..