GCLA VOL. 2 CHAPTER 25

Chapter 25: Unable to Sleep While Lying Together

“This is part of the process. After sleeping together for seven days, our contract will be complete,” he said with a completely straight face. “This will allow our energies to interact and merge.”

The more he spoke, the redder my face became. I pointed at him, speechless with anger: “You… How can you say that so casually?!”

He looked at me, puzzled. “What’s there to be embarrassed about? This is a ritual, unchanged for millennia. I’ve already drawn the necessary symbols to save time.”

“What?!” So fast! Was this guy planning this all along?!

I followed his gaze to the floor, and sure enough, there was a large, glowing circular symbol already drawn beneath my bed. I had no idea when it had appeared, but it now surrounded me like a cage.

“This is the contract’s magic circle. We need to sleep within it for seven days. The circle will allow our energies to imprint upon each other, so that all wolves will know I have a master, and you have me,” he said with utmost sincerity, his emerald eyes showing no sign of guilt.

I pointed at the magic circle. “So, does it have to be the bed? Can’t we use the floor?”

He nodded. “Yes, but the bed is more comfortable. Why would you prefer the floor?” He looked genuinely confused. “The bed is soft and springy. I quite enjoy completing this process in a bed. But if you prefer the floor, I won’t mind…”

“Okay! Got it!” I raised my hand to stop him from continuing. If he kept going, the conversation was going to take a strange turn. Even though the topic was serious, his tone was too straightforward, making everything sound weirder by the moment.

“So… Are you choosing the bed or the floor?” he asked cautiously.

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. “The bed.”

“Alright.” He got up and started climbing onto the bed. I immediately jumped away. “Bring your own blanket!”

His foot, which was halfway up, hesitated before he turned around and looked at his blanket with visible disdain. This guy wasn’t planning on sharing a blanket with me, was he?!

“Well, actually…” He turned back, dead serious. “Sharing a blanket would make it easier for our energies to…”

“Bring your own!” I shouted, cutting him off.

“Yes, understood.” He quickly grabbed his blanket, then gracefully leaped onto the bed, lying down next to me and covering himself.

I grabbed a pillow and placed it between us as a barrier. His emerald eyes looked at me with a mix of innocence and hurt. I glared at him, and he averted his gaze, lifting his hand. In his palm was a small symbol. I looked at it. “What’s that?”

“We need to hold hands,” he said.

I froze. He was lying down while I sat up, staring at him. He avoided my gaze, looking elsewhere and holding his hand up.

“Do you do this with guys too when forming a contract?” I asked stiffly.

He blinked and turned his face slightly. “Do you want the truth or a lie?”

I narrowed my eyes. “A lie.”

“No.”

“You liar!” I grabbed a pillow and started hitting him.

“Thud, thud, thud!”

He raised his arm to shield his face, letting me hit him. “With guys, we sit for one night with our palms facing each other. You can do that too if you think you can handle it…”

I stopped hitting him, furrowed my brow, and sighed. Alright, I admit it. I have a bad back and can’t handle sitting all night. I don’t have the superpower of sleeping while sitting. I gave in and threw the pillow down between us, lying down to sleep.

“We need to hold hands,” he reminded me. “I don’t mean anything by it; it’s just part of the ritua—”

“Slap.” I dropped the back of my hand onto his palm. He should be grateful I’m even giving him the back of my hand! He fell silent, then slowly, he clasped my hand. His palm was hot, like the symbol was trying to brand itself onto my skin. I lay there, facing the outer side of the bed, completely unable to sleep.

The lights went out, and the moonlight streamed in through the window like a soft veil, making the magic circle beneath the bed glow even brighter. In anime, forming a contract usually involves cutting your palms or kissing. Actually, the method Mo Ming mentioned with the guys—palms facing each other and imprinting the symbol—was quite common. They would interlock fingers, foreheads touching, in a glowing magic circle… Oh my god, how cliché!

So, why is Mo Ming forming a contract with me? Xuanyuan Chen would have been a much better choice.

“Xiao Lan… pick up the phone…” Wait, Xuanyuan Chen’s voice? Is this one of those moments where thinking about someone makes them appear? Hold on—Xuanyuan Chen?!

Boom! I jolted awake. My phone was glowing in the dark: “Xiao Lan, pick up the phone!”

I quickly sat up, but Mo Ming still had my hand in his grip.

“Let go, I need to answer the phone,” I said, looking at Mo Ming. He continued lying there, staring at the ceiling with a serious look. “Go ahead and answer it,” he said.

My face turned bright red. “Dude! How am I supposed to answer like this?!”

He blinked and glanced at me before quickly looking back at the ceiling. “The magic circle is already activated. For the next eight hours, we can’t be separated.”

“What?!” I stared at my phone in disbelief. I guess I won’t be answering it.

“Xiao Lan, pick up the phone.”

“Xiao Lan, pick up the phone.”

“Xiao Lan, if you don’t pick up, forced answering will be activated!”

W-what? Forced answering?!

Before I could even react, the phone floated up on its own. “Forced answering activated,” it announced.

A beam of light shot out from the phone. Without thinking, I lay back down and hid under the covers, pretending to be dead. “Huff… huff…”

I’m not dealing with this!

“Xiao Lan!” I heard Xuanyuan Chen’s angry voice, and then… nothing.

“Huff… huff…” I continued pretending to be asleep. This is too awkward! Peeking through the gap in the covers, I saw Xuanyuan Chen standing by the bed, his face dark with fury. His glasses glinted coldly, and his long, narrow eyes were squinted behind them.

I’m doomed. Godfather is going to kill me. I’m sorry… Godfather, I didn’t mean to sleep with the man you wanted for yourself. It wasn’t intentional… He just clung to me, and I eventually gave in because he was so sincere… You understand, right? We women are soft-hearted…

“Huff… huff…”

“The master is asleep,” Mo Ming finally spoke up, taking the manly role to shield me. Good brother! You’re a real pal!

Mo Ming sat up beside me. Xuanyuan Chen’s gaze shifted to him. “You’ve really decided to be with her?”

Tsk, tsk, tsk, the coldness in his voice was palpable.

Mo Ming held up my hand, showing the symbol. “The contract has already taken effect.”

Xuanyuan Chen exhaled deeply, glaring coldly at Mo Ming. “Wake her up. I need to ask her something.”

“You can ask her tomorrow.”

“Her answer is very important to me!”

“She spent seven days cleaning your glasses. She’s tired!”

After a tense exchange, the room fell into a suffocating silence. Xuanyuan Chen’s glasses glinted with a sharp, cold light as his icy gaze bore into Mo Ming. “Did she tell you what happened when you came back?”

“She did,” Mo Ming answered calmly. “She said Feng Lingcan seemed about to awaken, so she left.”

Xuanyuan Chen squinted. “Why leave in such a hurry? She didn’t even put her clothes away?”

“She didn’t want to see someone she dislikes.”

Xuanyuan Chen’s eyes narrowed further. “The person she dislikes isn’t me or Fu Su, is it?”

“I don’t know. She didn’t say, but she often leaves her clothes lying around.”

Under the covers, I twitched in disbelief. Mo Ming, did you seriously just throw me under the bus like that?

Xuanyuan Chen actually glanced around my room. Alright, I admit it. Ever since I stopped doing laundry, I’ve been leaving my jackets all over the place. After all, the school uniform is pretty comfortable.

Xuanyuan Chen frowned, clearly displeased with the state of my room. Just when I thought he’d leave in disgust, he raised his hand. A golden light shone from his fingertips, and immediately, my jackets floated up and hung themselves in the closet. Damn! This guy’s OCD isn’t just limited to cleaning glass! He can’t even stand my messy room! He’s just like Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory!

After tidying up, he withdrew his hand and gave the room one last look before turning to Mo Ming. “I hope you don’t regret this.”

“That’s absolutely impossible!” In the now quiet room, Mo Ming’s voice was abnormally solemn. Under the covers, I began to feel lost. Why does he trust me so much? I’m just an ordinary person, and he’s a wolf god. And not just any wolf god—he’s the best.

Xuanyuan Chen stared at Mo Ming for a while before disappearing from the room. Mo Ming quietly lay back down next to me. The phone slowly floated down to the bed. I stretched out my hand from under the covers to grab it and saw that I had another missed call—this time from Feng Lingcan-senpai. He must’ve been worried about me.

I quickly sent him a message to ease his mind: I’m fine. Don’t worry.

Then, I powered off my phone and held it in my hand. My left hand was still clasped in Mo Ming’s hot palm, as if the symbol needed a long, long time to fully imprint on us.

“Xuanyuan Chen is pretty good. Why didn’t you form a contract with him?” I asked, still facing the outer side of the bed.

A voice soon came from behind me. “I don’t like guys.”

==!! I really wish you did.

“I meant, why didn’t you form a contract with him?”

“He’s not strong enough.”

“But I’m just an ordinary person.”

“Strength isn’t determined by race. A true strong person is someone who can accomplish the impossible.”

“But have you considered that maybe I’ve just been lucky?”

“But you’ve already saved two people from the royal palace!”

I was stunned. It seemed like he shifted slightly. “You saved Fu Su from the black-clad men and then brought Feng Lingcan back. That’s why I think you’re strong!” His words, along with his warm breath, brushed against the back of my neck. I clutched my phone tightly and closed my eyes.

“I…”

“Don’t say anything more.”

“Oh…”

“And stop staring at the back of my head!”

“How did you know?”

“I have eyes in the back of my head!”

“Really!” He exclaimed, suddenly reaching over to part my hair.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Alright.” He withdrew his hand.

“I’ve never slept alone with a guy before, so you’re not allowed to talk, or I won’t be able to sleep.” I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force myself to sleep. This was so awkward!

“Pat, pat, pat.” Suddenly, I felt a light tapping on my back. My brow furrowed instantly. “What are you doing? I told you not to touch me!”

“I’m trying to lull you to sleep.”

“No need!”

“Okay, then I’ll sing a lullaby… Sleep, sleep…”

“Shut up!”

He went silent. I took a deep breath and exhaled. I can’t sleep at all! Seven more days like this? I’m seriously going to die!