A single day off wasn’t nearly enough—especially after confessing their love—because there was still so much love to express.
They spent over two hours in the bathroom and then took a shower together afterward.
Lu Ze, still naked, dashed into the bedroom, grabbed some random clothes to throw on, and ran to the kitchen, shouting, “I’m starving, starving, starving!”
Liang Xiao also got dressed, his loose neckline exposing a large expanse of skin. The marks from the previous night hadn’t faded yet, and now there were new ones added.
There was no helping it—Lu Ze really liked his neck.
Liang Xiao opened a pack of cheese sticks and brought one to the kitchen to feed Lu Ze. Lu Ze ate it in one bite, so Liang Xiao quickly handed him another.
With his cheeks puffed out, Lu Ze mumbled, “Didn’t your hand get wet earlier?”
Liang Xiao paused and looked at the back of his hand before holding it up for Lu Ze to see. “It’s fine now; it’s already scabbed over.”
Lu Ze kissed the wound as if rewarding him. “It healed pretty fast.”
Liang Xiao smiled as Lu Ze pointed out, “You forgot to put on an apron—help me tie it.”
Liang Xiao grabbed an apron while Lu Ze turned around cooperatively, slipping it over his head and standing with his back to Liang Xiao so he could tie the bow.
After tying it, Liang Xiao hugged him from behind and kissed the back of his neck before nuzzling him. “I love you, baby.”
It was impossible to count how many times Liang Xiao had said this by now. Each time he did, Lu Ze’s heart raced faster. Though his eyes curved into a smile, he teased, “Are you ever going to stop?”
Liang Xiao chuckled softly. “Never. Do you love me too, baby?”
“Love you. Love you to death.”
“Kiss me.”
Lu Ze turned his head and kissed him lightly on the bridge of his nose. “Is that enough?”
Liang Xiao kissed him back. “Now it is.”
After dinner, they snuggled together eating canned yellow peaches from a single bowl with a single spoon, taking turns feeding each other.
When a phone rang a few times, Lu Ze asked, “Yours or mine?”
“Yours,” Liang Xiao replied. “Mine’s in the bedroom.”
“Not dealing with it,” Lu Ze said lazily. “I want some syrup—ah—”
Liang Xiao fed him a spoonful of peach syrup. A drop trickled down the corner of Lu Ze’s mouth, which Liang Xiao quickly caught with his finger before gently wiping it away.
Lu Ze grabbed a tissue but turned around just in time to see Liang Xiao licking his finger clean.
“Damn,” Lu Ze laughed as he wiped Liang Xiao’s hand. “I’ve noticed you’ve completely let yourself go in front of me.”
“Haven’t you?” Liang Xiao asked.
“Not like you,” Lu Ze retorted. “At least I don’t fart, grind my teeth, snore, or pick my nose in front of you.”
Liang Xiao burst out laughing. “Baby, I don’t do any of those things in front of you either!”
Lu Ze pinched his cheek playfully. “Doesn’t matter—even if you did all those things, you’d still be handsome. I wouldn’t mind.”
“So in love with me, huh?” Liang Xiao drawled teasingly.
Lu Ze’s phone rang again, this time a call instead of a message. As he reached for it, he replied casually to Liang Xiao, “Yes, yes, so in love with you…”
But when he saw the caller ID, Lu Ze paused and glanced at Liang Xiao. Liang Xiao noticed the name “Jie-ge” on the screen and asked, “Should I step out?”
“No need,” Lu Ze said firmly, pressing down on Liang Xiao’s leg to keep him seated. “Hello, Jie-ge.”
Jiang Yijie’s voice sounded frazzled. “I’m losing my mind, Lu Ze. You’ve got to help me figure something out.”
It had been a while since they’d spoken so naturally. Lu Ze smiled, genuinely amused. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you remember Xiaomi? The girl who kept chasing me?”
“Of course. What about her? She hasn’t given up yet? Is she driving you crazy?”
Jiang Yijie sighed heavily, his tone exasperated. “No, she’s not chasing me anymore. It’s just…”
As Lu Ze listened with a grin on his face, Liang Xiao fed him a piece of yellow peach. Without thinking, Lu Ze opened his mouth and took it, cheeks puffing as he chewed.
Liang Xiao’s lips curled into a faint smile.
“…So I’ve been going to the gym a lot lately, right? Xiaomi started tagging along. One day while we were talking, someone overheard us and offered to pretend to be my boyfriend…”
At this point, Lu Ze burst out laughing so hard that he almost spat out the peach in his mouth. He quickly swallowed it and spent a few moments coughing into his hand while Liang Xiao frowned and patted his back gently. “Did it go down the wrong way?” Liang Xiao asked softly.
Lu Ze shook his head, grabbed the bowl in Liang Xiao’s hand to drink some syrup, cleared his throat, and said, “Okay, I’m good now. Continue—what happened next?”
Liang Xiao decided not to feed him anything else and went to pour him a glass of water instead.
“So I agreed,” Jiang Yijie admitted regretfully. “I wasn’t thinking—I just wanted Xiaomi to stop liking me. How was I supposed to know…”
“That the guy would end up liking you?” Lu Ze finished for him.
“…Yeah.”
Lu Ze laughed again as he accepted the water from Liang Xiao and took a sip. “So now you’re still being chased—just by a guy instead of a girl?”
“Exactly! I’m so done with this…”
After laughing at him for another moment, Lu Ze finally said seriously, “Is the guy reliable? If he is, why not give it a try?”
“Come on! I go to the gym to work out—not to date!”
“And what about me?” Lu Ze glanced at Liang Xiao with a smirk. “I went to drink at a bar—I wasn’t planning on dating either.”
There was silence on the other end for a moment before Jiang Yijie muttered, “Lu Ze… if that’s how it is, then you owe me thanks. If I hadn’t taken you to that bar, you wouldn’t have met Liang Xiao.”
Lu Ze froze briefly before replying with a laugh, “Fair point—but hey, you’re the one who said it first. Don’t say I’m rubbing it in.”
Jiang Yijie sighed with a laugh, “It’s clear we’re just not meant to be. We’ve known each other for years, but I couldn’t compete with someone you just met. I guess I did a good deed.”
“A great deed,” Lu Ze replied. “If you don’t mind, Xiao-ge and I can treat you to a meal.”
“No, no, no,” Jiang Yijie quickly declined. “I still mind a little bit—let’s save the meal for later. For now, just help me figure this out.”
“How about I ask Xiao-ge for advice? After all, that guy is kind of like his former colleague.”
“Former colleague? …Damn…” Jiang Yijie burst into laughter after realizing what Lu Ze meant.
Lu Ze looked up at Liang Xiao, who raised an eyebrow and touched Lu Ze’s face. “Former colleague?”
Lu Ze explained the situation to Liang Xiao, who laughed and said, “I’ve only been pursued by clients—I’ve never pursued one.”
“Tsk, true. Your first male client got you right away.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Jiang Yijie interrupted. “I’m still on the line here.”
Lu Ze chuckled and held Liang Xiao’s hand. “Seriously, if that guy seems decent and you don’t dislike him, why not give it a try? Why reject it outright?”
“I… Fine, fine. I’ll think about it.”
“If you need advice, let me know—I’m a somewhat experienced gay man now.”
“Get lost!”
After hanging up, Lu Ze laughed for a while longer. “I think he definitely has some feelings for that guy.”
“What makes you think so?” Liang Xiao asked.
“Tsk,” Lu Ze replied. “I know him too well. If he really wasn’t interested at all, he wouldn’t have called me about it. Calling me means he needs me to validate his feelings.”
“Oh, so you know him that well,” Liang Xiao said with a faintly jealous tone.
“Tsk, so sour! We weren’t eating hawthorn just now,” Lu Ze teased.
He picked up the bowl and scooped out a piece of yellow peach. “Here, sweeten up.”
Liang Xiao leaned down to eat it and mumbled, “Not sweet enough.”
Lu Ze hooked his arm around Liang Xiao’s neck and kissed him on the lips. Liang Xiao suppressed a smile and was about to say it still wasn’t enough when Lu Ze seemed to read his mind. He started planting rapid kisses all over Liang Xiao’s lips while saying between kisses, “Enough now? Enough now? Enough now?”
