PTBC chapter 64

That night, Xia Yan naturally stayed over at Xu Cong’s room.

He sat on the couch by the window, eating pizza.

At the event earlier, he hadn’t eaten much. Then he rushed over in a frenzy, his emotions in turmoil, and there was no way he could stomach airplane food.

And after that… he’d been tangled up with Xu Cong.

Honestly, he’d been starving for a while. But he kept getting distracted by Xu Cong’s kisses, to the point where he completely forgot about his hunger—until his stomach finally protested loudly, reminding him.

So Xu Cong ordered room service.

Now, the two of them sat on the bed together. The curtains were drawn, turning this space into a world where only the two of them existed.

Under the bright lights, a belated sense of embarrassment crept in.

Xia Yan munched on his pizza, feeling a little too shy to meet Xu Cong’s gaze.

How strange.

Was this what having a boyfriend felt like?

And it was with his best friend, no less.

Xia Yan felt dazed. He wasn’t sure if he had fully adjusted to this shift. He had realized his feelings for Xu Cong, but he had no idea what people were supposed to do in a relationship…

Should they go on lots of dates?

Should he prepare gifts and surprises all the time?

He really had no clue. If he couldn’t figure it out, maybe he’d ask Zong Yi for advice later.

As he pondered this, he suddenly noticed the broken phone lying on the table—the one that still wouldn’t turn on after being smashed.

A fact he had briefly forgotten resurfaced in his mind.

Xia Yan narrowed his eyes at Xu Cong.

“I have to say, coming up with a fake blind date just to mess with me—that was really sneaky of you. Did you have fun tricking me? Was it amusing to see me so worked up?”

His gaze was sharp, as if he’d slice Xu Cong into pieces if he didn’t give a satisfactory answer.

Xu Cong blinked, then chuckled.

Looking at Xia Yan’s irritated face, he admitted honestly, “A little.”

Xia Yan’s eyes widened even more.

This bastard—he didn’t even try to deny it!

He picked up his pizza fork and pointed it at Xu Cong menacingly. “Have you decided how you want to die?”

He couldn’t believe it.

He had been completely played from start to finish, agonizing over someone who didn’t even exist. Meanwhile, the mastermind behind it all showed no signs of remorse.

Xu Cong ignored the fork and simply reached out, brushing a crumb off Xia Yan’s lips.

“Because I didn’t know any other way to make you feel jealous,” he said. “For all those years by your side, I burned with envy every single day. I resented every person who got close to you, resented how they could confess to you freely while I could only hold back.”

“I always felt like you liked me too, but you were so dense, always treating me like just a friend. So I wanted to push you a little, to make you feel the pain of jealousy. Maybe then… you’d finally understand your feelings for me.”

Xu Cong’s voice was soft. At this point, he chuckled. “And look—I succeeded.”

Xia Yan thought, How does this guy always make his twisted logic sound so reasonable?

Back at the hospital, when Xu Cong had threatened him, he had been just as smooth, spewing nonsense with ease.

And yet, every time, Xia Yan found himself a little convinced.

Frustrated, he took another big bite of his pizza. But after a while, his eyelashes drooped slightly, and he suddenly asked, “What if I never figured it out? What if I felt jealous but was too stubborn to call you? What if I never came after you? What would you have done then?”

“Would you have been disappointed and given up on me?”

Xia Yan glanced at Xu Cong.

“No,” Xu Cong answered in an instant. “I would just start over and pursue you again.”

He reached out and gently touched Xia Yan’s face.

“I’m very clear about this—I like you as naturally as breathing. How could a person forget their instincts? Even if you never woke up to your feelings for me in this lifetime, I still wouldn’t be able to leave you.”

Just like years ago, when they lay on the rooftop, drinking and dreaming about the future, he had promised—no matter how the world changed, he would never leave Xia Yan.

Xia Yan was his anchor.

No matter how far he drifted, he would always be tethered to him.

Xia Yan froze, unable to speak for a long time. The flames of his earlier anger flickered and were extinguished.

This was bad.

Really bad.

Xu Cong liked him—so much more than he had ever imagined.

The thought of Xu Cong watching him for countless days and nights with no hope made his heart ache.

Yet, at the same time, he couldn’t stop the lightness swelling in his chest, as if he were walking on clouds, so overwhelmed with happiness that he didn’t know what to do with himself.

He stared at Xu Cong in a daze.

He was done for. He really, really liked this person.

At this moment, he felt that even if Xu Cong asked him to destroy the world, he would agree.

……

After their late-night meal, Xia Yan naturally climbed into Xu Cong’s bed.

He didn’t bring anything with him, so he just used Xu Cong’s things. Fortunately, Xu Cong was a neat freak and always carried extras.

After showering, Xia Yan lay in bed wearing Xu Cong’s silk robe, replying to Bai Yu’s messages.

Bai Yu had been ranting in their group chat for an hour. When no one responded, he switched to pleading, begging Xia Yan and Xu Cong to at least say something—whether they had eloped or decided to become villains and blow up the planet, just let him know.

There was a scheduled shoot the following night.

With both Xia Yan and Xu Cong missing, Bai Yu had no way to explain their absence.

So now, Xia Yan was trying to console their manager out of guilt.

But he didn’t dare tell Bai Yu the truth—he was afraid Bai Yu might faint. He only said he had something urgent and needed to see Xu Cong.

Meanwhile, Xu Cong did nothing to help explain. Instead, he kept distracting him—kissing his neck, pressing his lips to the tiny red mole behind his ear.

It was driving Xia Yan crazy.

After dealing with Bai Yu, he put down his phone, ready to settle the score with Xu Cong, but as soon as he turned over—disaster struck.

Xu Cong kissed him directly.

Their bodies tangled on the bed, Xia Yan’s knee brushing against Xu Cong’s waist.

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.

The teasing earlier had already stirred a fire in Xia Yan, and he had nowhere to vent it.

And now, with their bodies entwined like this, the heat between them only intensified.

Xia Yan was kissed into a daze.

Xu Cong’s hand slid past the folds of his robe, pressing against his lower back. Xia Yan didn’t even think to stop him.

In the end, it was Xu Cong who stopped first.

A faint light had begun to creep through the curtains—it was already morning.

He wanted to continue, but Xia Yan had been traveling non-stop for a day and night and was exhausted.

The moment Xu Cong paused, Xiao Yan’s eyelids grew heavy.

Xu Cong kissed the scar on the back of Xia Yan’s hand lightly.

“Sleep tight.”

He had waited so many years—he could wait a little longer.

Xia Yan’s eyelids were too heavy to keep open anymore. He stubbornly reached out to touch Xu Cong’s face, but in the end, he only managed to brush his lips against Xu Cong’s fingertips before his head tilted to the side, and he fell asleep.

……

The next day, since Xia Yan had an evening schedule to catch, he only stayed in Pinggang for half a day.

They went to eat at a newly opened Italian restaurant.

They deliberately avoided peak dining hours, so the restaurant was nearly empty. Xia Yan particularly liked the vegetable soup on the menu.

After their meal, they took a trip to Pinggang’s Pingjin Mountain. They rode a swaying cable car up the mountain together.

At the peak, there was an ancient chapel over 400 years old. Years ago, when they first came to Pinggang for work, their entire group had visited the mountain.

Despite the passing years, the chapel remained unchanged, still open for tours.

For just twenty yuan, visitors could receive a thin brochure and a piece of strawberry cream chocolate.

Xia Yan unwrapped the chocolate and popped it into his mouth, nodding approvingly. “Even after all these years, the taste is exactly the same. Guess they’re either nostalgic or just too lazy to change suppliers.”

Xu Cong chuckled and adjusted Xia Yan’s hat.

Since they were already here again, they wandered into the chapel.

There weren’t many tourists—only a few middle-aged people. No one paid attention to the two young men in hats.

Though the chapel wasn’t large, it had a small section selling cultural souvenirs and postcards.

Xia Yan said, “I remember years ago, you sat inside this chapel for a long time. While the other members explored outside, you just sat there. I had no idea what was wrong with you. When I asked if you were feeling unwell, you said no and asked me to buy you iced lemon tea.”

He had always remembered that moment.

Back then, their group had only been debuting for a few months. They had gained some popularity but weren’t yet household names.

So, when they visited Pingjin Mountain, they had been carefree—no masks, no hats.

Lin Qixu and Xiao Ning were busy examining the ancient trees and sampling different flavors of red bean cakes.

Ye Zhaoyang was chatting with an old man by the roadside.

Xia Yan was taking pictures.

Only Xu Cong had sat alone inside the chapel, away from the summer heat, lost in thought.

Through the wide-open windows, the lone, slender figure of a young man in the quiet gray chapel was like a painting—cool and distant in the scorching summer sun.

“That time…” Xu Cong still remembered that day. “I did feel a little dizzy, but if I had told you, you definitely would have gone down the mountain with me. Back then, because of our debut, you hadn’t been able to go out and relax properly for a long time. I didn’t want to ruin your mood.”

“Besides…” Xu Cong smiled. “Sitting alone in the chapel wasn’t boring. A couple came in later, discussing their wedding plans and wanting to rent a chapel. At that time, I started thinking—if one day you married me, where would we have our ceremony? I thought about it for a long time. I knew it was just wishful thinking, but it still made me a little happy. But before I could think too much, you popped up at the window and called my name, saying you bought iced lemon tea.”

Xu Cong reached out and ruffled Xia Yan’s hair.

That moment had always stayed with him.

The window was open, revealing the lush green mountain trees outside. Xia Yan was wearing a light blue shirt, his freshly dyed light brown hair catching the sunlight. He had sunglasses on and suddenly jumped up to lean against the window, grinning smugly as he held up the iced lemon tea.

Xu Cong chuckled. “I remember you forgot to ask for no sugar in that lemon tea. It was so sweet it could rot my teeth.”

Xia Yan responded by lightly bumping his palm against Xu Cong’s.

He put down the postcard he had been holding and studied the carvings on the window of the old building, but his gaze secretly drifted toward Xu Cong.

Every time he heard these little details about Xu Cong’s long-standing crush, he couldn’t help but think about how oblivious he had been.

And how many years they had missed.

But just like Xu Cong said—it wasn’t too late. As long as they loved each other, nothing was too late.

Xia Yan touched the tip of his nose and suddenly said, “I want to get milk tea.”

“Hmm?”

Xu Cong didn’t catch it at first, but when he realized what Xia Yan meant, he immediately responded, “Sure.”

The two of them left the old chapel together and found the same little milk tea shop from years ago. Surprisingly, it was still open, and the owner seemed to be the same person.

Xia Yan ordered an iced milk tea, while Xu Cong stuck with his usual iced lemon tea.

They got on the cable car to go back down.

Their cable car only had glass on one side, wobbling slightly as it descended, moving at a slow, old-fashioned pace.

Halfway through drinking his milk tea, Xia Yan suddenly turned to Xu Cong and said, “I want to try yours.”

Thinking he was serious, Xu Cong handed over his drink. But as Xia Yan leaned in, he bit down on the straw—and at the same time, he reached out and pulled down the sunshade inside the cable car.

The fabric was so thin it couldn’t block out the scorching sunlight at all, but it did shield them from outside eyes.

In that bright daylight, Xia Yan kissed Xu Cong on the lips.

He pressed his lips against Xu Cong’s, leaving a faint bite mark.

His eyelashes brushed lightly against Xu Cong’s.

A minute later, Xia Yan slowly sat back in his seat, continuing to sip his milk tea.

He raised an eyebrow at Xu Cong and smirked lazily. “Even without sugar, it’s still pretty sweet.”