SBS chapter 61

Ye Xi spent a few decadent days at Bai Yue’s place.

He gamed, caught up on unfinished anime, lounged on Bai Yue’s bed eating yogurt, and at night lay with him on the rooftop terrace, chatting.

Bai Yue would mix him cocktails, the two of them clinking glasses under the stars.

And when the night deepened and the dew fell, Bai Yue would carry him back downstairs and do the things Ye Xi loved most.

Which meant his plans with Li Rui kept getting postponed.

There was no helping it.

Every day he felt like his energy was being drained dry, completely wrung out by this fox spirit.

Bai Yue looked so refined and restrained; when he didn’t smile, he seemed almost ascetic. But once his clothes were off—his muscles were firm and powerful, his waist and abs brimming with explosive strength. He’d lift Ye Xi’s ankle, press a kiss there, and look at him with those long-lashed, calm yet predatory eyes, full of intent.

Just being gazed at like that made Ye Xi feel like his brain had already climaxed.

So it was very hard not to let lust cloud his judgment.

In the mornings, just seeing Bai Yue half-naked—wearing silver-rimmed frameless glasses, his white shoulders marked by his bites, his broad, solid chest glowing like it was dusted with gold in the sunlight, standing barefoot as he drank water—

Ye Xi would swallow helplessly, then oh-so-dramatically lift the blanket to reveal half his own body, trying to lure Bai Yue back into bed.

Which usually ended with him unable to get out of bed at all.

Sprawled across it, limbs everywhere, he said to Li Rui, “Why don’t you come to my home? I don’t want to move. It’s too hot anyway—let’s not go out.”

He tempted Li Rui: “I got you an ice cream cake, strawberry flavor, your favorite. And some matcha milk too—Bai Yue just made it.”

Li Rui couldn’t help laughing.

He noticed that Ye Xi was already calling Bai Yue’s place “home.”

But Ye Xi’s suggestion hit the mark with him too.

Honestly, he didn’t want to go out under the sun either. His brother had recently been obsessed with practicing the piano, and even staying in the music room was unbearably noisy. Better to go over to Ye Xi’s.

Not long after, Li Rui came over. He knew Bai Yue had something to do that day and wasn’t home.

So the moment they met, he threw himself onto Ye Xi.

Ye Xi hurriedly told him to let go.

“My back hurts, I can’t catch you.” Ye Xi said bluntly.

“Yikes…” Li Rui pulled an exaggerated shocked face and immediately went to lift Ye Xi’s shirt.

“Don’t—”

Ye Xi tried to stop him, but failed. Li Rui knew all of Ye Xi’s ticklish spots.

So a few minutes later, Ye Xi ended up pressed against the sofa with a corner of his shirt pulled up.

“Holy crap.”

Li Rui only took one glance before quickly letting it fall back down. He hadn’t realized things were that intense. After seeing it, he instantly loosened his grip reverently, terrified that if Bai Yue ever found out, he’d kill him.

“Sorry, sorry, no offense meant, I really didn’t know you two had so many… spring night mementos.” He apologized sincerely to Ye Xi.

He might as well not have said anything.

Ye Xi’s cheeks flushed red, glaring at him angrily but with zero intimidation.

Trying to act calm, he sat up slowly, attempting to say something to salvage his shredded dignity, but nothing came out.

Li Rui sat there touching his nose, looking all proper, but a few seconds later he couldn’t hold back. He burst out laughing so hard he collapsed onto the sofa.

“Sorry,” he apologized, though his shoulders shook, “I just can’t help it. Damn, is Bai Yue even human, biting you up like this? This is wilder than the smut books I’ve read. Have you even gotten out of bed these past few days? Hahahahaha.”

Ye Xi was laughed into helplessness. He gave Li Rui a few exasperated glances, then even he couldn’t help but laugh lightly.

Honestly.

But he knew he and Bai Yue hadn’t been very restrained. Yesterday, when Bai Yue was applying ointment on him, he had already refused Ye Xi’s advances, insisting he abstain for a week.

Thinking of that, Ye Xi pouted unhappily. Seeing Li Rui still laughing nonstop, he ignored him, got up from the sofa, and said, “I’m going to get the ice cream cake.”

A few minutes later, he came back with ice cream cake and milk. Each of them took a slice, sitting together on the sofa.

Li Rui, despite laughing, still felt relieved seeing Ye Xi looking so radiant.

“This is great,” he dug into the cake with gusto, “you two really became a couple in the end. My god, when is this kind of plot going to happen to me? When will that bastard Sheng Yuhe finally figure things out?”

As he said it, his mood soured, his anger boiling.

He complained to Ye Xi: “Sheng Yuhe actually ran abroad too. He’s in Europe but didn’t even tell me. When I came back and asked him to meet, he told me he was in Greece and wouldn’t be back for a month. I’m so pissed off.”

Ye Xi immediately stood on his side: “How could he do that!”

But secretly he thought, if Sheng Yuhe kept on being so aloof and unromantic, he’d have to persuade Li Rui to change crushes.

So what if he’s handsome? Sooner or later, he’d arrange a marriage for Li Rui himself.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about him,” Li Rui muttered, stuffing a few more bites of cake into his mouth. To push away thoughts of that annoying guy, he perked up with gossip, looking eagerly at Ye Xi: “What was it you told me last time, that Bai Yue secretly liked you for years?”

There was no way he could resist bringing it up now.

He had already pried every detail out of Ye Xi about him and Bai Yue over video calls.

But he still loved hearing it again.

Ye Xi nodded shyly, unconsciously biting his spoon: “That’s what Bai-ge said. He told me all those times he came to the Zhengs’ house, he claimed it was to see Zheng Yang, but actually it was just to catch a few extra glimpses of me.”

“It’s just, he thought I didn’t like him, and was afraid of scaring me, so he didn’t dare show it too obviously. But he’d still pick out gifts for me, and he even secretly brought over his cousin’s cat for me to play with.”

Ye Xi couldn’t help but smile at that.

That cat, Mo Mo, was a fluffy snow-white Napoleon munchkin, with a cutesy meow and a clingy nature, temporarily left with Bai Yue by his cousin.

But the first time Bai Yue brought Mo Mo to the Zhengs’ house, Ye Xi saw it.

He really liked the cat, but was too shy to say so. He just petted it secretly a few times, thinking no one noticed.

But Bai Yue did. For the next few months, whenever his cousin wasn’t home, he would openly “kidnap” the kitten and bring it to the Zhengs’ so Ye Xi could play with it.

Only when his cousin went abroad and took the cat with her did Bai Yue finally have to give up.

“Bai-ge can be pretty silly sometimes,” Ye Xi said softly, smiling. “When he got caught, his cousin scolded him for being a cat thief. He had to compensate with a whole box of canned food and cat toys.”

Oh boy…

Li Rui’s bones practically melted from Ye Xi’s sweet tone.

Forget Bai Yue—if he weren’t a total bottom, even he wouldn’t be able to hold back.

Still…

“That’s actually pretty romantic,” Li Rui pressed his hands to his chest, eyes sparkling. “Coming over so many times just to see you a little more—if I didn’t know better I’d think you two were acting out a novel. Poor Zheng Yang though, he was basically just a tool, so pitiful.”

But then Li Rui remembered something: “By the way, where’s Zheng Yang? Wasn’t he storming over to confront you two the other day? How did that go, did he accept it?”

Ye Xi didn’t dare say Zheng Yang fainted from anger, so he vaguely replied: “At first his reaction was pretty strong, but later he accepted it.”

He paused, then added: “Actually, Zheng Yang… he’s a good person. He even told Bai Yue not to bully me.”

Li Rui raised his brows knowingly.

From that, he could tell Ye Xi now had both love and family—double the happiness.

Before, Ye Xi never spoke so highly of Zheng Yang.

Scooping another bite of ice cream cake into his mouth, he gazed at the sunlight skipping across the wooden floor. On the balcony, jasmine and cactus sat side by side in the shadows. Outside the window, a little bird pecked at grain on the feeder.

He softly hummed: “This is so nice…”

But what exactly was so nice, he couldn’t say.

Maybe it was that Ye Xi finally got what he wished for.

Maybe it was that they were finally free from high school.

Maybe it was just this summer afternoon, the blazing sunshine, nothing to do, sitting with Ye Xi chatting and eating cake, the soda sweating beads of condensation that pooled into a faint circle on the table.

Everything about it was good.

…

Li Rui lingered at Ye Xi’s house all afternoon. After gossiping, they played games together.

Since Bai Yue would be back very late, Ye Xi decided to cook.

Ever since his apple pie turned out well, his confidence was sky-high.

Li Rui, though, looked doubtful—holding a pot lid like a shield, ready for Ye Xi to blow up the kitchen at any moment.

“How can you not believe in me?” Ye Xi said righteously. “I think I might actually have a talent for cooking.”

Li Rui snorted coldly, not believing a word.

When Bai Yue finally got home, sure enough, he found Ye Xi and Li Rui eating takeout instead.

The table was full of fried chicken, with Ye Xi smothering it in sweet chili sauce.

Meanwhile, the kitchen was a disaster, a pot nearly ruined, the windows open to air out the mess.

Facing Bai Yue’s astonished look, Ye Xi ducked his head in embarrassment, though he still took another bite of fried chicken.

Bai Yue had recently banned him from eating oily food.

This definitely counted as contraband.

It might even get confiscated in a moment.

But in the end, Bai Yue only smiled helplessly. Seeing Ye Xi looking so pitiful, he let it go.

He greeted Li Rui warmly, saying it had been a while, and asked how he’d been lately.

“Pretty good, pretty good,” Li Rui swung his legs, “just a little short on a boyfriend. If you’ve got any handsome friends, feel free to introduce me.”

Ye Xi knew Li Rui was just spouting nonsense again and didn’t take it seriously.

But Bai Yue smiled faintly: “Really? Then I actually do have a friend I could introduce. Want to meet him?”

Li Rui and Ye Xi widened their eyes together, both looking up at Bai Yue like two parrots.

“Oh… uh… well…” Li Rui stammered, “if he’s really handsome, then… then I guess we could be friends.”

This time Ye Xi couldn’t hold it in—he collapsed onto the table laughing.