⌈Isn’t this a plastic-sealed food glove?⌋
Lu Ran froze for a moment at Ji Min’s suggestion.
Although… it wasn’t the first time Ji Min had carried him. He did think sitting on Ji Min’s lap felt comfortable.
But being invited so blatantly like this…
For some reason, Lu Ran felt it was a little dangerous.
“There are so many people… wouldn’t that be inappropriate?” Lu Ran said.
The man looked at him and said in a low voice, “What’s inappropriate? This would look far more convincing than your act. The moment we walk in, the whole world will think I’ve kept you in bed so much you can’t even stand.”
Ji Min was being sarcastic.
He only wanted to tease Lu Ran a little.
Unexpectedly, the young man frowned, stared at him, and thought about it seriously for a while.
Then, to Ji Min’s surprise, Lu Ran nodded in agreement. “You’re right.”
With that, Ji Min felt a weight settle on his lap.
Lu Ran had actually climbed onto him, even adjusting his posture before tilting his head and asking, “Like this?”
As if that wasn’t enough, he sighed and said, “Your vanity is really something else.”
Ji Min: “…”
For a second, Ji Min reflected on himself—why did he think he could win against Lu Ran in this kind of verbal sparring?
It was truly overestimating himself.
But then again, whether he carried him or not, he was the one benefiting either way.
After holding him for a short while, Ji Min felt Lu Ran stir again.
He stopped his wheelchair and raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong? Can’t sit still?”
But then he saw Lu Ran turn halfway around, one hand bracing against Ji Min’s chest to support himself, while the other reached under Ji Min’s suit jacket, rummaging around.
“Hey.”
Ji Min’s abdominal muscles tensed as he was touched. He quickly grabbed Lu Ran’s hand, lowering his voice, “What are you doing?”
They were still in public.
As he spoke, he saw Lu Ran lift the hem of his suit jacket, his hand pressing on Ji Min’s metal belt buckle.
In his clumsy movements, a few fingers even slipped under Ji Min’s shirt, their cool tips brushing against bare skin.
For a moment, Ji Min felt his breath catch.
Lu Ran fumbled around for a while before speaking with confusion: “Your belt doesn’t feel as uncomfortable today.”
He added, “And it’s buckled higher than usual.”
Ji Min: “…”
He pinched Lu Ran’s wrist and pulled the mischievous fingers away.
Then he turned Lu Ran back to face forward, securing him in place as he firmly instructed, “Stop fooling around.”
The salon this time was being held at the Twin Towers, a location Ji Min was very familiar with.
Instead of entering through the main entrance, Ji Min took a different route.
Even though Lu Ran was fine being carried by him, Ji Min wasn’t about to let him be seen in public in such a position.
Now wasn’t the time to mess with Shen Hongyuan.
After taking the elevator, Ji Min wheeled through the spacious and intricate corridors of the Twin Towers with Lu Ran in tow.
His plan was to stroll until Lu Ran got uncomfortable sitting on his lap and chose to get off on his own, then attend the event properly.
However, as they passed by a large door at the end of the corridor, Lu Ran’s eyes lit up and he sat up straighter.
Pointing at the ornate, gilded restroom door, he patted Ji Min’s shoulder.
“Isn’t this where I first saw you?”
Ji Min paused for a moment before a smile tugged at his lips.
He corrected, “Not the first time.”
“I know!” Lu Ran said eagerly. “But that time when I was rescuing Da Huang, there was a partition blocking the view—I couldn’t see you clearly.”
After saying that, he patted Ji Min’s shoulder again, his enthusiasm unabated.
“No one should be in there now. Let’s go in and take a look!”
This floor was under Ji Min’s ownership and there really weren’t any outsiders around.
It was precisely why Ji Min had been so surprised when he encountered Lu Ran in the restroom before.
Smiling and shaking his head, Ji Min complied, remotely controlling the wheelchair to head toward the restroom.
When the restroom’s automatic doors opened, Ji Min hesitated for a moment before proceeding.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Ran asked.
Ji Min replied, “…Nothing.”
It was just that the situation struck him as inexplicably funny.
When most people revisit the place where their romance began, they go somewhere meaningful—perhaps a garden, an island, an amusement park, or at the very least, some ordinary spot in the city.
Yet for the two of them, it was a restroom where they reminisced about the past?
Ji Min was speechless for a moment.
But once they stepped inside and familiar sights greeted him, he found himself momentarily lost in thought.
He recalled the teenager who had once stood alone at the sink, quietly scrubbing away stains on his clothes.
That same person now sat obediently in his lap.
And the restless yearning that had inexplicably surged within him back then in this very restroom—an impulse almost too much to bear—finally had a destination now.
Ji Min glanced at the sink nearby.
He could clearly picture where the boy had stood, how he had lifted the hem of his clothes, and how he had tilted his head to ask if Ji Min needed help.
Ji Min’s gaze darkened slightly.
The boy had spoken those words with innocent intent, but for the one hearing them, the thoughts they evoked were far from innocent.
Meanwhile, the person nestled in his arms was also reminiscing.
Pointing to the nearby accessible sink, Lu Ran said, “You were so fierce back then! The first thing you did when you saw me was tell me to leave so you could wash your hands alone.”
He added, “And what was even worth washing, anyway?”
“Hmm,” Ji Min hummed in a low voice, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Slowly, he tightened his arms around Lu Ran and rested his chin on the boy’s head.
“And over there—the cabinet!”
Lu Ran patted Ji Min’s arm, gesturing for him to move closer.
Following his direction, Ji Min wheeled them over to the cabinet.
Lu Ran reached out to pull open one of the drawers.
“I didn’t know this restroom was stocked with so much stuff,” Lu Ran said, clearly impressed. “They even have towels here.”
But this time, he opened the wrong drawer.
With a bit of force, the drawer slid open and a small black rectangular box popped out.
Lu Ran quickly caught it.
“Oh, right, this thing!”
Turning the box over and over in his hands, Lu Ran inspected it but couldn’t find any logo on the packaging.
“What is this?” Lu Ran asked, looking up at Ji Min.
Ji Min: He really hasn’t changed at all.
“Why don’t you open it and see?” he said, deliberately teasing.
Lu Ran, feeling curious, thought that there were plenty more in the drawer. Since this item seemed to be disposable, opening one box shouldn’t matter.
So, he bent his head down and began to carefully unwrap it.
Ji Min kept his eyes half-closed, watching the boy’s delicate, agile fingers as they gently handled the black matte box.
Lu Ran turned it over several times, before finally getting the plastic seal off.
Then, as if he were playing with a toy, he opened the box.
Inside the box was a stack of small, square packages wrapped in aluminum foil.
Upon seeing the contents of the box, Lu Ran froze for a moment, still holding the box.
Ji Min smirked slightly.
At this point, he’d managed to get the boy curious enough.
He reached out to take the item from Lu Ran’s hands.
But just then, Lu Ran, still nestled in his arms, looked up at him with a puzzled expression and said: “I’ve seen this at the fried chicken place where I worked before. Isn’t this a sealed food glove?”
Ji Min: “…What?”
Food glove?
Lu Ran looked even more shocked.
He turned around to glance at the urinals and the row of stalls behind them, his eyes flashing with disbelief.
“How could there be food gloves in a bathroom?” he exclaimed.
Ji Min: “….”
Ji Min was momentarily at a loss for words.
Lu Ran, still too shocked to stop, took out one of the small square packages to examine it closely.
The moment he pulled it out, he realized something wasn’t right.
“What’s this circle on it?” Lu Ran muttered in confusion.
After saying that, he quickly reconsidered, “But who has fingers that thick?”
Ji Min, who had heard everything, remained silent.
Lu Ran’s curiosity reached its peak.
“I should be fine opening one, right?” As he spoke, he used his fingers to tear open the small square package.
Because he applied too much force, the moment he tore it open, a clear, slippery liquid shot out.
The liquid from the package got on his pale fingers.
It ran down his fingers and seeped between them, covering his hand.
“Ugh… what is this?” Lu Ran frowned and shook his hand.
With a forceful flick, the remaining circle from the package flew out.
It landed on his thigh.
It even had a raised nub on top.
At the sight of this, Lu Ran’s mind suddenly went blank.
A memory from the end of last semester hit him like a bolt of lightning.
He remembered attending a seminar to earn innovation credits.
The seminar was about AIDS prevention and education at the university.
But once he entered, the teacher talked nonstop about how to use condoms.
Lu Ran had been exhausted from work, so he just went in to get the stamp and fell asleep in the back.
But the teacher was passionate and even invited someone to demonstrate.
The whole classroom was loud and chaotic.
Lu Ran was woken up in the middle of it, still groggy, and looked up to the stage.
He saw a male classmate from his department holding a banana.
The banana was wearing something and the tip had a raised nub.
The teacher, standing at the front, was pointing at the banana and enthusiastically discussing the importance of that nub.
Lu Ran: “….”
At that moment, a strange silence spread through the bathroom.
In the silence, Lu Ran held up his wet hand and quietly turned his head to look at the expression of the man behind him.
Ji Min’s gaze was lowered, his eyes focused on Lu Ran’s fingers.
The shadow of his eyelashes made it hard to see the expression in his eyes, but it was clear that his gaze was very deep.
After a long pause, Lu Ran slowly turned his head, planning to grab a tissue.
But the man behind him was one step ahead.
With pale, but clearly defined fingers, Ji Min gently picked up the rubber ring that had fallen on Lu Ran’s knee and casually tossed it into the trash bin.
Then, he held Lu Ran’s wrist, pulled out a tissue, and carefully wiped off the sticky substance from his fingers, inch by inch, slowly and meticulously.
During this, Ji Min’s face showed no expression.
His dark eyes were entirely focused on the boy’s fingers.
It seemed as if he was just cleaning his hands with serious intent.
But Lu Ran…
Could sense something in the way the man wiped his hands.
After he finished cleaning, Ji Min led Lu Ran to the sink to wash his hands properly.
Only then did he lead him out of the bathroom.
The boy in his arms was completely stiff, with only two flushed red ears visible from behind.
But the way he held his head lowered made it look as though he was about to fly away.
Ji Min sighed lightly and said in a low voice, “What are you spacing out for? Get down.”
At this reminder, the boy in his lap seemed to finally snap out of it, quickly hopping off.
The two of them walked silently toward the venue of the salon.
The atmosphere was subtle and quiet, like a tightly stretched string.
It wasn’t until they entered the venue that the loud voices of the crowd hit them.
That lingering, awkward tension slowly dissipated.
Lu Ran took a light breath and exhaled.
He wasn’t sure why he had felt so inexplicably nervous just now.
After a moment, he couldn’t help but justify himself: “I—I’m not that inexperienced. I didn’t recognize it just because there was no logo. If it were one of those brands from the supermarket, I would definitely recognize it.”
“Mm.” Ji Min gave a light laugh.
He turned his head to look at the boy and said, “Then next time we go to the supermarket, you can point one out for me to see.”
Lu Ran: “…”
Damn it.
“I’ll point it out, I’ll point it out!” Lu Ran said, puffing out his chest.
Ji Min pressed a finger to his lips and chuckled softly for a while.
When he turned back, he noticed the boy’s ears had turned red again.
He gently reassured him, “It’s fine, you already called me your boyfriend. It’s nothing to look at this kind of thing together.”
After saying that, he realized the blush on Lu Ran’s face had intensified and had spread down to his neck.
Aaaa so awkward 💀😳
He will meet the King Oyster Mushroom soon i guess.
Uh huh
His cluelessness was so cute 🥰