The "home" that Gu Xiuyi referred to wasn’t the villa Ji Ruan was familiar with, but rather the apartment where Gu Xiuyi usually stayed. The interior style was just like that of the villa—minimalist, with cold tones, and not a single superfluous decoration.
When Ji Ruan stepped inside, before he could even glance around the living room, he covered his mouth and sneezed several times.
Gu Xiuyi placed a pair of slippers in front of him and pushed his shoulder forward. "Put these on and go take a hot shower immediately."
The slippers were quite large, likely Gu Xiuyi's size. When Ji Ruan slipped them on, they fit loosely, and with Gu Xiuyi’s push, he stumbled forward two steps before being caught and held tightly.
Gu Xiuyi supported Ji Ruan by the shoulders, pulling him into his embrace, only then noticing his feet.
To ensure Ji Ruan could shower, Gu Xiuyi had given him an ordinary pair of black sandals, but Ji Ruan’s feet were really small. There was plenty of space left in the sandals, and his toes were slightly curled, turning pale from the cold.
Gu Xiuyi paused for a moment, his brows slowly furrowing. "They don't fit well..."
Ji Ruan couldn’t even wear his slippers properly...
Holding Ji Ruan in his arms, Gu Xiuyi realized the young man not only had a thin back but also a slender waist. With his palm pressed against Ji Ruan’s damp clothing, it felt as though he could almost touch the small of his back.
Gu Xiuyi’s heart felt a light, subtle tug, sending an inexplicable tingling sensation that spread through his bloodstream to his fingertips.
Ji Ruan's hair was wet, and since Gu Xiuyi hadn’t given him the external hearing device, he leaned close to Ji Ruan’s left ear after a moment of thought, speaking in the calmest tone possible, "I don’t have any small-sized slippers here."
This apartment was mainly a place where Gu Xiuyi rested; he rarely brought friends over. Even when he did, they were usually adult men around his size, so the shoe sizes never varied much. Today, he had specially picked an unused pair for Ji Ruan, but he hadn’t expected the boy wouldn’t be able to wear them.
Ji Ruan glanced down as well. The size difference was indeed noticeable, and walking might be inconvenient, but it wasn’t to the point of being unwearable.
He was chilled to the bone, and Gu Xiuyi was warm. Like a small animal instinctively drawn to a heat source, Ji Ruan leaned closer.
Subconsciously, he didn’t push Gu Xiuyi away. He sniffled and said, "It’s okay, I can wear these."
"That’s not the issue," Gu Xiuyi half-carried Ji Ruan into the living room, wrapping a long towel around him. "The wrong size makes it easy to slip in the shower."
Ji Ruan paused, realizing that made sense, but if he didn’t wear slippers, the wet bathroom tiles might make slipping even more likely.
The living room had a delicate fabric sofa with soft-looking blankets. Ji Ruan, dripping wet, didn’t want to ruin anything, so he found a chair to sit on and carefully examined the slippers on his feet.
Gu Xiuyi returned from the bathroom with a small towel, walked straight to Ji Ruan, and started drying his hair. Ji Ruan was momentarily dazed as the towel covered his face.
He patted Gu Xiuyi’s hand and then tugged at his forearm to stop him.
Gu Xiuyi, pulling out a tuft of messy hair from the white towel, noticed that Ji Ruan’s eyes were bright but his lips were pale, making him look unwell.
"What’s wrong?" Gu Xiuyi leaned closer. "Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
Ji Ruan shook his head, the messy strands of his hair bouncing as he did. "I’ll wear these slippers in the shower... I just checked, they have some anti-slip design underneath..."
Without his external hearing device, Ji Ruan’s voice was soft, like that of a newborn animal. He often stopped mid-sentence, tentatively reaching out, the uncertainty evident in his tone.
Seeing Ji Ruan unwilling to have his hair dried, Gu Xiuyi didn’t insist. He simply focused on drying the hair behind Ji Ruan’s right ear before putting the external hearing device on him.
The sudden clarity of sound made Ji Ruan’s shoulders tremble slightly. Gu Xiuyi’s hand, resting on Ji Ruan’s shoulder blade, felt the flutter, like a butterfly’s wing beating for an instant.
"Then just shower like that," Gu Xiuyi withdrew his hand, discreetly rubbing his fingertips together. "Move slowly and don’t lock the door."
Ji Ruan, adjusting his cochlear implant, suddenly looked up. "Don’t lock the door?!"
Gu Xiuyi: "..."
Gu Xiuyi saw the wary look in the young man’s eyes and felt conflicted. "As long as you don’t slip, I definitely won’t come in."
He spoke with a steady tone and a calm expression. His shirt was accidentally undone at the top button from holding Ji Ruan earlier. Standing half a meter away from Ji Ruan, he looked like a gentleman.
Ji Ruan stared at him for two seconds, seeing only a calm and unperturbed expression. Suddenly, he felt he had overreacted, and awkwardly cleared his throat. "Okay, I won’t lock the door. Thank you."
Gu Xiuyi smiled warmly, ruffling Ji Ruan’s messy hair. "You’re welcome. For clothes, you can wear mine for now. I also have new underwear."
"Underwear?!" Ji Ruan’s eyes widened, almost reacting too strongly again.
"What’s wrong?" Gu Xiuyi seemed genuinely puzzled as if he didn’t understand how private such an item was.
Ji Ruan scratched his nose, embarrassed, his toes curling up again. "It’s just...it’s not quite appropriate..."
Gu Xiuyi put his hands in his pockets, his palms slightly sweaty, but his face remained impassive. "It’s an emergency, and special situations require flexibility. Don’t worry, I won’t assign any special meaning to you wearing my underwear. You don’t have to overthink it."
"What are you talking about?" Ji Ruan looked up, his eyes full of shame and embarrassment. "I didn’t mean that... I... Sigh..."
He lowered his head, only daring to look at his toes. "I mean... the size won’t fit..."
Kidding. Gu Xiuyi was the protagonist in an old-fashioned angsty novel. His size couldn’t be compared to an average person’s! Ji Ruan didn’t want to embarrass himself.
Gu Xiuyi froze.
It was like being struck by lightning. He had to restrain himself from stepping back.
Fortunately, Ji Ruan kept his head down, or else he would have seen the shocked expression on Gu Xiuyi’s face.
Gu Xiuyi rubbed his brow hard, realizing he had been too hasty.
It turned out his thoughts were too adult-like, completely out of sync with Ji Ruan’s. This 18-year-old with messy hair probably hadn’t even experienced his first crush, let alone entertained other thoughts. All he could think about was his dignity as a man.
For a moment, the all-powerful Gu Xiuyi’s brain crashed. He stared at the top of Ji Ruan’s messy hair, distracted for a long time.
After a long pause, he took a deep breath, regained his composure and lifted Ji Ruan’s chin, making him look up, and offered a not-so-helpful reassurance. "Don’t be too upset. You’re still growing."
Ji Ruan frowned, a helpless smile on his lips. "Thanks, I guess..."
Gu Xiuyi knew his previous comment had plummeted in terms of emotional intelligence, so he didn’t continue the conversation about growth. Instead, he said, "You don’t have to wear mine, but what will you change into?"
Ji Ruan had already thought of a solution. "You have a hairdryer, right?"
Gu Xiuyi nodded. "Of course."
"Then that’s easy. I’ll just wash my underwear while I shower and dry it with the hairdryer. It’s thin, so it’ll dry quickly."
Gu Xiuyi raised an eyebrow. It was a practical solution.
Ji Ruan’s nose was red from rubbing, and Gu Xiuyi checked the temperature at his neck. It had dropped.
"Alright," Gu Xiuyi didn’t argue further. "Go shower now. I’ll leave the clothes outside the bathroom door."
Ji Ruan was indeed shivering with cold. He took off his external hearing device and followed Gu Xiuyi into the bathroom.
Gu Xiuyi found a shirt he rarely wore and placed it on the small stool outside the door. The sound of running water filled the bathroom, and as the frosted glass door fogged up, Gu Xiuyi realized his throat had gone dry.
He opened the refrigerator, took out a bottle of mineral water, and then remembered that Ji Ruan would need hot water for his cold medicine after the shower. He put the mineral water back and boiled a kettle of hot water.
By the time Ji Ruan finished his shower, the hot water in Gu Xiuyi’s cup had cooled just enough to drink. He held the cup and looked up at the sound of the door opening.
A cloud of white steam billowed out as Ji Ruan stepped out, wearing Gu Xiuyi’s shirt, with a towel draped over his shoulder, his hair still dripping.
He tiptoed on the absorbent mat at the door, then quickly ran to the living room to grab the hairdryer on the coffee table.
Gu Xiuyi’s shirt fit Ji Ruan perfectly, just long enough to cover his thighs. In the bright light of the living room, Ji Ruan’s legs appeared long and slender, almost blending into the cream-colored carpet, but they had a delicate, almost ethereal glow.
Despite the paleness of his skin, his knees, ankles, and even his toes were a soft pink.
Gu Xiuyi’s breath hitched as he squeezed the water cup and looked away.
Ji Ruan, dressed like this, would be considered very inappropriate in front of any man!
But considering the circumstances, it was understandable. Gu Xiuyi tried to calm himself by rationalizing the situation.
First, Ji Ruan’s clothes were wet, so he had to wear Gu Xiuyi’s. And this shirt was something Gu Xiuyi had specifically chosen for Ji Ruan. He couldn’t blame him for looking good in it.
Second, Ji Ruan had just finished showering, and Gu Xiuyi had forgotten to give him indoor slippers, so Ji Ruan had to come out barefoot. He couldn’t blame Ji Ruan for seeing those pink toes.
Finally, Ji Ruan wasn’t wearing pants... Wait, why wasn’t Ji Ruan wearing pants?
He had clearly placed the sweatpants on the sofa!
To confirm, Gu Xiuyi glanced at the sofa and, indeed, the gray sweatpants were lying there.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but notice Ji Ruan’s legs peeking out from under the shirt.
Gu Xiuyi pressed his temples, realizing that Ji Ruan probably didn’t think there was anything wrong with this and hadn’t even noticed Gu Xiuyi was still in the room.
Ji Ruan was likely focused entirely on the hairdryer and the underwear in his hand, intent on getting it dry as soon as possible.
Wait...
The water Gu Xiuyi had just drunk got stuck in his throat.
Ji Ruan wasn’t wearing... anything underneath...
This thought exploded in Gu Xiuyi’s mind like a thunderclap, sending sparks flying and rendering him momentarily incapable of coherent thought.
"Cough—"
Gu Xiuyi choked violently, unable to stop coughing.
Ji Ruan, still drying his hair and unable to wear the external hearing device, found the surrounding sounds muffled. Even Gu Xiuyi’s intense coughing fit sounded faint to him.
He turned around and saw Gu Xiuyi’s shoulders shaking slightly behind the counter.
Ji Ruan frowned, wondering if he should be concerned.
"Um..." Ji Ruan tentatively called out, worried that Gu Xiuyi might suddenly turn around. He hid the underwear behind his back and raised his voice, "Are you catching a cold too?—"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized something was wrong. Without the external hearing device, his voice was barely controlled. The louder he spoke, the more difficult it was to manage his tone.
He couldn’t hear clearly, but he could sense that his voice had sounded strange, with an odd, singsong quality.
Surprised, Ji Ruan covered his mouth with his fingers and turned away, focusing on drying his underwear, not wanting to speak anymore. He figured he could just make Gu Xiuyi a cup of cold medicine later.
Gu Xiuyi took longer in the shower than expected. It was only after Ji Ruan had slowly dried his hair, put on the sweatpants, bagged his wet clothes, and made two cups of cold medicine, that the water had stopped running.
After a long day, Ji Ruan felt drowsy as he leaned back on the sofa.
When Gu Xiuyi finally emerged from the shower, he had regained his usual composure, his expression back to its familiar neutrality.
Two cups of cold medicine were on the coffee table, still steaming, and Ji Ruan was slumped on the sofa, clutching a pillow, seemingly asleep.
He had changed into Gu Xiuyi’s gray sweatpants and buttoned the shirt all the way up.
Gu Xiuyi sighed in relief. This was how a good boy should look.
He brushed Ji Ruan’s bangs aside and checked his forehead, relieved to find no sign of a fever.
Gu Xiuyi’s hand was large, covering Ji Ruan’s forehead and partly his eyes. When Ji Ruan opened his eyes, his eyelashes fluttered, sending a slight tremor through Gu Xiuyi’s fingers, like a butterfly brushing his pinky.
Gu Xiuyi’s fingers twitched slightly in response as he discreetly withdrew his hand.
Ji Ruan had almost fallen asleep just now. Now, feeling a bit dizzy, he didn’t notice the abnormality beneath Gu Xiuyi’s calm expression. Rubbing his eyes, he said, "I made you some cold medicine too. You should drink it."
Gu Xiuyi could guess that Ji Ruan had misunderstood his earlier coughing fit caused by choking as a sign of illness. He picked up the glass and, after some thought, said, "Thanks, but I don't have a cold."
But Ji Ruan seemed to think he was just being stubborn, giving a soft hum of disbelief. "I’m not sick either, but it’s good for prevention."
"…" Gu Xiuyi looked at Ji Ruan’s red nose and pale lips and sighed, "I hope you don’t get sick."
Since Ji Ruan had made the medicine himself, Gu Xiuyi, despite his words, downed it in one gulp. Ji Ruan, on the other hand, stared into space, sipping slowly, as always.
He seemed to eat everything slowly, forever leisurely.
After spacing out for a moment, Ji Ruan suddenly looked up through the steam rising from his cup. "So the French escargot was canceled?"
"Mm." Gu Xiuyi turned on the TV, flipping through channels as he waited for Ji Ruan to finish his drink.
He unlocked his phone and handed it to Ji Ruan. "Order some takeout."
Ji Ruan was hungry and didn’t hesitate. He took the phone and opened the takeout app, scrolling through options before asking, "How about rice noodles?"
It was rare for him to decide so quickly, indicating he genuinely wanted the noodles.
Gu Xiuyi nodded. "Sure."
Ji Ruan added the item to the cart. "I’ll have the Three Delicacies flavor. What about you?"
Gu Xiuyi, who was never particularly interested in food, took Ji Ruan’s empty cup to the sink. "I’ll have the same."
The rain outside had lessened, and the delivery wasn’t delayed. Ji Ruan was fortunate enough to get his steaming hot rice noodles before he fainted from hunger.
A soft carpet was spread in the center of the living room. Ji Ruan and Gu Xiuyi sat cross-legged on the floor, eating noodles while watching TV.
Ji Ruan actually enjoyed this feeling. The sound of rain outside, the warm, bright lights inside, and the steaming, fragrant food... it felt a bit like home.
As a mouthful of noodles slid into his stomach, warming him from the inside out, Ji Ruan closed his eyes in contentment. He covered his mouth and said to Gu Xiuyi, "Honestly, I don’t think French escargot could be any better than this."
Gu Xiuyi hadn’t invited Ji Ruan for French cuisine just for the escargot, after all.
He looked at Ji Ruan’s rosy lips, his gaze softening. "Yeah, I think so too."
The TV was showing a sports channel that Gu Xiuyi had randomly selected, broadcasting a ten-meter diving competition. The athlete spun from the high platform, plunged into the water, and then gracefully emerged, like a mermaid.
Unconsciously, Gu Xiuyi thought of Ji Ruan.
Ji Ruan had wrapped himself in a dark blue blanket, resting his head on a light blue pillow. His bright eyes and dimples seemed to dive into the sea, making him the most beautiful little mermaid.
"Cough, cough—" A fit of coughing snapped Gu Xiuyi back to reality.
He turned to see the little mermaid clutching his chest, coughing, his face flushed red as he stretched out a hand for the napkins on the table.
But he couldn’t reach them, and his face turned even redder, his hair sticking up.
"..."
Gu Xiuyi instantly felt the disparity between his ideal and reality.
He grabbed a couple of napkins and pulled Ji Ruan over. "What’s wrong?"
Ji Ruan took the napkins and hastily wiped his face, clutching them in his hand as he continued to cough.
Gu Xiuyi had now learned the proper technique for patting someone’s back. At least he was past the beginner stage, gently holding Ji Ruan and rubbing his back.
In between coughs, Ji Ruan pointed at the soup and then at his throat, indicating that the soup had choked him!
Gu Xiuyi chuckled, once again amazed at how fragile Ji Ruan’s thin, delicate throat was.
This time, Ji Ruan wasn’t choking as badly, at least not enough to make his chest hurt, but his throat was itchy, making it hard to stop.
He leaned against Gu Xiuyi, coughing intermittently for a long time until he finally stopped, feeling dizzy as he slumped back onto the sofa.
Gu Xiuyi looked at Ji Ruan’s dazed expression, finding it both pitiful and amusing. He propped his hand near Ji Ruan’s head, lightly tapping his small Adam’s apple, and said, a bit helplessly, "Even the Three Delicacies flavor can choke you. What’s the use of that little throat?"
Ji Ruan, still coughing a bit, finally managed to stop and felt a bit better, but Gu Xiuyi was still teasing him.
He pushed Gu Xiuyi’s hand away, casually rubbing his throat as he replied lightly, "Isn’t being pretty useful?"
Gu Xiuyi’s hand, which had been resting near Ji Ruan’s head, froze.
Because of this comment, he really noticed Ji Ruan’s appearance at that moment.
The collar of his shirt was undone, his hair was messy, and he was lying back on the sofa, his neck curving into a graceful arc. The slight sweat on his skin made it look even more delicate, his face streaked with tears from coughing, his eyelashes clumped together, and his gaze unfocused.
It was strange but undeniably beautiful.
Like a pool of rose petals floating in a spring under the moonlight, this beauty was light, pervasive, and fluid.
Ji Ruan closed his eyes briefly, then, feeling less dizzy, got up and went to the bathroom. His vision was still blurred by tears, making it hard to see anything clearly, so he decided to wash his face.
It wasn’t until he heard the sound of the bathroom door closing that Gu Xiuyi withdrew his now-numb hand.
On TV, the athletes were still diving, entering the water, and surfacing again.
But Gu Xiuyi suddenly realized that sometimes, the real mermaid could be even more stunning than the one imagined.
·
The rain eventually stopped. Given the strict curfew at Beijing University, Gu Xiuyi didn’t let Ji Ruan stay the night. After tidying up, he drove him back.
Maybe it was the rain, but the area around the school gates was particularly empty, the street quiet and the air damp.
Gu Xiuyi didn’t let Ji Ruan get out of the car right away. Instead, he went to the trunk and brought something over.
Ji Ruan was in the middle of fixing his tousled hair in the mirror when the driver’s door opened. Gu Xiuyi, carrying the dampness of the air, got in, holding an umbrella and a candy jar.
The jar was smaller than the first one, which had been filled with a mix of chocolates and fruit candies, but inside, there was only one type of deep red wrapper.
Ji Ruan recognized it immediately as that lone cherry-flavored candy.
"Take it back and enjoy." Gu Xiuyi handed both the umbrella and the jar to Ji Ruan.
Ji Ruan held the jar up, rotating it under the streetlight, where it emitted a sparkling red glow, like magical candy from a fairy tale.
"Thank you," his dimples appeared as he smiled. "Actually, I counted them before leaving earlier, hoping I’d find a cherry one I missed, but there weren’t any."
He blinked, never shy about expressing his happiness. "I was a bit sad at the time, so now that you’ve given me this, I’m several times happier."
Once again, Gu Xiuyi’s heart was struck, but this time it was different from the previous restless tugging. This time, it was like a gentle stream soothing and smoothing everything out.
"Have you ever tried this flavor?" Ji Ruan asked.
Gu Xiuyi gripped the steering wheel and shook his head. "No."
Hearing this, Ji Ruan opened the jar and grabbed a few, placing them in Gu Xiuyi’s palm. "Then you have to try them. They’re really good."
He said this before opening the car door and stepping out, holding the bag of clothes, the umbrella, and the jar of candy. He was too laden to wave, so he bent down and smiled at Gu Xiuyi through the window. "Bye-bye."
It wasn’t until Ji Ruan’s figure disappeared into the shadows of the trees that Gu Xiuyi’s grip on the steering wheel relaxed. He leaned back in his seat and let out a long breath.
·
Back in the dormitory, Ji Ruan’s roommates started teasing him as soon as they saw his new outfit.
Han Xiaolin, leading the charge, crossed his arms and said in a sour tone, "Oh, boyfriend’s shirt."
Qin Shan followed up, "Wow, boyfriend’s pants."
Li Yu concluded, "Ah, boyfriend’s candy."
Ji Ruan couldn’t help but laugh, placing the bag down and sitting on a chair. "Enough already, guys. Come over and have some candy. I think this flavor is particularly good."
Since it was someone else’s husband who had given it to him, the three didn’t dare take too much, each taking one piece symbolically.
Li Yu fiddled with the bright red cherry-flavored candy, sighing, "Such an innocent romance?"
Qin Shan saw through it. "Legal partners, huh? Even after changing clothes, it’s still innocent?"
·
By the time Gu Xiuyi was ready for bed, the little cherry icon on his phone screen lit up. Smiling slightly, he opened the message.
[Image.jpg]
It was the familiar red candy wrapper.
[My roommates actually said it wasn’t good, too sour, but I think it’s sweet with a hint of sourness.]
Gu Xiuyi chuckled and was about to reply when another message popped up.
[Did you try it?]
Gu Xiuyi paused, glancing at the three shiny candies on his nightstand. He hadn’t touched them yet.
Ji Ruan, noticing that the other side was typing but not replying, probably guessed what was happening.
[You haven’t eaten them yet, have you?]
Although Gu Xiuyi couldn’t see Ji Ruan’s face, something about those words made him feel as if Ji Ruan was pouting.
Without further hesitation, Gu Xiuyi unwrapped one and popped it into his mouth. The intense sourness hit his taste buds immediately, and his brows furrowed.
Ji Ruan’s roommates were right; it was indeed very sour.
When Gu Xiuyi had specifically gone out to buy this candy, he already knew why the cherry flavor was so rare. Many customers complained that it wasn’t sweet enough. The less it sold, the less it was produced.
But Ji Ruan seemed to genuinely like it. Maybe it was just the boy’s unique taste.
When Ji Ruan finished his milk, he received a reply—a picture.
The red candy wrapper was smoothed out and placed in Gu Xiuyi’s large palm, making the wrapper look particularly small.
[I tried it now. It’s very sweet.]
---
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The author has something to say:
Gu Xiuyi’s tip for pursuing a lover #2—Don’t be afraid when your innocent crush unintentionally tempts you, but you must resist the temptation. A true man stays steadfast in the face of allure!
T/N: President Gu is a real wife chaser lol.
I know the updates aren't quick enough but it'll get better once I adjust with all my real life tasks.
Ps: Why are the chapter soo long QAQ?! It's making this lazy ass translator more lazier...sigh!