Chapter 5: Xi Xingling
“Get dressed. I’ll take you home.” Li Dong pried the young man off his back and tossed him onto the bed. He took his time getting dressed himself and checked the time while he was at it.
“Huh?” Sprawled on the mattress, Xi Xingling blinked in surprise. “We’re not staying here overnight?” He had wanted to fall asleep in Li Dong’s arms. Going home to sleep alone felt unbearably empty.
“You planned to show up to work tomorrow in the same outfit? Afraid people won’t know you were fooling around outside?”
“…,” Xi Xingling fell silent.
As a fresh grad, he did care about his image at the company. He did not want rumors that would hurt him.
Besides, getting this job had not been easy. It was the closest job to Han Tianlin he could find.
“Get dressed,” Li Dong said. Seeing his expression, he knew the man had thought it through.
At least he still had some rationality left, rather than being completely irrational.
“But I want to wake up in the same bed as Second Young Master, together in the morning…” Xi Xingling’s voice was soft and sounded genuinely pitiful.
“Do you now?” Li Dong smiled pleasantly, but what came out of his mouth was cruel. “You want a lot of things. That doesn’t mean you get them.”
The meaning was clear. This one was a pipe dream.
“I know I don’t have the right.” Xi Xingling pressed his lips together and obediently got dressed.
His gloom passed as quickly as it came. As soon as he was clothed, he bounced back, slid over, and hugged Li Dong around the waist. “Second Young Master~”
“Get off.”
“Won’t.” He clung no matter what.
The fact that he could talk back actually pleased Li Dong. A person should have a bit of temper. Only being obedient and swallowing everything just made the people trampling you more brazen.
His mind could not help jumping to the later chapters where Xi Xingling was passed around, changing from a pampered, smiling youth into a broken shell with dead eyes.
Even if he “got his wish” in the end, so what? Could anyone swear that was the happiness he had wanted?
“Mwah.” Li Dong slipped an arm over his shoulder and kissed his forehead.
Xi Xingling immediately looked so happy he might faint, then pushed his luck and puckered up. “Second Young Master is amazing. One more kiss on the lips?”
“The elevator is here.” Li Dong could not be bothered and let go of his shoulder, nudging him to stand to the side.
Unsure if anyone would be inside and mindful of Li Dong’s status, Xi Xingling stood straight and kept a polite distance.
Ding. The doors opened onto an empty car.
In a flash, Xi Xingling hugged Li Dong’s waist again. “Second Young Master, there’s no one.”
Li Dong could only drag the human koala into the elevator.
Before they reached the first floor, the elevator door opened again, scaring Xi Xingling into quickly letting go and keeping his distance from Li Dong.
But when the door opened, there was no one there. Perhaps that person had already gone down in another elevator.
“That scared me to death.” Xi Xingling grabbed onto Li Dong again for courage.
All the way down, he flinched and hugged and flinched again with stubborn determination. Somehow the sight struck Li Dong as funny.
“Do we really have to head back this early? It’s only ten,” Xi Xingling said, unwilling to part. Even in the car he draped a hand over Li Dong’s thigh, stealing a touch now and then.
“What do you want then?” Li Dong thought, If I take you home at ten, it’s nearly eleven. If I then drive back to my place, it’s almost midnight, buddy.
“Treat me to something? I’m a little hungry,” Xi Xingling said, giving his thigh a little push.
“Go home and cook yourself some noodles,” Li Dong said, pulling out and onto the road.
“Then eat with me when we get there.”
Li Dong cut him a glare. Xi Xingling’s neck shrank at once, a flicker of fear on his face.
“What is it? Didn’t you say I have a good temper? What are you afraid of?” This was all scum-top Han Tianlin’s fault, turning a perfectly normal person into this.
“I’m not afraid…” Realizing Li Dong was teasing, Xi Xingling thawed and started to coax with a blink. “So it’s settled. You’ll have noodles with me.”
“…,”
Li Dong did not read anything dirty into it. He did not have those nerves.
He was just speechless. This idiot male lead really was sunshine-after-rain: give him a little warmth and he bloomed. Now Li Dong understood.
At 10:40 they got to the building where Xi Xingling lived.
Li Dong parked and stayed put, slumping over the wheel like a corpse. “We’re here.” Please get out.
“Second Young Master, come on.” Xi Xingling tugged his arm, whining and pestering. “You promised to come up with me.”
Li Dong frowned. “Be honest. When did I ever promise? I didn’t say a word.”
“Not saying anything means you agreed…” Xi Xingling said, looking up with pleading eyes as he shook Li Dong’s arm. “Come on?”
If he had not had that face, and if his plotline had not been so brutally tragic, Li Dong would not have humored him.
“Fine, fine.” The only metaphor for this whole situation was walking the same dark road too many nights and suddenly running into a ghost, the clingy kind.
“Thank you, Second Young Master.” Xi Xingling hopped out, delighted.
He hurried around to open Li Dong’s door like a perfect lackey, smiling so sweetly it was like two extra pounds of sugar had been dumped in.
“What floor?” Li Dong asked as they headed in. It was a small community, but the building had an elevator. “How much is rent?” The petty, budget-minded citizen in him could not help asking.
“Seventh floor. 2500 yuan. One bed, one living room, one bath, one kitchen. It is way too expensive, not worth it.” Arm in arm with Li Dong, he chattered on. “After I get paid next month I’m moving. I want a place downtown.”
More time with Second Young Master, he thought.
Li Dong’s scalp prickled. That would also mean more time glued to him.
“Where do you live, Second Young Master?”
“We’re here.” Li Dong nodded at the number when they reached it.
Xi Xingling reluctantly slipped his arms from Li Dong’s shoulders but kept hold of his forearm while he worked the lock.
He actually went through several keys before he found the right one…
“I’ve only been here a little over two months. I’m not used to it yet,” he said, embarrassed by his clumsiness.
Yet a wave of absent-mindedness still hit Li Dong in the face, making him utterly speechless. That was a whole two months…
From that level of haplessness, he had expected a messy room behind the door.
But no. The tiny apartment was tidy and neat. Clearly he cared about his living space.
“Not bad.” Small, but everything in its place.
The beanbag in the living room swallowed Li Dong whole when he sat. Way too petite…
He didn’t consider that he was now over six feet tall, while Xi Xingling was at most 5’9” and slender and slim.
“Tea?” Xi Xingling put down his things and scooted over. “I don’t have coffee… only tea and cold beer. But you probably don’t drink beer…”
“Tea is fine.” Li Dong was not avoiding beer. He was driving later.
“Okay.”
He chirped and trotted off to brew it, then brought it over with a bounce. “Careful, it’s hot.”
Li Dong took the cup. “Weren’t you making noodles? Hurry up.”
“Oh, I need to check what’s in the fridge…” Off he scampered to the tiny kitchen. Even from here, Li Dong could feel his excitement.
But something was off…
Were all bottoms naturally gifted like this? He’d just experienced his first time not long ago, yet he was bouncing around full of energy?
Li Dong absolutely refused to admit he was “too inexperienced.” He had been gentle on purpose, so Xi Xingling would not associate his first time with fear. It was all the damn scum top Han Tianlin’s fault and Han Yubai’s too. In the book, that first time had been bloody and brutal.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. Li Dong checked the screen. Han Tianlin.
F*ck... speak of the devil and he shall appear.
“What is it, ge?” he answered.
“Yubai, how is he? The gift I gave you. Obedient? Have you had your fun?” Han Tianlin lounged on a leather sofa at the club, swirling a drink with one hand and dialing with the other.
He had meant to call yesterday, but work had been too busy.
“Pretty good,” Li Dong said, glancing toward the kitchen where Xi Xingling was busy crushing garlic and chopping scallions. “I’m keeping him. I won’t let him show up in front of you.”
“Good.” The current Han Tianlian wanted nothing more than for Xi Xingling to stay far away from him and not appear before him.
“Thanks, ge!” Thinking of Wang Yun, Li Dong added, “Come home when you can. Stop living outside.”
That surprised Han Tianlin. “Look at you, saying the right things. Go keep mom company then.” As for himself, “I’m busier than ever. Maybe in a couple years, when things are stable.”
“Mom’s urging you to get married. Do you want to get married? Do you have a girlfriend now?” Li Dong prodded.
“No. Who would date me when I live like this?” Han Tianlin said. “Don’t meddle. Go do your thing.”
“Second Young Master~~ Noodles are ready!” A bright voice cut into the brothers’ conversation.
“Busy, huh?” Not wanting to interrupt, Han Tianlin said, “I’ll hang up.”
Xi Xingling, carrying the tray in, noticed the phone and immediately lowered his voice. “Sorry, I did not mean to interrupt.”
He was careful to a fault.
“It’s fine. We’re done.” Li Dong showed him the screen and tossed the phone aside. “All set? Bring it here.”
Joy snapped back into place. Xi Xingling knelt on the floor and set the bowl before him, smiling with crescent eyes. “Beef and enoki noodle soup. Doesn’t it smell good?”
Li Dong chuckled twice and pinched his chin. “You’re feeding me enoki mushrooms. What are you implying?”
Xi Xingling blinked, then raised his fist to lightly punch Li Dong's arm, giggling coquettishly. “Second Young Master is so mean, making dirty jokes without warning. You're making me blush.”
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