AD Chapter 31

At noon, Niao Niao ordered lunch and sent a message in the group to let everyone know it was time to eat. But ten minutes passed, and aside from Xiang Nan, no one else had come down.

Tattoo artists often sit for hours without moving, and everyone had long gotten used to it.

Niao Niao took a disposable lunch box, packed the food, and put it in the fridge. “You two go ahead and eat.”

The dining table was left with only two people. Shen Du scooped some soup into his bowl, not saying a word.

He rarely looked at his phone while eating, but today was an exception.

His mom had posted dozens of travel photos in the family group, and his aunt and uncle were all praising them in the comments. Then they asked where the place was and if they could go together next time. Shen Du opened all the pictures and looked through them, finding one where his dad was squatting on the ground. He replied, “Poor review, is Lao Shen unhappy about the leader shopping too long?”

Shen Fushan quickly replied: “You’d better retract that immediately!”

Shen Du dropped the bomb and ran off, not looking back at the explosion.

“Brother Shen, what are you looking at? Laughing so happily,” Xiang Nan said, biting into a rib. “Want to play a game later?”

Shen Du flipped through the group chat history and said, “You’ve been staring at me for so long, and you just want to say that?”

Xiang Nan asked, “Then what should I say?”

In the group, Lin Yan, and others were organizing a friendly basketball game and asked Shen Du if he wanted to join. If he did, they’d schedule it for Saturday, the day after tomorrow.

Since the holiday, Shen Du hadn’t stretched his muscles in a while. Every day was just work and sleep. If he didn’t do something else, his mind would be full of Qin Yi.

He needed a change of mood.

Shen Du replied in the group, “I’ll come,” then put his phone down and looked at Xiang Nan. “What are you asking about? Can we just eat?”

Xiang Nan gave a soft “oh” and stopped talking.

Both Niao Niao and Shen Du didn’t have much of an appetite, so in the end, Xiang Nan finished off the remaining food. Niao Niao smiled and said he was still growing, and Xiang Nan wiped his mouth, took out his phone, and said to Shen Du, “Let’s play a game.”

Shen Du helped Niao Niao clean up. “What else is there in your life besides playing games?”

As soon as he asked, Niao Niao’s fork fell onto the table with a dull sound. She exclaimed, “My hand slipped.”

After picking up the fork, Niao Niao seemed flustered. Shen Du thought both of their expressions were a bit off, but before he could think much about it, Xiang Nan spoke up, “And tattoos.”

He said expressionlessly, “Play or not? If not, I can solo queue.”

Shen Du paused for a moment, frowning in distaste. “Can you wash your hands first?”

Xiang Nan nodded and took the trash to the kitchen. After they left, Shen Du slapped his own mouth with his hand.

Did he say something that hit a sore spot?

Shen Du pulled out his phone, instinctively wanting to message Qin Yi, but as soon as he opened WeChat, he stopped.

Every time he talked to Qin Yi now, he thought about the dream from last night.

No, he needed to take it slow.

He’d deal with it later.

A few minutes later, Xiang Nan came out, and the two of them went to the guest area to play a few rounds. It was the end of the season, and climbing ranks was tough. As soon as they started, they lost consecutively. After Shen Du strongly insisted, Xiang Nan finally stopped playing marksman.

He played Yao.

Once the game started, Xiang Nan followed Shen Du straight to the jungle. After clearing two camps, Xiang Nan reached level 4 and casually used his ultimate to hang onto Shen Du’s character. Shen Du’s jungle clearing paused, and he thought of something. “How about you go back to playing marksman?”

Yao’s ultimate ability in the game can attach to an ally’s head, granting a shield. In recent years, due to certain trends in videos, Yao has become associated with the jungler, and teammates have come to assume these two are a couple.

“I want to watch you play up close.”

Shen Du said, “My gameplay is impressive, but I might not even be able to show it before your eyes.”

Just then, the marksman was ganked by three enemies under the tower and sent a signal to gather. Shen Du took this opportunity to say, “Go protect the marksman, we’ll need him in the late game.”

Xiang Nan could only go.

Once he left, Shen Du’s movements became much smoother.

Fortunately, they managed to win a few games afterward, so at least it wasn’t a wasted session.

After the lunch break, Xiang Nan put away his phone and went back to the studio to work. Before leaving, he said to Shen Du, “Thanks, if you ever want a tattoo, come to me for a discount.”

Shen Du blurted out, “Do I need to come to you for a tattoo?”

Xiang Nan stared at him for a long time before suddenly saying meaningfully, “Hmm, I guess you don’t need to.”

“That’s not it.” Shen Du felt like slapping himself. “What I meant is, I won’t get another tattoo.”

“Is that so?” Xiang Nan’s reaction was flat, as if he wasn’t sure whether he heard correctly.

Shen Du frowned. “Are you overthinking this?”

“No.” Xiang Nan suddenly sat back down across from him. “Brother Shen, I have a question.”

Shen Du instinctively felt the question might be uncomfortable. “What’s the question?”

“You…” Xiang Nan furrowed his brow and stood up. “Forget it, you can ignore me.”

Shen Du: “…”

This was even worse than being asked directly.

Xiang Nan went upstairs and glanced down the corridor.

He had actually wanted to ask Shen Du if he liked men, but then thought to himself, who was he to ask? The comment he made this morning had already crossed a line. He knew Qin Yi didn’t like him bringing up this topic.

Xiang Nan didn’t know why he had this feeling, but he vaguely sensed that Brother Qin didn’t want them to interfere with Shen Du’s choices.

Ah, the pain of unrequited love.

The afternoon passed quickly. As it neared the end of the workday, Shen Du and Niao Niao left one after the other.

When he got home, Shen Du took off his clothes and went to take a shower. Afterward, he saw that Qin Yi had sent him a message.

[Blame: So, does this mean you’re rejecting me?]

[°: ?]

[Blame: You didn’t reply to my message.]

Shen Du gave a reason he didn’t even believe himself: [Because I just saw it.]

[Blame: Then come over for dinner.]

[°: .]

[°: I’m coming.]

[Blame: Open the door yourself, you know the code.]

Shen Du turned to his bedroom to change clothes. When he went over, he heard Qin Yi talking on the phone in the kitchen.

“Yeah, some large dogs have quirky temperaments, so it’s possible they might lose control suddenly.”

“You can have the dog owner use a leash when walking the dog.”

“I also want to know which dog knocked into someone, but that’s not realistic. There can’t be another incident. Protecting the owner’s life and property should be your top priority.”

Qin Yi’s voice wasn’t loud, and it was muffled when it came through the glass door. But the room was so quiet that it was hard for Shen Du not to hear. His movement of changing shoes froze.

Why was Qin Yi suddenly talking to the property management about dogs?

Wasn’t this the excuse he used to get Niao Niao to cover for him this morning?

Connecting this with the two messages from earlier, Shen Du finally realized that Niao Niao was an undercover agent sent by Qin Yi. He couldn’t help but feel irritated that his random excuse had led to Qin Yi warning the property management.

Thinking about how those dogs and their owners would now bear the false blame because of his words, Shen Du felt uneasy.

Not sure if it was the noise outside, but Qin Yi quickly ended the call and came out to see him. “You’re here?”

They hadn’t had a chance to meet today. Qin Yi would occasionally come down during work breaks, but Shen Du had been helping in Master Cao’s studio. Shen Du wasn’t sure if Qin Yi had changed clothes when he returned, but he was still a bit surprised to see him wearing a shirt as he entered the kitchen.

Qin Yi gave off an image of being the ultimate elite, and even though Shen Du had seen him looking disheveled in private, he still thought of him this way. So when this person said he liked him, his first reaction was disbelief.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Qin Yi, but that he didn’t trust himself.

Qin Yi was nearly 30 years old. What kind of person hadn’t he seen?

Qin Yi could desire him, but he could desire others too.

He wasn’t that special.

After a long time without receiving an answer, and seeing that the other person was lost in thought under his gaze, Qin Yi had to raise his voice. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you speaking?”

Shen Du snapped back to reality, glanced at his eyes, and said, “Nothing. Who were you talking to just now? I heard you talking about dogs?”

Since he had already heard, Qin Yi didn’t bother hiding it. “Niao Niao said you were knocked into by a big dog this morning. Was it serious? Did it bite you?”

Shen Du didn’t know how to tell him about his own situation, but didn’t want to involve the dogs or their owners. So he only half-lied. “I lied to Niao Niao. I wasn’t knocked into by a dog. I just woke up late. Don’t blame the property management, and don’t let them blame the dogs.”

“I was late for work today. You can deduct my salary.”

Shen Du turned his head away, not looking at him.

It was strange. Even though Qin Yi was the one who confessed, why did Shen Du feel so uncomfortable?

Qin Yi stared at his face for a moment, then said, “Let’s not talk about this. Let’s eat first.”

“I want to talk about it now.” Shen Du was unwilling, afraid that if he didn’t bring it up now, he wouldn’t find a reason to later. “Hurry and call the property management again and tell them not to notify anyone.”

Qin Yi looked at him for a moment and said, “I got it.”

Qin Yi dialed the property management’s number in front of him, and after finishing the call, Shen Du finally sighed in relief and smiled, saying he’d go help serve the food. Qin Yi’s gaze followed him into the kitchen, and when he saw the dampness on Shen Du’s back, he frowned.

Shen Du seemed to particularly dislike drying his hair.

Tonight, Qin Yi also baked some small cakes. Shen Du, wearing gloves, brought the cakes out and bent down to smell them. Just as he was about to stand up, his vision suddenly went black.

A dry towel covered his head, and the refreshing scent of mint filled his nose. It was the smell of Qin Yi’s shower gel, which Shen Du had smelled before.

“Don’t move.” Qin Yi’s low voice sounded behind him, sending a shiver down his spine. Shen Du instantly froze, not daring to move, staying in that position.

Qin Yi’s movements were very gentle as he wiped Shen Du’s hair with the towel, his ten fingers easily wrapping around Shen Du’s head. When Shen Du realized that he was only wiping his hair and not doing anything else, he quickly relaxed, closing his eyes comfortably and letting his lips curl into a slight smile. It wasn’t until he let out a soft hum of contentment that he realized he might have relaxed a bit too much.

He was shocked and quickly covered his mouth.

A fleeting smile appeared in Qin Yi’s eyes. “How’s the pressure?”

Shen Du covered his mouth, unable to speak, and could only nod.

Qin Yi’s fingers slid into his hair and pressed on the acupoint at the top of his head. “Do you need more pressure?”

Shen Du shook his head.

As expected, Qin Yi didn’t increase the pressure.

Qin Yi’s voice was low and slow. In such a quiet and cozy atmosphere, with their backs to each other and unable to see each other’s expressions, the pleasant scent in the air and the comfortable pressure of the massage made it easy to calm down. It was so soothing that Shen Du forgot about their current position.

His back began to ache from bending, so he leaned his hand against the counter for support.

With his eyes closed, his sense of touch and smell heightened, and images of Qin Yi’s fingers moving through his hair naturally filled his mind.

It felt so good.

He was like a cat being stroked by its owner, a smile of complete vulnerability on his face. So when Qin Yi softly called his name, he smiled and responded, “Hmm?”

That “Hmm” was soft and light, with a rising tone at the end, and it melted Qin Yi’s heart.

In Qin Yi’s eyes, a near-mad possessiveness flashed: “The one who likes you is me, the one who confessed is also me, so the power is in your hands.”

“Shen Du, I’m not as composed as you think.” Qin Yi struggled to control his emotions, trying not to reveal too much, afraid of scaring him. Little by little, he confessed his feelings: “Don’t be afraid of my words. The one who should be nervous is actually me.”

“I’m the one waiting for judgment.”