ATAVID CH117 [Extra]

Jiang Qunyu was caught completely unprepared when Wei Xun hugged him, his body going rigid.

He stayed silent for a good long while before finally suppressing his temper to push Wei Xun away. “Are we going or not?”

Wei Xun greedily inhaled the scent lingering around Jiang Qunyu’s body, only straightening up reluctantly after a few moments. Holding the heavy plastic bag stuffed with ingredients in one hand, he naturally extended his other hand out, wanting to hold the boy next to him.

Jiang Qunyu didn’t let him hold it. Tensing his face, he shoved the phone from his pocket into Wei Xun’s hand and asked crossly, “When did you put your phone in my pocket?”

On purpose.

Wei Xun had done it completely on purpose.

Yet he had jump into the trap “willingly” like an idiot anyway.

Wei Xun looked at Jiang Qunyu’s hand with considerable regret, but knowing he couldn’t push his luck any further, he put on a respectable demeanor once more and explained, “Didn’t you suspect I had money on me earlier? But I really don’t. I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me, so I gave you my phone to inspect.”

Right after saying that, he immediately added, “Jiang Qunyu, will you support me?”

Listening to his clumsy excuse, Jiang Qunyu just wanted to curl his lips and laugh out loud. But he couldn’t bring himself to laugh right now, nor did he say whether he believed him or not.

Thus, the scene before them became extraordinarily strange. The two stood at the entrance of the mall; one held his phone with a face full of resentment to call a ride again, while the other stood beside the handsome youth in an exceptionally good mood, lowering his eyes to gaze at him.

The aura around the two of them was completely mismatched, yet it somehow seemed to forcefully entwine and meld together.

By the time they returned to the apartment, it was already nine o’clock at night.

Before going up, Jiang Qunyu began to repeatedly instruct Wei Xun: “If we run into anyone from our esports team, you tell them you’re my brother, got it?”

Wei Xun was very dissatisfied with this form of address, narrowing his eyes slightly. “Is being your boyfriend so embarrassing to you?”

Jiang Qunyu really couldn’t hold back his urge to roast him. “Why do you have so many questions? Why are you constantly asking?”

“Oh.” Wei Xun changed his wording. “But I am your boyfriend.”

“I keep asking because you haven’t given me enough of a sense of security,” he accused with a dark face. “Do you know a famous psychologist in our country once said that the most important thing between partners is to give each other a full sense of security?”

It would have been fine if he hadn’t said it, but the moment he spoke, Jiang Qunyu couldn’t help suspecting again. “So is your main job really a psychologist?”

Wei Xun had no intention of lying to Jiang Qunyu. If one were to truly count his offenses, at most he only had a single bad mark for enticing Jiang Qunyu into confessing first. Everything else was merely him withholding information while knowing the truth.

He shook his head honestly. “Naturally not.”

Jiang Qunyu: “…”

He knew it!

“Heh,” Jiang Qunyu said expressionlessly. “Then which psychologist said that sentence just now?”

Wei “Famous Psychologist” Xun spoke in an utterly calm and candid tone: “I did.”

Jiang Qunyu: “Your granddaddy.”

He gave a fierce warning: “Anyway, you’re not allowed to say it! Besides, the two of us have already broken up! If you hadn’t insisted on throwing your phone to me, and if it wasn’t raining outside—making me worry you’d freeze or starve to death in Wuchen and have the police come looking for me—I wouldn’t have cared about you at all.”

Break up? You sure dream big.

The corners of Wei Xun’s lips curled up with implicit meaning, and he said with genuine sincerity, “Then you really are quite kind-hearted.”

Jiang Qunyu didn’t bother to address the sarcasm in his tone, dragging him forward while feeling anxious the entire way. Fortunately, the others were probably playing games on their PCs at this hour; his luck was pretty good, and they didn’t run into anyone.

Having successfully hidden a grown man inside his room, Jiang Qunyu felt a little guilty.

After pushing Wei Xun into the room, he poked his head out to look left and right, making sure once again that no stray person had seen them before letting out a massive sigh of relief and shutting the door.

Regarding the room Jiang Qunyu lived in, Wei Xun made no attempt to conceal the disgust between his brows and eyes. Knitting his brows, he tilted his head to look at Jiang Qunyu. “Your manager lets you live in a place like this?”

Jiang Qunyu rolled his eyes at him. “Do you know how much a place like this costs a month? Among other teams, our team’s living environment is already good enough.”

At least there were no twin-tails, so he didn’t have to worry about a twin-tailed girl making a surprise attack out of nowhere while he was sleeping.

“Besides,” Jiang Qunyu pulled out the slippers they had conveniently bought when going to buy an umbrella earlier, tossing them by Wei Xun’s feet. “If you dislike it, you can go stay outside yourself. Why stay at my place?”

Wei Xun bent down to change his shoes before drooping his eyes and saying, “No.”

At worst, he would just replace everything here tomorrow.

His answer didn’t surprise Jiang Qunyu in the slightest. Since things had come to this, he had no mind to care anymore either. Walking over to the kitchen on his own, he opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of yogurt. Watching Wei Xun walk over carrying those vegetables and food items, it seemed he really intended to cook.

Jiang Qunyu took a slow sip of yogurt, feeling rather skeptical. “Can you really cook? Eating your food won’t kill the two of us, will it?”

Wei Xun had always been good at drawing inferences by analogy. As he took the purchased shrimp out of the bag to clean them, he said, “Jiang Qunyu, your current situation is a lack of security. That’s why you asked me two questions in a row.”

“…” Jiang Qunyu was somewhat speechless. “You sure have a lot of fallacies.”

Jiang Qunyu had originally wanted to tell Wei Xun to go out and find a place to live on his own tomorrow morning, and that he was only taking him in for one night.

However, Wei Xun was currently cooking; he felt that if he said these words at a time like this, it would be pretty hurtful, so he decided to wait until after they finished eating before bringing it up.

This apartment came equipped with kitchenware to begin with, though Jiang Qunyu rarely used them. The food he made could only be described as edible; as for visual appeal, aroma, and taste, those had nothing to do with his unpalatable cooking whatsoever.

So right now, Jiang Qunyu was quite interested in watching Wei Xun cook. He stood beside Wei Xun, and whenever he saw Wei Xun making a move to grab something, he would get it one step ahead of him and hand it over with utmost seriousness.

Seeing this, the corners of Wei Xun’s lips curled into a smile, thinking to himself that Jiang Qunyu really was very cute.

Noticing that he had stopped his movements, Jiang Qunyu kindly reminded him, “Is your pan about to burn?”

Wei Xun had no choice but to pull his gaze back with slight regret, keeping his eyes lowered as he methodically added seasonings to the pan. “If you’re bored, go sit in the living room.”

Jiang Qunyu was about to collapse from hunger; he wasn’t bored, but rather felt completely drained of strength.

He didn’t persist either, casually grabbing another bottle of yogurt and shuffling lazily toward the living room while cradling a bag of potato chips. Upon reaching the kitchen doorway, he turned his head back thoughtfully and added a caring note: “No need to force yourself, okay? If it really doesn’t work out, just forget it. It’s totally fine for us to eat instant noodles.”

The instant noodles he cooked were super delicious—cracking a soft-boiled egg into boiling water, layering on a few slices of cheese, and throwing in two sausages; simple and delicious, it would never mistreat one’s stomach.

As soon as he finished speaking, Wei Xun also recalled their previous chat history. Knitting his brows, his tone was full of disdain: “Not that thing you took a picture of and showed me before, right?”

“Yeah,” Jiang Qunyu said. “It’s really delicious.”

Wei Xun didn’t commit himself, though a smile rested on the corners of his lips. “No wonder you’re twenty years old, yet look like you’re seventeen or eighteen.”

Hearing this, Jiang Qunyu instinctively straightened his back, the expression on his face turning extremely unsightly.

Oh no, it seems he had lied to Wei Xun too—he wasn’t an adult yet.

Still, he was only a little over a month away from turning eighteen anyway. Besides, hadn’t the guy lied to him as well? At most, the two of them were even.

Even though he thought of it this way, Jiang Qunyu couldn’t help feeling guilty and didn’t dare to admit his real age.

He could only painfully betray his soft-boiled egg instant noodles, saying fiercely, “It really doesn’t have any nutritional value.”

He was sorry to his instant noodles.

Fortunately, Wei Xun didn’t dig deeper to ask anything else, and Jiang Qunyu quickly moved over to the sofa in the living room.

He found a variety show to watch, but whereas he usually watched them very attentively, this time he couldn’t quite get into it. From time to time, he would glance at Wei Xun out of the corner of his eye.

He couldn’t help thinking that the feeling of having an extra person in the house…

…was truly so strange.

Before long, a savory aroma of food wafted through the room.

Without waiting for Wei Xun to call him, right after Wei Xun washed his hands, he saw Jiang Qunyu cradling his ugly self-deprecating bear doll in his arms, standing at the kitchen doorway and looking at him eagerly.

Like a little pup.

“Wow!” In truth, Jiang Qunyu was staring eagerly at the stir-fried shrimp, tomato and beef scrambled eggs, and sweet and sour pineapple pork that Wei Xun had made. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he said in shock, “So you really know how to cook.”

Wei Xun tore off a piece of paper towel to dry his hands, casually picking up two bowls. After filling them with rice, he placed them in front of Jiang Qunyu and said triumphantly, “Naturally.”

Even though it had only been two hours since he stepped inside, Wei Xun had clearly replaced Jiang Qunyu as the master of this home, knowing the placement of things in the kitchen even better than Jiang Qunyu did.

A strange feeling flashed through Jiang Qunyu’s heart, but he didn’t overthink it. Tossing his self-deprecating bear back onto the sofa, he sat down obediently to eat.

Wei Xun wasn’t particularly hungry; he just really liked the feeling of being with Jiang Qunyu.

Sure enough, Jiang Qunyu was even cuter, more obedient, and softer-hearted than he had imagined.

“Is it good?” Wei Xun coaxed gently.

Jiang Qunyu admitted honestly, “It’s good. You really live up to having studied abroad.”

Wei Xun had never treated himself that well; during his years abroad, he had simply eaten whatever was available. He had specifically learned to make these dishes just to cook them for Jiang Qunyu, likely with the mindset of spoiling Jiang Qunyu rotten so that one day, he would become completely unable to leave him.

“Is that so?” The corners of Wei Xun’s lips curled into an arc, a trace of enticement laced in his voice. “How about I cook for you every day from now on?”

Jiang Qunyu’s movements came to a abrupt halt. Holding his chopsticks, he didn’t dare to pick up any more food. Strongly resisting the temptation of the delicious meal, he refused dryly, “No.”

Unexpectedly, Wei Xun didn’t refute him.

He merely stayed silent for a moment before saying, “Fine then. Can I stay at your place for a month? As you know, I don’t have any money on me right now either. After I find a job in Wuchen, I’ll move out.”

Sensing that Jiang Qunyu might not agree, Wei Xun added, “In exchange, I’ll cook for you for this entire month.”

Jiang Qunyu hesitated slightly. In the end, whether it was because of these delicious dishes or because of a tiny sliver of pity for Wei Xun, he agreed: “Then just for one month?”

“Okay,” Wei Xun smiled and nodded.

Fool.

There was no way he was only going to stay for a month.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly after they finished eating. Wei Xun obediently washed the dishes.

Jiang Qunyu had felt embarrassed at first. After all, Wei Xun had cooked the meal, so logically speaking, he should be the one washing the dishes.

However, the moment he remembered that he was the one who paid for the groceries, and that Wei Xun was going to live here for a month—he could just treat it as his rent!

And so, Jiang Qunyu comfortably hugged his self-deprecating bear again, curling up on the sofa while occasionally shooting a few glances at Wei Xun’s back.

It was a very strange feeling, but strangely enough, Jiang Qunyu wasn’t actually as repulsive toward it as he had imagined.

He must have seen a ghost.

By the time Wei Xun finished washing the dishes, the doorbell happened to ring.

Wei Xun was drying his hands. Hearing the sound, he asked, “Should I go open it?”

Jiang Qunyu stood up, shuffling his slippers toward the entrance. “No need.”

Wei Xun couldn’t help picking at his palm again, the depths of his eyes turning dark and heavy. He even began to wonder just how unfit to be seen he was that Jiang Qunyu wasn’t willing to let anyone else see him.

Or could it be that the person outside was one of Jiang Qunyu’s suitors?

The more he thought about it, the lower the pressure around Wei Xun became.

A moment later, Jiang Qunyu walked back carrying a takeout bag, bumping right into his current appearance the moment he raised his eyes.

The light in the hallway leaned cold, lacking the warm tone of the living room. As the pale light fell down, it coated Wei Xun’s stern, handsome side profile. His thick, long eyelashes drooped, casting a small, heavy shadow over his eyelids. The whole person stood quietly in place, unexpectedly exuding an indescribable gloom.

Jiang Qunyu couldn’t understand him. After tossing the bag in his hands over to him, he said in a muffled voice, “I’m going to take a shower first. You go later.”

With that, he entered the bedroom, grabbed his pajamas, and headed into the bathroom.

Wei Xun was stunned.

After a long moment, he opened the bag—

Inside was unexpectedly a brand-new set of pajamas.

Right at that moment, the frosted glass door of the bathroom was pulled open from the inside to reveal a crack. Jiang Qunyu’s fluffy head poked out slightly, a clear trace of impatience hanging between his brows and eyes.

He casually tousled his slightly messy hair, speaking in a tone that suggested he had given up on himself entirely: “Who told you to come over without bringing anything? I don’t have any clothes here that fit you. I just bought these for you on Meituan on short notice, so there wasn’t time to wash them. Just make do for one night. Go buy new ones yourself tomorrow when you have time.”

He spoke in a single breath at an extremely fast speed. Without waiting for Wei Xun’s reply, he slammed the glass door shut with a loud bang, completely cutting off his field of vision.

The air became extraordinarily quiet. Standing outside the door, Wei Xun half-drooped his eyelids, staring down at the pajamas in his hands.

Oh, so it wasn’t some unknown imaginary enemy.

…It was the pajamas Jiang Qunyu had bought for him that had arrived.

Soon, the sound of shower water echoed from inside the bathroom.

Patter-patter, beating down just like Wei Xun’s heartbeat at this very moment.