FLME Ch25.2: Grown up

Although the situation was quite strange, he firmly believed that as long as he didn’t think it was ambiguous, it wasn’t ambiguous. However, for some reason, he still stuttered a bit when replying.

“It’s okay,” Xie Heyu shook his head. Yu Wen was really restless when he slept, so he had to stay by the bed and keep an eye on him. While adjusting the blanket midway, he accidentally got his wrist grabbed by the sleeping beauty and couldn’t break free.

Considering that Yu Wen was still sick and it wasn’t easy for him to sleep soundly, he didn’t have the heart to pull away.

And so it ended up like this.

Xie Heyu was about to turn over and sit up when Yu Wen felt a subtle déjà vu, feeling as if letting him get out of bed now was like discarding him after use—

“Why don’t you sleep a bit more?” he blurted out.

“…” Xie Heyu turned back, looking at him questioningly.

Yu Wen tugged at his messy hair.

“You look very tired, you probably haven’t rested well recently… Why not sleep here for a while?”

Xie Heyu still looked puzzled.

Yu Wen stammered, “I feel bad.”

Xie Heyu had taken care of him for a day, and Yu Wen felt he should do something in return…

Xie Heyu understood.

“…I’m already awake. If I sleep now, I won’t be able to sleep tonight.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, his voice was so husky and textured that Yu Wen felt his ears getting pregnant.

“If you feel bad about it, treat me to a meal some other day… Are you even listening to me?”

Yu Wen: “Oh, sure, what did you just say?”

Xie Heyu: “…”

Unable to help himself, he flicked Yu Wen’s forehead with his finger.

“I asked, are you hungry? What do you want to eat?”

—

Yu Wen wanted to eat soft-boiled eggs.

Lately, his taste preferences had become inexplicably strange. In the past, he would have said he didn’t want to eat and had no appetite—most of the time, he had no appetite.

Thus, he had gotten used to eating while focused on other things, which allowed him to ignore negative feedback from his taste buds and unknowingly eat a lot.

But today, he really wanted soft-boiled eggs.

“Okay, I’ll take a shower first.” Perhaps due to the recent stress, the light sleep had given Xie Heyu a bit of a headache. He decided to shower to clear his head and borrowed the bathroom from Yu Wen.

Before going into the bathroom, he took a bowl of solid yogurt from the fridge and handed it to Yu Wen. “Have some.”

Yu Wen looked down—it was his favorite flavor.

He wondered when Xie Heyu had noticed. What a meticulous monster, Yu Wen secretly cursed.

The sound of water came from the bathroom. Yu Wen took two spoonfuls of yogurt, lifted the blanket, and got out of bed. As soon as he did, he felt a chill on his lower body and looked down—his pants were gone.

It definitely wasn’t Xie Heyu who took them off, he thought calmly.

Nothing untoward should have happened, given they were both straight men.

Thinking it over, he could only attribute this mishap to his notoriously wild sleeping posture.

His sleeping posture had always been terrible. His family said he slept as if he were fighting someone, kicking, punching, and performing all sorts of bizarre, high-difficulty moves, like the frog pose, the Dunhuang flying pose, and the splits…

Wait a minute.

The splits?

When Xie Heyu came out of the shower, Yu Wen was already dressed and sitting on the couch. Seeing him come out, Yu Wen immediately sat up straight.

“Teacher Xie, did I do anything inappropriate while I was asleep?”

Xie Heyu, wiping his hair, had his clothes slightly damp, with the lines of his shoulders and back faintly visible.

“Nothing inappropriate.”

Yu Wen asked seriously, “Did I hit you?”

Xie Heyu let out a muffled laugh, “You move around a lot, but you didn’t hit me.”

If anything, he actually quite enjoyed it.

“Oh.” Yu Wen felt a bit relieved. “Did I do the splits?”

Xie Heyu took two eggs from the fridge, “What’s wrong with doing the splits?”

Yu Wen: “When I do the splits, I might put my leg on your shoulder, which is somewhat…”

Indecent.

Xie Heyu lit the stove and poured oil into the pan, and Yu Wen didn’t notice his momentary discomfort.

To be honest, yes, you did.

Yu Wen had a fairly accurate self-assessment. Although it wasn’t exactly the splits, he did frequently put one leg around Xie Heyu’s waist—he wanted to drape it over his shoulder, but Xie Heyu was afraid of breaking him, so he kept his leg firmly around his waist.

They even maintained that awkward position for more than an hour.

During which Xie Heyu felt countless times how sordid he was.

But he wouldn’t disclose these details. Teacher Yu was acutely sensitive to social boundaries, instinctively avoiding any sincere emotions he couldn’t handle. Once it crossed a certain threshold, he would retreat like a quail.

This sense of boundary wasn’t just for Xie Heyu; it applied to everyone, regardless of gender.

Whether one is homosexual or not is secondary; the most important thing is not to let him feel the crisis of being “approached” before his heart is open.

—This was what Teacher Xie had learned in just half a day.

These crises hidden under a peaceful surface had been vaguely sensed by Xie Heyu before, but he had never thought deeply about them. His instinct had always made him subconsciously maintain Yu Wen’s comfort zone, but now.

He was a man who had undergone advanced training.

The post said, “You must explore every weakness and sensitive spot of your target, deduce preferences from reactions, understand their attack and defense mechanisms, to accurately hit the target and achieve explosive effects.”

Xie Heyu deeply agreed.

Although these experiences were more targeted at… certain things, by changing his mindset and applying them to Teacher Yu, they seemed quite suitable. Therefore, he immediately conducted a very detailed analysis of Yu Wen. The above conclusions were the result.

“…No. I slept too deeply, even if something happened, I don’t remember,” Xie Heyu casually stuffed a piece of toast into his mouth, his expression unchanged.

Yu Wen visibly sighed in relief.

Sometimes it doesn’t matter if something happened or not; as long as both parties don’t remember, it can be considered as if it didn’t happen!

The eggs were in the pan, and the kitchen was filled with the sound of sizzling oil. He wandered over and leaned against the kitchen door, “…Teacher Xie, your hair isn’t dry.”

Xie Heyu had a towel draped over his shoulder, and Yu Wen keenly noticed that the other side of his shoulder was already soaked.

With a piece of toast in his mouth, Xie Heyu didn’t turn his head, “I’ll dry it later.”

Yu Wen stood at the kitchen door, fidgeting for a while.

After a while, he said, “Let me dry it for you?”

Teacher Xie had taken care of him all day; it was only right for him to return the favor…

Xie Heyu: “No need. I don’t like people touching my hair.”

As soon as he said he didn’t like it, Yu Wen immediately felt relieved.

“Then, how about I get you a new shirt? Your shoulder is completely wet.”

Xie Heyu focused on frying the eggs, looking unconcerned, “Thanks.”

Very polite.

So polite that Yu Wen felt very reassured.

Yu Wen happily went to his room to find a new shirt. By the time he finally found a large size, Xie Heyu had already finished frying the soft-boiled eggs and was inspecting the remaining ingredients in the fridge.

His hair was already dry; boys’ hair was short, and with a quick towel dry and the air conditioning on, it dried quickly.

“What else do you want to eat?” he asked.

Yu Wen was embarrassed to trouble him, “Two eggs are enough. I don’t eat much at night, I need to manage my figure…”

Bullshit.

He went out for barbecue every day.

Xie Heyu, holding the fridge door with one hand, quickly lowered his eyelashes before raising them again.

“If you treat me to a meal, I won’t tell Xie Jiamao.”

“…”

This was the first time Yu Wen had heard such a “playful” remark from Xie Heyu.

His shock must have been too obvious, as Xie Heyu turned his head, expressionless, and said blandly, “You’re sick, so rest well. Just this once, no exceptions.”

Meaning this “collusion” had a time limit and was only valid while he was sick.

Yu Wen was stunned for half a second, “Then I want to eat beef meatballs!”

Xie Heyu: “…”

Yu Wen realized right after speaking that beef meatballs were troublesome to make. At this time, you couldn’t buy pre-made beef mince; you had to start from chopping the beef…

“No…”

“Two meals.”

Yu Wen blinked.

Xie Heyu took out the beef he had bought from the fridge, slightly raising an eyebrow, and repeated, “After you recover, treat me to two meals, and I’ll make them for you.”

“…Oh.” Yu Wen pondered, feeling something was off, “Teacher Xie, are you short of money lately?”

So short that he couldn’t afford to eat?

“Not short, just want to find someone to eat with.”

“…What about your roommate?”

“We’re not in the same major, so it’s hard to match our meal times, and I’m mostly off-campus.”

Yu Wen: “…Oh.”

What did that mean? It meant that Teacher Xie had wasted a lot of his personal time on StarLight Media, resulting in no social life at school, not even friends to eat with.

Could he refuse such a condition?

“Sure, I’ll treat you to many meals.” Yu Wen looked at him eagerly, “Will you make me beef meatballs then?”

Xie Heyu’s gaze lingered on his face for two seconds before he turned around, his tone aloof and cold, “Mm.”

Xie Heyu had never made beef meatballs before, so he looked up a tutorial on his tablet.

Yu Wen, holding the fried eggs, stood behind him and watched together.

Teacher Xie was a bit tall, and the tablet was a bit far, so Yu Wen moved closer and closer, finally resting his chin on Xie Heyu’s shoulder.

This position was much more comfortable.

Yu Wen rested his face in Xie Heyu’s shoulder socket, and Xie Heyu took the fried eggs from his hand and fed him back.

“Teacher Xie, you don’t like your hair being touched, but can I touch your shoulder?” He suddenly remembered and asked midway through.

Xie Heyu’s side profile remained calm and unmoved, his peripheral vision not even flickering.

“It’s fine.”

Yu Wen observed his expression, feeling he probably didn’t dislike it, and relaxed, happily leaning on him.

The tutorial reached the step of adding minced ginger and green onions to the beef mince.

Yu Wen: “Can we not add ginger?”

Xie Heyu: “…It will taste gamey.”

Yu Wen: “What about not adding green onions?”

Xie Heyu: “…I’ll chop them so fine you can’t see or taste them.”

Yu Wen: “Oh, thank you, Teacher Xie.”

Xie Heyu: “Three meals.”

Yu Wen took a beat to react, then giggled like a goose.

He tilted his head to observe Xie Heyu’s expression, seeing an “unmoved” profile.

He said softly, “Teacher Xie, you’re so cute.”

Xie Heyu: “No discount for being coquettish.”

Yu Wen: “Hahaha okay, I’ll treat you to many meals. Next time, I’ll make you soft-boiled eggs, okay? It might not be as good as yours…”