MVCFO CH23

Chapter 23: If You’re Holding It In, Then Just Don’t

Tonight, Lin Xiangqi felt that something was off.

Strictly speaking, ever since that rushed kiss from Lu Cong in the equipment room, Lin Xiangqi had felt somewhat uneasy.

But at least in the past few days, he hadn’t openly shown it in front of Lu Cong.

However, during the rehearsal training this afternoon, Lu Cong noticed that Lin Xiangqi was deliberately avoiding him, whether consciously or unconsciously.

At first, during the group tug-of-war practice, Lu Cong specifically placed him next to himself, so that if the rhythm got off and everyone fell, Lu Cong could immediately catch Lin Xiangqi.

But Lin Xiangqi refused, and for the rare time, actively admitted that he was relatively short and wanted to stand in front.

Even the physical education committee member nearby was greatly moved, saying, “You finally accepted the reality of your height.”

Then, during the three-legged race practice, when Lu Cong looked toward Lin Xiangqi, Lin Xiangqi averted his gaze and pulled Chen Qiutian to join him instead. He explained to Lu Cong, “Your legs are too long. If we try to match steps, we definitely won’t run fast.”

Well.

He was indeed much taller than Lin Xiangqi and had no advantage in events requiring close coordination between two people.

So that could be accepted as a reason.

But besides that, many small details made Lu Cong feel something was wrong with Lin Xiangqi.

Lu Cong had to start reflecting whether he had done something that scared Lin Xiangqi.

First, he thought about how in recent days, they had replaced their usual marking with kisses for various reasons.

Kissing can obtain pheromones no less than marking; the only difference is that temporary marking can store more pheromones in glands, allowing Lin Xiangqi to continuously absorb Lu Cong’s pheromones for 24 hours. Kissing, on the other hand, fuses pheromones only when saliva mixes during the kiss.

But kissing was more convenient, requiring no preparation and could be done anytime, anywhere.

Also, it could guide Lin Xiangqi to gradually learn to actively absorb pheromones.

It was truly a win-win.

Temporary marking required too many preconditions.

For example, it had to be done at home, needed prior injection of suppressants, and the depth and shape of the mark had to be controlled — if bitten too hard or the bite area was too large, a single cover patch couldn’t block it, making it easy for classmates to notice.

Compared to that, kissing was as simple as it could be.

So Lin Xiangqi had no reason to refuse.

Moreover, if he was avoiding Lu Cong because of the kissing, it was already too late for that.

In the past few days, Lin Xiangqi had still interacted openly with Lu Cong, treating all physical contact as a form of pheromone therapy, and firmly refusing to mention kissing outside of treatment times.

Many of his little thoughts were carried out secretly; he would use various fake smiles or deliberately change topics to pretend he didn’t mind replacing marking with kissing.

But Lu Cong had long noticed small cracks beneath the surface—

Whenever their lips touched, Lin Xiangqi’s whole body stiffened; when their tongues tangled, his hands and feet weakened; licking the upper palate made him tremble slightly; sucking for too long caused sweet and cute moans.

Only Lin Xiangqi thought he looked natural.

After every kiss, he would act calm and say goodbye to Lu Cong, then walk back home awkwardly with uncoordinated steps.

Lu Cong didn’t expose him and cooperated with Lin Xiangqi’s act of nonchalance, hiding his increasingly bold and audacious ideas deep within.

Physical contact was something one gets used to with repetition; Lin Xiangqi had gradually begun to adapt like being boiled gently in warm water.

Originally, everything was going smoothly, maintaining a delicate balance.

But tonight, Lin Xiangqi refused to kiss.

It wasn’t an immediate refusal, but during the kiss, when Lu Cong was about to deepen it, Lin Xiangqi suddenly bit down on Lu Cong’s tongue. Taking advantage of Lu Cong’s pain, he slipped out from under Lu Cong’s arm and ran away.

Lu Cong was momentarily thrown off balance.

He worried that his impatience had exposed something, scaring Lin Xiangqi away.

Had he forgotten to restrain himself just now, biting Lin Xiangqi’s tongue too hard? Or had his hand, beyond his rational control, instinctively touched somewhere inappropriate?

Or perhaps… some bodily reaction had appeared and been noticed by Lin Xiangqi?

Lu Cong looked down and frowned.

He had restrained himself very well today.

Standing alone in the empty room, Lu Cong kept his hands slightly raised, reflecting for a full two minutes.

He was sure he hadn’t crossed any boundaries.

Calming his over-eager mood, he pressed his temples, took out his phone, and sent Lin Xiangqi a message.

[Lu Cong]: Are you coming over later?

[Lu Cong]: I didn’t finish explaining those noon questions to you.

He stared at the phone screen for ten seconds, thirty seconds, a full minute.

No reply. He sent another message.

[Lu Cong]: I’m making some late-night snacks. What do you want to eat?

Another minute passed, still no response.

Lu Cong’s face tightened, his thin lips pressed into a line, eyes dark and unreadable, spreading a gloomy and oppressive atmosphere that filled the whole room.

But after swiping his finger across the screen for a long time, he finally sent only a cute emoji.

[Lu Cong]: “Cat peeking head.jpg”

Lu Cong had thought about confronting Lin Xiangqi directly at his door to clarify his feelings, but while it sounded simple, doing so would leave no room for retreat.

Lin Xiangqi was someone who always found a way to leave himself an escape route.

If all his paths were blocked, he would get scared, feel helpless, and in panic, choose to hide himself away.

Lu Cong was always cautious. To avoid pushing Lin Xiangqi to that point of hiding, he preferred to slow down, hold back, and give Lin Xiangqi time and space to breathe.

But for a moment, Lu Cong’s mind suddenly flashed with Tang Luyu’s suggestive words.

… Be careful that cleverness doesn’t backfire.

Lu Cong used to overthink everything, being overly cautious. Although he had never made mistakes, at the same time, he had never experienced any breakthroughs either.

Now, under the pretext of treatment, many things were already subtly different. He didn’t need to wait until he had complete control before taking action.

Maybe now, he could try to take one more step forward.

Lu Cong glanced at the unanswered chat window on his phone, paused for a moment, and made up his mind.

Since Lin Xiangqi was avoiding him, he would take the initiative to find Lin Xiangqi. But he couldn’t be reckless; at least he needed an excuse.

He looked at the unopened exercise book on the desk—those math problems from noon that Lin Xiangqi had completely gotten wrong.

That would do.

Lu Cong took the exercise book and draft paper and opened the door to walk toward the neighboring courtyard.

Outside, it had started drizzling at some unknown moment.

Lin Xiangqi was in his bedroom, sneakingly closing the window and drawing the curtains.

He crawled into bed with a sense of guilt.

The strange feelings in his body made him uncomfortable; even after taking a shower, he couldn’t ignore the persistent sensations.

It was all because of the unhealthy and unwholesome topics the boys had talked about that afternoon. Those fragmented phrases kept swirling in his mind.

Lin Xiangqi admitted he had been affected. At first, he intended to ignore it, but somehow, just seeing Lu Cong made him nervous.

After much thought, he came to a conclusion.

The problem was that Lu Cong was just too good at kissing.

Every time they kissed, Lin Xiangqi’s body would start to send dangerous signals.

And this wasn’t the first time.

On the night Lu Cong marked him, he had experienced an unexpected overexcitement.

But back then, he hadn’t realized what it meant.

Later, he struggled with himself, comforting himself that it was a natural reaction caused by pheromone stimulation.

But no matter how much he pretended not to care, the fact that his body kept betraying his will was undeniable.

Lin Xiangqi became guarded, so tonight when they kissed briefly and he received enough pheromones, he immediately stopped and hurriedly ended it.

Even so, it was useless.

The reaction still came!

Lin Xiangqi curled up under the covers, biting his nails, hating how undisciplined he was.

Why was he so easily triggered?

It was like he had been holding it in for a long time without release.

Wait…

He had never actually done it before!

Lin Xiangqi suddenly realized—

Maybe it wasn’t that his reactions were too strong, but because his body had been slow to develop in the past, he had never noticed this side of things before.

Now that his glands were healthy, the rest of his body naturally caught up.

See! See!

He told himself there was nothing wrong.

In the end, all these abnormalities were still because of his illness!

At this moment, a clever little idea popped into his head.

If it’s been pent up for too long, then just don’t hold it in anymore.

Since other boys his age all did these things, he could do the same.

Lin Xiangqi decided to take the initiative and fire the first shot of his body’s maturation—even though he had no idea how to actually do it.

He circled his palm and started to explore according to what he imagined was the method. He had thought it would be simple—just this and that, then it would be done! But after fumbling around for a while, he only felt more uncomfortable.

Even though it was his own hand and body, he couldn’t get the hang of it or control the grip’s strength. Lin Xiangqi bit the corner of his shirt, looked down at his awkward situation, and curled up in despair.

What was wrong?

Was there some technique that everyone knew except him?

Or was it really true that, as they said, you couldn’t find the “feeling” without watching those videos?

Or maybe his body just hadn’t developed enough, so he could only get excited but not release?

“Ah… it hurts, it hurts!” Distracted, he gripped too tightly, making his eyes tear up.

No, what’s fun about this?

Lin Xiangqi began to suspect the classmates had teamed up to trick him.

He didn’t find it pleasant at all! He couldn’t understand how those boys in class could be so obsessed with this.

But… Lin Xiangqi suddenly remembered that he actually had felt that overwhelming pleasure before.

The first kiss in the equipment room, even without touching, without a long and torturous process, without deliberate guidance, his body had unconsciously released under extreme pleasure.

That feeling, once experienced, could never be forgotten.

Lin Xiangqi felt frustrated—how come it worked then, but now it didn’t?

The more anxious he got, the less he could get what he wanted. His mind was in chaos, and the blood rushing in his body made him restless and uneasy.

He hated hiding under the covers, sneaking to do something everyone else already found normal. Afraid of doing it wrong, doubting that his body might still be abnormal, unable to release in this way.

Lin Xiangqi hurt himself again, felt frustrated, his flushed face peeked out from the blanket, and he ran into the bathroom, deciding to try using shower gel on his palm to reduce friction.

It was at this moment that Lu Cong rang the doorbell.

Lin Xiangqi was startled and jerked awake. He accidentally squeezed out too much shower gel. He wanted to wash it off, but the more he rubbed, the slipperier it got. In his panic, he heard the sound of Lu Cong using a key to open the door.

No…

Lu Cong, what are you doing?!

You never just used the spare key to open someone else’s door like I do!

Lin Xiangqi internally wailed and quickly checked whether he had left any embarrassing evidence on the bed.

As Lu Cong’s footsteps came upstairs to the bedroom door, Lin Xiangqi, wanting to quickly get dressed, accidentally sat down hard on the edge of the bathtub, knocking over many bottles and jars.

Crash! Bang! Bang!

“Yan Yan?”

Lu Cong quickly walked over and gently knocked on the bathroom door. “Are you okay?”

Lin Xiangqi panicked and reacted, realizing the bathroom door wasn’t locked, so he reflexively shouted, “I’m fine, don’t come in!”

But he had hurt his butt when sitting down. His nose was stinging, and his voice had a noticeable nasal tone. Although he didn’t really cry, his tone was soft and muffled, causing some misunderstanding.

Lu Cong was silent on the other side for a moment.

Just when Lin Xiangqi thought Lu Cong would, as before, be understanding and wait outside, suddenly, he heard the doorknob turn…

The bathroom door was pushed open.