Chapter 12 – Lip Balm
Translator: Xena
Editor: Vinny
Proofreader: Wint8
There was a small table lamp emitting warm yellow light behind the bed curtains. Chen Xiangsui’s index finger uncontrollably caressed his face, his gaze flitted from his lips to his jawline and finally settled on his blank eyes, which were lightly covered by his eyelashes.
It was the first time he had looked at Cheng Yinian’s face so intently, and describing him as beautiful was no exaggeration.
After a moment, Chen Xiangsui realized what he had done and quickly withdrew his hand. He just didn’t want to get out of bed and attract Xu Zitang’s attention, thereby having to make some unnecessary explanations.
Cheng Yinian felt a bit embarrassed. When Xu Zitang returned to bed, he lowered his voice and said, “I want to return the Walkman I borrowed from you last time.”
“How have you been sleeping lately?” Chen Xiangsui asked naturally.
“A little better. Your sleep music is very effective.” Chen Xiangsui did not take the Walkman. “I’ll leave it here with you. You can listen to it anytime you can’t sleep. I don’t really need it right now.”
Cheng Yinian was about to say thank you, but changed his mind at the last moment. “Okay, then you can ask back for it anytime.”
……
On Monday, Cheng Yinian struggled to get out of bed for his 8 a.m. class. As soon as he got out of bed, he noticed that Chen Xiangsui was up early as usual, already wearing his sneakers and ready to leave.
“What would you like for breakfast?” Chen Xiangsui raised his head and asked him. “I’ll buy it. I’ll wait for you at the back row of the classroom.”
“I wanna eat meat buns, is that okay?” Cheng Yinian thought for a moment before speaking. He remembered that the meat buns on the first floor of the cafeteria were of high quality and reasonably priced, but he could never get up in time, so he hadn’t eaten them in a long time.
“There’s no okay or not okay. Don’t ask me like that again next time.” Chen Xiangsui replied calmly, then casually smoothed out the messy hair on Cheng Yinian’s head. “I’ll go buy it for you.”
When Cheng Yinian arrived at the back door of the classroom, he found Chen Xiangsui sitting in the seat next to his, with two meat buns wrapped in plastic bags next to his textbook. He sat down next to the other person and took the meat bun he handed him. He was just about to ask Chen Xiangsui if he wanted to eat some, but the other person seemed to read his mind and immediately said that he had already eaten.
Due to the advantage of his inconspicuous seating and his already growling stomach, Cheng Yinian couldn’t resist picking up a meat bun and taking a bite, accidentally getting meat sauce on his lips. He instinctively wanted to lick it clean, so he swept his red tongue across his lips. However, he accidentally noticed Chen Xiangsui’s gaze fixed on him and he stopped what he was doing, feeling a little embarrassed.
“Wipe it.” After saying this, Chen Xiangsui took a pack of paper tissue out of his pocket, pulled one out, and gently wiped Cheng Yinian’s lips, as if afraid of breaking them.
Cheng Yinian attempted to stop him, but Chen Xiangsui ignored his evasive movements. “I want you to get used to it.”
“Hm…” Cheng Yinian could only let Chen Xiangsui wipe his lips gently with a tissue. After taking back the tissue, he gently touched the corner of his mouth with his clean fingertips. “No oil, very clean.”
Cheng Yinian awkwardly avoided Chen Xiangsui’s gaze and focused his attention on his textbook, but he couldn’t seem to read more than a few lines.
As December approached, the weather grew colder, and even Cheng Yinian had to add an extra sweater under his hoodie. As soon as he walked into the dormitory, he couldn’t help but breathe warm air onto his frozen hands.
“Here.” Chen Xiangsui noticed him at some point and wrapped his hands tightly in his palms. Lu Yan chuckled softly when he saw it. “Chen Xiangsui, did Cheng Yinian send waves?1The exact translation was detection radar, you know the one that sends pings when there’s an object or people nearby. I was just looking at my laptop, someone breathed and then you were there.”
At this moment, Xu Zitang suddenly interjected with a digression, “Lu Yan, didn’t I ask you to pick up some lip balm for me at the supermarket?”
“Here it is.” Lu Yan finished speaking and threw the item in his hand at Xu Zitang. “You’re only good at being sharp in situations like this. Can’t you learn from Xiangsui and be more considerate of your roommates?”
“Wait a minute, let me finish this chapter.”
Lu Yan couldn’t help but sigh. “Oh, it’s hopeless.”
Chen Xiangsui subconsciously fixed his gaze on Cheng Yinian’s lips. “It’s all peeling off. Do you have any lip balm?”
Cheng Yinian nodded, then reached into his backpack and pulled out a small tube of lip balm he had bought a long time ago. He glanced at the expiration date and realized it had expired. Seeing this, Chen Xiangsui spoke up, “Use mine first, wait a moment.”
A moment later, Chen Xiangsui returned with a peach-flavored lip balm. “I bought it on a whim at the time, and I’ve used it a few times. It’s pretty good.” After saying that, he opened the lid, cupped Cheng Yinian’s face with one hand, and carefully applied lip balm to the other’s lips with the other hand.
Their faces were so close that Cheng Yinian felt as if Chen Xiangsui was about to kiss him at any moment.
After the lip balm was closed, Chen Xiangsui’s gaze lingered on Cheng Yinian’s lips for a moment before silently looking away. “Alright, looks good.”
“……Hmm, okay.” As soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Yinian saw the other person take the lip balm that had just been used on his lips and applied it to Chen Xiangsui’s own lips. In the days that followed, Chen Xiangsui lived as if he was glued to his lips, always checking to see if it was dry and would apply lip balm as soon as he saw that it was chapped.
Over time, Cheng Yinian had no choice but to get used to it. Eventually, he couldn’t help but sigh imperceptibly. “I just bought a new lip balm, so I don’t need to keep using yours.”
“Mine is in my pocket, easy to get to,” Chen Xiangsui spoke while placing Cheng Yinian’s hand into his own pocket. Cheng Yinian did not resist, appearing as though he had grown accustomed to it.
Then, Cheng Yinian felt the peach-flavored lip balm in Chen Xiangsui’s pocket. “Then I’ll start putting mine in my pocket as well from now on. I’ll use my own.” After saying that, he took out a lip balm of the same brand from his shoulder bag and put it in his pocket.
“Okay, I’ll listen to you.”
The two of them walked along the school path, chatting about everyday topics. Cheng Yinian’s hand was still in Chen Xiangsui’s pocket when a couple walked toward them. The girl’s hand was in the same pocket as the boy’s, just like him and Chen Xiangsui.
He quickly pulled his hand out of Chen Xiangsui’s pocket. Their eyes immediately met. “What’s wrong?”
“…Please don’t hold my hand like that.” Cheng Yinian knew that Chen Xiangsui would insist on a reason, but sometimes he was surprisingly easy to fool. For example, when he refused to let the other person poke his dimple, he came up with a simple and irrefutable excuse, “I don’t like it.”
“But I’ve been covering it for so long.” Chen Xiangsui knitted his brows. “You’re lying to me.”
Cheng Yinian seemed a little anxious. “I… I just don’t want to. And you have no reason to hold my hand.”
“Your hands are cold,” Chen Xiangsui replied solemnly, “And I want to be closer to you. Are you not used to me doing this yet?”
Cheng Yinian avoided Chen Xiangsui’s gaze. “…Why do you want to be close to me?”
“If I must say it,” Chen Xiangsui said without hesitation, as if his reasoning was perfectly natural and flawless, “it’s because Yinian is very cute.”
Cheng Yinian stood there for a moment. He had seen Chen Xiangsui praise Nian Gao’s cuteness many times online, but hearing it being said face-to-face with himself as a guy made Cheng Yinian feel it somewhat unbelievable.
Fool.
Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but curse silently under his breath.
Seeing that the other party did not raise any objections, Chen Xiangsui’s gaze swept across Cheng Yinian’s face a few times as if observing his expression before finally grasping the other man’s hand and stuffing it back into his own pocket.
“It was just warmed up, but now it’s cold again.” Chen Xiangsui said, tightening his grip on Cheng Yinian’s hand.
……
Cheng Yinian had no choice but to let Chen Xiangsui hold his hand ‘till they returned to the dormitory. Lu Yan glanced at them and teased them, saying they looked like a father and son pair out on the street, having to hold hands wherever they went.
There were no classes in the afternoon, so Cheng Yinian was busy packing his things to return to his rented room when he accidentally noticed Chen Xiangsui, who owned the bed opposite his, also tidying up his belongings.
“Where are you going for the New Year?” Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but ask. Chen Xiangsui told him that he was going home. So, when Cheng Yinian used Nian Gao’s account to send Chen Xiangsui a message about voice calls that evening, the other party replied: [No problem, I’m in my room.]
Cheng Yinian quickly adjusted his voice changer. [QWQ No problems for me as well. Gege, call me when you’re ready~]
Soon, Cheng Yinian received a phone call from Chen Xiangsui. He answered the call. Although it wasn’t the first time he had spoken to the person on the other end, he felt strangely nervous. “…Gege?”
When this name actually came out of his mouth out loud, Cheng Yinian felt a little ashamed.
Chen Xiangsui was taken aback by the overly sweet call. Although Cheng Yinian’s voice was somewhat feminine, it sounded clean and pleasant, not overly cloying or sticky.
“Mn, it’s me.” Chen Xiangsui racked his brain for topics to talk about. Based on his experience of meeting new people, he knew that it was best to ask strangers about their current situation first—even though he knew Cheng Yinian very well. “Are you still in Xunxi?”
“Yeah, Gege, I go to school here.” Cheng Yinian said it so vividly that he got goosebumps. “How about Gege?”
“My home is in Xunxi. May I ask which university you attend?” Chen Xiangsui played the part to the fullest, saying, “I’m from Xunxi University.”
When Cheng Yinian heard Chen Xiangsui mention the local area, he immediately recalled the previous time when the other party had directly asked him if they could meet. To prevent the conversation from turning in that direction again, Cheng Yinian told a small lie. “Gege is so awesome to be in Xunxi University. I’m at Xunxi University of Finance and Economics, which is quite far from Gege.”
“Okay, I understand.” On one side, Chen Xiangsui pondered Cheng Yinian’s words, unable to comprehend the meaning behind his lie. Does he still have reservations about Age? Chen Xiangsui thought.
So he hesitated for a moment before asking, “Should we video call?”
staff shenanigans
