“I…” Jiang Que was at a loss for words.
He wanted to take back his suitcase, but looking at Shen Tazhi’s hand resting on the handle of the suitcase, he didn’t know how to reach out. He could only stand there, locked in a stalemate with Shen Tazhi.
“I… I’m just, giving you back the room,” Jiang Que murmured softly. “I’ve grown up, I can’t keep sharing a bed with you.”
As he racked his brains, considering what to do if Shen Tazhi didn’t let go, he heard a faint sigh from ahead. Then, Shen Tazhi released the suitcase.
“Okay,” Shen Tazhi said. He stepped aside, giving Jiang Que a way out. “You don’t need to help me change the sheets, I can manage. Do you need any help?”
“No, no need.”
Jiang Que, feeling like he had been granted clemency, quickly grabbed his suitcase and made his escape.
Shen Tazhi stood with his arms crossed at his door, watching as Jiang Que hurriedly darted into the neighbouring room and closed the door. Only then did he slowly avert his gaze.
His mother wouldn’t lie to him. Jiang Que had been fine the day before, so why did he suddenly change like this when he came home today?
Could something have happened during his physical examination at the Anomaly Investigation Department?
With these thoughts in mind, Shen Tazhi took out his phone, contemplated for a moment, and eventually sent a message to Du Lulu inquiring about the situation.
In the room.
“*Sigh.*”
Finally out of Shen Tazhi’s sight, Jiang Que breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down on the mattress that still didn’t have sheets.
The room was painted in a light blue color, with a new white wooden desk and bed – furniture that Aunt and Uncle Shen had specifically bought when they decided to let him stay at the Shen household.
However, since he had to live with Shen Tazhi later on, all this furniture remained new up to now.
Jiang Que got up, his fingers lightly brushing over the desk, and couldn’t help but think that these pieces of furniture would probably be put to use in the future.
Leaving aside whether he had those kinds of feelings for Shen Tazhi or not, now that Shen Tazhi had returned home and he realized something was amiss, it was a bit too presumptuous to continue occupying the room.
…So, what exactly were his feelings towards Shen Tazhi?
He remembered his own little thoughts, Jiang Que frustratedly scratched his head, then flopped down on the bed. His tentacles, curled up due to his inner guilt, seemed to be evading his unclear thoughts along with Jiang Que.
Rolling back and forth on the bed in frustration for a while, Jiang Que finally calmed down. Then, using his eighteen tentacles and two hands, he quickly tidied up the room. His ability to keep his room tidy on his own since childhood was mainly due to this – he had a total of eighteen extra hands for cleaning compared to his peers.
By the time the room was tidy, it was completely dark outside. Jiang Que sat on the bed lost in thought for a while before remembering to turn on the light.
As the light illuminated the room, Jiang Que glanced at the time and realized it was already 8 PM, probably time for dinner soon. The thought of having to sit at the same table with Shen Tazhi for dinner made Jiang Que uncomfortable all over.
Should he say he wasn’t feeling well and skip dinner tonight?
No, he wasn’t born to rely on human food, how could he not eat dinner because he wasn’t feeling well?
Or pretend to be asleep? Act like he was very busy? Or should he pretend that He Yun and the others had suddenly returned, and he needed to go next door to have dinner?
As Jiang Que was racking his brains for excuses, there was a knock on the door.
Jiang Que jumped in alarm and looked warily at the door, fearing it might be Shen Tazhi again.
“Xiao Que?” It was Shen Qingxue’s voice from outside.
It turned out to be Aunt Qingxue.
Jiang Que breathed a sigh of relief, walked over, and opened the door. “Aunt, what’s up?”
Shen Qingxue stood outside, smiling, “Nothing much, just came to call you for dinner. I messaged you earlier, but you didn’t respond, so I thought maybe you didn’t see it.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Que took out his phone and saw several unread messages on the screen. He had been absent-minded earlier, just checking the time, and hadn’t noticed the messages.
“Oh, okay, I didn’t check my phone earlier. I’ll go down for dinner now,” Jiang Que said.
He followed Shen Qingxue out of the room, but not without casting a nonchalant glance at Shen Tazhi’s room. Seeing that it was dark and the lights were off, he felt relieved.
Then, he remembered that since Shen Tazhi wasn’t in his room, he must be waiting downstairs for him, causing Jiang Que’s heart to flutter again.
Shen Qingxue, seemingly casually, asked, “Why did you move to the neighbouring room? Weren’t you always so fond of sticking with Zhi Zhi?”
“Aunt…” Jiang Que felt so embarrassed that he wished he could disappear on the spot, “That was when I was younger, and now that my gege has returned, I can’t keep occupying his room…”
Shen Qingxue thought for a moment, “Oh, I see? I thought you found the bed too small and sleeping two people was too cramped, so I was considering whether we should change the bed.”
Jiang Que quickly declined, “No, no need, living in the neighbouring room is fine.”
Not to mention that Shen Tazhi’s bed was already quite large, so changing the bed wouldn’t solve the problem at all.
Aunt Qingxue had taken care of him for so many years, and now he had developed feelings for their son… Jiang Que thought to himself, feeling guilty under Aunt Qingxue’s gaze.
Indeed, he should find a reason to escape to the neighbouring room quickly, figure out what was going on with himself, and then come back. If things were exposed, not only would he and Shen Tazhi possibly avoid each other forever, even Uncle and Aunt would likely come to dislike him.
So, did he really like Shen Tazhi? Could someone understanding please come and explain it to him now? He really couldn’t tell anymore.
With all sorts of messy thoughts piling up, Jiang Que followed Shen Qingxue downstairs stiffly, quietly serving himself food and sitting next to Shen Tazhi, not daring to say a word.
The Shen family was not very talkative, and usually, Jiang Que was the most active at the dinner table. Now that Jiang Que was in a strange state, the meal was unusually quiet.
Most of the time, Shen Qingxue was talking, asking Shen Tazhi to try this dish and Jiang Que to taste that one, occasionally commenting on how Zhao Ruxin added too much salt to a dish or had poor knife skills.
Shen Tazhi kept his composure, but he noticed Jiang Que deliberately avoiding any physical contact with him, and consciously moved a bit farther away, trying not to touch Jiang Que while passing dishes.
The unusual behavior of the two quickly caught the attention of Shen Qingxue and Zhao Ruxin.
“Weird…” Shen Qingxue, looking like she wanted to be eight hundred meters away from the two, said, “Why aren’t you two talking? When Zhi Zhi came back before, you two were always together, never giving me a chance to speak.”
Zhao Ruxin nodded, agreeing, “Did you two have a fight?”
“No,” Jiang Que and Shen Tazhi said in unison.
Realizing that he and Shen Tazhi were in sync, Jiang Que didn’t know why, but his face suddenly turned red. He looked at them with a puzzled gaze, stammered for a while, unable to speak.
Help, help… he wanted to run away.
After a brief silence, Shen Tazhi was the first to speak.
“No, you’re overthinking it, when have Que Que and I ever fought?” Shen Tazhi’s tone was light and teasing.
“Que Que just feels a bit awkward since it’s been so long since he last saw me, right?”
As he said this, Shen Tazhi turned to look at Jiang Que. Jiang Que received the hint in Shen Tazhi’s eyes and nodded repeatedly, confirming that was the case.
“Is that so?” Shen Qingxue asked, half-believing.
But Shen Tazhi had no reason to deceive her. She didn’t press further and continued serving the two children their food.
Jiang Que couldn’t taste the food at all, his mind filled with the sideways glance Shen Tazhi had just given him.
Shen Tazhi was really good-looking, even in that sideways glance… No, what was he thinking?
What did Shen Tazhi’s glance just mean? Why did he suddenly provide cover for him?
Because of that one look from Shen Tazhi, Jiang Que’s calm heart was once again stirred up.
He endured the meal in agony, almost the second Zhao Ruxin and Shen Qingxue put down their chopsticks, he instinctively avoided their gaze and went upstairs.
Jiang Que had been sneaking glances at Shen Tazhi the whole time, and when he realized Shen Tazhi didn’t even look at him once, he felt uncertain.
Oh no, could his gege really think he disliked him?
Although he had actively avoided Shen Tazhi, making a misunderstanding, he also knew that at this moment, demanding Shen Tazhi to stick with him would be unreasonable. But when Jiang Que saw Shen Tazhi actually turning and leaving, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss.
He recalled something he had read online before –
[Don’t date your gege, because even if you break up, you’ll still have to sit at the same table during Chinese New Year.]
The words of the online community were not deceiving. Even though he hadn’t actually dated his gege, just having some uncertainty in his mind had already forced him to endure the torment of sitting at the same table.
And he was about to face the torment of sharing a room.
Jiang Que wanted to slow down, but Shen Qingxue had already finished setting the table, waiting for him to serve the fruit. He couldn’t make a scene.
After thirty minutes of Shen Tazhi being upstairs, Jiang Que had no choice but to carry the fruit plate up.
Shen Qingxue waved at him from downstairs, “Make sure to have a good talk with your gege.”
Jiang Que replied hesitantly, “…Alright.”
The substantial gaze from Shen Qingxue behind him made Jiang Que suddenly realize that the key point of the joke circulating online about “still having to sit at the same table after breaking up” wasn’t about the meal at all.
The key point of this joke is clear: even after breaking up, the romantic relationship may have ended, but the family relationship remains, and out of respect for the parents, one must sit down and coexist even if things are strained.
He wasn’t actually breaking up now, but it felt like it, experiencing this kind of feeling for the first time.
Jiang Que slowly climbed the stairs and stood in front of the familiar door.
He looked at the dark cracks around the door, thinking that Shen Tazhi might be asleep. Very softly, he tapped on the door.
If Shen Tazhi hadn’t heard, that would have been fine, and he would have left the fruit plate on the floor, sent a message for Shen Tazhi to come out and get it himself.
With these thoughts in mind, Jiang Que tapped on the door again, softly this time.
Please don’t hear, please don’t hear.
He wasn’t sure if his sincere prayers had worked, as there was no sound from inside the room for a while.
Feeling a bit jubilant, Jiang Que whispered, “Gege? Are you asleep?”
Still, silence.
Good, let’s assume Shen Tazhi is asleep. If he doesn’t reply to a message later, Jiang Que would eat the easily perishable fruits himself and put the rest in the fridge.
His previously heavy steps suddenly lightened, Jiang Que bent down, about to place the fruit plate down, but in his excitement, he accidentally crashed into the door.
Click–
He didn’t actually hurt himself because the door was ajar, and his push opened it directly.
To his surprise, the room wasn’t enveloped in darkness. A small desk lamp cast a dim light on the desk, but it wasn’t bright enough for Jiang Que, who stood outside the room, to notice.
“I-I-I wasn’t int–“
Jiang Que’s explanation came to an abrupt halt.
Because Shen Tazhi was asleep, with his head resting on the desk.
The computer screen next to him was still on, the bedding on the bed had just been changed, the suitcase was open with partially packed clothes inside. It seemed like he had been halfway through packing before falling asleep.
Is college really this tough? Even after graduation, so much to handle.
Thinking this, Jiang Que couldn’t help but pick up the fruit plate and take a few steps into the room.
He took a glance, feeling the room was a bit chilly, so he covered his gege with a blanket before leaving.
Jiang Que walked into the room, and his tentacles instinctively helped him gently close the door. The sound of the door locking startled Jiang Que, and he turned around to see that his tentacles had actually locked the door.
…So now he was really sharing a room with Shen Tazhi?
Although afraid to face the awake Shen Tazhi, now that Shen Tazhi was asleep, Jiang Que’s heart began to uncontrollably beat faster, a mix of nervousness and a hint of excitement.
Quietly, he placed the fruit plate by Shen Tazhi’s desk, smoothly retrieved a blanket from the wardrobe using his tentacles, and covered Shen Tazhi with it.
With the blanket in place, according to Jiang Que’s original plan, he should have left. However, as he looked at Shen Tazhi’s profile, Jiang Que’s feet seemed rooted to the spot, unable to move.
In the dim light, Shen Tazhi slept peacefully with closed eyes. His usually sharp features softened in sleep, reminding Jiang Que of the first time he had seen Shen Tazhi.
Back then, Shen Tazhi had been poisoned by a Gu in his body, looking very pale. Fortunately, Qi Qing had saved him, and those two who had plotted against Shen Tazhi never appeared again, likely dealt with by Uncle and Aunt.
At that time, he was just a little kid, and his memories weren’t very clear. He only remembered how Shen Tazhi had made him cry at first but had been kind to him later, so he didn’t hold a grudge.
Compared to Qi Qiu, who teased him since childhood, and Qi Qing, who always treated him like a child, Shen Tazhi, as the older brother, was more willing to play with him. Even though he had been a bit spoiled in his childhood, Shen Tazhi always indulged him, treating him like a real younger brother.
Objectively speaking, as an older brother, Shen Tazhi was definitely the most responsible and caring one.
But he wasn’t being very responsible now; he seemed to have developed feelings for his own gege.
Jiang Que wryly smiled and glanced at Shen Tazhi again, the words suddenly resurfacing in his mind: “To like someone is to want to kiss them.”
Kiss…
Jiang Que’s gaze lowered, and this time, he truly saw Shen Tazhi’s thin, red lips.
Jiang Que’s ears gradually turned red.
Rarely catching Shen Tazhi asleep, if he didn’t take the opportunity now, he might never have a chance to confirm his feelings for Shen Tazhi.
But was it really okay for him to kiss Shen Tazhi like this? What if Shen Tazhi didn’t like him back and found it disgusting?
In a state of inner turmoil, Jiang Que softly called out, “Gege…”
His voice was as soft as a whisper.
“Gege, are you really asleep?” Jiang Que raised his voice slightly.
Shen Tazhi remained peacefully asleep, showing no response.
With a surge of courage, Jiang Que reached out and gently touched Shen Tazhi’s face. It was warm and soft.
This was his gege, the one who had taken care of him for over a decade, always keeping him in mind even when far away overseas. In the dim light, the young man slowly bent down.
He lightly placed his hand on Shen Tazhi’s lips, his hand trembling almost imperceptibly. Jiang Que closed his eyes and gently kissed his own hand.
In this moment, his erratic breath and Shen Tazhi’s steady breathing intertwined.
The closeness felt as if they were truly embracing and kissing.
Jiang Que quickly released his hand as if shocked, covering his mouth, his face blushing as he took several steps back. Even though he was the one who had stolen a kiss, it now felt as if Shen Tazhi had kissed him.
His heart raced, as if it might burst out of his chest at any moment.
After standing still for a few seconds, the computer, left on standby, suddenly went dark.
Jiang Que was startled, turned around, and ran, forgetting he had locked the door. Failing to twist the doorknob open for the first time, he made a loud noise.
Already feeling incredibly guilty, the loud noise made him even more nervous. Without caring if he might wake Shen Tazhi, he just wanted to escape, quickly unlocking the door and running without looking back.
Bang!
A heavy door closing noise came from the neighbouring room.
It wasn’t until a couple of seconds after the door closed that Shen Tazhi, who should have been asleep on the table, slowly lifted his head.
Brushing aside his black hair, he revealed his bright red earlobes.
Shen Tazhi, at a loss, touched his lips, feeling the lingering warmth from the palm of a hand.
This… How did it come to this?
Similar to Jiang Que’s guess, he had received an email from the school while halfway through packing, and his eyes had begun to feel uncomfortable while replying. He decided to lie down for a moment, but ended up dozing off.
Just as he lay down, he heard Jiang Que’s soft voice outside the door. Shen Tazhi immediately recalled Jiang Que helping Shen Qingxue in the kitchen with the fruits earlier, and he realized that Jiang Que had been asked to bring him fruits but didn’t want to see him.
Deciding to ignore it, Shen Tazhi pretended not to hear, thinking Jiang Que would probably just leave the fruits on the floor. Although he wasn’t sure what was going on with Jiang Que, Shen Tazhi didn’t want to make things difficult for him. If Jiang Que truly didn’t want to see him, he would respect that and keep his distance.
However, everything that followed took an unexpected turn.
Jiang Que unexpectedly entered the room, looked at Shen Tazhi with an unreadable expression, and covered him with a blanket.
Jiang Que… reached out and touched his face, then, using his palm as a barrier, he stole a quick kiss.
He stole a kiss.
So, Jiang Que was avoiding him all this time for this reason?
Shen Tazhi thought in realization.
At that moment, his phone vibrated twice. Shen Tazhi picked it up and saw a delayed reply from Du Lulu:
【Du Lulu:
Sorry, I was in routine training during the day and didn’t notice personal emails. Today, I just conducted a routine check-up on Jiang Que, and then… oh, and then I asked him about his feelings for you because your interactions are just too affectionate, and I was curious. His reaction was quite significant. Did I cause trouble for you both?
P.S.: I think Jiang Que must like you. If you’re unsure how to handle it… um, should I ask Team Leader Duan for you? I don’t know how to deal with these emotional matters. I was just curious, so I asked. I truly didn’t mean to cause any trouble. How are things between you two now?】
Shen Tazhi: …
If only Du Lulu had replied earlier.
He spent an entire afternoon overthinking, even feeling a bit of a world-weary sense of “children growing up and leaving the nest.” Then, in the evening, Jiang Que stole a kiss from him, and he was informed that Jiang Que liked him.
Jiang Que likes him?
How did things take such a strange turn? His little brother likes him??
Shen Tazhi’s expression turned blank as he read Du Lulu’s message, starting to contemplate his own feelings for the first time.
What… does he mean to Jiang Que?
Shen Tazhi lowered his head, rubbing his flushed earlobes.
