I’m Face-Blind, But I Devoted Myself To Three Guys - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: “Made for the Dog”

Qi Xu was a bit confused by Chi Hui’s scrutinizing gaze and instinctively raised his hand to touch his neck.

His fingertips traced his smooth skin until they reached his left collarbone, where he suddenly felt a small, uneven patch that felt like a scar.

Qi Xu was stunned. He pressed it with his finger, and a sharp sting immediately shot through the skin.

“?” A virtual question mark practically popped up over Qi Xu’s head.

Ignoring Chi Hui’s question for the moment, he scrambled up and ran into the bathroom, pulling open his collar in front of the mirror.

In the reflection, there was a stark bite mark on his collarbone, complete and clear.

The person who left the mark had clearly used some force; the ring of bruising showed distinct tooth indentations, and the skin where the canines had sunk in was broken, having formed tiny scabs. Since Qi Xu’s skin was pale, the blue and purple bruising looked even more startling.

Clutching the mysterious bite mark, Xie Chengyan’s figure involuntarily floated into Qi Xu’s mind.

He had only seen Xie Chengyan last night.

“Is it because I took his spot on the bed last night and he got unhappy?” Qi Xu lowered his head and muttered softly.

But if you’re unhappy, you could just wake me up. Why would you bite someone!

Chi Hui, seeing that he had rushed into the bathroom and hadn’t come out for a long while, followed him. Leaning against the bathroom door, he heard Qi Xu’s aggrieved muttering and asked in confusion, “Who’s unhappy?”

Qi Xu, who was lost in thought, was startled by the sudden appearance of the man and reflexively clutched his collar tighter.

His eyes flickered: “Nothing.”

Chi Hui scanned him from head to toe, finally fixing his gaze on the hand covering the collar: “So, what happened to your neck?”

He had only caught a brief glimpse earlier; it looked like a bruise, but why was Qi Xu acting so guilty?

“I think it was a bug bite,” Qi Xu said, pulling his collar shut and making up a random excuse.

“A bug?” What kind of bug bites a person hard enough to cause a bruise?

Chi Hui saw the doubt in Qi Xu’s eyes. Qi Xu pursed his lips and started talking nonsense: “Yeah, a cockroach. A super big one.” The kind that’s 190cm tall when it stands up.

Chi Hui: “…”

In this weather, there’s a giant cockroach at home? What kind of environment does this kid live in?

After a moment of speechless silence, Chi Hui straightened up, took a step forward, and naturally reached out toward Qi Xu: “If it’s a bug bite, it needs to be treated immediately.”

Qi Xu didn’t expect him to take action directly. Startled, he instinctively took a half-step back.

Chi Hui noticed his dodge and the slight wariness in his eyes; his hand froze in mid-air. Qi Xu’s instinctive resistance made the atmosphere between them somewhat awkward.

“…”

Just as Qi Xu was wondering how to bluff his way through, the neglected “What” trotted over discontentedly. It was carrying a tattered little aluminum bowl, squeezed between the two of them, and wagged its tail frantically.

The Golden Retriever’s fawning behavior successfully diverted Chi Hui’s attention.

“Is he hungry?” Qi Xu took the opportunity to change the subject.

Chi Hui rolled his eyes at the silly dog: “I just fed him.”

“Oh…” Qi Xu had planned to use feeding the dog as an excuse to gloss over the matter, but it didn’t seem to be working out. His hand clutching the collar tightened unconsciously.

The bathroom wasn’t large to begin with, and with the Golden Retriever’s massive body squeezed inside, it felt even more cramped. Chi Hui turned and nudged the dog out the door.

Before leaving, he glanced back at Qi Xu again, his gaze sweeping over his tightly pressed lips. In the end, he said nothing more and left the bathroom.

Qi Xu breathed a sigh of relief but also felt a faint sense of loss.

However, it wasn’t long before the man returned, carrying a small first-aid kit.

“There’s disinfectant inside,” Chi Hui said, looking into Qi Xu’s eyes before pausing. “…Handle it yourself.”

After handing the kit to Qi Xu, he stepped out of the bathroom and considerately closed the door.

Qi Xu looked down at the medical box in his hands, and his mood brightened again.

Good, I thought Chi Hui was angry.

The bite mark had mostly scabbed over and didn’t really need treatment. Qi Xu found a sterile bandage and stuck it on. After ensuring no marks would be seen, he pushed the door open and walked out.

Chi Hui was standing in a corner of the living room with his back to him. Qi Xu approached and found him feeding the fish.

In the square tank, a dozen colorful little fish were swimming. No doubt, these were also sent over by Xu Changshu last night.

“So cute.” Qi Xu leaned his head in, his eyes sparkling.

Hearing this, Chi Hui looked sideways. His gaze involuntarily landed on the sterile bandage. It took him a moment to react before he silently looked away.

Qi Xu didn’t notice the stare; he was focused on the little fish scrambling for food. He realized that Chi Hui actually quite liked cute things.

The bathing yellow duck was cute, the fish were cute, the dog was cute, the dog’s name was cute…

Qi Xu’s eyes curved into crescents, and he couldn’t help but be amused by his own thoughts.

Chi Hui didn’t know what he was laughing at and felt it was quite strange: “…Do you find everything cute?”

Qi Xu blinked a couple of times and looked at the frowning man beside him.

—Chi Hui being sharp-tongued but soft-hearted is also cute.

So, Qi Xu nodded.

Chi Hui felt uncomfortable being stared at, tossed a handful of fish food into the tank, and turned to leave. Qi Xu followed him again.

Chi Hui wandered into the kitchen. Seeing that Qi Xu had followed, he brought out a plastic container from the sink to give the “troublemaker” something to do.

Qi Xu saw Chi Hui holding a decently sized box with one hand and proactively helped him.

The creature inside the transparent box sensed danger and curled up. Qi Xu stared for a few moments before realizing it was an octopus.

Its pinkish-tan body was constantly squirming and curling, its tentacles stretching in all directions, trying to find a gap to escape. Unfortunately, the box was sealed, with only a few small air holes at the top.

Compared to the octopus’s size, the box was a bit cramped. It looked uncomfortable.

Qi Xu pursed his lips, looked at the octopus, then looked up at Chi Hui. Coincidentally, Chi Hui was also staring at him. Both held the box together, staring at each other for a long while.

Finally, Chi Hui glanced down at the octopus in the box and then looked back up at Qi Xu.

Qi Xu: “?”

The other man was clearly signaling something, but unfortunately, he failed to receive the message. After staring at the energetic octopus for a good while, Qi Xu finally managed to react.

Looking at the animal that didn’t quite fit a normal person’s aesthetic, his expression was a bit hard to describe. But since Chi Hui was still staring at him intently, Qi Xu had to go against his conscience and praise: “…Cute.”

As soon as those words left his mouth, Chi Hui’s expression suddenly became even more complicated than his, looking almost disgusted: “…”

“…”

The two stared at each other again, both of their eyes filled with doubt about each other’s aesthetics.

“Tsk, you think it’s cute? …Then you handle it.”

Qi Xu had just said “Huh?” when the other man pushed the container over to him. After the hand-off was successful, Chi Hui left the person and the octopus alone in the kitchen.

Qi Xu watched the man’s decisive back as he left, then had a staring contest with the octopus in the box.

Handle it? How?

He had never kept an octopus. Was he supposed to give it a bath?

Five minutes later, having prepared himself mentally, Qi Xu opened the box. The flexible octopus quickly climbed along the walls. Qi Xu scrambled to tuck the tentacles back in, only to have the octopus latch onto his finger with its suckers.

The slimy, wet, soft sensation made his skin crawl, but he was afraid of hurting the octopus and didn’t dare pull hard. Where the suckers attached to his finger, round little marks were soon left behind—even more efficient than Xie Chengyan.

Qi Xu wanted to cry but had no tears. He could only follow the steps he found online to change the water for the octopus.

Chi Hui wasn’t idle after leaving the kitchen. He took out some pre-minced meat from the fridge, intending to process it. During this time, he occasionally checked on the noise in the kitchen. He didn’t expect Qi Xu to do a good job; he just wanted to keep him busy so he wouldn’t cause trouble.

However, unlike the time he killed the fish, this time Qi Xu persisted for over twenty minutes without coming out for help. With no one to disturb him, Chi Hui quickly prepared all the ingredients he needed.

While resting at the dining table, he saw Qi Xu run out in a hurry. Chi Hui watched him bypass him and head straight for the fish tank in the living room, a bit confused. Soon, Qi Xu grabbed something and ducked back into the kitchen.

Chi Hui sat for a bit, then couldn’t help but get up to check the kitchen. He saw Qi Xu working away fervently; the octopus had been “cleaned” thoroughly, and even the plastic container was washed spotless.

But… the octopus was still alive. In fact, it was doing quite well.

Qi Xu had run out just now to grab a handful of fish food to feed it. He had even fished out a piece of duckweed from the fish tank and put it in the plastic box, as if he felt sorry for the octopus’s meager home.

Qi Xu was immersed in his “performance art” and didn’t notice the person appearing behind him at all.

“I don’t know what you eat either, so have some fish food for now.”

Chi Hui: “…”

Great. I’ve hired the Little Prince who can talk to food from a fairy tale.

“…Are you planning to enshrine it?”

Qi Xu was startled by the sudden voice and turned around in panic.

Chi Hui stood behind him with his hands on his hips, continuing to question: “Is it because it’s so cute that you can’t bear to eat it?”

Qi Xu froze, not realizing what the other meant for a moment.

“Eat who?” He opened his mouth and asked a silly question.

Chi Hui couldn’t help but roll his eyes and snapped: “Eat me.”

Qi Xu: “…” Why is he throwing a tantrum again?

It wasn’t until Chi Hui reached past him and dropped a few slices of ginger into the plastic box that Qi Xu realized. It turned out this octopus was meant to be eaten…

Qi Xu scratched his cheek with a sheepish smile: “I thought this was also your pet.”

Chi Hui was speechless. What normal person keeps an octopus in a plastic storage box as a pet?

In the end, after all his wasted effort, Qi Xu was kicked out of the kitchen with an order: “Don’t bother me until I’m done.”

Being treated as a “Big Trouble,” Qi Xu had no choice but to go find the “Little Trouble.” However, the Golden Retriever had just snuck another handful of dog food; full and content, it was unusually reluctant to pay him any attention.

Qi Xu sat on the sofa for a few minutes, staring at the person processing ingredients at the dining table, unable to sit still. After a while, he clutched his empty glass and paced over.

Chi Hui took a moment to glance at him. Seeing him go into the kitchen to pour water, he didn’t say anything. However, after Qi Xu lingered in the kitchen for a long time, he couldn’t hold it in and slowly drifted over.

Chi Hui had expected this and let out a scoff.

Seeing that the man wasn’t very resistant, Qi Xu simply sat on a nearby chair and quietly watched him. Chi Hui was currently dicing chicken breast; next to him were chopped okra and broccoli, along with two portions of unknown meat.

Qi Xu watched for a while and tried to strike up a conversation to suck up: “Are you cooking?”

Chi Hui kept his head down and didn’t answer. Qi Xu belatedly realized he had asked a redundant question. After a few seconds of silence, he licked his lips: “Are you making it for me?”

Only then did Chi Hui look up, giving him a brief glance. His tone was indifferent: “It’s for the dog.”

Qi Xu thought the other was still sulking about earlier. Sharp-tongued, I get it. My brother is sometimes like this too.

So, Qi Xu leaned over the table, moved closer to Chi Hui, and let out a very small “Woof.”

The house was very quiet. Even the howling wind outside had stopped at some point. Thus, this tiny sound dropped precisely into Chi Hui’s ears.

The hand holding the knife paused. Chi Hui looked up, his face showing a momentary blankness.

“…” “…” “…” “?”