Secretly Liking Him - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Gu Xun turned his head almost instantly to see Shen Yanzhi’s reaction.

After a brief stun, Shen Yanzhi also turned to look at Gu Xun, then smiled at Shen Lan and said: “Okay.”

From that moment on, Gu Xun felt like his brain had turned to wood. He couldn’t remember how he finished dinner or how he followed Shen Yanzhi to make the bed.

By the time he finished his shower and came out, he saw Shen Yanzhi already sitting on the lower bunk, looking at the models Gu Xun had built in the past.

Probably hearing the sound, Shen Yanzhi turned his gaze toward him, and a bit of a smile appeared on his previously expressionless face.

Only then did Gu Xun feel like his soul had returned to his body, regaining his consciousness.

It was real… Ah Yan was at his house!

And in a moment, he would be sleeping in the same room with him!

Gu Xun couldn’t help but walk toward the bed with some lack of coordination, limbs moving in sync. It wasn’t until he almost bumped into the ladder that he wondered why on earth he was so nervous.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t slept in the same room with him before!

They had even shared the same bed once!

But the tragic part was that Gu Xun couldn’t even remember what the situation was like that night he slept with Shen Yanzhi.

He only remembered being exhausted and sleepy, and then falling into a deep, dark slumber.

Gu Xun: “…”

Gu Xun silently despised himself in his heart. That was at someone else’s house! How could he have zero self-awareness as a guest! To actually fall asleep so smoothly!

At the very least, he should have chatted more! Like a heart-to-heart or something!

Gu Xun now thought that since he was the host, he should shoulder the responsibilities of a host—for instance, chatting with the guest to pass the time.

Gu Xun racked his brains for a long time before squeezing out: “Want to play the game console?”

Shen Yanzhi hesitated for a moment and said: “Mhm, but I’ve never played, I don’t know how.”

Gu Xun’s face immediately beamed with joy: “It’s perfect that you don’t know how, I can teach you! Let me show you what a God of War looks like! Big brother will carry you!”

Half an hour later, Gu Xun asked: “Didn’t you say you didn’t know how???”

Shen Yanzhi held the game controller, stayed silent for a while, and said: “I didn’t expect it to be so simple.”

Gu Xun asked sincerely: “…Handsome, you do realize you’re insulting my IQ, right?”

Shen Yanzhi looked back at him innocently.

Gu Xun was struck by that little look of his: “…Fine, let’s not play against each other then. Let’s team up!”

Next, Gu Xun experienced what it felt like to be “carried” to victory. Anyway… it felt pretty good…

Both of them got more excited as they played. Shen Yanzhi clearly hadn’t played many games before; although he picked it up quickly, he wasn’t familiar with many levels, so he played even more seriously than Gu Xun.

By the time Shen Lan came to knock on the door to urge them to go to bed early, it was already past twelve.

Gu Xun gave his mother an affirmative answer, then turned and whispered to Shen Yanzhi: “Still want to play?”

Shen Yanzhi exchanged a look with him, and then the two of them turned off the light and moved to the bed with the game console.

The air conditioner temperature was lowered a bit, and by covering their heads with the comforter, they could continue the battle.

When they finally cleared a game that Gu Xun had been playing for a long time without passing, Gu Xun let out a yawn, finally feeling like he couldn’t hold out any longer.

Although Shen Yanzhi wanted to keep playing, it was indeed too late, so he said: “Let’s sleep, it’s too late.”

Gu Xun nodded, packed up the things, and climbed up to the top bunk.

Originally, he thought he would fall asleep very quickly again, but who knew that once he lay flat, his sleepiness actually dissipated.

Gu Xun rolled over, poked his head over the edge of the bed, and whispered toward the lower bunk like a thief: “Ah Yan… are you asleep yet…”

While calling out, he tried hard in the pitch-black light to see clearly whether Shen Yanzhi in the lower bunk was asleep or not.

In the darkness, Shen Yanzhi replied softly: “Not yet.”

Gu Xun coughed before getting the next words out: “Can I come down to sleep?”

Shen Yanzhi misunderstood him: “Want to swap with me?”

Gu Xun didn’t answer him; he just fumbled in the dark to climb down from the top bunk, cautiously felt along the edge of the bed, and crawled into the lower bunk.

Shen Yanzhi was just about to sit up when he heard Gu Xun say: “I want to sleep together with you.”

After Gu Xun said it, he didn’t make a sound. He was a little afraid Shen Yanzhi would ask him why or just disagree.

But Shen Yanzhi just silently made space for him.

The tension in Gu Xun’s heart instantly relaxed.

Resting his head on the half of the pillow Shen Yanzhi had shared with him, he suddenly felt very happy, saying almost like a sigh: “This is so good…”

Shen Yanzhi asked in confusion: “Hmm?”

Gu Xun was so sleepy his words weren’t quite clear, but he still murmured indistinctly: “It’s so good being together with you like this.”

In the darkness, Shen Yanzhi didn’t speak, and it was impossible to see what kind of expression was on his face.

Gu Xun was still mumbling hazily: “The first time I saw you, I was thinking, it would be great if the two of us could play together…”

Listening to Gu Xun’s breathing become more and more steady, Shen Yanzhi knew he had already fallen asleep. But that light breathing was like a feather, brushing over his heart time and again.

Shen Yanzhi felt this feeling was very strange, but when he tried to think about it carefully, he couldn’t grasp it.

Sleepiness gradually surged up. He closed his eyes and entered the land of dreams amidst Gu Xun’s breathing.

the size of a single bed was a bit small for two half-grown boys; as they slept, they ended up huddled together.

One was afraid of heat, the other afraid of cold; putting them together was actually quite good.

The next day, it was almost noon and Shen Lan still hadn’t seen the two of them. She cautiously opened the bedroom door and saw the two kids sleeping soundly in each other’s arms, with the unorganized game console still on the desk nearby.

Gu Jingyuan also came over to look. Seeing this situation, he pulled Shen Lan away and persuaded her in a low voice: “Let them sleep more on the weekend. Once they reach the second or third year of high school, there won’t be time to play like this.”

Although Shen Lan was a bit dissatisfied, she ultimately closed the door lightly.

The two of them slept until nearly three o’clock. When Shen Yanzhi woke up, most of Gu Xun’s body was clinging to him, his face buried in Shen Yanzhi’s neck, sleeping like a little pig.

He moved a bit and felt that his shoulder had been numbed by Gu Xun’s weight.

Shen Yanzhi struggled to glance at the clock on the desk and found it was already afternoon. He quickly reached out and pushed Gu Xun: “Ah Xun, Ah Xun, get up.”

Gu Xun opened his eyes dizzily: “Huh?”

Shen Yanzhi said: “It’s past two.”

Gu Xun reflexively nuzzled into his neck, wanting to continue idling in bed.

Only halfway through the nuzzling did Gu Xun realize what he was doing.

Shen Yanzhi was helpless: “Get up, my shoulder is numb.”

Gu Xun instantly scrambled up and quickly checked Shen Yanzhi’s shoulder: “Are you okay?”

Shen Yanzhi sat up and moved his shoulder. After frowning and enduring a wave of intense soreness and numbness, he said: “I’m fine, it was just pressed for too long.”

Gu Xun felt a bit guilty: “I’m sorry…”

Shen Yanzhi gave him a strange look: “What is there to be sorry about?”

Gu Xun muttered softly: “I numbed your arm…”

Hearing this, Shen Yanzhi raised his hand and gave Gu Xun’s messy head a vigorous rub: “Next time if you do it on purpose, then you can apologize to me.”

Gu Xun then began to smile foolishly.

By the time the two of them had finished tidying up and went out to eat, they both received a scolding from Shen Lan.

It was mostly about how they shouldn’t mess around like this even on weekends, and how their bodies couldn’t be healthy if they didn’t eat properly, and so on.

Gu Xun made faces at Shen Yanzhi while eating, clearly used to hearing these lectures.

Shen Yanzhi, on the other hand, had a somewhat dazed expression. This way of showing care was something he truly hadn’t experienced before; it felt very novel.

Seeing this expression, Gu Xun immediately whispered after Shen Lan finished the lecture: “Don’t mind it, my mom is just like that…”

Shen Yanzhi smiled and shook his head: “It’s quite good.”

Gu Xun just took it as a polite remark and didn’t think much of it, only telling Shen Yanzhi to eat quickly.

He had been hungry since last night and felt like he could eat a whole cow.

Seeing the way Gu Xun stuffed everything into his mouth at once, Shen Yanzhi felt like he couldn’t take it: “Slow down, it’s not good to eat too fast.”

Gu Xun stuffed another egg dumpling into his mouth before saying indistinctly: “If I were like you and chewed every bite fifty times, my mom would probably suspect I’d been possessed by an alien.”

Shen Yanzhi raised an eyebrow: “I’m an alien?”

Gu Xun spoke off the cuff: “Definitely. That planet is called the Planet of All-Around Handsome Guys, specifically producing excellent talents like you who are good-looking and smart, leaving no room for ordinary humans to survive!”

Hearing him talk such solemn nonsense, Shen Yanzhi actually didn’t know how to respond.

Gu Xun saw his speechless look and smiled triumphantly, looking like he had picked up some money.

Seeing him smile, Shen Yanzhi’s emotions were also picked up, and he followed with a smile, reaching out to wipe Gu Xun’s face with his fingertip: “You got some on your face.”

Gu Xun felt as if he had been burned; even his breathing stopped for a split second.

Shen Yanzhi, however, very calmly withdrew his hand, pulled out a tissue, and wiped it.

Gu Xun felt his heartbeat was a bit abnormally fast, even though it was clearly nothing…

Shen Yanzhi saw he wasn’t eating anymore and asked: “Full?”

Gu Xun shook his head and buried himself in eating fiercely, though from time to time he would steal a glance at Shen Yanzhi.

Shen Yanzhi still ate the same as before, with no efficiency, chewing every mouthful dozens of times.

Gu Xun almost suspected that God gave Shen Yanzhi such a smart brain just to make him efficient in other things so as to leave enough time for eating.

Gu Xun gradually became entranced while watching, forgetting to eat.

Abruptly, Shen Yanzhi asked: “Why do you keep looking at me?”

Gu Xun felt like he had been caught stealing candy, but he still said: “Because you look good…”

Shen Yanzhi thought he was about to start another comedy routine, so he just smiled.