Chapter 15

Huo Zhixing knew that he and Huo Jiao weren’t related by blood, but they must have formed some kind of telepathic bond anyway, because the question she asked was something he had wanted to know the answer to as well.

“And what did you say?” Huo Zhixing mirrored Huo Jiao’s pose and propped his chin in his hand as he grinned at Tong Qiu.

Tong Qiu felt as if he had fallen into a trap set up by the two siblings. What’s more, their parents were here too so what was he supposed to say?

“What do you think?” Tong Qiu cleverly tossed the question back at Huo Zhixing. He tilted his head, eyes bright with amusement as he gazed at Huo Zhixing.

“Then it must be love.” Huo Zhixing picked up the cup in front of Tong Qiu and drank a sip of water, then turned to his mother. “Mom, is there still anything left to eat? We were busy the whole night and I’m starving.”

Huo Zhixing went off to eat, leaving Huo Jiao and Tong Qiu to continue their heart-to-heart.

Huo Jiao cast a glance at her father, who was on the balcony tending to his plants, then asked in a low voice. “Saozi, did you and my brother really get divorced? Or are you just playing around?”

Even though Tong Qiu was a firm believer of science, there were occasional moments where he was still swayed by superstition. Discussing the topic of divorce on a wedding day was inauspicious, so he waved a hand and said, “We’ll talk about it another time.”

After Huo Zhixing finished eating, he and the others were herded like sheep by Mrs. Huo and told to shower and get ready for bed. After all, they would have to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to get ready.

As usual, Tong Qiu and Huo Zhixing stayed in the bedroom that had belonged to Huo Zhixing before he had gotten married. The room wasn’t particularly big and had a small double bed. Once Tong Qiu had finished washing up, he stepped inside the room and found Huo Zhixing standing before the desk, flipping through a photo album.

Tong Qiu shut the door and padded over. Huo Zhixing smiled, “Look, this was Jiao-Jiao when she was little. She even said that she was going to get married to gege, but in the end…”

“In the end, you found a man to marry.” Tong Qiu smiled as he stood next to Huo Zhixing and they looked at the photographs together.

Huo Jiao was adopted by the Huo family when she was three years old. Her parents had passed away in an accident and none of her relatives had taken her in, so she had been sent off to an orphanage. At the time, Mrs. Huo had really wanted a daughter, but she hadn’t been young when she had given birth to Huo Zhixing. It was possible she wouldn’t be able to conceive a second time, plus there was a higher risk, so they had ended up adopting another child.

Huo Zhixing told Tong Qiu that when Huo Jiao first arrived, she had been terrified of everything. Every day, she would cling onto their mother and cry. And because his mother had a soft spot for Huo Jiao, she would take the little girl with her wherever she went.

“Time really flies. That little girl is about to be a married woman soon.”

They stood at the desk and flipped through the entire photo album, looking at pictures of Huo Jiao through the years. Naturally, they also came across photos of Huo Zhixing.

“You really were a chubby kid.” Tong Qiu suppressed a smile and pointed to a photo of Huo Zhixing in his middle school uniform. “Look at that little tummy.”

“It’s hardly a ‘little’ tummy,” Huo Zhixing replied, “it’s obviously a big tummy.”

Tong Qiu let out a laugh at his mention of a ‘big’ tummy. “But you don’t have one anymore. Your abs are pretty sexy now.”

For some strange reason, he was overcome by a wave of embarrassment as soon as the words left his mouth. Afraid that Huo Zhixing would think he was acting like a flirt, he quickly walked over to the bed to sleep.

However, the very thought of sleep made him feel awkward again.

Were they really going to sleep together?

Huo Zhixing turned around after closing the photobook and was first to sit down on the bed.

“Are you shy?” Huo Zhixing tilted his head and asked Tong Qiu, who continued to stand there, motionless. “If you’re embarrassed then I’ll sleep on the floor, don’t worry about it.”

“What are you talking about, that’s not necessary.” Even if the thought had crossed his mind, Tong Qiu couldn’t possibly let Huo Zhixing sleep on the floor, despite the fact that Huo Zhixing was the one to suggest it. “Hurry up and sleep, we only have a few hours left.”

Too embarrassed to make eye-contact with Huo Zhixing, Tong Qiu bent and pulled aside the covers, then quickly climbed in.

Huo Zhixing sat on the other side and forced down the smile tugging at the corner of his lips. It was a while before he could force himself to stop looking so pleased and rein in his wolf-like expression.

He stood, turned off the lights, and climbed into bed.

When they were still married, they had slept in the same bed but had separate bed covers. Today, however, they had to share a single set of covers. The bed wasn’t large to begin with and the covers were what they were, so their bodies were bound to touch, even if they tried their best to be careful.

Even before their divorce, it had been a long time since they last did the deed. And over the two months after their divorce, aside from that time Huo Zhixing had kissed him on the forehead, Tong Qiu hadn’t so much as touched another man ever since.

At this moment, every accidental touch between their bodies felt like an electrical current running through him. Tong Qiu didn’t feel sleepy at all.

He thought about what Chu Yao had said, about how she predicted that he would be casted in a ‘bed scene’ this weekend.

As it turned out, her prediction had been spot on, but the current bed scene he was experiencing and those sort of bed scenes were a little different – this one was infinitely more unbearable.

Tong Qiu couldn’t drift off at all, and was afraid to toss and turn in case he accidentally gave away the fact that he had gotten hard already. He honestly never thought there’d be a day when he’d have this sort of reaction while sleeping in the same bed as his ex-husband. He asked himself, ‘If Huo Zhixing were to press you down right now and do it, would you let him?’

Tong Qiu was lost in his inner turmoil for a while, but there was no indication that the person sleeping had any intention of pressing him down.

All that inner turmoil gone to waste.

Using what little light that was available in the dimness, he stole a peek at Huo Zhixing and discovered that the man really was acting like an upright gentleman. There was not a single sign that he was feeling restless.

Tong Qiu couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed. How could Huo Zhixing sleep in the same bed, under the same set of covers and not feel any urge to do anything to him? Was there something wrong with his own sex appeal or had Huo Zhixing’s sexual desires simply faded?

He felt rather pitiful and at the same time, he felt that Huo Zhixing was rather pitiful too.

He lay there, feeling lonely and miserable and sorry for himself until he eventually started to get sleepy. But just as he was about to drift off, Huo Zhixing suddenly rolled over and pulled him into his arms.

Tong Qiu woke with a start – his eyes widened and his heart pounded like the beat of a drum. His entire body tensed and he thought unconsciously, ‘Holy shit, it’s happening!’.

Though he was loath to admit it, Tong Qiu’s body was honestly looking forward to the so-called ‘bed scene’. The desire that he had forced down was reignited the moment Huo Zhixing wrapped his arms around him.

Tong Qiu felt as if the very soles of his feet were crying out, ‘Let’s go! Give me all you’ve got!’ but he was afraid of showing so much excitement – it would make him seem all the more ridiculous.

He lay with his back to Huo Zhixing and all his attention was trained on the parts where they were touching. He felt Huo Zhixing press a kiss on the back of his neck and it was as if he had been electrocuted – the doors to all of his emotions, his desires and his senses were blown wide open.

Huo Zhixing murmured, “Can we?”

Huo Zhixing’s voice was very low, and the enticing huskiness of his tone was enough for Tong Qiu’s soul to fly right out of his open mouth. He could feel the physical changes in Huo Zhixing’s body too but…should they really do it?

Was it appropriate?

Tong Qiu was at a loss.

This was his ex-husband, not some random hookup he found for a one-night stand.

Tong Qiu desperately wanted to get laid and do it to his heart’s content, but on the other hand, this was just supposed to be an act they were putting on for Huo Zhixing’s parents. If they really were to do it, then the already-blurred lines between them would become indistinguishable.

Moreover, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t had a taste of Huo Zhixing’s ‘skills’ before. So what the hell was he even looking forward to?

Tong Qiu remained silent for a long time and didn’t respond.

Huo Zhixing didn’t ask again and simply held him in his arms. Eventually Huo Zhixing’s breaths evened and Tong Qiu realized he had fallen asleep.

Tong Qiu wouldn’t call tonight’s events ‘pleasant’ but it wasn’t unpleasant either. In his mind, there was still a clear line between them. As they say, hook up with strangers and not with people you know – the price you pay when you have a one night stand with someone close to you is a lot different than with someone you never have to see again.

Huo Zhixing had only taken a single step forward, but Tong Qiu couldn’t help but be afraid. Although the fear had quieted his heart, his body hadn’t been affected and was still on edge. Not only was he at his wit’s end, but he also felt a little angry and a bit regretful.

It was the dead of night so no one knew just how many times that the burning fire of Tong-laoshi’s rage clashed against the wild flames of his desire. He did fall asleep in the end, but it was mostly because spirit had completely exhausted itself.

—

Throughout the night, Tong Qiu had felt half-dead from his tangled thoughts and when he opened his eyes the next morning, he wasn’t faring any better.

He and Huo Zhixing had become so entangled under the bed covers that they were basically one person. They were like tree branches or vines and one could argue that the way they had slept was ‘touching’ and their embrace was just as tight.

They were pressed together from top to bottom, from the hair on their heads to their very toes. And the part of their bodies that was always earliest to wake was already saluting each other.

Tong Qiu lay still for a long time and realized that Huo Zhixing wasn’t awake yet. He didn’t know if he should get up first or continue pretending that he was asleep.

It was too awkward to get up so he may as well keep up the pretense.

And so, on this fine spring morning, Tong-laoshi found himself wrapped in his ex-husband’s warm embrace, feigning sleep while sinful thoughts ran through his mind. While thinking about the size and shape of a certain shaft belonging to his ex-husband’s, he couldn’t help but reprimand himself. He clearly hadn’t known what was good for him and had missed out on a golden opportunity the night before.

The truth was, Tong Qiu was fairly fond of that part of Huo Zhixing. It was a shame that Huo Zhixing wasn’t able to wield this ‘mighty weapon’ properly – a true waste of a god-given gift.

In the end, the two of them were woken up by Mrs. Huo knocking on their door. She told them to get up and start getting ready, and that Huo Jiao had already left to get her make-up done.

Huo Zhixing stared a little blankly when he opened his eyes, then immediately apologized to Tong Qiu. Tong Qiu didn’t know if he was apologizing for what had happened last night, or for something else.

Tong Qiu had been awake for a while and had already come to terms with it so he said ‘magnanimously’, “No worries. If we’re apologizing, then I should be saying sorry to you too.”

Their eyes met and it was as if they had come to a tacit understanding.

Despite their apologies, Huo Zhixing and Tong Qiu hadn’t let go of each other and were still tangled up in each other’s arms. They didn’t look sorry at all about their current positions.

Tong Qiu mulled over his thoughts and realized that even when they had been a couple, they had rarely been this intimate when they slept.

“What’s up? Did you sleep well last night?” Huo Zhixing asked.

Tong Qiu thought to himself: ‘Bro, what do you think? You try sleeping with something poking you from behind the whole night!’

“Pretty good.” Tong Qiu was an expert at saying the opposite of what was on his mind. “And it was surprisingly warm.”

Huo Zhixing gazed at him, then flashed a meaningful smile before letting Tong Qiu go and climbing out of bed.

As soon as Huo Zhixing was gone, Tong Qiu felt as if the covers were a little emptier and they weren’t quite as warm as before – it felt lacking, to be perfectly honest.

He finally realized that there was some truth to what Chu Yao had said about him. From morning ‘til night, he pretend to be all demure and reserved but in reality, he was just a poor, deprived soul. Otherwise, why did the mere sight of his ex-husband’s ass make him feel the urge to cop a feel?

He was so deprived that he had gone insane.

Tong Qiu desperately wished he could go back in time. It didn’t even have to be too far in the past; he just wanted time to turn back to last night. He didn’t want to be all proper, and to hell with acting aloof and indifferent – all he wanted was to do the deed and be done with it.

—

The author has something to say:

Tong Qiu: I hate myself.