Chapter 74
It was currently the afternoon, and the sun was scorching. Cheng Xuyuan purposely brought an umbrella with him. After getting on Gu Juncheng’s car, he opened the umbrella and held it high, then said to him, “Drive slower, or the umbrella will be blown away.”
“We’re all grown men, why do we need an umbrella?” Although Gu Juncheng said this, he still considerately slowed down the car, his eyes filled with a joyful smile.
Cheng Xuyuan naturally wrapped one arm around his waist and said earnestly, “The aging caused by ultraviolet rays is irreversible, and it can increase the risk of skin cancer. You better take it seriously.”
Gu Juncheng’s voice hid a hint of laughter, “Are you caring about me?”
“I guess so.” Cheng Xuyuan secretly laughed behind him, his eyes squinting into two arcs. People passing by were deeply attracted by this fleeting glimpse, “You’re already dark enough, you can’t get any darker.”
Actually, he was exaggerating a bit. Gu Juncheng would apply sunscreen from time to time, but compared to Cheng Xuyuan, he was indeed several shades darker.
Gu Juncheng "hmm"ed, then deliberately said, “My body is still very white, do you want to check?”
Upon hearing this, Cheng Xuyuan immediately pinched his waist and scolded, “Shameless rogue.”
“Ah!” Gu Juncheng was tickled and pained by the pinch, almost crashing the car into a tree next to them, “I was wrong, I was wrong…”
After they arrived at the school gate, Gu Juncheng parked his electric bike in the parking lot and then said to Cheng Xuyuan, “The shop is quite close, let’s take the bus.”
“I don’t have a bus card,” Cheng Xuyuan patted his pocket, “And I didn’t bring any cash.”
Gu Juncheng took out his own bus card and waved it in front of him, “Use mine.”
Cheng Xuyuan followed him out of the school gate and hesitated, “Isn’t it bad for me to keep taking advantage of you? Maybe I should give you some money…”
Gu Juncheng looked back at him and said softly, “I hope you take more advantage of me, in other ways too.”
Cheng Xuyuan laughed, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll use you and run away?”
“What’s there to be afraid of?” Gu Juncheng’s tone was nonchalant, “If you run away, I’ll just catch you and bring you back. Besides, this gives me a reason to keep you…”
“Damn, you’ve really thought about this, haven’t you?” Cheng Xuyuan laughed and playfully punched him in the back.
“The bus is here, come quickly.”
Gu Juncheng pulled Cheng Xuyuan’s hand and took him onto the bus. The bus was crowded, making Cheng Xuyuan very uncomfortable.
At that moment, Gu Juncheng held onto the top railing with one hand and half-hugged Cheng Xuyuan with the other, his long and strong arm encircling half of Cheng Xuyuan’s body.
Cheng Xuyuan could feel the other person’s chest pressing against his back through the fabric. He stiffened involuntarily and dared not move, allowing the other’s body heat to continuously transfer to him.
Gu Juncheng naturally brought his nose close to the back of Cheng Xuyuan’s head. He took a gentle sniff and whispered, “Your hair smells so good…”
Cheng Xuyuan rolled his eyes. The comment made him feel as if he was the female lead in a shampoo commercial, which gave him the chills.
Gu Juncheng stopped talking. The breath from his nose sprayed on the back of Cheng Xuyuan’s head. The warm and moist sensation oddly comforted him.
Gradually, his body relaxed, and he subconsciously leaned against the other’s chest.
No matter how much the carriage swayed, there was no need to worry about losing balance. This was a feeling of being protected that Cheng Xuyuan had never experienced before.
The two maintained this position until the bus arrived at the station. Gu Juncheng looked at Cheng Xuyuan’s somewhat distracted expression and suddenly said to him, “Your face is so red.”
“Huh?” Cheng Xuyuan quickly reached out to touch his face. Finding no increase in temperature, he realized he had been tricked. “You jerk, can’t you stop talking nonsense?”
In fact, there was a moment on the bus when his face did turn red.
Gu Juncheng laughed and said, “Maybe it’s too hot on the bus. When I start working, I’ll buy a car. The passenger seat will be reserved for you.”
Cheng Xuyuan retorted disdainfully, “I can drive too. You should sit in the passenger seat.”
The two “little devils” had a heated argument about “who should sit in the passenger seat”. Unconsciously, they arrived at the craft shop where the owner warmly welcomed them in.
Gu Juncheng took out the reservation number, and the owner arranged for a clerk to teach them the process of making mooncakes.
Actually, everything was already prepared, and the molds were ready. All they had to do was knead the egg yolk and flour together, following the given instructions.
The mischievous Gu Juncheng took advantage of Cheng Xuyuan’s inattention. He reached out and smeared flour on his nose, which made him glare angrily. He almost turned Gu Juncheng into a mooncake.
In the end, Gu Juncheng even took a photo with his phone. He laughed so hard that tears flew out, and he said while laughing, “Hahaha, you’re too cute…”
A clerk on the side watched the two with an ambiguous gaze. Trying to hold back a laugh, they kindly handed Cheng Xuyuan a tissue.
Cheng Xuyuan wiped his nose, which had turned a bit red from the rubbing. He glared at Gu Juncheng and said, “I’ll settle the score with you after the mooncakes are done.”
The two made more than twenty mooncakes in total. When the owner helped them pack, he reminded them that these should be eaten within a day as they could easily spoil without preservatives.
Gu Juncheng didn’t say a word. He thought to himself that if these weren’t to be shared with classmates, Cheng Xuyuan could probably finish them all in one night.
Sure enough, as soon as they left the craft shop, Cheng Xuyuan couldn’t help but take out two mooncakes. He quickly polished them off and nodded in satisfaction, saying, “The taste is not bad…”
To prevent him from eating all the mooncakes, Gu Juncheng took the initiative to suggest going for dinner first.
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After dinner, Gu Juncheng suddenly took out two movie tickets and handed them to Cheng Xuyuan. He said, “I bought tickets for a newly released art film. Shall we go watch it together?”
Cheng Xuyuan blinked and asked, “Why the sudden desire to watch a movie?”
Gu Juncheng looked into Cheng Xuyuan’s eyes. The scene of his first time going to the cinema with the Pen God flashed in his mind, stirring up a mix of emotions.
He said to Cheng Xuyuan, “Because… it’s been a long time since I watched a movie.”
“I see,” Cheng Xuyuan nodded, “Then I’ll reluctantly accompany you.”
Cheng Xuyuan thought that by “a long time”, Gu Juncheng meant several months. But in reality, ever since the Pen God left, Gu Juncheng hadn’t set foot in a cinema.
After the two entered the cinema, Gu Juncheng specifically asked, “You haven’t seen this movie before, right?”
“No, why?” Cheng Xuyuan looked at him in confusion.
“That’s good.” Gu Juncheng still remembered how he wanted to kill the Pen God for spoiling the plot.
Only after the movie started did Cheng Xuyuan realize that their tickets were for couple seats. Most of the audience were young couples. The content of the art film was refreshing. Besides love, it also contained many thought-provoking philosophies.
Both of them gradually immersed themselves in the movie.
When the film reached the scene of the car accident where the male and female leads were tragically separated, Cheng Xuyuan’s heart suddenly clenched. It felt as if he had experienced such a scene before… but he couldn’t remember anything.
Unable to resist, Cheng Xuyuan turned his head to see Gu Juncheng’s reaction, only to find that Gu was also looking at him. For a moment, as their eyes met, both of them were lost in thought.
On the big screen, the female lead’s cries were heartbreaking, moving many in the audience to tears.
Gu Juncheng didn’t know how much effort it took to hold back his own tears. If Cheng Xuyuan looked closely, he would see that his eyes were already red.
The scene in the film was just like the time when the Pen God had a car accident. Since then, he had not only cried a lot but also stopped smiling.
The movie ended in tragedy. The male lead eventually left the world, and the female lead lived alone in a small town. From then on, every person she fell in love with was him, yet none of them were him.
After the movie ended, the temperature outside the cinema dropped. The cold evening wind blew on Cheng Xuyuan’s face, making him feel inexplicably uncomfortable. He suddenly said to Gu Juncheng, “The ending of this movie… is really bad.”
Gu Juncheng casually said, “But many people have experienced such tragic separations. I find it quite realistic.”
“Yeah.” Cheng Xuyuan looked up at the starry sky, which seemed sparse under the city’s neon lights. “Apart from life and death, everything else is trivial.”
Suddenly, a striped shirt fell on Cheng Xuyuan’s shoulders. Gu Juncheng helped him put it on properly and said to the stunned Cheng Xuyuan, “It’s a bit cold. Don’t catch a cold. You are the most important thing in my life.”
The pleasant scent of the perfume on the shirt entered Cheng Xuyuan’s nose. The scent was so fitting for the current atmosphere that his breath became somewhat hot.
Cheng Xuyuan suddenly looked down at the floor and changed the subject, “What perfume did you spray? It… smells pretty good.”
“Morning After.” Gu Juncheng said the name of the perfume with a smile, “Does it smell good? It was a gift…”
Cheng Xuyuan looked up at him and asked with a frown, “What a weird name. Who gave it to you?”
Gu Juncheng didn’t expect Cheng Xuyuan to ask this question. He was taken aback and answered, “Just… a friend…”
“A gift after what?” Cheng Xuyuan was relentless.
Gu Juncheng heard the jealousy in his tone and realized that he was jealous. So he said with a smirk, “What do you think?”
Cheng Xuyuan turned around and walked away.
“Hey, hey, hey, I was wrong, I was wrong…”
Gu Juncheng caught up with him.
Cheng Xuyuan didn’t say a word.
“It’s just a normal birthday gift.”
Cheng Xuyuan still ignored him.
“And the friend is a straight man.”
Cheng Xuyuan glanced back at him, his tone somewhat softened, “It’s none of my business. Let’s go back to school.”
He clearly cared a lot… Gu Juncheng held back his laughter and said, “The school is already locked.”
Cheng Xuyuan suddenly looked at him and said in surprise, “Is it already that late…?”
Gu Juncheng laughed like a big bad wolf. He wouldn’t tell him that he deliberately bought tickets for a late-night movie so that they would have an excuse not to return to school after it ended.
“Then we should hurry and take a bus back. Even if the auntie takes our names, at least we can go back…”
“No need for that.” Gu Juncheng blinked, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, “I rent a house near the school. I usually stay there on weekends and holidays, and I will also stay there during my internship.”
Cheng Xuyuan looked at him, his mouth twitched, “You, you wouldn’t be thinking…”
“Yes.” Gu Juncheng lowered his head, leaned close to his ear, and said with a magnetic voice full of temptation, “Would you do me the honor of staying over at my place, my dear junior?”
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