Don't Be Shy

When the first ray of morning sun pierced through the slightly ajar curtains, Xie Qi Zhi frowned and woke up. He turned his head, looking at Ying Huai's sleeping face just inches away. They lay very close, but there was a clear dividing line between their two blankets.
Xie Qi Zhi stirred, smoothing out that dividing line.
He scooted closer, his fingers touching Ying Huai's thick black eyebrows, gently tracing the sharp contours.
It must tickle a bit, right? Yet he's not waking up? Xie Qi Zhi thought to himself, is he sleeping that soundly?
He fumbled to grasp Ying Huai's slender fingers, pulling them a little closer to himself.
Still not awake.
Then, he closed his eyes and rolled into Ying Huai's warm embrace, pretending to be fast asleep.
Still not awake.
A few seconds later, those clear, innocent blue eyes suddenly opened again. He rested his leg on Ying Huai's thigh, his hand tracing along the hem of his pajamas, gently slipping inside, feeling his abdominal muscles and V-line. The muscles were firm, but soft when relaxed; his physique was truly beautiful, and the touch felt great.
He couldn't help but squeeze a few more times, when his wrist was suddenly held tight by someone.
Then, Ying Huai pulled both him and his blanket over, half-pinning, half-hugging him beneath his body, and lazily said, "I told you not to move, caught you."
Xie Qi Zhi blinked nervously, but then realized Ying Huai hadn't even opened his eyes. His black hair fell across his forehead, and in the dim room, he had a dashing, unrestrained charm.
"Brother Ying Huai."
"Hmm?" Ying Huai asked him, "What are you doing?"
Xie Qi Zhi thought to himself, how can I get him to kiss me for no reason?
But out loud he asked, "Are you busy today?"
Ying Huai lazily replied, "Yes."
Xie Qi Zhi continued, "Sister Lin said she'd invite me to her house for soup tonight, are you free to come over?"
Ying Huai still didn't open his eyes, seemingly not fully awake, unable to grasp the meaning of the question. He hugged Xie Qi Zhi, who was curled up like a chicken roll, his forehead gently rubbing against the boy's soft head, and smelled a slightly salty potato chip scent.
Warm breath brushed across his cheek. Xie Qi Zhi watched his eyelids grow heavier and heavier, suspecting he was about to fall asleep again.
He struggled to pull his hand out from under the blanket, cupped Ying Huai's face, and shook him: "Don't sleep!"
Ying Huai still kept his eyes closed and said, "I can't hear you."
He clearly heard him, Xie Qi Zhi looked at him annoyed, squirming uncomfortably, but the grip around his waist gradually loosened; he had really fallen asleep.
Xie Qi Zhi crawled out of the chicken roll, spread the blanket back over Ying Huai, sat cross-legged beside him, and seriously observed him.
Then, he retaliated by ruffling the other's black hair, pinching his cheek, and then curiously poking the prominent Adam's apple on his neck.
Why is there no reaction? Xie Qi Zhi put down his bandaged hand, his gaze sweeping from his face down to his waist and abdomen. Does he only wake up if I touch him here?
Never mind, he didn't dare.
It wasn't even 7 AM yet, luckily there were no classes this morning. Xie Qi Zhi lifted the edge of the blanket and crawled back in, snuggling beside Ying Huai for another comfortable nap.
By the time Ying Huai woke up, more than two hours had passed; it was 9 AM.
A sliver of light filtered through the curtains, shining directly onto the blanket. He rubbed his eyes and turned his head, seeing Xie Qi Zhi sitting at the head of the bed playing on his phone. Seeing him awake, the boy raised an eyebrow and said, "Good morning."
He's quite well-behaved.
Ying Huai sat up and replied, "Good morning."
Xie Qi Zhi suddenly leaned in close, wrapped his arm around Ying Huai's arm, and held up his phone, saying, "Brother Ying Huai, look at this lens."
Ying Huai instinctively looked up, and with a "click," he saw his shirt wide open, and Xie Qi Zhi leaning against his shoulder, pressed close to him, his eyes curved in a smile.
That "quite well-behaved" remark was truly said too soon. A little devil had unbuttoned all his pajama buttons and even taken such a suggestive photo.
"Why take a picture?" Ying Huai propped one hand beside Xie Qi Zhi, sat up straight, and asked, "For a souvenir or to send to someone?"
Xie Qi Zhi kept tapping on the screen, not looking up, and said, "To send to my brother, saying you slept with me and won't take responsibility."
Ying Huai looked at him for a moment, seeing him with downcast eyes and a very serious expression. He asked with amusement, "When did I sleep with you? How did I sleep?"
Xie Qi Zhi put down his phone, tilted his head, and said, "I don't know, Brother Ying Huai, why don't you teach me?"
Ying Huai's face showed weariness; he was too lazy to respond to Xie Qi Zhi's nonsense. He lightly tapped the boy's forehead, intending to shoo him off the bed.
Xie Qi Zhi suddenly leaned in, his bright blue eyes sparkling, looking up as if wanting to steal a kiss.
Ying Huai recoiled slightly, and once he recoiled, he couldn't sit up anymore. Xie Qi Zhi, like a nimble cat, sat astride the area of his waist and abdomen that he had explored a few hours earlier, his palm tracing along Ying Huai's open shirt to his firm chest muscles, lightly pinching and saying, "So comfortable."
He was comfortable, but Ying Huai was certainly not. In this position, his back had no support, and a person weighing over 50kg was sitting on him, which must have been very uncomfortable.
Xie Qi Zhi blinked, he could feel Ying Huai's abdominal muscles subtly twitching, like suppressed breathing, or a lurking beast waiting.
However, Ying Huai only looked at him, his gaze fixed on Xie Qi Zhi's pure and innocent face, not looking down, not looking at his soft, warm body hidden by the pajama shirt, nor at the fair thighs pressed against his own.
"Why don't you react?" Xie Qi Zhi leaned down, shortening the distance until their eyelashes could touch in a blink, looking into those dark eyes. His long eyelashes cast a faint shadow, as if hiding impatience.
He smiled and said, "You're not sleeping now."
"Stop messing around," Ying Huai raised his hand to push away the forehead that was getting closer and closer, his voice deepening, saying indifferently, "Get off."
When he spoke without emotion, he looked very strict, but Xie Qi Zhi became less and less afraid of him, acting spoiled and saying, "I don't want to."
Ying Huai glared at him in warning. When he moved to sit up, Xie Qi Zhi slid down his thighs like he was on a slide, a somewhat amusing sensation.
He was about to ask Ying Huai if he could do it again, when his right inner thigh was suddenly touched by something. The temperature and hardness conveyed to him meant there was no mistaking it.
He looked up in surprise, at Ying Huai's emotionless, forced-calm face.
The two looked at each other for three seconds, Ying Huai was the first to look away.
Xie Qi Zhi suppressed a laugh, decided to know when to stop, obediently got up and sat to one side, watching Ying Huai pull the blanket up to cover his thighs, his expression completely normal, and began buttoning his shirt from the bottom up.
Xie Qi Zhi suddenly spoke, "I know this, it's a morning salute."
Ying Huai was silent for a moment, his buttoning motion also stopped. He turned to look at Xie Qi Zhi. His eyebrows gradually furrowed, as if wanting to hit a child but remembering the child couldn't take a beating, so he restrained himself and said nonchalantly, "You know a lot."
Xie Qi Zhi's face curved into a smile, and just as he was about to tell him not to be shy, he heard Ying Huai grit his teeth and say, "Get out."
"Yes, you take your time." Xie Qi Zhi quickly got out of bed, not even grabbing his phone, and ran out in his slippers.
Ying Huai calmed his slightly out-of-control emotions. Before entering the bathroom, he casually picked up the phone Xie Qi Zhi had left on the pillow.
The screen was still on.
He had lied about sending it to Xie Zhi Lan; the screen was paused on a photo editing app.
He had added a pair of pointed ears, whether dog or wolf, to Ying Huai in the photo, and a few kitten whiskers to himself.
"Are you done?" Xie Qi Zhi suddenly appeared, clinging to the doorframe and saying, "I'm hungry, why are you peeking at my phone?"
Ying Huai glanced at him, as if nothing had happened, locked the screen, and tossed it back.
Xie Qi Zhi decided to be magnanimous and not argue with him, asking again, "Can you finish quickly? Get up and make breakfast."
Ying Huai said, "Get out."
Xie Qi Zhi said "Oh," understood his meaning, blinked a few times, and suddenly asked, "Then will looking at my face make it faster for you?"
Ying Huai enunciated each word clearly: "Xie, Qi, Zhi."
Xie Qi Zhi hadn't heard him use his full name in a long time, and said with amusement, "Brother Ying Huai, don't be shy, is it so hard to admit you like me?"
Ying Huai looked at him: "If you don't shut up, I'll really hit you."
Xie Qi Zhi immediately became well-behaved, his small head clinging to the doorframe silently recoiled, muttering, "Always threatening me."