Chapter 53: The Little Corner

The phone’s alarm suddenly rang out, sharp and urgent. Lu Zhiyan violently sprang up from the bed, his heart beating wildly non-stop, as if about to smash through his chest. He looked around and saw the familiar room layout. He couldn’t help but forcefully let out a sigh of relief. His back was already soaked with cold sweat, and his pajamas clung to his body.

During breakfast, Li Mei saw his pale face and the dark circles under his eyes. She asked worriedly:

“Son, getting up so early today, did you not sleep well last night?”

“Yeah, Yanyan, your complexion is so poor, are you feeling unwell?”

Lu Zhiyuan also asked with a face full of worry.

“It’s nothing, Mom and Dad. Come, I’ll peel an egg for you.”

Lu Zhiyan quickly changed the subject, peeling an egg for each of his parents. Under their slightly worried gazes, he hurriedly scarfed down the porridge in his bowl, stuffed two meat buns into his mouth, grabbed his backpack, and rushed toward the library. His footsteps were urgent, wishing he could fly to Shen Yu’s side immediately.

After getting off the bus, Lu Zhiyan saw Shen Yu waiting for him at the library entrance from afar, wearing that familiar gray down jacket. The morning light fell on his body, plating a layer of golden edge, impossibly gentle.

Lu Zhiyan’s nose turned sour. He ran over quickly, pulled the person to a shady spot under the trees where no one noticed, and violently hugged him. The force was so great it was as if he wanted to knead the person into his bones and blood.

Shen Yu was stunned for a moment, raising his hand to gently pat his back:

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just wanted to hug you.”

Lu Zhiyan buried his face into the crook of his neck, greedily breathing in the scent of his body. It was a good while before that heart, which had been hanging all night, felt slightly grounded.

Shen Yu subconsciously tightened his body, vigilantly sweeping a glance around. Not far away at the library entrance, people were coming and going. He hurriedly raised his hand to gently pat Lu Zhiyan’s back, his voice pressed extremely low, carrying a bit of panic:

“A’Yan…”

Lu Zhiyan, however, paid no attention, his hugging force tightening even more. His voice was muffled, carrying a bit of a nasal tone:

“A’Yu, I miss you. Haven’t seen you for one night, I really miss you so much.”

Warm breath sprayed onto the sensitive side of his neck. The tips of Shen Yu’s ears instantly flushed red. He gently pushed him away a little, but his other hand grasped his wrist, saying in a low voice:

“Be good, let’s talk after we go in. There are many people here, don’t let anyone see.”

Lu Zhiyan curled his lips, quickly raised his hand to push Shen Yu’s shoulder, and retorted in a low voice, “Be good your sister!”

He then glared at that person’s smiling eyes before turning around and walking forward without looking back. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] His eye sockets, however, faintly rippled with a layer of thin red where that person couldn’t see.

Entering the library, the two headed straight for the secluded window seats at the innermost part of the third floor. This area faced the back garden and few people came here. There were only a few scattered students burying their heads in hard study; even the sound of flipping pages was as light as a sigh.

Lu Zhiyan placed his backpack down, dug out the thick professional textbooks from inside, as well as a canned hot mocha, stuffing them into Shen Yu’s hands. He himself leaned closer, the tip of his nose almost brushing against his auricle, and said breathily:

“A’Yu, you look really good today, good-looking everywhere, want to kiss.”

Warm breath brushed past his auricle, carrying a faint mint scent.

Shen Yu’s fingertips trembled. The mocha he had just opened almost spilled. The motion of flipping the book paused, the tips of his ears red enough to drip blood. His voice was pressed extremely low:

“Stop fooling around, hurry up and read your book.”

Lu Zhiyan, however, wasn’t well-behaved. Propping his elbow on the desk, he turned his head and stared at him unblinking. His gaze was sticky and scorching hot, like carrying a hook. It swept from his brows and eyes to his lips, and then landed on his fingers holding the pen. He just couldn’t get enough no matter how much he looked.

Shen Yu felt completely uncomfortable being stared at by him, his back tense. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] After enduring for a long time, truly unable to bear it, he used the book to shield his face and leaned closer. The two’s foreheads almost touched, their breaths intertwining. He asked in a low voice:

“Looked enough yet?”

Lu Zhiyan curved the corners of his lips, a sly light flashing deep in his eyes. Taking advantage of the gap when the student diagonally opposite lowered his head to flip a page, he quickly reached out. His fingertips gently touched the reddened tips of his ears, like touching a fragile treasure, and then quickly withdrew. He smiled with curved brows and eyes:

“No. Tell me, how can you be so good-looking? Good-looking no matter how I look, liking you more the more I look.”

Shen Yu’s cheeks instantly burned up, red from the tips of his ears to his neck. He gave him a light glance, his voice softening even more:

“Hurry up and read your book.”

Lu Zhiyan obediently agreed, yet his gaze uncontrollably remained glued to him. His heart was both sour and sweet, churning violently.

He currently very, very much cherished every minute and every second he was together with Shen Yu, cherishing it to the point of panic. He didn’t even dare to think deeply, not knowing whether this one extra look would be the last…

About two hours passed. Lu Zhiyan closed the thick professional book, propped his chin, and let out a long sigh, deliberately dragging out his tone:

“A’Yu, I’m tired, my eyes are sore, want to rest for a bit.”

Shen Yu raised his eyes to look at him, a gentle smile in the depths of his eyes. He reached out to massage his temples for him, his movements gentle:

“Then close your eyes and rest your mind for ten minutes?”

“Don’t want to,” Lu Zhiyan shook his head and blinked at him, his eyes full of hints. He pursed his lips toward the direction behind the bookshelf, “I want to stay with you for a while, just a while.” He stood up, his footsteps kept extremely light, gesturing for Shen Yu to follow him.

Shen Yu hesitated for a moment. Seeing that no one around was paying attention, he ultimately got up and followed. The two sneaked into that little corner that had once left behind the palpitations of their youth with light hands and feet.

This area was blocked by tall bookshelves. The light was slightly dim, forming a secret world of its own, isolating the outside world.

As soon as they stood still, Lu Zhiyan reached out and circled Shen Yu’s waist, pressing the person against the tall bookshelf. His nose rubbed against the crook of Shen Yu’s neck. His voice was low and soft, carrying a bit of slight urgency:

“No one will see us here.”

Shen Yu’s heartbeat abruptly sped up like beating drums. He raised a hand to press against his chest, yet didn’t really push him away. His fingertips trembled slightly. His voice carried a bit of panic, and an imperceptible indulgence:

“Stop fooling around, what if someone comes over to get a book…”

Before he finished speaking, his lips were blocked by Lu Zhiyan suddenly leaning close.

The kiss was very light, carrying cautious probing. Lu Zhiyan’s soft and warm lips gently rubbed against his, like a butterfly skimming water, carrying the fresh scent of mint.

Shen Yu stiffened for a moment, then slightly relaxed. He raised his hand to caress his waist, slightly lowered his head, and responded to this secret and gentle kiss. Just like what they had once done here during high school, indulgently satisfying the unsuppressible palpitations of the person in his embrace.

There was no intense entanglement, only the warmth of lips pressing together. As their breaths intertwined, ambiguity quietly spread. Even the air became sticky, carrying a faint scholarly atmosphere, exceptionally touching.

Lu Zhiyan slowly deepened the kiss, the tip of his tongue gently licking past the seam of his lips. Shen Yu parted his lips slightly, allowing him to explore inside. His fingertips tightly gripped his clothes, the force gradually tightening, kneading the fabric into wrinkles.

The two’s breathing grew heavier and heavier. The sound of heartbeats was exceptionally clear in the quiet corner, intertwining together. It wasn’t until footsteps and voices came from not far away, getting closer and closer, that the two violently separated. Their gazes tangled, panting heavily, the depths of their eyes both carrying un-dissipated lingering affection and panic.

The tips of Shen Yu’s ears were completely red, his cheeks burning hot, yet he couldn’t bear to be fierce to him:

“Stop fooling around.”

Lu Zhiyan, however, smiled and quickly gave a light peck to the corner of his lips, then swiftly pulled back some distance. Staring at him with a burning gaze, his voice was low and hoarse:

“Who told you to be so lovable, I couldn’t hold back.”

Shen Yu, caught off guard by this sudden kiss, instantly felt the tips of his ears flush red. A helpless yet indulgent low chuckle rolled out from his throat. He reached out to gently touch his cheek, lowering his voice to coax:

“Stop fooling around, this is the library, it won’t be good if someone sees. Weren’t you going to preview? Focus a bit.”

Pausing for a moment, he then asked with some worry:

“A’Yan, am I affecting you by being here?”

He was truly afraid that his presence here would instead disrupt Lu Zhiyan’s studying.

Lu Zhiyan refused to buy it. Leaning his body slightly toward him, his nose almost brushing against his, their breaths tangling together, his voice low and teasing:

“I can only study with you here. You don’t affect me, instead you make me feel more at ease.”

As he spoke, his fingertips even deliberately hooked gently onto Shen Yu’s finger. His gaze stickily entangled on his face, clearly refusing to behave.

Shen Yu’s heartbeat lost half a beat from his teasing, feeling both angry and amused. Yet he couldn’t steel his heart to be fierce to him in the slightest, only able to allow him to make a fuss, continuing to coax in a low voice:

“Alright, stop fooling around.”

But his tone was entirely overflowing with gentleness; even his refusal sounded like indulgence.

Lu Zhiyan looked at the reddened tips of his ears, letting out a low chuckle, his breath even lighter:

“Hey, A’Yu, do you still remember? Back in high school, this was where we secretly kissed. At that time, you were nervous to death. The moment I moved, you would freeze. Once, we were almost caught by a passing classmate. We were so panicked we violently raised our heads, our teeth clashing together.”

He paused, his voice pressed softer, carrying a smile:

“That sharp pain… hurt so much we both covered our mouths, yet didn’t dare to make a sound to cry out in pain. We could only stare blankly at each other. Finally, we really couldn’t hold it in anymore and lowered our heads to secretly laugh here, laughing until our shoulders shook.”

Shen Yu froze for a moment. Those green yet scalding hot memories instantly surged up. The roots of his ears grew redder, yet the depths of his eyes softened into an absolute mess. He responded softly:

“I remember.”

Seeing this appearance of his, Lu Zhiyan’s heart felt sour and painful. He couldn’t resist leaning closer, gently rubbing against the corner of his lips. Only then was he finally satisfied, a gentle smile rippling in his eyes:

“Okay, I won’t fool around with you anymore. Let’s go, I’m hungry, let’s go eat something.”

The two went downstairs with light hands and feet, walked out of the library, and entered that time-honored noodle shop they often visited when they were little. Only after quietly finishing two bowls of hot, hand-rolled noodles did they return together.

Returning to their seats this time, Lu Zhiyan seemed to have truly focused his mind. He quietly buried his head in his books, his fingertips holding the pen, his brows slightly knitted, his expression focused and earnest. Even his breathing was light and slow, no longer having that clingy and teasing appearance from just now.

The afternoon sunlight fell on his drooping eyelashes, casting shallow shadows. The lines of his side profile were clean and neat, having shed the greenness of his youth and gained a few fractions of the clear, upright handsomeness unique to a twenty-year-old young man.

Shen Yu sat beside him, yet his gaze uncontrollably drifted over, landing on Lu Zhiyan’s earnest side profile, unable to move away for a long time.

Watching him gently purse his lips, watching his pen tip scratch across the paper leaving neat handwriting, watching him slightly tilt his head when occasionally pondering, his heartbeat lost its rhythm bit by bit.

The intimacy in the corner just now, the soft and light touch remaining on his lips, that person’s smiling reminiscence—all repeatedly spun around in his mind.

It was clearly Lu Zhiyan who had been teasing him all along, but now that things had quieted down, Shen Yu realized that the person whose pace had been disrupted had long since become himself.

He was afraid of being noticed by Lu Zhiyan, only daring to pretend to read his book. Yet his line of sight quietly shifted over time and time again, so gentle it almost overflowed with water.

It wasn’t until Lu Zhiyan’s pen tip suddenly paused and he subconsciously turned his head to look at him that Shen Yu hurriedly withdrew his gaze, pretending to lower his head and stare at the page, yet the tips of his ears uncontrollably flushed red bit by bit.

Immediately following that, he felt Lu Zhiyan’s calf gently move closer, quietly pressing against his. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] A warm body temperature slowly transmitted through the fabric, quiet and ambiguous, making even Shen Yu’s breathing unconsciously lighten by a few fractions.

Neither of them spoke again, but the ambiguity in the air was thicker than before, tangling and wrapping around each other, so thick it couldn’t be dispersed.

It wasn’t until the closing bell rang softly in the evening, crisply piercing the tranquility of the library, that the two slowly got up, packed the books on the desk into their backpacks, and went downstairs side-by-side to leave together.

As soon as they stepped out of the library’s main entrance, Lu Zhiyan gripped Shen Yu’s wrist, leading the person with brisk steps toward a nearby homestyle restaurant. Shen Yu allowed him to lead him. An indulgent and gentle smile rippled in the depths of his eyes, his gaze always resting on his back figure.

Being looked at by that gaze, Lu Zhiyan’s heart rippled with a burst of fine, dense softness. He turned back, slightly raised his chin, and said with a smile:

“A’Yu, I asked around earlier. There’s a restaurant nearby whose stir-fried beef is super fragrant, the sweet and sour pork tenderloin is also famous, and there’s the steamed sea bass you love eating, the tomato and egg soup is also fresh. Today I’m going to take you to eat your fill.”

The gaze Shen Yu cast was soft, and he said in a low voice:

“Actually, there’s no need to go through so much trouble, eating something casual is fine.”

“Not trouble,” Lu Zhiyan smiled and looked at him. His eyes were sparkling bright, as if brimming with fine, fragmented starlight, “I just want to take you to eat delicious food.”