Ye Chu knew he couldn't hold his liquor, so he set his glass down after just one sip. That alone was enough to leave him fuzzy-headed for a while.
He looked at Pei Yanchuan's hair and asked softly, "Has Xiao Pei's hair gotten longer?"
Su Fengzi turned to look at Pei Yanchuan and nodded. "It has. His hair grows pretty fast. Before long, it might be as long as mine."
Pei Yanchuan reached up to touch his hair. It had been a while since he was dragged into this game, and without his noticing, his hair had grown down over the back of his neck.
"I want a new hairstyle," Pei Yanchuan said, tugging at his hair.
Su Fengzi teased him with a smile. "Giving up the Wolf Cut? Is our rebellious teenager going to behave now?"
"I've always been well-behaved."
"Bullshit."
Pei Yanchuan rolled his eyes. "But I really don't want to keep growing it out. I can't be bothered to look after it. Any longer and I'll look homeless."
Wu You took another sip of her drink. "So are you cutting it short?"
"I'm thinking about it. What do you think, Ye Chu? Do I look better with long hair or short hair?"
The alcohol had left Ye Chu's cheeks faintly flushed and slowed his reactions. It took him two seconds to respond after hearing his name. "Huh?"
The other four: "..."
After a few seconds of silence, Wu You said, "Unless I'm remembering wrong, Ye Chu's only had two sips?"
Su Fengzi nodded beside her. "Yes, you remember correctly."
Wu You glanced at Ye Chu's glass. "Oh, he drank the wrong thing. He had the liquor. But it was still only two glasses..."
He had started drinking at eight in the evening and started getting drunk at five past eight.
This didn't even qualify as the legendary one-glass knockout. Ye Chu was already drunk after just two sips.
It took Ye Chu almost ten seconds to finally process what Pei Yanchuan had asked. "Oh, I think..."
Pei Yanchuan watched him expectantly, while everyone else waited for him to finish.
"I think... you'd look good even if you were bald."
"Pfft-" Su Fengzi nearly sprayed out the alcohol in his mouth. He hurriedly covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
Pei Yanchuan wrinkled his nose. "Ah... but I don't like being bald. I prefer having hair."
Perhaps because of the alcohol, a watery haze veiled Ye Chu's beautiful eyes, making them look even softer.
"Then I think..." Halfway through, Ye Chu suddenly stopped and frowned, lost in some unknown thought.
"You think what?"
Drunk Ye Chu was a rare sight. Dazed and daft as a little kid, he had none of his usual composure or cleverness. Anyone who saw him would want to tease him a little.
"I think..." Ye Chu pictured Pei Yanchuan with short hair, then compared it with how he looked now before answering with certainty. "Shorter looks better. Like it was at the beginning."
"Why?" Su Fengzi watched Ye Chu with a teasing expression, then glanced at Pei Yanchuan beside him, whose eyes were brimming with anticipation. He was thoroughly enjoying the show.
"Because... it looks good." Ye Chu's lips curved into a smile, sweet and soft, and Pei Yanchuan felt something strike him right in the heart.
"Oh, my, oh, my..." Wu You quickly covered her eyes, as though she couldn't bear to watch.
Lu Rui laughed too. "Xiao Pei, why don't you take Star upstairs to rest?"
At that, Pei Yanchuan immediately stood and took Ye Chu's hand to lead him upstairs. But when he tugged, Ye Chu didn't budge. He looked back to find him staring intently at the glass in front of him.
"I can't go with you. I'm having a victory feast. I still have to drink..."
"You're already drunk. You can't have any more," Lu Rui coaxed him, amused.
Ye Chu shook his head like a rattle. "No, I'm not drunk."
Sure enough, drunk people never admitted they were drunk.
"I can still recite the periodic table. I can still write formulas. If that's not enough, I can also..." Ye Chu paused, trying to think of what else he could do. "I can walk in a straight line!"
Well, that settled it. Everyone was even more certain he was drunk now. Who recited the periodic table to prove they were sober?
"Come on, Ye Chu. Let's go upstairs to bed."
Pei Yanchuan crouched beside his chair and waited patiently.
"Upstairs to bed? But it's only eight..." Ye Chu pointed at the clock to prove he was right.
"Right, it's eight. But we just finished a game today, so we're already exhausted."
"Oh, right. I'm exhausted..." Ye Chu yawned as he spoke, then stood and took Pei Yanchuan's hand. "Come on. Let's go upstairs to bed."
Holding Pei Yanchuan's hand, Ye Chu walked forward with his arm and leg on the same side moving together. It was hard to reconcile him with the person who had killed monsters without batting an eye earlier that day.
Pei Yanchuan escorted Ye Chu to his room. Beyond the door was Ye Chu's private space, and Pei Yanchuan wouldn't barge in without his permission.
When Pei Yanchuan stopped, Ye Chu stopped too. He stood outside his bedroom without going in, simply staying there.
"Ye Chu, this is your room. You can go in now," Pei Yanchuan reminded him.
Ye Chu still didn't move.
"Ye Chu?"
As though he had finally registered the words, Ye Chu let go of Pei Yanchuan's hand and crouched down beside the door, burying his face in his arms. "I don't want to go in," he said, his voice muffled.
Pei Yanchuan crouched too and tried to pull Ye Chu's arms away. After several unsuccessful attempts, he could only ask as though speaking to a child, "Why don't you want to go in?"
Ye Chu peeked out over his arms. "It hurts..."
"What hurts?"
Ye Chu blinked, his long lashes trembling. Looking bewildered, he shook his head. "I don't know."
Pei Yanchuan watched him with some amusement. "Does your head hurt, or is it somewhere else?" He knew injuries from the game didn't carry over, so he wasn't particularly worried.
As he spoke, he tried to pull Ye Chu up from the floor. "Get up first. Let me see where you bumped yourself."
Unable to think of an answer, Ye Chu suddenly grew angry. He didn't know what he was angry about, either. He was simply angry. He flung Pei Yanchuan's hand away.
"It hurts!"
"Okay, okay, it hurts."
Pei Yanchuan immediately let go. "I won't touch you. I won't."
Still crouched on the floor, Ye Chu stared up at Pei Yanchuan with wide, catlike eyes.
Pei Yanchuan conceded defeat and crouched in front of him again. "Big brother, what will it take to get you inside and into bed?"
"Stay with me!"
Pei Yanchuan: "...?!!"
Ye Chu stood, grabbed Pei Yanchuan's arm, and pulled him into his room, still muttering, "Stay with me, stay with me."
Pei Yanchuan followed, his mind still a little blank. Just like that... I'm in someone else's room?
Right in front of Pei Yanchuan, Ye Chu took off his shirt, revealing his lean waist.
Pei Yanchuan swallowed unconsciously, even stumbling over his words. "Y-you... why are you taking your clothes off?"
"I'm hot." Ye Chu flopped onto the bed and burrowed under the covers without another word.
Thinking he had fallen asleep, Pei Yanchuan tried to tiptoe out of the room. The person on the bed abruptly sat up. "Don't leave!"
Pei Yanchuan stopped at once.
"You!" Ye Chu pointed at him. "Get in bed!"
Pei Yanchuan: "!!"
Before you continue