His palm felt the contours of Xie Huan's abs.
The tips of his ears inexplicably grew a little hot.
His mind was a little muddled, too.
Even now, Pei Tingyun still couldn't figure it out.
Did Xie Huan simply like him?
Or did he have some other purpose?
For a J type, that sort of uncertainty was sheer torture.
Pei Tingyun closed his eyes for a moment.
He buried his face in the hollow at the back of Xie Huan's neck.
Doing his best to avoid the mic clipped to his clothes, he whispered, "Xie Huan."
Xie Huan turned his head and saw only a fluffy head resting on his shoulder. "Hmm?"
Pei Tingyun said, "When we get back to our room tonight, I have something to ask you."
Xie Huan said, "What can't you ask right here?"
Pei Tingyun said, "We'll talk when we get back. Focus on driving for now. I won't let go, so use both hands. This is too dangerous."
Xie Huan smiled.
He obediently put both hands on the handlebars.
Still wearing that goofy smile, he said,
"Yep, hold on tight!"
Leaning against Xie Huan, Pei Tingyun gave a tiny nod.
Forget it.
Whatever answer I get tonight,
at least right here, right now,
Xie Huan makes me feel safe.
Still, though...
I really hope Xie Huan isn't too deeply in love!
After all, I really am straight!
Xie Huan waved at the husky they had forgotten behind them.
"Number Two, let's go!"
The ATV's engine roared.
The seascape before them began to move.
The dog bounded alongside them, barking happily.
Sea breeze, warm sunshine, sandy beach.
The corners of Pei Tingyun's mouth unconsciously lifted a little.
He slowly closed his eyes.
He savored the pure beauty of summer in that moment.
But that feeling didn't last long.
Because Pei Tingyun fell asleep against Xie Huan's back.
Insomnia had been the norm for Pei Tingyun over the past year.
And he really had been awake all last night, only managing an hour or so of sleep after daybreak.
But he had never fallen asleep at work before.
Even more astonishingly-
The ATV had already made a full circuit of the island and stopped, yet Pei Tingyun still showed no signs of waking.
He was still hugging him from behind, refusing to let go.
Since he wouldn't let go, Xie Huan didn't get off, either.
The two sat motionless on the ATV like statues.
Tang Keni wondered what sort of performance art they were doing.
So he brought Gu Lin and Yao Xuan over to watch.
Xie Huan had done a quick divination earlier and learned that Pei Tingyun hadn't slept all night.
He hadn't had the heart to wake him.
Seeing Tang Keni and the others approach, he was afraid they would disturb Pei Tingyun.
Before they could ask anything,
Xie Huan made a shushing gesture.
Then he explained in a very quiet voice,
"Shh! He's asleep! You guys carry on. Let him snooze a little longer."
Tang Keni understood.
He immediately made an OK gesture and nodded his understanding.
Then he led Yao Xuan and Gu Lin farther away again.
He went to ask the director for meat.
Yao Xuan and Gu Lin exchanged a glance-
Feels like the two of us had no business coming over!
Just as Xie Huan was feeling relieved that Pei Tingyun hadn't been disturbed,
an angry roar suddenly came from nearby.
"Are you people even human?!"
The sleeping Pei Tingyun jolted in fright.
That made Xie Huan, whom he was hugging, jolt as well.
Those two jolts
jolted Pei Tingyun awake.
Having just woken up, he was still a little dazed.
Thinking he was hugging a pillow, Pei Tingyun instinctively rubbed his face against it.
Immediately afterward,
a familiar voice with a northeastern accent sounded by his ear.
That normally rough, low voice, with its natural air of a wandering tough, actually sounded a little gentle now.
"Awake from your snooze?"
Realizing it was Xie Huan's voice,
Pei Tingyun's eyes flew open.
And then!
He discovered he was still sitting on the ATV by the sea.
And what he had his arms around wasn't a pillow at all.
It was Xie Huan's waist!
Xie Huan was still wearing a racerback tank top!!
There wasn't a scrap of fabric at the hollow of his neck!!!
Which meant what he had just rubbed against was...
Mother of mercy!
His face burning, Pei Tingyun sucked in a breath.
He was instantly wide awake.
Looking at the little crab on the beach in front of him working hard to dig a hole, he inwardly shed two streams of noodle-wide tears-
Crab bro, can I borrow your hole to crawl into?
I! Am! So! Embarrassed!
Fortunately,
he still had the facial control to remain unfazed even if a mountain collapsed before him.
Even if he was dying of embarrassment inside, he could keep anyone else from noticing.
Pei Tingyun quietly withdrew his hands and rubbed his eyes.
"Mm... I'm awake."
He played the dazed, just-woken-up state to perfection.
He was so adorable that the mom fans in the livestream melted.
[Ahh, my baby looks so cute all dazed like that! Come let Mommy hug you!]
[Baby, you're so adorable. Mommy loves you!]
[Kitty Pei looks so sweet when he's just woken up! He looks so pettable!]
[Pei Tingyun isn't a kitty. He's a leopard! Applause if you get it!]
Actually, Xie Huan also thought the freshly awakened Pei Tingyun looked a little childlike and awfully endearing.
He even thought that face of his, marinated in all those bottles and jars, looked especially soft right now.
However,
before he could reach out and see whether it felt the way he imagined,
Pei Tingyun pulled him off the ATV.
Pei Tingyun pointed toward where the angry roar had come from.
"Look! What's going on over there?"
As the saying went, Heaven never left an introvert without a way out.
When you were being an introvert, someone else was always being an extrovert.
As long as you shifted everyone's attention to whoever was being extroverted, no one would notice whether you were embarrassed.
Of course,
the one being extroverted wasn't necessarily a single person.
Or necessarily human.
For instance, right now,
amid a group of extroverts' clamor,
Pei Tingyun actually heard a pig squealing!
He pulled Xie Huan over.
And actually saw a pig!
A live one, at that!
Once he made out what those three extroverts, Tang Keni, Yao Xuan, and Gu Lin, were shouting about,
even an introvert like Pei Tingyun felt a little tempted to join the shouting match.
This really was a variety show famous for screwing over its guests!
They had promised meat tonight.
And then led over a live pig!
Which raised the question!
Who was going to slaughter it?
They certainly couldn't count on the production team.
Tang Keni, who was leading the charge, had argued himself nearly hoarse.
Yet the director showed no sign of giving in.
He had the air of a dead pig unafraid of boiling water.
"Just tell me whether it's meat."
Everyone: "..."
The final outcome was-
If they wanted meat, they had to slaughter the pig themselves.
The production team would only provide the pig and a knife.
And only for a limited time.
Once time was up, the offer expired.
Pei Tingyun, Gu Lin, Yao Xuan, and Tang Keni couldn't even manage to cook properly.
Let alone handle a more technically demanding task like slaughtering a pig.
In the very end,
they could only turn in unison toward the all-capable Xie Huan.
They blinked at him.
Xie Huan blinked right back.
Then,
Xie Huan tilted his head. "What, you want me to kill it?"
Pei Tingyun was struck by how cute that head tilt was.
The corner of his mouth lifted.
He nearly laughed aloud.
The others completely failed to appreciate Xie Huan's gap moe.
All their thoughts were on eating meat.
Seeing Xie Huan's reaction, Tang Keni's heart sank.
"No way... don't tell me you don't know how to slaughter a pig!"