The instant Pei Tingyun saw the single bed, his first reaction was that he had been set up again.
He turned to ask the producer following them, "Do all the rooms have single beds?"
The producer nodded. "They all have single beds."
With that confirmed, Pei Tingyun felt a little better, but not much.
Because the other groups' dynamics weren't nearly as complicated.
If they really were just bros, squeezing into one bed would be no big deal.
But the problem was, Xie Huan didn't want to be his bro!
Sharing a bed with Xie Huan would be inviting the wolf right into his room!
Pei Tingyun was still debating whether to sleep on the floor tonight.
Xie Huan had already opened the hiking backpack he had carried all the way here and started tidying the room.
Only then did Pei Tingyun finally understand why Xie Huan had brought such a huge bag of things.
The disposable four-piece bedding set was for making the bed.
The alcohol wipes were for cleaning the room.
He had even brought Pei Tingyun's pajamas.
Skincare products, a razor, a bath towel, face towels...
Xie Huan pulled a whole assortment of odds and ends from his backpack, all things Pei Tingyun regularly used.
The only things in the backpack that belonged to Xie Huan were a bar of soap and a first-aid kit.
Something occurred to Pei Tingyun, and he couldn't help asking:
"Don't tell me you already knew we'd be staying out overnight when you packed this morning?"
Xie Huan didn't deny it, nodding as he made the bed. "Yep."
But he couldn't tell the truth.
Because before he left the mountain, his master had repeatedly reminded him that he couldn't let anyone know he could divine the future.
However close he and Pei Tingyun were, Pei Tingyun was still a person.
As far as he understood it, as long as the other party was a person, he couldn't say he had divined it.
So Xie Huan embarked on his grand mission of bluffing again.
He said, "Instinct! All instinct! Well? Pretty spot-on instincts I've got, huh?"
Pei Tingyun: "..."
He had figured it out.
Every time Xie Huan accurately predicted something, he did this.
He flat-out refused to say how he knew and just kept fishing for praise.
Pei Tingyun was quite curious, but since Xie Huan didn't want to say, he naturally wouldn't embarrass him by digging for answers on the livestream.
So he went along with him and praised him. "Spot-on. You're seriously amazing!"
Pleased by the praise, Xie Huan spotted the room's private bathroom and shooed Pei Tingyun off to wash his face.
He kept making the bed, his own face still smeared.
After making the bed, he tackled cleaning the room with fighting spirit.
Pei Tingyun wanted to help after washing his face, but Xie Huan turned him down.
Xie Huan said, "Aw, c'mon, you're a clean freak. What're you getting mixed up in this for? That spot's clean. Go over there and put on all that stuff in your little bottles and jars!"
The livestream comments:
[Hahaha, Peipei's got everything all arranged for him.]
[Big bro really takes care of every little detail for Peipei! He spoils him so much!]
[If this isn't love!!!]
[Isn't this just a couple's married life?! This ship is killing me!]
Pei Tingyun sat in the chair Xie Huan had just cleaned with alcohol wipes, his skincare routine a little sluggish.
Actually, Pei Tingyun's feelings were rather complicated.
It had only been two days since they arrived on the island.
Yet watching Xie Huan bustle around now, he somehow had the illusion that they had been living like this for a long time.
Everything felt so natural, so comfortable.
Xie Huan's care always showed in the little details.
This quiet, gradual way of seeping into someone's life touched the heart most.
To be liked with such care by someone like him.
It would be a lie to say he wasn't moved.
But he was straight. He couldn't fit into that circle.
He couldn't offer Xie Huan anything beyond friendship.
If Xie Huan were a girl.
Perhaps things could have been different for them...
But there were no ifs in life.
All Pei Tingyun could do now was give Xie Huan plenty of emotional support.
Fortunately, Xie Huan ate up all his praise.
In fact, amid his repeated compliments, Xie Huan gradually lost himself.
He decided he was practically a prodigy in the cleaning world.
Xie Huan opened his mouth with zero startup frames, sounding every bit the born worker:
"Ting'er, does your place need a cleaner? How about I take the job?"
Pei Tingyun: "..."
Oh no. I've praised him into getting carried away.
After reaping another wave of traffic from the ship fans.
The director contentedly told every department to end the livestream.
The ship fans, however, weren't satisfied:
[You're ending the stream already? I haven't seen White Clouds and Black Soil share a bed yet!]
[What's there that we ship fans can't watch? I'm willing to pay to unlock it!]
Not even payment could unlock what happened next.
Even if the production team wanted to film it, Pei Tingyun would have resolutely cut the power to the camera.
Because sleeping in the arms of a grown man more muscular than himself.
Was really-
So! Embarrassing!
Here was how it went down.
After the livestream ended, Pei Tingyun and Xie Huan took turns washing up.
Once Pei Tingyun had washed up, he looked at the narrow single bed and still really wanted to sleep on the floor.
But he searched his entire backpack without finding anything he could use to make a bed on the floor.
After showering, Xie Huan came out shirtless again, wearing beach shorts and drying his hair.
Xie Huan asked in confusion, "Aw, c'mon, what're you fiddling with over there? Why ain't you asleep yet?"
Pei Tingyun told him honestly, "I want to make a bed on the floor."
Xie Huan said, "What, you don't wanna sleep with me?"
Pei Tingyun hurried to deny it. "No! I'm not used to sleeping with other people."
Xie Huan was displeased. "Aw, c'mon, how'd you go lumping me in with other people? With how close we are, how am I 'other people'?"
Pei Tingyun pressed a hand to his forehead.
Was that the point?
Wasn't the point supposed to be sleeping together?
Helpless, Pei Tingyun could only explain:
"That's not what I meant. I mean, I've always had a bed to myself. I'm not used to sharing, and this bed is too small. You get what I mean, right?"
Understanding dawned on Xie Huan. "Aw, man! If you'd just said that earlier, I would've understood!"
Pei Tingyun had only just breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he heard Xie Huan say, "So the bed's too small, and you're scared I'll squeeze you off!"
Pei Tingyun's eyes widened in astonishment.
Then his face went speechless.
You've missed the point again, big bro!!!
Big bro wasn't just good at catching the point; he was also good at catching Pei Tingyun and getting him onto the bed.
The bed stood against the wall, and Xie Huan nudged Pei Tingyun farther inward, toward it.
There was no little bedside lamp in the room. Worried Pei Tingyun would be afraid of the dark, Xie Huan simply left the light on.
He lay down on the outer side of the bed, right up against Pei Tingyun.
Xie Huan said, "Rest easy! I'm sleeping on the outside. Ain't no way I'm letting you fall!"
As he spoke, he even raised an arm and draped it over Pei Tingyun's waist like a seat belt.
Pei Tingyun's whole body abruptly stiffened.
That unfamiliar feeling was back!
Even through his pajamas, the places Xie Huan touched tingled and went numb, as though an extremely faint electric current had passed through them.
At that moment.
Xie Huan's scorching chest was pressed against Pei Tingyun's back.
Pei Tingyun squeezed his eyes tightly shut.
Who could possibly fall asleep like this?!