An Yubei closed his eyes and fell asleep before Ji Shang could agree.
He fell asleep quickly, his steady breathing filling the silence. Ji Shang glanced down at him without waking him.
Quietly watching An Yubei's sleeping face, Ji Shang noticed something different.
An Yubei's eyelashes were long and thick, especially when his eyes brimmed with tears. The tears dampened his lashes, making him look pitiful.
His gaze moved down. An Yubei's lips were a little plump, too, and looked soft.
He lightly lifted a fingertip and brushed it over An Yubei's plump lips. The sleeping boy did not react at all.
As though reluctant to pull away, Ji Shang parted his lips a little. The plump lips wrapped around his fingertip, and an unfamiliar sensation flowed into his heart.
An indescribable itch stirred in his heart, as though he wanted more.
His fingertip tentatively pried at those pearly teeth, but before he could succeed, the sleeping boy gently bit down on it.
A hot tongue pressed against his fingertip, sucking on it like a nursing baby.
Ji Shang went rigid and tightened his hold on the person in his arms.
"You little thing. You really know how to torment me."
A vibration sounded-a WeChat notification. Ji Shang merely glanced at it, then quickly froze.
The message was from Lu Jinsheng. He wanted to ask An Yubei out tomorrow to have some fun and then eat together.
Ask Xiao Bei out for a meal?
He probably had ulterior motives!
Anger flared in his heart. Ji Shang picked up An Yubei's phone and replied.
[Sorry, I haven't got any time lately. I'm going to the company with Brother Shang to learn.]
Ji Shang did his best to imitate An Yubei's tone, afraid Lu Jinsheng would grow suspicious.
Lu Jinsheng replied that it was a shame, then sent nothing else.
Had he given up?
Ji Shang's lips curled into a smile. Just as he was about to turn off the phone, he could not resist scrolling up through the chat history.
Lu Jinsheng had initiated nearly all their conversations, and his words were uncomfortable to read, both on the surface and between the lines.
Ji Shang had met all sorts of people and could see through Lu Jinsheng's little schemes at a glance.
He liked An Yubei. He hid it very well, but his little schemes still gave him away.
Ji Shang would not allow anyone to steal his Xiao Bei, not even Lu Jinsheng.
So he promptly deleted Lu Jinsheng.
Only after doing all this did Ji Shang hold An Yubei and sleep for a while.
Lu Jinsheng lay in bed, still thinking about An Yubei rejecting him.
He still remembered An Yubei saying he wanted to go out and have fun and eat hot pot, so why had he rejected him so coldly?
Maybe he was unhappy!
Tossing and turning, unable to sleep, Lu Jinsheng sent another message. A red exclamation mark soon appeared.
Lu Jinsheng stared blankly for a long time before realizing something: An Yubei had deleted him.
What had he done wrong?
Because he had gone to sleep so early the night before, An Yubei woke up at four in the morning.
His first sensation upon waking was that he seemed to be hugging a furnace, so warm that the heat made him uneasy.
He opened his eyes and saw Ji Shang.
Ji Shang held him tighter and tighter, as though he were hugging a body pillow.
His arms held him close, and his legs had to pin him down, too.
An Yubei had never slept with anyone else in his life. The feeling was wonderful and warm.
An Yubei used to live in a small, shabby old apartment with poor heating in winter, relying on an electric blanket every day to stay warm.
Later, the electric blanket broke. He could not bear to spend money on a new one, so he could only shiver beneath his covers.
Back then, An Yubei had thought how nice it would be to have someone warm holding him.
Unfortunately, even after struggling for so long, he had never met the right person.
Only now had he met someone he could hold while sleeping.
He was no longer afraid, and he was warm now, too.
An Yubei nestled in Ji Shang's arms, his eyes wandering in boredom.
Ji Shang had not changed into pajamas. His shirt collar hung wide open, and the covers had been kicked down to his feet.
Tilting his little head, An Yubei looked over at the exposed abs.
He could not resist reaching out to touch them. They felt good, the taut, firm muscles sharply defined, like a hard stone.
An Yubei could not help enviously touching his own belly.
His soft belly had no muscle at all. Compared to Ji Shang's abs, it felt far worse.
He thought dejectedly that it would be nice if he had abs, too.
Unfortunately, he was too lazy and did not like exercising.
Forget it, forget it. I'll never have such an enviable figure. But that's all right. He can touch Brother Shang's.
While Brother Shang's asleep, I'll give them a good feel.
They really feel amazing.
As An Yubei enthusiastically felt him up, the sleeping man's brows furrowed. In truth, Ji Shang had woken up long ago and had been indulging An Yubei as he did whatever he pleased.
He could not help it. If he did not spoil his own little wife, who would?
But the little fellow was going a bit too far. All that touching was getting him heated.
A dangerous signal was being released, too.
He could barely hold back anymore.
Catching An Yubei's wandering hand, Ji Shang tightened his hold on the person in his arms and said, "Xiao Bei, stop messing around."
Now that An Yubei was interested, how could he stop? He squirmed around in Ji Shang's arms like a silkworm pupa.
"We're both men. What's wrong with a little touching?" An Yubei went into shameless mode. "I just like touching Brother Shang's abs. Are you going to let me or not?"
It was An Yubei's first time speaking so boldly, too. He simply liked letting loose in front of Ji Shang without any reservations.
Ji Shang spoiled him anyway, so he could do anything.
Left with no choice, Ji Shang could only let An Yubei keep touching him. "Only three minutes."
"No, I want ten minutes." As he spoke, An Yubei reached Ji Shang's abs.
They felt firmer than before, as though they had tensed up.
"Gege, are you nervous?"
An Yubei's thoughts started wandering again.
Wow, doesn't that mean I get to reap the benefits? No one else has touched them, and I got there first.
But letting someone else have abs that feel this good really doesn't sit right with me!
An Yubei's inner voice left Ji Shang agitated. His eyes grew increasingly hazy, as though some irrepressible emotion was about to erupt.
Noticing something was wrong with Ji Shang, An Yubei withdrew his hand and stroked Ji Shang's slightly flushed cheek.
It's a little hot. Could he have a fever?
"Brother Shang, are you feeling unwell?"
Ji Shang caught An Yubei's wrist and pressed it over his heart.
His pounding heartbeat struck against the pulse in An Yubei's wrist, and An Yubei's heartbeat grew erratic, too.
Ji Shang had An Yubei turn around. "I'm fine. Don't move. Let me hold you for a while."
"I'll be fine after holding you for a while."
An Yubei's back rested against Ji Shang's chest, with Ji Shang's scorching breath against his neck.
Damp lips landed on his neck, searing his skin.
An Yubei instinctively ducked away, and Ji Shang said gently, "Don't move."
Those words left An Yubei afraid to move. He did not know what was wrong with Ji Shang, only that he seemed to be feeling very unwell.
"Brother Shang, are you really okay?" An Yubei sounded a little tearful, mainly because he was so worried about Ji Shang.
"I'm fine." Those two words came with great difficulty.
Then An Yubei felt Ji Shang shudder a few times behind him before quickly holding him tight again.
An Yubei was so frightened that he burst into tears. He thought Ji Shang was ill.
"Brother Shang, let's go to the hospital. You were twitching just now."
Ji Shang gave a helpless smile, thinking that An Yubei really was innocent. He did not even know what had happened.
Seeing him cry, Ji Shang hurried to soothe An Yubei.
"Xiao Bei, I'm fine. You'll understand in the future."
An Yubei: "...!"
What was he supposed to understand? Why not just say it outright?