He had already covered for him, yet the guy had gone out of his way to expose himself... his motives probably weren't pure.
"Oh, so we're pretending we knew each other before, and he joined the call to tease me."
"Pointless," Shen Xunye judged.
"A top star went out of his way to be friends with me. I couldn't exactly turn him down, could I?" Chi Li chuckled.
Shen Xunye remained dismissive. "...He's up to no good."
Chi Li looked unconcerned. "There's nothing about me worth scheming for anyway. What's there to be afraid of?"
Or rather, even if Jiang Yue wanted something from him, he still had to play along.
Shen Xunye said, "Who says there's nothing about you worth scheming for?"
"Then tell me, what could he want from me?" Chi Li asked casually.
"...What do you think?" Shen Xunye carried the stool over and sat in front of Chi Li, who was sitting on the edge of the bed.
The stool was a little lower than the edge of the bed, putting their eyes at just the same level.
Chi Li spared him a glance. "No idea."
"You," Shen Xunye said with certainty.
He had dared to ask Chi Li to do a girl-group dance in front of so many viewers. Shen Xunye absolutely refused to believe Jiang Yue had no other intentions.
Chi Li spoke with some hesitation. "...Me?"
Shen Xunye nodded. "Exactly. He definitely wants to get with you."
Clearly, Shen Qiang's joke had sparked not only his own sense of crisis, but someone else's too.
He wanted to get there first. Shen Xunye understood Jiang Yue's feelings perfectly.
"You're overthinking it." Chi Li held his phone screen up in front of Shen Xunye. "Look for yourself."
Shen Xunye supported Chi Li's wrist and narrowed his eyes slightly to look.
Their conversation might not have been distant, but it was certainly polite.
After they had agreed on issuing a statement, Jiang Yue hadn't said anything out of line. He had only expressed an interest in performing onstage with Chi Li in the future.
After adding, "I'm not just being polite," he had gone on to praise Chi Li's singing and dancing on the show.
...Overall, Jiang Yue simply appreciated Chi Li's professional abilities.
"Then... then he still wants you." Shen Xunye firmly refused to change his position. "You don't need to perform with him."
Chi Li withdrew his phone and replied to Jiang Yue, "If something suitable comes up."
"Why would I turn down a good work opportunity?" Chi Li genuinely didn't understand.
Still... it wasn't as though he would be counting on that work opportunity to make a living.
"You'll have more and better work opportunities in the future," Shen Xunye said with certainty.
The corners of Chi Li's mouth rose. He lifted his brows slightly and said with considerable confidence, "Of course I will."
As he spoke, his chin tilted up slightly, and his Adam's apple shifted gently beneath the light.
He brimmed with a captivating youthful air.
Shen Xunye suddenly felt his throat go a little dry.
He lowered his eyes as though avoiding something.
Only to see that Chi Li's pajama hem had ridden up slightly with the way he was sitting, exposing skin on his inner thighs that had never seen the sun.
It was as white as the first snow.
"Hey..." Perhaps his gaze was so blatant that it puzzled Chi Li. "Why aren't you saying anything?"
Shen Xunye hurriedly looked up again.
But from this angle, he happened to have a view of the faint protrusions inside the pajama neckline, along with the waistline that occasionally flashed into view as Chi Li moved.
Thud-
Chi Li's phone suddenly fell to the floor.
He bent down and reached to pick it up, his collar falling completely open.
Everything beneath was on full display.
Shen Xunye's throat bobbed again and again.
Right now, all he wanted was to stand up, pin him to the bed, and then-
Look at, touch, and devour every inch of him.
When Chi Li picked up his phone and raised his head, his eyes landed right on the obvious bulge between Shen Xunye's legs.
The air froze for several seconds.
Chi Li stood up as though nothing had happened and unhurriedly pulled his collar closed.
"Young guys sure are hot-blooded, huh." He gave two awkward laughs and offered a solution while he was at it. "Why don't you go to the bathroom and... take care of it?"
Its presence was far too conspicuous. He really couldn't pretend he hadn't seen it.
"...No need." Shen Xunye was also incredibly calm. "It'll go down on its own in a bit."
Chi Li couldn't help looking down, then quickly pulled his gaze away. "Uh, it looks pretty lively. Doesn't seem like it'll go down anytime soon."
Shen Xunye remained perfectly composed. "Then will you help me?"
Chi Li pointed back at himself. "...Me?"
"Mm." Shen Xunye's expression didn't change, nor did his heart race. "I heard it's pretty normal for good buddies to help each other out."
Chi Li's face reddened. "...Where did you hear that?"
But... there did seem to be such a saying.
Before he became a trainee, he had heard the boarding students at school huddle together and whisper about it.
They apparently really had helped each other out... and compared sizes too.
If he compared his with Shen Xunye's...
Yeah, I can't quite measure up.
The difference was right there... even if he didn't want to admit it, there was nothing he could do.
"Do I even need to hear it from anyone?" Shen Xunye's large hand closed over Chi Li's bare knee, shielding it from the late-autumn chill. "Isn't it only natural?"
Chi Li said, "..."
Only natural, huh.
"Even if it is only natural..." Chi Li turned his face away, forcibly keeping his eyes from drifting downward. "But... I really don't have any experience. You're better off relying on yourself."
Shen Xunye said, "Since you don't have any experience, you need to get some."
Then he added, "There's a first time for everything, isn't there?"
Chi Li said, "..."
Why... does what Shen Xunye's saying make so much sense?
"Xiao Li..." Shen Xunye lowered his voice, like a devil whispering. "Help me... and I'll help you too."
"No." Chi Li pulled his legs back and crawled onto the bed, wrapping himself tightly in the quilt as he did. His voice came out muffled. "I-I don't need it right now."
"...All right." Shen Xunye spoke with some difficulty. "Then I'll borrow your bathroom."
Honestly... he had only said it because the conversation had led there. He hadn't actually expected Chi Li to help him.
Still, that slightly inexperienced, bashful look really was lovely.
It had made him get a little harder. He might have to spend a bit more effort on it in a moment.
There was one downside to a studio apartment.
Even lying in bed, Chi Li could clearly hear the sounds from the bathroom.
Like right now.
After Shen Xunye went into the bathroom, water ran briefly, followed by low, suppressed panting.
The sound was deep, each breath ending on a trembling note, like a wild beast licking its wounds.
Chi Li's face and ears burned as he listened.
He buried himself in the quilt, trying to shut out the sound.
But after covering his head for just three seconds, he pulled it off again.
Shen Xunye's panting sounded far too good.
Even better than the people in the videos he had specifically searched for before.
...Then I'll just listen in secret for a bit.
It's not like he knows what I'm doing out here anyway.
Besides... there's nothing he can do... right?
As that question arose, Chi Li suddenly felt... a little empty inside.
He pressed his legs together, finding it a little hard to bear.