Because Shen Xingcan not wanting me to hold him and me wanting to hold Shen Xingcan are two different things

"Then I misunderstood."

Despite saying that, Xie Linchuan showed no intention of letting go of Shen Xingcan, and his steps toward the cabin door did not pause in the slightest.

Shen Xingcan was incredulous. "If you know it was a misunderstanding, why won't you put me down?"

Xie Linchuan looked down at the person in his arms. "Because Shen Xingcan not wanting me to hold him and me wanting to hold Shen Xingcan are two different things."

Shen Xingcan said, "You can explain it like that?"

"Of course."

Shen Xingcan: "..."

He felt that Xie Linchuan had changed a little, but if asked exactly how, Shen Xingcan could not put his finger on it.

It was a subtle change that only Shen Xingcan could sense.

"That still won't do. If you carry me outside, our sworn-enemies image will fall apart."

Xie Linchuan kindly reminded him, "That image already fell apart when I carried you back."

Shen Xingcan said, "We can salvage it. Tomorrow morning, I'll tell everyone I sprained my ankle, and Best Actor Xie carried me back in the spirit of Lei Feng."

His words clearly gave Xie Linchuan inspiration. "So a sprained ankle wouldn't heal that quickly. It makes perfect sense for me to carry you outside now."

With that, Xie Linchuan carried Shen Xingcan out of the cabin without giving him another chance to argue.

Shen Xingcan: "..."

Their outstanding performance in the mission had put their points far ahead of everyone else's.

So Shen Xingcan had splurged on an outdoor lounge chair for the little yard.

Now that lounge chair became the only place Shen Xingcan could settle.

Fortunately, it was large enough to leave plenty of room even with Shen Xingcan's entire body on it.

Without shoes, Shen Xingcan had no choice but to obediently watch Xie Linchuan boil eggs, however unwilling he was.

[! Holy crap, that position. Hiss, I knew staying up late would get me some sugar.]

[Are these two lovebirds staying up in the middle of the night to boil eggs for a midnight snack?]

[Nothing wrong with practicing ahead of time. After all, that position is really good for, ahem.]

[Hold him in your arms and really...]

[Sure enough, once the dirty talk starts, netizens go wild and forget themselves! But being held really is delicious, especially with the size difference between these two. Hiss.]

[Reported all of you above.]

Once the eggs were in the pot, Xie Linchuan sat down beside Shen Xingcan.

The lounge chair was large, but that did not mean Shen Xingcan was willing to share it with Xie Linchuan. He nudged Xie Linchuan with his foot. "Go sit on the little stool."

Xie Linchuan did not move. When Shen Xingcan kicked at him again, he caught Shen Xingcan's ankle and gave it a few squeezes, neither too hard nor too soft.

His ankles were sensitive to begin with. With those alternating light and firm squeezes, Shen Xingcan nearly sprang off the lounge chair. "Xie Linchuan! What are you doing!"

He shouted, almost beside himself with exasperation.

[...What are they doing? Is this really content I can watch without paying?]

Xie Linchuan spoke in an almost matter-of-fact tone. "Didn't you sprain your ankle? I'm massaging it for you."

Shen Xingcan cursed inwardly and gritted his teeth. "Other people might not know what's going on with my ankle, but don't you?!"

Xie Linchuan looked at the beautiful ankle in his hand and said mildly, "If we're putting on an act, we should see it through."

Shen Xingcan ground his teeth. "...That doesn't mean we need to keep acting when no one's around!"

Xie Linchuan explained calmly, "There are livestream cameras in our camp. Don't you really want to distance yourself from me publicly? Massaging your ankle will make your sprain more believable."

Shen Xingcan narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure? Why do I feel like you're deliberately taking liberties with me?"

Xie Linchuan countered, "That must be your imagination. Why would I take liberties with my sworn enemy?"

Shen Xingcan sneered. "...Xie Linchuan, that had better be true."

Xie Linchuan's expression did not change. "It certainly is."

Shen Xingcan stared at Xie Linchuan and delivered a pointed assessment. "Xie Linchuan, I think you're provoking me."

Xie Linchuan said mildly, "Telling the truth counts as provoking you? Shen Xingcan, you really are a little unreasonable."

Shen Xingcan declared with complete conviction, "Anything I don't want to hear counts as provoking me."

Xie Linchuan said, "...Then I am deliberately taking liberties with you. Making your sprained ankle more believable was just an excuse."

Shen Xingcan held out a hand. "Xie Linchuan, do you see this hand?"

"Yes."

Shen Xingcan said solemnly, "This hand says it really wants some intimate contact with your face."

Xie Linchuan looked at the beautiful, slender hand in front of him. "All right."

Then he closed his eyes.

"Go ahead."

He sat there, his posture straight, his features handsome. Though he was someone cold to the extreme, he looked especially gentle at that moment.

Shen Xingcan stared at Xie Linchuan's face for a while before withdrawing his hand. "Forget it. You've gotten a little strange lately. I'm afraid slapping you would just reward you."

Xie Linchuan opened his eyes and looked at the person beside him.

Shen Xingcan met his gaze. "Don't think it's because I can't bear to hit you. I just don't think this is the right time. Once I think the timing is just right, you can wait for me to beat your face into a pig's head."

Just right? Xie Linchuan realized what the other man meant by that.

So Xie Linchuan said earnestly and tactfully, "Actually, I think now would be quite good too."

Shen Xingcan scoffed. "In your dreams. Remember to clear your schedule for that beating when the time comes... I'm hungry. Dinner wasn't very good, so I didn't eat enough."

"What do you want?"

Shen Xingcan said, "Noodles, and I want my fried egg runny!"

The cabins had no air conditioning, so everyone slept with their windows open.

As everyone knew, the smell of instant noodles could be devastating under certain circumstances.

So Xie Linchuan was only halfway through cooking the noodles when Jiang Yifeng arrived uninvited.

Jiang Yifeng did not stand on ceremony either, coming over quite naturally with his own bowl and chopsticks.

"Hehe, midnight snacks! I was going to go to bed hungry. Sticking with Captain really is the way to go."

Holding his bowl, Jiang Yifeng sat on the little stool with a thoroughly ingratiating smile.

Shen Xingcan clicked his tongue. "I'm not the chef. Sucking up to me won't get you an extra egg."

Jiang Yifeng said, "You're not the chef, but you're the man in charge of the chef! If you're happy, the chef will naturally give me an extra egg."

Shen Xingcan looked at Jiang Yifeng pityingly. "Then you're going to be sorely disappointed. The chef and I are sworn enemies. Sucking up to me will only make him add a lethal dose of laxatives to your noodles."

Jiang Yifeng protested loudly, "I don't believe it! The chef carried you back. How could you two still be sworn enemies? Don't give me that nonsense about being tired. If you were really sworn enemies, you'd have hopped or jumped all the way back rather than let the chef carry you."

Jiang Yifeng looked at his captain with an expression that said he knew him well, so he should stop talking nonsense.

His captain remained expressionless. "I sprained my ankle. I couldn't walk back, much less hop back."

Jiang Yifeng paled in alarm. "Huh? You sprained it? Is it serious?"

As he spoke, he hurried over to his captain's lounge chair, but someone stopped him when he tried to get a closer look.

Xie Linchuan said, "It can't be moved around."

"I won't move it. I'll just look. Let me see Captain's foot!"

Shen Xingcan reassured him, "It's not serious. What's there to look at? It'll be better tomorrow. Sit there and wait for the food."

Having a man stare at his feet was weird, okay? Of course, Xie Linchuan could be excluded from that.

"You're really fine?"

"I'm fine. If something were wrong, I'd have gone to the hospital already. A night's sleep will fix it. Eat your noodles, then go back and rest. We still have filming tomorrow."

Jiang Yifeng said, "All right."

[A family of three enjoying a happy midnight snack together. How lovely.]

[Wait, so those eggs they boiled earlier weren't a midnight snack.]

[Something's odd. Why is Jiang Yifeng looking at Shen Xingcan's foot? Did Shen Xingcan hurt it?]

[He did hurt it. That's why my fave carried Shen Xingcan back out of the goodness of his heart.]

[Yes, yes, of course. It definitely wasn't your fave who couldn't wait to chase after Shen Xingcan.]

Amber broth rippled in the bowl. A heart-shaped fried egg lay atop the golden noodles, with two thick, heart-shaped slices of luncheon meat, also fried golden, beside it.

Fragrant steam rose from it, and the mere sight whetted the appetite.

Jiang Yifeng looked at the shapeless fried egg and luncheon meat in his bowl, then at the heart-shaped egg and luncheon meat in his captain's bowl.

"Why does the stuff in my bowl look so slapdash?"

Xie Linchuan said, "Because I couldn't be bothered."

Jiang Yifeng: "..."

He really couldn't be bothered, then.

But Jiang Yifeng soon consoled himself that the chef's bowl contained lots of trimmings and looked even more slapdash than his, so he had nothing to complain about.

Shen Xingcan glanced down at his bowl of noodles, then suddenly lifted it forward.

[What does that mean? Is Shen Xingcan going to practice a bowl-balancing dance?]