"How will you know if you don't try?" Xie Ji earnestly advised.
"Loving someone is a skill." Lu Xunji put away his blueprints. "I don't have that skill."
Xie Ji looked at him. "... You don't have the ability to love, only the ability to act, right?"
Lu Xunji looked at him. "Desire and love are two different things."
Xie Ji opened his mouth, then realized he couldn't win an argument with Lu Xunji.
"Fine." He pursed his lips and fell silent again.
Before long, the group of workers returned, this time carrying even more things.
Xie Ji, so he lay down on the sofa and stared at the ceiling. He fell asleep soon after.
Lu Xunji walked over and picked him up in his arms.
Xie Ji nestled in Lu Xunji's arms, rubbing his eyes sleepily, "Am I asleep?"
"Mmm." Lu Xunji carried him upstairs. "You can sleep now."
Xie Ji yawned and closed his eyes again.
Lu Xunji carried him back to the room, adjusted the air conditioner to a suitable temperature, and gently pulled the air-conditioned blanket over Xie Ji's stomach, covering his navel.
When Xie Ji woke up again, it was already around five o'clock in the afternoon. The dim yellow sunset shone through the curtains, illuminating the room in a twilight.
There was no sound around; everything was quiet.
Xie Ji suddenly felt a tremendous sense of loneliness and panic. He rolled over and sat up in bed, instinctively calling out, " Lu Xunji?"
No one answered him.
Xie Ji quickly threw off the covers, not even bothering to put on his shoes, and ran out of the bedroom, calling out again, " Lu Xunji!"
The entire villa was empty, with furniture piled up haphazardly in the downstairs living room.
Xie Ji ran downstairs, out of the villa, and into the yard.
" Lu Xunji! Where are you?"
The courtyard wasn't paved with tiles, and the cobblestone path was painfully rough under Xie Ji's feet. He didn't have time to care and ran around looking for people.
" Lu Xunji!!!"
He searched both sides but found no one. Xie Ji pulled up his pants and prepared to leave, but he was in such a hurry that he bumped into a wall of people as soon as he stepped out.
"Ouch!" Xie Ji stumbled back a few steps after being bumped, clutching his forehead and crying out.
Lu Xunji's arm was held, and his cool voice fell. "What are you doing?"
Xie Ji's chaotic heart was instantly soothed. He pouted and said in an almost coquettish tone, "Where did you go? I couldn't find you anywhere."
"Water the flowers." Lu Xunji bent down and picked Xie Ji up. "Watering the flowers in the evening during the summer will prevent them from dying due to excessive temperature differences."
Xie Ji glanced at the roses planted outside the yard and, trying to make conversation, asked, "Have your roses bloomed yet?"
"Roses," Lu Xunji corrected, "They still have a few days left in the blooming season."
Xie Ji rubbed his feet, obediently lowered his head, his fingers clutching Lu Xunji's clothes, and muttered softly, "I'm a little scared that you're not here when I wake up."
Damn, it's not going to turn into the shape of Nantong now, is it? TvT
"That's normal." Lu Xunji placed Xie Ji on the sofa, took a wet wipe from the side, and wiped Xie Ji's feet.
The dust on the cobblestone path was wiped away little by little. Lu Xunji gripped Xie Ji's ankle and said, "In ancient times, if a person hadn't found their tribe by dusk, it meant they had to spend the long night alone. This often represented danger or even death. It's an imprint left in our genes."
So, don't be afraid.
"I am here."
--
Okay, you're in the Little Black now, no more recommendations.
I need a small gift to motivate me to keep going!