Keztranslations

Chapter 25

When Zhuo ZhengDe returned home, dinner was served. The atmosphere at the dining table was good. Zhuo Jia Shuo was calm, and no one spoke while eating, except for the occasional noise from the collision of chopsticks and dishes, the table was quiet.

    The day was coming to an end, Tong Yan was tense, and Lin Yue Hua was tired, so they left soon after the meal, heading upstairs to their rooms.

    No one came out to make special arrangements, everyone just assumed that Tong Yan would also share a bedroom with Zhuo Xiang Ming at night. Tong Yan himself didn’t think much about it, but after entering the room, the realization made him feel embarrassed.

    The situation was subtle at first, the two were on their first day of confirming their relationship, in fact, the time that passed was less than two hours.

    “Can I speak to you now?”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming had asked this question a few times before, but he was rejected by Tong Yan every time.

    After Tong Yan fell out of bed, Zhuo Xiang Ming was sternly ordered to not talk to him before dinner.

    At that time, Zhuo Xiang Ming wanted to check if he had hit his head, but Tong Yan refused to let him look. When Zhuo Xiang Ming insisted, he then said, embarrassed, “I just fell on my butt.”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming quickly shut up.

    Thinking about, Tong Yan still felt ashamed.

    But the two had already not talked for half an hour, Tong Yan said in a small voice, “You can speak.”

    After hearing those words, Zhuo Xiang Ming walked to the bathroom door and pushed it open: “Bathe first. There’s school tomorrow, it’s best to sleep early.”

    Seeing his normal appearance, Tong Yan also didn’t want to make himself look too overwhelmed, agreeing in as calm a tone as possible.

    But when he reached the bathroom door, Zhuo Xiang Ming’s hand was still resting on the door knob, blocking Tong Yan’s path.

    Tong Yan: “Let me …”

    He looked up to find Zhuo Xiang Ming watching him.

    Zhuo Xiang Ming had a kind of strong and cold appearance. Different from the round-eyed Tong Yan, his eyes were longer, the outer corners slightly raised. If Tong Yan’s face had those eyes, they would give off a feeling of beauty, but on his face, they seemed cold. When he stared at someone unblinkingly, even momentarily, the other person’s heart would absolutely feel pressured.

    “You….” He raised his hand a little, as if to put it on Tong Yan’s shoulder, but he quickly pulled it back, his eyes still locked on Tong Yan.

    Tong Yan subconsciously asked: “What about me?”

    After a pause, Zhuo Xiang Ming finally asked: “Do you regret it?”

    Tong Yan was shocked: “Never!”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming examined him closely, as if he was searching for clues on Tong Yan’s face: “Really?”

    Tong Yan was doubtful: “Really! Why are you asking this?”

    “Never mind.” Zhuo Xiang Ming removed the hand that was on the doorknob as well, “Go in.”

    Tong Yan looked at his own toes: “I just, feel a little embarrassed …”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming: “What?”

    Tong Yan: “I rolled off the bed, isn’t that very humiliating?”

    Apparently, Tong Yan’s words called to mind that scene, and Zhuo Xiang Ming’s mouth twitched. Tong Yan saw that he was holding back laughter, and was once again on the verge of flying into a rage from shame: “I’m taking a bath, “

    He dove into the bathroom. There were a lot of toiletries in the cabinet, and two stacks of heated towels in the sterilization cabinet. When he was done bathing, Tong Yan realized that he didn’t bring any clothes in.

    To be precise, he didn’t bring any extra clothes, only the ones he was wearing previously, and when he’d taken them off, he’d thrown them into the dirty clothes basket. In the end, he could only put on one of Zhuo Xiang Ming’s bathrobes.

    The bathrobe had no problems besides being a little too slack. Tong Yan looked at himself in the mirror and felt quite satisfied, walking out in confidence.

    Zhuo Xiang Ming: “…”

    Tong Yan rubbed his blow-dried messy hair and sat at the foot of the bed: “I’m done.”

    “Okay.” Not saying much, Zhuo Xiang Ming got up and went into the bathroom.

    It wasn’t until Zhuo Xiang Ming came back out that Tong Yan understood his previous meaningful expression.

    It was obvious that the alpha had no intention to expose his flesh, the strap was tightly fastened, but if Zhuo Xiang Ming had chosen to wear the bathrobe normally, not only would the pectoral groove on his chest be exposed, most importantly, the hem wouldn’t even reach his knees—there would be quite a gap.

    On Tong Yan’s body, it almost reached his calf.

    Fortunately, Zhuo Xiang Ming had always been a man of few words.

    The lights were turned off, and Tong Yan covered himself with the same quilt from during the day. Zhuo Xiang Ming took new bedding out from the closet. The two were in the same bed, but were using different quilts. Tong Yan was lying perfectly straight, and after Zhuo Xiang Ming went to bed, he laid on his side, facing Tong Yan.

    Tong Yan couldn’t suppress it, he called out in a soft voice: “Brother.”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming: “Yeah?”

    Tong Yan: “Do you know, if eighteen-year-olds can still grow taller?”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming thought about it, then said: “They should be able to grow a bit more.”

    His voice sounded a little strange, but Tong Yan ignored it, continuing to ask, “Does drinking milk help?”

    This time, Tong Yan heard it clearly, Zhuo Xiang Ming was laughing.

    Tong Yan: “You’re laughing at me!”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming: “No.”

    “You obviously are!” Tong Yan crawled over, meeting Zhuo Xiang Ming’s smiling eyes in the darkness: “And you say you’re not laughing!”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming tried his best to remedy: “You’re already tall enough.”

    “But you’re so much taller than me.”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming explained, unknowingly attracting jealousy: “Ah … what can I do, when I was a middle school student, I was already taller than you are now.”

    Tong Yan humphed: “How lovely …”

    “Lovely?” Zhuo Xiang Ming comforted him, “If you’re too tall, other people will most likely call you a big oaf, right? All brawn and no brain.”

    Tong Yan collapsed in front of him, half of his face next to Zhuo Xiang Ming’s unused pillow, pouting exaggeratingly: “You’re not a big oaf.”

    Indeed, Zhuo Xiang Ming’s slender limbs and perfect body proportions were reflected in the effect he gave off in everything he wore, like a natural born male model. No one would associate him with the typical “big oaf”.

    Tong Yan laid still for a while. Zhuo Xiang Ming accidentally touched his cold arm, and opened his quilt, asking him if he wanted to come in. Tong Yan just turned bright red, and returned to his own covers.

    –

    The sports competition started at eight, first was the opening ceremony, everyone needed to be on time for the square-shaped formation march, so Tong Yan got up very early. At the breakfast table, only he, Zhuo Xiang Ming and Zhuo ZhengDe were present.

    After Zhuo Xiang Ming asked his dad about his sleep, the father and son didn’t exchange anymore words. When it was time for them to leave, Zhuo ZhengDe only then asked: “What time does your sports meet end, Tong Yan?”

    Tong Yan: “At four in the afternoon, uncle.”

    Zhuo ZhengDe drank his tea, his only response a hum.

    Apparently, being taciturn was hereditary.

    Only students and teachers could participate in the sports meeting. Parents were not allowed to enter the campus, but they could watch the live broadcast on the school’s official website. Each game had a special window.

    Tong Yan gave Zhuo Xiang Ming an introduction: “This morning should be more exciting. There’s the one-hundred-meter and two-hundred-meter dash, you can watch these two.”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming: “What are you doing today?”

    “The relay race is on the final day, we’ll practice during these days.” Tong Yan said, “After the opening ceremony, we can move around freely, and practice on the small field. In the afternoon, there’s the long-distance race. A few of my classmates chose the 1,500 km and 2,000 km races. I’ll go cheer them on.”

     “Is there a live broadcast for the small field?” Zhuo Xiang Ming asked.

    Tong Yan: “The small field is used for practice, there are no games.”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming: “I know.”

    Tong Yan finally understood, Zhuo Xiang Ming wanted to watch him.

    If Zhuo Xiang Ming had spoken this sentence before yesterday, he might not have paid much attention to it. In fact, Zhuo Xiang Ming often said similar things, so Tong Yan was always aware of his concern for him.

    But now, when Tong Yan heard this, his heart couldn’t help but feel moved.

    He said, “Do you want to see me practice?”

    “Yeah.” Zhuo Xiang Ming said, “Will the camera film the cheering students?”

    Tong Yan thought about that, and couldn’t help but laugh: “Even if it did, with so many people and only a few seconds of airtime, would you even be able to recognize anybody?”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming nodded. “Seems I can only wait for your official game.”

    Tong Yan wasn’t nervous at first, but now, he was starting to feel a little self-conscious.

    They quickly arrived at the school. Zhuo Xiang Ming parked, took the schoolbag from the back seat, checked the warning card, and checked whether Tong Yan’s water bottle was full: “Remember to warm up before practicing.”

    He felt that he was acting like an old nursemaid, but in fact, Tong Yan was also a little bit reluctant to part. He nodded obediently at everything Zhuo Xiang Ming said, until finally there was nothing else to say. Zhuo Xiang Ming looked at him, then said, “Go on.”

    Tong Yan stood outside by the car and said goodbye to him. Zhuo Xiang Ming was holding the steering wheel, not leaving, he called out to Tong Yan: “Go in, you’re going to be late.”

    Finally, Tong Yan put on his schoolbag and walked away. He turned around at the school gate, but he could no longer see Zhuo Xiang Ming’s face, so he quickly turned away.

    When Zhuo Xiang Ming returned to pick Tong Yan up that afternoon, it was the first time he’d seen so many students at the school gate, and the many cars waiting to pick them up. It took about ten minutes for them to leave the crossroads at the school gate. Tong Yan looked very tired, Zhuo Xiang Ming asked: “Was the practice session good?”

    Tong Yan said weakly: “Very good.”

    “That tiring?” Zhuo Xiang Ming smiled and glanced at him, noticing a rough patch on the knee area of his sportswear pants, he’d obviously fallen down.

    Zhuo Xiang Ming frowned: “Did you trip and fall?”

    Tong Yan followed his line of sight to his knees: “Ah, it’s fine, I landed on my hands. The pants tore, but my knees are okay.”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming asked: “Which hand?”

    “Both of them.” Tong Yan exposed his palms, spreading them out for him to look, “See, it’s fine.”

    Indeed, they weren’t bruised, just a little red.

    After arriving home, Zhuo Xiang Ming immediately looked for the medicine box. Xuan Gui scanned Tong Yan, confirming that there was no problem with his bones, only then did Zhuo Xiang Ming rub some medicine on him. First, he rubbed both of Tong Yan’s hands, then he rolled up his trouser legs to rub his knees.

    The knees looked worse than the hands, some thin bloody scratches and blue bruising around them.

    “Eh …” Tong Yan was stunned, “It didn’t look that bad this morning, and it doesn’t hurt.”

    He said this, and tried to stomp his feet to prove it, but he was held down by Zhuo Xiang Ming: “Don’t move … Are you stupid?”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming took a cotton swab in one hand and placed his other hand on Tong Yan’s knee. First, he lowered his head and blew on the wound, then gently rubbed in the medicine, asking, “Does it hurt?”

   Tong Yan slowly tensed up, his face a little red. He felt uneasy from head to toe, not knowing where to put his hands. He said in a small voice: “It doesn’t hurt.”

    “It’s like that at first, at night however.” After applying the medicine, Zhuo Xiang Ming packed up the medicine box.

    “I’m not trying to scare you. You’re still growing, if you don’t pay attention to these things while your bones are still a bit brittle, it’s possible that you’ll hurt later. Forget about growing taller, even your running speed will suffer.”

     Tong Yan was frightened by his words, nodding and repeating: “I got it.”

    “OK.” Seeing his expression, Zhuo Xiang Ming was quite satisfied. He got up, entering the kitchen to oversee the housekeeping robot’s dinner preparations.

    Xuan Gui: “You’re very weak.”

    Tong Yan flexed his arms: “Nonsense, I’m obviously very strong.”

    He also suffered from the common failing of every boy his age, that was, trying in vain to make others see the muscles on his pale, scrawny body.

    Xuan Gui: “Then why does Sir treat you like you’re fragile?”

     Tong Yan glanced back, Zhuo Xiang Ming still hadn’t come out of the kitchen, so he said, “Of course, it’s because he loves me.”

    “What?” Xuan Gui said, “According to my memories from almost three months ago, you said that your marriage is fake because you don’t love each other.”

    Tong Yan felt that he was being a bit shameless, even deceiving a simple robot: “But he loves me very much now.”

    “We’re dating.” Disdaining himself notwithstanding, he couldn’t help but publicize this news again.

    Xuan Gui responded perfunctorily: “Ah, that’s great.”

    Tong Yan: “Buzz off.”

    –

    Before going to bed, the two would separate in the corridor after going upstairs, returning to their own bedrooms. Zhuo Xiang Ming walked Tong Yan to his bedroom door, and the two stood face to face. Zhuo Xiang Ming reached behind Tong Yan to push open the door, saying, “Good night.”

    Tong Yan looked up at him, also saying, “Good night.”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming’s expression remained unchanged, after a brief moment, Tong Yan had no choice but to ask brazenly: “Don’t I need…desensitization?

    In fact, he really didn’t need it anymore, but fortunately, Zhuo Xiang Ming wasn’t as dense as yesterday, following along with him: “Oh, I forgot.”

    Zhuo Xiang Ming raised his hands and bowed his head, but the hug Tong Yan anticipated didn’t come, instead, Zhuo Xiang Ming touched the back of his head and gently kissed him on his forehead.

    The kiss was brief. His other hand was on Tong Yan’s shoulder, kneading to signal Tong Yan to relax. Zhuo Xiang Ming said in a low voice: “From now on, your desensitization method will be this.”

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T/N:

almost three months- it said ‘3 days short of three months’

I love this. Anyway, that’s the end of my backlog, expect normal updates from now on