Looking Over at the Guy Across the Way

“Eh, Chen Xiao? Need something?” This was his time to eat, so Gu MengYang had chopsticks in his hands when he opened the door.

Chen Xiao looked at the rice grain stuck to the corner of his mouth and felt like a cat’s paw was scratching his heart, I really want to lick it off him……

“Chen Xiao?”

“*cough cough*……Sorry to bother you, but uh……there’s a sudden blackout at my house, so I just ran over here to take a look.”

“There’s a power outage? I’m okay here.” After saying that, Gu MengYang looked back into his house as confirmation.

Chen Xiao shrugged with a helpless expression, opening his mouth but instead hearing Gu MengYang speak: “So have you eaten?”

So this kid isn’t too dull after all! Finally catching on!

Chen Xiao was pleased with himself on the inside, but on the surface he was still pretending to be bitter: “Haven’t eaten yet. As soon as the meal was cooking, the power went off. I’m starving to death……” With that, he stared at Gu MengYang with a look of anticipation, his glittering eyes fully showing off his beautiful pupils.

Gu MengYang frowned, a rare occurrence, and a moment later he touched Chen Xiao to…..push him away?! And then, not putting down the chopsticks in his hand, he went into Chen Xiao’s place.

Chen Xiao stood frozen for a long moment before he figured out what had happened. He couldn’t help whining in his heart: Fuck! Fool! Idiot! You’re a little slag man with low EQ and you only invite people to eat watermelon!! Would it kill you if I ate a meal with you?!

And then, with a grimace, he went to find Gu MengYang who was fiddling with the circuit box.

“It’s no big deal, it’s tripped. I’ll just fix it up for you. Did you just use something?”

Chen Xiao suppressed his feelings and, unable to keep his mouth shut, said: “How would I know?” Do you think I’d tell you I tripped this switch myself?!

Gu MengYang fiddled with a few switches and then the light in the room came on. He turned back and gave Chen Xiao a smile, like a little kid asking for praise. Chen Xiao was embarrassed to consider pouncing on him and could only mutter “idiot.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, nothing. Well, thank you.”

“No problem. Hurry up and go cook!”

This! Guy! Chen Xiao’s mood, which was originally calm, was provoked into suffering again. He didn’t even have anything to eat in his place, okay! He was really hungry now, even the rice at the corner of Gu MengYang’s mouth was appetizing.

A day later:

“Hey, Chen Xiao? Why are you sitting on your doorstep? Don’t you have a key?” As soon as Gu MengYang came home, he saw Chen Xiao sitting on his doorstep, despondent and smoking.

“I don’t…….I don’t know why I can’t turn my computer on…….if you don’t have anything to do, come over and chat……” Chen Xiao thought, I’ve been waiting at this door since 5:30! Who knew that you’d be late today, Gu MengYang! Luckily, we live on the top floor or else people passing by would really think I’m a thief, yeah?! He put on a pitiful expression, raising his head and asking Gu MengYang piteously: “Do you know anything about computers?”

He was afraid the guy was going to answer back “I don’t know” blankly, but, luckily, Gu MengYang replied with a crisp nod.

So all of Chen Xiao’s unhappiness disappeared and he hummed a tune and went to open the door. As soon as he got up though, a hand crossed in front of him and stole the cigarette from his lips.

“Smoking is bad for your health, don’t smoke so much,” the other said this in a serious manner. When he saw Chen Xiao’s stunned face, he got a little panicky again, “Ah, I’m sorry, I-I, without thought……I’ll give it back to you……”

Chen Xiao smiled with a “pu chi” sound, taking the cigarette and putting it out on the wall. “Hmm, it’s not very good. I’ll have to quit, so please take care of me in the future.”

Glancing at Gu MengYang’s reddened ears, he was unbearably happy in his heart, hey, hey, what are you shy about, making my heart race faster too!

Gu MengYang had a knack for messing with computers, banging away at the keyboard. The screen was full of code that Chen Xiao couldn’t understand. He stared at it for a while and then moved his gaze quietly to Gu MengYang’s handsome profile. With the combination of the stress and the hot weather, there were tiny beads of sweat on Gu MengYang’s forehead. A few strands of hair were stuck to his forehead by that sweat. He was frowning slightly, staring intently at the screen with his big eyes. Oh, it’s actually a double eyelid. Sure enough, men are the most attractive when they’re doing something seriously. And then the corners of his mouth dropped into a flat line and, from time to time, he parted his mouth to bite his lower lip. I don’t know what it would be like to kiss this mouth…….are you going to bite your lips at that time too……

Oh……thinking about this, Chen Xiao felt a line of fire blaze straight down his abdomen. The cat’s paw in his heart began to knead its claws quickly again. He so desperately wanted to pounce on the man and swallow Gu MengYang in a single bite. He took a deep cleansing breath and then peeked at his face, no, it would be a couple bites.

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t help himself. Chen Xiao shook in his seat, unable to sit still, no, I shouldn’t! There’s gotta be a limit to love at first sight, how can I let my soul be hooked and lose all control?!

“Chen Xiao, on your computer…..” Gu MengYang suddenly turned his head, meeting Chen Xiao’s eyes, his face was so red he was nearly on fire. He moved his gaze away awkwardly and continued talking: “You, you don’t have anything important on your C Drive, do you? I’ll reinstall the system for you and it’ll be fine.”

Chen Xiao very stoically replied: “Uh, nothing important, reinstall. I’ll pour you a glass of water, I just forgot all about it in a hurry.”

As soon as he left the room, he turned straight into the bathroom and washed his face with cold water. How could he have imagined it would be so cute for a big man to blush! It was so deadly!

He quickly restored his calm mood. He poured a glass of cold water and then closed the doors to each room and turned on the a/c in the living room. He usually hardly ever used the a/c, only occasionally turning it on when guests came over. It’s not that he was cheap, but just watching his family from a young age, the idea of saving was ingrained deeply in him.

He opened the bedroom door too, to get the cooler air into the room.

“Here, drink some water. I’m really troubling you today.”

“It’s nothing. It’s okay, and if there’s anything I can help you with later on, just say something.” Gu MengYang took the cup and “gulp gulp gulp” drank it all in one breath. That rolling throat made Chen Xiao’s heart come alive again, but he was a little upset.Hey, young man, not watching out for yourself at all. What you would do if I were perverted uncle who fancied you and wanted to have you? Alright, although I actually that same kind…….

“Hey, did you turn on the a/c?”

“Ah, I saw you were very hot, what’s up?”

“Oh……don’t, I’m comfortable, my house doesn’t even have a/c.” Gu MengYang smiled with a “heehee”, revealing a pair of dimples at the corners of his mouth. The sweat on his face evaporated because of the lowering temperature. He leaned lazily back against the chair, his expression showing contentment.

“How can there be no a/c? Didn’t the landlord put it in?”

“Well, it’s troublesome and expensive to buy an a/c. I just changed my job and I’m still a probationary employee, so I can only use the fan.” Gu MengYang showed a little chagrin. His lip curled up a little bit.

Chen Xiao was shocked by his rare childishness, reaching out and rubbing the soft hair hard. He blurted out: “Hey, do you want to come to mine after work? I always put the a/c on when I get back from work. If it’s really hot, it’s even okay for you to sleep here. How’s that?”

Clearly he was expecting to be shoot down, but he still pretended to be casual, roaring in his heart, just say yes, say yes quickly! I’ve taken the initiative so is there any value in remaining shy?

“Eh? That’s no good……that’s too much trouble for you…….” Gu MengYang hesitatingly scratched his hair that Chen Xiao had messed up, his face a little red again.

“Oh, I knew you weren’t actually looking at me as a friend yet, thinking I’m a stranger, never mind, I’m not hurt anyway…….” Chen Xiao sighed, muttering and fussing, making as if to stand up. But he was tugged by a big hand before he could get up. He felt as if his wrist would break.

‘No, don’t! I didn’t mean that! But your a/c fee, I’ll contribute…..” as Gu MengYang spoke, his neck was red and the strength of his grip grew.

Chen Xiao continued to sigh, but he wasn’t trying to break his hand away: “Hey…….and you said you weren’t a stranger…….talking about the amount of money hurts my feelings……”

Gu MengYang’s mouth tightened again. He said with an expression of grievance: “I’m really not treating you like a stranger……Then, I’ll be here early after work……as long as you don’t hate it.”

Eh, hey, hey, how could I hate you? Chen Xiao immediately wiped away his unhappy expression, nodding in satisfaction. In a timely manner, the computer to the side also made its reboot sound.

“The computer’s ready. If there’s any problem, come back to me.” Gu MengYang saw the computer reboot was complete and stood up. “Then, I’ll go back first.”

“Ah, wait! You see, my a/c’s all on now, just sit down again, you haven’t eaten yet, right? Eat with me.” Chen Xiao held him back and pressured him with a smile.

“Eh? You didn’t eat either?”

“…….” Chen Xiao choked back his words, I didn’t think I’d be waiting for you! While playing it off with a laugh, he nodded randomly.

He had actually cooked the dishes when he came back from work, so now he just heated them in the microwave and brought them out. Gu MengYang sat at the table with his whole body straight and still, staring at the table. It was obvious that he was nervous. Chen Xiao gestured awkwardly at the meal in front of him with a laugh. 𝒇𝗿𝙚ℯ𝑤ℯ𝑏𝒏𝑜ѵe𝙡.c𝐨ｍ

“Why are you so nervous? It’s just a meal. I don’t have enough food to need to go to the kitchen to serve yourself.”

“Well, I haven’t eaten with anyone in this kind of situation in a long time. I’ve been busy ever since I started working. Every day when I go home, I just get a bite to eat.”

Chen Xiao felt a little heartbroken when he listened to that. Of course he knew how hard it was for a man to work outside and he knew how lonely it was to come home every day and face an empty house. So, he smiled at Gu MengYang and said: “Then you’ll have to come to my place if you’re hungry, we’ll take turns cooking.”

Gu MengYang froze, then the corners of his mouth rose and he smiled slightly; “Yes, alright.”

Chen Xiao was so dazzled by that smile that his heart sped up with a “bang bang bang.” He quickly bowed his head and turned to the meal.

“Chen Xiao, on your face……there are grains of rice.”

“Huh?” Chen Xiao hadn’t reacted yet when the other’s hand stretched over, touching his face gently.

Gu MengYang regretted doing this immediately. He pulled the rice into his hand, feeling very impolite. What, eat it myself? That seemed like it would be crossing some sort of boundary, that was an intimate move. The person before him stood up and leaned over, he licked the rice grains from his finger, the tip of his tongue leaving a trail of saliva on his fingertips.

*Boom* Chen Xiao could almost hear the smoke spewing from the top of Gu MengYang’s head. He coughed lightly and said: “It’s not good to waste food, ah……”

So the two men with slightly red faces bowed their heads and continued to eat their rice.