Chapter 30 Part 2: A Name No One Could Read

Lin Chuji was rushing back to the dorm when he ran into Qin Yi at the bottom of the building.

They hadn’t seen each other since that night at his house.

Running into him now, he didn’t know what to say and could only fall into awkward silence.

Qin Yi was wearing a well-fitted trench coat and holding a large picture frame.

“Xiao Chu, long time no see,” Qin Yi spoke first.

“Long time no see,” Lin Chuji said, remembering the sleep-aid components he had detected last time.

He was on guard.

“Why are you here?”

Qin Yi looked at the picture frame beside him and explained, “Remember I said I was going to paint you another picture?

It’s finished.

I’m satisfied with this one, so I brought it over.

But we still haven’t exchanged contact information, so I could only wait for you here.”

It was a reasonable explanation, but it still felt a bit off.

Lin Chuji nodded, unable to refuse.

“Thank you.

Sorry for making you come all this way.”

Qin Yi glanced at the stairs inside the dorm.

“It’s a bit heavy.

Let me help you carry it up.”

This time, Lin Chuji was a bit braver.

He refused quietly, “No, just give it to me.

I can carry it.”

“Okay.”

Qin Yi didn’t insist.

He just opened his phone’s QR code.

“Can you add me now?

We’ve met several times and still haven’t exchanged contacts.”

Lin Chuji didn’t know how to handle their relationship.

Cutting off contact outright didn’t seem like a reasonable option.

But that night had made it impossible for him to interact with Qin Yi as freely as before.

With people coming and going, Lin Chuji still scanned and added him.

He said softly, “I still have homework to do.

I’ll go first.”

Qin Yi’s gaze fell on his neck, where two band-aids were very conspicuous.

His expression subtly changed.

“Xiao Chu, did Xie Yan bite you again?”

Lin Chuji was flustered and quietly refuted, “Of course not.

It wasn’t that last time either.”

“I read the forum.

You said it was your partner who bit you.

You don’t have one.”

Qin Yi’s tone carried an unconscious hint of jealousy.

“It’s Xie Yan, isn’t it?

You’ve only known him for a short time.

How could you let him do this?”

Why is everyone reading our school’s forum?

Are they all honorary Jing University students?

Lin Chuji really didn’t want to continue this entanglement.

He lowered his head.

“Sorry, I’m not feeling well today.

I’ll go first.

Thank you for the painting.”

Avoiding the other’s probing gaze, he bent down, picked up the painting, and quickly went up the stairs.

When he got back to the dorm, he looked down from the window and met Qin Yi’s gaze directly—he was still standing there, not moving.

A chill ran down his spine.

“Xiao Chu, see you next time,” he could just barely make out Qin Yi’s mouth forming the words.

Lin Chuji unwrapped the framed painting.

It was smaller than the life-sized one from last time, but still quite large.

The painting depicted him, just like now, wearing a white sweater, a cool expression on his face, chin slightly raised.

And on his neck, a bite mark was highlighted in dark red.

Beside the bite mark was a very prominent, unmissable silver chain.

Maybe it was just a simple accessory.

But for some reason, Lin Chuji connected it to that earlier painting with the chain around the waist.

That one had been more direct and crude; this one was more restrained, yet more oppressive.

Lin Chuji stared at it for half a minute, feeling his heart beating irregularly, uncomfortable.

He looked away.

He hurriedly took alcohol into the bathroom, tore off the band-aid, and stared at that string of letters.

He dipped a cotton swab and began to wipe it away bit by bit.

To his dismay, it wouldn’t come off.

Lin Chuji stared at himself in the mirror, on the verge of a breakdown.

Oh no, what now?

He had so confidently told Xie Yan that he could just write anything, that it would wash off.

Now it was a slap in the face.

He would probably need a different solution to remove it, but the dorm didn’t have the necessary supplies.

Lin Chuji could only finish washing up, put on a new band-aid, and just as he finished, Xie Yan returned with a takeout bag.

He poked his wet head out from the bathroom and asked, “You’re back so fast?”

“I didn’t eat.

I packed it to bring back and eat with you,” Xie Yan said.

Then his gaze fell on the painting by the wall.

He paused.

“Qin Yi came?”

The style was too recognizable.

Lin Chuji nodded, helpless.

“He was waiting for me when I got back.

Said he’d probably been waiting for days.”

Xie Yan didn’t hide his likes and dislikes.

“This painting is getting more and more perverted.

The last one was still trying to hide behind a facade of vitality.

This one isn’t even trying to hide it.”

“Yeah, I think if he were bolder, he might dare to write his name on me,” Lin Chuji said, unwrapping the takeout casually.

Xie Yan: “…….”

He really felt guilty.

If Lin Chuji found out… what would he think?

His gaze landed on Lin Chuji’s neck, still covered by a band-aid.

Why isn’t he washing it off?

Did he discover it was his name and wants to keep it as a souvenir?

Or is he waiting for a chance to confront him properly?

Xie Yan ate his meal distractedly, but Lin Chuji didn’t mention the mark.

After eating, he just went to bed.

He turned off the room’s main light, leaving only the desk lamp on, and used his computer to edit the client photos from the evening.

After finishing, he finally opened the set he had taken of Lin Chuji and casually scrolled through them.

Almost all of them were well-shot.

The original files were already captivating.

One stood out in particular.

Through the gap between Lin Chuji’s fingers holding the lens, the mark was visible—the one he had left.

Xie Yan didn’t know where to start.

His mouse hovered over Lin Chuji’s face, back and forth.

Ten minutes passed, and he had barely edited anything.

He had been so proficient with the client photos that he barely needed to think, but now he was all over the place.

He wiped his face, feeling restless today.

His phone vibrated.

Shen Yinan sent a link.

ABO Mini Drama: The Moment You Bite Down, You’ll Ascend to Heaven.

[Crab Boss]: What’s this?

[Shen Yinan]: You asked me to send you something about marking tonight, so I got this from Wanwan.

[Crab Boss]: …You had to ask her?

Couldn’t you just search it online?

[Shen Yinan]: We’re both using others’ resources.

Don’t act like you’re above it.

Why didn’t you just search online?

Xie Yan stared at the document title in silence.

His image in his sister’s mind had probably already galloped off into the sunset, never to return.

Since his editing wasn’t going well, Xie Yan turned off the desk lamp, lay down, and opened the link.

As he read, even someone as unflappable as Boss Xie felt his cheeks involuntarily heating up, like he had a fever a few days ago.

…This was too pornographic.

What were kids these days reading all day and night?

***

Lin Chuji had entered a deep sleep.

He hadn’t slept well when he was staying at home recently.

It was only in the dorm that he felt an inexplicable sense of peace, and he quickly fell into a dream.

But it wasn’t a good dream.

He dreamed once again of that damp, dark room, chains binding his limbs, unable to move.

This time, the feeling was more real than before.

He couldn’t break free.

It was cold and dark, with only a faint glimmer of light at the window.

He hurriedly stood up and walked in that direction.

Sunlight streamed in, warming him all over.

He couldn’t help but want to grasp this sudden light.

Xie Yan had just closed his eyes when Lin Chuji suddenly embraced him, catching him off guard.

Before he could react, Lin Chuji’s limbs wrapped tightly around him.

Through thin pajamas, he had once again, after a long time, appeared in Xie Yan’s bed.

Having not shared a room for a week, Xie Yan had almost forgotten just how passionate he was every night.

He lowered his head slightly, his chin brushing against the other’s soft hair.

“Here you go again.

Do you have to do this every time you sleep next to me?”

Lin Chuji hummed in acknowledgment and hugged him even tighter.

Xie Yan was helpless.

“Alright, sleeping is fine, but this is a bit much.”

Lin Chuji, seemingly dissatisfied with the barrier of fabric, slipped his slightly cool palm under Xie Yan’s clothes and began to explore toward the warmer areas.

Xie Yan grabbed his hand, which was trying to untie his sweatpants drawstring, and said through gritted teeth, “Lin Chuji, do you know what you’re doing?”

“Want,” Lin Chuji said.

Xie Yan’s head was spinning.

He could easily push him away with one hand, but he felt like his own limbs were also being controlled, unable to move.

The curtains weren’t fully drawn.

By the moonlight, he saw the band-aid on Lin Chuji’s neck barely hanging on.

On that pale skin, Xie Yan’s mark was still there.

He thought of the marking process he had read about before bed.

Unconsciously, his fingertip brushed against Lin Chuji’s neck, slowly tracing the English letters, as if they were branded there.

Xie Yan asked, knowing the answer.

“What exactly do you want?”

Lin Chuji’s cool hand pressed against his waist, his head moving lower as he mumbled, “Want you.”

He knew it.

Lin Chuji was no longer satisfied with playing these ambiguous little games.

He wanted the real thing.

The other’s movements grew bolder, and Xie Yan’s breathing became ragged.

He breathed heavily several times before mustering all his willpower to grip Lin Chuji’s neck, trying to stop him from moving.

But because Lin Chuji’s lips were only inches away, his body responded.

Lin Chuji’s soft hair brushed across his hand, still wantonly igniting sparks.

Xie Yan’s fingers moved up, his thumb pressing hard against Lin Chuji’s red lips.

His voice was already unsteady.

“No.”

As he spoke, his larger frame forced Lin Chuji’s breathing to constrict.

He felt Lin Chuji’s lips involuntarily part, wanting to say something, but with the finger pressing on them, the words came out garbled.

In the chaos, the tip of Lin Chuji’s tongue very lightly brushed across his fingertip.

Very light, very soft, very hot.

The string in Xie Yan’s mind snapped.

“Lin Chuji, sleep properly.”

Gritting his teeth, Xie Yan flipped over, strode into the bathroom, and closed the door.

It was normal for a guy to take care of things himself occasionally.

But the lingering sensation of that tongue on his fingertip made him hold that hand in the air, not daring to touch himself at all.

He felt that doing anything would be a defilement of Lin Chuji.

He could only lean against the cold tiles, turning the cold water to the maximum, letting it pour down on him to keep any licentious thoughts from swirling in his mind.

Was this right?

He had an inappropriate reaction to Lin Chuji.

It wasn’t right.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

The Imperial Evening

AngstFantasy RomanceImperial Palace

Read Now →
Not interested