Chapter 32: Impolite but Good

When the two of them came out of the bar, the air outside was a notch cooler than before they entered.

The night wind blew from the end of the street, carrying damp water vapor and the lingering smell of the distant barbecue stalls, enveloping the body temperature Ji Xu had just brought out from the hot dance floor.

Ji Xu stood at the entrance of the bar and took a deep breath, feeling very comfortable as that cool wind poured into his lungs.

He took a step forward and walked ahead, his stride much larger than usual, but his trajectory was somewhat erratic and uncertain.

His left foot veered fifteen degrees outward, and when his right foot caught up, it hooked inward again, the advancing path of his entire person drawing out a crooked wave pattern.

Yuan Hanfei walked behind him to his side, looking at his swaying posture, a hint of “as expected” understanding in his eyes.

Just as he was thinking about whether to reach out and lend a hand, he saw Ji Xu walking straight toward a gray lamppost by the roadside, the distance getting closer and closer, with no intention of turning at all.

Yuan Hanfei took two quick steps, reached out, grabbed Ji Xu’s back collar, and pulled him backward.

Ji Xu’s back hit Yuan Hanfei’s chest, his nose barely grazing that icy lamppost, the baked paint on the metal surface gleaming cold under the streetlight.

“Didn’t you say you could drink?” Yuan Hanfei looked down at the person leaning against his chest, the smile in his voice impossible to hide no matter how he tried.

“Drunk on just one glass?”

After being pulled back, Ji Xu stood firm, blinked, looked at the post in front of him that he had almost bumped into, and then turned his head to look at Yuan Hanfei.

A layer of light pink floated on his cheeks, spreading from his cheekbones to the tips of his ears, and even the corners of his eyes were stained with a bit of faint red, looking exceptionally obvious under the light of the streetlight.

He wrinkled his nose: “I’m not drunk.”

He felt completely clear-headed, able to clearly count the scale lines on the lamppost in his mind and recognize the characters on the shop sign opposite.

He was merely walking a bit unsteadily—this didn’t count as being drunk.

He leaned against Yuan Hanfei, tilting his entire center of gravity onto the person beside him, resting his chin on Yuan Hanfei’s shoulder, his voice coming out muffled from the crook of his neck: “It’s just that this road is too hard to walk.”

He spoke earnestly and with righteous confidence, as if this flat pavement covered with floor tiles and devoid of any obstacles indeed had some structural defect that caused him to be unable to walk straight.

Yuan Hanfei looked down at the furry head leaning on his shoulder and reached out a hand to hold Ji Xu’s hand.

Ji Xu’s fingers were warm and cool, his knuckles distinct, and when held into his palm, they curled naturally, like a mimosa plant closing its leaves after being touched.

Yuan Hanfei held his hand and walked forward, slowing his pace considerably to match Ji Xu’s stop-and-go rhythm.

“Little kids all have to be held by the hand when walking,” Yuan Hanfei’s voice drifted over from the side, mixing with the low sound of the night wind.

“Let me hold you.” His thumb rested on the back of Ji Xu’s hand, lightly rubbing against it, the pad of his finger brushing past that small patch of skin.

Even though the two of them used the exact same hand cream in the dorm, the scent of citrus and shea butter radiating the same aroma from each other’s fingertips, Yuan Hanfei always felt Ji Xu’s hand was simply softer, the joints supple, and the flesh beneath the skin soft and springy.

The size held in his palm was just one size smaller than his own hand, feeling very comfortable to grasp.

Held by him, Ji Xu’s footsteps indeed became much steadier; although he still strayed in direction occasionally, a tug from Yuan Hanfei’s hand pulled him right back onto the proper track.

His face was red, stained with the light color coaxed out by the alcohol from his cheekbones to his neck.

When walking, his head was slightly tilted, his eyelashes half-drooping, casting a long, slender shadow from the side under the streetlight.

The obedient way he allowed himself to be held was like a small animal taking a walk with its owner, neither struggling nor making a fuss, just passively letting someone lead him forward.

Yuan Hanfei glanced sideways at him, and that evaluation in his heart surfaced again—good and cute.

“I am not a kid.” Ji Xu suddenly spoke up again while walking, his voice carrying a bit of dissatisfaction coming from his nose.

“I became an adult a long time ago.” His tone of emphasis was extremely serious, as if this matter was an important topic he needed to repeatedly clarify tonight.

Yuan Hanfei gave two “mhm-mhms,” his perfunctory attitude so obvious that even he felt it was too much, yet he intentionally responded that way.

Ji Xu heard that perfunctoriness; he pursed his lips wanting to say something more, but the stubborn string in his mind relaxed again as the night wind blew over it.

He did not continue to argue, only lowering his head to continue looking at the pedestrian floor tiles beneath his feet as he walked forward.

Walking along, they arrived in front of the steps below the dormitory building.

This was an ordinary set of steps, neither high nor low, about five or six steps, which Ji Xu stepped on at least twice every day.

Yet at this moment, he stood in front of the first step and stopped, lowering his head to look at the light gray cement edge beneath his feet, quiet for quite a while.

Yuan Hanfei walked a few steps and found the person held in his hand hadn’t kept up; turning back to look, Ji Xu was standing there blankly, tilting his head to study those steps, his expression as focused as if examining a complex math problem.

“Little Kid Ji,” Yuan Hanfei let go of his hand and grabbed his arm instead, bending down to lean in front of him, his tone carrying that slightly rising cadence used only when coaxing a child, “You need to lift your feet.”

Ji Xu’s brain received the command and lifted his left foot half a beat late, stepping onto the first step, and then lifted his right foot, stepping onto the second.

After stepping up, he turned his head to look at Yuan Hanfei, the expression on his face carrying a kind of protest that said “See, I obviously knew,” his mouth pouting slightly: “I know I need to lift my feet.”

After saying that, he stepped up another level, this time not stopping again, walking up the remaining steps step-by-step on his own, only his pace was much slower than usual, every step landing earnestly and carefully.

After returning to the dorm, Ji Xu took his pajamas and went straight to the bathroom.

Yuan Hanfei sat on the chair and watched him pull clothes out of the wardrobe, turn around, and walk toward the bathroom, his movements looser than usual but still fairly orderly.

As Ji Xu brushed past his side, he reached out and gave the hem of his shirt a slight tug: “Can you manage by yourself?”

Ji Xu stopped his pace, turned back, and looked at him, a confusion in his eyes that asked “Why are you asking this?”

He could walk, get clothes, and turn on the tap; could it be that he didn’t know how to take a shower?

His response was a “bang” as he shut the bathroom door, the lock tongue snapping into the keyhole with a crisp click.

Yuan Hanfei sat on the chair for a while, holding his phone in his hand and aimlessly scrolling through a couple of pages, his gaze drifting from time to time toward that tightly closed bathroom door.

The sound of water rang out inside, the flow from the showerhead splashing against the floor tiles with a rustle, sounding muffled through the door.

He lowered his eyes and continued scrolling on his phone, but the speed of his finger sliding was noticeably slower than before, his ears constantly catching any movement from the direction of the bathroom.

After the sound of water rang for about ten minutes, it suddenly stopped.

After a few seconds, a dull sound came from inside—like the sound of something falling on the floor, thudding, mixed with a suppressed groan.

The phone in Yuan Hanfei’s hand snapped onto the desk with a “clap,” and he covered the distance to the bathroom door in two steps, raising his hand to knock twice: “Ji Xu, are you okay?”

There was no response inside.

He knocked two more times, but there was still no sound.

He tried turning the door handle, and the door was indeed unlocked—Ji Xu had probably forgotten to lock it just now and merely pulled it shut.

Yuan Hanfei hesitated for less than half a second before pushing open the door, the heat inside the bathroom rushing against his face, white steam covering the mirror and ceramic tiles with a layer of water mist.

Ji Xu was sitting on the floor tiles, his back leaning against the cabinet of the sink, his soaking wet hair clinging to the side of his face and shoulders, his body still wrapped in shower gel foam that hadn’t been rinsed clean, one hand propping against the ground as he attempted to scramble up on his own.

He had probably slipped; his slippers had flown to the corner of the bathroom, one leg curled, the other stretched straight out, the posture of his fall looking disheveled and pitiful.

Yuan Hanfei walked over quickly and squatted down, slipping his arms under Ji Xu’s armpits to haul the person up from the floor.

His gaze swept across Ji Xu’s body rapidly—there were no obvious external injuries, no bleeding, only a small bump-reddened mark on his knee, but it shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Ji Xu’s entire body was still limp, and when hauled up by him, most of his body weight leaned against him, his soaking wet skin and damp hair printing a large wet patch onto the front of Yuan Hanfei’s shirt.

After supporting him to stand firm, Yuan Hanfei immediately shifted his gaze away, moving his sight from his bare shoulders and chest to rest on the corners of the bathroom ceiling and the tile gaps on the wall.

After being supported up, Ji Xu’s brain was half a beat slow before realizing what had happened—he fell, then Yuan Hanfei came in, and then he was hauled up from the floor by Yuan Hanfei while completely naked.

He looked down at his wet, unrinsed body still wrapped in foam, his mind going “buzz,” and frantically grabbed his pajamas from the side to pull them on, the cotton fabric pressing onto his wet skin and instantly bleeding a dark water stain.

“I’m fine,” he said, his voice a tiny bit tight, but sounding fairly composed.

After confirming he could stand firm on his own, Yuan Hanfei withdrew from the bathroom and stood waiting in the dorm for a moment.

Inside, Ji Xu rinsed himself once more with water to wash the foam clean, changed into a dry top, and came out with his hair still dripping water, the fabric on his shoulders thoroughly soaked through.

Yuan Hanfei had already prepared the hair dryer, plugged it in, and placed it on the desk; he patted the chair to signal Ji Xu to sit over.

Ji Xu walked over and sat down, and Yuan Hanfei stood behind him, switching on the hair dryer; warm air surged out from the nozzle, and he began to dry Ji Xu’s hair.

His technique was clearly his first time doing such a thing.

Yuan Hanfei’s fingers inserted into Ji Xu’s strands of hair, combing, flipping, and tugging, his strength not well controlled; several times his finger gaps pinched Ji Xu’s hair, which was blown and pulled by the dryer, wrenching a few strands right off from the roots.

Ji Xu winced and pulled his head back several times in pain, and when pulled hard the last time, he covered that small patch of scalp, turned back, and glared at Yuan Hanfei: “Yuan Hanfei, be gentler, my head is going to be plucked bald by you.”

Yuan Hanfei looked down at those two innocent broken hairs pinched in his fingertips and lightened his strength with some apology.

His learning ability was indeed very strong; within less than two minutes, he adjusted the angle and strength, changing from that clumsy pulling into gentle and patient combing, and the temperature of the hair dryer was also adjusted to a more suitable setting, the warm wind blowing evenly across the hair roots and tips.

Ji Xu’s scalp was liberated from the sharp pain, replaced by the warm wind and the massage of the finger pads, causing his whole person to visibly relax down, his shoulders slumping, his back slightly arching, his head swaying gently with the guidance of Yuan Hanfei’s fingers.

His eyelids began to sink downward, his eyelashes trembling twice before slowly closing, his breathing becoming shallow and even.

When the hair was nearly dry, Yuan Hanfei put away the hair dryer, and Ji Xu’s head lost its supporting force, falling forward limply.

Yuan Hanfei, with quick eyes and hands, reached out to catch his forehead, his palm cushioning his forehead to support the person.

He looked down at this face close at hand—the eyelashes were quietly closed, his sleeping countenance relaxed and tranquil, his lips still flushing with a subtle layer of red from the remnants of the alcohol.

In his heart, he softly said, to think he could fall asleep like this.

His gaze rested on that face without moving away, quietly scrutinizing it for a few seconds just like that.

Then, Ji Xu opened his eyes.

He blinked, a bit of freshly awakened water vapor still in his eyes, but his consciousness had already returned.

“Is it done blowing?” He reached out to feel his hair; the hair strands were dry and fluffy, indeed already done.

He let out a yawn, stood up from the chair, dragged his slippers to climb onto his bed, wrapped himself in the quilt, and shrunk inside.

Facing the wall with his back to Yuan Hanfei’s direction, he mumbled out a line: “Remember to turn off the light.”

Then there was no more sound, the outline on the quilt quickly becoming quiet and steady.

Yuan Hanfei stood by the desk looking at that small hunched-up bundle of quilt on the bed, let out a helpless laugh, walked over, and turned off the main dorm light, leaving only his desk’s small lamp.

He stood in the darkness for two seconds, facing that already sleeping back and softly saying “So impolite.”

His voice was very low, low enough to sound like talking to himself.

Then he lay down on his own bed, reached out to turn off the desk lamp, and the dorm plunged completely into darkness.

A thin, long bright streak leaked through the curtain gap from the streetlights outside, falling on the floor.

From the neighboring bed came Ji Xu’s even and long breathing sound; Yuan Hanfei listened for a while, and also closed his eyes.

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