—

Gu Zhao laughed softly, as if he'd won, and released the hand covering the red lips.

In its place came the bridge of a high nose, pressing against the soft, tender flesh of his cheek, grinding little by little toward the corner of his lips.

Scorching breath so close it was almost on him — Ji Su's heart pounded so violently he could barely breathe; he couldn't help turning his face away.

He felt the breath at his ear pause, and then a large hand gripped his jaw, forcing his face back.

Gu Zhao stared at him — even in that breath of a voice, the hoarseness was audible: 'You crossed the line first.'

First inviting him onto the bed, then resting a calf across his body — not the least bit guarded against him.

Ji Su knew he was in the wrong; he bit his lower lip, unsure what to say.

Gu Zhao rubbed the full, damp lip with his fingertip, then pressed the long, strong finger through the seam of his lips and inside.

'Mm...' Ji Su let out a small sound; instinctively he tried to push the finger out with his tongue, but instead his tongue tip was caught and held.

The color in Gu Zhao's eyes deepened; his long, knuckled finger stirred slowly in the wet, hot mouth.

Ji Su's lips were forced open; the clear saliva pooling in his mouth slid down the corners, and a physiological mist gathered in his eyes.

Gu Zhao's Adam's apple bobbed; he couldn't help swallowing.

Because of the didi sleeping in the bed beside them, the person in his hands didn't dare struggle in the slightest — that look of letting himself be done to as one pleased, as though anything more could be done to him and he would allow it.

The gaze fixed on him carried too much of the intent to take; Ji Su, ashamed and afraid, could only lay his palm over the veined back of that hand and beg silently for mercy.

The red in Gu Zhao's eyes deepened; with a rough tug at the reddened tip of the tongue, he at last drew the wet finger out.

Relief loosened Ji Su's chest; to keep Gu Zhao from tormenting him again, he simply lowered his head and buried his face against his chest.

But Gu Zhao's bathrobe had already fallen open at the front — so the motion met no resistance and pressed directly against the burning chest.

Gu Zhao let out a muffled groan, his low, hoarse voice like a sigh: 'Go on, torment me...'

Ji Su's cheeks flushed scarlet in an instant; he quickly rolled out of Gu Zhao's arms and to the other side, his back turned.

A few seconds later, with a creak, Gu Zhao rose from the bed.

Ji Su quietly turned his face back and watched him walk into the bathroom; soon the sound of running water rose.

Before, he might not have understood why Gu Zhao had gone to shower again — but now he didn't need to guess.

Ji Su closed his eyes; a lovely flush spread across the pale column of his neck.

Fortunately, Gu Zhao's shower lasted long enough that the sleep he'd been chased out of crept back; his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

When Gu Zhao stepped out of the bathroom, he saw only that slender figure curled at the edge of the bed, looking pitifully small.

He went to the bedside, gently turned the person back and settled him in, drew the covers over him, then lay down himself.

Gu Zhao lay on his side, one arm tucked behind his neck, his dark gaze falling unblinking on the sleeping face.

As though he could go on looking like this forever, and never tire of it.

*

The next morning, when Ji Su woke, he found himself the only one left in the bed.

He blinked his lashes in a daze; as his senses returned, he sat up.

'Ge, you're awake!' Ji Chen noticed him stir and excitedly leaned over the bed to look at him.

'Mm.' Ji Su answered, his gaze meeting the eyes of the person sitting on the sofa.

Every detail from before sleep last night rushed unbidden into his mind, and his pale ears reddened again.

'Good morning.' Gu Zhao, perfectly composed, stood. 'Freshen up first, then we'll check out.'

After checking out, the three of them went to a nearby breakfast shop.

Over breakfast, Ji Su asked: 'Xiao Chen, where do you want to go today?'

'I'm up for anything!' Ji Chen broke into a bright, sunny smile. 'As long as I'm with ge, I'll do anything!'

Gu Zhao's hand paused; he glanced up at him.

'Then let's take you back to the school and keep looking around,' Ji Su thought for a moment. 'Don't you like A University?'

Ji Chen nodded rapidly: 'Yes, yes!'

So they returned to campus and walked through the Library and other places.

After lunch in the canteen, Gu Zhao got a message from the Basketball Club and had to go to the Gymnasium to practice.

Ji Chen was also very interested in basketball and could hardly wait to tag along to the Gymnasium.

Gu Zhao changed into a black basketball uniform; the short sleeves revealed the smooth lines of his arm muscles, and the moment he stepped onto the court, the watching crowd burst into cheers.

Ji Su sat in the front row of the stands, Ji Chen beside him, his tone full of envy: 'Gu Zhao-ge is not only tall, he's even got muscles this well-trained!'

Ji Su smiled and comforted him: 'Eat well, train well, and you'll grow up to look like that too.'

'Really?' Ji Chen was immediately fired up. 'Ge, you really think I can train to look like that?'

'Mm.' Ji Su's gaze unconsciously followed the tall figure on the court; he answered absently, 'You can.'

Ji Chen was quiet for a moment, then suddenly asked: 'Ge, you and Gu Zhao-ge... are you really just ordinary friends?'

Ji Su came back to himself: 'What did you say?'

'It's just...' Ji Chen's expression twisted with conflict; in the end he steeled himself and said it: 'When I woke up this morning, I saw Gu Zhao-ge kiss your hand.'

Ji Su's heart jumped; he denied it on instinct: 'You must have seen wrong.'

Ji Chen scratched the back of his head: 'I don't think I saw wrong!'

Ji Su's mind raced; taking advantage of his didi's young age, he tried to bluff his way through: 'We're both guys — even if he kissed my hand, it's nothing.'

'It's not like that, ge.' Ji Chen grew serious. 'These days two guys can date too!'

Ji Su: '...'

His didi had only just graduated from middle school — why did he know so much?

'Ge, you're too innocent — it's easy to get taken in like that.' Ji Chen's face was full of worry. 'Whether it's a boy or a girl, you have to be careful!'

Ji Su, for the moment unsure how to explain his relationship with Gu Zhao to his didi, could only reply vaguely: 'Ge got it.'

A while later, Gu Zhao came off the court to rest and walked straight toward the stands.

Ji Su rose to meet him, unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, and handed it over.

Gu Zhao took the bottle, drank half, then tipped his face back and poured the remaining half over his face.

His handsome brow and eyes were soaked; the water traced the sharp line of his jaw down into the collar, dampening the basketball uniform and revealing the outline of a solid chest.

Ji Su pressed his lips together and looked away: 'I'm about to send Ji Chen home.'

Gu Zhao crushed the empty bottle and tossed it into the bin; the hand that hadn't yet come down to rest changed course and went to pinch Ji Su's jaw instead: 'Wait — I'll go with you.'

Ji Su dodged with an exaggerated reaction, stepping back.

Gu Zhao's dark eyes narrowed slightly; his expression was visibly displeased.

'My didi is still...' Ji Su complained in a small voice, 'you snuck a kiss on my hand this morning, and he saw it.'

'Did he?' Gu Zhao replied, unconcerned. 'Let him see, then.'

Ji Su, a little helpless: 'Could you keep some sense of propriety in front of a child?'

Gu Zhao lifted an eyebrow slightly: 'So what you're saying is, as long as it's not in front of a child, you don't need me to keep propriety?'

Ji Su: '...'

What kind of top-tier comprehension is this?

Gu Zhao didn't keep teasing him: 'Wait for me — I'll go say something to my teammates.'

Ji Su returned to the stands: 'Xiao Chen, I'll take you home.'

'You don't need to take me back, ge.' Ji Chen stood with his backpack on. 'I can do it myself!'

'No, I'm not at ease.' Ji Su pulled out his phone from his pocket. 'Then I'll call baba and have Uncle Zhang come pick you up.'

'Really, no need!' Ji Chen snatched the phone from his hand. 'I'm about to be a high schooler — how could I not know the way home?'

Ji Su thought for a moment: 'How about this — I'll call you a cab and have them take you right to the door.'

Gu Zhao had changed into his own clothes and was striding toward them on those long legs of his.

The three of them walked to the School gate, where Ji Su hailed a cab and gave the driver the detailed address.

'Gege, I'm off then.' Ji Chen hugged him tight, reluctant to let go. 'When summer break comes, you have to come home first thing, okay?'

Ji Su didn't agree outright: 'We'll see when the time comes.'

Ji Chen loosened his hold: 'If you're busy at School during summer break, then I'll come visit you again.'

'Mm, get in the car.' Ji Su pulled open the door. 'Send me a message when you get home.'

Ji Chen climbed in, his eyes still clinging to Ji Su's face: 'Gege, I'll miss you — you have to miss me too!'

Gu Zhao, standing to one side, reached out and shut the door with a solid thud: 'Driver, you can go.'

The cab pulled slowly onto the main road. Ji Chen stuck his head out the window and waved hard: 'Gege, bye!'

Ji Su wore a smile: 'Bye.'

Only when the cab had vanished entirely from sight did Ji Su let out a long, slow breath.

Gu Zhao looked at him, his tone neither warm nor cold: 'Your half-brother's pretty clingy with you, huh.'

Ji Su lowered his lashes: 'A little, yeah.'

Gu Zhao had been about to say more, but seeing the weariness in Ji Su's expression, swallowed it back: 'Let's go.'

The two of them turned and started back. After a while, Ji Su suddenly spoke: 'Gu Zhao, do you think I'm a hypocrite?'

Gu Zhao stopped, reached out and gripped his shoulders, turning him to face himself: 'Why would you say that?'

Ji Su lifted his lashes, the corner of his mouth pulling slightly: 'I don't actually like my half-brother all that much, and yet I still put on the act of being a good elder brother.'

In truth, at first he had genuinely liked this little brother — only it hadn't taken long for him to realize that the boy's arrival had stripped away the last scrap of love he'd had left.

But Ji Chen had always loved clinging to him since he was small — such an innocent little thing, always wanting to share his snacks with Ji Su, always wanting to share his toys too, even though Ji Su had long outgrown playing with toys.

And as the elder brother, Ji Zhenghai was forever drilling into him, demanding that he properly shoulder the responsibility of looking after his younger brother.

So day after day he played the role of the good elder brother, fooling everyone.

'You're not a hypocrite at all — you've done the best you could.' Gu Zhao looked into his eyes, his tone unusually serious. 'If it were me, I wouldn't just refuse to look after him — I'd find a way to destroy him.'

Ji Su laughed: 'You're not as ruthless as you make yourself out to be.'

Gu Zhao's mouth curved too: 'You know me that well?'

Ji Su replied softly: 'Maybe I don't know you well enough, but I know you're a good person.'

Gu Zhao paused, his gaze turning complicated: 'That's the first time anyone's ever called me a good person.'

Ji Su turned back and kept walking: 'In my heart, you're a good person.'

Even if he sometimes found new ways to bully him, no one had ever been better to him.

Gu Zhao laughed, the meaning unreadable, and lengthened his stride to match Ji Su's pace.

*

The week that followed, the students of A University entered the pre-finals preparation week.

Ji Su was normally a top student and never panicked at finals time, but his other roommates — Qiao Jin included — had fallen into a state of utter chaos.

In their scramble to pass, everyone started cramming at the last minute, and snagging a seat at the Library became absurdly difficult.

Ji Su, however, didn't need to rush for a seat — every day, Gu Zhao would claim one for him in advance.

The Library was quiet, filled only with the sound of pages turning and the soft scratch of pens.

Ji Su tried hard to focus, but the gaze from across the table was simply impossible to ignore.

He lifted his eyes and saw Gu Zhao with a pen held between those long fingers, tapping it idly against his knuckles, his deep gaze resting on Ji Su's face.

'Study,' Ji Su mouthed. 'Stop looking at me.'

Gu Zhao spread his hands in a gesture: 'Already memorized.'

Ji Su: '...'

So annoying — showing off that ridiculous memory and terrifying efficiency again.

Past nine, Ji Su wrapped up his studying and prepared to head back to the Dormitory to keep working on his final-project drawings.

Gu Zhao walked him to the Dormitory Building, then stopped: 'Go on up. Don't stay up too late drawing.'

Ji Su hesitated, then asked once more: 'Want to come up to our Dormitory for a bit?'

'Sure.' This time Gu Zhao didn't refuse. 'I'll come up and have a look, then.'

The two of them went upstairs. When Ji Su reached the Dormitory door, he realized none of his other roommates had come back yet.

'Finals week — my roommates are probably all off grinding somewhere.' Ji Su pulled out his key and opened the door. 'It's a bit messy in here. Hope you don't mind.'

Gu Zhao walked in, his gaze sweeping once around the Dormitory before locking precisely onto Ji Su's bunk: 'This one's yours?'

Ji Su was a little surprised: 'How'd you guess?'

'I recognize your bedsheet.' Gu Zhao's words came unhurried. 'The photo of you lying on this bed in the short skirt I bought you — I still remember it perfectly.'

Ji Su's face flushed red on the instant, the tips of his ears going pink too, and he protested in a small voice: 'Didn't we agree not to bring that up again...'

Gu Zhao asked, smiling but not quite smiling: 'When did we agree to that?'

'You—' Ji Su, knowing he couldn't win the argument, raised his hands and pushed Gu Zhao toward the door. 'It's late. You should head back.'

Gu Zhao let those two hands push him all the way back, only stopping when his back met the door panel.

Ji Su pulled his hands back: 'Did that hurt?'

'Worried about me, are you?' Gu Zhao laughed, then suddenly reached out and gripped him by the waist.

The world spun, and in an instant their positions had switched — Ji Su was pressed against the door panel, his two slender wrists caught in one large hand and pinned above his head.

Their eyes met, and the air grew strangely thick.

Gu Zhao lowered his head slowly, the bridge of his straight nose brushing against Ji Su's cooler one.

Ji Su's heart slammed against his ribs, and he felt he might drown in those focused, tender eyes.

But just as those thin lips drew closer and closer, he still managed, with effort, to turn his face away.

'Third time.' Gu Zhao breathed against his ear. 'That's the third time you've dodged me.'

Ji Su tried to explain: 'I—'

He had barely got the single word out when his thin earlobe was taken between lips.

Ji Su shuddered all over; a strange current raced from the root of his ear down his spine, so intense that even his legs went weak.

Were it not for the large hand bracing his waist, he might have embarrassingly slid to the floor.

Gu Zhao sucked at the soft, hot earlobe, his strong tongue stroking back and forth with teasing intimacy, as though he meant to swallow that small tender morsel of flesh whole.

'Mmph...' Ji Su forced a whimper from his throat and raised his hands to push back.

But Gu Zhao was like a wall of bronze and iron, holding him firmly in place.

Knock, knock, knock — the door at his back was suddenly struck.

'Anyone there?' Qiao Jin's voice rang out from beyond the door. 'Susu, is that you in the Dormitory?'

Ji Su started, struggling harder.

Gu Zhao drew back his lips and tongue, asking in a hoarse voice: 'Want your roommates to come watch?'

Ji Su's eye corners reddened; he gazed at Gu Zhao through eyes misted with tears, almost pleading: 'Don't...'

Gu Zhao's hand squeezed that slender waist without a care for how roughly he gripped, asking wickedly: 'Now — still think I'm a good person?'

The knocking had escalated to pounding: 'Who's in there? Come open the door!'

In his panic, Ji Su raised his arms and wrapped them around the neck of the man in front of him.

Gu Zhao hadn't had time to react when, in the next instant, a warm kiss landed on his cheek.

So light, and yet so warm.