Shared Bed and Stolen Scents

When Chu Ci woke up, the sky outside was not yet light.

The dense rain had stopped, and water droplets gathered on the eaves fell one by one. Chu Ci blinked slowly, a lingering warmth still clinging to the corners of his eyes.

His head was still unclear, heavy and groggy as if filled with mush. The hair near his ears was wet with sweat, but his clothes were dry, lacking the damp, sticky feeling from before.

Everything was pitch black except for the dim light filtering in from the window. Chu Ci rolled his eyes in a daze; the quilt wrapping him tightly was very warm, and the cozy sensation made him want to drift back to sleep.

His thoughts were gradually sinking until a clear sound of breathing reached his ears.

Calm, steady, and definitely not his own.

His muddled brain snapped into focus instantly. The drowsiness that had been invading him was chased away cleanly. Chu Ci reflexively widened his eyes and bounded up from the bed like a spring.

He made too much noise, startling the person beside him. The other let out a muffled groan and propped himself up, rubbing his eyes with one hand while muttering, “What are you doing?”

The tone didn’t sound friendly, laced with the irritability of someone whose peaceful sleep had been disturbed.

But the voice was familiar. Only then did Chu Ci remember that he had been in Ji Yanli’s dorm before he fainted from the fever.

Which meant… he was currently sitting on Ji Yanli’s bed.

And the person sleeping next to him… was Ji Yanli!

Chu Ci immediately lost his composure.

He quickly reached out to grope his own body up and down, as if terrified the other had done something untoward to him. The clothes he was wearing were oversized, the fabric was high quality, and they carried a faint scent of soapnut.

This was definitely not his own tattered school uniform!!

“Where are my clothes?!” Chu Ci asked instinctively.

Ji Yanli looked at him with half-open eyes, sounding a bit puzzled: “That outfit was completely soaked, so I helped you change.”

“But you’re too thin. My clothes don’t fit you well, so I had to pick the smallest one.”

His voice was clear and cool, carrying a lazy nasal quality. It was only after he finished speaking that Ji Yanli noticed Chu Ci, sitting not far away, had suddenly gone silent.

Then, Ji Yanli unexpectedly heard a strange roar in his head, accompanied by several thoughts:

‘I’m not clean anymore!!!’

‘This ungrateful wolf actually touched my body!!’

‘My pure and spotless body!!!!’

Ji Yanli: “?”

Chu Ci’s entire body began to tremble, his slender fingers bunching the fabric of the clothes into wrinkles. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After the prepared words circled his mouth a few times, he was just about to speak—

In the next second, Chu Ci felt the black hair on his forehead gently brushed aside. A slightly cool palm covered his warm forehead. As the soft fingertips grazed his skin, Chu Ci’s brain went blank, and all his rehearsed words crumbled instantly.

Ji Yanli leaned in silently, bringing with him that unique fragrance. His thick eyelashes cast shadows as his gaze swept over the bridge of the youth’s high nose.

“Seems like the fever is gone.” He let out a sigh, his cool breath brushing past Chu Ci’s face. “Your temperature was nearly 40°C. Luckily, the school infirmary teacher hadn’t gone home yet today, so I was able to get you some fever medicine.”

Chu Ci lifted his gaze. He didn’t know if it was the original owner’s instinct at work, but he felt his heart swelling and going numb. The “thump-thump” of his heartbeat almost filled the entire quiet room.

“Hey.” Ji Yanli seemed to notice something. He pressed his palm tighter against Chu Ci’s forehead. “Why are you starting to get hot now? Is the fever coming back?”

Subsequently, Ji Yanli’s wrist was gripped tightly. Chu Ci struggled to shake off the limp feeling in his body and forcefully pulled Ji Yanli’s hand away from his forehead.

“N-no.”

He spoke in a voice as soft as a mosquito.

The youth before him was hidden in the darkness; Chu Ci couldn’t see his expression. He only heard him pause for a few seconds before continuing: “I see… were you trying to say something just now?”

The deep, magnetic voice came from above. Chu Ci felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat.

“Um…”

It was over.

The Deep Affection Buff from the system was kicking in again!

Chu Ci sensed trouble and quickly retracted his hand to cover his mouth, but he was a step too late.

Ji Yanli watched as he suddenly lowered his head. When Chu Ci looked up again, the affection in his eyes couldn’t be hidden even by the dark night.

Chu Ci took Ji Yanli’s hand and said soulfully: “Someone as kind as you must be an angel who accidentally lost their way in the human world. I am willing to offer you my everything.”

A few seconds later, Chu Ci’s voice vanished into the stiff air.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Ji Yanli watched as the person in front of him suddenly seemed to switch personalities. He flung Ji Yanli’s hand away like a piece of trash and scooted away so fast he almost flew off the bed like a rocket.

Chu Ci stared with wide, horrified eyes, covering his lips in disbelief.

‘What did I just say…’

‘What did I just say!!!’

‘Such disgusting words came out of my 37-degree mouth?! Am I possessed?!!’

‘Listen! Whoever you are! Get out of my body!!’

‘I can’t take it… just thinking about it makes me want to puke…’

His reaction was so violent, as if the words had been forced out by someone else’s control. Ji Yanli had to stare at him intently, fearing that the other might actually jump out the window if he couldn’t handle the shame.

But saying those… strange things to him.

Ji Yanli tilted his head.

Was it really that terrifying?

The quilt had completely fallen off, and the cold wind drifting in from the window blew onto Chu Ci, making him shiver involuntarily.

Ji Yanli sighed silently: “You don’t need to be so worked up. Your fever just broke; such big emotional swings aren’t good for your body.”

He lowered his pitch, his tone calm and somewhat soothing: “I’ll go heat something up for you to eat.”

With that, Ji Yanli flipped out of bed and conveniently switched on the room light. As Chu Ci watched his departing back, his racing heart finally began to steady.

He crawled back under the covers, thinking on one hand if his overreaction had made Ji Yanli suspicious, while on the other hand feeling that Ji Yanli was quite understanding for not questioning why he said such embarrassing things.

Soft clinking sounds came from outside. Chu Ci bit his lower lip, staring blankly in conflict. Just then, Xiao Ba appeared beside him, its fluffy body circling around him.

[Host! You’re actually wearing the protagonist bottom’s clothes! Doesn’t that mean we can complete the second mission very soon!]

Saying this, it bumped Chu Ci’s temple with satisfaction: [As expected, following the right host means no detours.]

Chu Ci looked up at Xiao Ba with a dejected face: “…Consider how hard I’m working on the missions and do me a favor.”

Seeing him looking like a corpse, Xiao Ba quickly asked: [Host, what’s wrong!]

Chu Ci spoke gloomily: “Can you remove this Deep Affection Buff for me?”

Xiao Ba let out a confused [Eh?], then shook its round body: [No can do! Before every host enters a mission, the system automatically assigns skills. The Deep Affection Buff was set based on your flaws!]

Chu Ci realized something was wrong: “What flaws do I have?”

Xiao Ba’s white eyes blinked.

[Straight-man personality, toxic tongue, love of roasting others, inability to say nice things.]

[And… the flaw of being a virgin for twenty years!]

It even intentionally emphasized the words “twenty years.”

Chu Ci felt a deep sense of humiliation.

“You…!” He was fuming with rage. Just as he was about to lash out at Xiao Ba, Ji Yanli pushed the door open, carrying a bowl.

Chu Ci immediately shrunk back into the quilt like a quail. Xiao Ba vanished without a trace the moment Ji Yanli entered.

“I heated some porridge for you,” Ji Yanli said softly. He didn’t seem to notice anything and walked straight to Chu Ci, handing him the bowl. “It’s too late to order takeout, so I could only go to the breakfast shop at the school gate to get a bowl.”

“Just bear with it for now.”

The porridge was heated to the perfect temperature. Ji Yanli even thoughtfully moved a bedside table for him and tucked him in.

Watching Ji Yanli do all this, Chu Ci couldn’t help but sigh again. Ji Yanli was gentle, considerate, and knew how to take care of people. He was good-looking and kind-hearted; no wonder the original owner liked him so much.

But no matter how much you like someone, you shouldn’t be a licking dog!

Risking your life for the protagonist only for them to not even know your name or who you are!

That’s a huge loss!

Chu Ci gripped the spoon Ji Yanli handed him and poked it hard into the bottom of the bowl.

Ji Yanli glanced at the veins popping on the back of his hand.

…Who provoked him now?

He swallowed and instinctively wanted to escape, so he straightened his back and spoke: “I’m going to take a shower. Just leave the bowl aside when you’re finished, I’ll clean it up later.”

Once he finished, Ji Yanli carried a change of clothes into the bathroom attached to the room.

Chu Ci stared at the steaming vegetable porridge. The sound of splashing water from the shower reached his ears. He took a few bites listlessly, found it tasteless, and set the half-finished bowl on the nightstand.

The bathroom door faced the left side of the bed. The warm yellow light shone through the frosted glass, illuminating the clean floor.

The black silhouette inside was flickering. Through the blur, Chu Ci felt like he could see every movement.

Chu Ci slammed on the brakes and jerked his gaze away.

The heat on his face rose uncontrollably. Especially when he thought about how Ji Yanli had been lying on the same bed as him earlier, Chu Ci became increasingly restless.

His gaze darted around before finally landing on the pile of clothes Ji Yanli had folded by the door.

As if possessed, Chu Ci threw off the covers and got out of bed, walking step by step toward that pile of clothes.

He stopped, lowered his gaze, and scanned the neatly folded clothes repeatedly, as if there were something incredibly attractive about them.

Chu Ci slowly knelt down, reached out, grabbed a corner of the clothes, and suddenly brought it to his nose.

His nose rubbed against the soft, smooth fabric. The fragrance clinging to it entered his nostrils like a drug. Chu Ci only felt his head grow incredibly dizzy. The strength in his hands increased uncontrollably, and the flat fabric became wrinkled and deformed under his grip.

He curled up on the floor, holding the clothes tightly in his arms as if trying to feel the owner’s body through them. The corners of his half-closed eyes were tinged with a faint flush.

Suddenly, a “click” came from the bathroom door. Before Chu Ci could react, the closed door was pulled open from the inside without warning.

Hot steam rushed out, pulling back a sliver of Chu Ci’s nearly lost sanity.

He opened his eyes and looked at the pair of long legs standing right in front of him.

Then, a cold voice rang out from above…

“What are you doing?”