TC Extra 7

Qi Xing fled in panic.

After tossing and turning for several days, he finally realized one thing: he liked men, and he liked Ye Xingzhou.

Being “good friends” or calling him “big brother” was no longer enough for him; he wanted more.

Liking men wasn’t such an unacceptable thing for him. If the object of his affections had not been Ye Xingzhou, he probably would’ve sorted out his feelings within a couple of days. But precisely because it was Ye Xingzhou…

He was especially troubled.

After all, the flower on the high mountain is not so easy to pursue.

The next time they video called, Ye Xingzhou saw Qi Xing’s dejected face on the screen and asked, “Where have you been these past few days?”

Nowhere; he had simply been too embarrassed to face Ye Xingzhou and had been avoiding him.

After a long pause, the boy finally managed to say, “Let’s not be friends anymore.”

Ye Xingzhou remained calm: “And the reason?”

“I don’t want to be friends with you anymore.”

He declined to comment on the reason.

Ye Xingzhou didn’t take those words too seriously and continued to contact him every few days as usual, with the same attitude as before.

Qi Xing, however, became unpredictable: he was sometimes enthusiastic and sometimes indifferent. He would often stare blankly at Ye Xingzhou’s face while talking, or he would make an excuse to hang up after only a few words. Sometimes he wanted to cling to Ye Xingzhou and pour his heart out to him, but other times he was impatient and deliberately talked back to Ye Xingzhou. He was completely unlike himself.

Ye Xingzhou noticed it, but did not ask. Occasionally, he would feel uneasy because of Qi Xing’s unusual behavior, realizing that his little friend might be going through adolescence. The generation gap between them, which had been postponed for so many years, seemed to have finally appeared.

Qi Xing actually couldn’t stand his own awkwardness, but he just couldn’t bring himself to act naturally when faced with Ye Xingzhou.

Would someone who saw his naked butt when they were kids still be interested in his butt now?

This was a question that Qi Xing had been pondering. As for why it’s not the other way around, he never even considered it. In the wet dreams he’d been having repeatedly lately, he was the bottom, and there was nothing unacceptable about it since the experience in the dream seemed to be quite enjoyable.

During a casual video call, Qi Xing suddenly blurted out a question, “There’s a boy in my class who’s pretty cute. I’m thinking about pursuing him. What do you think?”

Ye Xingzhou had been reading work documents while half-listening, paused when he heard this and looked up at the person smiling at him on the screen. He then asked, “A boy?”

“Mn, a boy.”

“You like boys?”

Qi Xing slowly said yes, paying close attention to Ye Xingzhou’s expression. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get anything from it; rather, being looked at by those eyes made him feel a little guilty.

There really was a good-looking boy in his class, but compared to Ye Xingzhou, he didn’t even come close. The only person he wanted to pursue was Ye Xingzhou.

Ye Xingzhou remained silent, simply watching Qi Xing on the screen. He seemed to realize for the first time that his little friend had grown up.

No longer the chubby-cheeked little kitten he used to be, his features had fully matured, and Qi Xing’s eyes held a different quality, though he was still a teenager.

Ye Xingzhou tapped the cigarette box beside him lightly with his fingers, staring at him with slightly narrowed eyes.

Qi Xing leaned a little closer to the camera, a smile playing on his lips, and asked him again, “Ye Xingzhou, what do you think?”

Ye Xingzhou didn’t know when it started, but at some point, the boy had stopped calling him “big brother.” Only today did Ye Xingzhou realize it.

“No.” Ye Xingzhou finally answered him, with a half-smile.

Qi Xing refused to let it go: “Why not?I’m already seventeen. Some of my classmates started dating back in elementary school.”

“You can’t,” Ye Xingzhou reminded him. “Didn’t you say you wanted to take the National College Entrance Examination? If so, don’t date this early and focus on your studies.”

Qi Xing let out an exaggerated sigh, “Ye Xingzhou, you’re so controlling!”

“Weren’t you the one asking for my opinion?” Ye Xingzhou casually lit a cigarette and put it in his mouth. “I’m saying, no.”

This was the first time Qi Xing had seen Ye Xingzhou smoke; he hadn’t even known that Ye Xingzhou smoked before.

The man looked at him through the drifting smoke and across the screen, making the tips of his ears burn inexplicably. Qi Xing swallowed unconsciously, his voice becoming slightly muffled: “Then forget it.”

“Qi Xing.” Ye Xingzhou called his name as he flicked away the cigarette ash.

Qi Xing hummed in acknowledgement and looked at him.

Ye Xingzhou raised his chin slightly: “Come over this summer.”

Something about that expression made Qi Xing’s heart itch, and even those simple words “come over this summer” somehow sounded as though they carried another meaning. He hesitated before saying, “We’ll see. I might not have time this summer.”

Ye Xingzhou chuckled softly, “Alright then.”

Qi Xing’s ears turned even redder from his laughter. He regretted his answer a little, but didn’t want to take it back, so he decided to let it go.

From that day on, they contacted each other even more frequently, and the atmosphere during their conversations changed somewhat as well. Qi Xing would often start conversations that hovered on the edge of ambiguity, and Ye Xingzhou would contribute a sentence or two before subtly steering the topic elsewhere, never delving too deeply.

But Ye Xingzhou couldn’t always gain the upper hand. Sometimes Qi Xing would purposefully play dumb, putting on an innocent, clueless act that left Ye Xingzhou helpless but also a little amused in his exasperation.

In the end, Qi Xing didn’t go to England that summer as he was about to enter his final year of high school and needed to catch up on his studies.

In truth, he still had two weeks of vacation left, but he didn’t go because he felt that Ye Xingzhou had been stringing him along all this time, and he wasn’t about to let that bastard get away with it. Besides, he wasn’t an adult yet, so he couldn’t exactly tempt Ye Xingzhou to commit a crime and do something to him before he turned eighteen.

After all, he was so devastatingly handsome and his big brother, being so hot-blooded, might not be able to control himself when they met.

Since Qi Xing didn’t go, Ye Xingzhou didn’t return for Christmas either. He said he had an important project after the holidays and needed to prepare in advance, so he wouldn’t be coming back.

“After you finish the National College Entrance Exam next year, I’ll go back to China for work.” As he said this, Ye Xingzhou was still reading, casually turning another page in front of the computer without even looking up.

Resting his chin on one hand, Qi Xing studied the man on the screen. He suspected the jerk was just making excuses not to come back, but he didn’t call him out on it.

“Ye Xingzhou.”

He uttered the name softly, and Ye Xingzhou hummed absent-mindedly before finally lifting his eyes, “What is it?”

Qi Xing leaned back in his chair, lacing his hands behind his head. His posture was lazy yet arrogant, but his words carried an unmistakable implication. “In another six months… I’ll be an adult.”

Ye Xingzhou’s eyebrows twitched slightly: “What kind of coming-of-age gift do you want?”

Qi Xing parted his lips and silently mouthed a single word:

You.

Whether Ye Xingzhou understood or not was impossible to tell. He lowered his gaze, smiled faintly, and avoided answering directly.

“Let’s talk about it when that day comes.”

Qi Xing’s eighteenth birthday fell one month before the National College Entrance Exam. Ye Xingzhou mailed his birthday gift back to China a week early, but he himself still hadn’t returned.

Qi Xing wasn’t happy about it, but he held back and decided to settle the score after the exams.

When the final exam ended, Qi Xing walked out with the crowd of students. His class group chat was already buzzing with plans for a celebratory dinner that evening, asking who was coming. He felt a little unmotivated and didn’t want to go home so early. Just as he was about to reply, he looked up and caught a glimpse of Ye Xingzhou, who stood out conspicuously in the crowd, and paused in surprise.

Ye Xingzhou stood there with his hands in his pockets, smiling at him.

Qi Xing snapped out of his daze and strode over.

“When did you get back?”

“I just got off the plane this afternoon.”

After their brief exchange, Ye Xingzhou draped an arm around his shoulders and said, “Let’s go, I’ll take you out for dinner.”

Qi Xing’s heart was pounding. Throughout the drive, he kept sneaking glances at the man beside him. Ye Xingzhou, who was driving, reminded him, “Look at the scenery outside the window, don’t just look at me.”

Caught red-handed, Qi Xing blushed, “I wasn’t looking at you.”

“What would you like to eat?”

“I’m not hungry.”

Ye Xingzhou turned to look at him, and the moment their eyes met, Qi Xing pursed his lips slightly.

Ye Xingzhou got the hint, his fingers tapping lightly against the steering wheel before he made a U-turn, changing their destination.

At the hotel reception desk, while Ye Xingzhou checked them in, Qi Xing lowered his head and pretended to scroll through his phone, trying to hide his slight unease.

The class group chat was flooded with messages. Someone wrote that now the exam was over, everyone could finally date openly. Qi Xing couldn’t help thinking to himself, ‘you people are so behind, I’ve already skipped that step.’

“Qi Xing.”

Upon hearing his name, he immediately shut off his phone and looked up. Calmly slipping the room key into his pocket, Ye Xingzhou gestured to him, “Let’s go.”

As they took the elevator upstairs, neither of them spoke. Qi Xing watched the floor numbers steadily climb, hearing the pounding of his own heartbeat once again.

Until they entered the room and locked the door.

As Ye Xingzhou’s fingers brushed against the side of his neck, Qi Xing subconsciously gasped, meeting Ye Xingzhou’s teasing eyes: “So sensitive?”

Qi Xing cursed under his breath: “Beast.”

They had known each other for ten years, and only today did he realize that his big brother was actually a beast through and through.

And there was more beastly behaviour to come.

Ye Xingzhou picked him up like a child, forcibly spreading his legs and wrapping them around his waist. Qi Xing pressed his back against the wall, not daring to move.

His sensitive areas were now completely exposed in Ye Xingzhou’s hands. He bit his lip and glared at the bastard: “Where did you learn all this from…”

Ye Xingzhou’s breath was close to his ear: “Self-taught.”

Pressed onto the bed with his back facing up, Qi Xing instinctively clutched the sheets beneath him, struggling to turn his head to the side. As Ye Xingzhou leaned down to kiss him, he asked in a strained voice, “What can this be considered?”

“Your coming-of-age gift,” Ye Xingzhou’s voice muffled between their entwined lips, “You ordered it yourself.”

The process that followed was both painful and pleasurable for Qi Xing. He cried his eyes out, but Ye Xingzhou did not let him off the hook. Even he himself couldn’t tell whether he was crying from pain or pleasure.

With Ye Xingzhou’s hand holding his captive, Qi Xing completely at his mercy, finally regained his voice amidst overwhelming pleasure: “You, bastard…”

The bastard in question stopped what he was doing and kissed his moist lips: “Qi Xing, be with me.”

They’re already sleeping together and only now is he saying such things; truly, even a beast cannot compare.

Qi Xing’s eyelashes trembled, and the breath he had just managed to muster suddenly dissipated.

He was too flustered and didn’t respond, but eventually squeezed out a sentence: “Let me have my fun first, uh—”

The sound inadvertently escaped his mouth and gradually changed pitch, masking other noises.

When he finally stopped, Ye Xingzhou’s lips landed on Qi Xing’s sweaty forehead, and he said again in a hoarse voice, “Qi Xing, stay with me.”

Qi Xing closed his eyes and nodded, reciprocating his kiss.

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