Yan Xu suddenly realized that good-looking people seemed to have every part of their body look good, too. For example, when he looked at Lin Jia from a 45-degree angle, he could see his delicate, smooth jawline and faintly visible collarbone under the collar…
This person stood on the blue bricks laid out like a chessboard and raised his head to look at Yan Xu. The tree shade cast the morning sunlight down, and within the quiet, scattered light, the person raised his brows, looked at him, and reached out his hand.
His hand was narrow, elegant, and long with trimmed, round nails. Floating points of light fell on his fingertips, making them glow like mellow honey.
Very strangely, Yan Xu noticed the rumbling sound coming from his empty stomach and naturally thought of the scene that had just happened.
Lin Jia had asked him what flavor of compressed biscuits he wanted at noon.
Yan Xu touched his pocket. There were a lot of biscuits stored there, but these did not count as biscuits—they were the rewards that Lin Jia used to win people over and lure them into traps.
Now, this person had come again to check the answers and set traps.
“If you fall, I’m not responsible,” Yan Xu said coldly.
Lin Jia: “Mm.”
Yan Xu looked deeply at Lin Jia, then reached out his hand.
Not because Lin Jia was too dazzling under the sunlight, nor because that hand was too beautiful, but simply because the inspection team captain liked to face difficulty head-on and was not a coward who was scared out of his wits by a trap.
That beautiful hand came up. Yan Xu exerted a little force and pulled Lin Jia up.
The sun had warmed Lin Jia’s body. As soon as he pulled Lin Jia onto the tree, Yan Xu felt waves of warmth drift from beside him.
Probably because there was limited space to stand on the tree fork, Yan Xu felt the warmth move closer to him. He frowned and said, “Don’t move around! Do you want to fall?”
Behind him: “I don’t.”
Despite his answer, the warmth moved closer, almost pressing against his back.
“I said if you don’t want to then don’t—”
He felt his clothes being tugged. Yan Xu turned his head unhappily. After seeing the situation behind him, the words stuck in his throat.
Lin Jia probably had a fear of heights, his expression turning slightly serious and heavy. He did not dare look down at the ground, so his gaze stayed fixed tightly on Yan Xu.
It was difficult to steady oneself on a tree fork, so Yan Xu became Lin Jia’s source of security.
Yan Xu watched as Lin Jia carefully moved closer to him, his fingers hooking the corner of Yan Xu’s clothes.
“Oh.” Yan Xu said gleefully. “Afraid of heights?”
Lin Jia did not seem very willing to admit it. “It’s okay.”
But Yan Xu could hear the nervousness in those short two words. He sharply caught on to this and happily raised the corner of his brows.
Since entering the Fish Belly, his relationship with Lin Jia had not been equal. He could not figure out Lin Jia’s actions, leaving himself trapped in a passive stalemate. But now it was different—he had discovered Lin Jia’s weakness.
Hoh.
Lin Jia had a weakness, too.
The situation seemed to reverse at that moment. Yan Xu no longer minded Lin Jia’s closeness and lifted his chin. “I’ll go across first. Stay still. After I get over there, I’ll pull you over.”
Hesitation appeared on Lin Jia’s face.
This made Yan Xu even more smug. “Scared? If you are, then hold the trunk.”
“Relax.” Yan Xu carried a bit of adding insult to injury, “The bark isn’t rough enough to hurt your pretty fingers.”
“I’m not afraid.” Lin Jia denied.
“Fine, you’re not afraid.” Yan Xu lowered his head to look at the corner of his clothes that was hooked in Lin Jia’s hand. “Brother Jia, then let go of me first?”
He copied the way Xiao Tian and Xiao Yao addressed Lin Jia, mocking him at a time like this.
Not just anyone could be called big brother.
Under Yan Xu’s teasing gaze, Lin Jia first turned his head to look at the tree trunk a little farther away, then seemed to make a major decision before slowly letting go of Yan Xu.
Yan Xu raised his brow again. “If you’re scared, don’t look at the ground. If you fall, I won’t pull you up.”
Lin Jia did not respond, leaning back and reaching out to support himself against the trunk.
“You go over,” Lin Jia said.
Yan Xu looked at Lin Jia. After confirming that Lin Jia was steady and wouldn’t fall because of his leaving, Yan Xu took a step and jumped to the third-floor windowsill.
Then, he turned back and measured the distance between the branch and the windowsill with his eyes.
The distance was not short. For Yan Xu, it was not a problem, but for Lin Jia, who feared heights, it was. He might fall while crossing because he was nervous.
Joking was one thing, but from this height, there was still a chance of dying if one fell.
Seeing that Lin Jia was frozen in place, Yan Xu said, “Just wait here for me.”
Lin Jia seemed to be considering it, but enough time had already been wasted. Yan Xu didn’t plan to wait for Lin Jia, so he turned around and flipped down from the windowsill.
Without waiting for Lin Jia, Yan Xu headed toward the ward door.
Behind Yan Xu, Lin Jia glanced at the distance to the ground, then easily walked to the edge of the tree fork. Since Yan Xu didn’t have eyes in the back of his head, the fear of heights he had just displayed disappeared completely.
Paragliding was one of Lin Jia’s few entertainments. He had already obtained an A license, so how could he fear heights?
It was merely a way to exploit Yan Xu’s wariness and defensiveness by revealing his weakness.
With one simple step, he could cross the distance from the branch to the windowsill. Just as he was about to do so, he saw Yan Xu, who had originally planned to leave the ward, turn his head back mysteriously.
Lin Jia: “…”
Since he hadn’t heard any movement behind him for a while, Yan Xu turned back and saw Lin Jia crossing toward the windowsill!
Yan Xu froze for a moment. “Damn!”
Fearing that Lin Jia would fall in, Yan Xu rushed back and spread his arms to catch him.
The next second, he was holding a warm body firmly in his arms.
Yan Xu: “You—”
Lin Jia: “I—”
The two spoke at the same time. The one with open arms lowered his head and the one being held raised his head. Caught off guard, their lips touched.
Warmth met warmth, shattering the syllables spilling from their lips and teeth.
Weren’t you afraid of heights? Why did you follow me over?
I wanted to follow Captain Yan.
Time seemed to freeze. The wind stilled, the tree stopped, and even the broken words between them paused. Only the clean morning sunlight floated on the windowsill.
Lin Jia: “…”
Yan Xu: “…”
Two seconds later, Lin Jia took a step back, and so did Yan Xu.
The two people who had just been “embracing and kissing” instantly separated by a galaxy.
You can read the full completed story here with instant full access. ✨

