WBAI Chapter 70

T/N: Another not quite NSFW, but I’ll still post a warning here.

Wearing makeup while eating barbecue is quite an ordeal. Xie An’yu felt like his face was coated in a layer of mud—greasy and sticky. He roughly wiped his face with a tissue, smearing off half the foundation.

Xie An’yu has good natural features, so the makeup artist applied very light makeup. The makeup artist had originally planned to do eye makeup, but after seeing how the base looked, they immediately abandoned the idea and only applied a layer of lip balm to his lips.

The foundation shade the makeup artist chose for Xie An’yu was darker than his natural skin tone. With his careless wiping, his face ended up smudged and messy.

The hairstyle the stylist had done was still intact—a slightly curled side-parted fringe with a bit of hair gel to hold it in place, giving off a vibe somewhere between mature and youthful. Paired with his handsome face, this stylish hairstyle naturally drew quite a few glances as he sat there.

The glances of strangers didn’t bother Xie An’yu, nor did they stop him from smearing his face like a messy-faced cat.

“Do you want to check your face with your phone’s front camera?” Yu Feng said, looking at Xie An’yu.

Xie An’yu looked up at him: “Huh?”

“You look like a little beggar.” Yu Feng took out his phone, opened the front camera, and held it up in front of Xie An’yu.

Xie An’yu was taken aback, seeing several obvious streaks on his face in the screen.

“Why is this foundation… so dark?” Xie An’yu touched his nose. “A few shades darker and I’d be close to charcoal.”

“The camera washes out makeup. Your facial features are sharp, so a darker complexion makes you look even more handsome and sophisticated.” Yu Feng reached around the phone and tapped the shutter button on the screen, taking a photo of Xie An’yu.

“Hey, you—” Xie An’yu was caught off guard, unsure what kind of ridiculous picture Yu Feng had taken of him.

Yu Feng glanced at the picture. Only his little boyfriend could look this handsome even when photographed from such an unflattering angle.

“How did I turn out?” Xie An’yu asked, a faint smile at the corner of his lips. “Do I look silly?”

Yu Feng handed him the phone. “Not silly. You have a kind of messy, untamed handsomeness.”

Xie An’yu stared at the phone in silence for a few seconds.

This isn’t silly?

This is the epitome of silliness.

His face was smudged, his mouth was open, and his eyes looked dazed.

He did look like a little beggar—one who wasn’t all there mentally.

Xie An’yu handed the phone back to Yu Feng. “This must be the Waterloo of your photography career.”

Yu Feng burst out laughing. His laughter made Xie An’yu happy, and he started laughing too, casually grabbing a few tissues to wipe his face again.

“Stop wiping.” Yu Feng grabbed his hand. “It’s all foundation. Tissues won’t clean it; they’ll just make it worse. Keep rubbing, and your face will turn into a little coal ball.”

“Just leave it like this. It doesn’t affect your handsomeness,” Yu Feng said.

“But it feels like it affects my IQ. I look like the silly son of a rich landlord.”

Yu Feng lowered his head, laughing quietly.

***

After returning home, Xie An’yu went straight to the bathroom to check his face in the mirror. The lighting in the bathroom was brighter, making the smudged foundation even more noticeable.

Yu Feng walked in. “There’s makeup remover in the cabinet. Do you remember how to use it?”

“I remember.”

Yu Feng walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist. “You remember? I was hoping you’d forget so I could help you wash it off.”

Xie An’yu looked at Yu Feng in the mirror. “Then help me wash it off.”

Yu Feng kissed his ear. “Besides your face, I can help you wash other places too.”

Xie An’yu leaned his head back, his breath coming out slightly warm: “Hmm?”

“Want to take a bath together today?”

Xie An’yu closed his eyes briefly. “Mm.”

Yu Feng turned off the main light and switched on the dimmest lamp in the bathroom. Xie An’yu was easily embarrassed—all their intimate moments so far had taken place in dim lighting. Even that day in the study, Yu Feng had turned off the main light, leaving only a desk lamp on.

Without his glasses, Yu Feng’s gaze was hazy as he wrapped his arms around Xie An’yu’s neck and kissed him. His fair skin was flushed pink from the steam.

Xie An’yu looked at him, completely lost in the moment.

“Let me take you in my mouth today, okay?”

It took Xie An’yu a moment to process what he meant, his eyes widening slightly. “Don’t… It’s dirty…”

“Everything’s clean after washing, what’s dirty about it…? But if you don’t like it, I won’t do it.”

Xie An’yu lowered his head. “It’s not that I don’t like it…”

He just felt that having someone he loved do that kind of thing for him was somewhat disrespectful to the other person.

“As long as you like it.” Yu Feng stroked his chin. “Just think of it as indulging me.”

Xie An’yu looked up. “You… like doing this?”

“I like everything related to Xie An’yu.”

As Yu Feng bent down, Xie An’yu jolted in surprise, frantically turning to look for the showerhead. “I—I should wash again.”

Yu Feng chuckled at his reaction, grabbing his hand as he knelt down.

Xie An’yu’s breath hitched, his head tilting back involuntarily. His mind went blank, and his Adam’s apple trembled uncontrollably.

***

Before coming home, Yu Feng had bought a watermelon. After their bath, he cut it open and asked Xie An’yu whether he wanted it sliced into wedges or halved to eat with a spoon.

Xie An’yu pressed against his back, his nose touching Yu Feng’s shoulder blade. “Let’s eat it with a spoon.” As he spoke, his arms circled Yu Feng’s waist, and his lips brushed against his back.

Holding the kitchen knife, Yu Feng stretched his arm forward carefully to avoid cutting Xie An’yu. “Can we hug later? Be careful, this knife could slice through iron.”

Xie An’yu laughed softly, his face pressed against Yu Feng’s back.

Xie An’yu ended up eating most of the watermelon, his stomach slightly bulging afterward. When they lay down on the bed, Yu Feng slipped his hand under Xie An’yu’s shirt and patted it gently. “The blender certainly lived up to expectations.”

Xie An’yu smiled, grabbing Yu Feng’s hand through his clothes and rubbing it firmly a couple of times.

Yu Feng leaned against the headboard, looking down at him. “I’m going abroad in a few days.”

“Where to?”

“Milan.”

“That far? For a photoshoot?”

“Mm, a job I took on half a year ago.”

“How many days will you be gone?”

“Not sure, about a week.”

Xie An’yu looked at him for a moment before suddenly asking, “Brother, do you like your current job?”

Yu Feng gently rubbed his earlobe: “Why the sudden question?”

“Professor Zhou said you… gave up another job you liked because of Cheng Sheng.”

Yu Feng narrowed his eyes. “He’s told you quite a lot, hasn’t he?”

“Have you gotten used to it, or are you just too lazy to change the status quo?” Xie An’yu asked him.

Given Yu Feng’s casual and carefree nature, it didn’t make sense for him to stay at 《Charm》 indefinitely. Cheng Sheng was gone, and with no ties holding him back, he could freely pursue what he loved and photograph what he wanted. The real fear was that he might have lost his passion, his enthusiasm replaced by numbness, with his life filled with emptiness.

Yu Feng smiled: “Aren’t those two the same thing?”

Actually, they’re not quite the same either—the former is a passive outcome, while the latter is an active one.

“On one hand, I’ve gotten used to it, and on the other, I feel that no matter what I choose to do, it has meaning,” Yu Feng said. “Documentary photography has its significance, humanistic photography has its significance, and fashion photography has its significance. Shooting handsome men and beautiful women doesn’t stop me from capturing nature or life’s fleeting beauty.”

Xie An’yu felt moved and tightened his grip on Yu Feng’s hand.

Yu Feng patted Xie An’yu’s stomach. “You ate over half a watermelon—will you be able to sleep later?”

“I’ll lie down and digest for a while.”

“You’ll be running to the bathroom nonstop later.”

Xie An’yu laughed.

Truth be told, even if he hadn’t eaten that half a watermelon, Xie An’yu probably wouldn’t be able to sleep much tonight. After all, Yu Feng had done that to him today—with his mouth. Every time he glanced at Yu Feng’s lips, he couldn’t help but recall the sensation of them wrapped around him.

Just thinking about it made his face grow hot.

He felt that Yu Feng had probably wanted to take things further earlier—Yu Feng had never touched his butt before.

Xie An’yu, his whole body burning with heat, rolled over. Yu Feng turned on a bedside lamp and picked up a book to read. He glanced over and asked Xie An’yu, “Does the light bother you?”

Xie An’yu shook his head, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, “Brother, earlier… did you want to do it?”

Yu Feng looked at him but didn’t answer immediately. He gently touched Xie An’yu’s face. “Asking something like this before bed—what are you trying to do?”

“Do you not want to sleep yourself, or do you not want me to sleep?”

Xie An’yu held his hand. “So? Did you or not?”

Yu Feng replied candidly, “Not just earlier—every time.” He turned back to his book. If they kept talking about this, neither of them would get any sleep tonight. “I like you, so isn’t it normal for me to desire you? It would be abnormal if I didn’t want to do it.”

“Then why don’t you… do it?” Xie An’yu’s voice grew softer and softer.

Yu Feng forced himself not to look at Xie An’yu’s face, focusing instead on the words in the book—though he didn’t absorb a single punctuation mark.

“Do you know how to do that kind of thing?” Yu Feng asked Xie An’yu while still looking at the book.

He could probably guess, but Xie An’yu found it too embarrassing to say out loud.

Xie An’yu remained silent, and Yu Feng didn’t press further. They couldn’t continue this topic—if they delved too deep, it was hard to say whether he’d be able to hold back next time.

But Xie An’yu insisted on talking about it. “I know it’s with the back.”

The moment he said it, Xie An’yu’s ears flushed bright red. Embarrassed as he was, he still had to say it.

Yu Feng finally turned to look at him. “The reality might not be as simple as you think.”

“We’ll only know if we try.”

Yu Feng leaned down, staring into his eyes. “Xie An’yu, can you accept it?”

It wasn’t that Yu Feng didn’t want to—he was just worried that Xie An’yu wouldn’t be able to accept it. Being in a relationship was one thing; sex was another.

They were both men, and intimacy wouldn’t come as naturally or effortlessly as it might for others.

“We’re going to do it sooner or later anyway.”

As Xie An’yu spoke, his Adam’s apple moved involuntarily. Yu Feng gently pinched it and said, “I have some videos on my computer. You can watch them when you have time—study up in advance.”

Xie An’yu, an innocent young man who had never even watched □□, was shocked. “You… have that kind of stuff on your computer?”

“Do you really think I’m a monk?” Yu Feng chuckled. “After being single for so many years, I need something to look at for comfort, right?”

Yu Feng turned back to his book. Xie An’yu glanced at the page and murmured, “You’ve been staring at this page for ten minutes.”

Yu Feng snapped the book shut with a sharp thud, placed it on the nightstand, turned off the lamp, removed his glasses, and slipped under the covers before turning to plant a firm kiss on Xie An’yu’s lips. “And whose fault do you think that is?”

Sweet dreams all night.

The author has something to say:

Wishing all students about to take the college entrance examination the best of luck! Stay relaxed—you are the best~

List of Idiom in Chapter 70

始料不及 (shǐ liào bù jí): (of an event that occurred) to be unexpected; to be unanticipated; unforeseen; beyond expectation; take by surprise; out of the blue; to describe events that unfold beyond initial expectations. Its core meaning emphasizes the state of being caught off guard, whereby unexpected changes render prior preparations ineffective.

削鐵如泥 (xuē tiě rú ní): would cut clean through iron as though it were mud; very sharp; cut through iron like mud; extremely sharp; very powerful; effortlessly cut through tough material; describes a sword that is so sharp that it can cut iron as easily as cutting mud; describes a weapon as being extremely sharp. The idiom is often used in literary works to describe weapons in an exaggerated way.

風花雪月 (fēng huā xuě yuè): wind, flower, snow and moon, trite poetry subject (idiom); effete language without substance; love affair; romance is in the air; dissipated life; debaucherous life. Originally refers to the natural scenery often described in old poems, later become metaphor about a poem with a pile of words, the content is poor and empty, it also refers to the matter of love or the lustful life.

水到渠成 (shuǐ dào qú chéng): lit. where water flows, a canal is formed (idiom); fig. when conditions are right, success will follow naturally; to achieve something without effort; effortless; something which comes naturally; the channel is readily formed just as the water comes―success is assured when conditions are ripe.

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