Visible Reaction

Hot.

Wen Rui could feel the lingering dampness from his shower evaporating off his skin as it flushed a brilliant red. The heat went straight to his brain, made him feel as feverish as he'd been that time when he'd been sick under Zhou Ye's careful watch. Then, Zhou Ye had taken complete control over his welfare, tending to every aspect of his care and comfort until he became well again. Now, he'd picked up the role once more, the huge hand splayed against Wen Rui's lower back anchoring him firmly in place as his mouth pressed so violently against Wen Rui's that it felt like Zhou Ye was trying to leave a brand behind.

His head spun. His lung constricted. At some point, his breathing reflex must have kicked in but it must have taken the wrong neuronal pathway around—and why was he thinking about Biology now of all things? He was a humanities student, for heaven's sake—but—but—instead of using his nose, he parted his lips for a harsh gasp and Zhou Ye took that opening as a weakness to exploit.

Wet. A wetness that didn't belong to Wen Rui's saliva, was flavoured with a strong peppermint that was too spicy for Wen Rui's tastes normally, except it now made his tongue tingle in a way that wasn't unpleasant, quite the opposite, in fact. Or maybe that was from the little jolts of electricity that coursed through his body when Zhou Ye licked into his mouth, a bold daring sweep that Wen Rui hadn't thought him capable of—although, in hindsight, this was foolish of him; was there anything Zhou Ye wasn't capable of?

Wen Rui tried to get a look at him, ground himself into reality with Zhou Ye's face, but it was blurred behind a thin film that had draped over his eyes like a screen. [This is Zhou Ye,] he told himself, this was the boy who had sat diagonally behind him in class but ranked one above him in the school results list, who had stolen the girl of Wen Rui's dreams but had at some point or another—maybe weeks ago, maybe years ago, who even knew—become the boy of Wen Rui's dreams.

Zhou Ye, Zhou Ye, Zhou Ye. He was surrounded by the taste of his toothpaste and the scent of his cologne, maybe aftershave, Wen Rui wasn't sure which but he would recognise that cedar and musk anywhere. When he'd allowed himself to imagine what Zhou Ye would be like, nothing his mind had conjured could prepare him for this. It was like opening Pandora's Box; Wen Rui hadn't known what he would get but—

He definitely didn't expect to get hard.

"Mmph!" Upon feeling his shorts tighten, Wen Rui's half-lidded eyes flew open abruptly and he reached out to push against Zhou Ye's shoulders with all his remaining might, desperate to create some space between their bodies. This wasn't much but Zhou Ye backed away at once, relaxing his hold on Wen Rui's neck and waist immediately even though he kept him encircled within a loose embrace.

Apart from a slight breathlessness and a slight swell to Zhou Ye's lips, he didn't seem that different from normal, looking up at Wen Rui with a gaze that would have been calm if it hadn't also been tinged with a fervour that made Wen Rui avert his eyes with a belated shyness. He squirmed a little as he tried to back off even more, Zhou Ye's face a little too close to where he was uncomfortably constricted and the very thought of that nearly made him faint with embarrassment.

Wen Rui had always prided himself on his ability to remain cool and collected in any circumstance. But Zhou Ye had always been the exception to the rule.

Perhaps Zhou Ye picked up on his sudden awkwardness because he brought his arms down, no longer caging Wen Rui in, and with silent relief, Wen Rui all but scrambled to put some distance between them, going over to his desk to pour himself a glass of water. He had to douse the flames that Zhou Ye had ignited in the pit of his belly…a sneaky side glance at Zhou Ye's lap revealed that…his shirt was just long enough to cover the front of his sweats.

Great. Who here wasn't a man? Wen Rui rebuked himself for not sharing the same remarkable foresight. So much for picking an oversized sweater, next time length was more important than breadth.

Wait, next time?

He felt his heart quicken just from the idea.

Taking a sip of the lukewarm water—compared to Zhou Ye's mouth, nothing would feel hot anymore—he willed himself to strike up a normal conversation, even though he had no idea what to say.

[How does one go back to 'hey, how's your day' after having the living daylights kissed out of one?] With Zhou Ye seated on the sofa with no visible intention to leave, Wen Rui couldn't exactly whip out his phone and start posting on internet forums, right?

Like: M, 21 (but I think I'm 18). I tricked my ex-love rival, current fake husband, and real housemate into kissing me, it was amazing, and now I don't know how to talk to him anymore, please help, I'm online waiting for a response, this is URGENT.

"Was that enough practice?'

Wen Rui's head shot up before he forced himself to bury his face in his cup once more when he felt the burning in his cheeks intensify. Just perfect. He now had a blush reflex that triggered every time Zhou Ye spoke.

"Yes," he managed to get out, that one little syllable mostly muffled by his drink.

"And you'll be kissing your colleague like that tomorrow?"

Zhou Ye's voice was almost too casual. Wen Rui, who had regained a fraction of his senses, noticed this and studied his expression, but he didn't notice anything different.

"…" He didn't want to tell Zhou Ye that no actual kissing was going to happen but he definitely didn't want to give Zhou Ye the impression that he would be sticking his tongue down the throat of his hapless female costar either. "No, it'll just be…simple."

"How simple?"

What was this? An inquisition?

"Very…simple." A stack of books on his bedside table was misaligned. To hide how flustered he was, Wen Rui busied himself with straightening it out. "Just a peck."

"I see."

From the corner of his eye, Wen Rui noticed Zhou Ye standing up and stretching. He was finally heading off, Wen Rui realised, his feelings a convoluted mishmash of relief and disappointment.

"You're uh, going to bed now?" he asked lightly. "Sleep well."

The look Zhou Ye shot him was considering. He nodded once before walking over to the door to see himself out. Wen Rui felt rude for not going over—which in itself was weird because Zhou Ye was a friend hanging out in his bedroom, not a distinguished guest at his formal function—but his body had only started to settle back down from its previous excitement and he wasn't convinced Zhou Ye wouldn't notice the tent in the front of his shorts, even if it was just a, um, collapsing tent now. Soon to be dismantled if Wen Rui just ignored it for a little while more.

Just as Zhou Ye stepped out of the room, he paused and turned to regard Wen Rui, who blinked at him in confusion.

"Was there something else?"

"If I don't 'go to bed' now," was Zhou Ye's breezy reply, "you'll spend however long I'm here facing your…" —his eyes trailed downwards meaningfully—"to the wall, is that correct?"

Wen Rui's jaw dropped. He felt like someone had just tossed him into a volcano. "I—You—" he stuttered, unable to form a coherent sentence, much less a protest.

Zhou Ye's mouth twitched upwards. "Sleep well," he parroted before closing the door in the face of Wen Rui's disbelieving shock.

Left alone with his consternation, Wen Rui sank onto the edge of his bed and buried his face in his hands.

What on earth was today even and why did he have to deal with this? Zhou Ye…had noticed. Of course he had, from his vantage point on the sofa, he'd had front row tickets, had probably received an eyeful earlier without Wen Rui realising.

[It's fine, it's nothing to be awkward about, this is a very normal male physiological response,] he told himself. Stupid Zhou Ye was just being his usual teasing self, which was the only mode of his that was ever inconsiderate towards Wen Rui.

[Boy classmates in school tease each other about this all the time, don't sweat it, the ribbing is just coming…a couple of years late.] And after a kiss that boy classmates probably didn't share but that was detrimental to Wen Rui's argument so he was just going to ignore that tiny detail.

He toppled over limply on his side and turned his cheek into his pillow, trying but failing to will his mortification away.

But one thing was for sure.

He'd enjoyed himself. If there had been any doubts whatsoever about his sexuality and his attraction for Zhou Ye, it was clear as day to him now.