Chapter 27 - I Want to Hold You to Sleep Tonight Too
“Darling, you still need face.” Sun Zinan hooked his chin gently and smile warmly as he said, “After all, the thing I care about most is your face.”
Tang Kai pressed a kiss on his brows, then patted the quilt and said, “Wait for me.”
He took out his things, changed his clothes, and washed up, rustling in and out of the room with small movements. He thought Sun Zinan would definitely be disturbed by the noise, but when Tang Kai lifted the quilt to climb into bed, he saw that he had already buried himself in his pillow, his breathing long, quietly asleep.
Maybe it was the cold medicine or fatigue from a long-distance flight, but the most important point was that in order to relax, he had to feel safe and worry-free in order to fall asleep.
Sun Zinan was difficult to deal with when awake, but he was a beautiful young man when sleeping. Tang Kai did not do anything to disturb him and merely leaned against the headboard, his eyes gentle like water and veiled by the soft light, silently staring at him for a moment.
Love was really a wondrous thing; it could make people toss and turn, but also make them sleep at ease.
At 11:30, Tang Kai turned the lights off and went to bed. The hotel wasn’t as good as being home. There was only one quilt. When he lay down next to Sun Zinan, he felt the other’s temperature and felt a brief moment of distress. But just a few seconds after the room fell into darkness, Sun Zinan suddenly trembled as if he had been shocked awake.
He seemed like he was about to choke. Tang Kai quickly reached across the quilt and tightly held him. “It’s nothing, don’t be afraid.”
As soon as the light went out, Sun Zinan woke up as a reflex, but Tang Kai’s coaxing filled in the gaps at the right time. It was as if the empty step he had taken was caught by a soft cushion after he fell.
His mind was only clear for a moment before he fell back into a deep drowsiness. They were both lying on their sides, leaving only a small gap between their shoulders under the quilt. Maybe it was because a draft had come in, but Sun Zinan seemed to feel cold and sleepily scooted over to Tang Kai’s side.
Professor Tang had now really become a Liu Xiahui propping up an oil pan.
He was not ashamed of his desires; it was only a matter of time. But like every foolish human in love, he couldn’t help but fall head over heels because his sweetheart was sleeping in his arms.
He carefully opened his arms and gently pulled Sun Zinan into his embrace. The soft quilt was like a warm nest, surrounding the two of them. Tang Kai patiently closed his eyes.
At about 1 A.M., he was woken up by a low, repressed cough.
Sun Zinan had his back to him, his back trembling as he coughed incessantly. He was probably afraid of waking Tang Kai up, so he repressed the sound within his chest and it sounded particularly dull.
But this kind of sudden cough in the middle of the night was usually difficult to stop. Sun Zinan dizzily estimated that he would wake Tang Kai up sooner or later. Just as he was about to get up and get out of bed, Tang Kai was woken up. He sat up behind him and reached out to turn on the bedside lamp, saying with a sleepy, hoarse voice, “Don’t move, I’ll get you a glass of water.”
After a while, he returned to bed with a glass of water and sat sideways on the edge of the bed. “Drink some water, come over and let me check your forehead.”
Sun Zinan obediently leaned forward. Tang Kai tested the temperature of his forehead with his hand and then compared it with his own forehead. He embraced him and sighed. “Darling, you have a fever. Let’s go to the hospital, okay?”
He was probably still sleepy. His voice was hoarse and gentle like he was coaxing a child.
Sun Zinan drank half a glass of water and barely repressed the itch in his throat. He shook his head and said, “Let’s not go. I’m fine, I’ll be okay after sleeping.”
Tang Kai frowned at him. “Did you bring fever medicine?”
“Forgot it.”
Sun Zinan did not feel like he had a fever at all. He was a little sleepy now, so he stroked the vertical lines between Tang Kai’s brows and rested his forehead against his shoulder. “Stop tossing about, go to sleep. You have to get up early tomorrow.”
“You lie down first.” Tang Kai helped him lie down. “I’ll get a towel for you.”
“En.”
The sound of water came from the bathroom. A moment later, a cold towel was placed on his forehead and covered his eyes with humidity. “Go sleep. Your cold will be better when you wake up.”
The warm yellow light went out and the bedroom returned to silence.
The next morning when Sun Zinan woke up, Tang Kai was no longer by his side. He raised his hand and touched his forehead. It was dry and slightly warm; his fever should have gone down.
Since the second half of last night, or this morning to be precise, he had slept peacefully and no longer coughed. Tang Kai even got up to change his towel but he didn’t remember it.
Everything that had happened in the darkness of last night was blurred and warm like a dreamscape. It seemed that after their misunderstanding, their relationship had naturally entered a new stage. They could open up their hearts to each other without any warning and expose all their fears and vulnerabilities to each other.
So it was said that illness was the easiest time for cultivating feelings. Being cherished in the palms of someone’s hand made it difficult to return to being alone.
He was meditating on this when Tang Kai pushed the door open. It seemed that he had just gotten back from the gym. The first thing he did when he got back was to touch his forehead. “Seems okay, you’re not burning up anymore.”
“I disturbed your sleep last night, didn’t I?”
Sun Zinan felt a little distressed when he saw him sigh in relief. Tang Kai smiled and teased his chin before turning to the bathroom. He said casually, “You didn’t disturb me, I slept very well. I want to hold you to sleep tonight too.”
Sun Zinan, “…” Alas, falling in love really made people fools.
After washing up, the two of them went downstairs for breakfast.
Most of the scholars who came to eat at the hotel buffet were scholars who participated in the forum the day before. Many of them had been deeply impressed by this young talent. Today he appeared with another eye-catching youth. An elderly professor even greeted them and asked if this was his brother.
Although Sun Zinan was young, his aura was not like that of a student’s. Otherwise he would definitely be mistaken as Tang Kai’s PhD student. Along the way, Professor Tang drew the gazes of countless curious eyes. He acted in a lowkey manner without showing off as he introduced, “This my partner…yes, came specifically to see me.”
Those who didn’t know would think he was attending a three month long closed-off summer camp.
The square tables at the hotel buffet could seat four people. The two of them found an empty table. Tang Kai pointed to the flower bed outside the window and said, “The status update I posted last time was shot here.”
Sun Zinan was a little amused. “Did you deliberately take the picture for me?”
“Yes,” Tang Kai admitted. “You were ignoring me, so I wanted you to know where I was.”
“Be reasonable, who ignored who first, en?”
Sun Zinan forked a piece of fresh snow pear and lowered his voice as he said, “Can’t even recognize his own ex-girlfriend and even plants the blame on me.”
“She’s not my ex-girlfriend!” Tang Kai emphasized repeatedly. “She was definitely lying to you. Only someone as dumb as you would actually believe it.”
For the average person, the phrase ‘I really don’t know her’ was very unconvincing. No matter how they spun it, it would sound like an attempt to hide.
But Tang Kai’s reaction had been too great; he not only did not recognize his ex-girlfriend, but also had seen her as his own rival. Seeing Li Ning once had made him angry from head to toe. Forget about the revival of an old love, this had almost become a new hatred.
Sun Zinan could not understand how his brain circuits worked and could only bow down. Tang Kai cheerfully egged on, “Right, if you have nothing else to do today, will you participate in the forum with me?”
Sun Zinan smiled. “Are you a little friend in kindergarten? Do you still need your parents to accompany you in class?”
Tang Kai said, “You work with me during the day, I sleep with you at night. This is very reasonable, right?”
He said this extremely calmly, at a normal speaking volume. It scared Sun Zinan so much he almost stood up and covered his mouth. “Dear ancestors, don’t shout! You think it’s glorious to sleep with me at night? How shameless!”
Tang Kai tapped on the table. “Are you coming?”
Sun Zinan, “Coming coming coming…”
The forum was semi-public. Scholars participating in the conference usually brought a few of their own students, so it was very easy for Tang Kai to bring people in. He was acquainted with the organizers and greeted them. He got Sun Zinan a staff name card and personally led him into the forum, arranging them a center seat in the back rows. It was a very good position.
Professor Tang was the type of person who usually treated people politely and was not difficult to approach. However, his temperament had always been lofty and cold, an aura that exuded the feeling of an immortal who did not interact with humans. It was rare for him to be so enthusiastic, as if he were a keeper for a nationally-protected panda. For a time, even the event volunteers stopped talking and stole glances towards his side.
Li Ning came later in the morning. As soon as she entered through the door, she felt like the atmosphere was unusual. She searched around the event and her gaze fell on Tang Kai’s tall and straight back.
Instead of sitting at the guest panel’s table on the stage, he sat with his back to the door in the third back row of chairs, his head lowered as he said something to the man next to him. His figure was very good. His sitting posture inexplicably made him seem more youthful, like a boy who refused to sit properly in the university library. Lively but not frivolous, a kind of charm that made people unable to resist smiling.
Li Ning’s eyes flashed, a smile appearing within her gaze. His position was right behind her chair so she took a few steps over to greet him.
“Professor Tang, morning—”
Tang Kai turned his head at the sound. Sun Zinan, who had been covered by his back, appeared next to him.
Li Ning, “…”
The handsome man quirked his lips up into a slight smile and said softly, “What a coincidence. We meet again. Morning, Miss Li.”
Li Ning couldn’t stand the sight of his smile and quickly retreated a few steps.
Their current posture was really very indecent. Sun Zinan was sitting, Tang Kai standing. The space was narrow. Professor Tang had one leg crossed over Sun Zinan’s body and placed on the back of his chair. His other long, straight leg had nowhere else to stand so he had inserted it in between Sun Zinan’s legs. The two of them were so close they could hear each other breathing. Tang Kai was even playing with Sun Zinan’s left hand, ten fingers entangled together. No matter how one looked at it, it seemed like he was pressing advances on someone.
If Sun Zinan didn’t look so calm, Li Ning almost thought she had walked into some shady molestation scenario.
She trembled in fear and pulled up an awkward smile. “Yes, what a coincidence.”
Tang Kai raised his eyebrows and said as if he was being unintentional, “This really is a coincidence. Miss Li also knows my boyfriend, why didn’t you mention that yesterday?”
“I…” Li Ning struggled to maintain her fairy image and euphemistically said, “We’re not that familiar with each other, we’ve only met before…“
“Oh, perfect.” Tang Kai nodded and straightened up, as if to unintentionally protect Sun Zinan behind him. “He flew all the way to B City to see me and he isn’t familiar with this place. I have to go on stage in a bit. I’ll have to ask Miss Li to take care of him.”
Sun Zinan secretly reached out and pinched Tang Kai’s waist to warn him to stop randomly pulling at relations—who the fuck was he trying to annoy?
Li Ning’s expression was like she had just swallowed a fly, but she wanted to leave herself some face in front of Tang Kai and therefore forced a smile. “Okay…I will.”
Tang Kai’s expression remained the same, but his eyes were slightly colder than before and his tone seemed to hold a different meaning. “I’ve troubled you. After all, our family’s Little Nan is soft-hearted and kind. He believes whatever others tell him and is easily fooled.”
Professor Tang rarely spoke out, but once he did it was shocking. Both Sun Zinan and Li Ning looked like they had been struck by lightning, uniformly showing indescribable expressions.
But Sun Zinan’s face was full of ‘where the fuck is this sand sculpture‘ while Li Ning’s face was full of ‘who the fuck is soft-hearted and kind.’