Chapter 24

Baroque 4, a fine line apart.

After finishing a pot of noodles between them, Mofei stood up to wash the pot while Anger sat on the bed, examining the instant noodle packaging with a puzzled expression.

"What's up?" Mofei asked him.

"Hmm... instant noodles are quite an interesting thing," Anger mused.

"What's so interesting about instant noodles?" Mofei chuckled, drying his hands and walking over.

Anger pondered for a moment, then said, "It's a cheap item available everywhere."

"Hmm." Mofei boiled some water, poured two cups of plain hot water, and handed one to Anger. "Just plain water."

"Hmm." Anger held the steaming cup, sipping the water, and said, "Some things, even if they don't meet our aesthetic or interest, still need to be experienced. Humans are animals who can't completely control themselves. Can you imagine a panda spending its life eating only bamboo leaves?"

Having grown accustomed to Anger's whimsical thoughts, Mofei sat beside him, sipping water from his cup, simply saying, "Eating noodles can make you thirsty, drink more water."

"Hmm." Anger continued to nod, finishing his water.

Mofei glanced at the wall clock and asked Anger, "Do you want to take a shower? There's hot water, but the shower is quite basic, just a curtain. And if you shower for more than twenty minutes, the water goes cold, and you have to turn it off and on again."

Anger looked at Mofei, puzzled, and asked, "Why?"

Mo Fei shrugged, "Because it's gas-operated, right? The very old kind."

An Ge'er glanced at the wall clock and said, "I don't have any clothes to change into."

Mo Fei stood up to open the cabinet, rummaged through it, and said, "Will mine fit? They'll be big on you."

"Do you have anything black?" An Ge'er asked.

Mo Fei shook his head, "Just white shirts and jeans. Will you wear them?"

An Ge'er nodded, "Yes, I will."

Handing over the clothes, Mo Fei walked over, pulled back the curtain, turned on the hot water, tested its temperature, drew the curtain closed again. By this time, An Ge'er had already taken off his coat and approached.

"Be quick," Mo Fei said, "or you'll catch a cold!"

"Hmm." As An Ge'er began undressing, Mo Fei instinctively turned away, listening to the rustle of clothes behind him, followed by the sounds of the shower curtain being opened and closed.

Mo Fei turned back around to see that An Ge'er had already started showering. He then walked over to the bed and leaned against it, picking up a magazine.

Watching the wall clock, the minutes ticked away... until the nineteenth minute, when Mo Fei sat up, intending to remind An Ge'er that time was up. But at the same moment, the sound of the water faucet turning off came from the bathroom.

Mo Fei breathed a sigh of relief, almost forgetting An Ge'er's unparalleled observational skills. Perhaps he had timed himself down to the second in his mind? He then asked, "An Ge'er? Are you cold?"

"I'm fine," replied An Ge'er, "Mo Fei, could you bring me my clothes?"

Mo Fei glanced down at the clothes on the bed, picked them up, and walked over.

Inside, An Ge'er was drying the droplets of water from his hair. Mo Fei didn't pull back the curtain, simply extending the clothes through, but An Ge'er didn't take them, instead saying, "Mo Fei, I can't reach my back with the towel."

Mo Fei then remembered that An Ge'er's bathroom had a warm air blower; after a shower, there was no need to dry off. Just standing in front of the blower and turning around a couple of times would dry one's body, and even half-dry the hair.

Hearing An Ge'er say this, Mo Fei, somewhat helpless, asked, "So... what should we do?"

"You help me dry off," An Ge'er said.

"Uh..." Hesitating for a moment, Mo Fei heard An Ge'er urge, "Hurry up, I'm getting cold."

"Oh." Mo Fei set the clothes aside and lifted the curtain...

Behind the curtain, in the misty steam, stood An Ge'er's bare body, appearing somewhat slender in profile, yet displaying a rare delicacy and fairness.

Perhaps it was the effect of too much instant noodles, but Mo Fei felt his mouth go dry. Avoiding further glances at An Ge'er, he took the towel offered to him and began to dry An Ge'er's body.

Starting from the neck, down to the shoulders, over the slightly raised shoulder blades, along the indented spine... the slender waistline, and then...

Mo Fei felt his heartbeat quicken, his throat burning hot, as he continued drying... An Ge'er's legs were long and delicate, his knees and ankles extraordinarily refined.

Mo Fei dared not look any further, and after finishing, he stepped out to bring An Ge'er his clothes, but An Ge'er reached out, "Help me dress."

Mofei looked up at Anger, and Anger looked back, his eyes clear and bright, untainted by any impurities. Mofei understood that this man was just lazy, and also, trusting... Had he ever trusted his other assistants this much? Mofei shook his head to clear his thoughts and started to dress Anger, beginning with a shirt. Since Anger was slimmer, the shirt was large, covering certain embarrassing areas, which relieved Mofei as he buttoned it up.

Seeing the sleeves dangling, Mofei gently rolled them up above Anger's wrists and buttoned up the shirt.

Then came the pants...

Mofei looked at Anger as if to ask—Should he put on the pants, too?

Anger, puzzled, extended his leg, "Hurry up, I'm freezing."

Mofei sighed, shook out the pants, and knelt beside Anger, gently lifting his foot to slide into the pant leg. He moved behind him, easing his other leg into the pants. Then, Mofei pulled up the waistband slowly. His hands unintentionally brushed against Anger's smooth legs as he pulled up the oversized pants. Moving to the front, he buttoned them up, his eyes unavoidably fixed on Anger's flat abdomen and the slight depression of his navel... As he zipped up the pants, Mofei dared not breathe.

Finally, Mofei knelt down and rolled up Anger's trouser legs. Anger looked down at his baggy clothes, patted Mofei's shoulder, and asked, "Don't you have any underwear?"

Mofei, taken aback, realized that he had only put a loose pair of pants on Anger due to his nervousness. He calmly said, "Mine are quite large; you might not fit into them."

"Hmm," Anger nodded, shaking off the water droplets from his feet. Mofei, unable to find any spare slippers, simply picked Anger up and carried him back to the bed.

Anger actually found this more comfortable and was happy to let Mofei do the work.

After laying Anger down on the bed, Mofei unfolded a blanket over him to keep him warm and then fetched one of his own down jackets to lay on top of the blanket.

Then, Mofei turned, grabbed some clothes, and stepped behind the curtain to change and prepare for a shower.

Instead of immediately turning on the faucet, Mofei took off his clothes and noticed an embarrassing reaction.

Mo Fei, leaning against the wall with one hand, wondered if something was wrong with him. How could he have become aroused from seeing An Ge'er's naked body? But the image of An Ge'er just moments ago made him feel even hotter.

Mofei turned on the faucet, letting the hot water wash over him as he took care of his issue.

Mo Fei was no longer young and, despite being self-respecting and having avoided women, he was sure of his disinterest in men. An Ge'er, with his personality, probably wasn't gay either... But what was this feeling all about?

The more Mo Fei thought about An Ge'er, the more serious he felt his problem was. Remembering those pure, unblemished eyes, Mo Fei felt guilty for his reaction, yet those very eyes intensified his excitement. His movements grew more intense, accompanied by the sound of rushing water, as his pleasure escalated.

Just then, he heard An Ge'er softly call out from the bed, "Mo Fei."

Mo Fei felt a void in his heart, followed by a surge of inexplicable excitement… He let out a breath and looked down to see a streak of white against the wall…

"Hmm?" Trying to steady his breath, Mo Fei asked An Ge'er, "What's up?"

An Ge'er asked softly, "Has it been twenty minutes? Is the water cold?"

Only then did Mo Fei snap back to reality, realizing that the water cascading over him had already turned ice cold.

With a resigned shake of his head, Mo Fei rinsed himself with the cold water, turned off the shower without feeling cold, dried himself quickly, put on pajamas, and began rummaging through his belongings.

"What are you looking for?" An Ge'er asked him in a soft voice, "I'm a bit cold."

"Cold, are you?" Mo Fei found an old hair dryer and a small heater from the box and walked over to the bed.

"Don't sleep with wet hair." Mo Fei helped Ang'er up and dried his hair with a hairdryer. The heater, already emitting some warmth, unfortunately, was too small, heating nearby objects intensely but failing to warm the further surroundings.

Mo Fei had Ang'er sleep on the outside, closer to the heater. He turned off the light and lay down.

After a while, he felt Ang'er poke him.

"Hmm?" Mo Fei opened his eyes to see him. In the darkness, Ang'er's eyes shone brightly as he looked up at him and said, "I'm freezing to death."

Mo Fei reached out, letting Ang'er lean on his arm. Ang'er felt the warmth from Mo Fei's embrace, burrowed in, curled up against Mo Fei's chest, and, feeling somewhat better, slowly fell asleep.

Mo Fei wrapped his arms around Ang'er, somewhat worried about reacting again... but looking down at Ang'er's peaceful sleeping face, quiet, his normally expressionless face now carried a hint of childish innocence.

Holding him tight, Mofei tried to transfer his own warmth to Anger, who was prone to falling sick even in the rain. He hoped Anger wouldn't catch a cold.

……

The two spent the night this way, and in the latter half, Ang'er was no longer cold. The heater had some effect, but most importantly... Mo Fei was indeed a very warm person.

The next morning, when Mo Fei woke up, he hesitated to move, fearing Ang'er might get cold, but his arm was numb from being used as a pillow. Reluctantly, Mo Fei moved his arm, and sure enough, Ang'er woke up and looked at him.

"Awake?" Mo Fei asked.

"Yeah," Ang'er nodded and said, "Let's go back and catch the criminal."

Mo Fei nodded and asked, "Didn't you say last night you didn't want to catch him? Do you think he's actually a good person?"

Ang'er thought for a moment and shook his head, "It's not that he's a good person... After all, the line between good and evil is often thin."

Mo Fei, puzzled, asked, "What do you mean?"

Ang'er looked up at Mo Fei, their eyes meeting, close to each other. Ang'er reached out to touch Mo Fei's lightly stubbled cheek and said, "It's like how others may see you as a demon, but I find you gentle."