Chapter 52: Chapter 52 “Bad at It but Addicted.”

Chapter 52 "All passion, no skill."

On a summer night, a gentle breeze drifted through the window, bringing with it a slight coolness.

Lu Zhishi was slumped over the desk, fiddling absently with a pen as he slowly filled out a foreign language test paper.

His gaze drifted again to Chi Chen sitting beside him—tall and slender in a white shirt, wearing gold-rimmed glasses with his eyes lowered, focused on reviewing documents with no sign of stopping.

He had wanted to get a boost from being near Chi Chen, but he was so busy, the piles of documents on his desk towering like mountains, that Lu Zhishi didn't have the heart to disturb him.

He dejectedly turned his head away and closed his eyes. If he didn’t recharge soon, he was going to shut down completely.

The words on the test paper began to blur, and Lu Zhishi’s head grew foggy, his consciousness drifting. His pen moved unconsciously across the paper, scribbling something.

The back of his head had been turned away for a while. Chi Chen waited for some time but didn’t see Lu Zhishi turn back.

He leaned over for a look and found the younger man was asleep at the desk, breathing deep and even, his brows slightly furrowed as if troubled by something.

Chi Chen called out softly, "Lu Zhishi."

The deeply asleep boy didn't stir.

He called a few more times, but Lu Zhishi remained deeply asleep, his breathing unchanged.

Chi Chen checked the time on his phone—only 8:30 PM. He’d fallen asleep earlier than usual today.

He stood up, quietly walked to the other side, bent down, and supported Lu Zhishi’s neck with one arm while slipping the other under his knees. He lifted him gently, carried him steadily to the bed and laid him down.

He took off his shoes, then Chi Chen pulled the blanket over him and got up to turn off the overhead light in the room.

Perhaps exhausted from the day, Lu Zhishi didn’t wake up, his brows still slightly furrowed, adding a touch of worry to his delicate, pretty face.

What was troubling him?

Chi Chen reached out and gently smoothed his slightly furrowed brow, but it wouldn't smooth out.

He sat for a while, waiting until Lu Zhishi fell into a deeper sleep and his expression softened slightly. Then Chi Chen got up and returned to dealing with the annoying work.

Adjusting the desk lamp, Chi Chen took a moment to tidy up Lu Zhishi’s open test paper and pen. His gaze casually swept over the paper and paused—amidst the foreign language text, a few Chinese characters stood out.

His gaze lingered, Chi Chen picked up the test paper, his focus settling on those few small words.

The characters were scrawled and haphazard, clearly written unconsciously by their owner in his drowsy state.

‘Snuggle’ ‘Recharge’ ‘Shut down’

A faint smile touched Chi Chen’s lips. No wonder he had been so distracted earlier, his eyes drifting over to him yet never speaking up.

So the little one was out of battery.

Beneath those words, there was also a “Chi Chen.” Compared to the other characters, these two were neat and clear.

Chi Chen lowered his gaze, staring quietly for a long moment.

He couldn’t quite describe what he was feeling, only that time seemed to drag on. Leaning back in his chair, he thought—three years was far too long.

Having feelings for someone makes you fretful, tossing and turning through every night filled with longing. Averted gazes, words left unspoken, hands raised only to be lowered again—when would he be able to openly say he liked him...?

Reining in his restlessness, Chi Chen calmed himself and continued working.

It was late at night by the time he finished washing up and got ready for bed.

Lu Zhishi was a restless sleeper; by now, he had rolled from the edge of the bed to the middle. Chi Chen didn’t move him, just pulled the blanket over him before finding a spot to lie down himself.

In the faint glow of the nightlight, Chi Chen turned to look—Lu Zhishi’s furrowed brow had relaxed.

Perhaps sensing Chi Chen’s return, Lu Zhishi drowsily sat up, his hair a messy, sticking-up puff, eyes barely open a slit.

His head turned left and right as if searching for something. Once he found it, he slowly shifted over, nestling into the crook of Chi Chen’s neck before falling back into a deep sleep, leaving Chi Chen flustered.

His chin tickled by the fluffy hair, Chi Chen unconsciously tilted his head back, his Adam’s apple bobbing. His stiff hands hovered, unsure where to place them.

After a long moment, he finally rested them lightly on Lu Zhishi’s back, hardly daring to press.

A sleepless night.

When Chi Chen woke up in the morning, Lu Zhishi woke up too, but he was accustomed to lazing in bed and kept his eyes closed, unwilling to move.

By the time Chi Chen came out of the bathroom, he was met with Lu Zhishi’s drowsy gaze. The hand holding the towel to dry his hair paused involuntarily.

Turning away, Chi Chen set down the towel, went to the wardrobe to fetch his clothes, and moved to the dressing room on the other side to change.

Lu Zhishi stretched, sat on the bed for a bit longer, then pushed back the covers and clumsily got down.

Rubbing his eyes as he walked, he swayed unsteadily without watching where he was going—and bumped right into Chi Chen’s chest.

Chi Chen steadied him, frowning as he said in a low voice, "Watch where you’re going."

"Mhm, mhm." Lu Zhishi vigorously rubbed his face, finally fully awake.

When he’d bumped into him earlier, he’d accidentally touched Chi Chen’s hand—it was icy cold.

Lu Zhishi touched his arm and the back of his hand, his brows furrowing in disapproval. "Brother Xiao Chen, you can’t rely on youth to neglect your health. You shouldn’t take cold showers—they’re too cold."

"No matter how hot the weather is, you can’t shower with cold water. What if you catch a cold? You can use cool water, but not ice-cold."

Seeing Chi Chen turn away as if not listening, Lu Zhishi grew anxious and circled around to face him. "Taking cold showers every day will come back to haunt you when you’re older. You have to listen."

Chi Chen looked down, meeting his eyes. He opened his mouth, then after a long moment, said quietly, "I’m not ignoring you. I'll stop."

Lu Zhishi nodded. "Uncle Zhang next door—he used to take cold showers every day when he was young, and now he always has headaches, back pain, leg pain, arm pain..."

After saying this, he glanced at Chi Chen again.

Chi Chen was amused and said helplessly, "I understand."

Returning to his own room to wash up and change, Lu Zhishi went downstairs to have breakfast with Chi Yuehang and the others before hurriedly went out to Song Qinian’s car to go to the company.

During the lunch break, Lu Zhishi even told his brother not to take cold showers.

Lu Zhiyu: "? I don’t."

Lu Zhishi nodded. "No matter how hot it is, you can’t take cold showers. It’ll leave you with health problems later."

"I know."

Lu Zhiyu patted his head.

"Brother Xiao Chen is probably overheated from the recent hot weather. Tonight, take some of the cooling herbal tea from our fridge and bring it to him."

As childhood friends who grew up together, how could Lu Zhiyu not understand Chi Chen?

This person had always been calm and detached by nature, with no one he particularly liked. So why would he take cold showers early in the morning? He must be getting overheated.

After a long day at work, Lu Zhishi returned home and collapsed onto the sofa, not even in the mood to check on his little cabbage sprout.

In the evening, after listlessly eating dinner and taking a shower, Lu Zhishi regained some energy and proudly carried his pot of cooling herbal tea to Chi Chen's place.

Chi Chen: "..."

Lu Zhishi patted the cooling herbal tea on the table and said earnestly, "Brother Xiao Chen, drinking cooling herbal tea will help with internal heat. It has fewer side effects than taking cold showers."

Chi Chen raised his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose: "...Did your brother ask you to bring this?"

"Yeah, he said if it's not enough, there's more at home. He'll bring you more tomorrow."

Internal heat it is, then, Chi Chen thought as he drank the cooling herbal tea. At least it was a reason he could voice.

After pouring him two cups and watching him finish, Lu Zhishi sat aside to continue his homework. It seemed like he hadn't finished his foreign language test paper yet.

If he could finish early today, he might still find a chance to recharge (his energy).

Lu Zhishi deeply regretted going to bed too early the previous night, missing the chance to recharge.

Perhaps because it was on his mind, he even dreamed of chasing after Chi Chen, frantically begging to be recharged, crying that he was about to shut down.

The thought of last night's dream—a sobbing phone desperately chasing a cold, aloof power bank, pleading, "Recharge me, recharge me, I'm about to shut down!"—made Lu Zhishi laugh.

But when he saw the words on the test paper, his smile froze.

He quickly glanced at Chi Chen beside him, then crumpled the test paper and stuffed it into his pajama pocket.

The commotion was so obvious, and his guilty expression made it impossible for Chi Chen not to notice.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing! I just remembered my brother called me. Brother Xiao Chen, I'll head out first." Blushing, Lu Zhishi dashed out as if his pants were on fire.

He really flew out—he was gone in a flash.

Chi Chen: "..."

Hastily returning home, test paper concealed, Lu Zhishi entered his room and pulled it out.

Looking left and right, those words mixed in with the English vocabulary stood out—really, really obviously!

Lu Zhishi covered his face. He remembered leaving the test paper spread out on the desk last night. He'd been writing until he dozed off, collapsing right on the desk.

He was sure he hadn't tidied up the test paper or his pen. Heck, he probably hadn't even made it to bed on his own—Chi Chen must have helped him.

But when he went to Chi Chen's room earlier, his test paper and pen were neatly arranged in a corner of the desk. Undoubtedly, Chi Chen's doing.

So, had Chi Chen seen the words on the test paper?

"Ugh..." Lu Zhishi covered his face and collapsed onto the bed, his ears burning red with a mix of embarrassment and frustration. "How did this happen..."

After moping briefly, he rolled over and sat up, patting his cheeks. His eyes were moist and bright.

At least he hadn't written anything too embarrassing—otherwise, he'd never be able to face Chi Chen again.

He quickly took out correction tape to cover the words on the test paper, finished the remaining questions, folded it neatly, and put it in his backpack.

His noisy return home had worried his family, and they came to check on him one after another.

Song Qinian brought him a cup of warm milk, and Lu Tingan reminded him to sleep early. After making sure he was fine, the two fathers left.

Not long after they left, Lu Zhiyu came in with a cup of coffee and sat by the bed to chat with Lu Zhishi.

"Why are you back so early today?"

Lu Zhishi hugged his milk cup. "I've almost finished my homework."

"Mm." Lu Zhiyu took a sip of coffee. "Finish up and rest early. Recharge."

"I'll sleep soon." Lu Zhishi glanced at the coffee in Lu Zhiyu's hand. "Brother, why are you drinking coffee so late?"

"There's an issue with the project I'm handling. I'm working overtime tonight."

Hearing there was a problem, Lu Zhishi grew worried. "What kind of issue? Is it serious? Let Dad take a look."

Lu Zhiyu chuckled. "It's not a big deal. No need to bother Dad. Besides, he's keeping an eye on me. If anything comes up, he'll step in."

"That's good, that's good." Lu Zhishi breathed a sigh of relief.

With Lu Tingan watching over things, it was fine. Their two strong fathers were their pillar of security. With him and Song Qinian around, both Lu Zhishi and Lu Zhiyu felt at ease.

"Then hurry back and get your work done. Finish up and get some sleep." Worried his brother would stay up too late, Lu Zhishi urged him to go back to work now so he could rest early.

"Alright, alright, I'm going. You should sleep early too."

Seeing Lu Zhiyu out, Lu Zhishi watched his tall, slender back and felt a twinge of guilt. He hadn't spent much time with his dad and brother lately.

The next day after work, Song Qinian noticed his younger son was unusually diligent. Instead of coming home lethargic, he energetically whipped up dinner in the kitchen.

After eating, he went upstairs to shower. Instead of heading to the Chi family's place to play with Xiao Chen, he brought a stack of books to the study room to read.

Song Qinian finished signing documents, glanced at Lu Zhishi at the small desk, then turned to whisper to Lu Tingan.

"What's up with Fat Cheese tonight?"

"Maybe he thinks the study room has a better learning atmosphere," Lu Tingan said, also looking over.

Song Qinian thought it made sense. His own efficiency was higher in the study—probably something about the environment.

"Brother Yu is busy lately? I've noticed he's been working overtime in his room these past couple of days, with his light on very late."

Lu Tingan turned a page of the file. "There's a minor issue with his project. The break is almost over, and he wants to wrap things up before returning to school."

Song Qinian nodded, not too worried. If it were serious, Lu Tingan would have stepped in already.

"Once this busy period is over, we won't need overtime. Let's find time to go watch a movie then."

They usually worked nine-to-five with weekends off, but lately, with all the overtime every night, even Song Qinian was fed up. He wanted a break.

Lu Tingan said, "We can rest a bit at the end of this month and early next month. The end of the year will be very busy."

Song Qinian rubbed his temples, feeling particularly grumpy. The desire to retire was stronger than ever.

He said, "I hate going to work."

Lu Tingan didn't speak, instead raising his hand to ruffled Song Qinian’s hair, offering silent comfort.

Finally finishing an exam, Lu Zhishi stretched and took a break, then looked up: "..."

He felt like he shouldn’t be there; his head felt like it was buzzing.

He touched it—oh, it turned out it was just his inner lightbulb going off.

Lu Zhishi glanced at the exam, slowly stood up, and the couple at the nearby desk looked over at him.

"Finished?"

Lu Zhishi nodded emphatically. "Mhm."

Song Qinian picked up his phone to check the time. "Go back to sleep after you finish."

"Okay." After tidying up the desk, Lu Zhishi closed the door and left.

He came back in less than two minutes, placed two cups of hot milk on the large desk, said, "Good night, Dads," and left again.

Song Qinian picked up a cup of hot milk and took a sip, smiling as he said, "This Little Fat Cheese is quite thoughtful."

Beside him, Lu Tingan took a sip of hot milk and nodded along. "Let’s give him more allowance tomorrow."

Not knowing his allowance was going up—otherwise, Lu Zhishi would have run back to the study to plant a kiss on his dad’s cheek—he knocked on Lu Zhiyu's door, placed the other cup of milk on his desk, and seeing his frown, went behind him to massage his temples.

Lu Zhiyu picked up the milk and took a sip, asking softly, "Didn’t you get any?"

"I had mine downstairs."

Lu Zhiyu nodded and drank the entire cup of milk.

Seeing how swamped he was, Lu Zhishi massaged him for a while, then took the empty cup and left.

After returning from the kitchen, Lu Zhishi went into his room, closed the door, and stood on the balcony looking over at the Chis’ place.

Holding his phone, he hesitated but ultimately didn’t hit send.

With a few days left of the long break, Lu Zhishi followed Song Qinian to work during the day and did homework at home at night, not going to see Chi Chen for a recharge.

But he did give Chi Chen two heads of cabbage.

Chi Chen could guess the reason behind Lu Zhishi avoiding him these past couple of days—the kid got shy, so it was natural for him to hide.

But understanding aside, Chi Chen still felt weirdly bummed. Used to being reserved and steady, he didn’t show his emotions.

After avoiding him for two days, with the holiday ending and school about to start—meaning another week apart—Lu Zhishi couldn’t resist anymore.

His heart aching with longing, he brought his chestnut cake to Chi Chen that evening.

"Brother Xiao Chen."

Lu Zhishi walked in holding the small cake, lifting it up to show Chi Chen. "Brother Xiao Chen, I brought you chestnut cake."

"All for me?"

"Of course." Lu Zhishi set the cake down. "I took forever picking it out this afternoon. This one is the prettiest."

Chi Chen had to admit, hearing his voice made a weight off his chest, easing his frustration.

If Lu Zhishi hadn’t come over tonight or tomorrow, Chi Chen had planned to find an excuse to have dinner and stay over at the Lus’ on the last day of the holiday.

"Thank you. Can you cut a piece for me?"

"Of course!" Lu Zhishi was excited.

After avoiding him for days, seeing Chi Chen again now, Lu Zhishi’s heart had already flown over and stuck firmly to Chi Chen—no one could peel it away.

Sigh, he really was a little punk, Lu Zhishi thought, rubbing his reddening cheeks.

"Are you feeling unwell?" Chi Chen noticed him rubbing his face quite hard, turning it red.

"No, my face was just super itchy, wanted to rub it."

Chi Chen: "..." Your face was itchy? Really?

After cutting a slice for Chi Chen, Lu Zhishi cut one for himself too and sat on the small sofa next to Chi Chen, digging in with a spoon.

Taking a bite, the fragrant, soft chestnut cream melted in his mouth—not too sweet, not too plain, just perfect.

Chi Chen took one bite and set it aside, continuing to read his papers.

"Was the chestnut cake too sweet this time?" Lu Zhishi asked, seeing he’d only taken one bite.

If it was too sweet, he’d ask the shop to go lighter on the sugar next time.

"Not too sweet, it’s perfect." Chi Chen looked into his eyes. "I’ll eat after finishing work."

"Okay." Lu Zhishi nodded.

He hadn’t brought homework today and was bored, so he turned on the TV, muted it, and started watching the latest episodes of a Chinese anime.

Chi Chen glanced at the TV, then lowered his head to continue working, working faster.

He finished work an hour and a half earlier than usual, checked everything once more, tidied up his desk, and sat next to Lu Zhishi, eating cake and watching with him.

Lu Zhishi was beaming. "Brother Xiao Chen, you finished all your work today?"

"Mhm." Chi Chen looked up, noticed the show was over, and turned to ask Lu Zhishi, "There’s a new anime movie out. Do you want to watch it?"

Lu Zhishi shook his head—he didn’t want to. Lifting his gaze, he looked at Chi Chen with sparkling eyes. "I want to watch a horror movie, but I’m too chicken to watch alone."

Chi Chen: "..."

He didn’t speak, just looked at Lu Zhishi, his eyes seeming to ask: You, watch a horror movie?

Lu Zhishi nodded excitedly. "I want to!"

Chi Chen almost said something—this guy was a scaredy-cat who loves horror, and he’d probably end up hiding under the blankets too afraid to sleep.

But meeting Lu Zhishi’s sparkling eyes, Chi Chen opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.

He turned off the lights, switched to the movie Lu Zhishi had picked, and creepy music echoed through the room.

The one who said he wanted to watch was now shaking in his boots. Chi Chen turned to look at Lu Zhishi, who was almost hiding behind him.

Lu Zhishi had tugged on the sleeve of Chi Chen’s arm to cover his eyes, only half of his sparkling eyes visible. Whenever a jump-scare came, he’d pull the sleeve up higher to completely cover his eyes, only lowering it when he figured the scary part was over.

Chi Chen found it both amusing and endearing—what a scaredy-cat he was.

The plot was too intense, leaving Lu Zhishi wired all night.

He was so worked up from being scared.

Well past bedtime, Chi Chen thought he would stay over as usual.

But unexpectedly, Lu Zhishi said he wanted to go home to sleep.

It was too dark outside, and Lu Zhishi was too afraid to go out alone. He grabbed Chi Chen’s hand, wanting him to walk him home.

Chi Chen didn’t understand why he wasn’t staying over, but he didn’t ask. He let Lu Zhishi hold his arm, used a flashlight to light the way, walked him home, upstairs, and even into his room.

After saying goodnight, Chi Chen went to check on the overworked Lu Zhiyu, chatted for a bit, and then headed back.

Lu Zhishi finished washing up, turned on all the lights in his room, buried himself under the blanket, and forced himself to sleep.

He felt excited while watching, but when it was time to sleep, he got all scared—eyes squeezed shut, afraid to open them, terrified of seeing something weird.

The more he thought about it, the scarier it got. He wadded the blanket up tightly around himself, using it as a protective barricade!

Even so, after trying to hypnotize himself for a long time, he still couldn’t fall asleep. He pulled out his phone to check the time—it was already the dead of night.

Lu Zhiyu had been dealing with work, exhausted, he could barely keep his eyes open. He finally managed to wash up and collapse in bed.

Before he could fall into a deep sleep, he heard a soft, faint knocking—*tap tap tap*—so faint it was almost inaudible.

And he could barely hear someone calling, "Brother… brother…"

In the dead of night, the whole thing was downright creepy, scaring off any last bit of drowsiness.

Racking his brain to recall what Chi Chen had mentioned earlier that night, Lu Zhiyu turned on the light and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

He got up and opened the bedroom door. There stood a quivering Lu Zhishi, clutching a pillow in one hand and a plush rabbit in the other. The moment the door opened, he whimpered and squeezed in.

"Brother, save me!"

Lu Zhiyu said with a sigh, patted his head, let him in, and closed the door.

"Who told you to watch a horror movie? Don’t you know how easily scared you are?"

Lu Zhiyu moved his own pillow aside and watched his timid little brother burrow under the covers, only his head peeking out.

Lu Zhishi whispered, "It was really good while I was watching it…"

"Will you watch it again next time?" Lu Zhiyu walked over and pulled the blanket down a little. "Don’t wrap yourself so tightly, or you’ll get too hot and won’t be able to sleep."

Lu Zhishi loosened the blanket a bit, wriggled closer to Lu Zhiyu, and as soon as he got into bed, hurriedly clung to his arm.

"No, no, I won’t dare watch it again."

"Heh." Lu Zhiyu knew him all too well—he'd avoid it for now, but who knew what would happen later.

He teased Lu Zhishi, "You’re all thrill but no courage, just like your fishing skills."