Chapter 168: I Was Seen Naked

Xu Yanfeng drove and took Xia Xi back to his apartment near the school.

Xia Xi was here for the first time; after entering, Xu Yanfeng found her a pair of unused men's slippers: "Make do."

She wore the big slippers, shuffling in, and roughly looked around the living room. Compared to the private villa where they'd held a party last time, this apartment was clearly where Xu Yanfeng often lived, showing heavy signs of life.

On the black L-shaped leather sofa lay a blanket folded into squares; the coffee table held a cup and financial magazines; near the floor-to-ceiling window stood a three-seat short sofa, beside it two pots of emerald-green pothos, and beside that a simple bookshelf crammed with dozens of books, mainly on finance and architecture. The double-layer curtains: the inner layer was sheer linen, the outer a heavy blackout curtain, drawn only a third of the way.

Xu Yanfeng bent to pick up the remote on the coffee table, opened the curtains fully, letting more light in, clearly revealing the whole living room.

Xia Xi didn't bother to appreciate it, her gaze turning to Xu Yanfeng with a hint of urging: "Hurry up and take a shower."

Xu Yanfeng's heart clenched, his expression froze.

Seeing him frozen, Xia Xi took another look at his expression, immediately realizing how ambiguous her words had been, and pressed a finger to her brow: "Don't look at me like that; how else am I to apply the medicine if you don't shower?"

He really misunderstood her deeply!

Actually, he can't be blamed for overthinking; when she pursued him she always teased him, and after catching him she became even less restrained.

Xu Yanfeng's complexion returned to normal; he pointed to the fridge: "There's fruit and drinks, help yourself."

Xia Xi feigned calm: "I know."

Xu Yanfeng entered the master bedroom, closed the door, took out a clean set of clothes and went to the bathroom to shower. Warm water poured on his itchy skin, bringing slight relief; thinking of Xia Xi waiting outside, a strange feeling rose in his heart.

Xia Xi helped herself to a bottle of soda from the fridge, leaned against the bar and drank half of it, returned to the living room, sat on the sofa with her hands braced at her sides, her legs together bouncing up and down boredly; the slippers on her feet flopped like boats, occasionally slipping off.

Xu Yanfeng showered slowly; she didn't check the exact time, only knowing that during the wait she yawned three times, her eye sockets sore, a sheen of moisture forming.

When Xia Xi yawned a fourth time, she turned her head toward the master bedroom; for some reason, a bad guess suddenly popped into her head: Could Xu Yanfeng have fainted in the shower?

Isn't it possible that a severe allergy could cause suffocating shock?

The more she thought, the more uneasy she felt; Xia Xi stopped hesitating, rose, walked toward the master bedroom, gripped the doorknob and pushed it open; the sound of water in the bathroom became clear, and she hurried to the doorway.

Half the door was frosted glass, a blur; she leaned on it to look inside, saw no moving silhouette, her heart leapt into her throat, she forgot to call out Xu Yanfeng's name and shoved the door open, barging in.

The water sound cut off abruptly; Xu Yanfeng hastily pulled a towel around his waist, eyes wide with surprise as he looked toward the door. His face showed an expression he'd never had before: "Xia Xi?"

Xia Xi's head buzzed as if something had exploded inside; she hastily turned away, face flaming red, arms flailing in the air: "I-I-I… I saw nothing! I didn't mean to, snivel… you took too long to come out, I thought something had happened to you, I was worried, I came to check, who would have thought…"

Who would have known his bathroom was so huge, the shower stall at the far end, making it hard to see a silhouette through the door panel.

Xu Yanfeng's gaze fell on her two ears, red as if dripping blood; the surprise on his face slowly faded, leaving him speechless.

After a moment, seeing she made no further move while he remained bare-chested, only shielded by water droplets clinging to the glass wall, he felt a headache and said: "So, you're still here—are you planning to watch?"

"I'm leaving, I'm leaving." Xia Xi's whole body turned bright red, no exaggeration; she clutched her head and hurried out of the bathroom, the slippers too big, slipping off her feet, she stumbled after just two steps.

Xu Yanfeng undid the towel around his waist and wiped his body; suddenly he heard a "thud" from outside, he paused, then called toward the ajar door: "Xia Xi, did you fall?"

Xia Xi wanted to cry but had no tears, her voice weak: "I didn't..."

She certainly hadn't fallen; she herself had dropped to her knees, banged her head on the floor, beat her chest and stamped her feet, regretting her actions. Now even jumping into the Huang He couldn't wash this away; Xu Yanfeng would surely think she was a hooligan, pretending concern while actually lusting after his body, peeking at his shower.

Heaven and earth as my witness, she truly had no such thought!

Xu Yanfeng put on a shirt and trousers, wiping his hair as he walked out, pulled open the bathroom door and paused at the threshold; Xia Xi knelt beside the sofa, burying her face in a pillow, her curved back trembling slightly.

Was she crying?

He hadn't said anything to her; it shouldn't be that bad.

Xu Yanfeng draped the towel over his shoulder, walked over, and gently patted her back: "What's wrong?"

Xia Xi couldn't face him, she shook her head twice to indicate she was fine.

The more she tried to hide, the more Xu Yanfeng worried; he pulled the towel from his shoulder and tossed it onto the sofa arm, digging out her deeply buried head. She was forced to lift her face—a sorrowful countenance, but without tears.

Xu Yanfeng let out a breath, relieved she wasn't crying. He amusedly tucked the strands of hair on her face behind her ear: "It's me who was seen naked, and I haven't even held it against you, yet you act like this."

The heat on Xia Xi's face never subsided; it felt scalding, her gaze wandering, refusing to meet his eyes: "I said I didn't see anything—that's the truth, I'm not lying to you."

Her tone was urgent; she was almost swearing an oath to heaven.

Xu Yanfeng nodded calmly: "Mm, you didn't see."

Xia Xi was on the verge of tears: "You don't believe me."

"I believe you."

"You say you believe with your mouth, but you don't in your heart."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"……"

Xia Xi lowered her head, continuing to play the ostrich; only just before she had buried her face in the pillow, now she buried it in his embrace. In her breath was the clean scent of his body after bathing, a woody fragrance one could usually smell but not this strong; she felt as if she had walked into a rain-soaked forest, her body also dampened with that woody aroma.

Xu Yanfeng let her bury herself, silent, savoring this moment of quiet warmth.

"You haven't applied the medicine yet, have you?" Xia Xi mumbled into his chest, her voice muffled.

Xu Yanfeng gave a casual reply; she pushed herself up from the sofa edge, stepped into his slippers with a pat-pat, went out, fetched the topical ointment from her bag, and returned to the bedroom to hand it to Xu Yanfeng.

"Do you want me to help?"

"I'll do it myself."

Xu Yanfeng twisted open the ointment's cap, sealed with silver foil; he turned the cap upside down, used the point to pierce the seal, squeezed out a bit, got it on his fingertip, and, going by feel, smeared it on his neck.

Xia Xi stared at him; he lifted his slender neck, his head tilting slightly, on his cold-white skin blossoms of red appeared, the prominent adam's apple rolling slightly with each swallow, his jade-bamboo-like fingers stroked over his collarbone, spreading the ointment. Since he hadn't looked in a mirror, his movements seemed casual and sloppy.

Such a simple act of applying medicine, done by him, seemed like a temptation.

Even if she couldn't restrain herself and wanted to sin, it wouldn't be her fault.

When that thought arose, Xia Xi hastily shook her head, thinking, What am I thinking?!

"Some spots weren't covered." She tried to make her sound more serious.

Xu Yanfeng stopped pretending, handed her the ointment from his hand, meaning for her to help.

Xia Xi was delighted; she first went to the bathroom to wash her hands clean, then knelt on one knee behind him on the sofa, pulled down his collar a little, dipped her finger in the white ointment, and, making circular motions, applied it to the inflamed area.

Likewise applying medicine by hand, the feeling was completely different; a current shot up Xu Yanfeng's back, from head-numb to toe, the hand braced at his side involuntarily clenched, gripping the leather sofa and producing a creaking sound that sparked imagination.

Xia Xi moved to the front, sat with her legs bent, and carefully applied a layer of ointment to the spots he had missed, then puckered her lips and blew on it.

,

That pleasant, fresh woody scent gradually gave way to a medicinal smell; she lifted her eyelids, looked into his dark pupils: "Still itchy? Any better?"

The skin felt icy cool, much better than before; however, Xu Yanfeng felt a surge of dry heat rising from deep within his body, as if someone had thrown a fire into him, burning his throat dry and thirsty.

Gazed upon by his deep eyes, Xia Xi also felt hot; but she was bolder than him, doing whatever she thought; she grabbed his shoulder with one hand, used the leverage to straighten her upper body, and kissed his lips.