"I like it," Xinyuan called out over the spray of water.
Wenzhi stood just outside the steam, drying his hair with a towel. A much larger one was wrapped around his waist, leaving his freckled torso exposed and heavily painted with dark hickeys.
He stopped, glancing over at the frosted shower glass that only partially obscured Xinyuan’s tall, fit, naked silhouette.
"You like what?" Wenzhi asked.
"The na. Sovereign Faction," Xinyuan said, turning to face the glass with a dimpled smile.
Wenzhi grimaced, instantly looking away. "I don’t. But I guess we’re stuck with it. It was the first thing that ca to my head when I was threatening that commander."
Leaving the bathroom, Wenzhi walked back into the main safe room just as a quiet knock sounded at the door. He opened it to find a small delivery robot carrying a package of fresh food and new clothes.
Wenzhi took the supplies, the robot wheeled away, and he slid the heavy door shut. He set the clothes on the bed, which he had already stripped and remade with clean linens, and laid the food out on the table.
He had already sent a brief alert to Zhaohe letting him know everything was fine, claiming he’d just been a bit disoriented.
Honestly, "disoriented" didn’t even begin to cover it. Last night had fundantally rewired his brain and rearranged his organs and this morning had only hamred it ho.
Wenzhi smacked a hand against his face. Curiously, he didn’t feel dizzy or faint anymore. Aside from the raw exhaustion that had knocked him out last night, he actually felt entirely different from the early days of guiding Xinyuan.
Back then, they had never crossed this line, but now Wenzhi knew there was no going back. Xinyuan was never going to leave him alone. Even now, the sudden physical absence left him feeling strangely empty.
While Xinyuan was waking up, Wenzhi had laid out the current political landscape for him, and Xinyuan had been visibly relieved. The foundation was set; their faction was finally solidifying, especially with the Rift Bureau currently dangling on their hook.
"Are you okay?" Xinyuan’s voice cut through his thoughts from behind.
"No," Wenzhi breathed.
Without looking at him, he snatched up a pair of pants and hurled them straight at Xinyuan’s chest. "Put those on. And eat."
Xinyuan caught them, his brow furrowing. "Are you hurting?"
Wenzhi’s frustration flared. It was just guiding. Intimate, high-level guiding. Why the hell was he freaking out so much?
The imprint was locked in now, and his entire body was actively adapting to Xinyuan’s massive energy reserves, forcibly elevating Wenzhi into a certified A-Rank Guide.
Ignoring the question, Wenzhi silently pulled on his own clothes. When he finally turned around, Xinyuan was standing there shirtless, his damp hair curling slightly. He was watching Wenzhi with those warm, earnest brown eyes, silently begging him to just say what was on his mind.
"No. I am not hurting," Wenzhi said, taking a deep breath to steady his voice. "Besides, I was just guiding you. It’s nothing special."
He walked right past Xinyuan and grabbed the packaged food. "It was either that, or you were going to kill us all. So yes... I was just guiding you."
He sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than the man currently tracking his every move.
"Do you regret guiding the way you did?" Xinyuan asked softly.
Wenzhi paused, turning to face him with a sharp frown. "What kind of question is that? We fucked, and you’re stable. That’s all that matters," he said, his expression hardening into a stern mask.
But Wenzhi instantly hated himself for it, especially because the bond allowed him to feel the exact mont Xinyuan’s heart sank with hurt.
Ignoring the pang of guilt, Wenzhi grabbed the containers and sat on the edge of the clean bed, separating his portion from Xinyuan’s.
When Xinyuan walked over, Wenzhi handed him his al. Xinyuan took it slowly, sinking onto the mattress beside him.
For a long mont, Xinyuan just stared at his food, silent and still, before turning his gaze back to Wenzhi, who was already digging into a bowl of sweet and spicy noodles.
"I can hear how fast your heart is beating," Xinyuan murmured.
Wenzhi froze, a noodle still dangling from his lips. He slurped it up deliberately, his scowl deepening. "It’s a heart. Of course it beats."
"Your heart rarely beats this fast. Rarely even in terrifying situations, like back in the red zone when we ran into the mutated Dovos and Craxisis."
Wenzhi gave him a dull, unimpressed look. "What is it with the cheesy lines, Xinyuan?"
Xinyuan just smiled, the brief flash of hurt completely vanishing. "I love your tattoo. Can I see it again?"
Without waiting for permission, Xinyuan hooked his fingers under Wenzhi’s shirt and lifted it, splaying his palm flat against Wenzhi’s ribs. His fingertips trailed over the phoenix constellation tattoo.
Wenzhi tried his absolute best to ignore the way that single touch spiked his senses, sending goosebumps straight through his soul. With just that simple contact, their wavelengths brushed and caressed against each other in a dizzying hum.
"Aren’t you going to eat?" Wenzhi muttered, slapping Xinyuan’s hand away.
Xinyuan pulled back without protest and finally started eating. A heavy silence settled between them as they chewed, until Xinyuan suddenly broke it.
"It’s not just guiding to ."
Wenzhi’s chopsticks stopped, but he refused to look up.
"I told you I am in love with you," Xinyuan continued, his tone fierce with quiet certainty. "What I feel for you isn’t just because you happen to be my guide."
Wenzhi let out a slow sigh. "Keep telling yourself that, Sleeping Beauty."
Xinyuan didn’t seem bothered by the deflection. He just kept eating with a small smile, stealing frequent glances at Wenzhi.
For his part, Wenzhi did his absolute best, and succeeded, in not looking back at Shao Xinyuan. It was a calculated effort, especially since he knew Xinyuan could still hear his pulse racing in his chest.
’Bloody imprint!’
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