“Let’s say, the pieces up there would be fake. We don’t want players to start fighting in the forest because they don't know it - so what if an NPC suddenly came and offered a quest with the piece as a reward?” Jian Lin smiled suddenly. “A quest that takes enough time for us to work with. Once the reward is given out, players will notice it’s a fake.”

Xi Yang paused his movements. His eyes widened as he understood where Jian Lin was going with this. “So they’ll go to the NPC and demand to know why the piece isn’t real. Then the NPC will reply-”

“Of course it’s not. Who would hang up the real pieces? You looked like you wanted it, so I thought you knew”, Jian Lin finished the sentence.

Xi Yang sat up so abruptly that Jian Lin had to hurry to lean back in order to not hit their heads together.

“And the fakes can be exchanged for the real ones again afterwards! Once everyone lost their interest believing they’re fake, the pieces would be safe!”

“We could place a series of fake hints about their real hiding place. You know how there’s been people who went ahead and buried treasure in mountains for fun? There could be an unsolvable riddle. No one would know if it’s just a hoax.”

“The only problems are replicating the pieces well enough that it’s not obvious at first glance and somehow switching them out two times without anyone noticing.” Xi Yang grabbed Jian Lin’s face and smooched him. “You’re a genius! This might actually work with how players think! Everyone knows that real treasure is hidden away, after all!”

“I was thinking of asking Blackstone to create the fake pieces. I trust her”, Jian Lin suggested, lowering his gaze again, a bit embarrassed by the loud kiss.

“Yeah. I don’t see her as someone who’d reveal it either. Rather, she might think of it as fun - like a coup. Maybe she has suggestions on how to exchange it, too. How about we contact her tomorrow?”

Looking at the time, it was indeed getting rather late.

Jian Lin decided to drop her a message. He didn’t know her schedule so it was unclear when she’d answer, but to his surprise, she responded almost immediately. Since she had a rare break, she wanted to come over the next day to discuss the “favor” that Jian Lin had mentioned.

The two men sighed in relief at her response. Hopefully they were a step closer to their goal now, they didn’t have too much time before the other players would begin to act.

As the evening drew into night, Xi Yang started getting lazier and lazier. Jian Lin’s place was simple but cozy and he liked it a lot. After joining him for dinner, Xi Yang had settled on the armchair while Jian Lin was lying down on the sofa to rest a bit. Neither of them spoke and the TV was turned off, but the mood was comfortable.

Xi Yang was blankly staring at his phone that had turned dark a couple of minutes ago. Jian Lin appeared to be asleep.

Sleeping Jian Lin was the definition of a sleeping beauty - features like an angel, lying quietly and breathing softly.

Trying not to make any sound, Xi Yang stood up. On one hand he didn’t want to wake up Jian Lin, but…

Xi Yang hesitated only for a second before his feelings overwhelmed his worry. He inched closer to Jian Lin, then sprawled himself over the other’s chest, affectionately rubbing his head under Jian Lin’s chin.

A bit dazed, Jian Lin blinked himself awake to having an oversized dog in human form cling to him. Being so close and affectionate was still something he wasn’t completely used to, but that didn’t mean it was a bad feeling.

It made his heart itch and fingers tingle, chest all warm and tight, but he had no way of relaying this feeling to Xi Yang. He didn’t know how.

Miffed at his own inability to express himself, Jian Lin wrapped his arms around Xi Yang’s thin waist to hold him tight. Responding, even if only softly like this, was his only way of displaying his love.

But despite Jian Lin’s worries - none of his actions went unnoticed.

Xi Yang knew very well what Jian Lin was like, and so he interpreted every single movement exactly the way it was intended to be - as subtle shows of affection.

“Can I stay over tonight?”, he whined, twirling his finger’s around Ice’s soft hair. “I don’t wanna move.”

“But your apartment is right next door”, Jian Lin blurted out, a bit slow.

Xi Yang turned his head, chin on Jian Lin’s chest, and pouted. “I know it is. But if I’m over there and you’re here, we can’t sleep together. Or do you want to throw me out?”

Jian Lin quickly shook his head, cheeks flushing a bit. “Then stay over. Your brother won’t mind?”

“He’s old enough to stay on his own.” On his chest, Xi Yang smiled widely. His sharp little canines showed, making Jian Lin stare. Without thinking, he lifted an arm up, poking them with a finger. The poked person was a bit surprised, but mostly amused.

“Do I have something in my teeth?”

“They remind me of Bloody.”

Sadly, Xi Yang didn’t have Bloody’s fluffy ears. Disappointed, Jian Lin rubbed through his boyfriend’s hair.

“You’ve got a thing for animal ears, huh?”

“It’s cute how they twitch.”

“Hmmm. Say, can you ask Little Droplet if they can play around with your characters data a bit? We can’t marry otherwise, since it’s new, but we can’t get past the restrictions if we don’t.”

Innocent, Jian Lin blinked in confusion. “Which restrictions?”

Xi Yang grinned, not responding. Instead, he said something else that Jian Lin still didn’t understand. “As for reality… Well, I’ve got no problem with cosplay. Just gotta find some high quality stuff that’s worth its money.”

The blonde didn’t know what Xi Yang was going to cosplay as, but he’d surely see when the time came.

...He’d see indeed.

In terms of pace, Xi Yang felt a bit strained. He preferred a quicker one - he wasn’t too concerned about needing time to go the next step, especially not when he was dearly craving being closer to his loved one.

It was incredibly tempting to just push Jian Lin down and take the lead, but he didn’t.

Jian Lin valued shows of affection much more than physical contact. He had a comparatively low interest in starting anything sexual, although he’d happily go along with it if Xi Yang took the initiative.

It was hard to tell what he could do that Jian Lin would be alright with, and he was worried the other might stay quiet to indulge him.

Mentally, Xi Yang was struggling to find ways to prove his own feelings. He hadn’t felt this way in his previous relationships, but he thought it was incredibly important this time. No matter what could be skipped, showing his love to Jian Lin couldn’t be skipped, ever!

Xi Yang sighed, rubbing his head against Jian Lin’s hand.

“What’s wrong?”, the man asked in a soothing tone that Xi Yang loved. It was all soft and velvety, like a warm embrace.

“I don’t know how I could possibly stick to you more, but I want to”, Xi Yang lamented. “I don’t want to let go of you at all!”

“Then don’t.”

The heartfelt reply made his heart squeeze. “That doesn’t work. How are you supposed to take a shower later?”

“We can take it together.”

Xi Yang didn’t even say anything to that. He waited, and as expected, a few seconds later Jian Lin awkwardly cleared his throat. It always needed a while until he thought of things as not just innocent.

“I mean, I’m fine with that, but I fear you’ll get jumped.” Xi Yang poked a finger into Jian Lin’s chest. “My self-control isn’t that good.”

Jian Lin captured the finger, holding it. “But why are you controlling yourself?”

“Huh?”

“We already said you take the lead.” Jian Lin’s voice was quiet but calm. “I won’t even know if something is too far for me unless we try. Why do you only think of me? You might want to be considerate, but I also want to be considerate. Why are my desires over yours? Isn’t it enough if you give me the choice of retreating if I’m overwhelmed?”

Slowly, he changed his grip to holding Xi Yang’s hands. His thumb rubbed over the other’s.

“I might not think of many things, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a tolerance for it. If it’s you, I’m fine with everything. You can come over as you wish, you can touch me as you wish. Your happiness is my happiness.” Jian Lin’s eyebrows creased a bit. He said his last words clearly and slowly, every word carefully delivered. “Also, why is it that you want to deny me your actions of love, simply because they’re different from mine?”

Xi Yang choked up. Throat all tight, his eyes were suddenly a bit tingly and prickly. Quickly, he hid his face in Jian Lin’s chest. The gentle rubs on his hands didn’t help him calm down.

“I don’t deserve you”, he mumbled into the fabric of Jian Lin’s shirt.

“That’s for me to decide, not for you.” A bit of the Ice Emperor’s regal temperament seemed to have seeped into Jian Lin at that moment. “You said you want to stick to me more, so you’ll stay over today. I won’t let you go.”

Xi Yang hummed nasally, not yet aware that when Jian Lin said these words… he meant them.

The other man was a bit dumbfounded when Jian Lin, for the first time, actively dragged Xi Yang onto his lap after they moved to the sofa. Both during their following snacktime and the videos they watched, Jian Lin kept his arms snuggly placed around Xi Yang’s waist, often accompanying their conversation by pasting kisses on Xi Yang’s cheek or hair.

While he didn’t cry or anything, the black-haired man’s eyes stayed red-rimmed the whole time.