After a satisfying dinner of hot noodle soup, they got up to clear the table, with Gu Qingfeng nudging Wen Xi to go wash up. “I’ve got the dishes, go shower and get comfortable.”

Wen Xi’s face flushed as the thought of what showering usually lead up to came to mind.

Not noticing his boyfriend’s expression as he stacked the dirty bowls, Gu Qingfeng said, “We have a long night ahead of us~” Wen Xi gulped at the unsaid insinuation, his heart starting to pound in his chest.

“We’re doing the Goblin King quest, right?” Gu Qingfeng confirmed as he looked up, to see Wen Xi’s frozen expression that betrayed his thoughts.

“Mm,” Wen Xi hurriedly murmured in agreement as he sped away to the toilet to hide his face.

Chuckling as he took the dirty dishes into the kitchen, Gu Qingfeng grinned as he rolled up his sleeves. There would be plenty of time for that later.

After speedily washing up the dishes, Gu Qingfeng wiped off his hands and went into the living room, noticing Wen Xi’s bag lying untouched on the spot where he had left it. He laughed as he imagined a naked and embarrassed Wen Xi coming out to get his clothes and decided to give his thin-skinned boyfriend a break and take his clothes to him. He unzipped the bag to take out the clothes and laptop to help set up for their gaming session to find a few eye-catching things at the bottom of the bag. His smile widened as he grew more excited for the evening ahead. He had the same set of items in his bedroom drawer.

Happily whistling a tune, he purposely left those items where they were and took the clothes over to the toilet, rapping on the door. Hearing the water come to a stop, he called out, “Wen-ge, I’ll put your clothes here outside the door, you can use the fresh towel next to mine to dry off.”

Receiving a muffled thanks through the door, he turned around and went to set up their laptops.

---

Wen Xi stomach settled back in its regular position to the sound of Gu Qingfeng’s footsteps moving further away. He had been in the middle of some thorough cleaning when the other had knocked, giving him a fright. After watching multiple videos during his research, he found himself automatically envisioning Gu Qingfeng above him, his brows furrowed in focus as he—suffice to say that Wen Xi had even tried playing with himself a bit in the shower, but was too embarrassed to go very far.

With the graphic images in his head, he sighed as he eyed his lower half cheerfully standing at attention, and turned the knob to cold water to calm himself down.

At least he did not need to streak across the living room in a towel to get his clothes. He had been in such a hurry to get into the toilet that he had forgotten to get his bag. Luckily Gu Qingfeng helped to take out his—

He stiffened with shame as he realized what Gu Qingfeng would have seen in his bag once the clothes were taken out. Giving another deep sigh, he ducked his head under the cold water. What’s done is done, at least there’s nothing to hide anymore.

He finished his shower and opened the door just wide enough to quickly grab his clothes before promptly slamming it shut, eliciting a muffled laugh from the living room. Refreshed, he came out of the toilet, trying to look cool and collected.

“Come over,” Gu Qingfeng patted the empty chair next to him. He had set up their laptops next to each other on the cleaned dining table.

Reminding himself of his personal mission he had wanted to accomplish while doing the quest, he sat down next to Gu Qingfeng, determinedly doing a mental run through of his plan to test out his theory.

They started up the game and logged in to their accounts. Wen Xi curiously peered over at Gu Qingfeng’s screen to see a barrage of messages from his guild members.

[Guild] Can’t Think Of A Name: Leader is online!

[Guild] Bamboo Shoots In The Wind: Lightwind ge! Want to play with us?

[Guild] Chuunibyou: Ahh I see that brother-in-law is online too. Leader won’t be playing with us tonight…

Brother-in-law? Was that how they referred to him? Wen Xi had added some of them as friends after doing some quests together, and as in-game friends you could see their online/offline status. Gu Qingfeng’s fingers flew over the keyboard, swiftly typing out:  

[Guild] Lightwind: Mm, good evening

[Guild] Lightwind: Yes, I am with your brother-in-law right now

[Guild] Lightwind: He’s right beside me, I can reach out and touch him

[Guild] Lightwind: Jealous?

[Guild] Lightwind: Not playing with you guys tonight

[Guild] Lightwind: I’ll be enjoying our two-person world (づ￣ ³￣)づ

[Guild] Lightwind: We’re going to play all nigh—

Wen Xi hastily reached out to grab his hand before he hit enter. “Enough,” he warned. Who knew what other kinds of nonsense Gu Qingfeng would continue to say.

Gu Qingfeng felt his ear tingle at the low voice as he obediently erased his last unsent sentence and typed out: ‘Ok, bye~’ Looking at Wen Xi for approval before sending out the message.

Wen Xi ignored the single dogs cursing their guild leader on the screen, instead discreetly noting Gu Qingfeng’s slightly red ears. His lips curled up slightly as it seemed like his theory was proving to be accurate.

“Hopefully it’ll drop the Goblin King’s ruby ring with strength buff so that we can wear matching rings~” Gu Qingfeng said wistfully as they breezed through the early stage small monsters. He had not unequipped the sapphire ring since they had gotten it the first time they cleared the quest, showing it off any chance he got.

“Mm,” Wen Xi agreed. Although he had offhandedly let Gu Qingfeng have the ring initially, he did feel happy seeing the other brandish it around. “Wait, you hadn’t figured out who I was back then, right?”

“Ah… yes,” Gu Qingfeng hesitantly confirmed. “Maybe in my heart I already knew it was you~”

Wen Xi pondered as he silently took down the monsters. If Gu Qingfeng had not known who he was, why was he such a tease back then? He was friendly by nature for sure, but he was not the kind to undiscerningly flirt with anyone. Did it start from the guild war?