Wen Xi laughed as he ran down the stairs to the lobby. In all the years he has stayed in this dormitory, he had never been late for class or appointments, always leaving early so that he could leisurely make his way to the destination. Yet in the few weeks since he reunited with Gu Qingfeng, he has run down these same flights of stairs three times, each time feeling vastly different emotions.

Seeing that familiar tall silhouette leaning against the wall, Wen Xi called out excitedly while slowing down and catching his breath, “Qingfeng!”

It had been less than a week since they met face to face—they spoke every day, and even had plans to meet the next day, but somehow unexpectedly seeing his boyfriend in the flesh made Wen Xi feel a burst of happiness, like drinking a fizzy cold drink on a hot summer’s day.

 “Xiao Xi!” Gu Qingfeng called out in response, smiling while enthusiastically waving one arm, and Wen Xi had a feeling of déjà vu—the last time they met in the lobby like this, they were not together yet and he was warily waving off Gu Qingfeng’s advances. The shameless guy had even coerced him into a hug under the guise of friendship.

Wen Xi habitually looked around, before tightly wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s torso. “Why didn’t you call me to tell me you were here?”

Taken aback at his usually shy boyfriend’s forwardness, Gu Qingfeng startled before joyfully engaging in the hug. “You were busy watching the party battle right? I didn’t wait long. I thought of sneaking in, but your security guard’s quite fierce. He’s looking over here, you know? This hug…”

“Why? Isn’t it just a hug between friends who haven’t met in a week?” Wen Xi muttered into his boyfriend’s shoulder. Then in a low voice, “…I missed you.”

Gu Qingfeng ears trembled at that seductive voice and his heart melted into a puddle. Puddle Gu wanted to swallow this person up and hated that he could not absorb this tall adorable bundle of cuteness into his own body. “I missed you too!!” he whispered loudly, burying his face into the other’s shoulder, completely forgetting his purpose for coming over in the first place.

“Ahem,” a cold voice interrupted.

The two froze and turned to see a smirking Jun Yingzhe standing in the doorway.

“Little puppies shouldn’t be feeding dog food to everyone passing by,” Jun Yingzhe drawled as he walked pass. “Ah Xi, since we lost, I’m not playing anymore. I’m going to find your sister-in-law.”

“…before I choke on all this dog food and die,” Jun Yingzhe grumbled under his breath as he hurriedly left.

Wen Xi cleared his throat and stepped back, embarrassed at his previous show of emotion. “Right, what are you here for? Want to go up?”

Gu Qingfeng snapped out of his reverie and nodded. “Yes, I wanted to show you something.”

They bashfully held hands as they made their way up the stairwell to the room.

Gu Qingfeng sat down on Wen Xi’s chair and stroked the bedsheets on Wen Xi’s bed with his hand. “Ah, where Xiao Xi kissed me for the first time~”

The tips of Wen Xi’s ears turned red, remembering his pounding heart as he leaned over to kiss Gu Qingfeng that first time. He had difficulties sleeping in his bed the first few nights after returning to the dorm, unwittingly recalling their first few heated kisses that rainy afternoon.

He bent over to seal his talkative boyfriend’s mouth with another quick kiss.

Gu Qingfeng grinned and immediately continued after Wen Xi moved away, “The chair where Xiao Xi kissed me~ Ah, this dormitory is the best! The atmosphere is so good~ Shall we also go to the toilet and kiss there—”

“What did you want to show me?” Wen Xi cut in, ignoring his preposterous suggestion. Jun Yingzhe would kill him if he found out that they did anything beyond kissing in their shared room.

Sobering up, Gu Qingfeng smiled gently as he tugged Wen Xi to sit down on the bed. “Sit.”

“What is it?” Wen Xi asked, concern bubbling up at the unusually serious look on his boyfriend’s face. “Is everything alright?”

Taking a breath, Gu Qingfeng held onto Wen Xi’s palm as he solemnly asked, “Xiao Xi, how do you feel about us?”

Wen Xi’s mind was full of question marks as he stared bewildered at Gu Qingfeng. What’s this guy up to this time? Were my past confessions not enough?? Does this clingy person want to hear me say sweet things to him again? He came all the way here just to hear me profess my feelings to him again???

It’s not like I can’t say it… If he really wants to hear it…

Wen Xi swallowed his awkwardness and reached out a shy hand to poke his favourite dimple while saying softly, “You already know I like you…”

Barely solidified Puddle Gu promptly reverted to puddle state at the sweetness. Resisting the urge to push the adorable little puppy down on the bed—Gu Qingfeng mentally fanned himself to cool down as he clarified, “I mean, we’re seriously dating right? Have you thought about… you know, our future together?”

He was a little nervous as he asked this.

He was not sure what extent of trauma stayed with Wen Xi after their shortlived childhood romance. They had resolved their misunderstandings at the milk tea shop but had not spoken much about their post break-up thoughts and feelings before quickly getting swept up in the sweetness of their burgeoning romance.

Gu Qingfeng had just been so happy that Wen Xi was even willing to be with him again that he had subconsciously skirted the topic. He was aware that his boyfriend had issues with public displays of affection and making their relationship public, but had always felt like they were things that they could eventually face and solve together.

But the forum post was indicative of more to come if they were to continue going out in public together, which they definitely would, seeing how happy his boyfriend was to go out on dates together. That combined with Gu Qingfeng’s uncontrollable pawing of his cute boyfriend and said boyfriend’s impulsive mouth, they were bound to cause more havoc in a public setting.

Feeling unexpectedly shy saying these things for the first time, Gu Qingfeng quickly followed with, “For me, I want to be together forever! The kind where we live together, eat together, sleep together, and grow old and die together!” Then in a smaller voice while squeezing the other’s palm, “What about you?”

Wen Xi looked into his boyfriend’s clear eyes, feeling thankful that they somehow had the chance to meet again and fall for each other. Since the hospital scare, Wen Xi had already resolved to permanently keep this man in his life.

“Me too,” Wen Xi replied with a smile. “I also want to spend forever with you. Until we’re both old and our hair turns white—”

Unable to resist, Gu Qingfeng pounced on Wen Xi, kissing him fiercely until they were both short of breath.

“—mn, wait,” Wen Xi gasped, gently pushing Gu Qingfeng away before he lost his mind to lust and his boyfriend turned into a fox demon and took off their clothes—Jun Yingzhe would really kill him if they actually did it here!

Coming to his senses and realizing he had not touched on the key topic he came for, Gu Qingfeng gave a quick peck before sitting back obediently, trying not to get distracted by his boyfriend’s seductive wet rosy lips that had been nibbled on by him and looked so—

“Ahem,” Gu Qingfeng cleared his throat, forcing his gaze up to look at Wen Xi’s eyes instead—which were slightly red and dazed from their intense makeout session, bearing a similar look to when they were in bed last week—

Gu Qingfeng shook his head and looked down instead at their clasped hands, dragging the derailed train back on the tracks with much difficulty. With the assurance that they were of the same mindset regarding their relationship, he powered through, carefully asking, “How do you feel about other people knowing about us?”

Chapter Fifty! ~\(≧▽≦)/~ Thanks for joining me on this journey with them!