Mistaken Canary Chapter 44 (Part 1)
Chapter 44.1
Ying Tongchen felt a little awkward being watched while eating. He turned slightly away, muttering, "Stop staring at me while I eat. It's bad for digestion."
"It's fine, I'll help you digest later," Zhuo Shu responded.
"..." Ying Tongchen fully turned away, ignoring him. "You should go home."
"What's wrong, still mad?" Zhuo Shu smiled helplessly, his voice unexpectedly carrying a hint of tenderness. "You plan to eat the bowl after you're done with the meal?"
"I’m going to take a shower first," Ying Tongchen said, setting his bowl down.
In the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror, and pinched his reddened ear.
He took a deep breath and splashed cold water on his face.
His mind cleared up a bit, and a faint voice in his heart whispered that the mistakes he'd made before should never be repeated.
Once was enough.
…
After finishing his shower, Ying Tongchen opened the door, only to hear the sound of dishes shattering.
He looked up at the kitchen and saw Zhuo Shu quickly picking up the broken pieces, seemingly trying to cover his tracks.
Perceiving the gaze on him, Zhuo Shu turned with the pieces still in hand. His fingers faltered, and the bowl suffered a second wave of destruction.
"I didn't mean to," Zhuo Shu said awkwardly, crouching down to pick up the shards. "I was bored and thought I'd help you with the dishes."
"Don't bother picking it up, be careful of cutting your hand." Ying Tongchen quickly walked over, grabbed his hand, and stood up with the broom to clean up the mess. "Go take a shower."
Zhuo Shu was unusually quick in the shower, coming out in Ying Tongchen's gray loungewear. The loose fit that was supposed to be casual on the slimmer man fitted him perfectly, clinging to his form just right.
Ying Tongchen sat in the living room, looking at his phone. When he looked up, his gaze froze for a moment.
How did this man manage to make a simple loungewear look so well-fitted and, dare he say, seductive?
Zhuo Shu looked down at the clothes, feeling a little awkward. "I should probably bring my own next time."
"Do as you wish." Ying Tongchen stood up and grabbed his arm, pulling him toward the bedroom.
Just as they were about to get comfortable, the doorbell rang.
Ying Tongchen kicked Zhuo Shu aside and shouted, "Who's there?"
"It's me, Xiao Ying!" Auntie Lin called out loudly, "Open the door, I have something for you."
Ying Tongchen looked over at Zhuo Shu, who was clutching his stomach and staring back at him with a face brimming with wordless complaint.
Auntie Lin called out a few more times.
Ying Tongchen quickly got out of bed, pulled on his clothes, and opened the door. "Good evening, Auntie Lin."
"Here, here, take this." Auntie Lin shoved two bags of fruit into his hands. "They were on sale, so I bought a lot. Thought I'd bring you some too."
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
After sending Auntie Lin off, Ying Tongchen placed the fruit on the coffee table. He opened the bags to find grapes, strawberries, and a few boxes of yogurt he liked.
He had just torn open two boxes when two arms wrapped around his waist, and a head on his shoulder. Zhuo Shu weakly murmured, "You have no heart."
Ying Tongchen smiled and gently soothed Zhuo Shu’s stomach. "I don't think I applied much pressure. Does it really hurt that much?"
"It does, a lot." If he hadn’t shown such a satisfied expression, it might have sounded somewhat believable. "Mmm, a little gentler."
Ying Tongchen lightened his touch, lifting the hem of his shirt and gave a cursory, performative glance. “Mm, looks a little red.”
“Really?” Zhuo Shu said in disbelief, sitting down on the sofa and lowering his head to check for injury. When he didn’t find anything, he realized he’d been tricked.
Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt a chill on his stomach.
He stared at Ying Tongchen, who was rubbing the box of yogurt on his belly. “What is this?”
“A little cold compress should do the trick.” Ying Tongchen squatted down after a beat. “All done. Time for your yogurt.”
Perhaps because it was on sale, the yogurt seemed to have expired. Its taste was noticeably different from the usual, with the milky white yogurt sticking stubbornly to the cup and lid. Ying Tongchen had never before eaten expired yogurt. It took some effort and time to get through it, especially with the unfamiliar sour taste which made it hard to endure.
He spat out the yogurt, rinsed his mouth, and ate a few strawberries to get rid of the aftertaste.
Zhuo Shu bestirred himself and seized Ying Tongchen’s hand, a tangle of unreadable emotions churning in his gaze.
Ying Tongchen lowered his eyes, about to speak—only for the world to lurch. The next moment, he found himself hefted off the ground. Startled, he demanded, “What are you doing?”
“Taking you to see the meteor shower,” Zhuo Shu said with a meaningful tone.
According to the weather station, tonight’s weather will be unusually eventful—multiple meteor descending alongside intermittent showers. A small umbrella is recommended. The meteor showers would create a dazzling spectacle—so vivid and majestic, they might make observers lightheaded.
After a long struggle, Ying Tongchen finally managed to rest his eyes. By the time the sun rose, he still hadn’t opened them, only to be showered (with affection) once again.
When he woke up, it was almost afternoon.
The direction of the sun was perfectly aligned with him, bathing his face in a warm glow.
The sunlight was a little too bright, so he kept his eyes closed, reaching out to grab his phone—only to grab a warm chest instead.
He slowly opened his eyes and saw Zhuo Shu still lying next to him, silently staring at him. Surprised, Ying Tongchen asked, "Why haven’t you left yet?"
Zhuo Shu found himself lingering on the sight of his sleep-flushed face, a quiet desire to kiss him blooming without warning—yet a sense of incongruity held him back.
They had agreed to be friends with benefits—wasn’t it normal to walk away without a second glance afterward? Then kissing—wasn’t that completely off-script?
After a brief moment of inner conflict, Zhuo Shu let go of the thought.
What did it matter? They hadn’t set foot out of bed yet.
He lowered his head and quickly pecked his lips, carefully oblivious to the other’s reaction, before swiftly flipping over and getting out of bed. "I’m hungry."
"Order takeout then," Ying Tongchen said, his tone completely neutral.
“Ok.” Zhuo Shu quickly dressed and left.
A while later, Ying Tongchen blinked slowly, gently touching his lips, then pressed his clenched fist to his chest. He took a deep breath twice, muttering to himself, ‘Don’t cross the line, don’t cross the line, don’t cross the line.’
He had been giving himself those reminders for a while now, but felt a sense of weakness.
When did I start needing these self-reminders?
Nothing was truly different from before, yet somehow he found himself resorting to constant affirmations, as if trying to redefine what had always been the same.
There was a faint feeling deep down that the answer was about to surface, but the question was—Could he handle the consequences?
“Do you have any preferences?” Zhuo Shu called from outside.
“Anything’s fine,” Ying Tongchen answered casually, getting out of bed and starting to dress.
“What about dim—” Zhuo Shu had just stepped toward the door when he noticed Ying Tongchen putting on clothes, red marks still visible on his skin. His gaze lingered a moment, but he quickly shifted his attention to his phone, asking, “What about dim sum?”
“Okay.”
During breakfast, the atmosphere felt a bit particular.
Neither of them spoke, just quietly eating, which made the silence even more awkward.
Zhuo Shu picked up a shrimp dumpling, his peripheral vision catching a glimpse of Ying Tongchen’s slender figure. He absentmindedly aimed his chopsticks, and the shrimp dumpling landed in Ying Tongchen’s bowl.
Ying Tongchen froze for a second but didn’t look up, simply saying, “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Suddenly, a shift to formal politeness.
The two of them unknowingly started using more formal language in their conversation.
Ying Tongchen: "May I ask, when do you plan to leave?"
Zhuo Shu: "I should leave after breakfast. Thanks for having me over last night."
"Mm, next time, we should end a little earlier and get more sleep."
"?" Zhuo Shu suddenly became less polite. "No."
"......"
They had nearly finished eating, when Ying Tongchen finally raised his head and looked at the person across from him. "We're just fwb, right?"
"Right." Zhuo Shu nodded. "No kissing outside the bed."
Ying Tongchen agreed, "Right, you can't make moves that could be easily misunderstood."
"Mm."
"You should go now," Ying Tongchen reminded him.
Zhuo Shu was surprised. "So soon? Let me do the dishes for you. You must not be very comfortable."
"It’s fine," Ying Tongchen said, pointing at the disposable tableware. "It's just takeout containers. I can take them down later."
A strange, quiet disappointment crept up on Zhuo Shu. "..." He had made the wrong call.
"Then I’m really going," Zhuo Shu said, standing by the door.
"Mm, go ahead."
Zhuo Shu: "I’m really leaving now. Who knows when we’ll be able to do it again."
"..." Ying Tongchen waved his hand. "Hurry up and go!"
"Wait a minute, I think I left something in the bedroom." Zhuo Shu bypassed him and walked toward the bedroom.
Ying Tongchen rubbed his forehead. A moment later, he heard Zhuo Shu call out, "Come help me find it."
"Find what?" Ying Tongchen walked into the bedroom, only to be suddenly pushed onto the bed. Before he could react, a soft warm pressure landed on his lips...
Zhuo Shu stood up, satisfied. "Just dropped a goodbye kiss. It's on the bed, so it doesn't count as a foul. I'm leaving. See you next time."
Ying Tongchen heard the door slam shut and stared at the ceiling, rolling his eyes.
How the hell is this not a foul? How shameless!
The apartment was a mess, so Ying Tongchen tidied up for a while. Not wanting to stay at home and overthink things, he decided to go over to the old man's place to scrounge a meal.