The piece of folded paper he had fished out from under the pillow was Jiang Cheng's notes.  

Like he was going to write a thesis, he had spent two evenings browsing various forums and "popular science" articles, summarizing what would feel good without too much pain. And considering his intended target was a lazy student who relied on copying homework and was too lazy to even copy exam papers, he had exerted his top student spirit and earnestly taken study notes.  

He had originally intended to have the lazy student cram some knowledge before going into battle, but he hadn't expected the steel factory's little overlord to suddenly demonstrate a noble virtue of respecting elders and caring for the young by giving him this opportunity instead.

Of course, he also hadn't expected that after so much psychological preparation and so much time spent imagining the scene of lying back and enjoying, he would pounce on Gu Fei without even a pause just because of one sentence from him.  

Horny bastard.  

That was probably the state he was in.

What he was even more unprepared for was that all those techniques and methods he had summarized over two nights and memorized thoroughly in his top student brain were completely blown away in an instant by Gu Fei's two words.

If not?

Blown into a sky full of golden sparkles.

Then there wasn't even a speck of dregs left in his brain.

Gu Fei's body.  

Taut, smooth, seemingly electrified skin.

He had touched it countless times, with his fingers, with his lips.

Neck, clavicle, chest, lower abdomen, waist.

He had always thought he was quite familiar with Gu Fei's body already, but when he touched it again today, he suddenly had a different feeling.

It was as if he had gone back to the first moment when he was intimately in contact with Gu Fei.

Throbbing, trembling, excitement....

The contents written on that folded paper, the things he had memorized in his brain, even if they hadn't been blown into fireworks, there was no way he could use them now.

Jiang Cheng firmly believed that if he followed that summary, he would breach the dam after less than halfway.  

In the end, that summary compiled by an experienced driver was only suitable for other experienced drivers.

Newbies like them didn't stand a chance. They would just pounce and bite, kiss and then bite, bite and then lick, lick and then scratch. Every gasp in their ears was like a war drum, leaving them dizzy and dazzled.

All their senses had become extremely keen.

He could hear the panting but couldn't tell whose it was. He could hear the heartbeat but couldn't tell whose it was. He could see the soft glow on the taut skin under the lamp light, that was Gu Fei's. He could feel the breath brushing past his ear, that was Gu Fei's. He could even feel the fine currents when their muscles rubbed against each other.  

Crackling inside their bodies, at every moment of contact.

No time to care about experience anymore, no way to think about summaries anymore. A youth holding a lit fuse was so impatient he felt wearing a condom and applying lube was a fucking waste of time.

"Gu Fei," Jiang Cheng said tightly pressed against Gu Fei's back, lightly biting his earlobe while fiercely grabbing and kneading his waist and legs, "I..."

Gu Fei didn't speak, just turned his head and kissed the corner of his mouth, flicking his tongue over his lips.

Jiang Cheng only felt that a mist seemed to rise before his eyes. His heart and vision were full, and he no longer had any other thoughts.

The long night dragged on, with no desire for sleep.

It was very quiet inside the room and outside, so quiet that Jiang Cheng felt hearing both their panting would seem like eavesdropping. But right now even if someone was under the bed listening... No, even if someone stood by the bedside glaring while listening, he wouldn't care.

The character for "lust" really did have a blade above it.  

He held Gu Fei tightly and refused to let go.

"Loosen your arms a bit," Gu Fei said. "I want to catch my breath."

"Breathe later," Jiang Cheng said with his eyes closed, lightly rubbing his nose against the back of Gu Fei's neck. He had finally achieved this spooning position and didn't want to let go.

He didn't remember where he had read this before, that the attraction between people was because of each other's scent. There were some scents you might not be able to detect, but your nose could smell them, and there would always be a scent that attracted you to someone.

Jiang Cheng didn't know if that was why he liked Gu Fei, but he did really like smelling Gu Fei's scent. He couldn't describe exactly what it was like, but he could tell it apart... Though he had never gone around smelling other people like this.

"Hey," Jiang Cheng held Gu Fei for a while longer until his heartbeat gradually returned to normal... He only realized today that the time it took for his heartbeat to recover after doing this was actually longer than running a few kilometers. "Um, Gu Fei?"

Gu Fei didn't make a sound or move.

"Gu Fei?" He called again.

Gu Fei still didn't react.

"Asleep?" He propped himself up to look at Gu Fei's face. "Gu Fei?"

"Suffocating." Gu Fei said with his eyes closed.

"Damn," Jiang Cheng laughed. "I've let go already."

"That's why I'm talking now." Gu Fei said.

Jiang Cheng leaned down and planted a forceful kiss on his face: "Shower?"

"Yeah," Gu Fei opened his eyes and turned to look at him. "What time is it?"

"Don't know," Jiang Cheng sat up and swept his eyes over the paper towels for cleanup scattered on the floor, feeling a little embarrassed. Then he turned his head and saw another wad of paper by the foot of the bed, and was suddenly inexplicably anxious. He quickly kicked the paper under the bed with his foot. "Don't you have to take Gu Miao to that treatment tomorrow?"

"It's today," Gu Fei corrected him.

"Today," Jiang Cheng squeezed Gu Fei's waist. "Is it in the afternoon? I'll go too."

"Two thirty in the afternoon," Gu Fei flipped over to lie on his back. "I'll take you two there."

"It's us two taking Gu Miao there," Jiang Cheng got out of bed, then hesitated before asking, "I'll shower first?"

"Okay." Gu Fei smiled and reached for his phone, probably to play dumb matching games.

Taking advantage of him being absorbed in his phone, Jiang Cheng quickly bent down to pick up the tissues from the floor and throw them in the trash can nearby. Straightening up, he suddenly felt very embarrassed again realizing he didn't have a stitch on. He grabbed a change of clothes to hold over his lower body and jogged into the bathroom.

It wasn't the first time he and Gu Fei had seen each other naked like this, but today he felt completely different. Let alone showering together, he didn't even have the nerve to ask Gu Fei if he had hurt him.

Only when the hot water poured over him did Jiang Cheng slowly shake off the tension, embarrassment, and the various emotions that had suddenly cropped up.

He didn't shower for too long this time. He didn't want to leave Gu Fei alone playing on his phone. Rinsing off, soaping up, rinsing off again, brushing his teeth, washing his face, the whole thing took less than ten minutes before he ran out of the bathroom again.

When he returned to the bedroom, Gu Fei was sprawled on the bed playing on his phone. Seeing him come in, Gu Fei paused in surprise: "That was quick?"

"Was it quick?" Jiang Cheng glanced at Gu Fei's posture and immediately grew a bit worried. Forgetting his embarrassment, he asked, "Are you...uncomfortable?"

"Hm?" Gu Fei was taken aback first, then laughed. "No, just lying face down."

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng threw embarrassment to the wind: "Really no discomfort? No pain? Or..."

"A little..." Gu Fei sat up. "But not too bad."

"Oh," Jiang Cheng nodded. "Then go shower?"

"Help me pass this level first," Gu Fei handed him the phone and got off the bed, walking to the closet. "I'm taking your clothes, okay?"

"Yeah, take whatever you want." Jiang Cheng said.

Gu Fei took some clothes and left. Jiang Cheng held his phone, attention completely focused on Gu Fei's naked body in his peripheral vision.

Gu Fei walked two steps to the door then turned back and reached out to him.

"Hm?" Jiang Cheng hurriedly looked up at him.

"It blacked out." Gu Fei said, smiling as he tapped the phone.

"Ah! Right! Blacked out!" Jiang Cheng half-shouted as if jolted awake from sleep and trying to pretend he hadn't been sleeping.

Gu Fei didn't say anything else, just smiled and turned to leave.

Jiang Cheng stood there in shock for a good while before flopping onto the bed hugging the phone: "Ah..."

So embarrassing, Jiang Cheng!

Gu Fei's smile just now was blatantly mocking!

"Ah..." Jiang Cheng rolled over. Seeing the phone had blacked out again, he said, "Damn."

When Gu Fei came back from his shower, he was still holding the phone staring blankly.

"Did you pass it?" Gu Fei asked.

"...Blacked out again." Jiang Cheng handed the phone back.

"Oh," Gu Fei took the phone and looked at him. "Want to help me play some more?"

"You unlock it." Jiang Cheng sighed.

Gu Fei unlocked it and handed it back. When he started playing the game, he heard Gu Fei's laughter. He hadn't intended to respond to Gu Fei, but Gu Fei kept laughing until he finally glared at him: "What's so funny?"

"Laughing at you." Gu Fei said, still chuckling.

"You think I won't..." Jiang Cheng kept glaring as he threatened, then started laughing too. "Damn."

"Keep playing," Gu Fei got on the bed and lay down next to him. "Or Li Yan will surpass you again."

"How is he so free," Jiang Cheng tsked. "Because he doesn't have a boyfriend?"

"I'll ask him tomorrow," Gu Fei said, then turned his head aside to laugh again.

"That's enough," Jiang Cheng gave him a sideways glance. "Those who don't know will think I prematurely ejaculated, with you laughing like this."

"Oh," Gu Fei held in his laugh for a bit before letting it out. "Actually it wasn't premature. Pretty decent."

"...Hey!" Jiang Cheng shouted and sighed, not speaking anymore as he focused on the animal heads on the phone screen.

An experience like today's really wasn't like anything else. Even as a top student who could enter a focused state in a second, that ability had failed him now. He stared at the pile of heads for a long time, but couldn't even find one he could eliminate.

After wasting two small hearts, he tossed the phone aside and shifted a couple times to lie on the pillow. "Forget it, just wasting turns."

"What's wrong?" Gu Fei flipped over to hug him.

"A myriad of thoughts," Jiang Cheng reached out to turn off the light. As the darkness washed over them, Gu Fei's warm breaths next to his ear made him feel a wave of comfortable exhaustion after the earlier excitement.

Gu Fei didn't speak, just gently rubbed his belly.

"Gu Fei," Jiang Cheng grabbed his hand and turned to face him, asking in a small voice, "Really no pain?"

"I already said, didn't I," Gu Fei smiled. "Not too bad."

"Oh," Jiang Cheng paused for a long time, pondering how to ask the next question without sounding ignorant, but could only blurt it out directly in the end. "Then...was it comfor...table?"

"Pfft," Gu Fei laughed. "Asking so straightforwardly."

"I couldn't think of a tactful way to ask," Jiang Cheng also laughed.

"Pretty comfortable," Gu Fei said.

"Really?" Jiang Cheng couldn't tell if Gu Fei was just consoling him or telling the truth.

The whole time he felt like he was spinning, his eyes full of Gu Fei, his ears full of Gu Fei. What he saw, heard, touched, felt - it was all extreme excitement.

But he wasn't really sure if Gu Fei was actually comfortable. Theoretically speaking, it probably wasn't that comfortable since they were both new drivers. Usually just sitting in a wheelchair, suddenly racing around, he must be technically inadequate and not yet physically adapted.  

"You can try it yourself." Gu Fei said.

"Huh?" Jiang Cheng was caught off guard for a moment.

"That's the only way to know if it's really comfortable or not." Gu Fei said.

"Damn," Jiang Cheng was a little embarrassed, "I was just...thinking of trying it anyway."

They laughed face to face for a good while, faces full of each other's breath.

Comfortable.

When he woke up in the morning...no, when he woke up at noon, Jiang Cheng reached out beside him and finding it empty, immediately woke up fully and yelled: "Gu Fei!"

"Yo," it was a few seconds before Gu Fei appeared in the bedroom doorway, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. "Here."

"Whatcha doing?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"Lonely post-coital cigarette by the window." Gu Fei said.

"Fuck off with that." Jiang Cheng sat up. "Please continue."

Gu Fei smiled and left again.

Jiang Cheng yawned and stood up, hitching up his pants. He went to the bedroom window and lifted the curtain to look outside.

With summer vacation starting, the air, the scenery, everything had suddenly taken on the feel of summer. Green filled his vision, dazzling sunlight, air still carrying a touch of sultriness. Even this dilapidated housing block seemed to exude a hint of vitality under the sunlight.

He had slept very soundly last night. The embarrassment and excitement mixed with not knowing how to feel before falling asleep had all disappeared. Walking out of the bedroom and seeing Gu Fei's silhouette by the living room window, his mind was filled only with delight.

He went over and hugged Gu Fei from behind, resting his chin on his shoulder and fiercely kneading his waist, totally high.

"Go out for lunch?"

"We can go out, or eat the cake?" Gu Fei put out his cigarette.

"Oh right, there's still cake. Let's eat cake," Jiang Cheng thought for a bit. "You still have one too."

"We can eat that tonight," Gu Fei took out his phone. "Let's order some noodles in a bit, too much sweets would be cloying."

"Okay," Jiang Cheng nodded. "I want braised noodles, extra meat sauce."

"Want a drink?" Gu Fei asked. "They have fresh fruit juice too."

"What kinds of juice?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"Just two, cucumber...juice," Gu Fei's voice suddenly held laughter. "And orange juice."

It took Jiang Cheng a moment to catch his meaning: "Fuck."

"You want cucumber juice, I'll have orange juice." Gu Fei said.

"No," Jiang Cheng tsked. "Can we talk properly?"

"Okay, Jiang Chengcheng." Gu Fei looked at him.

"Fuck off," Jiang Cheng pushed him. "Gu Feifei."

"I'm ordering," Gu Fei said. "We'll eat, rest up, then take Gu Miaomiao out."

Jiang Cheng didn't have any particular attachment to birthday cakes. He never got to eat them on past birthdays, so he lost interest over time. He also wasn't especially into sweets to begin with. When classmates had birthdays, he didn't remember if he had eaten cake or not, only remembered the fragments full of boyish mischief like smashing cakes, throwing cakes, smearing cakes.

He was quite looking forward to eating the cake Gu Fei made. The one he bought was nothing special, but this was the first birthday he got to freely arrange and the first he got to eat cake, so the significance was different.

So he and Gu Fei took out the cake to complete the birthday ritual.

"Close the curtains? It's too bright." Jiang Cheng said.

"Okay." Gu Fei nodded.

Jiang Cheng closed the curtains, but still felt it was quite bright. He went and shut the bedroom and bathroom doors too, darkening the living room.

Returning to the table, he saw Gu Fei had stuck 8 candles into the cake.

"Just 8?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"Because we're both 8 years old." Gu Fei said, lighting the candles one by one with a lighter.

"Don't pretend to be cute." Jiang Cheng tsked.

"This store gave a total of 12 candles," Gu Fei glanced at him. "If you want 18, I can...go buy another pack?"

"No need, no need," Jiang Cheng was taken aback. "I don't have any requirements for this, I never even got to eat cake on my birthdays before."

"Oh." Gu Fei paused before continuing to light all the candles.

"Blow them out?" Jiang Cheng leaned on the table.

"Wait," Gu Fei thought for a bit, then quickly removed the candles and changed their positions before sticking them back in, also adding in the leftover candles to form an 18 shape. "18 years old."

Jiang Cheng laughed: "Blow now?"

"Yeah, any wishes?" Gu Fei asked.

"Been wishing the whole time," Jiang Cheng said. "All wished."

"Blow," Gu Fei said. "One, two, three."

The two of them blew together at the cake and extinguished the candles, even knocking several of them over.

“Oh,” Jiang Cheng sat down on the chair, “I just realized, I only had them write ‘Happy Birthday,’ didn’t write down a name when they asked what to write.”

“The one I made has it written,” Gu Fei said as he cut the cake, “I’ll bring it over tonight.”

“What did you write?” Jiang Cheng asked.

“It says,” Gu Fei looked at him with a serious expression, hesitated for a moment, then suddenly waved his arm and shouted, “Brother Cheng, School Grass!”

“Oh f*ck!” Jiang Cheng was startled by him, recoiled back a bit, stunned for a few seconds before laughing, “Writing something so shameless, did anyone see it when you were writing?”

“Yeah,” Gu Fei said, “The people at the bakery.”

“Really wrote that?” Jiang Cheng looked at him, “Hard to believe.”

“You’ll see tonight.” Gu Fei cut a slice of cake and handed it to him, placing the small chocolate birthday plaque with the ‘Happy Birthday’ on top.

Jiang Cheng took a bite, he had to admit, the taste of this cake was average, but there probably weren’t any good cake shops around here anyway.

However, sitting across from Gu Fei, eating cake together like this, the feeling was still wonderful.

Didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to move either, just wanted to keep eating bite by bite like this, forever.

The rehabilitation course Gu Fei was taking Gu Miao to probably wasn’t cheap. The teachers leading the children in various games looked very professional and patient.

Jiang Cheng didn't go into the room, watching through the window. He realized Gu Miao's condition was relatively good compared to the other children, at least she wasn't completely unable to communicate and interact. Those children who were unresponsive to calls the entire time really made one's heart ache in despair.

The game time wasn't long, probably considering these children didn't have the patience of normal children, ending before they grew impatient.

When Gu Miao came out hugging the skateboard, she seemed to be in pretty good spirits.

Gu Fei was still talking to the teacher. Jiang Cheng took her out to the sidewalk outside to play with the skateboard while waiting for Gu Fei.

Watching Gu Miao speed by, nose tipped with a bead of sweat sparkling in the sunlight, he gently sighed.

When Gu Fei came out, Jiang Cheng was squatting by the flower bed on the sidewalk clapping for Gu Miao. He walked over and stood behind Jiang Cheng without him noticing.

Gu Fei reached out and lightly poked his shoulder. Jiang Cheng reacted almost instantly, jabbing back with his elbow into his leg.

"Ow!" Gu Fei rubbed his leg, "Still pretty alert, huh?"

"F*ck," Jiang Cheng turned his head back, "Would've been better if you called me first. If I aimed a little higher, you'd be stuck lying face down tonight..."

Jiang Cheng stopped mid-sentence, quickly looking around.

"Tonight?" Gu Fei bent down with a smile and quietly asked next to his ear.

"F*ck," Jiang Cheng stood up, looking at him with an expression like he was pondering an academic issue, "Let's not talk about this on the street."

"Alright," Gu Fei nodded very seriously, pulling out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, "Then let me just..."

Jiang Cheng glanced at the paper and his eyeballs nearly popped out, "F*ck! You brought this with you? Did you eat too much cake? Want me to make you puke it up?!"

"My boyfriend's guide," Gu Fei said. "Of course I have to carry it on me to study."

"Put it away quick," Jiang Cheng lowered his voice, "Don't let anyone see!"

"Don't worry," Gu Fei smiled, "With your handwriting, even if I show it to someone they probably can't guess it's writing."

"Cut the crap," Jiang Cheng laughed at him, "Don't exaggerate!"

"It's true," Gu Fei flicked the paper, "Didn't you say you write slowly stroke by stroke now? How come I can't tell?"

"Nonsense, with this kind of dirty notes, how could I write it stroke by stroke!" Jiang Cheng glared at him, "Put it away."

"Okay." Gu Fei folded the paper back up and returned it to his pocket, whistling towards where Gu Miao was.

Whether it would be tonight, lying down or kneeling, Gu Fei hadn't thought too much about it. But looking at Jiang Cheng's back slowly leading Gu Miao up ahead, he felt like if he did think about it, he was thinking quite a lot.

Especially when Gu Miao grabbed Jiang Cheng's shirt, pulling taut the clear lines of his waist and back...

Ah.

Gu Fei quickly looked up at the sun, then mercilessly suppressed the oncoming flag raising ceremony down below with two forceful sneezes.