Assistant Architect

Chapter 62: Pretend

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“Sleep, sleep on the couch!” Zhang Siyi blurted out without hesitation.

“OK” Gu Yu nodded and went upstairs to get a blanket for him. Zhang Siyi felt that he had made the right choice. He isn’t so familiar with Gu Yu. As a guest, who would sleep in the same bed as the owner on the first visit? That would be too embarrassing!

When he brought out a summer quilt, Zhang Siyi balked: “That blanket!?”

Gu Yu: “One is not enough?”

Zhang Siyi: “Do you have more?”... Shit! It’s such a cold day. Gu Yu wants to freeze him!

Gu Yan raised his eyebrows: “I live alone so I don’t have extras.”

Zhang Siyi hurriedly followed up: “But you invited me to stay over knowing you only had this!?”

With conviction, Gu Xiao answered him: “I didn’t think you would mind staying with me. How would I know your skin is so thin?” And then, full of ridicule, Gu Yu expelled a “heh”.

Riled up, Zhang Siyi is about to freak out, but suddenly a thought popped into his head. He and Gu Yu are straight men so why can’t they sleep on a bed? He used to sleep in a bed together with Fu Xinhui when they traveled so why is this any different? That’s right! Zhang Siyi, you have a rock for a brain!

Narrowing his eyes and puffing his cheeks to make a” who is afraid of who ” expression, Zhang Siyi clenched his fists and exclaimed: “I’ll sleep with you!” Once his mind accepted his own logic, he was a little enthusiastic. He finally came to Gu Yu’s home. Of course, he is curious about Gu Yu’s house and bedroom. His female colleagues will all be so jealous!

Gu Yu hadn’t yet put the quilt down before hearing Zhang Siyi change his mind. He turned and said: “Come with me.”

Zhang Siyi picked up his backpack and followed him. Gu Yu asked: “Do you want to take a shower?”

Zhang Siyi defensively replied: “No, I washed at home.”

Gu Yu chuckled, and although he said nothing, the laughter made Zhang Siyi nervous. His emotions are getting all mixed up again. “But I have to wash my face and brush my teeth. Is there a bathroom?”

Pointing, Gu Yu replied: “Yes, there.”

The first thing Zhang Siyi saw when he got to the top of the stairs was the treadmill at the end of the corridor facing a small window inlayed with a wooden lattice. Behind him, he saw an open floor plan similar to the one downstairs, however, the similarities ended there. The floor was raised on a platform with tatami style mats covering it. Through glass doors next to it, there was a small open-air garden. Resting on the mats was a long, wooden antique table and on the table was a chessboard. With only a glimpse, Zhang Siyi recognized how elegant Gu Yu lifestyle must be.

Indeed, there were only two rooms upstairs. The door to one of the rooms was shut, while the other was ajar. Between the rooms was a bathroom. Still holding the quilt, Gu Yu walked into one of the rooms and Zhang Siyi slowly followed. With eyes forward scanning the area left and right, like a snail that stretched its tentacles to probe the space in front, collecting information, Zhang Siyi tentatively passed through the threshold into Gu Yu’s bedroom.

The bedroom is quite big, at least thirty or forty square meters, with a double bed about one meter wide centered against a wall. On one of the side walls, there is a large white desk covered in felt with neatly placed calligraphy brushes and pens in a rack on the desktop.

Just as Zhang Siyi was turning his head, he caught sight of something familiar. The stark contrast of the pumpkin lantern was quite eye-catching in his room. Not only the bright color, but also the crazy face carved into it was vastly different from the quiet elegance of his surroundings.

Gu Yu put down the quilt and turned around to notice that Zhang Siyi was staring at the pumpkin. He smiled and said: “That is the one you carved.”

Of course, he knew that this is what he did, but it has been more than three months, and even the best of pumpkins would be rotten by now! Looking at the brightly colored pumpkin lantern, Zhang Siyi was as shocked as if he saw a dead body that was buried in the ground for three months unchanged!

“How? Why it not rotten!?” He dropped his bag to look closer and found that the jack-o-lantern was locked in a transparent acrylic sealed box.

......but even so, it’s just a pumpkin! It’s not supposed to be like that!

Gu Yu explained: “I applied an anti-corrosive paint on the surface of the pumpkin and asked a friend who studied chemistry to seal it in a box with nitrogen in the laboratory.”

Zhang Siyi was surprised: “This box is filled with nitrogen?”

Gu Yu: “Hmm.”

Zhang Siyi mood is in turmoil: “Is this necessary? It’s just a pumpkin!”

Gu Yu asked: “I want to cherish the things I like. Why is it unnecessary?”

Zhang Siyi: “...” Although Gu Yu’s “like” is with regards to the jack-o-lantern, he gets the feeling that he is also “cherished”. This illusion makes his heart surge madly, both happy and afraid.

Gu Yu looked at Zhang Siyi in the eyes and smiled. “You gave it to me so it’s mine now. I want to know how to do it, ok?”

Zhang Siyi: “...” What do you mean, “how do you want to do it?” You make it clear to me!

“All right, never mind that. Come wash your face.” Gu Yu said and went out.

Zhang Siyi had no time to think about it longer. He hurriedly followed and pulled out his own toiletries from his bag. Gu Yu showed him how to turn on the hot water. He saw Zhang Siyi pull out several bottles from his bag and questioned “What are those?”

Startled by his question, Zhang Siyi flatly responded: “Face cleanser, toner, face cream...”

Gu Yu frowned: “You need all that to wash your face?”

Zhang Siyi lifted an eyebrow and thought his comment was strange: “You don’t need them?”

When he was in college, most of the guys with money were using skin care products. Unless it was someone who didn’t care at all about his personal care and image, they used facial cleanser as much as shaving. He learned a lot from Fu Xinhui.

Gu Yu pointed to a single tube of “Dabao” on the shelf and said, “My sister bought it for me. I don’t use it very much.”

Zhang Siyi shocked: “You don’t regularly use facial products...... Why is your skin so good!?”

That’s not scientific! These days you can’t compare yourself to a male TV star because they are applying facial masks more diligently then women are. Even if Zhang Siyi has a great foundation, he has never stopped using skin care products since going to college, especially in the city areas, where a layer of dirty film gets on his skin. Can you wash oil clean with water?

He turned to inspect Gu Yu’s smooth skin and couldn’t find anything wrong. Zhang Siyi was suspicious. He absolutely did not believe Gu Yu did nothing!

Gu Yu’s thin lips slightly opened to give him two words: “Natural beauty.”

Zhang Siyi: “...”

Taking a tube of facial cream from Zhang Siyi’s hand, Gu Yu looked at it then looked at Zhang Siyi and taunted: “Washing your face is so complicated. No wonder you look like a pretty boy.”

Now provoked, Zhang Siyi grabbed his things from Gu Yu’s hands and forcefully pushed him out of the room: “Get out! I want to wash!”

Laughing, Gu Yu walked away.

Feeling irritated, Zhang Siyi rubbed his cheeks and told himself in the mirror, you are a man!

While waiting for Zhang Siyi to finish washing in the bathroom, he laid the quilt on the bed. He opened the air conditioner and said to Zhang Siyi: “Since I have to go downstairs to finish cleaning up and then take a shower, go to sleep first. I’ll be awhile.”

With a “mmmmm”, Zhang Siyi bowed slightly as Gu Yu leisurely exited the room. He went over to the bed in a trance and inspected it. The whole bed is covered with a thick blanket on the top and underneath there are two lighter weight quilts with a division in the middle. Ah! Great!

Zhang Siyi took off his sweater and pants and put it on the bedside table. He picked a side of the bed and trying not to mess up the bedding on both sides, he gently got under the covers.

After he had laid down and packed the covers around him like a cocoon, he was afraid to move.

Since Gu Yu is absent, Zhang Siyi curiously looked around the room for a while. He saw the cactus lamp that he gave to Gu Yu on the bedside table on the opposite side of the bed. Also, there were two moleskin black sketchbooks that he commonly saw Gu Yu use.

With great determination, Zhang Siyi suppressed his urge to peek at the books. Trying to convince himself to sleep, he shrank deeper into the quilt. It’s already nine and a half and only five and a half hours left to sleep...

Go to sleep, go to sleep... aaaaahhhhhhh... I can’t sleep at all! o////o

He can’t stop his thoughts: Gu Yu’s room. Gu Yu’s bed. Gu Yu’s quilt. Ohohoh.... All parts of Zhang Siyi are getting excited. Why would that happen!? Am I subconsciously adoring Gu Yu? Yes, that’s right! It must be like this! Gu Yu is the idol figure in high school! That’s why he’s so excited! The age of youthful worship has passed. Think of Gu Yu like an ordinary person, a neighbor, a big brother.... Bro, what are you excited about? Get down there!

............

......

About half an hour later, Gu Yu returned to the room after bathing. On one side of the bed, half of a fluffy head was revealed. It seems like Zhang Siyi was already asleep. He softly walked to the bed with a light foot and looked at the sketchbook on the bedside table. He paused for a minute and sighed incomprehensibly. Sitting on the bed, Gu Yu was preparing to fold back the quilt to get under the covers when he suddenly found the half-revealed head shrinking inside the quilt further.

Gu Yu: “...” He laid down on the bed under the covers and asked in a low voice: “Are you still awake?”

Zhang Siyi, who is pretending to sleep “......” Why is the sheep he counted for a long time still so excited!

Gu Yu asked again: “... Asleep?”

Zhang Siyi: “...” What to do! Pretend not to hear him? Continue counting sheep? After a few seconds, there was a gentle, regular snoring on the side.

Gu Yu: “.........”

Except for Zhang Siyi’s “snoring”, the room was quiet for a long-time.

When he thought there was no more movement next to him, he gently stopped his “snoring” and slowly stuck his head out from under the quilt and sucked in two deep breaths. Shit! It was so suffocating under there.

With a sensuous voice suddenly sounding low in Zhang Siyi ear, Gu Yu said: “I knew you were pretending to sleep.”

Zhang Siyi: “...”