Finally, Liu Chen and Ren Yu, with seemingly calm expressions, pushed their luggage from the front desk and took the elevator to the honeymoon suite on the 16th floor. If one overlooked their flushed ears, they appeared quite composed.
Liu Chen placed the room card into the hotel room's sensor.
With a "click," the floor-to-ceiling hotel door swung open inwards. Perhaps because it was a honeymoon suite, the first thing upon entering was a full-length mirror, where Liu Chen naturally saw himself and Ren Yu.
Liu Chen had good eyesight and immediately noticed Ren Yu's reddened ears in the mirror. Moving up, he saw Ren Yu's tense face, appearing exceptionally serious.
"Pfft!"
Liu Chen couldn't help but chuckle. In the mirror, Ren Yu's eyes showed a flicker of confusion. Soon, Ren Yu also noticed her own reddened ears in the reflection, and her neck turned red as well.
The honeymoon suite was somewhat similar to the suite Liu Chen had stayed in at Sanya last summer. To the side of the entrance was the living room, with a door that opened into a room composed of three color schemes: black, gray, and natural wood.
The materials used were gray glass, wall panels, a large carpet, and artistic paintings, creating a room with a strong modern artistic ambiance.
After Liu Chen finished unpacking the suitcase, his gaze fell upon the bathroom in the master bedroom, partitioned by transparent glass.
Silence descended.
He hadn't had a chance to relieve himself since getting off the plane. As he hesitated on how to bring it up, Ren Yu spoke first.
"You rest for a bit, I need to find Shen Hong for something."
Liu Chen quickly agreed, "Oh, okay."
Only after hearing the hotel room door close did Liu Chen walk into the bathroom. He first took out the small detector for checking for hidden cameras, and after confirming there were none, he proceeded to brush his teeth, wash up, and even took a bath.
Unexpectedly having to share a room with Ren Yu, the pajamas Liu Chen had brought were his preferred ones...
A silk slip dress, with white lace at the bust covering the natural cleavage formed by her well-developed figure. Although the hem was spliced with lace, the skirt's length still only reached halfway down her thighs.
"If I wear this, won't Ren Yu think I'm doing it on purpose?"
Standing before the wardrobe, Liu Chen hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to retrieve a decent-looking two-piece pajama set from the system.
Standing before the full-length mirror in the bathroom, Liu Chen buttoned and unbuttoned the pajama top repeatedly.
"If I leave it unbuttoned, it's cooler, but doesn't it seem like I'm trying to be seductive? If I button it up, it's proper, but it makes me look very old-fashioned?"
In the end, Liu Chen unbuttoned the top button. Looking at the duvet on the bed, Liu Chen hesitated for a few seconds before opting to have room service bring another blanket. He then adjusted the central air conditioning to 22 degrees Celsius.
People tend to fall asleep more easily when feeling a bit cold. Liu Chen pushed the original blanket to one side of the bed and wrapped himself in the newly brought blanket. Outside the window was the starry sky of Los Angeles. Liu Chen glanced at it a couple of times before slowly drifting off to sleep.
Perhaps because he had slept for several hours on the plane during the day, Liu Chen woke up after a short while. Upon waking, he saw a head in front of him.
A short-haired head???
!!!!
There's a man in my bed!!!
Liu Chen's blood instantly felt like it had stopped flowing from the shock. However, with the even breathing of the head's owner and the return of his intellect after waking up.
In a daze, Liu Chen remembered what had happened last night: he and Ren Yu were sharing a room.
So...
Is this Ren Yu's head?
In the darkness, Liu Chen traced the back of Ren Yu's head with his gaze, then quietly lifted his own blanket. His feet gently landed on the thick carpet, and after fumbling on the carpet for a while, he put on the slippers he had kicked off before getting into bed last night.
"Hiss..."
The 22-degree Celsius air conditioning was quite effective, and goosebumps quickly appeared on Liu Chen's exposed leg. But...
Nature calls. And the cold intensified the urge.
Steel-hearted, Liu Chen threw off the blanket, put on his slippers, and tiptoed as quietly as possible with his phone into the bathroom. After finishing and washing his hands, he opened the bathroom door. The cold air from the bedroom blew onto Liu Chen's arm.
The goosebumps on his legs hadn't even subsided yet, and now they appeared on his arm.
He quickly took off his slippers and dived back into the warmth of the covers, closing his eyes and preparing to sleep.
One minute later, Liu Chen opened his eyes.
He couldn't sleep.
Ren Yu was lying in the bed. Although he was her boyfriend, and in a sense, they would eventually share a bed, Liu Chen still couldn't sleep at that moment.
His mind was like a revolving lantern, constantly flashing fragments of memories interwoven from his past and present life. Gradually, more and more fragments of Ren Yu appeared.
Later, Liu Chen finally fell asleep.
When he woke up again, Liu Chen felt weak all over. Even the act of opening his eyes seemed to consume half of his body's strength.
He was sick.
Liu Chen reached out and touched his forehead; it was alarmingly hot.
He glanced towards where Ren Yu had slept last night. There was nothing there, not even the original blanket he had pushed aside.
Where did Ren Yu go? Why wasn't he taking care of me?
The thought itself stunned Liu Chen. How could he have such an idea? Even though they were in a relationship, it didn't mean Ren Yu was obligated to take care of him.
While thinking this, Liu Chen took a thermometer from his system inventory and placed it under his armpit. After a while, he took it out: 38.6 degrees Celsius.
As soon as he put the thermometer back into the system inventory, the sound of a card being swiped to open the door came from outside. Liu Chen quickly retracted his head under the covers, arching a small gap in the blanket, and secretly peeked through the gap at the door between the bedroom and the living room.
Soon, footsteps from outside entered the living room, and then the bedroom door opened, revealing Ren Yu's face.
His face was slightly flushed, but it was okay.
Liu Chen's gaze shifted to the plastic bag in Ren Yu's hand. If he wasn't mistaken, it should contain some medicine and a thermometer.
As Ren Yu's long legs gradually approached the bedside, Liu Chen held his breath, closed his eyes tightly, and pretended to be fast asleep.
"Chen Chen? Chen Chen?"
Ren Yu's voice came from above his head, from outside the blanket. Following that, a pair of slightly warm hands was placed on his forehead.
Taking advantage of this action, Liu Chen lifted his head slightly, pretending to be disturbed from his sleep. He poked his head out from under the blanket and looked up at Ren Yu standing by the bed, his voice thick with a nasal tone:
"What's up?"
Ren Yu shook the bag in his hand and took out a thermometer, handing it to Liu Chen.
"Take your temperature."
Thus, under his armpit, which he had just used to measure his temperature, another thermometer was placed. It was cold, causing Liu Chen to shiver under the covers. Then, he felt an itch in his nose and couldn't help but inhale:
"Achoo!"
Ren Yu reached for the tissue box on the bedside table and placed it next to Liu Chen's pillow. He then helped Liu Chen sit up, propping the pillows behind his waist.
After doing all this, Ren Yu took the thermometer Liu Chen had just used and carefully examined it in the air.
"38.8, you really have a fever. Does your stomach hurt anywhere?"
Liu Chen shook his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"I don't feel anything else. You should go to the exhibition, I'll be fine."
After all, Liu Chen knew that Shen Hong had mentioned how much effort Ren Yu had put into securing a spot at this game exhibition, not only financially but also through personal connections.
Ren Yu just shook his head slightly.
"Today is the first day of the exhibition. We're only having industry media, journalists, and some game developers. I'm not here, Shen Hong and Old Xu can handle it."
Liu Chen nodded, half understanding, thinking that perhaps Ren Yu would be at the exhibition tomorrow, so he had to try his best to get better today!
After taking the fever reducer, Liu Chen curled up entirely under the blanket. Perhaps because the medicine was starting to work, Liu Chen felt drowsy. He glanced at Ren Yu, who was sitting in the living room looking at a laptop, and extended his arm out from under the blanket, patting the empty space beside him.
"Ren Yu, work next to me, I want to be close to you."
Although Liu Chen's voice wasn't very loud, and even a bit soft due to the fever, Ren Yu heard it clearly. He gave Liu Chen a slightly surprised look before quickly hiding his surprise.
"Okay, I'm coming."
What Ren Yu didn't tell Liu Chen was that he had intentionally stayed in Shen Hong's room for a while longer last night, not for company matters.
It was simply because...
Ren Yu had seen the silk slip dress hanging in the wardrobe.
Although Ren Yu believed he could control himself, a cold shower in the middle of the night was still quite unpleasant.
And...
The bathroom in this room had glass partitions. He didn't want to scare Chen Chen.
So when he returned late at night and saw Chen Chen, who was already tightly wrapped in the blanket with only a small head peeking out, sleeping soundly, Ren Yu finally felt relieved. He quietly washed up and got into his own blanket.
Then, upon waking up, he felt a scorching breath on the back of his neck, incredibly hot. After turning around as quietly as possible, he saw Liu Chen's pajama-clad legs clenched tightly in the blanket, with his entire back and legs exposed.
Placing the back of his hand on Liu Chen's forehead, the scalding temperature instantly told Ren Yu why his breath was so hot.
Chen Chen had a fever again.
It had only been two months since he had recovered from a fever before the start of the school year.
He pulled the blanket back over Liu Chen and glanced at the time. It was 5:30 AM. Ren Yu had no choice but to look up the addresses of nearby 24-hour pharmacies, buy the medicine, and then rush back.
At this moment, Liu Chen's even and steady breathing eased Ren Yu's worries. When Shen Hong woke up and learned that Liu Chen had a fever, she took on today's exhibition tasks without Ren Yu needing to say much.
"Brother Ren Yu, you take good care of Big Sister-in-law. If anything comes up, I'll find Brother Xu Jun."
"Mm."
Ren Yu trusted Xu Jun. While Xu Jun might be completely clueless about IT technology, he was practically a master of human relationships.
According to Shen Hong, because Liu Chen had a fever and Ren Yu had to take care of her, Shen Hong would be solely responsible for the explanations at the exhibition today. Xu Jun was taken aback for a moment but quickly adjusted his expression, not letting Shen Hong see his surprise.
Instead, he nodded with affirmation and praised, "Boss Ren is a good boyfriend."
Shen Hong nodded, "Isn't he! But it's understandable that the boss is staying with Liu Chen. You might not know, but when the initial framework of the game 'League of Legends' was designed, the boss said he simplified the control mode based on Liu Chen's suggestion."
Xu Jun's eyes flickered, and he pressed, "Does Boss's wife also have shares in this game?"
"Of course. Could the boss do something as to take advantage of someone else's idea for free?"
Hearing this, Xu Jun became even more convinced of his previous guess. He had specifically asked his friends in China last night about the background of Ren Yu's girlfriend.
The result was that his friend told him.
"To outsiders, she appears to be an ordinary academic prodigy who became wealthy through her mother's second marriage, just with a prettier face."
Seeing that initial description, Xu Jun knew there would be an "in reality" part. Indeed, his friend's next message was:
"In reality, she's probably from a prominent family that was 'colorfully' estranged. You know, the family probably felt they owed her and are now making amends with money."
Therefore, his business partner was truly a shrewd businessman, not only using shares but also using himself to tightly grasp the family's support from the woman's side.
He's a ruthless man!
-
Liu Chen was woken up by hunger. He hadn't eaten much last night and hadn't had breakfast this morning. Upon opening his eyes, he heard his stomach rumbling loudly.
However, in his peripheral vision, he saw Ren Yu lying beside him. Perhaps due to the high temperature of the air conditioning, Ren Yu's shoulder was completely exposed from the blanket, and his arm was resting directly on it.
The sleeping Ren Yu lacked the usual sternness or the often-contemplative indifferent gaze. He had a rare youthful innocence that was rarely seen when he was awake.
Thus, Liu Chen, who had lustful thoughts but not the courage, suddenly gained eight hundred times more boldness. He propped himself up with his right hand and extended his left index finger, tapping on Ren Yu's closed lips.
Feeling the soft touch of his fingertips, Liu Chen's eyes lit up. As if he had discovered a new toy, he began to play with it with delight.
Just as Liu Chen felt he had played with the lips enough and wanted to move to another spot.
"Ah!"
The lips that had been so obedient and yielding suddenly parted, revealing two neat rows of teeth within, and then accurately bit down on Liu Chen's fair and tender finger.
Liu Chen, startled by the sudden awakening of Ren Yu, didn't have time to pull his finger out before he felt a dizzying sensation. When he could see clearly again, he only saw Ren Yu's quiet eyes.
At this moment, those eyes contained only his own dazed face.