Qing Kuang Chapter 90

Published at 10th of May 2023 01:03:02 PM

Chapter 90
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Kou Chen hesitated as he reached out to the door. What if… He moved to look through the peephole first.

“What, you think you’d be able to hide if it was really your sister?” Huo Ran said from behind him. “They already called you Mr. Kou.” 

“True,” Kou Chen said.

But he still took a glance.

 

 

 

Standing outside was a female attendant, a male attendant, and a security guard. The three of them were smiling politely at the door.

Kou Chen opened the door. 

“Good day, Mr. Kou,” The female attendant nodded at him.

 

“It hasn’t really been a good day,” Kou Chen grumbled.

“Sorry to interrupt,” The security guard said as he peeked inside the room. “Do you… need any help?”

Kou Chen glanced behind him. Huo Ran was sitting on the ground calmly.

 

“It’s fine,” Kou Chen wiped the corner of his mouth. “We were just arguing.”

“Alright,” the attendant said. “Do you need us to bring anything? Antiseptic…”

“She pointed at Kou Chen’s mouth.

 

 

“It’s okay, I’m fine,” Kou Chen said, and then he closed the door before saying, “Thank you.” 

Huo Ran was just getting up when he turned around, so he quickly ran over and helped him up.

“The staff don’t recognize you?” Huo Ran asked.

“No,” Kou Chen said. “My sister doesn’t interact with the front desk much, and I’ve never really been here either…”

“No wonder you chose to hide here.” Huo Ran leaned against the table and tugged at his shirt, realizing that the bottom of it was ripped. 

“Mhm,” Kou Chen nodded, not saying anything else.

“You…” Huo Ran looked up to see Kou Chen’s face right in front of him.

Kou Chen’s nose brushed against his.

His breath swept over his lips. 

Huo Ran’s breathing paused.

He also leaned forward a little, pressing his lips against Kou Chen’s.

 

Kou Chen’s lips were pretty soft, still slightly salty from his tears earlier. He jerked back a little when he touched the split on the corner of his mouth, but he quickly leaned in again.

Huo Ran’s phone dinged. 

They both paused, Huo Ran hesitated on whether he should take a look, but in the end he just tossed it aside. The phone dinged again.

And one more time.

“Can you put it on vibrate from now on?” Kou Chen tsked, taking a step back to sit on the bed.

Huo Ran laughed and picked up his phone: “So thirsty.” 

“…Watch your words,” Kou Chen looked at him.

 

Huo Ran checked his phone. The messages were from Xu Zhifan.

He had already sent a bunch, but he didn’t hear the earlier notifications. 

-where did you go

-are you fucking skipping?

-did kou chen contact you 

-couldn’t you have sent me a text first? damn

-you should thank me for not calling in case I interrupted your crying time

-fucking pick up the phone

-your dad didn’t say we can’t call the police if you go missing, I’ll call them after school, do with that what you will 

Huo Ran laughed for a bit. He wanted to reply, but he didn’t know what to say.

Xu Zhifan knew about his situation, but still, how should he explain what happened?

 

He suddenly felt really awkward.

“Who is it?” Kou Chen asked. 

“Xu Zhifan,” Huo Ran said. “I came right after class, didn’t tell anyone.”

“Is he asking?” Kou Chen looked at him.

-he contacted me, I’m with him, don’t tell his family

-fuck! I knew it! Is he okay?

-yup, he’s been staying at a hotel 

-can I tell the others

“Jjc tf afii Oflifl, Jtejc-uf, jcv atf batfgr?” Leb Ejc jrxfv Bbe Jtfc.

“Teq, atfs’gf jii beg oglfcvr, la’r cba ilxf P mjc rajs rlifca obgfnfg.” Bbe Jtfc rjlv.

  

Two minutes later, Huo Ran’s phone blew up with messages.

Kou Chen’s phone was also buzzing nonstop.

“The group chat’s going crazy,” Huo Ran said. There were only four or five people talking, but it looked like a mad rush for red packets. “Wanna say something?”

Kou Chen grabbed his phone and sent a smiling emoji in the group chat. 

-my apologies guys, I’ll come back to school when the situation with my family is resolved, I’ll treat you guys to a day out

It was followed by a flood of emojis from everyone.

 

“Is it just because of the going abroad thing?” Huo Ran put his phone down and sighed.

“What else?” Kou Chen said. 

“I mean,” Huo Ran walked over to him. “It’s just going abroad, do you have to…”

Halfway through his sentence Huo Ran realized something with a jolt and he paused.

“Go on,” Kou Chen leaned back onto his hands and looked up at him. “Say it, keep going. It’s just going abroad, why do I have to make such a big deal out of it?”

Huo Ran smiled, not saying anything. He put one knee up on the bed and held Kou Chen’s face in his hands. He pecked him on the lips very earnestly. 

“Hurts,” Kou Chen touched his mouth. “Couldn’t you have held back a little? Knocked my-”

“Didn’t knock your teeth out,” Huo Ran glared. “You cried like I cut your head off or something!”

“But it still bled! Who does that to their own?!” Kou Chen tsked. “No restraint at all.”

“I have restraint, I wanted to hit you that hard,” Huo Ran said. 

“…Fine,” Kou Chen looked at him and nodded. “Fine.”

Huo Ran felt a little bad, he did kind of lose himself back there. He wasn’t as experienced as Kou Chen after all. He pinched Kou Chen’s lip and tugged it: “Let me see.”

“Hey!” Kou Chen hissed.

Huo Ran quickly let go of him. 

But he did see that the cut was pretty

“Does it still hurt?” Huo Ran asked.

“I didn’t really,” Kou Chen said. “But then you tugged it. Probably would’ve started bleeding again if you did it a little harder.”

“You were just… too sudden.” Huo Ran still felt bad, so he sat down beside Kou Chen and stared at his shoes. 

“This was sudden too, fuck,” Kou Chen complained. “How long have you liked me for? Have you never fucking thought about kissing me? Never thought of me kissing you? The day finally came, so shouldn’t you be jumping with joy and hugging me tight? What’s wrong with you?!”

“…I really haven’t thought about it.” Huo Ran looked at him.

 

Kou Chen paused, before flopping back onto the bed. “Okay then, I’m not as pure as you. I’ve thought about it.”

“It’s not like you don’t kiss me all the time,” Huo Ran said. 

“Seriously now,” Kou Chen turned to him. “Save me some face.”

“Oh,” Huo Ran nodded.

They were silent for a few seconds before both of them burst out into laughter.

  

“Let’s go eat something,” Kou Chen rubbed his stomach after he was done laughing. Then he turned and rubbed Huo Ran’s too. “Are you hungry?”

“You haven’t been eating properly, right?” Huo Ran asked. “I can even see how much thinner you’ve gotten.”

“I ate two cups of instant noodles,” Kou Chen sighed. “Had no appetite, I didn’t feel hungry.”

“Come on,” Huo Ran sat up. “We’ll go eat. My treat.” 

“Noodles first, I’m starving,” Kou Chen immediately sat up and ran into the bathroom to wash his face. “And then we’ll go see what there is to eat.”

“Noodles first and then another meal?” Huo Ran asked in surprise from behind him.

“Mhm, I’m starving to death.” Kou Chen leaned over the sink and splashed water on his face. “We can go to a buffet after?”

“Sure, whatever you want,” Huo Ran patted his back. “I’ll watch you eat.” 

Kou Chen must’ve felt really suffocated these past few days. He washed his face like Nezha wreaking havoc in the ocean, and then he even started washing his hair.

Huo Ran stood behind him and leaned against the wall, “I thought you were starving?”

“I’m just washing my hair,” Kou Chen said. “If it was Kou Xiao washing her hair then that’s a different story. Dinner would turn into a midnight snack.”

And then he laughed. 

“Hurry up!” Huo Ran smacked his ass.

Smack!

 

A crisp sound.

Felt pretty good too. 

So he raised his hand and smacked him again.

Kou Chen paused and turned around to look at him through a face of foam: “Watched too many dirty films? Having naughty thoughts now?”

“Fuck off!” Huo Ran glared at him.

“That must be it,” Kou Chen turned around and continued washing his hair, “Reacted so fast.” 

“I always react fast to people saying stuff like that,” Huo Ran clicked his tongue.

“True,” Kou Chen thought about it, and then said, “You say it a lot too.”

“Shut up,” Huo Ran walked out of the bathroom laughing.

  

Kou Chen didn’t even blow dry his hair, he just hastily dried it with a towel before dragging Huo Ran out the door.

Downstairs, he paid for two more nights in his room.

“What are you planning to do?” Huo Ran asked. “Are you just gonna stay here forever?”

“I’ll stay for a week first.” Kou Chen got pretty unhappy when he talked about it. “If it’s too short then my dad won’t think it’s significant. I just want him to know that I really don’t want to go abroad, and I want to have a proper conversation with him. If I don’t hold out for long, he’ll just think I’m playing around.” 

“He went to talk to Old Yuan,” Huo Ran said. “I think he’ll think about what Old Yuan said, he’s pretty persuasive.”

“I gotta treat Old Yuan to a meal.” Kou Chen said.

“Do you still have money?” Huo Ran asked. “This hotel isn’t cheap.”

“A little,” Kou Chen turned his phone on. “My dad was supposed to give me some money a few days ago, but he didn’t. Maybe he’s afraid that I’ll run even further with more money.” 

“I have money,” Huo Ran said.

“Keep it,” Kou Chen put his arms around his shoulders and they walked together like that. “I’m planning on spending your money next semester.”

 

Huo Ran laughed.

  

Kou Chen’s habit of not walking properly had pretty much started when they first met. Huo Ran thought he was already used to it, but right now, he felt unexplainably comfortable.

“Ranran,” Kou then whispered in his ear.

Huo Ran hummed.

“You’re not joking, right?” Kou Chen asked. 

“What do you mean?” Huo Ran paused.

“That you like me,” Kou Chen said.

Even though he had already confessed out loud, and had even unexpectedly gotten the same response from Kou Chen, Huo Ran’s heartbeat still sped up when he heard Kou Chen say those words. It was like he was streaking.

And it was right then, at that moment, when he realized. 

He truly realized.

That Kou Chen said, “I like you”.

‘I really like you. Different from what I usually say, it’s the type that I’ve always kept hidden, the type that I’ve never even dared to think about.’

All of the cells in Huo Ran’s body finally woke up and started working again like normal. 

He cleared his throat a little forcibly, and then he kind of dodged the question and said: “What you just said… Say it again.”

“You like me,” Kou Chen said.

“Fuck off,” Huo Ran said. “Not that.”

“I like you,” Kou Chen said. “I really, really, like you. My mind exploded with joy when you said you liked me, why would I wash my hair otherwise?” 

“…Washing your hair would fix that?” Huo Ran asked.

Kou Chen laughed: “Be serious.”

 

Huo Ran didn’t say anything. He looked down and continued forward.

Kou Chen stayed silent too. He was still hanging off of his back, and he even started humming a song. 

He couldn’t make out what song it was.

Maybe he was just humming random notes.

He also liked to make up a song to hum when he was happy.

  

After a little bit, Kou Chen pointed in front of them: “There’s a ramen…”

“I was serious,” Huo Ran said. “I wasn’t joking.”

Kou Chen’s hand was still up in the air, and a moment later he finally put it down and turned to him: “Can you stop saying such important things by interrupting me?”

“I wasn’t joking,” Huo Ran said. 

“Then,” Kou Chen laughed and leaned into his ear, “I’m all settled now!”

And then he pecked his ear.

“Fuck!” Huo Ran almost jumped up in surprise, swinging his arm out reflexively.

Kou Chen reacted shockingly fast. He grabbed his wrist: “If this happens one more fucking time, I won’t go easy on you! What’s your problem, why do you just hit people out of nowhere?!” 

“…I wasn’t gonna hit you,” Huo Ran said. “I was just gonna push you away.”

“Why do you have the right to push me away?” Kou Chen said.

“I…” Huo Ran looked at him.

“Ah,” Kou Chen raised his chin arrogantly. 

“Okay, okay, okay, I don’t have the right.” Huo Ran smiled. “I can’t beat you in a fight either.”

 

 

They stepped inside the ramen restaurant, and at the smell, Huo Ran felt hungry himself too. He looked at the menu: “I want a large bowl.”

“Two large bowls,” Kou Chen said. 

When they sat down with their bowls, Huo Ran sighed: “Are we still going to a buffet after?”

“We’ll see, if you’re full you can watch me eat.” Kou Chen said nonchalantly. “I’m in a great mood right now, I can eat nonstop until tomorrow morning.”

Huo Ran looked at him. He normally found Kou Chen good-looking anyways, and now he was especially handsome. Even through the steam of two bowls of ramen, it was still very clear to him.

Ah! 

That’s so…

Before he could finish that thought, Huo Ran’s phone rang.

It wasn’t a text notification, it was a call.

“Who is it?” Kou Chen asked. 

Huo Ran got his phone out: “Xu Zhifan? Why would he be calling right now?”

“Pick up,” Kou Chen said.

“Hello, Zhi-” Huo Ran picked up the phone, but Xu Zhifan cut him off before he could say much.

“Are you still with Kou Chen?” He immediately said. 

“We’re eating,” Huo Ran said. “What is it?”

“His dad just came to the school, he fainted in Old Yuan’s office,” Xu Zhifan said. “And then…”

“What?” Huo Ran sat up in shock, staring at Kou Chen. “Your dad fainted in Old Yuan’s office!”

“Who?” Kou Chen looked surprised, “My dad?” 

“But, but, but!” Xu Zhifan said, “He woke up!”

“And then he woke up!” Huo Ran patted Kou Chen’s hand.

 

“Who?” Surprise was still evident on Kou Chen’s face. “My dad?”

“I think he went to the hospital…” Xu Zhifan said. 

“And then he went to the hospital!” Huo Ran really couldn’t keep relaying every sentence like this, so he just stuffed his phone into Kou Chen’s hand.

Kou Chen quickly grabbed it from him: “Zhifan!”

“Ah,” Xu Zhifan spoke again, “Don’t worry, don’t worry, your dad’s fine…”

“What happened?” Kou Chen frowned. “Are you sure my dad passed out? Was it something Old Yuan said? Or did he piss him off that much?” 

That made Xu Zhifan pause: “How strong is Old Yuan… Wait no, I don’t know the details. Chaoren was the one that saw your dad go into Old Yuan’s office so he went to take a peek…”

“Which hospital?” Kou Chen asked.

“I’m not sure, he went alone,” Xu Zhifan said. “Kou Chen, you…”

“I know where he is,” Kou Chen stood up. “I’ll be right there.” 

Chapter end