'According to my research.. humans get distracted the most when something happens as the last thing they ever imagined—it's the safest way to hide behind like a wall if we wish for them to never find out about something..'
Chóng Fēi reminded himself, trying to justify his strange actions—which he did sometimes when alone, but nobody knew he was this freaky inside his room. This freakiness was the only shelter he could use right now.
No sword or snake web would work here.
On the other hand, Zì Hāo still hadn't said a word. He kept staring him up and down with those dramatically wide eyes, his mouth curled to one side—a mix of surprise and something Chóng Fēi could only describe as a "what the fuck?!" reaction.
Chóng Fēi remained in his.. fabulous posture, but his soul wanted to run away from his body out of pure embarrassment. He would be truly done if this guy announced this to his father.
His father would probably burn all his novels—including his most favorite one.
It was about a ghost and a crown prince, titled "For The Four Arms, One Soul"—which had that 'disease' he didn't even want to spell in his mind. That skull mummy would come back just to mock him for it.
That fictional ghost was the only ghost he actually admired—and that was also the reason why he hated his reality so much.
'Oh Lord... someone tell him to stop staring at me like I'm some whore who ran into this luxurious bathhouse!'
He cleared his throat and exhaled softly, carrying himself like his father did, rather than a guy caught hiding in a tub of water. He deliberately rose from his position. He felt gravity pulling him down again—the robe was so heavy, puffed up with what felt like all the water in the tub sucked into its fabric. Pulling it up was like lifting a mountain.
"What brings you here? Would you now watch me dress?" He said, with extra attitude—more than he usually carried.
Zì Hāo finally spoke. His voice still sounded like it was recovering from that display—full of amazement and disbelief. He pointed at him, then at the tub. "You.. have been here the whole time and.. bathing in your robes?"
Chóng Fēi just nodded simply, crossing his arms—which slightly squeezed out some water. His tone didn't betray the chaos inside him. "Yes. Any problem?"
Zì Hāo nodded thoughtfully, yet slowly, his eyes still fixed on him. After a small, awkward silence, he asked again, his voice suddenly bolder. "You know what I would have done IF I wasn't your cousin and.. a male?"
Chóng Fēi blinked. After everything, he couldn't go deep into his thoughts like before. Every nerve in his body was tight in an uncomfortable way. "What would you do?"
Zì Hāo smirked slowly—mischievously. He stepped closer to Chóng Fēi. Just one step.
'W-what is he going to do now? Anything but it might be.. something strange.'
Chóng Fēi took a step back, his lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes not meeting his cousin's. "You can speak at.. this distance too, Hāo."
Zì Hāo chuckled mischievously, his eyes flashing with the same performed fake boldness Chóng Fēi had worn earlier.
"I would have eaten you right here and now." He dropped those words like lightning. "Sadly, I'm not. But yeah—don't go in front of those girls. They would surely eat you away."
Chóng Fēi's cheeks flushed visibly. 'That shameless mouth!'
Those strange words felt like flirting—perhaps—and his cousin's strange desire. Today, he was truly glad his father was strict with those boundaries, or his dignity would have been gone while he was trying to save it.
Before his legs trembled at the ridiculously horrifying image being portrayed in the back of his mind, he gave a light, careless push to Zì Hāo's head—something he did every time this guy said something so dangerous.
"Shut up. Now I have to think about how to act in my own bathhouse? You're the one who got inside without permission." He said, his words now flying like arrows—his tongue back from its invisible trip.
Zì Hāo's head fell back lightly with a soft gasp before he composed himself, looking like he was pouting—like any younger brother would, since he was two years younger than Chóng Fēi.
"Ah, bro. I was just joking. You should stop doing this so often. My neck feels like it's going to crack from behind." He rubbed his head lightly, as if Chóng Fēi's fingers had dug into his skin like it was made of wet soil.
"You won't tell this to anyone. Or—" Chóng Fēi raised his hand again, unserious but reminding.
"No no no no! Put it down, gēge~" Zì Hāo half-panicked and pushed his hand down with a finger, an awkward smile on his face. "This.. secret is between us. It would be.. cheap, you know.."
"Fine.." Chóng Fēi slowly let go of the matter, reclaiming his real self through the silent shift of his tone. "Now tell me.. why did zhù fù call me? If it's this emergency, I have to change right now too."
Zì Hāo cleared his throat, coming back to the actual matter. "Well.. he didn't tell me much, but like.. he wants to know what you have talked about with whomever you were with.. the last time."
Chóng Fēi's blush disappeared from his cheeks, and he began to feel cold. Even the air around them changed, weighed down by the waiting situation. Perhaps his father wanted to ask what Lìngxiāo had been doing with him since he was told to tend to him—and their last meeting hadn't been exactly humble.
This was probably serious.
He was thankful he hadn't been caught at the wrong moment. At least he could manage things somehow—as he had been doing even now. He knew whatever his father did, he wasn't truly attentive enough to even know how many small belongings Chóng Fēi had kept from him just to annoy him—anything to make him look at him like a father. A useless attempt to fix things, though he still hated him for being so cheap and available with every woman outside.
This attention was because Lìngxiāo was an outsider, and his father didn't believe in exorcists at all—because of all their failures, and because the citizens were like a narrow pack of dogs who thought anything, did anything, but still made this clan powerful through their worship—which was now leaning toward Lìngxiāo's side.
It would become clearer when they stepped outside to talk later.
He took a slow, deep breath as he settled things inside himself—things more dangerous than any embarrassment.
His expression turned unreadable. A thin shadow of seriousness crossed over his damp face. He pinched some water from his face with a hand. "Anything.. more..?"
"Perhaps about some of your progress and deals about any clan. I don't know." Zì Hāo raised and dropped his hand casually, genuinely clueless about the matter. "While this clan barely has any deals outside."
'Isn't it.. kinda out of logic? He doesn't make deals but also.. makes them? He even told him this—while he doesn't share those things with anyone but me?'