NOVEL NEXT 10
Chapter 10: Awakening
In the dim light, a bit of milky white light appeared in his vision. Xi Tian felt as if his body was out of his control, driven by something to move forward, stepping into that faint light.
The white light increased, growing brighter and brighter. As Xi Tian approached, he noticed the light was made up of floating white specks.
Curious, Xi Tian reached out his finger to touch one of the specks, only for it to vanish instantly.
The floating specks noticed him, gathering from all directions to form a human figure, whose face bore a striking resemblance to Xi Tian’s.
The figure didn’t speak, but a voice echoed in Xi Tian’s ears: “You have arrived.”
A figure appeared within the light, extending a hand towards him.
Xi Tian took the hand and was led into the light until it completely enveloped him.
Xi Tian woke from the dream, staring blankly at the ceiling. It had been a long time since he dreamt, especially such a bizarre and fragmented dream.
Could this be the “price” of growing up?
An absurd thought popped into his mind, so absurd that he laughed at himself.
He moved his arm and found it empty, turning to look at the female who had shared such an intimate night with him.
The pillow on his right was empty. His gaze moved downward to find the female lying on his stomach, still deep in sleep.
Xi Tian ruffled the female’s short flaxen hair twice. The female shook his head, burrowing deeper and continuing to sleep, making Xi Tian chuckle silently.
Glancing at the terminal time, he remembered it was his morning run time. Xi Tian looked at Ellis, torn between his usual routine and waiting for the female to wake up, but eventually decided on his morning exercise. He got up, pulled back the blanket, found his clothes for the day, and dressed. Before leaving, he remembered to cover the female with the blanket.
A breeze blew in; they had left the window open all night. Owen, what were you doing? You hate the cold the most, don’t you?
Ellis thought this, groggily turning over and snuggling into the warm blanket.
The fabric was incredibly soft, as soft as a cloud. It didn’t feel like the rough texture of the dormitory sheets.
…
Dormitory?
Ellis suddenly sat up. However, a stiffness in his waist and a lingering pain at his back made him fall back onto the bed, hissing in pain.
At first, it hurt a bit last night, but as the male guided him, Ellis gradually got into it, finding pleasure in it. His primal side emerged, following the male’s lead, trying out every basic move in bed, not even knowing how long they had gone on.
Momentary pleasure, lasting consequences.
Ellis thought bitterly, clutching his waist.
Where is the male?
Ellis glanced around but saw no one. This time, he slowly sat up, lifting the blanket, realizing he was completely naked.
His clothes… were all thrown into the living room.
Does he have to wrap himself in the blanket to go to the living room?
Did the male see him like this in the morning, without any elegance, perhaps even looking rough?
Ellis finally felt embarrassed, his face heating up.
Ellis hugged his head, wanting to curl back into the blanket.
Under the covers, it was dark. His wrist terminal’s signal light flashed on and off. He hadn’t noticed it earlier, being too focused on himself.
He activated the projection, revealing a message from the male.
Sender: Xi
“I went out for a workout. I’ll be back in an hour.
Clothes are on the desk chair. The keys to the flyer and the room are on the table. New toiletries are in the bathroom; you can use them.
If you don’t have to go to the army this morning, you can keep sleeping.”
Isn’t it a bit excessive?
Forget about restraint. With such a considerate male, who cares about their body? TvT
Such a considerate Xi Tian must be liked by many people. Ellis had to learn how to keep this considerate male!
Ellis’s thoughts seemed to take a strange turn.
In the university homemaker courses, there was a lesson on how to keep a male’s heart, but back then, he had scoffed at marriage, barely passing all the homemaker courses with minimum grades.
Back then… why couldn’t he have paid attention in class?
Ellis silently hugged himself tighter under the blanket.
But thankfully, there was the intelligent network, this giant network connecting every member of the society on Insect Planet. Every day, tens of thousands of pieces of information flow into various forums, with more than half related to gender relations.
Now, Ellis, just like the females he had scoffed at a month ago, worried about keeping a male’s affection, entered “how to keep a male” in the search bar.
The top search result came from a thriving emotion forum established thirty years ago, with bold, eye-catching red letters: “Seven Ultimate Tips to Secure Your Male’s Heart.”
1. Grab the Heart by Grabbing the Stomach: To capture the other’s heart, first capture their stomach. Males are visually and sensory-oriented creatures, often drawn to delicious food and bright colors.
—
When these two elements combine, they form an unbeatable weapon.
Even if he finds someone new, he’ll still think of you at mealtime. How can you refuse to learn this trick?
[Images][Images][Images]
The images showed a delicate and appetizing dessert. Ellis opened one that looked relatively simple.
Ingredients:
– 3 eggs
– 25g low-gluten flour
– 12g cocoa powder
– 30g chocolate
…
What is cocoa powder? And why add chocolate? What even is that?
Ellis quietly closed the page.
Maybe he could look around the house and see if there were any usable ingredients, put them into a search engine, and perhaps come up with a dish.
A female who has been eating at the canteen for twenty years, who always insisted on not lifting a finger if possible, now found himself caught in the whirlpool of trying to keep a male’s heart, without thinking anything was wrong with it.
Ellis got dressed and washed up. He really started looking around the room. Unexpectedly, Xi Tian’s house was particularly tidy, without even an electric cooker, let alone groceries. However, he did find a bunch of canned snacks in various flavors, neatly stored in shaded boxes on the balcony.
It seems not all the boxes are books, Ellis optimistically comforted himself, at least he wouldn’t worry about not affording to feed the male.
The next moment, Ellis deflated, sitting on the sofa and hugging himself.
What else could he do?
Xi Tian opened the door and came in, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, his shirt soaked through, and carrying something in his hand.
“I thought you were still asleep,” Xi Tian said, lifting the breakfast in his hand, “Can you get me a bowl?”
Ellis had rummaged around earlier and thought he saw where the bowls and utensils were, but he couldn’t remember exactly where. He tried to look, but it was in vain.
He hadn’t made breakfast for the male, didn’t greet him when he returned, and now he couldn’t even find the utensils. What else could he do?
Ellis felt discouraged.
Xi Tian walked over, handed him the packaged breakfast, and found the utensils under the coffee table, setting out two bowls and pouring the porridge into them, pushing one toward Ellis.
“I forgot you’re not familiar with my place yet.” Xi Tian smiled, his eyes crinkling. “I used to eat directly at the restaurant. When I said I wanted to take the food to go today, the owner asked me why.”
“Huh?” Ellis waited for more, but Xi Tian just kept looking at him. Ellis turned his head, “… What did you say?”
Xi Tian reached out and ruffled his hair. “I said my partner was waiting for me at home.”
“I’m going to take a shower. If you’re hungry, go ahead and eat.” With that, Xi Tian went into the bathroom. Soon, the sound of running water could be heard.
Ellis stared blankly at the food on the coffee table, a long-buried sour feeling welling up in his heart.
He selfishly thought only of himself, worrying about his future, while Xi Tian treated him with sincere care.
In the face of true sincerity, his selfishness became a joke.
You treated me with sincerity, yet I foolishly doubted you.
What kind of person am I?
Ellis covered his eyes and tilted his head back, trying not to let those weak emotions spill out.
Soon, Xi Tian came out, changed into another set of clothes.
The food on the table remained untouched.
Seeing the slight redness in Ellis’s eyes, Xi Tian said nothing. He poured a glass of warm water and handed it to Ellis. “Let’s eat.”
“Mm.” Ellis took it and drank it in one go.