Chapter four

After cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, Duan Shen came out and glanced at Lin Xi, who was still sitting on the sofa with a dumb look on his face. "You should be in the shower."

"Oh." Lin Xi jumped off the sofa and headed towards his own room, humming.

Duan Shen interrupted him. "In a good mood?"

Blinking his eyes, Lin Xi coughed lightly. "Um…kind of."

Duan Shen returned to his usual official stance. "After your shower, come over here and keep working on your apology."

Lin Xi: "…"

When he came out after his shower, he saw Duan Shen walking from the study with his cardboard box full of figurines. "What are you doing, moving my box out?" he asked, walking up to him in a hurry.

"Dry your hair before you come out," Duan Shen's eyes swept over the droplets forming at the end of his hair, "When will you stop piling stuff up everywhere?"

Lin Xi blinked, mumbling unhappily, "You're the one who stuffed your shelves full of boxes so I don't have anywhere to put my treasures…"

"Just give them to me," he concluded, extending his hand, "I'll just move them to my room."

Duan Shen frowned. "The bedroom isn't a storage room."

Lin Xi's expression turned sour, his voice full of dissatisfaction, "I'm putting them in my room, not yours."

"My room," said Duan Shen in a matter-of-fact tone, "Isn't that just your room?"

Lin Xi stared at him. "What?"

Almost too quickly to see, Duan Shen's lips curved into a slight smile, "Didn't you already put your pillow and clothes into my room?"

When Lin Xi realized what was going on, his face turned bright red.

Cardboard boxes in his arms, Duan Shen walked towards the storage room. His face still bright red, Lin Xi chased after him, shouting, "Where are you planning on putting my treasures?"

Duan Shen stopped. "Storage room."

"No." Lin Xi made a pouty face. "I don't agree."

Duan Shen gazed on him, his eyes dull. "Your argument is ineffective. Lin Xi, we need to be clear on this: whose house is this?"

Lin Xi's eyes went wide, his expression incredulous, "That's not what you said an hour ago."

"Oh?" Duan Shen said indifferently. He seemed like he had completely forgotten their earlier conversation. "What did I say?"

Stunned, Lin Xi stuttered, "You said…you said…"

"Well anyways," he wiped his face with his hand, as if trying to lose even more face than he already had, "Now that we're married, what's yours is mine too!"

"Hm. What else?"

"What else…only a few things…" His lips pressed together, Lin Xi tried to think back. As if suddenly remembering something, his ears turned red and hot.

Duan Shen took all this in without budging, but his voice became softer. "What else?"

"You said…" Lin Xi's eyes darted from side to side. Moving up to the other man, he kissed Duan Shen quickly, then crossed his arms and squinted at him, pretending that he was angry. The tomato-like redness of his face was the only thing betraying him. "Mr. Duan, is my argument effective now?"

"Yes." The older man nodded, a barely perceptible smile creeping onto his face, "When you were still in school, you kept failing Literature. I was worried that you couldn't understand what I was saying."

Lin Xi: "…"

The moment he relaxed, his true nature came out into full relief, "G.o.dd.a.m.n, are you f.u.c.king playing games and calling me stupid?"

The other man's face became serious. "What are you saying?"

It took a moment for Lin Xi to realize the man before him wasn't part of his slippery little buddy group, and he immediately swallowed his words and answered quickly, "Nothing!"

After that, he s.n.a.t.c.hed the box from Duan Shen, yet found himself staggering back because of the weight in his arms. When did his figurines get so heavy? Shocked, he put down the box and opened it to see.

All his figurines were gone. The whole box was filled with Duan Shen's books.

"Where are my figurines?" Lin Xi lifted his head, astounded, "Did you throw them all away?"

Puffing up with anger, he paced towards the study. When he opened the door and cast his eyes across the vast bookshelf, his jaw dropped. The top shelf of books were gone, replaced by a neatly lined-up row of his treasured figurines.

Lin Xi pressed his lips tightly together, so happy that if he had a tail he would be wagging it.

Right now if he were asked to write a twenty thousand word apology, he would do it fully willingly.