Chapter 44: Shrimping.

Li Yunxi came out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his tiny waist. He dried his hair with another towel. Today he had woken up a little late. He dried himself, applied lotion and dressed up quickly. He didn't have time to prepare breakfast so he picked his phone and walked out of the room. He needed to rush over to the apartment to check up on Gu Shan before leaving. But before he arrived there,he unlocked his phone to check the time and a notification popped up on the screen of his phone. There was an unread message from Gu Shan lying in the inbox.

'I'm fine you don't have to check up on me. Have a good day.'

He knew Gu Shan was probably avoiding him after what happened the previous night. He was already late. Gu Shan would be dealt with later. What he was even more worried about was that he would come back and find the boy gone. For some reason he was happy Gu Shan came back although his body was not in the right state.

*****

That day,Li Yunxi returned home from work earlier than usual. He passed by the market, bought groceries and then passed by a convenience store to buy a few other necessities then he headed home right afterwards. After arriving at the apartment he kept the items in the specific storage places and headed to Gu Shan's apartment to check up on him.

He knocked several times before the boy finally opened the door. Gu Shan looked so fucked up. He was wearing a pair of sweat pants,a crumpled baggy T-shirt. His hair was messy and his face was dull with dark circles under his eyes.

"Hi,"Li Yunxi greeted.

"Hi,"Gu Shan replied in a low voice.

"Can I come in?"

"Wait a second,"Gu Shan said panicking and pushed the door to close it but Li Yunxi was fast enough to hold the door and prevented it from closing. He forcefully walked in and was shocked at the sight in front of him. The living room was untidy with empty cans of beer lying all over the floor and packets of snacks.

Li Yunxi felt his insides burn with rage,his fingers clenched into fists till his knuckles turned white. He angrily glared at the boy who was busy cleaning up the mess.

"Come with me,"Li Yunxi growled and aggressively grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the apartment and pushing him into his apartment.

"What do you think you were doing?"Li Yunxi yelled angrily.

Gu Shan blinked confusedly looking at him innocently. He had never seen him so angry before.

"Yunxi-ge,why are you so angry?"

"You really don't know? I put so much effort to take care of you. I was worried when you fainted the other night. You haven't recovered and here you are drinking beer. I wasn't angry that you have been acting as if nothing happened between us over the past weeks. I'm angry that you're disregarding your life. You didn't want me to check up on you because you were busy drinking. Do you know how dangerous it can be?"

"I'm sorry I will go clean up everything,"he said intending to walk away but Li Yunxi grabbed his arm ,yanking him back to the front but Gu Shan accidentally hit his ankle on the adjacent table. He quickly bent over grasping the injured part and hissed in pain.

Li Yunxi panicked and felt guilty. He asked the boy to lie on the couch and he brought an ice pack pressing it against Gu Shan's ankle.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to,"he apologized with sincerity.

"It's okay."

The initial angry expression had now been replaced by a worried expression.

"Yunxi-ge,"Gu Shan called out nervously. Li Yunxi hummed in response and looked at him,"I...uh... haven't taken a shower since morning so..."he paused feeling embarrassed.

"Oh I'll take you to the bathroom."

Li Yunxi helped him get to the bathroom and got him an extra clean towel and a set of clean clothes from his closet. After freshening up,Gu Shan lay in bed as instructed by Li Yunxi.

Li Yunxi only came back after ten minutes carrying a bottle of milk.

"Here I bought you your favourite strawberry milk,"Li Yunxi said trying to pacify him and held out the bottle of milk towards Gu Shan. Gu Shan opened the bottle cap and sipped the milk.

"How do you know I like strawberry milk?"he asked curiously.

"Liu Daxun mentioned it."

"Oh."

"How are you feeling?"Li Yunxi asked holding the leg whose ankle was injured and began examining it.

"I'm fine right now."

Li Yunxi placed the heel of the foot on his lap and started studying it carefully like someone studying a specimen. He spread out Gu Shan's toes and looked at every toe with scrutiny. Gu Shan only watched him silently while he sipped his milk.

The next thing that happened almost got him spilling the milk on himself. Li Yunxi began sucking his toes one by one releasing each toe with a pop sound. Gu Shan suddenly felt a wave of pleasure wash over him and he curled his toes.

Li Yunxi's face looked regal and calm as he did the shrimping , his eyes drooped with lust every time he looked up to meet Gu Shan's eyes.

"Ahh,"Gu Shan moaned throwing his head back when Li Yunxi increased his speed. He didn't expect such a little action would stimulate him sexually.

"Can you do that to my other foot?"Gu Shan pleaded almost desperately. He didn't care that he was being greedy.

Li Yunxi complied to his wish and sucked his beautiful slim toes on his other foot. The flesh was soft and smooth almost like a baby's finger's. He sucked the toes till they turned red.

"Have you ever done that to anyone before?"Gu Shan asked curiously. He was afraid of the answer but he still hoped he was the first one.

"No. You're the first one. I've always wanted to do it but I have never found anyone with attractive feet and toes like yours ,"he complimented him maintaining a straight face.

Gu Shan blushed,"You're good with words."

"I'm going to cook something for us. See you later."

"Can I help?"Gu Shan blurted.

"You're injured it's better to not move around."

"Then can I watch you cook,sweetheart please?"he asked pouting his lips.

"You're such a baby,"Li Yunxi chuckled. That was it. The bratty Gu Shan was back. The bratty Gu Shan that used to call him cringy endearing nicknames.

Gu Shan lazily crept out of bed and followed Li Yunxi to the kitchen. He sat at a stool near the kitchen counter where he could have a clear view of Li Yunxi's actions.

"What are you cooking?"

"Braised beef with vegetables ,garlic rice and egg rolls. I hope you're not allergic to garlic."

"No I am not. I'm only allergic to seafood."

"Too bad you can't have a taste of my shrimp fried rice."

After preparing all the ingredients,Li Yunxi started cooking while Gu Shan was watching him from the side occasionally chatting with him. They hadn't talked about their previous altercation which led to weeks of not talking to each other.

It felt like they had reconciled naturally.

After some time Li Yunxi served the tender braised beef with vegetables, with fragrant garlic rice and crispy egg rolls.

"Mmh, it's really good,"Gu Shan said chewing the food happily,"Daxun-ge was right. Your cooking is amazing."

"Thanks,"Li Yunxi smiled shyly.

"Since you're this good why do not cook often?"

"Hui-ge is faster than me so I let him do it."

"But you cooked pretty fast,"Gu Shan argued.

"By the way, why didn't you go to Shenzhen?"Li Yunxi suddenly asked changing the subject. He stopped eating and gazed directly at Gu Shan.

"I didn't want to go to Shenzhen. I lied to you guys,"he confessed,"I went to my uncle's place.".

"Then why did you leave your uncle's place?"

"He went to Wuyuan to attend a funeral. I've never been at school during the holiday so I came back to see if it's fun or not."

"Oh.So will you go back or?"

"Yeah in a week ."

"That car is your uncle's,right?"

"Yeah he bought a new one so he let me take that one. I will used over the summer break to go wherever I want."

"That's cool,"Li Yunxi smiled slightly.

"You don't smile a lot. You have a beautiful smile. You should smile often,"Gu Shan said shyly.

"Oh really? I think yours is more beautiful,"Li Yunxi flirted back.

"Let's eat,"Gu Shan shushed him,his cheeks flushing red.

Li Yunxi chuckled teasingly seeing Gu Shan struggle to regain his composure.

They ate silently. Li Yunxi kept looking at him while smiling to himself. He no longer felt lonely as he was a few days ago - he felt warm. No matter how complicated things were between them, he still enjoyed the boy's company.

"Uh,I will do the dishes real quick,"Li Yunxi said clearing the dirty utensils from the table.

"No I will do the dishes. You go and freshen up."

"But you're injured."

"The pain faded long ago. Besides I will feel guilty since you have to do everything,"Gu Shan argued.

"Okay then I will go take a shower then ,"Li Yunxi said ,a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.