Chapter 2
Edward Quan ·
This was beyond bizarre.
I froze, eyes wide, mouth hanging open.
What snake?
What was this about a snake?
Wife? Who was he calling his wife?
And two of what?!
【My wife’s eyes are so round. Adorable.】
Xu Zizhou looked down at me.
I looked up at him.
The cold shower was clearing my head a little.
Half his face lay in shadow. His jaw was sharp as a blade, his handsome features cool and expressionless.
As always, he could simply stand there and radiate a warning to keep away.
Without a smile, he looked even colder.
But I had heard every word.
I stared at his mouth.
He hadn’t opened it.
Where was all that coming from?!
【La-la-la~】
【So cute I’m going to pass out~】
【Is my wife the god of cuteness?】
【Such a little face. So pale.】
【Big eyes. All shiny.】
【His lips are so red. Is that lip gloss? Strawberry? Would he taste like strawberries too?】
【I want to see the corners of his eyes even redder. Hear his breathing come undone.】
【Want to kiss him, kiss him, kiss him. Then do it right here~】
【Can he hear my heart beating?】
【Oh, better turn off the shower. I think I’ve broken my wife~】
【He’s so sweet when he’s all dazed. Makes me want to eat him even more~】
I looked around.
No one.
Only Xu Zizhou, still holding me.
Where on earth was that voice coming from?
I stood rigidly, watching his pupils turn a strange amber.
Was it too late to run?
I swallowed with difficulty.
Scales began to rise along his neck.
That seemed to answer the question.
【Oh no. Too excited. I’m going to turn into a snake.】
【I’ll scare my wife.】
【Better make him pass out.】
【Hmm… Then I can steal a few kisses too. Hehe~】
I tried to flee in terror.
A moment later, my consciousness blurred.
When I woke, it was eight in the morning.
I was in bed.
My head pounded, and I felt as though I had forgotten something terribly important.
The harder I tried to remember, the more it hurt.
As though someone had erased the memory.
All I knew was that I had got drunk and Lin Feng had brought me back to the dorm.
After that, nothing.
I checked my phone.
Saturday. No need to go to the lab.
Xu Zizhou was probably at the gym by now.
I was alone.
I stayed in bed a while longer. Only when I desperately needed the bathroom did I crawl out.
Passing the large mirror, I stopped.
I was wearing pajamas a size too big.
Mottled gray.
Clearly Xu Zizhou’s.
I tugged at the long sleeve and lowered my head to sniff.
A hint of mint lingered in the fabric.
His scent.
Like a little pervert, I couldn’t resist kissing it.
Then I realized I was clean.
None of the sticky discomfort I usually felt after a night of drinking.
…
Had he wiped me down?
Changed my clothes?
My cheeks burned.
More importantly, why couldn’t I remember any of it?
What a loss!
Alcohol ruined everything!
I stood in front of the mirror, my ears practically cooked red.
The bathroom door suddenly opened.
I jumped.
Xu Zizhou wore a black tank top, fitted enough to outline his firm chest and defined abs.
What a body.
I swallowed discreetly.
Seeing me twisting my neck in the mirror, he asked, “Are you all right? Something bothering you?”
I clutched his pajamas, blushing.
“N-no… Just some little red marks on my neck. Mosquito bites, probably…”
After a hesitation, I added, “And… my clothes… did you change them?”
Leaning against the doorframe, he let his gaze travel slowly over my neck.
“You passed out in the bathroom. Your clothes were dirty, so I changed them.”
I was about to thank him.
Then—
【Those marks on your neck are from my kisses too.】
【My wife was too tempting. I couldn’t help kissing him a few more times last night.】
What?!
I gaped.
【Ah.】
【Spring is here.】
【All this hot blood, and nowhere to put it~】
It took me the whole morning to begin accepting the absurd truth.
I could hear Xu Zizhou’s thoughts.
Even more absurdly…
He seemed to like me.
Maybe.
I needed to listen a little more.
We were queuing at the cafeteria.
He stood in front of me, his back straight as a pine, looking cool and utterly self-possessed.
Inside, a flood was pouring out.
【Little Chi is adorable again today.】
【There are four kinds of chi: a straight ruler, a triangular ruler, Shu Chi, and I-love-Shu-Chi-very-much.】
【Why does my chest feel strange? Am I ill? No. Little Chi is stuck in my heart!】
【Love him, love him, love him!】
【Whenever I remember my wife’s intersex, I…】
My smile froze.
Wait.
How did he know?
I had never told anyone.
That morning, after realizing my clothes had been changed, I had checked.
My underwear hadn’t been touched.
I frowned.
How had he found out?
There was no disgust in his thoughts.
Only delight.
He didn’t think I was a monster?
That secret had made me feel inferior all my life.
I was always afraid other people would see me as deformed.
But Xu Zizhou…
My phone vibrated.
Lin Feng.
【Well? Did the confession work?】
Me: 【???】
Lin Feng: 【Don’t tell me… He turned you down?】
Me: 【What are you talking about? What confession?】
Lin Feng: 【WTF? You forgot that part?? You never usually black out when you’re drunk.】
I found it strange too, so we agreed to talk that afternoon.
The questions were becoming harder to ignore.
That morning, I had asked Xu Zizhou what happened the night before.
He said, “You got back and passed out in the bathroom. You smelled of alcohol, so I wiped you down and put you in pajamas.”
Was he lying?
I looked at the man ahead of me.
His thoughts still hadn’t stopped.
【I think my wife and I could kiss now. Not that we absolutely have to. It’s just, today’s sunshine is perfect for kissing. Obviously both people have to agree, but we’re so compatible it should be fine. Still, it depends on what he wants. Can’t force him. But it would be even better if we could kiss…】
【Ugh. I don’t want to be a virgin snake anymore.】
【Someone at my part-time job called me a snake virgin last time.】
What was a snake virgin?
I was about to ask when a sweet female voice interrupted.
“Chi! Long time no see! I’ve missed you so much!”
Xu Zizhou’s thoughts exploded.
【A girl?!】
【She’s calling him that affectionately… Is she the person Little Chi said he liked?!】
【Oh no, oh no. I was so busy thinking about my wife’s body, I forgot to check his orientation.】
【What if he likes girls?!】
…Huh?
Didn’t you say I passed out as soon as I got back?
Did I say something about the person I liked?
【Thank goodness! My wife likes men!】
【Put confessing on the schedule!】
【I need to plan a spectacular confession dinner!】
【But… would he find me disgusting if he saw what I really am?】
【Sigh. Better ask the others when I go to entertain customers this afternoon. A-Fen just started dating.】
【I really don’t want to entertain customers. Last time, one left me sore all over.】
My smile stiffened.
Entertain customers.
Customers.
Physical contact.
The words circled in my head.
My limited imagination could suggest only jobs you didn’t discuss in polite company.
My face fell.
All afternoon, I kept glancing at Xu Zizhou, swallowing the questions on the tip of my tongue.
How was I supposed to begin?
Ask whether he did some kind of special work?
What if he thought I was strange?
Worse—what if I was imagining this whole mind-reading thing?
I could only hear him, after all.
The thought of that embarrassment made me want to crawl into a crack in the ground.
But at half past two, when he changed clothes and left the dorm, I still followed him.
Eventually, he disappeared near a peculiar pet café.
I knew about cat cafés and dog cafés.
An exotic-pet café was new to me.
The owner leaned lazily against the counter.
“First time? Afraid of snakes? We have reptiles here. Mostly snakes.”
I followed his gaze.
Goosebumps rose all over me.
More than a dozen snakes in different colors and patterns were moving across the floor.
They twisted and slithered, scales occasionally rasping against one another.
Horrifying.
But I had to find Xu Zizhou.
I would endure.
Fighting the urge to flee, I ordered a milk tea and huddled trembling in a corner, searching for him.
He wasn’t there.
Disappointed, I turned my attention to the snakes.
To my surprise, they were well behaved.
None attacked anyone.
After five minutes, curiosity began to replace some of my fear.