Card Room

Extra Four - Cohabitation

Yu Hanjiang said he was going to take him to another place. Xiao Lou was very curious but didn’t dig into the details. He sat in the passenger seat with peace of mind and sent a WeChat message to the group called ‘Family’.

“Dad, Mom, I’ve decided not to stay in school and be a teacher. I just went to the police force to report today. I will be a forensic doctor later.”

His parents were obviously a bit surprised by his sudden change of his heart but they never interfered with his choices.

After seeing the news, Father Xiao replied seriously: The job you choose is your own business. Now that you’ve thought about it clearly, try to do it. It is also good to be a forensic doctor and apply what you have learned.

His mom asked with worry: Then do you often have to go to crime scenes in the future to check the corpses or something?

Xiao Lou replied: Yes.

Mother Xiao immediately became anxious: This work is too hard. It won’t be easy to find a partner, right? Have you really thought it through? Is it bad to be a teacher at school?

Xiao Lou glanced at Yu Hanjiang and quickly typed a reply: Mom, don’t worry. I already have a partner.

Mother Xiao: Really?

This was followed by a meme: I don’t read much, don’t lie to me.jpg.

His mother was still quite fashionable and had downloaded a lot of memes in WeChat. Xiao Lou held back a smile and typed: I didn’t lie to you. It is true.

Then he looked at Yu Hanjiang again. The man was driving seriously and his side profile was handsome without any flaws. His vision truly wasn’t bad. His parents should like Yu Hanjiang, right? After all, Yu Hanjiang was impeccable in terms of height, appearance, personality and character.

Xiao Lou thought of this and added another sentence: He is particularly excellent and he is very good to me. Mom and Dad, you can rest assured.

Yu Hanjiang sensed that Xiao Lou was looking at him and he couldn’t help looking over in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Lou’s cheeks were hot as he explained, “My mother was worried I wouldn’t be able to find a partner when I became a forensic doctor. Therefore, I reported to her that I already have a partner.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Yes, it is right to report it in advance so that they can be mentally prepared.” He paused before adding, “I have also reported that we are in a relationship. First, let our parents know. As for our colleagues in the police force…”

“It is better not to disclose it to the police. If everyone knows that we are lovers, they might feel our judgment of the cases is affected because of our relationship. If you agree with my point of view, it will be difficult to convince them.” Xiao Lou said seriously. “Our work involves criminal cases and we have to be more rigorous. What do you think?”

“I think so too.” Yu Hanjiang especially liked Xiao Lou’s serious way of talking. In particular, when he was stared at by Xiao Lou’s clear eyes, Yu Hanjiang couldn’t help feeling, ‘You are right about everything.’

Therefore, they had to let go of personal feelings when working so as to not affect each other’s judgment of objective facts. Yu Hanjiang believed that he could maintain his rationality and Xiao Lou could too.

Once at work, they would only talk about cases and treat each other as partners, not easily changing their own thoughts due to the other person’s opinion. Then coming home together after working and getting along as lovers was the best state for the two people.

_______________________________________________________________

Half an hour later, Yu Hanjiang drove the car into the underground garage. “We’ve arrived.”

Xiao Lou looked at the surrounding environment and wondered, “Is this a residential area?”

Yu Hanjiang parked the car and took the initiative to come over and open the car door. Xiao Lou got out of the car and Yu Hanjiang explained in a low voice, “My grandfather left me this apartment when he died. I only renovated it two years ago. I happened to be free today to show you around.”

Xiao Lou was embarrassed. He remembered when Yu Hanjiang sent him home a few days ago, he mentioned that he only bought a place two years later and was currently still renting. Now Yu Hanjiang suddenly brought him to see an apartment. Did Yu Hanjiang want him to move in with Yu Hanjiang?

Xiao Lou’s heartbeat accelerated when he thought of this and he couldn’t help asking, “Why are you bringing me to your residence?”

Yu Hanjiang had a straight face. “It is a waste of money to rent an apartment. In addition, the place where you are living is too far away from the police force. It isn’t convenient for you to go to work. I think it would be better for you to move in with me. In any case, this apartment is empty. If we live together, we can take care of each other.”

This was simply irrefutable. Xiao Lou also felt that he would be too hypocritical if he refused. They were two adults in love and couldn’t always hold hands, right? Add in the fact that the place where he lived was too far away from his place of work while Yu Hanjiang’s residence was only half an hour away from the police force. This was obviously more convenient.

Xiao Lou hesitated for a moment. “Yes, let’s go and take a look first.”

Yu Hanjiang’s lips gently curved up and he naturally took Xiao Lou’s hand as they rode the elevator upstairs.

The elders of his family were all from the military or police so the requirements for the living environment were also very high. The security of this community was very good and the ultimate protection of the owner’s privacy was achieved. The two of them didn’t see a single figure in the process of taking the elevator upstairs.

Xiao Lou’s heart was beating fast. He always felt that the matter of being taken home by his boyfriend seemed to have an indescribable ambiguity.

The elevator stopped on the 20th floor. Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou to the door, unlocked it with his fingerprint and recorded Xiao Lou’s fingerprints on the door lock as well. “You are also the owner of this apartment from now on. You can enter your fingerprints and go home any time you want.”

Xiao Lou stood stiffly in place like a robot, letting Yu Hanjiang fiddle with his fingers.

He still wasn’t used to breaking into Yu Hanjiang’s life like this and occupying Yu Hanjiang’s territory. The entry of his fingerprint represented Yu Hanjiang’s psychological acceptance of Xiao Lou as his lover.

Once it was done recording, Yu Hanjiang let go of Xiao Lou. “Can you try and see if you can open it?”

Xiao Lou put his thumb on it and the door opened with a beep.

The light of the hallway was right next to the door. Yu Hanjiang pressed the switch and a soft light spilled down, adding a touch of warmth.

Yu Hanjiang leaned over to help Xiao Lou change into slippers. Xiao Lou’s mind finally returned and he couldn’t help his cheeks turning hot. “I can do it myself…” As a result, Yu Hanjiang’s movements were too quick. He helped Xiao Lou change into slippers in the blink of an eye. It was only then that Xiao Lou found these slippers were actually part of a pair. Yu Hanjiang’s were dark blue while Xiao Lou’s were light blue.

Xiao Lou’s heart was pounding. This room wasn’t a dangerous place but he couldn’t control his tension.

Yu Hanjiang took him into the apartment and closed the door.

All the lights in the apartment were turned on. Yu Hanjiang looked around and touched his nose awkwardly. “The decoration design was done by the decoration company. If you don’t like any of the furniture, we can change it.”

Xiao Lou glanced around. The living room and dining did indeed have gray-toned floors and furniture which looked slightly cold. However, there were several furry beige pillows on the sofa, fresh flower arrangements on the dining table and distinctive oil paintings on the walls. These small objects added a lot of warmth to the home.

Xiao Lou also liked the pillows on the sofa very much. He looked at Yu Hanjiang and praised it. “It is simple, elegant, neat and tidy. The furniture you chose is good. There is no need to change it.”

The stone in Yu Hanjiang’s heart finally fell and he sighed with relief. “Come, follow me to look around.”

He took Xiao Lou’s hand and walked around the apartment. Xiao Lou soon found that this was an apartment with three bedrooms and two public rooms. The apartment was well designed and no space was wasted. It was just that there was only one master bedroom. The other two rooms were a gym and a study.

He came to the door of the bedroom. Xiao Lou saw the two meter wide bed in the master bedroom and the brand new beige cotton bedding on the bed. His heartbeat accelerated instantly. “Do you have only one bedroom in this apartment?”

Yu Hanjiang was straightforward. “Yes, I like to work out so I changed a room into a gym.”

Xiao Lou, “……”

This meant that if he moved in, not only would they be living together but they would also share a bed?

Then thinking about it carefully, this was normal. After all, the two of them were lovers. If they lived together then they had to sleep together. They weren’t roommates so why sleep separately?

The heat on Xiao Lou’s face gradually reached the root of his ears. He wasn’t young anymore but he had never slept on a bed with anyone. He couldn’t help having many thoughts as he imagined sharing a bed with Yu Hanjiang.

Yu Hanjiang seemed to guess his thoughts and coughed softly. “If you mind, I can sleep on the sofa.”

Xiao Lou replied, “No, it doesn’t matter.”

Even if he went back three years, he was already in his 20s. He wasn’t a simple young teenager. What should happen would always happen. There was no need to run away. Besides, Yu Hanjiang was such a tall man. Sleeping on the sofa would definitely be uncomfortable for him. Xiao Lou was reluctant to let Yu Hanjiang be wronged.

Yu Hanjiang couldn’t help smiling when he heard Xiao Lou say it didn’t matter. He put his hands on Xiao Lou’s shoulder and spoke in a low and gentle voice. “Don’t think too much. I didn’t ask you to move here to have a se*ual relationship with you. I just think that if we live together, we can spend more time together. Let’s just go with the flow, okay?”

Xiao Lou hurriedly said, “I know.”

Yu Hanjiang also felt a bit ashamed to openly discuss this topic so he coughed lightly. He covered up the discomfort in his heart and looked at the clock on the wall. “It is already 10 o’clock. Do you want to stay tonight?”

Xiao Lou’s heart jumped and his tongue became almost knotted. “T-Tonight?”

He wasn’t mentally prepared yet. How could they sleep together the first time he came here?

Xiao Lou lowered his head in embarrassment. “I didn’t bring toiletries or a change of clothes…”

“I’ve bought all the toiletries for you. The pajamas and bath towels are all new. In addition, I went to the mall yesterday to buy a few new clothes. I also bought a few sets for you by the way. See if you like it or not.”

He took Xiao Lou to the bathroom. There were brand new couple mouthwash cups, couple toothbrushes, couple bath towels…

He opened the door of the master bedroom closet and found half of it were Yu Hanjiang’s clothes. The other half had sets of clothes suitable for Xiao Lou’s size. The shirts and pants were all new and the tags weren’t removed.

Xiao Lou, “……”

He was so prepared!

Xiao Lou’s heart felt very warm and sweet after seeing Yu Hanjiang buy so many things to welcome him, including toiletries, clothes, shoes, socks and even the sofa pillows and flowers in the dining room. This man was impeccable in everything. He obviously put Xiao Lou in his heart so he made many thoughtful preparations.

It was already 10 o’clock. Asking Yu Hanjiang to drive him home for an hour and a half and then drive back home for another hour and a half was simply torturous.

Staying seemed to be the best choice for Xiao Lou…

Xiao Lou thought about it for a moment before nodding. “Then I’ll stay tonight.”