Ch18 - The Peak of Competition Between Beauty and Acting Skills (18)

With some effort, Xu Qichen managed to wash his face and get cleaned up. He then went downstairs in the short sleeved t-shirt and shorts he went to bed in.

At this hour, there was basically no need to worry about being recognised. After all, this wasn’t China with its rich nightlife. He was in France. One was more likely to meet a ghost than a person on the street here at this time. 

Arriving at the pool, a thought suddenly hit Xu Qichen, Lin Ran shouldn’t be pranking him ba…

Please let it not be so, he silently prayed in his heart. Fortunately, when he approached the pool, there was indeed another person standing beside it, wearing all black and nearly becoming one with the darkness.

 

 

“Lin Ran?”

Hearing Xu Qichen’s voice, Lin Ran, wearing the baseball cap Xu Qichen wore to the audition, turned around. 

Seeing Xu Qichen’s half closed eyes like a hamster that was forcibly awoken, his hair that was blown into a silly style by the wind, and the thin shoulders that could vaguely be seen under his large t-shirt, for some reason, Lin Ran’s mood suddenly became especially comfortable.

 

“Aren’t you tired?”

The nasal sound in Xu Qichen’s voice made Lin Ran smile. “This is our last night in Nice.”

Xu Qichen sniffed, “So?”

 

“It’s such a pity not to go out and play at least once.” He walked over and grabbed Xu Qichen’s wrist, “I’m borrowing your bicycle.”

Xu Qichen only now realised that the bicycle he had used during filming was parked in the shadows. Lin Ran climbed onto it with practised ease, then turned around and raised his chin at Xu Qichen. “Take the back seat.”

Xu Qichen’s mind was a little confused. With an obedient ‘o’, he climbed onto the back seat. Unexpectedly, Lin ran pushed forward before he had sat down properly. Inertia made his body lean back, and the fear of falling made him unconsciously grasp in front of him, and he found himself stuck to Lin Ran’s back.

His body gave off a very light perfume. It was like a cedar or some other similar cold woodsy aroma, mingled with the bitter smell of a plant’s roots. It was intriguing, as though he was embracing a heavy snow that had covered the whole forest on a summer night. 

“Don’t go too fast.”

“Okay.”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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Lin Ran sat in front of him, neither of them spoke. The night on the coastal road was quiet and beautiful.

When they passed by a 24-hour convenience store, Lin Ran stopped the bicycle and went in. Soon he came out holding two tubs of ice cream.

“Hold this.” He handed the bag with the ice cream to Xu Qichen, then climbed onto the bicycle again. He brought them to a quiet bay with many unusually shaped rocks along the shore. Lin Ran parked the bicycle by the beach while Xu Qichen followed behind him.

He couldn’t say why he was following him, just like he couldn’t say why he had agreed to his 3 AM invitation. 

Seeing Lin ran sitting on the beach, Xu Qichen also sat down. They were about 30 cm apart. Lin Ran turned and looked at him, took off the cap on his head, and put it on again backwards. “Why are you so far away? Are you that afraid of me?”

Xu Qichen had no choice but to slide over, halving the distance between them.

 

“Give me one.”

Xu Qichen lowered his head to examine the flavours of the two tubs of ice cream in his hand. But before he could even see them clearly, Lin Ran slid over and snatched one away. 

He leant in too close, the skin of his bare arm unintentionally grazing Xu Qichen, bringing a temperature different from that of the cool sea breeze.

Xu Qichen lowered his head and opened the lid of the ice cream box. He took the spoon out of the bag, but its plastic packaging wouldn’t tear.

Lin Ran took it from his hand, raised a corner of the plastic package to his mouth, and tore it open with a slight pull. He then stuck the small spoon into Xu Qichen’s ice cream.

His tiger tooth is really very sharp, thought Xu Qichen. 

Just as Xu Qichen was about to scoop up a bite to put it in his mouth, Lin Ran asked, “Your ulcer has gotten better ba.”

Xu Qichen nodded and ate the ice cream.

Lin Ran also took a bite, it was sour and sweet, very delicious. He took a look; sea salt and lemon, and asked, “What flavour is yours?”

Xu Qichen: “En… Rose and raw ginger flavour…” 

Lin Ran laughed: “Is it good?”

Xu Qichen looked at him with a subtle expression: “It’s a little strange, but it’s not bad.” He took a look at the tub in Lin Ran’s hand, which had a lemon printed on it. “Is yours good?”

Lin Ran lifted the corners of his lips: “Of course.”

Xu Qichen’s facial expressions exposed his desire to try it. 

Lin Ran waved the tub in his hand: “Let’s exchange so you can try it?”

Xu Qichen nodded like a chicken pecking rice.

However, the expected exchange of ice cream did not happen.

In its place was… 

Lin Ran’s kiss.

The fragrance of lemon rushed in with great momentum. The moment the tips of their tongues touched; sourness, sweetness, saltiness and a hint of spiciness were mixed together, completing the exchange of flavours in the most crude way possible.

 

The kiss came too unexpectedly. With his eyes opened wide, Xu Qichen stared at Lin Ran who was too close. His eyelashes swept across Xu Qichen’s nose, gentle and ticklish, just like the feeling of the sea breeze.

Xu Qichen was unresisting, ensnared as he was by this soft and moist force, gently stirring and deepening. The sweet and cloying cream melted between the warm meeting of lips and teeth, like some kind of an adhesive, cunningly preventing him from escaping. 

His nose was once again brushed by Lin Ran’s eyelashes, as he opened his eyes and their gazes connected. His eyes seemed to be smiling.

“Close your eyes ah,” his teasing mingled in with his intimate kisses, “little kid.”

Like under a magic spell, Xu Qichen closed his eyes and the world fell into darkness. The only thing he could feel was Lin Ran.

Different from the intense and impulsive kiss scene from before, this time, there was endless tenderness, like falling into the quiet deep sea. Every stroke of the tongue seemed to want to take away the possibility of breathing, leaving him breathless. 

His consciousness began to fade, as though his soul was about to leave his body. Xu Qichen felt his knees soften and he almost fell backwards. But an arm caught his waist and brought him closer to Lin Ran, whose hand then slowly travelled upwards, and held the back of Xu Qichen’s head. Lin Ran’s fingers gently stroked his scalp, electrifying him even more.

His breathing became erratic. Tiny whimpers escaped his throat unchecked.

Xu Qichen couldn’t help but raise his hand, pushing against Lin Ran’s chest, wanting to create some distance between the two. But his hand was caught by Lin Ran’s hand and their ten fingers were intertwined forcibly.

Like a fish greedy for water, Lin Ran was kissing him like he wanted to absorb all of him into himself. 

Xu Qichen was feeling lightheaded and his mind had lost all ability to think. Suddenly, among the endless softness, he felt a sudden sting; a biting sharpness cut across the tip of his tongue, biting it. This prank zinged through Xu Qichen like a  shock of electricity.

Finally, he was released. In the rush to gulp in air Xu Qichen began coughing. Lin Ran’s palm gently patted his back,  tenderly taking care of him. With his other hand, Lin Ran held his cheek and used his thumb to gently wipe the corner of Xu Qichen’s mouth.

Xu Qichen raised his eyes to look at Lin Ran.

Only to see him smile slightly, hold his face with both hands, and lean down to peck a few more times. Then he was pulled into Lin Ran’s embrace. 

By his ear came a whisper like the sea breeze.

“Delicious.”

 

TN: 

Because Sarcasm and I are both traumatised by the kiss scenes, I’ll have to clarify here that we probably won’t be translating the smut scenes orz, I’ll leave the AO3 links where appropriate X)

There’s still a long time before we get to the first one in chapter 40+~ish though

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