Chapter 26: The First Time

Their youthful love blossomed innocently. At first, their relationship was limited to hugs and occasional kisses.

Li Siwei didn’t know how to kiss properly, always bumping teeth or biting lips. After a few clumsy attempts, he left the initiative to Yu Chuan.

Yu Chuan was always cold and aloof in his words and actions, but his kisses were soft and warm. They often met in a dark grove outside the school. Autumn brought an end to the cicadas’ chirping, and the nights became dry and cold. Li Siwei dressed lightly, and Yu Chuan would wrap him tightly in his coat. They would stand close together, Yu Chuan first kissing his forehead, then his eyelids, his nose, and finally his lips.

During those two years of high school, Li Siwei lived a frugal life and was always thin and frail.

In college, the film academy’s cafeteria food was relatively nutritious. After they started dating, they would occasionally eat out. Li Siwei gradually gained five kilograms, the hollows under his eyes filling out. His dark eyes always sparkled.

Yu Chuan usually closed his eyes when they kissed. Once, he opened his eyes and saw Li Siwei looking at him. Their eyes met, and Li Siwei leaned into his embrace. Having gained weight, Li Siwei’s body had filled out, his waist soft to the touch.

Yu Chuan froze, then quickly looked away. Li Siwei asked him what was wrong, but he didn’t answer. He just wrapped his coat tighter around them and walked Li Siwei back to his dorm in silence.

Their sophomore year was packed with classes. Li Siwei and Yu Chuan didn’t always have classes together. They carried on their secret relationship at school, their only chance to meet during the day being after Yu Chuan’s class, when Li Siwei would wait for him at the teaching building, and they would walk back to the dorms together.

After they officially became a couple, Li Siwei didn’t dare to go to Yu Chuan’s dorm anymore.

Before, he could go to his dorm as a friend without any hesitation. But now, even though no one knew, he felt more self-conscious.

After much hesitation, they finally met again after Friday classes.

Usually, on Fridays, they would watch movies together. Li Siwei couldn’t find a reason to refuse this time.

He felt a bit awkward when he entered Yu Chuan’s dorm.

“No one’s here, right?”

“He’s gone out of town for filming.” Yu Chuan pointed at the empty bed across from his. “He said he won’t be back for two weeks.”

Li Siwei felt relieved.

He hung his coat on the hanger by Yu Chuan’s bed and climbed onto the narrow bed, wearing a beige sweater. The sweater was a bit loose, making him look fluffy.

Yu Chuan turned around and saw him curled up like a little polar bear. He couldn’t help but reach out and touch his neck, even nuzzling against it.

Yu Chuan had once bought him a pair of brown corduroy pants, which he always wore. Sometimes, after class, when Yu Chuan walked behind him, he looked like a smug little raccoon. In any case, whether a polar bear or a raccoon, they were both cuddly creatures.

“Hey.” Startled by the touch, Li Siwei turned around, remembering what Yu Chuan had said earlier, and changed the subject. “What movie?”

Yu Chuan let go of him and opened his laptop.

“A French film.”

Li Siwei moved over to make room for Yu Chuan. The opening credits were playing on the screen, a string of English words Li Siwei didn’t understand. Judging by the camera work, it seemed like a road movie.

“No subtitles?” Li Siwei tilted his head and watched for two minutes, roughly understanding the plot. The male lead was driving an SUV from the countryside to the coast for a vacation, picking up a male college student along the way.

But the film was in its original language, with no subtitles. If it were in English, Li Siwei could understand a few words, but it was all in French, leaving him completely confused.

Yu Chuan sat behind him, put his arm around Li Siwei’s waist, and rested his chin on his shoulder. Their faces were very close.

“I don’t know. I just downloaded it randomly online.”

“This download is bad, the quality is poor.” Li Siwei muttered.

The plot progressed quickly. Night fell on the screen, and the male lead got into the back of the SUV. He opened the door and found someone already inside.

Then, the music started, and the atmosphere became ambiguous.

Li Siwei immediately sensed something was wrong. The college student grabbed the man’s collar and unbuckled his belt.

“What kind of movie is this? How…”

Uncensored, explicit images filled the screen. They both froze. Yu Chuan seemed to have not expected this scene either.

Unlike their kisses, the people in the film seemed to be driven by lust.

Yu Chuan’s hand was still on Li Siwei’s waist, the soft sweater beneath his touch even softer skin. He subconsciously pinched his waist. Li Siwei’s ears turned red, the heat spreading from his ears to the top of his head.

Li Siwei cleared his throat, still pretending to be calm.

“What is this…”

“Can’t watch it?” Yu Chuan asked.

“There’s nothing I can’t watch. It’s not like I haven’t seen it before.”

As he said that, the person in the film lowered their head and started licking, and more embarrassing sounds came from the laptop. Three seconds later, Li Siwei slammed the laptop shut.

He had seen this kind of film before, when his roommate played it, but the protagonists were a man and a woman. He happened to be passing by after showering and caught a glimpse. The moans were too explicit, the positions too suggestive, and he quickly scurried back to his bed.

This was the first time he had seen two men…

He didn’t know if it was the warm dorm room or his racing heart, but Li Siwei felt increasingly hot.

After about five seconds, a hand reached out from behind him. It was a hand warmer than his ears, grabbing his ankle.

He turned around, his cheek brushing against the other person’s lips.

“What should I do? I’m hard.” Yu Chuan looked into his eyes and asked.

The sound insulation in the dorm was poor. Even under the covers, they could hear the sound of showering from the next room. Li Siwei had never experienced this kind of stimulation. At first, he bit the corner of the blanket, muffling his moans.

Later, he couldn’t hold on to the blanket anymore and bit down hard on Yu Chuan’s shoulder. Li Siwei had two sharp canines, and his bite was painful.

Every thrust made him bite harder. Yu Chuan winced, but he didn’t let go. What should have been a gentle and tender first time became like a fight.

When Yu Chuan came out of the shower later, his back was covered in red marks.

Once they crossed that line at the age of twenty, there was no turning back.

Mo Xue, from the screenwriting department, often attended lectures with Li Siwei, but after class, Li Siwei would always be called away by Yu Chuan. Mo Xue once asked Li Siwei why Yu Chuan always waited for him. He laughed awkwardly, and Yu Chuan answered for him, saying that Li Siwei was better at film analysis, and he was asking for advice.

Mo Xue was speechless. She was a top student from the screenwriting department, standing right there.

Later, she convinced herself that these performance students were always dramatic, so she just took it with a grain of salt.

Only five minutes of Yu Chuan’s “asking for advice” was serious. Li Siwei would be explaining the script’s pacing, and Yu Chuan would be tapping a rhythm on his lower back with his hand. They would end up under the covers, as if they needed to devour the knowledge to fully understand it.

Once, while they were in the middle of things, they suddenly heard the sound of a key turning in the door. Li Siwei scrambled into the bathroom and hid there for half an hour, not daring to come out until his roommate went downstairs for dinner.

From then on, Li Siwei didn’t dare to fool around in Yu Chuan’s dorm anymore.

Two blocks from the film academy, near the ring road, there were many small motels. One of them, the most secluded, became their new hideout.

The first time Yu Chuan took Li Siwei there, he specifically asked the receptionist for a room at the end of the hallway. Li Siwei, wearing a mask and glasses, followed him into the room, looking furtive.

The room was at the very end of the corridor, with no other guests on either side, only a linen closet.

“Why did you book such a remote room?” He pulled open the curtains and looked down. It was broad daylight outside, and his ears turned red.

They had come here in the middle of the day. It was pure lust.

Yu Chuan hung his coat on the hanger by the door and said calmly: “No one’s staying next door. You can scream all you want.”

Li Siwei sometimes admired his composure, his ability to say such shameless things so naturally.

But Li Siwei’s habits were already ingrained. From day to evening, then from evening to late night. He drifted in and out of sleep, still unable to break his habit of biting Yu Chuan’s shoulder when he got excited. No matter how lost he was in passion, he remained silent.

All his suppressed desire manifested as rows of bite marks, deep and shallow.

In the middle of the night, after Yu Chuan helped him shower, he turned around and looked at the fluffy head resting on the edge of the bed.

This person wasn’t a koala at all, but a sharp-toothed Shiba Inu.

After that, no matter how hot the weather, Yu Chuan never wore sleeveless shirts at school again.