Thirsty Skin - Chapter 27

Chapter 27 – “Sleep With Me, Mr. Lin!”

“Lin Wan,” Zhu Chizhou called Director Lin by his first name for the second time today, “Do you have any Band-Aids at home?”

Lin Wan held the bowl and said, “Yes, what’s wrong? Where are you injured?”

Zhu Chizhou frowned, pointed the tip of his chopsticks at Lin Wan’s injured hand, and said, “There.”

“Oh,” Lin Wan looked down and said, “It’s okay. I’ll deal with it after I take a shower.”

After Zhu Chizhou finished his meal, he washed the dishes himself and cleaned the kitchen counter.

At this time, Lin Wan had just come out of the shower, his hair was still dripping with water, and he wiped it with a towel. He didn’t wear the mulberry silk pajamas today, but changed into a cotton one, a beige top and caramel brown plaid pants, a very homely style, casual and warm.

“Have you packed everything?” Lin Wan felt a little sorry for asking the first-time guest to cook and wash dishes by himself. “Go take a shower and go to bed. I’ve put the toiletries in the bathroom for you.”

Zhu Chizhou said: “Okay.”

There was only one bathroom in the house, which had just been used by Lin Wan. Zhu Chizhou walked in and saw that the floor was wet, but there was no trace of hot water. It was obvious that Lin Wan had taken a cold bath.

Zhu Chizhou thought of Lin Wan’s habit of soaking in ice water. There was no bathtub here, and it seemed that there should be no ice cubes either. What was Lin Wan going to do tonight?

Does Lin Wan’s family know that he had such an illness?

How does he usually get through it? Besides soaking in ice water, was there any other way to relieve the symptoms?

Zhu Chizhou had searched for information about skin thirst disease before. There is medicine for this disease. However, long-term use of medicine would lead to drug resistance, which would gradually weaken the efficacy of the medicine and even make it ineffective.

Had Lin Wan reached the stage where medication has become ineffective, so he could only rely on ice water to alleviate his symptoms?

Would Lin Wan feel uncomfortable if he didn’t take an ice bath tonight?

After taking a shower with all sorts of thoughts in his mind, he passed by the study on his way back to the room and saw Lin Wan packing his things inside, with a Band-Aid on his left index finger.

There was a small single bed in the study, which looked like it had not been used for a long time, and the bed was piled with books.

Lin Wan was not wearing glasses, sitting cross-legged on the wooden floor, putting the books on the bed into the cardboard box one by one. His soft hair hung down to cover his eyebrows, and he looked a little tired.

Zhu Chizhou knocked lightly on the door frame: “Do you need my help?”

Lin Wan looked up at him, then kept sitting cross-legged and said, “No need, go to sleep first.”

After saying that, he rubbed his eyes and said, “I’m so sleepy… I want to sleep too.”

Zhu Chizhou walked in and said, “I’ll help you clean up.”

On the left hand side of the entrance was a large bookcase that covered the entire wall, extending from the ground to the ceiling. It was filled with all kinds of books, and the air was filled with the faint smell of old books.

Zhu Chizhou looked around and exclaimed, “You have so many books at home.”

“Well,” Lin Wan said, perhaps because he was too sleepy, his voice was a little hoarse, “The books in the cabinet are all my grandfather’s books, and these on the bed are mine. I really had no place to put them, so I just piled them here.”

Zhu Chizhou walked to the bedside and lowered his head to review Lin Wan’s reading records.

At the top of the pile was Hesse’s Under the Wheel. Zhu Chizhou picked it up and flipped through it, then found that there was also The Glass Bead Game underneath, and another book under that which was also Hesse’s. He raised his eyebrows: “Do you like Hesse?”

Lin Wan didn’t raise his head, he just said “hmm”. The skin on his neck, which was exposed at the back of his neckline, was slightly red, and his cheeks were also red, as if he had applied a light layer of rouge.

Zhu Chizhou noticed that there were notes written by Lin Wan in pencil on the pages of the book, which immediately attracted his attention. He asked as he flipped through the pages, “Which of his books do you like best?”

“My favorite is Demian,” Lin Wan stopped what he was doing, looked up at Zhu Chizhou, and asked him, “Do you like Hesse, too?”

“Yes,” Zhu Chizhou walked to Lin Wan’s side, sat on the floor like Lin Wan did, smiled and said, “I like Siddhartha the most.”

The boy was too tall, and his body looked very big when he sat down, so his long legs accidentally touched Lin Wan’s legs.

Lin Wan shuddered and took a deep breath in his heart, 【I really want to get closer to him, but I have to hold back.】

Zhu Chizhou quickly retracted his legs, moved back, and sat a little further away from Lin Wan.

Lin Wan took a few rapid breaths, feeling a bit breathless after strenuous exercise, but after taking a few breaths, he suppressed his breath very restrainedly. If Zhu Chizhou hadn’t been observing him, he would not have noticed his abnormality at all.

The finger with the Band-Aid on it pinched the spine of the book hard. Zhu Chizhou looked at his pale fingertips and heard that he was in agony.

【It still doesn’t work without soaking in ice water. 】

【It’s so uncomfortable. 】

【It hurts. 】

But there was no sign of any problem on Lin Wan’s face. He continued to chat with Zhu Chizhou in a steady tone: “You like Siddhartha the most. Is it because you are interested in religion?”

Zhu Chizhou was distracted by Lin Wan’s inner voice and had to distract himself to answer Lin Wan’s question: “Not really, I just think Siddhartha’s process of transcending the traditional religious framework and awakening through inner self-exploration is fascinating.”

【I’m really going crazy.】

【The smell on him is really charming. I want to hug him.】

【I can’t bear it anymore.】

Zhu Chizhou’s breathing suddenly became rapid.

Lin Wan said softly, “Demian is also about exploring self-awakening, but Sinclair awakened with the help of Demian.”

Zhu Chizhou uttered “hmm” absentmindedly, but was thinking, was this how Lin Wan’s calmness and composure were acquired?

How cruel must he be to himself?

“Demian is such a wonderful character,” Lin Wan continued. “When I was a kid, I couldn’t accept Demian’s disappearance at the end. I thought he just left temporarily.”

Zhu Chizhou recalled that when he first read this book, he was also very sad because of Demian’s physical disappearance at the end. He seemed to be only thirteen years old at that time.

“He didn’t actually disappear,” Zhu Chizhou looked at Lin Wan, “He just became a part of Sinclair’s heart, because Sinclair had completed his personal growth and no longer needed Demian’s company.”

Lin Wan was a little unsteady and reached out to hold the edge of the bed: “Do you think Demian is Sinclair’s fantasy?”

Zhu Chizhou couldn’t understand why Lin Wan was still willing to discuss this issue with him, even though he was clearly feeling so miserable.

He replied in confusion: “It’s not entirely a fantasy. I think Demian is more like a symbolic person.”

Lin Wan opened his mouth and took a deep breath, then said stubbornly, “No, I still think that Demian is a real person in the story, not Sinclair’s fantasy, nor a symbolic person.”

【The situation is not good.】

【I have to take another cold shower.】

Zhu Chizhou looked at Lin Wan’s eyes, gradually filled with tears. His brain could no longer think normally. He just repeated what he had just said: “I… I think he is a symbolic person.”

Lin Wan stood up by the edge of the bed and looked down at Zhu Chizhou with a serious expression: “So, how did he get Kromer to stop harassing Sinclair?”

Zhu Chizhou remembered every detail in the book. If he wanted, he could even talk to Lin Wan until tomorrow morning. However, now he could only hear Lin Wan’s pleading for help in his heart:

【I can’t breathe anymore.】

【My skin hurts all over my body.】

Without waiting for Zhu Chizhou to answer, Lin Wan turned around and stumbled out: “I’m going to the bathroom.”

【I can’t stay with him anymore, or I’ll really go crazy.】

“Lin Wan!” Zhu Chizhou called him impulsively.

Lin Wan had already walked to the door. He held onto the door frame and turned back. He still looked emotionless, but his eyes were red.

Zhu Chizhou was torn between his conscience and his desires.

He resisted becoming a tool, but was worried about Lin Wan. He didn’t want to have a physical comfort relationship with Lin Wan, but his heartache for Lin Wan at this moment had surpassed reason and shaken his principles.

He stood up from the ground and said to himself, ‘Lin Wan doesn’t have an ice bath tonight, so I’ll help him tonight.’

The tall boy walked towards Lin Wan, the light shone from behind him, casting a shadow in front of him, enveloping Lin Wan. He looked into Lin Wan’s eyes and said, “I will have nightmares if I sleep in a strange place. I’m a little scared. So, can you sleep with me?”

【Eh? ? ! !】

Lin Wan was stunned for a moment. “Didn’t you say that you can’t sleep well if you sleep with others?”

“Well…” Zhu Chizhou continued to discredit himself with difficulty: “But I’m really scared when I sleep alone.”

【But I…】

“I’m so sleepy,” Zhu Chizhou interrupted Lin Wan’s thoughts, “Let’s not clean up, let’s go to sleep.”

“I…” Lin Wan grabbed the edge of the wooden door frame and said with his head down, “I don’t sleep well…”

With a “click”, Zhu Chizhou raised his hand and pressed the switch, turning off the light in the study, and the two people were instantly plunged into darkness.

Zhu Chizhou said: “It’s okay, I don’t sleep well either.”

Lin Wan hesitated: “But the bed is very narrow. I might accidentally roll onto you when I fall asleep.”

“It’s okay,” Zhu Chizhou said, his throat tightening. “I feel safer sleeping in a more crowded place.”

The rain outside the window has subsided, but it still keeps falling, and no one knew how long it would last.

The night wind shook the branches, causing the light from the distant street lamps to sway as well.

Zhu Chizhou approached Lin Wan, holding the door frame with one hand and holding Lin Wan’s shoulder with the other, almost holding Lin Wan in his arms. He found that Lin Wan was trembling, and he could hear Lin Wan’s rapid breathing and violent heartbeat.

The hand that was holding the door frame slid down and grabbed Lin Wan’s wrist in the dark. Zhu Chizhou threw away his shame and confirmed his fear of the dark: “It’s so dark, I’m really scared, sleep with me, Mr. Lin.”

“Ok.” Lin Wan responded softly, lowering his head and not moving, allowing Zhu Chizhou to hold his hand.

“Are you still going to the bathroom?” Zhu Chizhou asked.

Lin Wan raised his head, and Zhu Chizhou’s body was close to his nose. He took a slow and deep breath, and smelled the sunshine-like scent on him.

“No,” Lin Wan said, leaning against Zhu Chizhou’s shoulder, “Let’s go to sleep.”