| BYSG | Morning Wood | 26
Shen Yu didn’t suspect anything and directly took out a lip balm from his pocket and handed it over.
Ever since he lost the lip balm that time, he had been especially careful with the new one Cheng Mofei had given him, he was afraid of accidentally losing it again.
Cheng Mofei took the lip balm as if receiving an imperial decree, feeling so elated that he practically floated as he walked.
If there really were an imperial decree, it would surely say—“Grant Cheng Mofei and Shen Yu the title of good brothers.”
He hadn’t used lip balm much before but knew it was applied directly to the lips. He smeared a thick layer on with clumsy movements while sneakily observing Shen Yu’s reaction.
Shen Yu’s face showed nothing but concern for him—nothing more.
He knew it. The bond between him and Shen Yu was mutual.
Satisfied, Cheng Mofei capped the lip balm and handed it back to Shen Yu.
Shen Yu put the lip balm back in his pocket, zipped it up, and asked, “How does it feel?”
Cheng Mofei smacked his lips, savoring the moisture on them, and replied, “It really feels much better.”
Shen Yu said, “Then make sure to use it for the next few days.”
"Alright." Cheng Mofei was overjoyed inside.
Since Shen Yu had already said so, over the next few days, Cheng Mofei shamelessly borrowed Shen Yu’s lip balm frequently.
Soon enough, his symptoms from the excessive heat completely healed. However, he didn’t learn his lesson and couldn’t resist buying more sugar mandarins.
When Shen Yu found out, he confiscated them directly, only allowing Cheng Mofei to have five a day, forbidding him from eating more.
Cheng Mofei didn’t dare resist.
Fortunately, the hamster supplies they had ordered online over the past few days began to arrive one after another.
The miniature hamster’s luxury solo villa was also fully assembled—everything was ready for the hamster to move in.
After getting in touch with the breeder, Cheng Mofei and Shen Yu went together to “choose a hamster on-site.”
The litter of baby hamsters was being raised in a room within a laboratory building. The fluffy little hamsters were all huddled together, looking irresistibly cute.
In the end, Cheng Mofei chose a light gray baby hamster.
This particular hamster was squished at the bottom of the pile by the others. It was small and skinny, and looked pitiful. It wasn’t very scared of people and stayed still, dazed, after being picked up.
They were told that “bullying” was common among hamsters. Those constantly pressed down and suppressed by the others were often victims of bullying.
And so, the two of them brought the little pitiful hamster back to their dorm room.
Cheng Mofei placed it carefully into its luxurious villa, but the tiny hamster was a bit frightened and quickly hid away.
Figuring it needed some time to get used to its new environment, they decided not to bother it for now.
However, there was still one major task left unresolved—naming it.
The four guys gathered around, but no one could come up with a good name.
Shen Yu, fully aware of his own lack of naming talent—evident from his previous naming disaster of "Konjac Shuang"—chose to remain silent throughout the discussion.
Xiao Xiong suggested, "How about ‘Xiao Huihui’? It’s gray after all."
Sun Xinghe couldn’t hold back a laugh. "Brother Fei isn’t Big Big Wolf though."
Shen Yu chuckled along with him.
He remembered that Big Big Wolf’s son in the cartoon was called Xiao Huihui. This little hamster was male too, so in a way, it could be considered Cheng Mofei’s “son.”
Xiao Xiong insisted, "What’s wrong with that? He’s a great character—he loves his wife and is a role model of a good husband."
Sun Xinghe teased, "Our Brother Fei doesn’t even have a wife yet. Who knows when he’ll have one?"
Shen Yu lowered his gaze, tapping his fingernail against his finger in silence.
Life had been so busy lately that many of Shen Yu’s plans had been put on hold. He wasn’t sure when he’d finally get the chance to pursue Cheng Mofei seriously…
But even though he hadn’t made any progress in confessing his feelings, he’d genuinely enjoyed spending time with Cheng Mofei during this period.
Cheng Mofei shot a sideways glance at the two chatterboxes. “Stop talking nonsense and focus on coming up with a name. Whoever’s suggestion I pick gets a milk tea as a reward.”
The promise of milk tea reignited their enthusiasm, and the brainstorming resumed.
“How about ‘Dark Cloud’? It’s gray, though it doesn’t sound that smooth.”
“Why not choose a foreign name? Cinderella—after all, it’s the name of the gray princess.”
“It’s a boy hamster!”
“Is it not okay to have the same name?”
“Brother, you’re unmatched.”
...
Listening to their chaotic back-and-forth, Cheng Mofei felt a headache coming on. His gaze shifted to Shen Yu, who had remained unusually quiet.
He lightly nudged Shen Yu’s arm and asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Shen Yu met Cheng Mofei's gaze, thought for a moment, and finally spoke up: “Tungsten-Tungsten, Molybdenum-Molybdenum, Nickel-Nickel… do you like any of them?”
Cheng Mofei asked, “Mumu sounds pretty nice. Which character is it? Is it the one for ‘wood’? Does it have any special meaning?”
Shen Yu replied, “No, it’s the character with a ‘gold’ radical and the ‘eye’ component. It refers to a silver-gray metal, the chemical element molybdenum, symbol Mo. It’s a transition metal from the 6th group, Chromium group, in the 5th period of the periodic table.”
Cheng Mofei: “…”
Xiao Xiong: “Brother, you’re the real MVP.”
Cheng Mofei: “Let’s go with that.”
Xiao Xiong: “?”
Cheng Mofei opened the food delivery app on his phone and handed it to Shen Yu. “Pick whatever milk tea you’d like.”
Xiao Xiong: “…”
And just like that, the hamster’s name was decided.
In the following days, a rainstorm swept through Yancheng, bringing a noticeable drop in temperature.
Fortunately, the hamster’s cage had already been lined with warm bedding in advance. The little guy built itself a cozy nest and curled up into a fluffy little ball, sound asleep.
As the little hamster gradually became more familiar with its new environment, it grew much bolder and even learned how to play on the running wheel.
However, it remained skinny and small—no one knew when it might finally fatten up.
Being nocturnal, the hamster slept during the day and was most active at night. Every evening, Cheng Mofei would push the hamster’s cage into the bathroom to ensure its midnight "parkour sessions" wouldn’t disturb anyone’s rest.
At night, anyone heading to the bathroom would find themselves in a staring contest with the little hamster, making it a surprisingly adorable late-night restroom companion.
After the rain in Yancheng finally stopped, Shen Yu unexpectedly received a phone call from his mother.
She mentioned that the temperature was about to drop significantly and offered to bring him a thick quilt to keep warm.
Shen Yu had originally planned to buy one himself but, after a moment of thought, decided to accept his mom’s offer over the phone.
It had been a long time since he’d last seen her.
He missed his mom.
He’d also thought of a gift he wanted to give her and was currently saving up money for it.
They scheduled a time—Sunday afternoon—for her to come and deliver the quilt.
It was precisely because of his mom’s call that Shen Yu got a bit of an "inspiration."
The weather had turned cold, and it made perfect sense that he couldn’t sleep well at night with such a thin quilt.
The orientation party was coming up soon—he couldn’t afford to get sick or have anything go wrong.
Since his mom wouldn’t be bringing the thick quilt until Sunday, he needed to figure something out in the meantime.
It was also the perfect opportunity to subtly close the distance between himself and Cheng Mofei again.
Since that sleepwalking incident during the start of the semester, they hadn’t shared a bed again.
That night, as the clock neared midnight, everyone started climbing into their beds one after another. Shen Yu and Cheng Mofei did the same.
Before the lights went out, Shen Yu grabbed his pillow, scooted to the foot of his bed, and called out to Cheng Mofei, who was across from him.
“Brother Fei.”
Cheng Mofei, who had been lying down, immediately sat up at the sound of his name. He looked over and asked, “What’s up?”
Shen Yu spoke slowly, “My quilt is too thin, and I’m freezing. My mom’s bringing me a thicker one on Sunday… but until then, can I squeeze in with you?”
Cheng Mofei agreed without hesitation, patting his bed invitingly. "Come on up."
It's normal for good brothers to sleep together.
Shen Yu climbed over without delay.
The quilt was already warm and cozy, heated by Cheng Mofei, and it felt especially comfortable.
Cheng Mofei was naturally warm, like a human heater, thanks to his good physical constitution.
The bed wasn’t big, so Shen Yu very naturally ended up pressed right against him under the covers.
“Are you going to sleep now, or do you want to scroll on your phone a bit?” Cheng Mofei asked.
“I’ll just watch what you’re watching,” Shen Yu replied.
“Alright.” Cheng Mofei handed him one of his earbuds, and their heads leaned close together as they started watching short videos.
Cheng Mofei’s feed was filled with clips of fluffy cats and dogs, as well as basketball highlights and sports games—pure, classic "straight-guy" content.
Most of the videos at the moment were about capturing and appreciating life’s simple joys, free of overly staged plots, AI edits, or drama-filled arguments. It was all quite wholesome.
Many people online nostalgically reminisced about 2018, and perhaps not without reason.
For Shen Yu in his previous life, 2018 hadn’t been particularly noteworthy. But in this life, it was shaping up to be a year he’d never forget.
As they continued scrolling, a science video popped up unexpectedly, with a direct and bold opening: “Morning wood is a perfectly normal physiological phenomenon for men…”
Shen Yu froze, startled, while his peripheral vision caught Cheng Mofei watching the video with an utterly calm and composed expression, as if it were any other video.
They watched the entire clip together in silence.
Shen Yu: "..."
His emotions were… complicated.
Thankfully, that was the only video like that. The rest remained comfortably “normal.”
After lights out, Shen Yu drifted off to sleep quickly.
This sleep was even better than the one during his sleepwalking incident. At least this time, he’d brought his own pillow, so he didn’t have to “fight” Cheng Mofei for it.
When he woke up the next morning, Shen Yu was still half-asleep and drowsy. But he soon noticed something pressing against his thigh.
It felt like Cheng Mofei’s…
Shen Yu woke up instantly.
0 Comments
Post a Comment