Let Me Meet You chapter 7

 I’ll Handle Major Matters

He didn’t sleep long before he drifted into a dream. It was bizarre; still in this house, he saw Sheng Min jumping off the balcony again. But this time, it wasn’t his body; it was Sheng Min himself. Li Xuan rushed over to try to grab him but barely touched the tips of his fingers. Sheng Min smiled at him, and then like a beautiful bird with broken wings, he fell forever from his sight…

Li Xuan jolted awake, flipping out of bed, his heart racing. He pushed open the bedroom door and thankfully found Sheng Min peacefully asleep on the sofa.

He let out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. Sheng Min’s hair was very soft, completely different from his own. Li Xuan glanced at his palm, thinking he must be really out of it. How could he have left a “dangerous person,” someone who could potentially commit suicide at any moment, to sleep alone? Thankfully, he woke up early; otherwise, in a little while, he might have woken up to find him gone.

With that thought, Li Xuan, despite his fatigue, didn’t dare to continue sleeping. He pondered for a moment and then simply sat down by the coffee table. He propped his head up, staring at Sheng Min. It was clearly his own face, but it looked completely different, gradually overlapping with the figure that had fallen in his dream.

After watching for a while, Li Xuan began to wonder—was another person really living inside his body? Or was there a version of himself that had never been seen, growing from his very essence?

Was it really not a dream? He doubted again, raising his hand to pinch the palm of his hand hard. The sudden movement brushed against Sheng Min’s arm, startling him awake.

Sheng Min had been sleeping lightly. Groggy and confused, seeing someone sitting beside him and staring at him without moving made him almost jump. “What are you doing?!”

“What are you doing?” Li Xuan was startled by Sheng Min’s sudden reaction and stepped back, standing up.

“You’re asking me?” Sheng Min propped himself up on his arms, still in shock as he patted his chest and looked at Li Xuan through sleepy eyes. “It’s the middle of the night; you’re not talking or turning on the light. Why are you watching me?”

Li Xuan felt for the switch on the wall and turned on the light. “I can’t sleep like this.”

“What’s wrong?” The sudden light made Sheng Min shield his eyes with his hand, and his tone softened as he tentatively asked, “Are you afraid to sleep alone? Are you afraid of the dark?”

Li Xuan replied irritably, “I’m afraid of you.”

“What?” Sheng Min blinked in surprise.

Li Xuan didn’t respond. He looked at Sheng Min for a few seconds and felt it wouldn’t work out. After thinking for a moment, he casually picked up the nylon tie from the ground and walked over to him, using an unconvincing tone to suggest, “How about I tie you up first?”

Sheng Min doubted his hearing. “Tie me up?”

“Otherwise, if I fall asleep, you might go looking for death, right?” Li Xuan said as he deftly tied a knot in one end of the string. “Don’t worry; I’ll be gentle. If it hurts, just say so. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility.”

Of course, it would be your responsibility—your skin, your flesh, your bones.

Sheng Min had just woken up, his mind a bit fuzzy, unsure if Li Xuan was joking. He replied dumbly, “Didn’t I promise you? Before we switch back, I’ll do my best to stay alive.”

“I don’t believe you.” Li Xuan said bluntly. “And don’t look at me like that; you can’t be too careful.”

Sheng Min was momentarily stunned. “Is that how that saying works? You’re applying it to me?”

Li Xuan lifted his wrist and shook the fresh bandage on his wound. “What else would it be? Are you the good person here?”

Sheng Min, who typically had no temper, couldn’t help but furrow his brows. He was now wide awake. “By your logic, you’re not a good person either. I shouldn’t have let you into my house; I don’t even know who you are.”

“Li Xuan, you already asked.”

“Li Xuan?” Sheng Min looked at him. “Who is Li Xuan? It’s just two Chinese characters; it’s just a code name. You can call yourself Li Xuan, can’t I do the same?”

“Now, it’s indeed your name.” Li Xuan shrugged, reminding him.

Sheng Min was momentarily speechless. He looked at Li Xuan’s calm face, which showed no trace of humor, and suddenly found himself at a loss for words.

He sighed inwardly, originally feeling that although they hadn’t known each other long, their interaction had been relatively harmonious, especially given the current situation. But now it seemed this was just his one-sided thought; Li Xuan didn’t share the same sentiment…

“Stop always…” Li Xuan saw him silent and frowning, unable to help but furrow his brows.

Sheng Min raised his eyes, his tone devoid of any emotion: “Always what?”

Always using my face to show that kind of aggrieved yet restrained expression. Li Xuan didn’t voice this thought. He pressed his brow and reluctantly said, “Fine, it’s not that I don’t trust you. I mainly worry that you might lose control. You said so yourself, that you’ll try your best and make an effort; what if something goes wrong?”

“Hmm. That’s reasonable.” Sheng Min found it quite pointless and didn’t want to argue with him, nodding nonchalantly. “Do as you wish.”

His tone was lifeless; perhaps it was the lighting, but he also looked somewhat pale. Li Xuan hesitated for a moment before putting down the nylon tie in his hand.

“Where do you want to tie me?” Sheng Min, not seeing any action from him for a long time, looked up seriously and asked, “On the sofa or on the table?”

Li Xuan glanced at him a few times and didn’t respond. He grabbed a nearby ceramic cup, intending to drink some water, but it was empty, so he put it back. He picked up the tie again but felt something was off, and meeting his own pitch-black eyes on Sheng Min, now seemingly lifeless, he hesitated to act.

Not knowing his inner conflicts, Sheng Min extended his hand. “Just tie me up; it’ll be easier for everyone to sleep. I can see you’re quite tired.”

Li Xuan frowned, hesitated for a moment, but then wrapped the tie around his own right wrist and said irritably, “This is good enough, right?”

Sheng Min was taken aback, and before he could react, Li Xuan pulled him into the bedroom. In one fluid motion, he sat him down at the edge of the bed and tied the other end of the rope to Sheng Min’s wrist.

“Just bear with it if you’re not used to sleeping with someone; we’ll each compromise a little,” Li Xuan sighed irritably. “This will do; if you move anytime, I’ll wake up.”

Sheng Min didn’t know what to say. The anger that had been building up in his chest seemed to recede, yet it also felt as if it hadn’t.

Li Xuan didn’t care how he felt, lying down on the bed and tugging at him. “Lie down already. If you just sit there, I won’t be able to sleep.”

“I’ve never seen someone so afraid of dying.” Sheng Min muttered softly. He complied and lay down, thankful that the bed was wide enough. However, the pillow was a long double pillow, making it feel somewhat awkward.

“I’ve never seen someone so reckless.” Li Xuan raised his hand and switched off the light, plunging the room back into darkness.

After his eyes adjusted to the dark, everything in the room became clearer, especially with the moonlight filtering in through the curtain gaps. Sheng Min lay quietly, and perhaps it was psychological, but familiar things looked different when viewed from another perspective.

Li Xuan’s breathing next to him gradually steadied. Since adulthood, Sheng Min hadn’t shared a bed with anyone. He had slept with his brother as a child, but back then, he often slept on the floor.

Thinking about this, his mood sank again. He slightly turned his face to look at the person beside him. It felt surreal that he was lying in bed with a stranger he had only met a few hours ago. Of course, in another sense, he was the stranger.

Unable to sleep, Sheng Min tried to push the whole situation back to the moment he woke up at the bus station. Suddenly, he thought of something and shot up from the bed.

Li Xuan had just fallen asleep, and the sudden pull on his wrist woke him. His eyes barely opened, and reflexively, he grabbed Sheng Min’s hand, his tone stern: “What are you doing? Don’t move.”

“Don’t get agitated; I’m not running away. I have something to ask you.” Sheng Min quickly said. “Did you ride a bike to the bus station today with my face and not get photographed by anyone?”

Li Xuan sighed. “Unbelievable. It was so dark; no one could’ve gotten a clear shot. Even if they did, so what?”

“That would be a problem.” Sheng Min said worriedly, reaching for his phone on the bedside table. “I need to check; it might already be trending…”

“Don’t.” Li Xuan said impatiently, propping himself up and pushing Sheng Min back against the pillow, their eyes meeting. “Before the trouble starts, if we swap back, you can do whatever you want, but if we don’t swap back, then all the big issues fall to me to handle.”

“But…”

“Stop with the ‘buts.’” He lay back down, feeling extremely tired and not wanting to be disturbed anymore. He raised his hand to cover Sheng Min’s eyes. “You don’t need to look at anything right now. Don’t worry about things that don’t concern you; just sleep.”