QT: Don't fall in love with the Male Lead

Chapter 120: Don't invade the Prince's bath

Two more days pass before Xi Zirui has the chance to corner Han Yu.

In the meantime he tries to find other chances to be alone with him, but Han Yu keeps evading him.

Xi Zirui has no luck trying to sneak into one of his meetings with his ministers and is unceremoniously escorted out as soon as one of the guards catches him skulking around.

Shouting, "I'm the Prince's new bridegroom!", as they drag him out by the armpits doesn't help.

The royal family, which from what Xi Zirui understands is now reduced to Han Yu and his cousin Bai Mi -- after a sudden illness overtook the older family members, and caused the death of Han Yu's father -- usually dines alone.

Bai Mi tries to plead his case, and convince Han Yu to let Xi Zirui share a meal with them, but with no success.

She suggests that Xi Zirui try to get in anyway. 

Which is easier said than done, since the doors to the Lotus Viewing Room, where the Prince's meals are served, are heavily guarded.

That gives Xi Zirui no other choice but to try and scale the outer wall of the pavilion, to reach the Lotus Viewing Room on the second floor.

Xi Zirui is certain that no one in the history of the universe has gone to such lengths to get a man to fuck them. 

Unfortunately for him, his impromptu climbing trip ends in disaster when he reaches an open window and Han Yu is already waiting for him there, leaning against the windowsill with a smirk.

"Young master would make a terrible spy," he says, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Xi Zirui rests his tired arms on the sill and grins up at Han Yu. "Thankfully, my only ambition is to be his Highness' husband."

Han Yu leans over the sill, and rests his broad palms over the back of Xi Zirui's hands.

That brief touch, after over five days of no contact, is enough to send a thrill down Xi Zirui's spine.

He thinks he sees some of that thrill reflected in Han Yu's limpid eyes, when the next moment Han Yu's fingers close over his own.

"I don't like little reeds climbing up my window," Han Yu says, pulling Xi Zirui up and away from the sill.

For a brief moment, Xi Zirui thinks he's going to be pulled into the room, but his hopes are dashed when Han Yu smirks at him and lets go of his hands -- sending him plunging into the lake waters below.

Bai Mi is waiting for him by the bamboo walkway with two maids ready with towels by the time he swims out of the lake. 

"Not a word," he says, wrapping one of the towels around himself like a cowl.

---

After all his frustrated attempts, his last resort really is surprising Han Yu in the baths -- somewhere intimate and secluded where he can't easily leave.

Especially since Xi Zirui told Bai Mi to block the doors.

Usually Han Yu bathes in his own quarters in a copper bathtub brought in by servants, or directly in his own courtyard's lake water, but once a week he'll take a dip in the palace's baths.

Xi Zirui bids his time until Han Yu has been soaking for a while before making his way inside.

The baths consist of a series of bamboo structures that divide the room in several pools, fed with lake water rushing in a from a copper taps, which can be either heated or cool and is usually scented with perfumed oils.

Han Yu has his back to him when Xi Zirui makes his way inside.

Xi Zirui's eyes are arrested by the shift of muscles under his smooth skin, but especially by the iridescent red scales that run down the curve of his spine like an arrow pointing towards his trim waist and below, where the water line doesn't let Xi Zirui's eyes follow.

Xi Zirui divests himself of his robes as he goes, slipping inside the pool silently.

Han Yu still senses the water rippling and turns around with a glare, his dark hair pulled to one side of his neck, offering a silky background for his sculpted profile.

Even with a scowl on his face, Xi Zirui could look at him for hours.

He rests his spread arms over the edge of the pool and smiles up Han Yu. "I thought his Highness might be feeling lonely."

Han Yu turns away from him, avoiding looking at Xi Zirui's naked chest, and at the red nipples just barely grazing the water's surface.

"You thought wrong."

Xi Zirui doesn't react to Han Yu's dismissal and remains on his side of the pool.

Han Yu gives him a wide berth, his gaze flickering towards the doors.

"I'm afraid the doors are locked, terribly inconvenient, we'll have to say here a while yet," Xi Zirui says, sticking out his lower lip in a pout.

Han Yu's frown deepens, but he doesn't move from his position, sticking to the opposite side of the pool.

Almost as if he's afraid of getting too close to Xi Zirui.

Too close to his scent.

Xi Zirui wonders if there's something he can do about that.

Ni Ni chimes. [There is a pheromone enhancer in the system shop, but Host doesn't have enough experience points to buy it.]

Right, he's failed his task the past two worlds, not that it should make any difference considering that he's supposed to find a way to return to his original reality.

[The system has predetermined requirements, her Heavenly Majesty had to repurpose it in order to send your conscience throughout the other realms. Whether Host wants to or not, he's bound to the system until the finds a way to return.]

If only the System was at least useful instead of an hindrance.

Xi Zirui sinks down into the water, only his eyes peeking up above the surface.

Han Yu casts a suspicious glance towards him, as if he expects him to try and attack him if he lowers his guard.

It's a little endearing, seeing how much he's saving himself for 'his beloved'.

The downside is that it's making Xi Zirui feel jealous of himself.

"Tell me more about your beloved," Xi Zirui says, blowing bubbles over the water.

"Why would I tell you?"

Xi Zirui shrugs. "I'm curious."

Han Yu lets out a derisive snort. "So you can mimic his behaviour and try to seduce me? Do you think you're the first one to try that?"

Xi Zirui's eyes narrow. 

Fine, if that's how Han Yu wants to play it, he's game.

"Does he have a fan? Does he look at you coyly from behind it?" 

Han Yu goes very still, but he tries not to let it show. "Lots of humans have fans," he spreads his arms over the edge of the pool on his own side of the pool, mirroring Xi Zirui's posture. "Next you'll tell me he wears clothes."

"I can tell his Highness how he looks out of them," his smirk grows sharp. "Better yet, I can show him," he says, lifting a pale calf out of the water.

"Shameless."

"Isn't his Highness' beloved shameless too?" Xi Zirui asks, letting go of the edge of the pool and inching ever closer to Han Yu, bridging the distance between them each time Han Yu turns his face away from his provocations.

"Doesn't he climb on his Highness' lap and do as he pleases?" Xi Zirui is so close now that he can see the faint dusting of pink staining Han Yu's cheeks.

"Stop talking about him, you know nothing," Han Yu says, his dark eyes flashing dangerously.

"Does his Highness see him under the branches of a weeping willow?" Xi Zirui asks.

Han Yu's eyes widen in shock, his eyebrows arching above his eyes. "How do you know that?"

Xi Zirui is almost at his side now, and takes the opportunity to reach out and touch his skin. "Perhaps his Highness isn't seeing what's right in front of his eyes."

Han Yu's skin feels warm under his hand, and now that he's this close Xi Zirui can feel his fresh minty scent much more clearly, fragrant and invigorating -- something else too, judging by the way Xi Zirui's heart rate picks up.

He wants nothing more than to nuzzle into Han Yu's neck and climb into his lap, make a mess of them both right here on the pool.

There's nothing new to this hunger, but at the moment it feels imperative, like it will do Xi Zirui damage to try and fight it.

He wonders if it's the same for Han Yu. 

He wonders if his scent is as intoxicating to Han Yu as his is for Xi Zirui.

A hand pushes him away by the shoulder keeping him at arm's length. It's only then that Xi Zirui realizes he had been listing into Han Yu's side, being drawn into his orbit like an hopeless satellite. 

Han Yu's eyes, when Xi Zirui meets them, don't reflect any of the passion Xi Zirui is feeling.

Instead, their cold glint freezes Xi Zirui to the spot.

"My beloved is a human," Han Yu's eyes land on the two small jade horns sprouting from Xi Zirui's forehead. "No amount of smart guessing will change that."