After Transmigrating, I Saved the Saintly Male Lead
o0o
Gu Hanzhou's brows carried a trace of longing as he asked, "Ge, can I hug you to sleep?"
Ji Anche almost thought he was experiencing both visual and auditory hallucinations after what he'd just seen.
No, tomorrow he'd have to make a hospital appointment to get his eyes and ears checked, along with his mental state.
This was terrifying.
What a surreal world.
Standing by the bed in a daze.
"Am I dreaming?"
"Ge, this isn't a dream."
The weak murmur from the boy on the bed was automatically ignored.
Ji Anche answered his own question.
"Ha, what an interesting dream."
Bringing his middle and index fingers together, Ji Anche closed his eyes and recited an incantation.
"By the power of the celestial mandate! Wake up now!"
Opening his eyes, he found himself still standing in the same spot. The surroundings hadn't changed at all, and there was no familiar weightless sensation of waking up.
Since this was his own dream, there was no need to hold back.
Ji Anche walked to the edge of the bed and sprawled onto it without ceremony.
Propping his cheek on one hand, he asked curiously.
"Are you the Gu Hanzhou from my dream?"
Gu Hanzhou shook his head.
"...No."
"Hah, don't try to fool me."
Ji Anche sat up and pinched the male lead's cheek, commanding fiercely.
"Take your clothes off!"
Gu Hanzhou looked stunned.
"What?"
Ji Anche kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the dorm bed, urging impatiently.
"Hurry up and strip, stop dawdling!"
Gu Hanzhou stared blankly at Ji Anche, his dark eyes reflecting the boy's figure as hidden desires involuntarily leaked through.
"What are you spacing out for? Strip already!"
Ji Anche was so drowsy his thoughts bypassed his brain completely.
"The night is young and time is precious, we can't waste a single minute. Hurry up!"
Unable to tolerate his sluggishness, Ji Anche impatiently suggested, "Should I just undress you myself then?"
"N-no need."
Gu Hanzhou clutched the blanket to cover himself, shrinking toward the corner of the bed.
"What are you hiding for? I won't eat you."
Ji Anche frowned and yanked away the blanket Gu Hanzhou was using as cover, tossing the troublesome fabric aside.
"I'll be gentle."
Ji Anche's eyes curved slightly, amber pupils glowing brighter than the starry sky behind him.
Gu Hanzhou's throat bobbed as he stared dazedly at the boy. His rationality was sinking fast, almost unable to resist agreeing.
Ji Anche added a veiled threat, "But if you keep squirming, I can't guarantee what might happen."
Done with talking, he directly reached to strip Gu Hanzhou's clothes.
The cramped bed left little room for Gu Hanzhou to evade. His voice carried a pleading note.
"Ge, don't do this..."
As Gu Hanzhou tried sitting up, Ji Anche straddled him to pin him down more easily. The boy's shorts revealed pale thighs that clamped around his waist.
The summer blanket was thin. Through the flimsy fabric, Gu Hanzhou could clearly feel scorching heat radiating from every point of contact, nearly burning him.
Shameful delusions seeped into the thick darkness, forming a tight net around his heart. Suppressed yearnings threatened to burst forth.
The nightlight dispelled the gloom, its glow spilling over their ears. Gu Hanzhou's ears flushed pink.
Ji Anche looked down at the boy teasingly.
"Really? Gu Xiao Zhou, you're blushing again?"
Gu Hanzhou turned away, hastily grabbing a pillow to hide his reddening face. His muffled voice protested weakly.
"Not blushing."
"Not blushing?"
Ji Anche lifted his chin with a finger, mocking, "Then why's your face red?"
Moonlight streamed into the room, coating everything in silver powder.
On this midsummer night, cicadas chirped endlessly outside the window.
Gu Hanzhou lowered his gaze.
Unfathomable emotions churned in his eyes.
His heartbeat seemed louder than the cicadas' cries.
Gu Hanzhou explained stiffly, "Facial flushing results from excessive physical exertion stimulating sympathetic nerves, causing capillary dilation in facial tissues. It's purely physiological."
He emphasized, "Completely unrelated to embarrassment."
Ji Anche nodded agreeably in a light tone, "Yes, completely unrelated."
Smirking down at the boy, he added,
"Since you're not embarrassed, strip already."
Gu Hanzhou choked.
"Ge..."
Ji Anche said mercilessly.
"Calling me Ge won't help."
"Even if you call me daddy, you're stripping tonight."
Gu Hanzhou: "..."
"Ge, let's talk first. Do you know the application techniques of L'Hôpital's rule?"
"Nothing to discuss."
Ji Anche saw right through him.
"Don't think I can't tell you're trying to distract me."
"Stop struggling."
Ji Anche bluffed casually, "The more you resist, the more excited I get. Why bother?"
Amusement flashed through Gu Hanzhou's eyes.
More excited when resisted?
Seizing the moment when Ji Anche was distracted, Gu Hanzhou braced his arms to escape the bed.
Just as he was about to succeed, Ji Anche wrapped an arm around his waist and yanked him back forcefully.
The abrupt motion sent them tumbling onto the sheets together. The dorm bed creaked ominously under their weight.
Ji Anche panted.
"Don't run. You can't escape me."
"Xiao Zhou, save your energy."
Seeing Gu Hanzhou still struggling to flee,
Ji Anche tried flipping him over, but Gu Hanzhou was stronger than expected. He couldn't fully subdue him immediately.
The bed squeaked rhythmically as they "wrestled" together.
Gu Hanzhou's pajama shirt had been loose and thin to begin with, the fabric cheap and flimsy.
When Ji Anche grabbed the shirt intending to pin him down,
A loud RIP echoed through the room.
Ji Anche stared dumbly at the white fabric strip in his hand.
Looking down, he saw the flushed boy beneath him, shirt torn clean down the middle.
He'd actually ripped Gu Hanzhou's clothes off???
Ji Anche was at a loss for words from sheer awkwardness.
Scratching his nose, he averted his gaze sheepishly.
"Sorry, didn't mean to."
"It's...fine."
Ji Anche's face heated.
Spouting cheesy lines was one thing, but actually ripping someone's clothes felt too extreme.
Then he remembered this was just his dream anyway—he definitely hadn't torn Gu Hanzhou's clothes in reality.
With that realization, Ji Anche brightened considerably.
Since it was a dream, no harm done.
At worst, he'd buy Gu Hanzhou new clothes tomorrow after waking up as compensation.
With that thought, his guilt vanished completely.
"I'll buy you new clothes tomorrow after waking up."
"As for now..."
Ji Anche's eyes took on three parts domineering, three parts aloofness, and four parts nonchalance as he smirked devilishly.
Dreams were for cutting loose and unleashing one's true nature, unbound by worldly restraints.
In short: time to abandon shame.
Ji Anche pounced on Gu Hanzhou again eagerly.
"Now let's continue what we started earlier! Resign yourself—there's no escape today!"
Gu Hanzhou hadn't expected Ji Anche to keep going and quickly resisted.
Normally his Ge was occasionally eccentric but mostly steady and calm.
...Who knew he'd be so wild at night.
Not that he minded.
Gu Hanzhou gripped the boy's slender wrists to stop him, throat bobbing as he asked hoarsely.
"Ge, isn't this too rushed?"
Ji Anche blinked. "What's too rushed?"
Propping himself up, Gu Hanzhou gazed at him seriously, voice slightly rough.
"You're still young. What if you get hurt..."
Ji Anche looked utterly baffled.
"What are you talking about? Why would I get hurt?"
Seeing the boy's confused expression, Gu Hanzhou let out a soft sigh.
If Ji Anche was asking him to take off his clothes, wasn't that implying... 'that' kind of intention?
This realization made every cell in Gu Hanzhou's body sing with joy.
Hope glimmered in Gu Hanzhou's eyes, his gaze tender with affection. "Ge, do you also... feel the same about me?"
He left the latter half unsaid, believing Ji Anche would understand.
Ji Anche frowned in confusion.
"Feel what about you?"
Gu Hanzhou was drowning in overwhelming happiness, his heart nearly bursting with elation.
He had never dared hope that Ji Anche might like him back. The possibility had always been so slim, practically nonexistent.
Yet here it was, happening right now.
Ji Anche was even taking the initiative to invite him to do... 'that'.
Was this an indirect confession?
Summoning his rationality, Gu Hanzhou sobered up and said seriously.
"Ge, you're still too young. Let's wait until you're older."
"It's not good for your health right now."
"???" Ji Anche stared blankly. "What are you saying?"
"Why can't I understand a single word?"
Absentmindedly, Ji Anche traced circles on the exposed chest of the boy beneath him. The skin was smooth, covered with a thin layer of muscle.
Not only did Gu Hanzhou have abs, he even had pecs.
Damn it, when would *he* ever get abs like that?
Ji Anche sighed. "Good son, your dad really doesn't understand what you're saying. Can you stop speaking in riddles?"
The words Gu Hanzhou had been about to say lodged in his throat. His expression froze as he asked numbly.
"You see me as your... son?"
Ji Anche nodded. "Yeah."
He countered, "What else would you be?"
Gu Hanzhou propped himself up on his elbows, the joyful smile on his face gradually fading.
Though he already sensed the truth, he couldn't help asking further.
"Then why did you tell me to take off my clothes?"
"Why did you say 'the night is young and time is precious'?"
A trace of suppressed frustration and grievance seeped into Gu Hanzhou's voice.
"Why were you in such a hurry for me to strip?"
Ji Anche had no idea what had set him off. Bewildered, he said, "Of course I'd be in a hurry to touch abs. Once I wake up, I won't be able to anymore. So hurry up and let me feel your abs."
Gu Hanzhou paused before asking softly, "Ge, so you just wanted to touch my abs?"
"What, not allowed?"
Ji Anche glared fiercely, brows knitting together as he growled, "Gu Xiao Zhou, do you have any idea how dangerous it is to play with fire?"
"This is my dream, so I make the rules. Be good and strip already. Don't make me get rough."
Gu Hanzhou lifted his gaze, his features shadowed with gloom as he asked flatly, "Ge, are you going to hit me?"
"Of course not."
Ji Anche scoffed. "How could I hit you? If you don't behave, I'll tickle you! Hmph, I know all your sensitive spots."
"If you don't listen, no matter how much you beg later, I won't stop."
The gloom in Gu Hanzhou's expression dissipated, a faint smile curling at his lips.
After a moment, Gu Hanzhou sighed in resignation.
He sat up on the bed and decisively pulled off his shirt.
The boy's slender yet toned upper body was revealed, his lean frame covered with just the right amount of muscle—pleasing to the eye.
Moonlight spilled through the curtains, casting a silvery glow over his skin.
Staring at the moonlit physique, Ji Anche's eyes widened in astonishment.
His first impression had been too deeply ingrained. He'd always thought the male lead was frail, a pitiful figure needing careful protection.
Who knew Gu Hanzhou wasn't frail at all—in fact, he was even more well-built than Ji Anche himself. How was that fair?
But since this was his dream, the male lead was just a figment of his imagination.
So... subconsciously, he actually thought of Gu Hanzhou as this buff??? Absurd!
Ji Anche took a deep breath and quickly adjusted his mindset.
In his best domineering CEO voice, he commanded, "Man, lie down properly."
Gu Hanzhou obediently lay back on the bed, his eyes fixed on the boy, not straying for a second.
Unaware of Gu Hanzhou's gaze, Ji Anche's mind was currently flooded with lines from a cheesy CEO novel, many of which were still vividly etched in his memory.
Without thinking, Ji Anche blurted out, "You little temptress."
"Your mouth says no, but your body is honest."
"You lay down so quickly—you must want this too, don't you?"
Gu Hanzhou tensed, the tips of his ears turning red.
Ji Anche finally got his wish and touched the abs.
The warm, smooth texture under his fingers felt incredibly satisfying. He couldn't help sighing.
"Damn, this feels amazing."
Thankfully, this was just a dream—none of it was real.
If it were reality...
Heat rushed to Ji Anche's cheeks as he hastily cut off that train of thought.
Too embarrassing!!!
There was no way he'd ever do something this mortifying in real life!
After fondling the abs, a wave of sorrow suddenly hit him.
"I miss my eight-pack so much." Ji Anche sighed mournfully. "It took me a whole year to build that eight-pack."
"Hey, since this is a dream, can I transform or something?"
Gu Hanzhou answered honestly, "Probably not."
"Hah, youngster."
"You know nothing of magic."
Ji Anche pulled off his own shirt and pointed at his single slab of "abs," commanding sternly, "Transform for me!"
"Open sesame!"
"Ultraman transformation!!"
Ten minutes later, his stomach remained as flat as ever—nothing had changed.
Ji Anche yawned, his eyelids drooping with exhaustion.
Mumbling sleepily, he said, "I'll try transforming tomorrow. Let's just sleep for now."
Then a realization struck him. Ji Anche gasped in awe, "Damn, I'm amazing. I can even sleep *inside* a dream."
"Xiao Zhou, scoot over. I'm coming in."
As he lay down on the dorm bed, Ji Anche accidentally bumped his head against the metal railing.
The cold, hard metal collided with his forehead—'painfully'.
Clutching his throbbing head, tears springing to his eyes from the sting, Ji Anche yelped, "Fuck, that hurts!!!"
"Ge, what happened?"
Gu Hanzhou quickly sat up to examine the injury. A red bump was already forming on Ji Anche's pale forehead.
"Mmm... I hit my head."
The pain jolted his nerves, dispelling his drowsiness.
"Wait, that's not right. Why does it hurt in a dream?" Ji Anche's sluggish thoughts finally caught onto the anomaly.
His eyes widened in shock as a horrifying suspicion surfaced in his mind.
Fingers trembling slightly, he experimentally pinched the soft flesh of his arm—and immediately hissed in pain.
"It 'hurts'?!"
Ji Anche's face paled with horror as he asked in terror, "This isn't a dream?! Why can I feel pain?!"
"Have dreams become so advanced now? With built-in 3D naked-eye experience service?"
Beside him, Gu Hanzhou quietly reminded, "Ge, this isn't a dream."
An awkward silence spread through the darkness.
The air remained still for one second, two seconds, three seconds.
"Hahaha you must be lying to me." Ji Anche stubbornly insisted.
Yet the clear sensation of pain continued relentlessly reminding him—
This really didn't seem to be a dream.
Ji Anche hurriedly scrambled off the bed, grabbing the cup of water and gulping down several large mouthfuls.
The warm liquid flowed down his throat, pouring into his stomach and stirring a cozy shiver.
These sensations were all too real to possibly be simulated in a dream.
Holding the glass cup in a daze, Ji Anche now questioned his entire existence.
Who was he? Where was he? What had he just done?
"Ge, are you okay?"
Seeing Ji Anche's utterly devastated expression, Gu Hanzhou couldn't help feeling concerned.
Ji Anche forced a pale smile, barely managing to say, "I'm fine."
Looking at the shirtless male lead and recalling how he'd forcibly demanded he strip, along with all those unbearably embarrassing things he'd said—
It was like a hammer had smashed into his head, thoroughly waking him up.
Embarrassment spread from his toes to the top of his head, making his scalp tingle.
Ji Anche's fingers curled tightly, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to hide in and never face this miserable reality again.
Would pretending to faint work at this point?
Suppressing his laughter, Gu Hanzhou softly called.
"Ge?"
Ji Anche responded lifelessly.
"...Oh."
"Some people appear alive but are already dead. Like me."
At this suffocating moment, Gu Hanzhou just had to bring up what had happened earlier.
"Ge, you ordered me to take off my clothes."
Remembering those events, Ji Anche's ears turned pink with humiliation as he snapped, "Shut up!"
Gu Hanzhou chuckled. "And insisted on touching my abs."
Scorching heat spread from his ears to his cheeks, turning Ji Anche's face as red as a boiled shrimp.
In an instant.
Ji Anche pounced on Gu Hanzhou like a leopard, pinning him beneath.
Straddling Gu Hanzhou, Ji Anche restrained his wrists above his head and threatened through gritted teeth.
"I'm warning you—don't you dare tell anyone what happened tonight."
Gu Hanzhou's eyes sparkled with obvious amusement as he teased.
"Ge, are you going to silence me?"
"Yes!"
Ji Anche gnashed his teeth angrily. "Why didn't you remind me this wasn't a dream?!"
Gu Hanzhou softly defended himself, "I said so many times. Ge just didn't listen."
Thinking back, Ji Anche realized this was true. At the time, convinced it was a dream, he hadn't paid attention to Gu Hanzhou's words.
"This is all your fault! Who told you to climb into my bed in the middle of the night?!"
Ji Anche sneered. "Don't tell me you came to 'attend the bedchamber'1 or something."
"Ge, you're so clever."
Gu Hanzhou's bright eyes reflected the moonlight outside the window.
He said cheerfully, "You guessed right again."
"Ge, will you allow me to attend your bedchamber then?"
o0o
Xiao Gu is getting more and more shameless too.
Attend the bedchamber" ("侍寝/shìqǐn") is a term laden with sexual implications from ancient Chinese imperial court culture, referring to when a concubine/consort was summoned to the emperor's private quarters to serve/entertain (including intimate relations).