When a Need for Skinship Meets a Germaphobe

New novel coming next month~

Ye Zhixia has a severe touch-starvation condition. Whenever he meets someone he knows, he likes to take their hand and lean softly against them.

Because he's exceptionally beautiful and the people he likes to cuddle are all girls, boys have never wanted to play with him. They think he's too girly.

Ye Zhixia doesn't care. It's not as if he wants to cuddle those boys anyway.

Until he goes to college and meets Duan Linghan, a man with an extreme case of germophobia.

At first, Ye Zhixia holds himself back. He clenches his hands until they hurt, but doesn't touch Duan Linghan, even when the man is sitting right beside him.

Of course, the consequence of holding back is that he goes home and nearly pets all the fur off his cat.

The next day is the campus sports meet. Duan Linghan changes into professional track gear, showing off his muscular, well-defined arms and thighs.

Ye Zhixia works up his courage and walks over, tapping Duan Linghan's shoulder with his fist. "Hey, your muscles are looking good."

Duan Linghan looks down at him coldly, then vigorously wipes the spot Ye Zhixia touched with the towel in his hand and tosses it onto a nearby chair.

His voice is icy and harsh:

"Don't touch me. I have germophobia."

Ye Zhixia: "..."

That night, Ye Zhixia goes home and pets his cat again. Mortified and angry, he thinks, Who even wants to touch him? It's all because of this damned condition!

Later, the two of them have a few more accidental encounters.

To Ye Zhixia's surprise, touching Duan Linghan once keeps his condition from flaring up for a while.

The longer they touch, the longer he can go without symptoms.

Ye Zhixia decides he needs to find a way to cuddle Duan Linghan without it seeming weird.

On the advice of his idiot friend, Ye Zhixia finds Duan Linghan and says with his head lowered, "Can I date you? If that's not okay..."

Duan Linghan looks at the shy beauty in front of him. His gaze passes over Ye Zhixia's reddened earlobes and fair neck, and, as if possessed, he replies, "Sure."

But Duan Linghan soon realizes Ye Zhixia is strange about dating.

He never says he likes him, and never cares where Duan Linghan is or what he's doing.

All he does is come to Duan Linghan's dorm every morning, secretly hold his hand for one minute under the covers or hug him for thirty seconds, then turn around and leave. He doesn't show up again for the rest of the day.

One day, Duan Linghan gets too curious to hold back. After Ye Zhixia lets go of his hand, he pulls him back. "All we do is hold hands every day. Why not try something else?"

Ye Zhixia, dazed, ends up kissing him, and then, just as dazed, accidentally says what he really thinks:

"Feels like I won't have to come cuddle you again for three or five days this time..."

Duan Linghan: "?"

When Duan Linghan eventually learns the truth, he lets out several cold laughs.

"Come here. I'll teach you a way to cuddle for longer."

Ye Zhixia: "Mm! That's enough! Waaah, I feel like I won't need to cuddle you again for a whole month!"

Duan Linghan holds Ye Zhixia's reddened earlobe between his lips and murmurs, "No. Every day."

Theme: Someone, somewhere, will always be your exception.