Your Distance

It was over.

The target did not come back, but the target’s parents did.

Ting Shuang’s mind suddenly went blank.

The footsteps and voices in the living room were getting closer.

If this rabbit costume were to be seen by Bai Changyi’s parents…

“Hello, I’m your son’s rabbit.”

Fuck.

At this point in time, what the hell are you thinking, Ting Shuang?!

Why was it that the more nervous he got, the less control he had over his brain?

Quick, think about what to do!

Go out and change clothes?

No, as soon as he left the dining room, he would be in the living room, where he would run directly into company.

Find a cabinet to hide in?

No, the cabinets in the dining area were divided into partitions, so there was no place for one person to fit into.

Jump out the window?

It was the fucking courtyard outside, what if someone passed by?

To solve the most pressing issue–

His mind churned endlessly in just a few seconds, and Ting Shuang swiftly and silently closed the door to the dining area and locked it from the inside.

His back against the door, he sat on the ground, heartbeat speeding up, and cold sweat running down his back. It took him a few seconds to think of using his phone to message Bai Changyi for help: Bai Changyi, come back quickly, your parents are here.

After sending it, he realized that Bai Changyi definitely wouldn’t think the current situation would be so critical, so he threw away any reservations he had about how shameful it would be, quickly adding: I wanted to surprise you, so I wore what you wanted me to wear last time. The, you know, rabbit with the garter stockings. I’m hiding in the dining area now. Hurry back! If your parents see this, this young master won’t ever be able to get it up again! Then you won’t have a sex life for the rest of your days!

As soon as he sent the message, Bai Changyi responded: Wait a minute for me. Don’t be afraid.

“Is Changyi not home? Is he still eating breakfast? I’ll have a look in the dining area.”

Ting Shuang felt like the voice was very close to the door. His heart beat even faster, his hands turning all sweaty…

“Tock.”

The door handle turned.

Even though he knew that the door could not be opened from the outside, Ting Shuang couldn’t help but shrink in response to the mechanical sound.

“Huh? Why can’t I open the door?”

“Ping Ping, Changyi isn’t here now, let’s–“

“Dad, Mom.” Bai Changyi’s voice rang out from a distance away.

He was safe.

Ting Shuang’s heart suddenly calmed down, like a plot of land that had gradually become cooler in the moonlight and evening breeze, after broiling in the midsummer sun for a day.

“Changyi’s returned.”

Footsteps sounded, and he heard them move away through the door.

Ting Shuang covered his mouth and only dared to breathe a little louder when he couldn’t hear any sounds from outside the door anymore.

Bai Changyi had come back running, a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead.

“Who is this little sweetheart?” Su Ping knelt down, picked up the exhausted but still excited Vico, and said to Bai Changyi, “Changyi, you exhausted our little sweetheart.”

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One couldn’t blame Bai Changyi for that. If he didn’t return soon, he feared that the four of them would be left with a dark shadow on their souls for life.

“Dad, Mom, wait here.” Bai Changyi put aside the coffee-flavoured cake he’d bought for Ting Shuang while he was out, “I’m not the only one at home.”

“You have a Partner?” Su Ping’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah.” Bai Changyi deliberated and thought that in this moment, it would be better to express his thoughts directly. “You might scare him if you straight-up enter like this. I don’t want that to happen.”

Bai Zhongyan understood his words, realising the inconvenience caused by their arrival, “Do you need us to go out and wait?”

“No,” Bai Changyi said, “It’s fine if you just stay in the living room.” If they went out, it would be easier to see into the dining area through the windows overlooking the courtyard.

After speaking, he went to take a shirt and a pair of jeans, walked to the door of the dining area, and called out softly, “Ting?”

After a long time, the door to the dining area cracked open.

Bai Changyi pushed through the door, closing it behind him.

Ting Shuang pounced onto Bai Changyi. Because he was rushing to untie the things he had put on before, there was a scrape wound on the corner of his mouth. Currently, the rabbit ears on his head drooped downwards, looking extremely pitiful, as if he had suffered a great deal.

Hugging Ting Shuang, Bai Changyi caught a glimpse of breakfast on the table behind him. Looking down, his gaze fell on the birthday card that had fallen on the ground by the edge of the table.

“…You bastard!” Ting Shuang was afraid that Bai Changyi’s parents would hear, so he only dared to curse softly, “You actually left me alone in such an unsafe place! You promised me that no one else would come here!”

Previously, when discussing how to deal with each other’s social circles when formally cohabitating, they had decided on this: Before Ting Shuang graduated, the two of them could not bring others into the house, and all social activities were to be carried out outside.

Especially Bai Changyi. In a roundabout manner, he had to inform all his friends who had been to his house before that he was currently in a special relationship, and no one could go to his house at this point in time. As soon as he’d said that, his friends all speculated about whether the great Professor Bai was keeping a young lover in his golden house, or whether it was someone else (who was surprisingly aggressive) keeping the great Professor Bai in a golden house.

Since both Bai Changyi and Ting Shuang were carefully protecting this relationship, they hadn’t had any problems regarding this since they started cohabitating, until today.

What happened today was purely an accident.

Bai Changyi’s parents normally lived in Berlin. They never came here, and Bai Changyi would usually visit them every two months.

Bai Changyi had told his parents the password to his house and registered his parents’ fingerprints, as a precaution. He’d lived the single life for quite a while after the divorce, and generally people who lived alone would give an extra key to their trusted relatives and friends, just in case.

So he did not expect that his parents would suddenly come over without informing him.

It was him who did not consider everything fully.

“It’s my fault.” Bai Changyi patted Ting Shuang’s back lightly, calming him down, “It’s okay now, don’t be afraid…”

Ting Shuang bit Bai Changyi’s shoulder through his clothes, “It’s all your fault! You bastard! Irresponsible!”

Bai Changyi let him bite him, “Okay, it’s all my fault, I’m a bastard, and irresponsible.”

Ting Shuang bit harder, “Old beast! Low-level tastes!”

Bai Changyi stroked the back of Ting Shuang’s head, “Okay, I’m an old beast, and have low-level tastes.”

Ting Shuang continued biting and cursing, “Old pervert! I’ll never wear this kind of clothes again!”

Bai Changyi’s hand paused, “About that, let’s discuss it again.”

Ting Shuang was very angry, and raised his head to glare at Bai Changyi. After glaring at him for a while, he remembered that there were people waiting outside, then became nervous, saying quietly, “Are they still outside…”

Bai Changyi nodded and said, “Don’t worry, we’ll go out when you’re ready.”

Ting Shuang shook his head, “Let’s go out quickly… I’m afraid I’ll leave a bad impression on them…”

“Mm.” Bai Changyi put the shirt and pants that he’d hung on his arm on the chair next to them, “Your clothes are here.”

Ting Shuang bit his lip and said, “Or… Or I’ll let you… open your gift first? You only have one birthday every year…”

Ting Shuang felt a little insecure.

That bit of insecurity was discovered by Bai Changyi at a glance.

He didn’t do anything except carry Ting Shuang onto the dining table so that he was sitting down on it, and kissed his forehead lightly, “My gift has been received.”

“Then, we’ll wait until the evening… to, um, celebrate your birthday.” Red-faced, Ting Shuang changed his clothes, and temporarily hid the root of all the trouble, the rabbit outfit, in a cabinet in the dining room, “… Let’s go out.”

“Yeah.” Bai Changyi picked up the birthday card on the ground, put it into his pocket, and took Ting Shuang’s hand.

Ting Shuang’s hand tightened around his as he whispered, “Will your parents dislike me… I don’t seem to be very likeable…”

“Why would anyone dislike you?”

“Really, some people don’t like me…”

“Those who dislike you aren’t human.”

Ting Shuang was still nervous.

When he walked in front of Su Ping and Bai Zhongyan, he was even afraid of breathing too loudly.

Both Su Ping and Bai Zhongyan were in their sixties, but they didn’t seem to be old. Su Ping was even a little too beautiful, so beautiful that she felt a little unapproachable. In contrast, Bai Zhongyan appeared to be gentler and more talkative, unlike Bai Changyi. Bai Changyi was gentle too, but that gentleness wasn’t characteristic but more out of politeness, so he always gave people a sense of distance when they met for the first time, as if he was superior and unkind.

Ting Shuang thought, Bai Laoban may have gotten it from his mother.

Thinking of that, he was even more afraid of Su Ping.

Plus, right now, he felt like Su Ping’s expression didn’t seem quite right.

“Sit over here.” Bai Zhongyan smiled.

“I-I’m going to make a pot of tea…” Ting Shuang realised that the two seniors hadn’t even drank a glass of water since they stepped into the house, thinking he was screwed – he must have already made a bad first impression.

“No need,” Bai Changyi said.

“No, no, I’d best go make a pot of tea…” Ting Shuang turned around and ran to the kitchen. Halfway there, he turned back and incredulously asked Bai Changyi, “Um… where are our tea leaves?”

Bai Changyi said, “We don’t have tea leaves at home, neither you nor I have the habit of drinking tea.”

“Ah…” Ting Shuang wanted to slap himself twice. Making tea? What tea? Now he was exposed, “Then I’ll go and pour some water…”

Su Ping frowned and watched Ting Shuang’s back profile as he entered the kitchen. Lowering her voice, she said to Bai Changyi, “Changyi, what are you doing here?”

Bai Changyi said frankly, “I’m dating him.”

“Dating?” Su Ping’s voice lowered even further, “You locked him in the dining area, and even…” She remembered how Bai Changyi took some clothes into the dining area, and after a long time, the small kid came out wearing those clothes. It was obvious that Bai Changyi wasn’t letting the kid wear clothes, and even locked him in the house. How was that dating? This was simply abuse. “Also, what happened to the corner of his mouth? You hit him? But you didn’t have this problem before?”

Bai Changyi felt helpless, “I also don’t have this problem now.”

When Ting Shuang returned with water, he found Su Ping staring at himself.

“Auntie, drink up…” He quickly put the first glass of water in front of Su Ping, and then put the remaining two glasses of water in front of Bai Zhongyan and Bai Changyi.

He only brought three glasses of water, forgetting to count himself in.

“Come here, next to Auntie,” Su Ping patted the sofa beside him.

“Oh…” Ting Shuang glanced at Bai Changyi and sat next to Su Ping. His butt was on the edge of the sofa, and his back was as straight as a ruler, looking extremely obedient.

“You don’t need to look at him,” Su Ping held Ting Shuang’s hand, heart hurting, “Ting Ting, you can tell Auntie honestly, did Changyi bully you?”

Ting Shuang subconsciously glanced at Bai Changyi again, and said, “No…”

Su Ping took the cup in front of Bai Changyi and put it in Ting Shuang’s hand, “Drink up.”

Ting Shuang said, “Then Papa—”

This was bad.

It had just left his mouth naturally.

What should he do now…

He felt like the atmosphere suddenly became very strange.

Ting Shuang turned around stiffly and smiled at Bai Zhongyan, “Papa… Changyi’s Papa, please drink more water.”

After that, he smiled at Su Ping, “Changyi’s Mama, please also drink more water.”

[A small extra written to make up for the words lost when cutting a scene]

[To highlight: This has nothing to do with the main story]

If Ting Shuang was to be asked to answer a Zhihu question about ‘What kind of experience is it, dating your professor?’ (Part 2)

Ting:

This is an update to the previous answer.

There’s another problem with dating your professor: It’s easy to have a slip of the tongue in class.

To provide context, because my boyfriend and I have a dog together, I usually call the dog “son”, so I often call my boyfriend “Papa” like how the dog would.

Papa is pretty much the same as Daddy.

Cough, I promise, it’s just a title similar to “the kid’s father”, I’m not calling my boyfriend my father… Don’t let your thoughts wander to strange places.

Context has been provided, now about the incident.

It was near the end of the semester. We were in class. My partner asked a question, and it wasn’t one with a set answer, but a question regarding design. We needed to discuss the best solution. I stood up to talk about my opinion. After I finished, my partner pointed out the problems in my answer, but it could have been that I didn’t express my thoughts well enough in German, because I thought I was right and he just did not understand me. So I was trying my best to explain myself… It felt a bit like a one-sided argument…

Originally I wanted to say, “Professor, this is what I think…”

But because I was so excited…

What I blurted out became, “Papa, this is what I think…”

Up till now, I still remember the deathly silence in the classroom…

And my boyfriend’s expression at the time.