Eternal Replay: A Love Rekindled

Chapter Twelve

Corey stood up when his mother went to the kitchen to make midnight snacks. He turned to Nicholas and said, "I'll go and help. You stay here."

"Why did you come in?" Corey's mother heard the sound of the glass door being opened and looked back to see Corey.

Corey wasn't happy about his mother's decision. But his mother thought it was no big deal for the two kids, who used to be so close, to sleep in the same room for one night.

"Besides, it's rare for Nicholas to come. He's leaving tomorrow. You can talk to him, can't you?" Corey's mother softly persuaded Corey. "To be honest, when I saw Nicholas today, I remembered the New Years he spent at our house in the past two years. There's no one to take care of him. He came all the way here on his own. I guess he feels lost during the New Year."

"If he hadn't moved back to City A, I'd have asked him to stay with us for the New Year again."

Nicholas had lived across the street from them for three years and spent two New Years at Corey's house. On the surface, Nicholas lived here with his mother. But in fact, Corey had only seen Nicholas's mother two or three times in those three years. Most of the time, she either left early and came back late or didn't come home for months.

At first, she was rarely seen, and later, she simply didn't come home at all, living her own comfortable life and completely ignoring her son.

Nicholas lived alone across the street. Corey's mother felt sorry for him seeing him always alone, so she asked Corey to invite him over for meals. After a while, Nicholas's mother found out and was glad to be relieved of the burden. She paid the food expenses to Corey's family and completely stopped taking care of her son.

In this situation, it seemed normal to Corey's mother that Nicholas had some character flaws. As an educator, she was sorry to see a good kid go astray. So, out of pity, she cared for Nicholas, hoping to set him right.

Corey fell silent after hearing this.

Actually, at this time, Nicholas was really a poor kid. It was hard for Corey to be completely heartless. He was soft-hearted. His initial determination to persuade his mother to let Nicholas sleep in the guest room wavered.

"Alright," Corey's mother saw that her son was looking downcast, so she reached out and stroked his face to coax him. "What do you want to eat tomorrow? Mom will make it for you. Or should mom take you out to buy clothes?"

If his mother had been tough - spoken, Corey might have resisted. But he was the kind of person who responded to kindness rather than force. When his mother said this, he gave in completely.

"Let's go buy clothes." Corey said seriously, making the decision final.

This was a legitimate thing. The clothes in his wardrobe now were really not in line with his seven-year-advanced aesthetic. Most of the styles were so out - of - date that they could startle Corey.

Corey's mother doted on her son. She nodded in agreement, finally managing to soothe him.

In the living room, Nicholas was still in the same position as when Corey went into the kitchen. Corey closed the kitchen door and walked over, speaking in a tone as if he had really helped. "The noodles will be ready soon. Go wash your hands first."

"Okay." Nicholas stood up.

While Nicholas was in the bathroom, Corey quickly ran back to his room. He took out a clean quilt and a new pillow from the cabinet. Then he folded his own quilt to occupy half of the bed.

If they had to sleep together, they must use separate quilts. Since his mother surely wouldn't bother with this, Corey had to do it himself.

He took off his shoes and started putting the new quilt into the quilt cover. Although his movements weren't very skillful, he managed. However, the winter quilt was heavy and thick, and it was really strenuous. Corey stuck his butt out and huffed and puffed to stuff the corners of the quilt into the cover. By the time he finally finished, he was almost exhausted.

The old-fashioned energy - saving lamp in the room gave a dim light when it first came on. Nicholas stopped at the door and quietly looked in. First, he saw Corey, in the dim light, sticking his butt out and moving around.

It was really tempting to go and ruffle his hair.

Nicholas's footsteps reached Corey's ears. Corey looked back and saw Nicholas. He immediately sat up on his knees alertly. "Don't just stand there. Come and make your own bed."

Nicholas stepped closer. His hands were on the quilt, but he didn't move. He negotiated with Corey. "I sleep very well. I won't move at night. Just share some of your quilts with me. Don't bother with the clean quilt, okay?"

Corey was sitting on the edge of the bed, putting on his shoes. He said, "I'll kick you under the bed. You'll freeze to death in the middle of the night."

"No, you won't." Nicholas turned his head and stared at Corey's fair nape, really wanting to lean over and kiss it until there were red marks. Just thinking about it made him feel it would be so beautiful.

Corey looked back, feigning fierceness. "I said I would, and I will."

The light of the energy - saving lamp gradually brightened. The cold, white light shone down on Corey's face. His almond - shaped eyes were a bit lazy. Now, when he glanced sideways at Nicholas, there was a haughty charm that he wasn't even aware of. Corey's lips were a perfect color and looked extremely soft. Nicholas's heart skipped a beat, and he averted his gaze.

The images in his mind became uncontrollably erotic. Corey's eyes were extremely beautiful. When bullied hard, they would fill with tears, glistening with a watery sheen, full of charm. When his lips parted slightly, even his breath made Nicholas's heart tremble.

Nicholas was afraid that if he looked at Corey one more time, he would lose control, tear off his disguise on the spot, and have Corey all to himself.

Actually, Corey was in a very contradictory state of mind. On one hand, knowing what happened later, he couldn't truly return to his original state of mind towards Nicholas. On the other hand, at this time, Nicholas hadn't done anything to him yet. All those controls over his life, Nicholas's changes, etc., were things that hadn't happened yet.

Not to mention that in his previous life, Corey didn't really hate Nicholas to the bone. Now that he was back at this time, it was even more impossible for him to dislike young Nicholas.

Corey's heart was in a state of extreme contradiction.

Just after he had been fierce, he saw Nicholas turn his head and say nothing. Corey thought Nicholas was unhappy. He felt it was not right to be fierce to a kid who hadn't done anything. After thinking for a while, he softened his tone and added, "Anyway, let's just make the bed first. It would be bad if you catch a cold in this cold winter."

Nicholas saw his soft-heartedness clearly. It was good that he was soft - hearted. It was easier to win him over gradually.

After having noodles and taking a bath, Corey logged onto the computer and checked the chat window. There was no new message. He opened a web page to browse the latest news, intending to see what was going on recently.

By coincidence, when he opened a well - known gossip website, Joyce's name appeared prominently in the big - title push.

Corey clicked in without hesitation. The post was about the leaked photos of a drama Joyce was acting in. At this time, Corey was still an unknown nobody, but Joyce was already a well - known double - award-winning actor in the industry.

Corey stared at the photos for a while. Before the avalanche, he seemed to have seen Joyce. He didn't know if Joyce was alive or dead in that world and couldn't help but sigh.

He didn't have many other thoughts. To be honest, even in his previous life, looking back, he had just been infatuated by hormones. His affection for Joyce mostly came from respect and admiration. Before Nicholas appeared, he didn't understand. After Nicholas appeared, he realized the difference.

When with Joyce, people would feel very comfortable, whether at work or in private. Joyce was elegant and knew how to behave, and he would be a great partner. But he was different from Nicholas. At least for Corey, the feelings were completely different. When with Joyce, he rarely felt his heart race.

Corey was in a trance and forgot to close the post. He got up to get some water outside. When he came back to the room after a while, he saw Nicholas sitting in front of the computer, looking at the report he hadn't finished reading, with a focused and serious expression.

Although at this time Nicholas didn't even know who Joyce was, Corey still felt a sudden nervousness. He stared at Nicholas's face, carefully observing his expression. Fortunately, he didn't see the crazy look he had seen later.

Corey relaxed, becoming more certain that Nicholas wasn't reborn.

Hearing Corey enter the room, Nicholas turned to look at him. His eyes were calm. As he was about to pass by Corey, he asked, "Brother Corey, do you like him?"

His tone was also calm.

Out of Corey's sight, Nicholas's hand hanging by his side clenched tightly into a fist. His breathing was deep. The emotions he had suppressed were surging up layer by layer. Whether they would explode basically depended on Corey's answer.

"His acting skills are great. There's a lot to learn from him," Corey said truthfully. "But I haven't even met him yet. Why would I like him?"

Corey pushed Nicholas from behind. "Go take a bath quickly. Go to bed early after that."

Nicholas really left.

The carefree Corey didn't know how critical the situation had just been. He almost activated the psycho in Nicholas. He turned off the computer and lay on the bed for a while, then took out his phone.

Accustomed to the rich information and nightlife seven years later, he really wasn't used to it now. He tossed and turned for a long time but couldn't fall asleep.

The big light in the room had been turned off. Only the small desk lamp on Corey's side was shining.

Corey looked at the clear dividing line between his quilt and Nicholas's, thinking that just sleeping for one night wouldn't be a problem. He relaxed and was finally starting to feel sleepy.

The door was opened. Corey slightly lifted his eyelids and looked over. He saw Nicholas come in wearing only a pair of boxers.

Just a pair of boxers!

Corey's drowsiness was instantly scared away.

Nicholas's figure was in the transition between a teenager and a young man, but it was more like a young man. His long limbs had noticeable muscle lines. His skin was a light honey color. Not to mention that in some places, despite his young age, he was quite well-endowed, bulging prominently under his pants.

It was quite astonishing.

Corey, fully dressed in a set of pajamas, shrank into the quilt, only showing a pair of eyes to question Nicholas. "Why aren't you wearing clothes?"

"Auntie asked me to leave my clothes for her to wash tomorrow morning," Nicholas stood by the bed. He could clearly feel Corey's eyes lingering on his abs, so he subtly turned a bit more towards Corey. "And I think it might be hot when I sleep at night. I really don't need to wear more."

Corey, who suddenly felt a bit hot now, stubbornly said the opposite. "It's not hot at all."