CH 28

In the early hours of the morning, the empty villa was silent and none of the lights were turned on. The living room was so pitch-dark that an outstretched hand couldn’t even be seen. 

The rain outside pounded on the glass, and suddenly a flash of lightning split through the night sky. Through the French windows, the whole living room illuminated as if it were day.

Yan Yi was huddled in the corner of the sofa as he held an eiderdown quilt. His rabbit ears were covered over his head, and the tip of his nose was quivering.

The line had tripped, but Yan Yi didn’t dare to repair it. 

Holding the eiderdown quilt tightly, he looked forward to dawn. He would repair the electric switch as soon as the sky turned light. 

Suddenly, he heard rustling at the door. Lu Shangjin threw the umbrella in his hand away  and impatiently tore off his soaked coat, tossing it at the table, “Why don’t you turn on the lights?”

He couldn’t see anything in the dark, so he turned on the flashlight of his phone 

Yan Yi ran over barefoot with the eiderdown quilt in his arms, opening his eyes wide and clear to look at him as though he had seen his saviour. 

He answered in a whisper, “The thunderstorm is too strong, it tripped.”  

“Oh, get someone to fix it tomorrow. Forget it, I’m not working tomorrow, I’ll fix it.” Lu Shangjin went into the bathroom to change out of his soaked shirt. Yan Yi followed him, holding the eiderdown quilt and standing barefoot outside the door to wait for him.

After enduring for a long time, he finally put down the eiderdown quilt and walked into the bathroom. He hugged Lu Shangjin from behind and gently encircled his arms around his waist, pressing close to him, his body slightly trembling. 

Lu Shangjin paused what he was doing. He wiped his hands dry and turned back to hug him, patting his back and caressed him gently. 

The little rabbit liked it a lot, so he stuffed his whole body into Lu Shangjin’s arms. 

“Do you have the need for touch1, Yan Yan?” Lu Shangjin patted him gently, “You’re already nineteen years old, not a baby bunny anymore.” 

Burying his head and fluffy little rabbit ears in Lu Shangjin’s arms, Yan Yi shuddered, “I do have the need for touch, yes. I’m a baby bunny.” 

“Okay, baby.” Lu Shangjin lowered his head to kiss the tip of his nose in the pitch-dark bathroom, then carried him to the bath, “Wash up and go to bed.”

There was a spare power supply in the bath, and a dim little wall light was turned on. 

To avoid the water, Yan Yi wore a transparent bathing cap to cover his rabbit ears. He sat in the square bathtub with his back leaning in Lu Shangjin’s arms, and looked up to complain, “You have to come back early when there’s a thunderstorm.”

“Alright.” Lu Shangjin soaked a piece of sea salt bath bar, the palm of his hand gently stroked Yan Yi’s smooth skin and occasionally passed over several gunshot scars. 

Lu Shangjin turned around and pressed Yan Yi onto the edge of the bathtub. Holding his beck from behind, he kissed Yan Yi with his head turned to the side, “Do you want to do it here? You’ll feel uncomfortable.” 

“It’s okay, I miss you.” Yan Yi shook his little tail invitingly at Lu Shangjin. 

After lingering in the bathroom for more than two hours, Lu Shangjin carried the little rabbit, who had been blown dried, back to the bedroom. 

From childhood to adulthood, falling asleep in these warm arms was the most joyful thing to Yan Yi. At first, the only thing that gave him unprecedented warmth was Lu Shangjin. This warmth occupied Yan Yi’s childhood, took root and sprouted when he was young, then blossomed and bore fruit when he turned seventeen years old. 

——

In the afternoon, he woke up in a pair of warm arms. The light wind outside the window brushed the fluff on his rabbit ears.

Lu Shangjin put his hand by the bedside to read the documents on his phone, while holding Yan Yi against his shoulder with the other hand. 

“You’re awake.” Lu Shangjin put down his phone. He leaned over to hold Yan Yi’s cheek and kissed him on the forehead, “Good morning.”

Yan Yi stared at him with wide eyes, he then silently pushed his arms away and sat up.

He was wearing only a shirt and his tail ball was flattened.

Lu Shangjin sat up as well. He stretched out and took the kettle from the bedside table and poured a glass of water for Yan Yi.

With a guilty conscience, Yan Yi took the cup and sipped the water, moistening his throat. 

Was last night a dream?

He drooped his eyelids to recall. Last night, the one playing the piano with Yan Yi in his arms, was it the Lu Shangjin in front of him, or the phantom in his dream? Or, was he actually in a dream now, and had never woken up?  

Lu Shangjin pulled Yan Yi onto his lap and put his hands over his tummy, “What are you thinking about?”

Yan Yi avoided Lu Shangjin’s intimate gaze and put the cup of water back on the bedside table, “I’m thinking about…why have you suddenly changed your temper?’

Lu Shangjin held Yan Yi’s cheek to look at himself and whispered in a slightly hoarse voice, “Then, do you still like me?”

Yan Yi pursed his lips in hesitation. 

“What are you thinking about.” Lu Shangjin lowered his head and pressed close to the corner of his lips.   

He didn’t like such hesitation. His little rabbit should tell him that he loves him, full of adoration and infatuation. 

Yan Yi’s body trembled. The deep and sexy teasing voice in the ear could make one’s bones turn soft, let alone for a rabbit with little willpower. 

Lu Shangjin held his face and kissed his soft lips in a vile manner, holding his small waist close to him with both hands. 

Yan Yi reached out to hoop his arms around Lu Shangjin’s back, his fluffy tail ball trembling lightly in the palm of Lu Shangjin’s hand. 

Let me keep dreaming, I don’t want to wake up again. 

“I have to go back to the office, there are a lot of things left to do.” Lu Shangjin held onto Yan Yi’s hands, “Will you go back with me?” 

Yan Yi lifted his eyelashes, his eyes appearing a little lost, and his tail stopped moving. 

Lu Shangjin was very familiar with omegas’ expressions. He could feel Yan Yi’s reluctance and hesitation through subtle observation. 

“Go busy yourself.” Yan Yi climbed out of Lu Shangjin’s lap and tidied up the quilt. 

“Then you have to protect yourself, understand?” Lu Shangjin touched the little tail that Yan Yi puckered up, “Call me if anything happens.” 

Unexpectedly, Lu Shangjin didn’t force him to go back.

Yan Yi was a little surprised. 

Lu Shangjin handed Yan Yi the card from before, “There’s only one million in it. Come find me after spending it, okay?”

He was using this way to cheat the contract. Yan Yi didn’t take it and focused on tidying the bedroom, “You gave all your omegas unlimited balance, why do I only have one million?”

Lu Shangjin smiled, “Because I don’t want them to keep bothering me for money. In fact, you just need to come to me and I’ll give you anything.”

This reason actually sounded particularly crooked. 

But Yan Yi felt at least a little better. 

He took the card which had a butterfly-shaped sticker and the password written on it. 

The password was a very common string of numbers, it’s not anyone’s birthday nor any meaningful day. 

This wasn’t a mistake that a love veteran like Lu Shangjin would make. 

Yan Yi quickly concluded that this card wasn’t Lu Shangjin’s, but he still kept it and didn’t think about the reason in his mind anymore, and even less that he would investigate it thoroughly, for fear that he would think too deeply and turn a good dream into a nightmare.

This had always been the case.

“I’m leaving.” Lu Shangjin hugged Yan Yi as he pried his lips open aggressively, reluctant to part, “Take good care of yourself, I’ll be back.” 

His tone was very flat, just like it was when he left to go to work in the past, but it made Yan Yi’s heart beat as he curved his eyes. 

He threw the car keys to Lu Shangjin, “Go back.”

That’s the end of it. Some stories would always end at the best time, because if it went on, it would become stale and birth into a fading nightmare. 

So Yan Yi didn’t pick up the pen to continue writing it. 

He stood at the door and watched Lu Shangjin drive out of the stone-paved alleyway in his black BMW, until even the last trace of dust and smoke disappeared from sight. 

Business hours hadn’t started yet. Gu Wei was sitting beside the window sill, holding his cheek in a daze.

“Why don’t you go back with him?” Gu Wei tore open a piece of gummy candy and put it into his mouth. 

“Although that alpha is a little skr, he seems to be quite attracted to you. Did you two just have a fight? It can’t be that simple.”

Yan Yi sat on the high stool by the door and leaned against the door frame to chat with Gu Wei, “We’re divorced, and he washed off the mark on my body. I’m actually quite fragile, maybe I’ve gone crazy after being abandoned twice.”

“You see how considerate he is now. But he still doesn’t want to mark me.”

Gu Wei was stunned for a moment. He looked out at the empty road and hummed 《Tell The Truth》.

Yan Yi hit him with a piece of gummy, “Change the song.”

Gu Wei avoided the candy and stuck out his tongue as he laughed, “I’m your boss, I can sing whatever I want.”

Yan Yi couldn’t help but dust his rabbit ears and looked down at his phone. 

There were many missed calls from an unknown number. 

And a text message:

‘Yan Yi, please answer my phone call. I have something important to tell you, really.’

Yan Yi chewed the gummy candy and scrolled through with his head down.

“It’s that little lion again, kids these days are so persistent.” 

Footnotes