Hearing You Say Love chapter 45

 Want to Eat You, and Be Eaten by You

The floor-to-ceiling windows in Su Ming’s living room faced west, and the opposite building reflected the morning sun. A bright beam of light shone diagonally into the room, landing on the single sofa by the window.

Zou Beiyuan placed Su Ming in that beam of light, leaning on either side of him, silently watching him.

Su Ming tilted his head slightly, looking puzzled.

After staring for a while, Zou Beiyuan, reluctant to leave, leaned down and brushed his nose against Su Ming’s. “Are you going to the hospital today?”

Su Ming nodded.

“Then I’ll come back to pick you up this afternoon.”

Su Ming nodded again.

With the conversation over, Zou Beiyuan still didn’t move. His gaze lingered on Su Ming’s lips, already red from kissing. He raised his hand, gently rubbing them with his thumb, and asked, “Does it hurt?”

Su Ming shook his head slightly.

Zou Beiyuan’s voice was a little hoarse: “Then let me kiss you again.”

Before he could finish speaking, Su Ming wrapped his arms around his neck, and in an instant, he was pressed back into the sofa.

This time, Zou Beiyuan’s kiss wasn’t as careful. He messily nibbled on Su Ming’s lips, lightly biting them as if sharpening his teeth. Su Ming could feel one of Zou Beiyuan’s canine teeth pressing in a bit too sharply, causing some pain.

Su Ming pushed him back with his tongue, softly licking that canine tooth, closing his eyes, and letting out a comfortable hum. But before long, he found himself gasping for air as Zou Beiyuan kissed him more deeply, lifting his chin higher.

The kissing continued in the shifting beams of light, with dust dancing in the air and their breaths growing heavier.

A bright beam of light fell on Su Ming’s closed eyelids, making the skin there appear almost translucent and tinged with red. Zou Beiyuan, having released his lips, kissed his eyelids.

Su Ming’s lips glistened, slightly parted as he gasped for breath. His brows furrowed slightly from lack of oxygen, and his chest rose and fell heavily.

“I have to go,” Zou Beiyuan whispered against his cheek, the same gesture he used last night to say goodnight.

Su Ming, still in a daze, nodded, but his grip on Zou Beiyuan’s clothes didn’t loosen.

Zou Beiyuan glanced down at Su Ming’s fingers.

He was usually very punctual and rarely dawdled, even when he was running late. But now, he couldn’t bring himself to pull his clothes from Su Ming’s grasp.

They stared at each other, breathing heavily, until Zou Beiyuan’s phone rang.

Su Ming let go, allowing Zou Beiyuan to reach for his phone.

Zou Beiyuan glanced at the screen, then silenced the call without answering. He cupped Su Ming’s chin, gently pecked his lips, and said, “See you this afternoon.”

Su Ming’s eyes were misty, and he signed with his hands: See you this afternoon.

….

Even after sitting at his desk and opening his drawing tablet, Su Ming still felt like his mind wasn’t clear. His heart was pounding, and he couldn’t focus on his drawing.

Whether his eyes were open or closed, all he could see was the image of Zou Beiyuan kissing him.

It was so frustrating…

Yesterday, Zou Beiyuan had been too inexperienced, but today he was a little too intense, leaving Su Ming’s mind bubbling with confusion.

He lit a cigarette, running his fingers through his hair, trying to calm himself down.

But his hair smelled like Zou Beiyuan’s shampoo.

Damn… now he was even more distracted.

After finishing his cigarette, he forced himself to concentrate. He slid his finger across the screen, seriously reviewing the storyboards he had drawn a few days ago.

This chapter was about Wolf Jue parting ways with Rabbit Zhen before returning to the royal court of the wolves. He entrusted Rabbit Zhen to two loyal followers, asking them to escort him to the herbivore kingdom’s palace.

As he watched the small, delicate white figure of the rabbit gradually disappear into the dusk, Wolf Jue experienced bitterness for the first time in his life.

That night, Wolf Jue couldn’t sleep.

In the middle of the night, he received news that Rabbit Zhen and the escorts had been attacked by unknown enemies. Both escorts were killed, and Rabbit Zhen was missing.

Wolf Jue searched for Rabbit Zhen all night, and at dawn, he finally found him in a trap pit.

Rabbit Zhen had passed out, his once beautiful white fur stained with blood, and a sharp stake had pierced his right foot completely through.

After rescuing Rabbit  Zhen, Wolf Jue decided to delay his return to the royal court and stayed at the border to take care of him.

He hid Rabbit Zhen in a hollow tree, gathering herbs during the day to treat his injuries and holding him at night to sleep.

Su Ming had drawn all this in the days following his trip to Dunhuang. After that, he had attended the birthday party for Little Wolf in the hot springs, and later, he had been injured, so he hadn’t touched the storyboard again until today.

He had just finished drawing the part where Rabbit Zhen fell into the trap pit, and then he had fallen into a pit himself.

Su Ming lit another cigarette and absentmindedly tapped at the screen. Suddenly, he remembered the night Little Wolf found him, placing him on the hotel bed and applying an ice pack to his ankle.

As he mentally sketched out some scenes, he realized how much he liked it.

The rest of the scenes unfolded naturally.

Pale toes, sliding upward, rough fabric outlining firm shapes, translucent liquid seeping out, pulling fine threads as the toes moved away…

This part of the storyboard flowed smoothly. Seeing that it was almost time, Su Ming got up to cook for Teacher Song.

In the morning, Fu Ruoqin had added him on WeChat and told him to only cook for Teacher Song as she herself was on a weight-loss diet.

Su Ming understood this was Fu Ruoqin’s subtle way of being polite and since he wasn’t very familiar with her, he simply accepted her kind gesture.

At noon, the doorbell rang. Su Ming sluggishly made his way to the door and found Su Mo standing outside in dress pants and a white shirt, holding a very exquisite cake box.

“Ge,” Su Mo called out. Seeing that Su Ming had no intention of stopping him from entering, he changed his shoes and got inside.

The meal was already prepared, and Su Ming gestured for him to pick it up himself.

Su Mo placed the cake on the dining table and pushed it toward Su Ming. “Chocolate soufflé.”

Su Ming raised an eyebrow. He had never told Su Mo that he liked this, and Su Mo didn’t have the habit of bringing little gifts when he visited.

Su Mo touched his nose awkwardly and reluctantly said, “It’s from Zou Beiyuan.”

Su Ming raised his eyebrows even higher, waiting for a reasonable explanation from Su Mo.

“Well,” Su Mo stammered, fumbling for words, and finally said softly, “Zou Beiyuan intends to have his personal assets managed by our private bank.”

Su Ming: …

“So the sugar daddy asked me to run an errand. I couldn’t refuse.”

Su Ming wasn’t concerned with anything outside of comics, so he had no concept of private banks. He had always thought Su Mo was selling financial products and signed, Don’t mislead him.

Su Mo replied, “We are one of the four major private banks in the country, with total assets under management exceeding one trillion.”

Su Ming: If you dare mislead him, I’ll wear your clothes and dance a striptease at your workplace.

They looked enough alike that they could easily transfer each other’s Alipay and breeze through their workplace security.

Su Mo adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses that were the same as Su Ming’s. “Okay.”

Su Ming pointed at the prepared meal, indicating Su Mo could take it with him.

Su Mo obediently picked up the bag but hesitated before speaking. “Ge, I think Zou Beiyuan really seems to care about you, so I think it would be nice if you two could date seriously.”

Su Ming lowered his eyes and opened the cake box, using a small spoon to scoop out a piece and put it in his mouth. It melted instantly—this was from his favorite shop.

“But don’t let Teacher Song find out,” Su Mo reminded him.

Su Ming pointed toward the door, prompting Su Mo to leave.

Not long after Su Mo left, Su Ming received a message from Zou Beiyuan—a photo of beef and some vegetables, which looked pretty bland.

Zou Beiyuan: [Having this for lunch.]

Su Ming took a photo of the chocolate soufflé: [Having this for lunch.]

Zou Beiyuan: [Make sure to eat well first. I sent that as dessert.]

Su Ming sent another picture—corn and rib soup with some simple stir-fried shredded meat.

Zou Beiyuan: [Good.]

Su Ming smiled at the chat box for a while, thinking about how this Little Wolf was clearly much younger than him yet kept fussing over everything.

So he decided to tease him a little.

Su Ming: [But I don’t want to eat this. Poor me.jpg]

Zou Beiyuan: [What do you want? I’ll buy it for you this afternoon.]

Su Ming: [I want you.]

Su Ming: [Or to be eaten by you.]

After playfully flirting, Su Ming set down his phone and focused on his meal until he finished washing the dishes before reopening the chat.

He saw that Zou Beiyuan had replied after a long time: [Okay.]

Just “okay”…

It felt like a bullet he had aimed at for so long, only to hit the water, splashing only a little.

Straight men really are so boring.

Su Ming put down his phone and returned to his work desk, continuing to work on his comic about Little Wolf—or rather, Wolf Jue.

Recently, his creativity flowed effortlessly. However, he found himself unconsciously picturing Wolf Jue as Zou Beiyuan, which forced him to stop several times to have a smoke to calm down.

After finishing all the storyboards, Su Ming glanced at the time—it was still not even three o’clock.

Zou Beiyuan wouldn’t finish training until three and would need another half hour to return from the gym.

Why was time passing so slowly…

He saved the storyboard file and sent it to his editor, then communicated with the editor for more than half an hour, but Zou Beiyuan still hadn’t returned.

So, he lay on the couch to rest for a bit, lit a cigarette, and decided to continue drawing the line art.

Just before four o’clock, while Su Ming was engrossed in illustrating how Rabbit Zhen mischievously teased Little Wolf, he was startled by the doorbell. He hurriedly saved his work, closed his computer and tablet, and hopped on one foot to open the door.

The electronic peephole screen behind the door lit up, showing Zou Beiyuan’s chest and the lower half of his face. The boy seemed to have rushed over without having time to shower or change clothes, his black quick-dry sports t-shirt clinging to his body, emphasizing the contours of his chest muscles.

After the door opened, Zou Beiyuan bent down to change his shoes and then scooped Su Ming up.

His body was damp with sweat, and it felt a bit cool against Su Ming.

Su Ming usually hated skin contact, especially with sweaty skin; he found it extremely uncomfortable in crowded summer subways.

But strangely, he liked Zou Beiyuan’s sweaty skin.

On the first day they met, Zou Beiyuan had been moving and looked equally soaked from sweat.

He didn’t think Zou Beiyuan looked messy or off-putting at all. In fact, he wanted to get closer; he liked how Zou Beiyuan’s wheat skin glistened with sweat.

Su Ming reached out to touch the side of Zou Beiyuan’s neck, but Zou Beiyuan turned his head away. “So much sweat; it’s dirty.”

Not at all, Su Ming thought, and besides, it smelled clean.

Zou Beiyuan carried him inside and first glanced at the ashtray on the work desk, asking, “Have you been working for a long time today?”

Su Ming noticed Zou Beiyuan’s gaze and honestly nodded.

Zou Beiyuan laid him down on the couch, kneeling on one knee to look at him for a moment. He wanted to advise him to smoke less, but the words turned into, “Don’t overwork yourself; if it’s too much, take a week off.”

Su Ming shook his head seriously, took out his phone, and typed: [For the sake of art.]

Zou Beiyuan chuckled. If he didn’t know what Su Ming was drawing, he might actually believe it.

However, after thinking for a moment, he realized that the drawings by Su Ming could indeed be considered art, at least they were very educational for him.

Zou Beiyuan recalled a certain scene from the comic book about small toys, which he felt was very suitable to practice at the moment.

He propped one hand on the back of the sofa, cornering Su Ming between himself and the sofa, adopting an interrogative stance: “What did you say you wanted to eat for lunch?”

Su Ming was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly laughed, having been bold when flirting on his phone, but now he was blushing and wanting to hide.

Zou Beiyuan held his chin, forcing him to meet his gaze, leaned down, and whispered seductively, “What do you want to eat? Say it. Just say one word, and I’ll let you have it.”