Hearing You Say Love chapter 72

I’ll Be More Careful with My Life

There was an issue with the logistics, so the apron Zou Beiyuan ordered didn’t arrive until the weekend.

On Monday, Teacher Song was discharged from the hospital. Su Ming and Zou Beiyuan had agreed to help her move her belongings, so the alarm clock rang early in the morning.

Zou Beiyuan wrapped one arm around Su Ming while stretching the other to turn off the noisy phone on the bedside table. Su Ming stirred in his arms and struggled to open his eyes.

Over the past few days, Su Ming had been pulling late nights, working overtime to revise the outline of his comic. His sleeping schedule, which Zou Beiyuan had painstakingly helped him fix, was now once again on the verge of collapse.

Feeling sorry for Su Ming’s exhaustion, Zou Beiyuan had been particularly restrained over the past couple of days, refraining from doing anything excessive with him.

Last night Su Ming didn’t crawl into bed until almost 2 a.m. He sleepily sprawled across Zhou Beiyuan’s chest and kissed him. Zou Beiyuan felt Su Ming’s intent, and when his hand slipped into Su Ming’s boxer briefs, Su Ming, had unbelievably, fell asleep while touching his chest muscles.  

At that moment, Zou Beiyuan regretted suggesting Su Ming revise the ending of his comic. He hadn’t expected the revision to bring him so much extra work. 

… 

Still half-asleep and reluctant to get up, Su Ming snuggled closer. Zou Beiyuan kissed his forehead and said, “I’ll make breakfast. You can get up later.”  

Su Ming blinked groggily and rubbed against Zou Beiyuan’s thigh, both of them were experiencing the usual morning physiological reactions. Feeling teased, Zou Beiyuan held Su Ming’s waist and said, “Sleep for ten more minutes. I’ll call you when breakfast is ready.”

Then, he got up.  

Su Ming: …  

Unhappy, Su Ming shot him a glare, grabbed his pillow, and drifted back to sleep.  

It felt like he had only slept for five minutes—or maybe even less—when he heard Zou Beiyuan calling him. He pulled the pillow over his head, pretending not to hear.  

But Zou Beiyuan kept calling, forcing Su Ming to drag himself out of bed. Seeing that it was only 7 a.m., his irritation peaked.  

No wonder it was still so dark outside.  

They were supposed to go to the hospital at 10 a.m., and he had planned to sleep until 9. Why on earth had this silly wolf woken him up so early?  

You better have a good reason, Zou Beiyuan! Su Ming thought as he reluctantly got out of bed.  

In the kitchen, there were sounds of chopping. Knowing Zou Beiyuan’s cooking skills only extended to making sandwiches, Su Ming suspected he was just slicing tomatoes. Feeling disinterested, he went to wash his face before slowly brushing his teeth and heading to the kitchen.  

At the door, Su Ming froze.  

The tall young man was standing with his head bowed, carefully slicing a tomato. The white light from the kitchen’s ceiling lamp outlined the perfect lines of his back muscles, which moved slightly with each motion, exuding raw masculine charm.  

He was wearing nothing but a white apron. His wheat skin highlighted a sense of vibrant power.  

The line of his spine dipped elegantly toward his hips, where a narrow waist and firm glutes transitioned into long, muscular legs.  

Su Ming’s toothbrushing slowed. This guy was seriously wearing only an apron—not even underwear.  

The scene was so striking that Su Ming was instantly wide awake. Raising an eyebrow, he felt a strange sense of familiarity with this scenario.  

Zou Beiyuan heard him approach but didn’t look up, continuing to slice the tomato.  

His arms, toned and veined, exuded strength. His long, defined fingers held the tomato as red juice trickled down his hands.  

Calmly, Su Ming walked over, rinsed the toothpaste from his brush, and leaned against the counter, half-smiling as he stared at Zou Beiyuan.  

Feeling self-conscious under Su Ming’s gaze, Zou Beiyuan’s ears reddened. Flustered, he grabbed a slice of tomato and fed it to Su Ming.  

Su Ming grasped Zou Beiyuan’s wrist, ate the tomato, then lowered his eyes to lick the juice from Zou Beiyuan’s fingers.  

He appeared calm, almost practiced, but his trembling lashes and flushed ears betrayed his nervousness.  

His tongue traced between Zou Beiyuan’s fingers, leaving a trail of warm moisture. By the time he reached Zou Beiyuan’s palm, Zou Beiyuan had already lost control, his body reacting visibly beneath the apron.  

Su Ming, still licking the lines of Zou Beiyuan’s palm with his eyes closed, triggered Zou Beiyuan to grab his face and kiss him fiercely.  

Though he had intended to tease Su Ming, Zou Beiyuan was the first to falter, losing control of his thoughts and actions, driven only by an overwhelming desire.  

Su Ming’s loose robe was soon discarded. Zou Beiyuan moved the knife aside and lifted Su Ming onto the counter.  

The squashed tomatoes stained Su Ming’s pale, round butt as juice trickled down. Zou Beiyuan, acting purely on instinct, bent down and began licking the mess.  

The kitchen filled with the sounds of their intimacy for a long time. By the end, Su Ming’s voice was hoarse, and his neck bore marks redder than the tomatoes. Exhausted, he collapsed on the counter, his legs spread wide as Zou Beiyuan changed positions.  

Red juice and white traces mixed on the cutting board, apron, and all over Su Ming’s body.  

It wasn’t until nearly 10 a.m. that Zou Beiyuan carried Su Ming to the bathroom to clean up. There was no time to remake the sandwiches; they hastily ate some toast before heading to the hospital.  

On the way there, Su Ming fell asleep from exhaustion.  

While giving him hickeys, Zou Beiyuan momentarily forgot that Su Ming would be meeting people later. Even wearing a collared shirt couldn’t fully hide them, so they had to cover the marks with two band-aids.

When they arrived, Zou Beiyuan’s aunt was handling the discharge paperwork while his grandmother packed her things. Zou Beiyuan and Su Ming helped gather the items into boxes.  

There weren’t many things; a few boxes were enough.  

Zou Beiyuan asked Su Ming to take the smaller items to the car while he carried the larger boxes.  

After Su Ming left, his grandmother stared after him thoughtfully, then asked him, “You’re leaving next week, aren’t you?”  

Zou Beiyuan, crouching and sealing a box with tape, paused for a moment. “Yes, next Friday. I’ll be gone for a week.”  

“How long will you stay when you return?”  

“About two weeks.”  

His grandmother sighed, echoing what his aunt had said earlier. “The round trip takes more than thirty hours. Won’t it tire you out?”  

Zou Beiyuan laughed. “I just want to spend more time with you. Once I leave, I won’t be back for a year or more, and you’ll complain I never visit.”  

His grandmother chuckled. “You want to spend time with me? More like you want to spend time with that… cousin from the Su family.”  

Zou Beiyuan’s lips curved up, but he didn’t say anything.

His grandma sighed again, “You two…”

“What?” Zou Beiyuan cut the tape with scissors and looked up at her.

His grandma replied, “Nothing.”

Zou Beiyuan stood up, stacked the two boxes, and asked, “Are all the things packed? Want to check again?”

“They’re packed. Your aunt already checked them,” his grandma said, still seated on the sofa. She looked at Zou Beiyuan’s face for a while and then, with a heavy heart, said, “I know saying this won’t make a difference, but I can’t help myself. That competition of yours, win or lose, it doesn’t matter. Now that you’ve terminated the contract with your father, no one’s pressuring you to win. Our family doesn’t need you to make money from competitions. Don’t overwork yourself, okay? Your health is the most important thing. Every time I see your face covered in blood after a match, it feels like someone’s stabbing my heart.”

“Got it. Don’t worry, Grandma,” Zou Beiyuan replied, bowing slightly as he carried the boxes. “Now that I have love in my life, I value my life even more.”

He walked toward the door, saying, “Let’s go, Grandma. Time to head home.”

His grandma watched his tall figure, slowly rising from the sofa with her hands on her knees. Tears brimming in her eyes.

Author’s Note:

Dear readers, are you enjoying this story? I’m planning to write another one in a similar style next.

It’s a new book called Thirsty Skin in the exclusive column. It’s about a pure, passionate younger guy and an icy beauty.

The protagonist is a stunning yet distant business elite, always in white shirts and gold-rimmed glasses. He seems calm and unapproachable, but deep inside, his condition makes him crave touch. The love interest is the boss’s son who works as his subordinate—an innocent but physically imposing younger man. 

The twist? The younger guy gets the ability to hear the protagonist’s inner thoughts and begins strategizing his romantic approach. Expect lots of hilariously mismatched communication!

Through their interactions, they genuinely fall for each other, and the story gets sweetly spicy. (//ω//)