Hearing You Say Love chapter 38

Don’t Move, It Will Hurt

The temperature at night during this season wasn’t too low, but the hours before dawn were still extremely difficult to endure.

Su Ming lay on the cold, hard surface, his hands and feet feeling a bit numb from the cold.

He shifted positions, sitting up and hugging his knees to keep warm.

He felt very tired, his eyes refusing to stay open, but it was impossible to sleep in this environment. After holding on for so long, his mind felt foggy.

From the initial panic and desperate attempts to crawl out, to the hope of someone coming to help him, followed by disappointment and giving up, his heart now felt strangely calm.

He boredly counted how many times the hotel security had patrolled; he had seen the beam of a flashlight eight times that night.

Now, he was witnessing the ninth.

This time, the person seemed to be running, the bright beam of light shaking vigorously in the darkness.

As the white light approached, Su Ming hazily thought it must be nearly morning, and the security guard coming was definitely in a hurry to change shifts; otherwise, why would they be running so fast?

Then he raised his eyes and saw the source of the light.

The strong light hurt his eyes, and he reflexively raised his hand to shield them.

A very tall black silhouette stood behind the beam of light, making it hard to discern their features, but it felt extremely familiar.

That person rushed down the bowl at incredible speed, almost reaching Su Ming in the blink of an eye. As the light illuminated the area, Su Ming saw Zou Beiyuan’s face behind the brightness.

Su Ming thought he might be hallucinating due to fatigue, so he rubbed his eyes and looked again. He saw Zou Beiyuan genuinely half-kneeling in front of him, shouting towards him.

His nose tingled, and his vision blurred with tears.

He couldn’t hear what Zou Beiyuan was shouting, but Su Ming saw him mouth the words: Where are you hurt?

Zou Beiyuan’s dark brows were furrowed deeply, and his expression was anxious to the point of near panic. After asking where Su Ming was injured, he saw Su Ming not responding and called out his name again.

Su Ming imagined Zou Beiyuan’s voice in that moment and tried hard to suppress the urge to cry. He frowned and pointed to his right ear, shaking his head and waving his hands towards Zou Beiyuan.

Zou Beiyuan immediately understood, his brow furrowing even deeper as he asked, “You can’t hear me?”

Su Ming focused on reading Zou Beiyuan’s lips, nodding.

Even though he couldn’t hear the words, Zou Beiyuan’s lip movements and facial expressions conveyed just how loudly he was asking that question.

In a panic, Su Ming tried to find his phone to text, but when he reached into his pocket, he suddenly remembered he had left his phone at the hot spring.

In the next moment, Zou Beiyuan handed him a phone.

As his fingers touched the phone screen, it lit up. Su Ming saw that the time displayed was 4:36 AM.

The lock screen was familiar; it was his phone.

Zou Beiyuan went to get his phone for him?

How did Zou Beiyuan know where his phone was?

As he took it, Su Ming felt Zou Beiyuan’s warm fingers brush against his cold hand. Zou Beiyuan then held his chilly hand in his palm, breathing warmth into it.

Su Ming pulled one hand away and opened a notes app to write: I fell from up there, and my cochlear implant is out of battery.

Zou Beiyuan’s handsome face looked somewhat fierce due to his anxiety, his lips moving as he asked: “Where are you hurt?”

Su Ming pulled up the right leg of his pants and used his phone screen to illuminate his ankle.

Zou Beiyuan handed him the flashlight and bent down to inspect the injury.

Pulling down the sock, they saw the ankle was swollen, a large area red and puffy. Zou Beiyuan gently rotated his foot, and Su Ming immediately bit his lip in pain.

At that moment, several more beams of light approached, quickly sliding down the edge of the bowl to Su Ming’s side.

Su Ming recognized them: Chen Muchao, Yu Dian, and Xu Jiadi.

Su Ming was startled, not expecting so many people to be involved. He used sign language to ask Chen Muchao, Were you all looking for me?

Chen Muchao said something, but in the dim light, Su Ming couldn’t make out his lips. He gestured, My cochlear implant has run out of battery.

He saw Chen Muchao curse, then explain the situation to the others.

Before Su Ming could signal anything else, he suddenly felt weightless. Zou Beiyuan had slipped one arm under his shoulder and another beneath his knees, effortlessly lifting him.

Su Ming gasped in surprise, possibly making a sound or not. In this position, he couldn’t see Zou Beiyuan’s lips, but he could feel the vibrations of his voice resonating through his chest as he spoke.

Only then did Su Ming realize the vast size difference between him and Zou Beiyuan. Though he weighed over a hundred pounds, being carried this way by Zou Beiyuan felt effortless.

Without even taking a running start, Zou Beiyuan carried him straight up the curved slope. Su Ming reflexively wrapped his arms around Zou Beiyuan’s neck as they reached the top.

The whole process took just a few seconds, so smooth it felt like walking on flat ground. Zou Beiyuan didn’t even break a sweat.

What a beast, Su Ming thought. I tried several times but couldn’t make it…

Looking back, Su Ming saw Yu Dian also climbing up, while Xu Jiadi propped himself on the ground to get out. Following closely behind was Chen Muchao, who clung to the edge, first struggling to get one leg up, then clumsily crawling out of the bowl with both hands and feet.

Su Ming: …

Disaster. The art department gets a failing grade.

On the way back, the hotel manager and a staff member in a security uniform hurried to meet them.

The manager, hearing that Su Ming had indeed fallen into the bowl, angrily asked the guard, “How are you patrolling? How could you miss such a large person?”

The guard, suddenly nervous, weakly defended himself, “We patrolled seven or eight times tonight, walking the same path, and didn’t hear a thing.”

The manager glanced at Su Ming, who was still in Zou Beiyuan’s arms, and hesitantly asked, “Is he… mentally…?”

“He’s deaf,” Zou Beiyuan snapped, irritated.

The manager’s eyes widened in surprise, then he turned and started scolding the guard, “No sound! No sound, and you didn’t think to check the bowl? How many times do I have to tell you…”

Zou Beiyuan quickened his pace, leaving the manager’s reprimands behind.

Thankfully, it was late at night, and Su Ming didn’t encounter anyone else on the way back. As they entered the elevator, Su Ming buried his face in Zou Beiyuan’s shoulder, trying to hide his flushed cheeks from the surveillance camera.

Everyone was exhausted. Ling Shanshan had been waiting in Su Ming’s room the whole time, and when Chen Muchao called her, she had already ordered ice packs and iodine from room service.

Back in the room, Zou Beiyuan told the others to rest and stayed behind to take care of Su Ming.

Xu Jiadi offered to help, but Zou Beiyuan unceremoniously kicked him out.

With Zou Beiyuan’s assistance, Su Ming took out replacement batteries for his cochlear implant from his luggage and regained his hearing.

After staying up all night, the relief of finally being safe washed over him, and exhaustion hit him like a tidal wave. He collapsed onto the bed, too tired to move.

Without saying a word, Zou Beiyuan reached for Su Ming’s waist, trying to pull off his pants.

Su Ming quickly pressed his hand down: *???*

I want to sleep with you, but can it wait? I’m really exhausted right now.

“I’m checking your injury,” Zou Beiyuan said.

Su Ming: …

Reluctantly, Su Ming let go of his pants and lifted his hips to help Zou Beiyuan pull them off.

Underneath, Su Ming was wearing a pair of white cotton boxer shorts. Zou Beiyuan glanced at them once before looking away in silence.

Even though he had no intention of doing anything, Su Ming still felt a bit disappointed by Zou Beiyuan’s reaction. Maybe he wasn’t that tired after all…

Zou Beiyuan carefully checked Su Ming’s legs, cleaning all the scrapes with wet cotton pads and applying iodine.

Su Ming lay on the bed with his eyes closed, allowing Zou Beiyuan to tend to him. The minor wounds didn’t even need treatment anymore.

After finishing, Zou Beiyuan stepped away from the bed. Su Ming thought he was leaving, but his eyelids were too heavy to open.

A moment later, warmth spread from Su Ming’s right ankle, where Zou Beiyuan had removed his sock and was holding his foot.

Su Ming’s heart skipped a beat. He opened his eyes and turned to see Zou Beiyuan holding an ice pack, having taken off his own shoes to sit on the bed.

Sensing his gaze, Zou Beiyuan said, “I’ll ice your ankle. You just sleep.”

Su Ming tried to pull his foot back, feeling awkward, but Zou Beiyuan held firm. “Don’t move, or it’ll hurt.”

Su Ming stopped, blinked, and stared at him.

“It doesn’t seem like you’ve broken any bones,” Zou Beiyuan said.

He sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed, resting Su Ming’s injured foot on his thigh.

At that moment, Su Ming’s foot was only about five centimeters away from a certain sensitive spot. His imagination started running wild, sketching out scenes in his mind.

He envisioned how his pale toes would press against it, how his thumb would slide, making Zou Beiyuan hard, gently rubbing from below upward, and how a clear liquid would seep through, dampening the fabric of Zou Beiyuan’s pants.

Then his toes would move away, drawing out a fine string.

If this scene were drawn in detail, it could easily span a dozen chapters.

Before artist Su could turn his mental storyboard into rough sketches, his ankle suddenly cooled as Zou Beiyuan pressed the ice pack onto it.

All those images instantly flew out of Su Ming’s mind.

Su Ming glanced at Zou Beiyuan with a hint of grievance.

Zou Beiyuan: “What’s wrong?”

Su Ming shook his head and, feeling utterly resigned, laid his head back on the pillow.

Zou Beiyuan: “Can’t sleep?”

Su Ming shook his head again and closed his eyes.

Zou Beiyuan wanted to chat about the day’s events, but Su Ming was clearly exhausted and not in the mood to move.

To have a conversation, Su Ming would either need to type on his phone or write on paper. Normally, it didn’t feel like a big deal, but in bed, it became clear how inconvenient this was.

Zou Beiyuan wished he knew sign language but even more so wished that Su Ming could speak. At least if he had fallen into a pit, he could have called for help, instead of watching helplessly as the patrolling security guard came and left.

Su Ming lay on his side, stretching out his long, straight legs. His white underwear hugged his rounded butt, the hem of his shirt revealing a slim waist. His recently treated elbow looked pale and cute, and his neck and jawline had a graceful curve. Every inch of him was beautiful.

Looking at Su Ming like this, Zou Beiyuan surprisingly felt no other desire besides pity for him. All he felt was a deep compassion, wishing he could give Su Ming his voice.