Hearing You Say Love chapter 43

Now I’ll Carry You to Bed

Half an hour later, Su Ming lay in Zou Beiyuan’s bathtub.

Su Ming: …

He had initially planned for Su Mo to help him move a chair into the shower so he could quickly finish showering. Zou Beiyuan couldn’t possibly force him to bathe again afterward.

But Su Mo dragged out their conversation, chatting until Zou Beiyuan rang the doorbell.

He omitted the comics part and told Su Mo how he had met Zou Beiyuan, even admitting that he had been the one to make the first move to pursue him.

Su Mo seemed a bit disappointed, worried about what would happen if Teacher Song found out.

However, when Zou Beiyuan came to carry Su Ming away, Su Mo didn’t say anything. He even thoughtfully followed behind them and closed the door for Su Ming.

….

Su Ming soaked in the warm water, staring blankly at the light gray tiles in Zou Beiyuan’s bathroom.

The bathtub was spacious. He raised his hand to remove his cochlear implant, sliding his body further into the water, submerging his head as well.

Su Mo had a point, Su Ming thought. Teacher Song, who really wanted Zou Beiyuan to find a girlfriend, would definitely strongly oppose them.

If he had known Teacher Song was Little Wolf’s grandma from the start, he would never have taken any action.

But everything had already happened. They had gone through so much together. Like a full-term baby, it couldn’t be put back in the womb just because it wasn’t supposed to be born.

And besides, wouldn’t Zou Beiyuan be leaving soon?

The thought made Su Ming feel a bit sad.

Maybe their relationship wouldn’t even get to the point where they needed Teacher Song’s approval…

There was still a faint, tingling soreness on his lips.

An utterly unskilled kiss had Su Ming’s heart still racing.

Neither of them confessed, nor did anyone define the relationship. Things just naturally unfolded as they did.

And it was after he knew the relationship between Zou Beiyuan and Teacher Song that he had been the one to kiss Zou Beiyuan.

He felt so greedy, wanting both to respect and be filial to Teacher Song and yet unwilling to let go of Zou Beiyuan. In his conflicted heart, a near-taboo sense of shame arose.

His mind wandered in a chaotic mix of guilt, thinking he should have come to Zou Beiyuan’s apartment. Then he thought about how Zou Beiyuan was so bad at kissing, surely he had never slept with a girl either.

Did Zou Beiyuan even know how to be with a man?

Su Ming sat up in the water. He thought he heard a splash, but upon listening more closely, realized it was just his imagination.

Without the cochlear implant, he couldn’t hear anything. But having grown accustomed to the world of sound, his brain occasionally filled the silent environment with imagined noises.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the bathroom door open slightly, and Zou Beiyuan peeked in with half his body. Su Ming’s heart jumped, thinking Zou Beiyuan was about to come in.

But all he saw was Zou Beiyuan mouthing the words: “Do you need help?”

Su Ming’s upper body, exposed to the air, was already flushed red from the heat, and his face was equally red. He shook his head.

Zou Beiyuan mouthed again: “Don’t soak for too long.”

Su Ming nodded.

Earlier, when Zou Beiyuan had carried him in, he set him down by the bathtub and left. Because of this, the door hadn’t been locked, and Su Ming hadn’t realized the door could be opened from the outside.

Now, he was very aware of it.

He hurried through the rest of his bath, climbed out of the tub, dried himself off with the towel Zou Beiyuan had prepared for him, and changed into the pajamas he had brought. Just as he was about to lean on the wall and slowly make his way out, the bathroom door opened again.

Zou Beiyuan seemed to have been waiting outside the whole time. Hearing that he had finished bathing, he came in.

He carried Su Ming to the sofa. Su Ming thought Zou Beiyuan said something, but since he hadn’t seen his lips move, he wasn’t sure what was said.

A moment later, Zou Beiyuan came over with a hairdryer. He removed the towel Su Ming had draped over his head and stood in front of him, helping him dry his hair.

It was clear Zou Beiyuan had no experience helping someone dry their hair. The hot air blew so hard that Su Ming couldn’t keep his eyes open, and his wet hair flew all over his face.

Su Ming almost wanted to chase him away and do it himself.

But Zou Beiyuan quickly got the hang of it, adjusting the airflow from front to back, from top to bottom. His fingers followed the scalp, gently combing through the hair, and soon the strands were no longer flying around hitting Su Ming’s face.

Zou Beiyuan’s fingers were long and well-defined, much thicker than Su Ming’s, and his skin had the thin calluses formed from years of training.

But his fingertips were warm and soft, gliding through Su Ming’s hair one stroke at a time. This reminded Su Ming of how his scalp had felt when it was lightly tugged during their kiss.

Zou Beiyuan, having had short hair for over twenty years, didn’t know that the water droplets on the ends of the hair should be dried with a towel first. By the time Su Ming’s hair was dry, his back and shoulders had become quite damp.

So, Zou Beiyuan started drying Su Ming’s clothes.

Su Ming: …

Once everything was dry, Zou Beiyuan turned off the dryer and bent over to brush aside Su Ming’s hair on the right side to help him put on his cochlear implant.

Su Ming sat there obediently, without moving, allowing Zou Beiyuan to touch a part of him that he usually didn’t like others to see.

After meeting Su Ming, Zou Beiyuan had looked up how cochlear implants work. The part that hangs on the ear is called the sound processor, which receives external sounds and converts them into electrical signals. The round piece is a magnetic coil that transmits signals to the cochlear implant inside the ear.

When the round piece was attached to Su Ming’s skull, Zou Beiyuan felt an unusual magnetic force with his fingers, making him truly realize that there was a magnet surgically implanted in Su Ming’s head.

He gently moved Su Ming’s ear and saw a surgical scar hidden behind it.

Zou Beiyuan’s chest tightened, and he felt a dull ache inside, furrowing his brow deeply.

He crouched down to be at eye level with Su Ming and asked, “Can you hear now?”

Su Ming nodded.

His hair, now soft and fluffy, slipped through Zou Beiyuan’s fingers. Zou Beiyuan asked again, “Are you thirsty? Would you like some water before going to bed?”

Su Ming blinked rapidly, his throat tightening… Were they about to get into the serious part?

He didn’t answer about the water, so Zou Beiyuan assumed he was thirsty and got up to get some on his own.

Su Ming turned his head and looked around the room. The living room was almost the same as the last time he had been here—still sparse with few items, but now there was a painting on the wall. It was the oil painting of the little wolf in the boxing ring that he had given Zou Beiyuan.

“There aren’t any other cups,” Zou Beiyuan came over and handed him a white mug, “you’ll have to use mine.”

Su Ming took a sip; the water was warm.

Zou Beiyuan crouched down again and said, “I’ll carry you to bed now.”

Su Ming tensed up, awkwardly placed the cup on the coffee table, and nodded solemnly.

Zou Beiyuan carried him to the bedroom and laid him on his bed.

The bed was large, covered in soft, light gray bedding, and smelled clean—like Zou Beiyuan, mixed with the scent of sunlight and body wash.

Su Ming’s heart raced uncontrollably. Unlike before, when he had just wanted to sleep with the little wolf, now he felt there was something deeper, something he couldn’t quite figure out, between him and Zou Beiyuan.

Whatever it was, it captivated him far more than anything physical ever could. It made him feel guilty, yet he didn’t want to let it go.

But why was Zou Beiyuan so calm?

Zou Beiyuan carefully placed Su Ming on the pillow, then left the room to get an ice pack.

Su Ming: ?

After coming back, Zou Beiyuan sat at the foot of the bed, lifted Su Ming’s leg onto his knee, and said, “It’s still a little swollen. I’ll ice it for you. You can sleep.”

Su Ming: …

So, you brought me here, cleaned me up, just to ice my foot?

Aside from icing his foot, Zou Beiyuan even massaged Su Ming’s calf.

Su Ming was truly exhausted. The massage felt so good that he closed his eyes, almost drifting off.

After a while, Zou Beiyuan returned from his shower. Su Ming sensed him turn off the lights, and the mattress shifted under the weight of his body as he lay down, producing a soft sound.

Zou Beiyuan must have thought Su Ming was already asleep, as he leaned down and gently kissed his lips, whispering a soft goodnight against his cheek.

Su Ming felt a tingle in his heart, like something was scratching at him. The lust he had tried to suppress earlier crept back in, and he longed for a passionate kiss with Zou Beiyuan.

He quietly opened his eyes, noticing Zou Beiyuan sitting at the head of the bed, looking serious while scrolling on his phone.

In the darkness, the white glow from the phone highlighted Zou Beiyuan’s sharp, defined features. Su Ming wondered if his sense of beauty had become distorted, because even in this unflattering light, Zou Beiyuan looked stunning to him.

Su Ming scooted closer, trying to subtly make it obvious that he was still awake.

Then, he caught a glimpse of Zou Beiyuan’s phone screen.

The screen showed a sign language instructor demonstrating words alongside subtitles. The phrase being taught was “I’m hungry.”

Zou Beiyuan was watching intently, pausing the video occasionally to practice the hand signs. He hadn’t noticed that Su Ming’s head was now almost resting on his pillow.

Su Ming’s breath hitched for a moment, his eyes tearing up uncontrollably, his heart swelling with an unexplainable emotion.

He slowly retreated, turning his back to Zou Beiyuan.

Just before falling asleep, he felt his pillow was slightly wet too.