Chapter 58
For a moment, Lu Yichuan thought he was dreaming.
But before his mind could catch up, his body reacted instinctively. He grabbed the boy’s wrist and pulled him closer.
Jiang Heng stumbled, his body and the umbrella tilting towards the man, raindrops sliding down the invisible string connecting them, splashing onto their hands, the cold making him flinch.
Lu Yichuan’s grip tightened.
He stared at the boy’s expressive eyes for a long moment, his voice hoarse. “How…”
Jiang Heng crouched down in front of him. The umbrella wasn’t large enough to shield them both from the rain, and his shoulder was already wet. He wore a borrowed T-shirt, his slender neck exposed, delicate and beautiful.
“My limited-time experience card, only three hours. It took me almost an hour to get here, so I have two hours left.”
“Why…”
The rain subsided, the mist thickening, obscuring the surrounding tombstones, the world narrowing until it seemed like they were the only two people left.
Having been a cat for so long, Jiang Heng felt awkward in his human form, his movements hesitant as he crouched on the ground, his damp hair plastered to his face.
“Because I didn’t want you to be sad.”
He took Lu Yichuan’s hand and placed it on his face. “I wanted you to see, I’m truly alive again, flesh and blood, warm.”
He smiled, his eyes sparkling. “Not that being a cat is bad, but I wanted you to see my face, to tell you with my own face, that I really am Jiang Heng.”
The man’s fingers traced his face, his eyebrows, his eyes, his nose, then his fingertips, damp with rain, gently touched his lips.
Jiang Heng moved away from his touch and said slowly, “I know you’re hiding something from me. Perhaps me becoming human isn’t as simple as you said. I’m not going to pry; if you don’t want to tell me, I won’t ask. But Lu Yichuan, I want you to be happy.”
“I’m not a child anymore. Stop treating me like one, hiding things from me, not letting me do anything.”
“Jiang Heng.”
Lu Yichuan suddenly said his name, his voice low and hoarse, a barely contained emotion in it.
Jiang Heng froze, looking at his darkening eyes, his voice catching in his throat. “Wh-what is it?”
The man’s hand moved, his large palm cupping the back of his neck, pulling him closer.
Jiang Heng stumbled, one hand landing on Lu Yichuan’s waist, the other on the cold stone slab beside him, his knee hitting the ground.
He lost his grip on the umbrella again, and the rain poured down, splashing onto Lu Yichuan’s hair. Droplets clung to his forehead, then, breaking free, slid down and into Jiang Heng’s open collar.
Thump!
He seemed to hear his own heart pounding.
The man held him by the neck, forcing him to look up, then leaned down and kissed him.
It was a brief kiss, barely a few seconds, and Jiang Heng didn’t even react before Lu Yichuan pulled away.
He felt the dampness of the rain on his face, his vision blurred, unable to see anything clearly.
In the mist, he heard the man speak.
“Rongrong, do you know what this means?”
Jiang Heng’s mind was blank. He shook his head dumbly.
“Do you…dislike me kissing you?”
He instinctively touched his lips, his fingertips tingling, his body light and weightless. It took him a moment to respond.
“N-no…I don’t dislike it.”
And then things spiraled out of control…
Jiang Heng was pulled closer, his waist held firmly. The knee that had been on the ground buckled, and he was now kneeling, his legs spread apart. Lu Yichuan shifted, and Jiang Heng found himself sitting in his lap.
The umbrella tilted further, but neither of them cared.
Jiang Heng looked up, his face wet with rain. Lu Yichuan’s face was also wet. The cold touch of his skin against his made him shiver, then a more intense heat spread where they touched.
He blinked, and the next moment, his lips were captured.
Unlike the previous fleeting kiss, this one was deep and possessive, his mouth invaded, his tongue entangled, the taste of the other man overwhelming.
Held tightly in Lu Yichuan’s embrace, Jiang Heng couldn’t move his arms or legs, only endure.
Perhaps sensing his discomfort, Lu Yichuan shifted their positions.
Their positions reversed, Jiang Heng now sitting on the cold stone slab, the man kneeling beside him, cupping his face, pressing down on him.
Jiang Heng clung to Lu Yichuan’s shoulders, not even noticing when the umbrella fell from his grasp, the cold rain on his face overshadowed by the burning heat.
The newly-adult boy couldn’t handle this intensity, and after a few minutes, gasping for breath, he pushed against the man’s shoulders.
Lu Yichuan pulled back slightly, wiping the water from his lips, his eyes dark.
Seeing his expression, Jiang Heng quickly closed his eyes again. “Lu…Lu…Lu Yichuan…”
Lu Yichuan placed his hands on his legs, his broad shoulders enveloping Jiang Heng.
Four years had passed, and his physique had matured. Usually, he kept his intensity in check, but unleashed, his every move exuded a powerful, almost aggressive energy.
The boy beneath him, barely an adult, still growing, looked thin and fragile, like a newly bloomed flower, young and innocent.
He lowered his head, watching the flush rising on the boy’s neck and cheeks.
“Rongrong, do you dislike me kissing you like this?”
“…”
Jiang Heng…Jiang Heng couldn’t speak, his hands clutching Lu Yichuan’s shirt, damp and sticky, unsure whether it was from the rain or his own sweat.
And so he was kissed again, even more deeply.
Too close…
In all the years they had known each other, they had never been this close, so close that Jiang Heng felt like he was melting into his embrace.
This unfamiliar intimacy made his heart race, his mind hazy, his body responding instinctively, yielding completely.
Until his back hit something hard, and he fell back against a cold, stone surface.
Jiang Heng reached out a hand and touched it, his eyes opening to see his own name and the black-and-white photo attached to it.
His pupils constricted. “Lu…Lu Yichuan…n-no…not here…”
He pushed at the man, but his hands were caught and pinned against the tombstone.
Lu Yichuan was in front of him, his own tombstone behind him.
And they…
…were kissing, on his grave, under the open sky.
…
“A-Achoo!”
Jiang Heng pulled the blanket tighter, sniffled, then, “Achoo!”
Lu Yichuan entered, carrying a glass of water and some medicine, and shook the thermometer in his hand. “Take your medicine first, then we’ll take your temperature.”
Jiang Heng gave him a resentful look, then obediently took the medicine.
His long, fluffy tail swished back and forth, his glassy eyes darting around the room, avoiding the man’s gaze.
After taking the medicine, Jiang Heng held the thermometer in his mouth, his posture impeccably elegant, his tail modestly covering his front paws.
Lu Yichuan glanced at him and said slowly, “Is Rongrong…shy?”
“Meow!”
No!
He opened his mouth, and the thermometer fell out, caught by Lu Yichuan’s hand.
The man put the thermometer back in his mouth. “Then why won’t you look at me?”
Jiang Heng looked at him.
The man sitting across from him had regained his usual gentle demeanor, the light behind him casting him in a soft glow, the very image of a refined gentleman.
But Jiang Heng remembered the warmth of his hands, the feel of his lips, his tongue.
The memories made him uncomfortable, and his gaze darted away again.
Lu Yichuan watched him. “Are you angry?”
The kitten fidgeted, his words muffled by the thermometer. “Not angry, just…just…”
Okay, fine, shy.
His ears drooped, and he heard the man chuckle. “It’s okay, you’ll get used to it.”
Jiang Heng: “…”
He didn’t really want to get used to it.
The thermometer was taken out of his mouth. “Good, no fever. What do you want for dinner? I’ll make it for you.”
Jiang Heng had caught a cold from the rain, but it was just a mild sniffle and some sneezing, he still seemed quite energetic.
Hearing about food, the long-haired kitten meowed eagerly.
“I want potato chips.”
The man looked down at him, his arms crossed.
Jiang Heng, emboldened, retorted, “We’ve already kissed! What’s wrong with me wanting a bag of potato chips?!”
Lu Yichuan: “…”
He uncrossed his arms and squatted down. “Do you even know what ‘kissing’ means?”
The previously defiant kitten mumbled, “It…it’s something only adults can do, and I’m an adult.”
The man poked his forehead. “Little Jiang Heng, so you do remember you’re an adult now.”
Jiang Heng, who used to be carried with one hand when he was a kitten, was now carried with two.
Out on the street, his fluffy tail swished back and forth uncontrollably. “Lu Yichuan, where are we going?”
Lu Yichuan looked down at his tail. “Taking a certain adult to get potato chips.”
Jiang Heng: “Hee hee!”
He jumped down when they reached the snack aisle.
When he was a kitten, his short legs had padded softly, but now, bigger and heavier, with a thick coat of fur, his steps were more…pronounced.
He circled Lu Yichuan’s feet a couple of times, then, seeing that he was actually getting him potato chips from the top shelf, said happily, “I want to eat them on the deck chair outside, and bring my tablet too, I haven’t finished watching my show yet.”
He sneezed loudly.
Lu Yichuan, holding the bag of chips, said, “You have a cold, and you want to sit outside in the wind?”
Jiang Heng had no choice but to relocate to the living room.
He had his own small sofa, the curve perfectly fitting his body, his five-centimeter-long legs dangling over the edge.
A glass of room-temperature water on his left, a plate of fried fish Lu Yichuan had made for him on his right, a bag of potato chips in his lap.
Jiang Heng swung his legs, feeling like the luckiest cat in the world.
He sneezed again, sniffled, and resumed his show.
Crunch, crunch…
Who invented potato chips anyway? Such a genius.
