Chapter 30
Coffee interrupted Mo Yanze’s contemplation, and he immediately regained his flawless expression, introducing to He Yanlu, “Irish coffee.”
He Yanlu was feeling a bit dizzy from eating tiramisu and looked at the thick layer of cream on the coffee. He lowered his head and took a big sip, leaving a circle of foam around his lips.
Mo Yanze picked up a tissue and reached over to cover his mouth.
The table was small, with two big men sitting face to face. One had an elbow resting on the edge of the table, while the other held a cup and licked the sugar syrup. If Mo Yanze reached out his hand, he could almost hug the other person’s head into his embrace.
However, the table in between them seemed unnecessary.
He moved to He Yanlu’s side and reached out to touch his hair, and the other person didn’t dodge, apparently having lowered his guard completely.
Seeing a jar of sugar cubes in the condiment basket on the table, He Yanlu decisively added three pieces.
The coffee tasted a bit strange, not sweet because of the unsweetened cream, but it was very rich.
…
They chatted with each other intermittently, and in a short while, they had already consumed half a cup of coffee.
At that moment, He Yanlu started to feel his head heating up, and his body felt light and floaty. His eyes were fixed on the empty plate of tiramisu he had just finished, and the hand on top of his head, which he had found annoying before, didn’t seem so bad now. In fact, it was quite comfortable.
He’s my older brother…
Apart from his mother, who had passed away early in his life, he was the first person he had encountered who shared his bloodline.
It’s truly miraculous…
He wondered if this was how it felt when he touched Xiao Hei, or was it even more comfortable?
Xiao Hei?!… Oh no, I should go home! Xiao Hei is waiting for me at home…
He had actually forgotten about Xiao Hei because he was engrossed in drinking coffee with his “brother”!
In an instant, a wave of guilt overwhelmed He Yanlu, and he reproached himself. He shook his head and was about to get up, but suddenly felt dizzy and his legs went weak, causing him to fall back into the chair.
Someone behind him quickly reached out and held onto his shoulder…
He Yanlu felt as if he was half-leaning against the person’s embrace. In a hazy state, he heard the voice of the man, who was close by, saying, “Feeling lonely? Come and live with me…”
×××
Squatting on the sofa in the downstairs living room, Ye Yixing stared at the front door, waiting for He Yanlu to return home.
He was extremely excited because he had already figured out the secret of transforming between human and cat!
He couldn’t wait to show He Yanlu when he came back!
But no, he had to find the perfect, cozy moment to transform, like when they were bathing together or sleeping together! He would transform suddenly and overpower his silly He Yanlu! After doing this and that to him, he would transform back into a cat, and he would surely be unable to stay mad at me! Hehe…
Ye Yixing played out the perfect scenario in his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more excited he became. His heart swelled with joy, and he alternated between rolling on the sofa and jumping around Da Bai.
The feeling of having everything under control made him feel like he was on cloud nine.
When it was almost eleven o’clock, He Yanlu hadn’t returned yet. Ye Yixing started to become impatient. He jumped off the sofa and paced around the coffee table, taking ten seconds to complete a circle, then twenty seconds for the next…
As he watched the clock’s hands reach twelve, He Yanlu still hadn’t returned.
That idiot, could he have gotten lost at the supermarket!
Annoyed, Ye Yixing wanted to pull out his fur. He jumped onto the sofa and shook his head aggressively, biting randomly at Da Bai.
Restless and uneasy, he waited for another half an hour until he couldn’t bear it any longer. He lay down on the sofa and “meditated” for a moment before transforming back into his human form.
Sitting on the sofa with his arms crossed, his face filled with hostility. He made up his mind! As soon as the other person arrived, he would take immediate action! Doing this and that to him…!
Every thirty seconds, Ye Yixing glanced at the clock. At this moment, he felt like a debt collector’s enforcer, with only a club missing in his hand! Da Bai next to him seemed particularly small, as if it had curled up into a ball out of fear.
He should never let him go out alone again! Damn it, he even forgot to bring his phone!
When waiting exceeds a certain limit, it turns into worry.
After going through impatience and anger, Ye Yixing began to feel uneasy.
Frowning, he comforted himself—
Let’s wait another twenty minutes; maybe there’s a long queue at the supermarket!
After twenty minutes passed, Ye Yixing thought, let’s give it another fifteen minutes; perhaps he forgot something and had to go back to get it, so he has to queue again…
Hmm, he must be on his way back now after paying for the items. Because he bought so many things, and He Dumb-Dumb doesn’t have much stamina, he’s probably walking slowly. Let’s wait for another ten minutes!
…He must be climbing the stairs now! Half a minute for each step! The door will open in five minutes…
It was one o’clock, and the living room remained quiet, with no movement at the door.
Ye Yixing fell into silence, a sense of inexplicable restlessness welling up from the depths of his heart, like molten lava erupting from a volcano.
Is he out with Chu Wenxing? Did that guy take him out to eat? Impossible, He Yanlu wouldn’t neglect himself, and he wouldn’t act irrationally like that.
Could it be… something happened? Was he in a car accident and taken to the hospital? Robbed by criminals? Ah, damn it! Why am I thinking of such unlucky things?!
However, the more Ye Yixing tried to suppress his worries, the more thoughts of related misfortunes spread like a plague in his mind, growing more and more intense.
Before his own imagination drove him crazy, Ye Yixing finally grabbed the phone from the coffee table and decided to call Yang Qu.
“…Hello?” When Yang Qu answered the phone, he sounded cautious because he wasn’t sure if it was Ye Yixing or He Yanlu on the line.
In order to prevent himself from losing control due to excessive emotions, Ye Yixing closed his eyes and forcefully suppressed his voice. “It’s me.”
“Ye Yixing?” Yang Qu was puzzled. Wasn’t he with He Yanlu at this time?
“Yeah, I just turned back into a human…” Ye Yixing was about to explain the current situation when Yang Qu interrupted him excitedly.
“Eh!? You… reverted?” The tone of his voice suddenly lowered in the second half of the sentence. Yang Qu gestured apologetically to the people around him, then walked out of the bookstore with his phone.
“Let’s not talk about that for now, Yang Qu…” Ye Yixing said, “I’m feeling really anxious right now. He Yanlu has disappeared…”
“What do you mean? What do you mean by ‘disappeared’?” Yang Qu found a secluded spot and furrowed his brows as he asked.
“He left before 9 o’clock in the morning, went to the supermarket alone, and he hasn’t come back yet…” Ye Yixing rubbed his temples. As soon as he finished saying those words, all the speculations related to He Yanlu flooded his mind. He suddenly felt that all those disasters could happen, and his previous avoidance was just self-consolation.
“Did you try calling him?” Yang Qu asked.
“He didn’t bring his phone…” The imagined scenarios in his mind became increasingly severe, and Ye Yixing clenched his fist. “Whenever I think that something might have happened to him outside, I… I want to go out and find him!”
“Ye Yixing, calm down first and listen to me…” Yang Qu said sternly, “Even if you go out now, you don’t know where he is! And how do you explain your current identity if you find him?”
Getting straight to the heart of the problem, as always, was Yang Qu’s style.
The issue that Ye Yixing had also considered was now brought up by his friend in this way, making him want to flip the table in frustration. He grabbed Da Bai’s arm tightly as if it were connected to Yang Qu’s body and shouted into the phone, “If I could stay calm, I wouldn’t have called you! It’s been almost five hours! I’m afraid something might have happened to him!”
Yang Qu listened quietly as Ye Yixing finished shouting, and then calmly said, “I’ll call Chu Wenxing. You stay at He Yanlu’s place and don’t go anywhere. Wait for my news!”
The call ended quickly on the other side, and Ye Yixing heard the sound of the line being disconnected. He exerted force, throwing Da Bai hard onto the floor. After hearing the muffled collision between the plush toy and the carpet, Ye Yixing slumped from the sofa and sat on the carpet in despair…
Hoping to hear his familiar footsteps in the next second, hoping to see He Yanlu appear at the door, just like usual.
But…
Oh god! It was at this moment that Ye Yixing suddenly realized! It wasn’t He Yanlu who got used to his presence, but he couldn’t live without He Yanlu anymore… His dumbness, his smile, his touch, his disguised dependence and coquettishness…
Ye Yixing held his head and suddenly regretted all the foolish thoughts he had before—
Being his cat for a lifetime? Is that enough? You wanted more than that!
Longing for his affection, longing for his defenselessness towards himself, hesitating whether to reveal his true identity in front of him, afraid that he would avoid him…
Ye Yixing! You selfish bastard who only thinks about yourself!
All the scheming, calculation, and following the plan are all self-deception!
If he’s gone, everything you’ve done will be meaningless…
True love should be impulsive, right? It’s time to be a bit more willful!
Ye Yixing looked sadly at the front door—
He needed to tell him quickly, as soon as he sees him…
Command him not to leave him, promise him to protect him forever…
The phone rang for a brief moment before being answered.
Yang Qu paused for half a second before saying, “Chu Wenxing doesn’t know He Yanlu’s whereabouts.”
During the few minutes of waiting on the phone, Ye Yixing had calmed down slightly. Being hot-headed was of no use, and waiting indefinitely was not a solution. At this moment, he needed a plan to solve the problem.
“I’m going out to look for him,” Ye Yixing said, clenching his fist.
Yang Qu asked, “Where are you going to look?”
“I’ll start by going to the supermarket he went to. I’ll follow his route, and there must be some clues… If I keep waiting, I’m afraid I’ll go crazy… I’m so worried that I feel like I’m about to explode…” Ye Yixing replied, rubbing his temples.
Yang Qu sighed, “Alright, I’ll come too?”
Ye Yixing refused, “No, I’ll go alone.”
Yang Qu asked, “Is there anything I can do?”
Ye Yixing said, “I have He Yanlu’s phone with me. If it’s convenient for you, call the house every half hour. If he comes back, he should answer, and you can notify me immediately.”
Yang Qu said, “No problem.”
Between brothers, they would ask the other to be their last line of defense before making impulsive decisions.
…
He Yanlu pushed away Mo Yanze’s hand that was holding him and staggered to his feet once again. “I’m not lonely. I have Xia Hei.” He didn’t like the strange scent coming from his brother’s body. He realized that he was only accustomed to Xia Hei’s closeness…
Feeling dizzy and unsteady, He Yanlu felt like he was a bit drunk, although he hadn’t consumed any alcohol.
Mo Yanze grabbed He Yanlu’s arm and exerted a gentle force, causing He Yanlu to stumble and fall back into his embrace.
With his back against Mo Yanze’s chest, he could see the flawless side of He Yanlu’s face, his delicate ears, slender shoulders… It was a sight he enjoyed.
“Who is Xiao Hei?” Mo Yanze asked.
“He’s my cat,” He Yanlu replied uneasily, trying to struggle, but finding Mo Yanze’s strength astonishing.
A cat? The private detective didn’t uncover that! It seemed he would deduct half of the contract fee once the investigation was over.
Mo Yanze held the waist he had longed for and gently kneaded it, causing He Yanlu to twist without concealing his reaction.
Mo Yanze enjoyed He Yanlu’s instinctive response when he was drunk, just like how he instinctively avoided his touch when sober…
“Come back with me…” Mo Yanze whispered seductively into He Yanlu’s ear.
“Let go…” He Yanlu’s struggles gradually increased in intensity.
The effect of alcohol allowed instincts and subconscious thoughts to take over, and He Yanlu suddenly realized that the man behind him wasn’t as kind as he appeared.
However, his alertness to danger seemed to come a step too late.
“He Yanlu, I want you…” Mo Yanze gripped his shoulders and bit down on his exposed neck, “…to come back with me.”
The seven words, “I want you to come back with me,” when broken down, carried two meanings—dominant and ambiguous. No one could resist him.
When Mo Yanze’s lips touched his body, He Yanlu awakened from his stupor.
Why was his brother… licking and biting him?
A realization flashed through He Yanlu’s mind, finally understanding the man’s intentions.
A shiver ran through his body, accompanied by disgust, repulsion, and nausea… His stomach churned!
He laughed at himself.
Haha, living with Xiao Hei for so long had made him intoxicated with happiness?
Did he truly believe the world revolved around him? That loved ones would fall from the sky like pies?
It wasn’t his, and his fantasies were futile…
If he really expected things like a fool, he would only end up with disappointment.
Escaping was difficult when there was still a trace of vulnerability in his heart, preventing him from resisting completely.
At times like this, even a 1% slackening could lead to downfall.
With all his strength, He Yanlu pushed against Mo Yanze’s chest and freed himself, standing a step away by the table. His cheeks were pale, devoid of the flush he had when drunk, and his gaze wasn’t filled with disgust but rather indifference.
The distance he had struggled so hard to bridge had been instantly widened, even further than before.