WCHM Chapter 22

The car’s heat was running, but with the windows cracked open, the private garage was still a little chilly. Lu Chi hadn’t answered yet when Liang Jiashu suddenly reached back, pulled a white shirt from the backseat, and draped it over his shoulders with lowered eyes. He even adjusted the AC temperature, making sure the airflow was just right, before finally lifting his gaze to look at him with no discernible expression.

 

Lu Chi paused, then almost wanted to laugh.

 

Whenever that Gong No.1’s obsessive streak flared up, it was always followed by an unthinking burst of pure, genuine concern and care.

 

Relaxed, Lu Chi leaned lazily against the leather seat, idly toying with the little condom packet. Strands of blue hair hung down over his brow, a few sweat-damp locks plastered to his skin like the delicate patterns of butterfly wings. After a moment of thought, Lu Chi asked:

 

“Liang Jiashu, do you want to date me?”

 

Compared to his first confession, that random and endless speech about honeymoons after marriage, this time Liang Jiashu’s reply was short and clear: “Yes. I want to be with you.”

 

“One-on-one. No one else.”

 

The emphasis in his tone made Lu Chi raise a brow. He couldn’t help asking: “And if I don’t want one-on-one?”

 

Liang Jiashu’s expression didn’t shift in the slightest. Still looking at Lu Chi, his voice came out flat and calm, like he was remarking on the weather: “I know a lot of ways to dismember a body.”

 

Anyone Lu Chi showed interest in, he’d get rid of.

 

Liang Jiashu had spent almost his entire conscious life holed up in a lab. Aside from his research into intelligent AI, he’d never shown interest in anything else, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t dissected countless specimens with his own hands. Killing or dissecting made no difference to him. Swapping out lab rats for humans was hardly anything new.

 

And when it came to erasing traces, he was confident no one could ever find a shred of evidence.

 

The lights were warm, his tone utterly devoid of menace, just calmly stating a fact. But that only made it all the more terrifying.

 

Lu Chi stared at him and let out a drawn-out wow, humoring the Protagonist Gong: “So domineering. I thought you’d at least say it in a roundabout way.”

 

At least the way he used to before, wrapping his true intent in a layer of sugarcoating.

 

They were still sitting close together, not yet fully separated from the aftertaste of desire. Their bodies were still covered in the traces left from earlier entanglement, their voices carrying that same husky edge.

 

Liang Jiashu pulled another tissue and gently wiped the sweat from Lu Chi’s forehead. His movements were feather-light.

 

“You don’t like it that way, do you?”

 

The first time he confessed, Liang Jiashu had clearly seen Lu Chi’s dislike for long-winded speeches. It seemed he had a subconscious aversion to talks about “forevers” and a distaste for anyone who hung future promises on their lips. He was as free as the wind, with the words carpe diem carved into his very face.

 

But Liang Jiashu had realized a long time ago that he simply couldn’t bear to let Lu Chi touch anyone else.

 

He had tried.

 

Tried to endure another week of hot-and-cold moods, of being baited without ever being allowed to meet, of holding hands one moment only for Lu Chi to walk away without hesitation the next. He could endure it. He could even find a strange satisfaction in it.

 

But what he couldn’t endure was Lu Chi smiling at someone else.

 

The mere thought of it, of Lu Chi turning that smile on anyone at all, made Liang Jiashu want to head straight back to the lab, mix up a few formulas, and poison every last one of those bastards. His mother had been right. He really was sick in the head, since his first instinct was to want every living thing around Lu Chi to disappear.

 

But Liang Jiashu had no desire to change.

 

He lowered his eyes, hiding the sinister gloom in their depths. After a beat, he said calmly, “Lu Chi, I won’t do anything you don’t like. Except this one time. I know you don’t like hearing those words, about the future, about promises, so I won’t say them again.”

 

Words have limited power, and many things don’t need to be said. He would prove them to Lu Chi with actions.

 

Hearing that, Lu Chi nodded slightly, not taking it to heart. With utter frankness, he explained: “I really don’t like it much. You know I’m an orphan. When I was a kid, I got abandoned three times by adoptive families, so I got sick of hearing that kind of talk.”

 

Liang Jiashu stilled as Lu Chi recalled every adoption in the past. Those parents had all sworn with smiling faces to treat him well forever, to give him a warm home, painting bright pictures of his future life.

 

And what was the result? Abandoned anyway. Worse yet, their guilt kept them from even seeing him again. Three times in a row, he’d had to drag his luggage back to the orphanage alone. It had been miserable to the extreme. Thinking about that, Lu Chi pouted, a trace of unknowing grievance flickering across his beautiful face.

 

“You know I’m terrible with directions. They all seemed cut from the same mold, dumping me in a heartbeat. But I had too much pride back then to ever ask them to send me back.”

 

“So I’d end up on the wrong bus, or walking until it was dark. The first time I got lost, I bawled my eyes out. The orphanage mom had to buy me five ice cream cones just to cheer me up.”

 

Lu Chi sighed, then swerved the topic off course. With total seriousness, he mused aloud: “If I could time-travel back now, I’d definitely point at them and scold them for being irresponsible, then make them carry me like a god on a pagoda, respectfully deliver me back to the orphanage.”

 

What do you call that? That’s called being a little brat with a very big temper!

 

He rambled on happily, nodding at his own words, feeling quite proud. But the moment he paused for breath, his gaze accidentally flicked toward Liang Jiashu, and he suddenly noticed the man’s whole body seemed to have gone slack.

 

“……”

 

Could the Protagonist Gong suddenly have gone impotent?!

 

Lu Chi was so startled he sat upright, instantly forgetting all those unpleasant memories from before, worried he was about to… But the meaning in his eyes was far too obvious. Liang Jiashu froze, then pulled his head over and gently pressed him back into his arms.

 

For a long while, he said nothing.

 

Lu Chi was afraid he really had gone soft. With genuine sincerity, he lifted his head, asking: “Then why did you suddenly go limp? Liang Jiashu, don’t worry. If you go see a doctor, I won’t look down on you, and I won’t tell anyone else.”

 

Ah, he really was so kind.

 

Hugging Lu Chi, Liang Jiashu almost wanted to sigh. After a moment, he spoke softly: “And who could still be hard after hearing that? Lu Chi, I just…”

 

Just what?

 

Liang Jiashu didn’t go on.

 

But Lu Chi instantly understood the trailing note in his voice.

 

He just felt sorry for him.

 

Lu Chi paused, then drew out his reply with a laugh: “Oh, so that’s it.”

 

A lot of time had passed since then. After growing up, Lu Chi had seen much worse than abandonment. But he was the type who never admitted defeat. His first instinct when facing hardship wasn’t to run, but to seize every chance, to throw himself in and fight his way forward.

 

Tens of thousands of moments had pieced together the Lu Chi of today, and all those good and bad experiences had been nourishment for his growth. But he didn’t carry any extreme negativity about them, and could look back on it all with calm, matter-of-fact acceptance.

 

Still, he had never told anyone those things before.

 

The only reason he could so naturally speak of them with Liang Jiashu was probably because… he knew Liang Jiashu would never question him, never doubt him.

 

Even if this was just a novel’s world, even if Liang Jiashu had investigated him more than once, and knew all about the life this body had lived. Liang Jiashu would still disregard all logic and impossibilities, and simply, instinctively, feel sorry for him, never questioning a single word Lu Chi said. A genius of pure rationality, violating the most basic logic, letting emotion govern his mind. It was a dangerous thing. And yet, it was also something very romantic.

 

And an artist could never help but linger for romance.

 

A free bird might still get used to being chased by an island with long legs.

 

Lu Chi blinked, smiling without speaking, lounging lazily as he tilted his head to look at Liang Jiashu. The light fell across his face, his eyes shining so brightly, like glittering stars…

 

…Blinking with sweetness, sweeping away everything, bringing with them something unreasonable and irresistible, like mountains collapsing and seas surging… a violent, earth-shaking heartbeat.

 

So dazzling it was almost blinding.

 

Facing those eyes, Liang Jiashu’s heartbeat picked up far too easily. He couldn’t help leaning down, pressing their noses together in an intimate touch, and with a hoarse voice full of hunger, he asked: “…Lu Chi, have you agreed?”

 

Lu Chi asked him back: “Agreed to what?”

 

“Agreed to let me love you,” Liang Jiashu said.

 

Lu Chi went solemnly thoughtful for three seconds, but this time, he couldn’t hold back his laughter. He reached up, looped his arm around the back of Liang Jiashu’s neck, and with an upward lilt to his tone, he asked: “Mm, depends on how you perform?”

 

The very next second, Liang Jiashu lowered his head. In the car filled with body wash fragrance, he finally kissed the night butterfly again, slow and gentle.

 

Their lips met, this time in a kiss with no trace of lust.

 

Lu Chi tilted his head up, quickly meeting him halfway, squirming a little at the ticklish sensation. Liang Jiashu seemed to have forgotten all the “techniques” he had studied, and kissed him purely on instinct, his breath soft and lingering. It was nothing like his usual cold, silent self.

 

Lu Chi found it a little strange, but with his tongue caught, he couldn’t speak. And before long, he realized. Nope, Liang Jiashu hadn’t gone soft at all.

 

In fact, he was even harder.

 

The car was far too small a space. After kissing for so long, both of them were dripping with sweat. The steam mingled with the scent of body wash and something unnamed, filling their shared breath and heating the air until everything felt feverish.

 

What’s more, the garage led straight into the villa. There was even a private elevator, in which Lu Chi was quickly dragged into. The younger man couldn’t even wait thirty seconds, pressing him hard against the cold wall, lips licking and sucking, fingertips burning-hot and nimble, filling the air with endless wet and obscene sounds.

 

Fortunately, it was a private space; otherwise, anyone who walked in would have been scared half to death by his crazed posture. Lu Chi let out a breathy moan, eyes half-lidded as he slowly released a muffled hum.

 

The overhead lamp lit up, and he couldn’t help yanking Liang Jiashu’s head back, gripping his hair to force him to turn, making him look at the mirrored wall of the elevator.

 

“Liang Jiashu, how come you can’t be sane for more than three minutes?!”

 

In the mirrored reflection of the elevator, Lu Chi’s clothes were disheveled, his face flushed with desire, pressed into the arms of a cold, handsome young man, half his body completely covered by an overwhelming possessiveness. But Liang Jiashu glanced at it once, then quickly turned back to kiss him again, his head clearly full of nothing but the bed.

 

“Want to do it here?” he even dared to ask.

 

Lu Chi arched a brow, lightly tapping him with the tip of his shoe. His laughter was both raspy and silky as he teased back: “Isn’t it you who wants to?”

 

Liang Jiashu nodded, shamelessly straightforward. “If I can see you in the mirror,” he said, “I think I’d get even more excited.”

 

The elevator doors slid open.

 

Before the chandelier overhead had time to flicker on, Lu Chi was being kissed all the way inside. The villa was cold and quiet, still showing the traces of regular cleaning, but clearly its owner hadn’t lived there for a long while. Lu Chi collapsed back onto the living room sofa, lips still tangled with Liang Jiashu’s. Mid-kiss, he suddenly remembered something, pressed down on Liang Jiashu’s head, and frowned: “Wait a second, the stuff is still in the car.”

 

The condoms and lube were all left in the car. In the heat of making out, they’d forgotten to bring them up, and with the way tonight was going, if they didn’t go all the way, Liang Jiashu would probably hang himself outside his front door.

 

But at his words, Liang Jiashu only let out a quiet “mm,” as if he hadn’t heard. He sank down onto the carpet, hair brushing across Lu Chi’s abs, sending wave after wave of sharp, ticklish tingles.

 

“Hhss…”

 

Compared to their first physical entanglement, Lu Chi was more unrestrained and relaxed now. He grabbed Liang Jiashu by the nape, suspecting this man was so blinded by lust that once he was in bed, he’d automatically block out all external signals, completely deaf to anything else.

 

They’d only just finished once, so neither of them was that easy to push to the edge again. Lu Chi hauled him back up, gently knocking their foreheads together, his sweat-damp lashes carrying a faintly helpless smile as he asked: “Liang Jiashu, should we go back down and get it?”

 

“……”

 

The living room was silent and dim.

 

Liang Jiashu stared at him. In the shifting light and shadows, Lu Chi suddenly heard him rasp out, voice hoarse yet disturbingly calm: “Do you want to see my medical report?”

 

Lu Chi froze. “What?”

 

Expressionless, Liang Jiashu said, “I mean, I’d rather go without.”

 

……………………………

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