CH 50

The bathroom was still filled with steam from just now, damp and sticky between breaths.

The shirt on Tang Suoyan had long been drenched from the water splashing from the shower and on Tao Xiaodong’s body.

They kissed in this suffocating and humid environment, aggressively pillaging each other’s air, reinvigorating their breaths and beating hearts.

The skin contact was sizzling, and the glass behind Tao Xiaodong, due to their movements, gradually lost its original chilliness.

As they kissed, Tang Suoyan undid his shirt buttons.

All that Tao Xiaodong touched was soft, carrying the warmth and scent of the person before his eyes.

—Except for the belt. The cool hard texture of the leather and the chilly metal against his burning skin elicited an involuntary shudder, so cold that it agitated his heart.

It was completely out of place in the spell currently cast over them.

Frowning, Tao Xiaodong made to undo it, his fingers slippery wet and fingertips trembling with urgency.

Tang Suoyan let him fiddle with the belt while he wrapped one arm around him, fingers parting his hair, lips softly brushing the spot on his nape that he had bitten into earlier.

Tao Xiaodong had never been so passive before. He had never had the initiative since the start, and even now his own reactions weren’t his to control.

It was his first time losing control of himself in bed in the palm of another person. All of his senses and nerves belonged not to him but clutched in another pair of hands.

Such passivity was, in actuality, hard for one’s masculinity to accept, especially someone like Tao Xiaodong. But when Tang Suoyan gripped his nape and held him down, the thought of resisting didn’t even cross his mind.

He didn’t want to move.

So be it, then. He had no objection.

If one were to ask Tao Xiaodong in this moment what else he wanted other than even more pain, well, his mind was blissfully blank.

His phone rang somewhere. Distracted, Tao Xiaodong glanced towards the door, but Tang Suoyan turned his head back.

The veins on Tao Xiaodong’s neck bulged, so did the veins at his temples.

Tang Suoyan traced a finger over a protruding vein.

Tao Xiaodong called out “Yan ge” and Tang Suoyan responded from behind him. Tao Xiaodong pushed his forehead against the bedsheets, fabric scraping his skin painfully, and Tang Suoyan made Tao Xiaodong rest his forehead on his palm instead.

Tao Xiaodong succumbed and a broken keen was pulled from his throat. Tang Suoyan embraced him from behind, both men assuming a particularly intimate position, doing the most intimate deed. All Tao Xiaodong could hear was Tang Suoyan’s breathing, and all that Tao Xiaodong could smell was his scent. In this position, his chest cavity was compressed so tightly that not the least bit of space remained, every empty crevice filled to the brim with Tang Suoyan.

—Satisfying, steadying, exhilarating.

The amenities originally in the nightstand were scattered messily across the ground.

Days in winter were short. When they next rose, the sky had darkened outside.

The alcohol in Tao Xiaodong’s system had long been excreted in his sweat and other bodily fluids, and as he gradually gathered his wits now, he also sobered back to full awareness.

Enveloping him, Tang Suoyan kissed his lips. “Are you feeling sore?”

That was a given. Tao Xiaodong had been taken apart by him so thoroughly that he didn’t have the will nor the energy currently to move his limbs now. He laughed quietly, the undulations of his chest shaking the bed slightly, saying simply, “I feel incredible.”

Two fully grown male specimens had a good romp in the sheets and were now sated. They had drained every drop of energy and had since recharged their batteries. Tang Suoyan returned a smile, their bodies fitted together, hearts disrupting each other with their asynchronous rhythm but eventually falling in perfect tandem.

Tao Xiaodong stretched his right arm out and wound it around Tang Suoyan, staring up at the ceiling, calling “Yan ge.”

He was too good at calling “Yan ge“, summoning him with his name all day long. Tang Suoyan was called for so often that his heart tingled; he kissed his clavicle, then gave an answering “mn”.

Tao Xiaodong revisited the unfolding of events in his head, then said with a smile, eyes shut, “You’re too fierce.”

The statement didn’t warrant a response, so Tang Suoyan simply chuckled. Tao Xiaodong went on, “Do you only become like this after consuming alcohol? I think you had too much to drink.”

Tang Suoyan, at last, kissed his neck before standing up and saying, “That’s irrelevant. I won’t drink next time. You can draw a comparison.”

“Will it be the same next time?” Tao Xiaodong tugged on the hand that the other extended to him, standing up as well. Once on his feet, Tao Xiaodong hissed. The lingering ache that he felt in his nether regions was indescribable.

As they headed to the shower, Tang Suoyan said, “You may give pointers next time.”

“I won’t,” Tao Xiaodong said, shaking his head, “I’ll leave it entirely up to you.”

In stark contrast to their younger years, men at this age seemed much harder to faze. It was as if a storm had passed through one side of the bed, yet, after their shower, both of them closed one eye to that side, tacitly lying on the other side.

Likewise, Tao Xiaodong wasn’t as embarrassed as he was the last time with the hand job at Tang Suoyan’s place when he had even taken away the used tissues and napkins. This time, he was impressively self-possessed, not a smidge of unease in his behaviour at all.

Oftentimes, it was due to ambiguity and lack of clarity that an incident would be blown out of proportion in the mind’s eye. Once light was shed, it wouldn’t seem as big a deal.

There was a shitton of missed calls from the jackasses downstairs on his phone, intentionally disturbing them with full knowledge of what they had to be up to. Tang Suoyan splayed a hand on Tao Xiaodong’s body, a little to the right of his lower abdomen, where his nerve endings still induced periodic spasms. Both of them could feel it. Tao Xiaodong chuckled quietly. “It was too stimulating.”

His laughter caused his stomach to dip down, and Tang Suoyan squeezed his lower abdomen. “Have you done it this way before?”

“Nope.” Xia Yuan sent a message asking when he would go back down and Tao Xiaodong told him in a while more. He tossed the phone aside. “In the past, I… anyway, that position wasn’t mine.”

“Mm,” Tang Suoyan hummed and then asked, “Did you like it?”

When asking this, he didn’t smile; the words were evenly spoken, which, on the contrary, came off slightly chagrinned.

Tao Xiaodong curled his hand over Tang Suoyan’s, rubbing the circles into the back of his hand. “I did. Others won’t cut it, but I like it if it’s with you.”

With that, the trace of chagrin was no doubt squashed away. It wasn’t a major roadblock in the first place. Since they had engaged in such an act of intimacy, who would still bother considering that miscellaneous detail? It was a non-issue.

“How are you going to head down later? Your clothes got wet.” Tao Xiaodong rolled over to take the phone from the nightstand, but mid-twist, he froze up, almost unable to catch his breath.

Tang Suoyan reached across to take the phone, soothingly kneading his waist.

The narrow waist with toned muscles felt nice to touch. Tang Suoyan rather liked it, unconsciously kneading throughout the call.

Translated by luckykoi

Under the pretext of having a headache, the two men accidentally whiled away the afternoon. When they went back down, Tao Xiaodong even fibbed that they had slept all afternoon.

“Yeah right, you totally slept all afternoon,” Xia Yuan went uh-huh, uh-huh, “Slept so soundly that you had to get your clothes dried.”

Tao Xiaodong cursed, chortling. Having an inside man meant that even the dry-cleaning request was an open secret.

Both of them appeared more natural than the next. Despite the fervency of his stare, Xia Yuan couldn’t for the life of him suss out who topped or bottomed. Tao Xiaodong didn’t try to hide the marks on his neck; it would be a futile effort in any case. Tian Yi, glimpsing his neck, caught his eye, smiling gladly.

The party continued into the evening. Even though Tao Xiaodong didn’t drink much, he was still harried the whole night. Many of them didn’t leave, choosing to get rooms at the clubhouse. The two of them didn’t leave, either; Tang Suoyan didn’t have to pull extra hours tomorrow. Besides, they had both drunk in the day, thus neither of them could drive, and simply put up for the night.

They spent the night sleeping wrapped around each other, and when waking the next morning, the memory of yesterday caused the narrow stretch on the pointy tip of his heart to constrict, shivering. He stared at the person sharing his bed; he really liked that.

Tang Suoyan’s phone rang from the nightstand, buzzing noisily. Tang Suoyan didn’t want to move; his head was pillowed on Tao Xiaodong’s shoulder, eyebrows furrowing.

Not a morning person, apparently. Tao Xiaodong smiled, reaching over to take his phone.

But what followed was silence. Tang Suoyan asked with his eyes shut, “Who is it?”

Tao Xiaodong looked at the two words on the screen, his emotions unreadable. “Tong Ning.”

Tang Suoyan, as before, didn’t move, saying a few seconds later, “You pick up.”

Tong Ning’s name lit up the screen. Tao Xiaodong didn’t accept the call.

During this period of time, Tong Ning hadn’t given up his attempts to seek Tang Suoyan out. He regretted the break-up. He was straddling the line of propriety based on his former identity as Tang Suoyan’s partner of thirteen years. While it would have been a bit much to call him a thorn in the side as it didn’t affect them that much, his occasional appearances like these did come as a bucket of cold water.

Tao Xiaodong didn’t want to accept his call, afraid that it would be awkward for him. It would be awkward for all three parties, frankly.

On one side was an ex-boyfriend who he had dated for many years, while the other side was a properly established partner in the present.

When the phone rang again, Tang Suoyan said to Tao Xiaodong, “Just pick up.”

Tao Xiaodong hesitated for a few seconds but accepted the call in the end.

“Dr. Tong,” Tao Xiaodong cleared his throat, saying courteously.

Tong Ning noticeably faltered, only speaking after a moment, “…Where’s Yan ge?”

Tao Xiaodong glanced at Tang Suoyan, but, not having the heart to divulge too much, merely said, “He’s in the bathroom. Do you need him for something?”

Tong Ning asked, “Are you… living together?”

Tao Xiaodong responded, “Yeah.”

Tong Ning asked next, “Are you together?”

Tao Xiaodong, again, went “Yeah.”

He was always a bit halting with his words around Tong Ning, out of an odd sentiment, unable to bring himself to deal any heavy blows. Deep down, he believed that he was the one who had come in later. If he hadn’t stepped into the picture, perhaps Tong Ning and Tang Suoyan could have had a chance of patching up. Even if Tang Suoyan did clearly express that they wouldn’t ever, Tao Xiaodong still felt deep down that his actions weren’t that respectable.

“Did you…” Tong Ning was still unsettled, lapsing into silence, and despite the length of time that passed, he didn’t complete his sentence.

Tao Xiaodong had slept with Tang Suoyan yesterday and was also now lying beside him. This call stirred his guilty conscience like none other before had.

Tang Suoyan turned his forehead onto Tao Xiaodong’s shoulder and placed a hand on his stomach, thumb lightly grazing the skin there.

“…It’s nothing important.” Tong Ning breathed in, then said, “Don’t mind me.”

With that, Tao Xiaodong felt even worse and said, “Don’t say that.”

By picking up this one call, Tao Xiaodong pretty much killed any hope Tong Ning had. He wasn’t as assertive in his manner when he faced Tao Xiaodong as compared to when he faced Tang Suoyan, missing his presumptuous attitude.

This was not someone who would tolerate his temper tantrums.

Tao Xiaodong blew out a breath, setting the phone aside.

Tang Suoyan pulled him back into his arms, leaning into his space, saying, “Sleep a while more.”

Tao Xiaodong instantly smiled. “I can’t fall back asleep. You go ahead.”

“Then don’t move.” Tang Suoyan, spooning him, really intended to sleep.

A few minutes passed and it did seem as though he was asleep again. Tao Xiaodong watched him, terribly amused by the incongruity of Tang Suoyan’s propensity for sleeping in and his natural disposition.

Tang Suoyan slept for half an hour more, and so Tao Xiaodong accompanied him for half an hour. When Tang Suoyan next opened his eyes, Tao Xiaodong called him up.

Tang Suoyan sat up and said that he had slept very comfortably.

“Was it the bed?” Tao Xiaodong asked. “Or the pillow? If you like it we can ask for a new one and take it home.”

Tang Suoyan swung his feet onto the ground, his only response a chuckle.

It was when he was brushing his teeth that his words finally registered with Tao Xiaodong. By then, he had pulled on his jeans but had yet to put on a top. Following the other in, he looked at Tang Suoyan in the reflection of the mirror, asking with a smile, “Or was it me?”

Tang Suoyan gargled, washing away the foam around his mouth, simply replying, “Take a guess.”

Tao Xiaodong’s body was still littered with the marks that Tang Suoyan had left on him yesterday. It was a disconcerting sight in the mirror.

Tang Suoyan asked, “Visit my parents with me in the afternoon?”

“Sure,” Tao Xiaodong agreed readily, standing to one side and brushing his teeth.

“They want to make up for your birthday.”

Tao Xiaodong was startled. “Huh?”

“They called me to go back yesterday, but I told them that it was your birthday, so another time.” Tang Suoyan tore open the packaging for the razor, standing in front of the mirror and shaving his stubble, speaking slowly. “They got me to take you with me today, they’ll cook for you.”

“Auntie… knows about us?” Tao Xiaodong, in his head, muttered that he himself had known nothing before yesterday.

Tang Suoyan said, “Didn’t she previously catch us at my place?”

“But we weren’t anything back then.” Tao Xiaodong was still taken aback. “What will your parents think of our relationship?”

“Weren’t anything?” Tang Suoyan turned his head to look at him, chuckling. “Do you mean to say that Director Tao has been stringing me along this whole while?”

Tao Xiaodong hastily said, “No, I never said that.”

Tang Suoyan moved aside for him to rinse his mouth, then stroked the curve of his spine, saying, “They adore you. My dad thinks that you’re dependable, and my mom thinks that you’re charming.”

After gargling, Tao Xiaodong washed his face with one hand, and when that was done he looked over his shoulder at Tang Suoyan, face still wet, grinning roguishly. “Well, what do you think?”