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Join the ServerHe Ting was poked on the head, and in his half-asleep state, his heart jolted. Startled, he thought Gu Qiuhang had hit him.
Before he could react, he was pulled tightly into an embrace.
Gu Qiuhang’s chest was warm and broad, making one feel safe.
He held him very tightly, so tightly that He Ting could feel the strong, steady heartbeat against his own body.
Warm breath brushed against his ear and neck, soft and moist, like a tiny brush lightly sweeping over his heart.
It felt comfortable… yet ticklish, almost making him want to scratch.
He Ting felt his heartbeat quicken, gradually syncing with Gu Qiuhang’s.
The air grew heavy, warm, and strangely intoxicating.
He couldn’t even tell if he was dreaming or awake.
It was as if something had wrapped around him, trapping him so he couldn’t escape.
He struggled lightly, breathing unevenly, lifting his hazy eyes.
Uncertain, he called softly,
“Young master?”
Half confused, half drowsy, his wide eyes were filled with bewilderment, making him look a little dazed.
Gu Qiuhang’s heart melted instantly.
He looked both foolish and adorable.
It made him want to pull him close and rub him fiercely, regardless of anything else.
But he restrained himself.
He let go, his voice low and deep.
“Sit.”
He Ting obediently sat down.
It was already past one in the morning. He was exhausted.
He wanted to ask what was going on, but in the end, he stayed silent.
His stomach growled uncooperatively.
He flushed, grabbed a pack of sweet potato snacks, and sat cross-legged.
“Want some?”
Gu Qiuhang looked at him, his tone gentle yet slightly reproachful.
“Didn’t you eat dinner again?”
He hadn’t eaten.
He had been too busy partying at the bar, and only now, in the quiet, did he feel the emptiness in his stomach.
But when Gu Qiuhang asked, he neither wanted to admit it nor lie.
So he lowered his head and focused on tearing open the package.
The soft, chewy sweet potato was held between his fingers.
He nibbled at it in small bites, cheeks puffed out, staring at Gu Qiuhang with bright, dark eyes.
Gu Qiuhang didn’t give him a chance to avoid the question.
His gaze lingered, half-smiling, as if seeing right through him.
“I ate,” He Ting quickly said.
“I probably just burned it off. Lots of activity tonight.”
Gu Qiuhang’s lips curved slightly, but his eyes were cool.
“Lots of activity? What kind of activity?”
“…”
‘Did I just say something wrong?’
System: “You really walked right into that one.”
He Ting: “…”
Gu Qiuhang didn’t press him further.
Instead, he said,
“Tang Xi, be obedient from now on, alright?”
His tone was light, calm, not as forceful as usual, but it still carried an undeniable authority.
He had always been like this.
No matter the situation, he remained steady, as if everything were under control.
As though there was nothing in the world he couldn’t handle, no one he couldn’t conquer.
Being around him, He Ting often forgot, that he was still just a young man.
His presence was too overwhelming, his world too vast.
So much so that no one could truly see into his heart.
Standing before him, He Ting always felt small, so small that he had to act out just to be noticed.
Holding the sweet potato, He Ting lowered his eyes.
“I wasn’t being disobedient. I was just hanging out with friends.”
“What were you doing?” Gu Qiuhang smiled faintly.
“The things on you… don’t you think they’re dirty?”
He Ting kept nibbling slowly, cheeks puffed like a hamster, silently gathering courage.
After a long moment, he looked up.
His gaze burned with a hint of stubbornness.
“I don’t think they’re dirty. As long as I don’t think so, isn’t that enough?”
Gu Qiuhang’s brows drew together, his thin lips pressing into a line.
He Ting met his gaze, his voice soft but firm.
“Young master, you’re so busy. You don’t need to spend your energy on me. By the end of the year, I’ll be eighteen. I have to live my own life eventually, you can’t control me forever.”
The words came suddenly.
Like a needle, they pierced straight into the softest part of Gu Qiuhang’s heart, precise and merciless.
His lashes lowered slightly, hiding his gaze.
He knew there was someone else by his side now…
yet he still wanted to control him.
Even knowing about that “agreement,” he still felt betrayed, abandoned.
That feeling chilled him to the bone, like standing at the edge of an abyss.
He stood up, then crouched down in front of He Ting, looking up at him.
He Ting still held half a piece of sweet potato.
Meeting that dark, unreadable gaze, his fingers tightened unconsciously as he looked down at him.
Their eyes met.
Sparks seemed to fly.
Unable to endure that gaze, He Ting turned his head away in silence.
Gu Qiuhang stood up and ruffled his hair.
Word by word, he said,
“This is your home. No one can make you leave.”
He paused for a moment.
Then, as if with difficulty, but also with rare softness, he added,
“I have to watch over you. Be a little obedient. I’ll take care of you.”
He Ting frowned, his eyes reddening.
Take care of him?
He let out a faint, mocking smile and said nothing more.
He compromised.
Even though he didn’t fully understand what Gu Qiuhang meant, he still gave in.
Because with that tone, that version of Gu Qiuhang, and in a night like this.
He Ting thought…
‘no one could refuse.’
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