Chapter 81 N - Premeditation

The balcony lights were off, and only the neon lights coming through the living room and the floor-to-ceiling windows cast an indistinct glow on their faces.

Xing Yu didn't answer whether he wanted it or not, but stared straight at him. His cold, dark eyes revealed no emotion, leaving Chu Beiling puzzled and unsure of what Xing Yu meant.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

...

Chu Beiling's heart grew colder and colder, sinking to the bottom little by little.

Xing Yu stared at him, unaware of how much time had passed.

Just when Chu Beiling thought Xing Yu would refuse.

Xing Yu grabbed his chin: "What do you take me for, to amuse yourself?"

Chu Beiling's eyes widened slightly, not quite understanding why he said that.

The frozen thoughts gradually thawed and returned after a moment.

He shook his head and quickly explained, "No, it's not for entertainment."

Xing Yu neither confirmed nor denied, but gently lifted Chu Beiling's chin, pressing his fingertip against Chu Beiling's lower lip and rubbing it repeatedly.

"Chu Beiling, this isn't about making up. We didn't break up back then, have you forgotten?!" He pressed his thumb against the corner of Chu Beiling's lips, his tone laced with gritted teeth: "You've forgotten."

Chu Beiling hadn't forgotten, nor could she possibly forget; "No... um..."

His words came to an abrupt halt, and his tone changed.

Xing Yu inserted his index and middle fingers into Chu Beiling's mouth, skillfully manipulating his tongue, gradually encroaching on its territory until it had nowhere to retreat.

He's always been like this; it's impossible to guard against him.

Chu Beiling wouldn't be on guard against him.

Xing Yu was well aware of this as well.

The violinist, always agile, perhaps having some memories stirred up, felt her tongue have its own ideas. She cautiously approached and licked his calloused fingers, pleading and yielding.

Xing Yu narrowed his eyes dangerously and withdrew his hand in an instant.

Chu Beiling was slightly stunned when something familiar was taken away. A sense of emptiness and loneliness filled her chest. Just as she was feeling lost, Xing Yu grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms.

Before I could even react, delicate kisses landed on my face.

Xing Yu cupped his face, lowered his head, and held him tightly in his arms, kissing him.

To be precise, it was a bite.

With an overwhelming sense of pressure, Xing Yu ruthlessly pried open Chu Beiling's lips, inserted his tongue, hooked it onto Chu Beiling's tongue, and then bit the tip of his tongue.

Chu Beiling was stunned for a moment, then quickly responded.

Xing Yu's hand gradually moved down, pinching the back of his neck and pulling him away. His large, calloused hand held Chu Beiling's neck in a restraining manner.

He looked down at him.

The dim environment made everything seem unreal, leading Chu Beiling to seriously doubt whether this was a hallucination. However, she could see the complex emotions in Xing Yu's eyes.

He can't tell the difference now.

Chu Beiling's Adam's apple bobbed as he wanted to ask why they weren't continuing the kiss; biting would have been fine too.

Xing Yu smiled faintly, pressed his fingertip to his lips to prevent him from making a sound, and scanned him inch by inch with great interest.

Chu Beiling looked up at him, her brows furrowed slightly, her amber eyes were wet, and there was a hint of red at the corners of her eyes, making her look extremely pitiful and aggrieved.

Xing Yu looked at it for a few seconds, then lowered his head again and kissed it even more fiercely and intensely.

Soon after, Chu Beiling felt dizzy and almost couldn't stand up. Xing Yu pulled him back and helped him stand up, holding him tightly in his arms, his hands around his waist tightening.

Xing Yu looked as if he wanted to devour him whole.

Their lips and tongues intertwined. Chu Beiling, who hadn't been intimate with anyone for a long time, breathed heavily and awkwardly, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.

The rain was pattering down outside the French windows, a continuous downpour that, at this moment, didn't seem so irritating anymore.

Breathing, heartbeat, and saliva mingled together rapidly.

The two couldn't control their emotions.

Xing Yu straightened up slightly and helped him fasten the first two buttons of his pajamas to cover the red mark on his collarbone.

Chu Beiling felt weak all over and used his arm to support her body.

Xing Yu lowered his eyes and wiped the moisture from the corner of his lips with his fingertips: "Can you still walk? Do you want me to carry you inside like a princess?"

Damn it, this guy did it on purpose, absolutely on purpose.

Chu Beiling retorted, "You're not that good," and pushed him away. "I can do it myself."

Xing Yu smiled slightly and nodded; "Okay."

Seeing his amused expression, Chu Beiling became even angrier and pointed at him, saying, "You, don't be so arrogant."

Xing Yu raised his chin and said with a smile, "Yes, yes, you're right. I'm not good at this. You're the best. I give you a thumbs up."

Chu Beiling snorted: "Stop being sarcastic, that's just how it is."

Xing Yu said lazily, "Yes, you're the best at showing off."

Chu Beiling: "No, that's not true."

Xing Yu curled the corners of his lips, neither confirming nor denying.

Before he could take a single step, Chu Beiling's legs gave way, and he knelt on the ground.

The slap in the face came too quickly; he was too ashamed to face anyone and compared himself to a snail, shrinking away with his snail shell on his back.

Xing Yu, who was following behind, reached out and picked up the snail from the ground, carried it back to the dining table, and continued eating their unfinished dinner.

Perhaps because they had been apart for so long, the ambiguous atmosphere dissipated as soon as they sat down, and they became flustered again.

The two remained silent and ate their meal in silence for a while.

Xing Yu glanced up at the onions and butter that Chu Beiling had picked out and placed in the bowl: "Give me the ones you don't want."

Chu Beiling paused, then placed the food piled up like a small mountain in Xing Yu's bowl into Xing Yu's bowl.

The glass lamp was dazzling, its light scattering and making him dizzy. He still felt it wasn't quite real, and for a moment wondered if he was having another beautiful hallucination.

Chu Beiling confirmed again: "Aren't we now... considered together?"

"Hmm?" Xing Yu lifted his eyelids.

Chu Beiling took a silent breath. Yes, they couldn't be considered to have gotten back together; they had never broken up.

Even if we meet now, it will be a reconciliation after a long separation.

Chu Beiling wanted to find a topic to temporarily ease the current estrangement between the two.

But after thinking about it, it all boils down to questions like how I've been doing these past few years, my studies and entrepreneurship, or whether I've developed a new social circle.

This inevitably reminds them time and again of what is missing: the ten years without each other's company and the fact that he can no longer paint.

That memory was too painful for Chu Beiling to recall, and he didn't want to tell Xing Yu. Their relationship had just started to improve, and he didn't want to ruin it, affect Xing Yu's mood, or receive any care or pity.

At least not now.

The love is still stuck in the time ten years ago when it ended and we were heartbroken after the breakup.

Chu Beiling did not want to use this to kidnap or gain sympathy.

He wanted Xing Yu to love him openly and honestly, just like always.

They want to return to how they were ten years ago, passionately in love with each other.

After dinner, Xing Yu threw the dishes into the dishwasher. With nothing to do, the two of them couldn't just stare at each other.

Xing Yu asked, "Have you watched the basic animation?"

"There are too many projects piling up at the end of the year, and I haven't had time to look at them yet." Chu Beiling only provides ideas; he rarely looks at the process now, only at the final product.

However, he wasn't entirely lying; he genuinely hadn't had time to look at it.

Xing Yu: "Do you have time now? Take a look. If you're not satisfied, I'll revise it for you now."

Chu Beiling smiled faintly: "Then I'm really lucky to have President Xing personally revise the project for me."

Xing Yu couldn't help but say, "You should have worked with me on the animation."

Chu Beiling suddenly pursed her lips and hurriedly avoided Xing Yu's gaze.

However, having been in a high position for so long, he no longer shows his emotions as he did when he was young. After a short while, he deftly said, "We are currently working together on an animation called 'Sword Song Beyond the Clouds'."

Xing Yu regretted that Chu Beiling hadn't gone to the Central Academy of Fine Arts with him.

But more than regret, he wanted to know why Chu Beiling wasn't the art director for ECho. Even if he wasn't making animations, he should still be the art director.

Instead of participating in external publicity and internal project coordination, which are only tangential tasks.

Although Chu Beiling could do it very well too.

However, Xing Yu was somewhat surprised by Chu Beiling's quick and easy change of topic. He did not intend to answer, and Xing Yu would not force him. There was still plenty of time, and he would eventually find out the reason.

Chu Beiling followed Xing Yu to the study.

The two sat down side by side, and Xing Yu opened Autodesk Maya, displaying the basic animations of several characters walking, running, jumping, and attacking.

Chu Beiling lowered his head and took notes on the paper.

"The preparatory movements of the walking animations for the assassin characters Xuanxiao and Qingyan are not obvious enough."

Chu Beiling reached out and covered Xing Yu's hand holding the mouse, dragging it to the spot that had just looked out of place: "I think 3 frames are more in line with the character's lightness. Too long a preparatory motion would make the character look too clumsy."

Chu Beiling glanced at him sideways: "What do you think?"

Xing Yu did not answer, so Chu Beiling asked, "Do you think it has to meet the standard parameters?"

"You're holding me down, I can't move," Xing Yu said, lowering his eyes.

Chu Beiling followed his gaze and saw that his hand was placed on Xing Yu's hand, and he wrapped Xing Yu's hand in his palm.

Even though it was he who was protecting Xing Yu, for some reason, Chu Beiling had the strange feeling that Xing Yu was squeezing his heart.

My heart started racing.

Chu Beiling released his hand, scratching his nose awkwardly: "You do it."

Before making the changes, Xing Yu said, "Game animation needs to ensure consistency and controllability."

He raised a potential problem: "If the parameters are adjusted and the game contains more than a dozen different action rhythms, there may be garbled text, which will also put a lot of strain on the engine."

Being so close, Xing Yu's faint lemon scent emanated from him, and his warm breath was faintly visible in his breathing. His manner of speaking was exceptionally intimate, as if he were being held in someone's arms.

The heat brushed against his ears, and the dense breath burned his face, making Chu Beiling feel hot all over, and his breathing became somewhat uneven.

After a moment of mental blankness, Chu Beiling gradually came back to his senses. He thought for a moment and said, "I will control the final parameters to fluctuate within 1-2 frames, so that the situation you mentioned will not exist. I don't want to make it a mass-produced product."

Of course, he can't ignore standardization, otherwise the engine might crash if imported into the game.

Xing Yu nodded and immediately started making the changes.

The two revised the basic animation piece by piece. Chu Beiling offered suggestions, and Xing Yu made the changes. They discussed any disagreements and worked together to come up with better ideas and solutions.

This feeling reminded Chu Beiling of his childhood in Zhalongkou, where he would be drawing in his room while Xing Yu played the cello behind him.

More often than not, the two would sit side by side with their easels set up next to each other. When they got tired of painting, Chu Beiling would lean over to look at Xing Yu's paintings, and occasionally she would suddenly pick up a paintbrush and add a stroke to Xing Yu's painting.

This brought Chu Beiling a long-lost sense of happiness.

“There are no problems for now. We’ll fix them if there are any issues after importing the game engine. What do you think…” Xing Yu turned around and met Chu Beiling’s burning gaze.

Chu Beiling's face was even redder than before, and a layer of desire appeared in her cat-like eyes. Her thick and long eyelashes trembled slightly, as if covered with a layer of moisture.

Xing Yu looked at him and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down, feeling a sudden itch.

The body's intuition always comes faster than the brain, especially since the two were once inseparable boyfriends.

Sensing a hint of danger—

Chu Beiling quickly looked down and sent a message to Zhu Qing'an: "The basic animation has been fixed, no problems. We can arrange for the technical team to import it into the engine when we return after the New Year."

He had just kissed her, and his lips were still a little swollen and sore. Even though he missed her terribly, Chu Beiling decided to put it off for the time being.

Zhu Qing'an called him directly, and he quickly answered, "I'm going out to take this call, I'll be right back."

Xing Yu reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him back. Instantly losing his balance and support, Chu Beiling lost his footing and was supported by Xing Yu's hips, resting on his thighs.

Before he could react, Xing Yu grabbed Chu Beiling's hand and raised it high, then pinched his chin with his left hand and kissed him.

Chu Beiling wanted to break free and hang up the phone; he didn't want to become the subject of Zhu Qing'an's gossip.

Xing Yu wouldn't let him move, holding him firmly in his palm while continuing to kiss him.

I don't know if it was intentional because they saw he wanted to escape.

Xing Yu teased him, stirring his tongue and sucking on his lower lip, taking over every inch of his mouth, especially teasing his most sensitive palate, which was ticklish at the slightest touch.

Just when there was a brief opening, Chu Beiling tried to back off from the call, but Xing Yu grabbed her chin and pulled her back.

He reached out and took his phone, placing it on the desk: "Blueberry, ignore everything else and just focus on feeling me."