Shen Kong really didn't expect things to turn out this way.
Han Li's sudden straight ball was too unexpected. He blinked in daze, unable to react for a long time and didn't know what to say for a moment.
The air was filled with moist warm mist. The bright light turned the steam rising from the bathroom into translucent clouds of smoke, which poured out from the half-open door. The water vapor was filled with the faint citrus fragrance of shower gel, which mixed with the body temperature of two people and slowly dissipated.
Han Li slightly relaxed the pressure on Chen Kong's arm, his palm and fingertips gently pressed against his skin, and he just leaned forward slightly to close the distance between them.
His eyes were dark and deep, like a deep well in the hazy mist. He stared at Chen Kong intently. His voice was low and soft, like a feather scratching:
"You're not without feelings, are you?"
His eyes were bright and burning, like sticky and sweet maple syrup, or like lava about to burst out and flow, almost igniting the slightly cooled air.
Shen Kong looked at him quietly with his eyes downcast. His posture seemed relaxed, yet he seemed tense all the time. There was not much unnecessary expression on his face with deep and sharp features. His drooping eyelashes covered his eyes. He seemed to be thinking about something, but he also seemed to be thinking about nothing.
The light coated his upper body with a layer of light molten gold, and his graceful and smooth texture contained an astonishing sense of power. Even the horrifying layers of scars looked like lines carved on a marble statue, giving people a terrifying deterrent feeling.
Han Li had an illusion that the other party would break his neck in the next second, or pull away and push him away.
For him, perhaps the second option is even more deadly.
Panic slithered up like a snake and slowly strangled his throat. He waited for the judgment to come in fear.
At this moment, Shen Kong moved.
He raised his hand and pressed down Han Li's palm on his arm, then gently but irresistibly pulled his arm out from under his palm.
Han Li felt his heart slowly sinking. Something cold and dark seeped out from his chest bit by bit, quickly and silently occupying his entire body. He thought calmly and rationally:
It doesn't matter.
He can wait.
In front of the opponent, all his bargaining chips and means have lost their value, all his advantages and schemes are useless, but so what? After all, from the moment he fell in love, he had already lost everything and was completely defeated.
He is a penniless and desperate gambler who gambles everything he has on a moment of love and a return.
Han Li restrained himself and put his hand down, lowering his eyes to hide the surging emotions in his eyes, his voice still calm: "Sorry..."
Before he could finish his words, they were swallowed by Shen Kong's lips. His fingers were as hot as he was, pressing tightly against the back of Han Li's neck and pulling him into his arms. His kissing style was extremely aggressive, and even the bitter grass smell on his body was therapeutic and strong, mixed with the light citrus scent of the shower gel, covering Han Li like a big net, making him a little dizzy.
The kiss lasted less than half a minute.
Even after the two separated, Han Li still looked incredulous, frozen in place in a daze. It took him a long time to finally realize what had just happened:
"you……"
His eyes slowly lit up, perhaps because the surprise and panic in Han Li's eyes were too bright and dazzling, Shen Kong couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly, then raised his hand to press Han Li's neck, and rubbed his rough fingertips across his throbbing Adam's apple, feeling the other's warm pulse beating wildly under his palm. He moved closer and whispered in Han Li's ear:
"You guessed right."
His palms slowly tightened a little, watching Han Li raise his head in discomfort due to his restraints, his breathing rate quickened due to suffocation, the pulsation of his arteries impacting Chen Kong's fingers, but he still did not resist, but looked at him more intently and passionately.
Chen Kong felt a little itchy for a moment.
His neck was so fragile that with just the slightest bend, there would be a crisp breaking sound between the vertebrae, and the white bones would pierce the soft skin, gushing out with hot blood that seemed to never stop beating. The pair of eyes that always disturbed his mind would finally lose their luster and no longer look at him with that look that made him upset.
He slowly rubbed Han Li's jaw line with his fingertips and pressed on his artery.
...But, there always seemed to be a slight resistance that prevented him from taking action.
Chen Kong lowered his eyes, suppressed the violent emotions surging in his heart, and slowly loosened his hand. But before he could close the distance between them, he saw Han Li quickly grabbed his palm, then quickly took a step forward, with the same bloody desire buried deep in his eyes.
He licked his lower lip and said in a low and hoarse voice:
"Again?"
As he spoke, Han Li raised his hands and hugged Chen Kong's shoulders, then bit his lips under the other's suppressive gaze.
Like the bite of a wild beast, or a fight of strength, the hard teeth and soft lips and tongues collided and crushed each other without giving in. There was a strong smell of blood in their kiss, as if they wanted to tear each other apart, chew each other into pieces and swallow them into their throats. The slight pain instead aroused the combative factors in their bones, making their kiss seem like a fight.
They stumbled and rolled into a heap.
While fighting for control, Han Li's legs hit the edge of the bed. A faint cry of pain came out of his throat, and his whole body trembled slightly.
Shen Kong keenly sensed that something was wrong with him, propped himself up on the edge of the bed, and looked down at his legs.
Before he could say anything, Han Li came up again, seeming to want to continue, but was pushed back forcefully by Chen Kong. He raised his eyebrows and asked in a businesslike manner:
"What's going on?"
Han Li seemed to realize that he couldn't continue pretending that nothing had happened. He sighed regretfully and had to stand up as well.
"…Nothing, I just brushed against it when I was going downstairs."
Shen Kong glanced at him calmly, not believing his words, but raised his chin: "Open it and take a look."
Han Li hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't persuade Chen Kong, so he had to roll up his trouser legs. His slender and pale calves were slowly exposed as he moved, followed by his dark blue knees with hideous knife marks, which were much more serious than what Chen Kong had seen several years ago.
The three-foot-thick ice does not form overnight. This level of damage cannot be caused in one day. What's more, with Han Li's current power and financial resources, even the worst old injuries should have healed. How could it be so bad?
Chen Kong frowned and looked at Han Li, but Han Li looked away. He bent his knees, as if trying to avoid Chen Kong's scrutiny, and explained:
"…There are so many things going on lately that I sometimes forget…"
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Shen Kong: “So, this was caused recently?”
Chen Kong's voice was still flat, with almost no questioning tone, but it made people feel a chill down their spine. Han Li's previous unpredictable image of a business tycoon had been completely shattered at this moment. He lowered his head in embarrassment, like a child who had done something wrong.
Chen Kong's expression didn't show any emotion: "So, you just like to torture yourself?"
Han Li's voice became lower and lower: "...No, it's just..."
The sound behind him became smaller and smaller, and in the end it seemed to be just a gurgling in his throat, and even Chen Kong couldn't hear it clearly: "Just what?"
Han Li seemed to be determined. He took a deep breath, raised his head and looked directly at Chen Kong, and said solemnly, word by word:
"It's just...it's the only thing you left with me."
A wound.
There is nothing else.
Whether coming or leaving, Chen Kong did not leave the slightest trace, as if a gust of wind blew across the sand dunes, and was swallowed up by the rolling desert in an instant. He briefly borrowed someone else's appearance and identity, returned it in a very short time, and then disappeared without a trace, as if he had never been there. Even though Han Li was very sure about what he had experienced, he could not help but fall into a trance of self-doubt when he woke up in the middle of the night.
Did he really show up?
Isn't everything really just an illusion created in his loneliness and isolation?
Which world is real? Is he the one who was pulled back from the edge of the cliff, or the one who fell into the endless abyss?
Only the pain in his knee reminded him that what happened was not his imagination. That person reached out and pulled him back from the edge of the cliff. He called him "little devil" in a calm and joking tone. He fell asleep on the table in the classroom covered by sunlight. He held his hand in the room filled with the smell of gunpowder, pulled the cold and hard metal from his palm, and whispered in his ear:
"Let me help you."
The coldness seeping out from the cracks in the bones gradually spread from the knees, like thousands of insects and ants gnawing and crawling under the skin. In the dead of night, one could almost hear the sound of them devouring flesh and nerves. This shuddering, excruciating pain was particularly sweet to Han Li. This torture could constantly remind him that he was still alive, constantly remind him of the missing parts of his life, and remind him...
He is waiting for someone.
Someone who you don’t know when or if he will come.
A person who was so cruel that he didn't want to leave anything behind, leaving him only a memory, a name, and a scar.
He is not refusing treatment, he is just refusing to forget.
Chen Kong stared at him silently for a long time, with an unfathomable look in his narrowed eyes. It was impossible to tell from his expression what he was thinking at the moment, let alone what he was going to do next - he was always like this, as unpredictable as the deep sea, as elusive as fog, and as uncatchable as air. Han Li could only use the most clumsy method - waiting.
Just then, he moved.
Shenkong bent down and placed a light kiss on his knee.
It was so gentle as if it was a dream, and so tender as if it shouldn't appear on that battered skin. Han Li shivered from the heat, then clenched his teeth tightly to prevent any sound from coming out of his mouth.
He still remembered the promises and big words he made in the corridor of that hospital when he was young and frivolous.
At that time, he said that he would definitely catch him.
But now Han Li finally realized that the one who was held tightly and could not break free even if he died was himself from the very beginning.
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