After browsing through the comments for a long time, Ye Shanshan still felt like his followers were all fake fans. The key point was, even Xu Luoyang didn’t show up this time.
It was truly a lonely world.
But he had a boyfriend. Seeing that an hour had passed, Ye Shanshan tossed his phone aside, hoisted Sparkling onto his shoulder, and hurried to Gong Yue’s study. He knocked lightly on the door, stuck his head in, and said,
“Your Majesty, I have something to report.”
Gong Yue turned his gaze toward the voice and was suddenly taken aback by the visual impact. Seeing Ye Shanshan’s golden hair, which was almost blinding, and the little cat on his shoulder with the same dazzling golden fur, as well as the similar expressions on both of their faces, he couldn’t help but feel a bit helpless. “Shanshan, come in.”
Standing in front of Gong Yue, Ye Shanshan struck a pose, standing upright with his eyes blinking innocently as he looked at Gong Yue.
Gong Yue had no difficulty following Ye Shanshan’s thought process. “That color looks good on you,” he said.
His gaze shifted to Sparkling, and though he didn’t feel like commenting on the golden fluff ball, he still said, “Sparkling is very cute.”
Ye Shanshan’s sense of pride was fully satisfied, and he lifted the little cat. “Meow,” he said. “Look, Golden Retriever Lion King!”
“……”
At this moment, Gong Yue finally understood what “as long as you’re happy” meant. But he played along, saying, “Hmm, very handsome.”
Ye Shanshan immediately felt a bubble of joy rising in him. He explained, “At first, I didn’t want to dye it, but Sparkling was so lonely with just her color, so I dyed mine to match.”
Noticing that Gong Yue was extending his hand toward him, Ye Shanshan resolutely rejected the tempting hug, afraid he might regret it. He quickly placed Sparkling into Gong Yue’s arms.
“Ancient wisdom says that someone who doesn’t keep their word is a hypocrite.”
“One more minute.”
Before entering the study, Ye Shanshan and Gong Yue had agreed on a 90-minute work session, with the most important matters handled first. After that, Ye Shanshan would take care of the rest.
“Round it up to the full time, you’re too tired. Your body can’t take it.”
Ye Shanshan pulled him up, his tone commanding,
“Hold Sparkling properly, and follow me.”
He took a couple of steps forward, then looked back. “Ge, be obedient.” His fair chin tilted slightly, giving him an air of authority.
Gong Yue reached out and ruffled his hair. “Hmm, let’s go,” he said, not arguing further, and they both headed toward the bedroom.
In the hallway, Ye Shanshan walked in front. His golden hair made his lips and teeth look even whiter, and from behind, the exposed part of his neck looked particularly beautiful.
Gong Yue seemed somewhat entranced, slightly tightening his grip. Ye Shanshan’s steps immediately stopped, and just as he was about to turn around to ask Gong Yue, he heard the latter’s voice.
“Don’t turn around.”
Curious, Ye Shanshan remained still and didn’t move, his mind wandering with various thoughts—was there a mosquito on my ear that I can’t move? Or maybe my hair is too messy for Gong Yue to look at?
Then, he felt Gong Yue take a half-step forward. A hand came around from behind to hold his waist, pressing his back against Gong Yue’s chest. Ye Shanshan felt warm, soft lips against the skin of his neck, and a heated breath on his skin. He was already sensitive, and the tingling sensation spread down his spine, right to his tailbone. Ye Shanshan muttered,
“Ge, it tickles.”
His thoughts were all jumbled—this situation was not going as expected! Why was Gong Yue being so proactive? He had planned to rush to the bedroom first and initiate a strong five-minute kiss with Gong Yue!
But Gong Yue didn’t let go. In fact, his grip around Ye Shanshan’s waist tightened, and after hearing Ye Shanshan’s words, he kissed him even more intensely.
Feeling Gong Yue’s tongue tracing his skin, Ye Shanshan thought that part of him was about to burn. He got a little nervous and said, “Uncle Hawk is still here.” The feeling of tension, knowing someone might appear at any moment, made him feel both anxious and excited.
Gong Yue’s lips and tongue slowly moved to his shoulder, gently sucking and biting. Ye Shanshan, unable to think of anything else, let out a few soft gasps. His neck instinctively arched back, revealing an exquisite line, and his white teeth half-bit his lower lip. The contrast of red and white was almost mesmerizing.
As he felt himself nearing his limit, Ye Shanshan moved his shoulder, now fully exposed, and said, “Ge, we have to hold back.”
Several buttons of his shirt had already come undone, and the collar was pulled down, exposing large areas of his fair skin. The soft light from the hallway cast a gentle glow on him, making him look almost ethereal.
“Hmm?”
Ye Shanshan felt that refusing such a golden opportunity was truly against his principles, but he also worried about Gong Yue’s health. While he was struggling with this internal conflict, Gong Yue, showing remarkable self-control, was the one to let him go first.
A sigh of relief escaped Ye Shanshan’s heart, but there was also a hint of regret. He turned around, asking Gong Yue for a promise. “Once you fully recover, you’ll make it up to me.”
— It really hurt!
Gong Yue kissed his thin eyelid. “Alright, I’ll make it up to you.”
※※※
After that, Ye Shanshan spent the rest of the morning in the study.
The news about Gong Yue hadn’t been made public yet, and Ye Shanshan was still the one in his position. As a result, the work Gong Yue had been handling was carried out under Ye Shanshan’s name. Thanks to Ye Shanshan’s unconscious imitation, their styles were nearly indistinguishable to outsiders.
Sticking to his philosophy of “go all the way when making trouble,” Ye Shanshan felt that by holding the position, it would be much easier for Gong Yue to carry out tasks that were previously difficult. For example, in order to balance various factions, Gong Yue had never been able to directly remove Carter because of the massive backlash, but Ye Shanshan did it, and it was easily suppressed.
This was because, to others, the significance of Gong Yue and Ye Shanshan taking action was entirely different. Ye Shanshan removing Carter seemed more like a personal vendetta, so the resulting crisis was less threatening.
Thus, Ye Shanshan, being an expert at digging traps, felt that he might as well take advantage of the situation.
After lunch, Ye Shanshan took a half-hour nap with Gong Yue. His biological clock was precise, and as soon as 30 minutes passed, Ye Shanshan woke up. He closed his eyes and rolled to the side—empty!
His eyes shot open, and still somewhat groggy, Ye Shanshan sat up and looked around, not seeing Gong Yue in the room. He immediately felt uneasy. He got out of bed, barefooted on the carpet, and ran to the door. Opening it, he saw no one, so he ran into the living room.
Gong Yue had just finished a phone call. When he turned around, he saw Ye Shanshan, his hair disheveled, holding a Pikachu in his hand, barefoot and looking panicked.
His heart ached. Gong Yue opened his arms. “Shanshan, I’m here.”
Ye Shanshan, along with the Pikachu in his hand, threw himself into Gong Yue’s arms, clinging tightly to him.
“Shanshan, it’s okay, I’m fine, don’t panic,” Gong Yue kissed Ye Shanshan’s hair and, lifting him by the hips, started walking back inside, feeling a wave of tenderness.
Only then did Ye Shanshan relax. His voice was low as he said, “When I woke up just now and didn’t see you, I thought everything before was fake, like it was all just a dream.”
He wasn’t heartless; he had hidden his worries and fears so Gong Yue wouldn’t worry. But those feelings didn’t easily fade; they had built up inside him.
He squeezed the tail of the Pikachu in his hand and leaned against Gong Yue’s shoulder. “I used to think, what if you never woke up? Or what if you woke up and forgot about me?” He leaned in closer to Gong Yue’s side, forcing a smile. “I was super scared.”
Placed on the bed by Gong Yue, Ye Shanshan looked up, feeling insecure. “So, is everything really okay?”
Gong Yue gently stroked the corner of Ye Shanshan’s eye with his fingertip and softly said, “After I woke up, I recovered part of my memory. It was from when I boarded the private jet to Mishius Island, all the way to when I was standing on a desolate island, watching Mishius Island explode. You were standing next to me at that time.”
This memory aligned with the scene Ye Shanshan had once described to him.
Ye Shanshan was both happy and a little sad—remembering such a tragic memory surely wasn’t easy. He held Gong Yue’s hand to comfort him, then hesitated and carefully asked, “Was there any problem?”
After all, Ye Shanshan knew about the effects of the drug from Bernard’s symptoms. While the drug could save lives, it also had terrifying side effects. However, Gong Yue and Bernard’s situations were different—Bernard took the drug as an adult due to a critical condition, while Gong Yue had been exposed to the drug even before he was born, by Gong Youli.
They didn’t know whether Gong Yue’s situation was normal.
“There is,” Gong Yue didn’t hide anything. “To eliminate memory issues, I took some paper and a pen and organized my thoughts. I found that as my memories from the past five years are steadily returning, I can recall the events from five years ago in great detail. But some of the memories are starting to become blurry. I can write down the general events, but the details are hard to recall.”
It was like a form of compensation, an equivalent exchange.
Ye Shanshan frowned, thinking carefully.
“Mom Youli once mentioned to me that special individuals, in a ‘hibernation’ state, undergo self-repair. If I’m not mistaken, she probably already predicted the symptoms you might experience. I’ve been thinking about it for the past few days—since she was willing to destroy Mishius Island without hesitation, does that mean she actually accomplished what she had always intended to do?”
Gong Youli’s involvement in the “god-making” project was primarily because of Gong Yue.
Ye Shanshan sat on the bed, hugging Gong Yue’s waist. “The note Bernard gave us with the 81 numbers on it—I’ve been thinking it might be something like Morse code, conveying some kind of message, or it could be a password to activate something. But after researching it multiple times with no results, it just shows that we might not have found the ‘landmark’ yet.”
He sorted through the clues in his mind. “So, I think we should try to meet Gong Ji again. He definitely knows something. We’ll take it step by step and we’ll eventually find the way.”
“I’ve already scheduled a time. We’ll go tomorrow morning. Also, I’m already tracking the doctor’s whereabouts.”
Ye Shanshan’s eyes widened instantly, not agreeing, “Your Majesty, I’m the strategist here, okay?”
After a brief pause, Gong Yue tried to cooperate. “Alright, then please plan it out, find a suitable time and reason, and we’ll go meet Gong Ji together.”
Ye Shanshan was immediately won over, grinning widely, his attitude no longer firm. “It’s fine, let’s just go with your plan!”
Author’s note: Shanshan: I feel like I’ve forgotten something.
Zheng Dong: Should I feel relieved? Clutches heart What about the promised repost of the variety show’s Weibo? Flips table (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
[mfn]You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you and Enjoy reading! ❤️ -TL: Ysiad [/mfn]
