The butler, focused on creating the atmosphere, had overlooked the objective layout of the villa. He wanted to take it back: “He ran to the other staircase…”
Huo Lan pressed his forehead hard, leaning against the door. His shoulders silently relaxed as he slowly stood straight.
The butler weakly looked at these two people separated by a door: “…”
At this height, if the door disappeared, their President Huo’s hand would probably be right at the level of Mr. Liang’s bottom.
The butler now really missed Mr. Liang’s bottom: “What’s… wrong?”
Huo Lan said softly: “I really like–”
He was completely unaccustomed to saying such things, almost struggling, but forced himself to enunciate slowly and clearly: “Really like… this set of pajamas.”
The butler, afraid of startling him, nodded along with particular kindness.
“If he’s angry,” Huo Lan asked, “will he take them back?”
The butler was confused: “Why would Mr. Liang be angry?”
The butler didn’t know about this part, and Huo Lan originally didn’t want to say, but at this point had to admit: “I almost… took off Mr. Liang’s clothes.”
The butler’s eyes widened: “When?!”
“Before coming out, I misunderstood…”
Huo Lan was never used to discussing these things with others, but today he was truly uneasy, softly reflecting: “It’s my fault.”
Huo Lan closed his eyes: “I was ungrateful.”
The butler stared at him blankly, romantic fantasies dissipating, feeling both sour and bitter: “It’s not.”
“Your parents were never kind to you,” the butler momentarily forgot about Mr. Liang, anxious to console him, “so you don’t know, don’t know that you can also receive gifts… Mr. Liang will surely understand.”
Huo Lan: “Mr. Liang ran away crying.”
“…” The butler had made up so many lies, but never imagined the one that would successfully convince him would be this: “Mr. Liang… doesn’t know his way around.”
Huo Lan frowned, looking up at him.
“Mr. Liang might be running around the villa crying now, and has just reached outside your door.”
The butler abandoned logic: “Why don’t you open the door and see?”
Huo Lan was in his sensitive period and unfamiliar with the scope of gift-giving, making him easily swayed, but he wasn’t brainless: “Nonsense.”
The butler sighed.
“Mr. Liang’s health isn’t good,” Huo Lan had already been vaguely convinced by his previous statement, but couldn’t believe this one no matter what, “How could he run a whole lap?”
“You all mean well for me, but there’s no need to lie about such things to comfort me.”
Huo Lan vaguely knew these people’s intentions, but he wasn’t one to indulge himself in fabricated warmth: “Tell me the truth, there’s nothing I can’t handle.”
When Huo Lan was young in the Huo residence, the butler would also do this, bringing something and telling little Huo Lan it was specially sent by his parents.
Little Huo Lan would be overjoyed, unstoppable by anyone, insisting on barging in to thank his parents.
…
Huo Lan didn’t want to be confined by the past anymore. He took a deep breath, not allowing himself to be happy for even a moment over such illusory hopes, and opened the door with one hand: “Mr. Liang–”
Huo Lan paused.
Holding his breath, Huo Lan embraced Liang Xiao who had fallen into his arms, his mind already beginning to doubt his own senses.
“…” Liang Xiao hadn’t quite come to his senses either, coughing once: “Here.”
Huo Lan: “…”
Liang Xiao had fallen solidly, being held by him, his cheek brushing against the soft fabric of the pajamas, his ears unconsciously warming.
The butler’s setup had been so long that Liang Xiao, wrapped in clothes, had been waiting at the door for ages without hearing the agreed-upon signal of a breaking cup.
Liang Xiao had leaned against the door to rest for a while, and unable to resist any longer, had started eavesdropping.
Just as he heard the crucial part, the support behind him suddenly disappeared.
…And so he tumbled in headfirst.
Although he didn’t understand how the story had developed to this point, Liang Xiao had actually heard the plot of himself “running around the villa crying and coughing.”
Liang Xiao was a bit conflicted, not knowing how to portray such a complex character. Steeling himself, he pulled out eye drops from his pocket: “…President Huo.”
It would be too inhuman to pretend to cry with eye drops right in front of President Huo.
Liang Xiao still had some professional ethics, softly tugging at his sleeve: “Please put me down…”
Huo Lan’s arms suddenly tightened.
Liang Xiao’s breath caught, and the rest of his words were silenced.
Huo Lan almost suspected that his sensitive period was even giving him hallucinations, wanting to dispel them, yet the person in his arms felt particularly real.
His chest heaved violently, taking several quick, deep breaths. Suddenly, he bent down and lifted Liang Xiao up horizontally.
Liang Xiao was startled: “President Huo, I can walk.”
Huo Lan’s gaze fixed steadily on him, refusing to let go: “Next time, don’t run laps around the villa.”
Liang Xiao: “…”
Liang Xiao: “Oh.”
Huo Lan was afraid he was tired, and also afraid this position was uncomfortable for him. He closed his eyes and tried to restrain himself several times, but still forced himself to slowly relax.
Liang Xiao noticed his muscles gradually relaxing, and his heart ached a bit: “President Huo.”
Huo Lan looked up.
Liang Xiao closed his eyes, voluntarily wrapped his arms around him, and buried his face in Huo Lan’s neck.
Huo Lan shuddered: “We can’t–”
“We can,” Liang Xiao said. “President Huo, I have no strength left.”
Liang Xiao: “My glands are uncomfortable, my pheromones are unstable, I feel awful, and I just…”
Liang Xiao sighed: “Just ran two laps around the villa.”
Huo Lan’s arms tensed rigidly.
Liang Xiao’s entire body felt burning hot, his breath was warm too, sweeping across the skin of Huo Lan’s neck and finding its way down the collar of the pajamas.
Huo Lan’s pheromones became unstable as well. He closed his eyes, trying his best to calm down.
Liang Xiao had never done this kind of thing before and couldn’t think of anything else to say. He completely buried himself in Huo Lan’s embrace and bluntly flirted: “I want to sleep with you.”
Huo Lan didn’t respond.
Liang Xiao pinched the eye drops, steeling himself, ready to quickly squeeze them on his face while Huo Lan couldn’t see, planning to cry out and insist on going back to the bedroom to sleep. Suddenly, he felt a tightening embrace from behind.
Liang Xiao lost his grip on the eye drops and hastily wrapped his arms around Huo Lan’s shoulders.
Huo Lan held him tightly, strode out the door, and returned to the bedroom.
Carefully placing Liang Xiao on the bed, Huo Lan looked around once more, confirming there wasn’t a second Mr. Liang in the bedroom, before finally feeling completely at ease.
It wasn’t a hallucination.
Huo Lan knew his emotions were intense and, afraid of frightening Liang Xiao, tucked him in and went to calm himself down.
Liang Xiao turned his head, watching Huo Lan standing silently by the window, and couldn’t help but prop himself up.
Huo Lan wanted to open the window but didn’t want Liang Xiao to catch a chill. He closed his eyes, lowered his head, and leaned against the cool window chilled by the night breeze.
Liang Xiao threw off the covers, got out of bed, and went to embrace him.
Huo Lan paused slightly: “…What’s wrong?”
Liang Xiao actually didn’t really want to do this by the window.
It wasn’t because he was worried about being photographed secretly – the defenses deep in the villa were very tight, and there were no other buildings of equal height for miles around, so there were no necessary conditions for secret photography.
But this time… he wasn’t very confident about what he was planning to do.
If he scared President Huo, their current position was all too convenient for Huo Lan to scoop him up with one hand and throw him out the window.
Liang Xiao had purposely checked when he went out for some air today. Outside the study was a lotus pond, and outside the bedroom was a patch of short pine trees.
Frost-resistant and snow-defying, lush and verdant.
The leaves were all needles.
Liang Xiao was a bit worried. After trying to pull Huo Lan away from the window twice without success, he asked: “Shall we talk on the bed?”
Huo Lan instinctively refused to let himself relax, closing his eyes and shaking his head: “You speak.”
“You speak,” Huo Lan looked at him, “I’ll listen.”
Liang Xiao met his gaze, his heart softening bit by bit.
Liang Xiao gave up, tugging at his sleeve all the way up, and grasping his hand: “Huo Lan.”
Huo Lan’s breath suddenly caught.
“Being with you…” Liang Xiao had his own agenda, vaguely swapping concepts, “I feel very comfortable.”
Holding Huo Lan’s hand, Liang Xiao’s voice was soft and sincere: “So I want… you to feel comfortable too.”
Not having to be tense all the time,
Not having to punish yourself, not having to hurt yourself and others by isolating yourself somewhere.
Not having to disbelieve.
“That’s why I gave you pajamas,” Liang Xiao asked, “Are they comfortable?”
Huo Lan opened his mouth, found he couldn’t make a sound, and afraid Liang Xiao might think he was unwilling to respond, hastily nodded forcefully.
Seeing him nod so eagerly, Liang Xiao’s eyes stung a bit. He explained earnestly: “This is my gift to you, I won’t take it back.”
“If you like it,” Liang Xiao smiled, “just hug me.”
…
The effect was a bit too good.
When their President Huo suddenly lifted him off the ground, Liang Xiao momentarily wanted to hug Huo Lan back and shout for help.
But Huo Lan didn’t make any other moves.
Huo Lan leaned against the cold window sill, the soft fabric of his pajamas absorbing some of the chill, yet he seemed completely unaware, holding Liang Xiao tightly in his arms.
Liang Xiao instinctively hugged him back: “President Huo–”
Huo Lan didn’t dare tighten his arms further, the pain intense, and he let out a muffled groan.
Liang Xiao softly corrected himself: “…Huo Lan.”
Liang Xiao raised his hand, mimicking Huo Lan’s usual gesture, and gently patted the top of Huo Lan’s head a couple of times.
Huo Lan appeared cold and rigid, with short, neat hair that was rather stiff, prickling the palm slightly.
“It’s okay to feel upset,” Liang Xiao said softly, drawing from experience. “At times like this, it’s alright to be upset.”
Liang Xiao pulled him closer, placing one hand behind Huo Lan’s back to shield him from the frost-covered window. “If it’s too much, you can even lean hard on my shoulder.”
Liang Xiao spoke from his own experience, but immediately regretted his last words: “But… not too hard…”
Huo Lan shook his head gently, lifted Liang Xiao up, and rested his head in the crook of Liang Xiao’s neck.
Liang Xiao silently mourned the loss of their height difference: “…”
Originally, the height difference between them wasn’t so drastic, but Liang Xiao had exceptional proportions for an omega, with most of his height in his legs and a waistline that could put actors of the same height to shame.
With the CEO holding him like this by the buttocks, Liang Xiao felt somewhat uncomfortable.
However, the atmosphere didn’t seem appropriate to bring it up.
Ignoring the awkward position as best he could, Liang Xiao embraced Huo Lan, one hand shielding his back from the biting cold, the other gently stroking his hair.
The butler had said that the CEO had never been happy in this house.
Liang Xiao couldn’t understand that feeling. He had no place to call home, and whenever he was unhappy somewhere, he’d simply leave and move on to the next place.
Huo Lan was different.
He was bound to this place, unable to break free or leave, with no escape.
The butler said the CEO was used to being alone. At first, he was estranged from his parents, with no one able to get close. Later, he became cold, stern, and autocratic, and no one dared to approach him.
It’s lonely at the top.
So even if he wanted to interact with others, he didn’t know how.
“If you really don’t like it here,” Liang Xiao said, trying to think of a solution, “After I earn some money for a few years…”
Huo Lan was slightly taken aback.
“We don’t need to buy a house right away… Weren’t you planning to acquire Longtao?”
Liang Xiao mumbled, “We can save where we can.”
Huo Lan was silent for a moment, wanting to explain that the money for buying a house and acquiring Longtao came from different accounts, but instinctively felt it wasn’t the right time to speak up. He nodded slightly.
“Did I not mention this to you before?” Liang Xiao asked.
Liang Xiao relaxed and instinctively switched back to his usual form of address: “What’s my pheromone called?”
Huo Lan barely found his voice: “What?”
“Grass color,” Liang Xiao said. “The fine rain on the imperial street is as smooth as cream, the color of grass seems near from afar but is absent up close.”
Every time he filled out forms at the hospital, Liang Xiao used these two lines to describe his pheromone classification.
But he actually knew the next two lines as well.
“Does Xingguan have a process? Hurry up and buy me over.”
Liang Xiao smiled: “Give me three years.”
Though he couldn’t make a name for himself these years, it wasn’t wasted time.
Being an extra on film sets, a background actor in variety shows, working as a production assistant, camera assistant, lighting assistant… There were few related jobs he hadn’t done.
These tasks were trivial, but not necessarily just soul-crushing.
“Give me three years,” Liang Xiao said. “I’ll earn enough for a home I can bring you back to.”
Huo Lan suddenly looked up, his gaze falling into Liang Xiao’s eyes.
Liang Xiao met his gaze, smiled, his eyes clear and bright.
He never felt Huo Lan was unapproachable, nor did he believe it was lonely at the top.
There had been many seemingly impossible things these years. He once thought he couldn’t survive, yet he lived on healthily until now. He once thought he’d be stuck in the mire forever, yet he fought with all his might and clawed his way out.
Things he thought he couldn’t do, he just had to do them.
If he wanted to pursue their CEO Huo, he’d work hard to reach an equal position, then pursue him fair and square.
“This poem has a second half,” Liang Xiao asked him. “Do you know it?”
Huo Lan stared at him steadily, his eyes flickering: “I–”
Liang Xiao rarely had the chance to ask someone this kind of question, so he didn’t give him a chance to answer, instead jumping in: “I do.”
Huo Lan opened his mouth but didn’t make a sound, his lips pressing together slightly.
Huo Lan nodded, quietly looking at him.
“The best time of the year is early spring.”
Liang Xiao said softly, his eyes brimming with pride: “Far surpassing the misty willows filling the imperial capital.”
