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Xie Lian’s eyebrows furrow as he continues to concentrate on the figure of the person standing a few feet away from him.
Xie Lian had just come back from running an errand at Puji Shrine, only to find Hua Cheng deep in conversation with a worker of his. Not wanting to interrupt, Xie Lian had decided to wait off a little bit to the side. And after a few minutes of waiting with nothing else to do, Xie Lian had found himself observing Hua Cheng more intently than he normally would have allowed himself to.
He certainly had a rather alluring figure, slender build and a tall frame. Xie Lian really had no complaints against it. How could he? Everything about it complimented his own so perfectly. Those long arms were easily able to wrap him in warm embraces, whether to calm him in a dire situation or if only as a sign of love and affection during an intimate moment.
But if Xie Lian was being truly honest with himself, there was one thing in particular that made him unhappy about Hua Cheng’s figure. And the source of that unhappiness was height. Xie Lian never knew someone could be so tall! Of course after all the time they had spent together, Hua Cheng’s stature was anything but new to Xie Lian, but the only time his attention was really drawn to it was when they were standing exceptionally close to each other--and that seemed to be happening more and more frequently as of late.
When the height difference between Hua Cheng and himself was blaringly obvious though, was whenever they kissed. And recently they had been kissing quite a lot. And those kisses? They were good . They always began with Hua Cheng softly caressing Xie Lian’s face with his hand, then either titling his chin up or cupping his face between his hands before gingerly lifting it up towards his own. Hua Cheng would then bend his head down to match the level of Xie Lian’s, and start planting light kisses down the length of it. Commencing at his forehead, Hua Cheng would move onto planting a kiss on the bridge of his nose, then the tip, and then he would plant one on his chin. The culmination would take place on the much anticipating lips of the two, and when those two pairs met together it felt like magic every time.
With such breathtaking kisses, there should be no reason Xie Lian was left wanting. But the truth of the matter was, Xie Lian was in fact dissatisfied with one aspect, and that was who was doing the kissing. Xie Lian loved being peppered by Hua Cheng’s sweet kisses. He loved how they left him feeling so absolutely cherished. But Xie Lian desperately longed to return the favor for Hua Cheng. Xie Lian wanted to return those gentle displays of affection, but how could he when even getting up on his tiptoes would only bring him to Hua Cheng’s chin? If even that.
Xie Lian had never felt a particular way about his height--he never had to. But lately he had found himself more and more frequently wishing he had been blessed with a few more centimeters.
“Ge ge, is there something on my face?” The worker Hua Cheng had been talking to is gone and now it is just the two of them standing at the entrance of Paradise Manor. He flashes a flirty smile at Xie Lian, ready for any answer Xie Lian will come up with for why he has been staring so long.
“N-nothing. I was lost in thought and just happened to look in your direction.” Xie Lian quickly turns away to hide the blush rising to his cheeks.
“Well if ge ge isn’t busy, I don’t know if he would accompany me on a stroll around the lake?” Hua Cheng poses the question as thought he doesn’t expect Xie Lian to answer anything besides ‘yes.’
“It would be my pleasure to accompany San Lang.” Xie Lian pushes his previous thoughts to the back of his mind and smiles warmly at Hua Cheng.
Hua Cheng begins walking over to where Xie Lian is standing at the top of the stairs and as he gets closer, Xie Lian cannot help but return to that previous gloomy sentiment of his. He gazes after Hua Cheng as he walks past him.
Really San Lang, aren’t you a bit ridiculously tall? More than a head, he beats me by. Xie Lian lets out a sigh and closes his eyes. I guess I just have to accept that I’ll never be able to shower San Lang in kisses while we’re standing upright.
“Is ge ge coming?” Xie Lian opens his eyes and is just about to answer that ‘yes, he is’ when the words freeze in his mouth. Staring directly back at him is that cool, black eye of Hua Cheng’s matched by the black eye patch covering the other. Directly. Xie Lian is exactly eye level with Hua Cheng!
How can this…
Xie Lian looks down and realizes the cause behind this pleasant surprise. Hua Cheng is standing two steps lower than Xie Lian is on the stairs. He rubs his forehead, not sure whether to laugh or cry at the fact it takes such a large distance to close the gap between them.
Now’s not the time to worry about that. Now’s my chance!
“San Lang, don’t move, and close your eyes!” Xie Lian doesn’t have to ask Hua Cheng twice before he graciously complies. Eyes closed, Hua Cheng waits patiently to hear any more orders Xie Lian might have for him.
Nervous to try something he’s always longed to, Xie Lian’s heart feels as though it will burst out of his chest at any moment. Matching Hua Cheng, he closes his own eyes and takes a step forward to close the slight distance between them.
An error on his part to say the least.
His bad luck kicking in at the perfect moment, Xie Lian’s right foot trips over nothing, almost sending him tumbling down the stairs if not for Hua Cheng’s swiftness in catching him with his left arm.
“Ge ge, are you ok?” He helps Xie Lian steady himself, worry showing clear on his face.
“I’m fine San Lang, thank you.” Xie Lian begins making his way down the stairs, desperately wanting to pretend the previous event didn’t take place.
“Was there something ge ge wanted to do? Or wanted me to do?” Hua Cheng asks, eye filled with innocent curiosity.
“No, nothing. I just wanted to try playing a small prank and clearly got punished for even having the thought. Let’s just go and take that walk.” Xie Lian continues descending the stairs, aware that Hua Cheng remains curious, but not having the face to explain the whole thing. He is feeling embarrassed enough as it is. Hua Cheng stays standing in that same spot for a few seconds, but when he realizes Xie Lian is not going to give him any other answer, he makes up his mind not to press the matter further and follows after him.
Xie Lian and Hua Cheng leisurely stroll along the lakeside, laughing and swapping stories of those 800 years when they were apart. They avoid brushing upon any bleak moments, wishing to keep the atmosphere airy and pleasant. When they reach the far end of the lake, they come to a mountain wall covered entirely in green vines wrapped in beautiful flowers of varying colors. Blue flowers, red flowers, pink flowers, yellow flowers, there seem to be flowers of every variety taking up residence on those vines. A truly charming sight.
Noticing that Hua Cheng has not made any movement to turn back the way they came, Xie Lian uses this opportunity to continue gazing at that colorfully decorated mountainside.
It truly is an appealing sight for the eyes. I never thought I would find something so beautiful in Ghost City of all places.
He thinks a silent apology at Hua Cheng for insulting his ghost city in such a way and continues scanning the wall when his eyes fall upon a white flower hidden amongst the bunch. Xie Lian quickly glances over the entirety of the wall and sure enough .
This is the only white flower on the entire wall? How peculiar. Peculiar not only because it is the only white one, but because Xie Lian is rather familiar with this specific flower. This white flower is the same one his statues have been gifted all these years by Hua Cheng!
“San Lang, this flower…” Xie Lian turns his head toward Hua Cheng and finds that he is beaming at him.
“As expected, ge ge has a good eye.” Hua Cheng flashes a toothy smile before walking over to the spot where that flower is sitting. With his right hand, he reaches to that cursed scimitar pressed against his waist and draws it. Confused about what he’s doing--wondering whether Hua Cheng means to attack this pitiful flower for some odd reason--Xie Lian begins to ask what he means to do when Hua Cheng’s next action surprises him even further. Instead of a swift slashing movement like Xie Lian expected, E-Ming is used to slowly pull away the vines surrounding where that white flower is sitting, revealing an entrance narrow enough for one person to walk through at a time. An entrance otherwise hidden away from view.
“Oh, quit whining.” Xie Lian glances to the side of the entrance where Hua Cheng is standing and sees that he is talking to a shaking E-Ming. Clearly the scimitar felt slighted for being used in such an unbecoming way. Hua Cheng lightly slaps it before turning his attention back to Xie Lian.
“After you ge ge.”
So they were going in.
Although apprehensive at first, Xie Lian remarks to himself that nothing dangerous should come of this. After all, Hua Cheng is not only with him but prodding him along, and in addition his curiosity was simply getting the better of him. He really wanted to see what was in this hidden cave! If the last one he had been in was any indication, he should be in for something truly fascinating.
Xie Lian begins walking through the dark narrow pathway, Hua Cheng following closely behind, and it seems only a few minutes pass before he glimpses a faint light up ahead. Within a few seconds, the faint light becomes exceptionally clear as they walk into a small clearing.
Xie Lian’s breath catches in his throat. All around him is white. White flowers. The same type of white flowers as the one he saw on the mountainside completely fill the walls of the cave. The cave also has its own small private lake, probably connected somewhere to the lake outside and above it is an opening big enough to see the moon. With the moon shining as brightly as it is tonight, it is clearly reflected upon that lake which helps it illuminate the entirety of the cave.
“What does ge ge think?”
Xie Lian hadn’t noticed, but upon being met by this sight he had sucked in a huge breath and had not let go of it making his answer to Hua Cheng sound especially awe-stricken.
“San Lang, this is beautiful! Truly, this is one of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen.” Xie Lian makes sure not to mince his words and communicate how genuinely captivated he is by its beauty.
“That’s reassuring to hear.” Hua Cheng lets out a small laugh. “I was hoping this would give you a more positive experience than the last cave.”
Xie Lian begins to object that he found Hua Cheng’s other cave to be quite nice when his breath catches in his throat again. If he could describe the sight before as being breathtaking, he would have to describe the one in front of him now as heart-stopping. The light from the moon streaming in casts an almost ethereal glow on that face of Hua Cheng’s, making him look more like what someone would expect a heavenly official to look like rather than a ghost king. Xie Lian always found Hua Cheng exceedingly handsome, but somehow the way the moonlight was hitting him, he looks more dazzling than ever before.
Right now, all Xie Lian wishes to do is walk up to Hua Cheng and start showering that radiant face in tender kisses. But Xie Lian knows that won’t happen. If he goes up to Hua Cheng, once again it will be Hua Cheng lavishing him with soft kisses. Once again, he will be on the receiving end of those kisses that make his heart melt.
But is that really something to worry about right now? No. It doesn’t matter who’s kissing and who’s being kissed. All that matters is that I love him.
His mind made up, Xie Lian walks up to Hua Cheng and closes his eyes, ready for the caresses he has become so familiar with. He waits for a few seconds before he decides to open his eyes and see why they haven’t come, when he feels himself start to lift off the ground.
Caught off guard, Xie Lian rapidly opens his eyes and is yet again met by an extraordinary sight. In the moment his eyes were closed, Hua Cheng’s silver butterflies had materialized and were now flying around the interior of the cave. Some butterflies were perching on those white flowers, while others were dancing across the surface of the lake. These were charming sights to be sure, but what really amazed Xie Lian was that there were a large number of butterflies underneath him...lifting him up! Those butterflies were putting all the power they could muster in those tiny wings of theirs and using it to make Xie Lian rise--rise until he was eye level with Hua Cheng. What charming little helpers!
The opportunity now presented to him, Xie Lian doesn’t waste a moment. He cups his hands around Hua Cheng’s face and begins his venture.
A kiss on the forehead.
A kiss between the brows.
A kiss on the bridge of the nose and then the tip.
A kiss on the chin.
He places every kiss with extreme delicacy, aiming to convey as much love and affection he holds for Hua Cheng through them.
He lifts his lips off Hua Cheng’s face and opens his eyes at the same time that Hua Cheng opens his. For a moment they simply bask in each other’s gaze, with neither being able to bear the thought of breaking away.
“Is this what ge ge wanted to do earlier?” Hua Cheng sports that signature flirty smile, his eye shimmering.
“It’s what I wanted to do for a long time now.” Xie Lian presses his forehead gently against Hua Cheng’s, a blissful smile spreading across his lips. The coolness of Hua Cheng’s forehead nicely contrasts the burning of Xie Lian’s own, but instead of acting as a coolant the temperature of the two’s bodies only seems to increase.
“I think ge ge forgot something?” Xie Lian opens his eyes and sees Hua Cheng giving him an expectant look.
“San Lang is correct.” He grins and closes his eyes again with Hua Cheng following suit.
Then their lips are pressed against each other, and as if demonstrating their approval, those silver butterflies begin to dance around Xie Lian and Hua Cheng.
And all at once, the world around them seems to fall away as they are enshrouded in a flurry of gleaming silver and shimmering love.