Chapter 17 “不吃就舔舔 / Lick Without Eating”

 When he stood up, Su Hanyu deliberately crossed to Qin Mu’s other side and looked behind him.
Checking to make sure that he was the only one to come, and he was quietly relieved.
Qin Mu pretended he didn’t notice this little detail, nodded to Su Hanyu and sat down opposite him.

    “Would you like something to drink?” Su Hanyu asked softly.

    Qin Mu slowly shook his head, his voice soft and indifferent “No, Gu Qin is waiting for me outside.”

    Hearing Gu Qin’s name, Su Hanyu’s expression became dull, and he didn’t know what to say for a while.
He lowered his eyes in an attempt to cover the gloominess he felt inside, and only hummed in response.
After not seeing him for a few months, he found that Qin Mu was a little different from what he had in his impression, not because of a change in appearance, but in terms of his words and deeds, and he was calmer than before, elegant and steady.

    It’s like he had been reborn.

    The man in front of him has shed away the past, and the temperament that has emerged is gentle and calm.
Just sitting there quietly makes people fascinated.
Su Hanyu felt that he had been possessed by ghosts at the beginning.
He actually felt that such a man was boring, and abandoned his treasure for a greedy Qi Zicong.

    He hoped there was still a chance in getting back the Qin Mu before him.
This time his love for Qin Mu was completely resurrected, even more so than when he first saw Qin Mu in school.
Stunning.

    The atmosphere went quiet for a minute.

    Qin Mu was the first to break the silence, “How are you doing recently?”

    “I’ve been….
okay.”

“You should know that I’m getting married soon.
The reason I have come—” He took out the invitation that had been prepared and placed it gently on the tabletop.
Qin Mu’s elegant fingertips rested on the red and festive card as he slid it over to sit in front of Su Hanyu’s downcast face, “I wanted to invite you to my wedding with Gu Qin.”

    “…”

    Su Hanyu swept his eyes over the red invitation in front of him taking in the details.
Its cover is simple but beautiful pure red, and the dazzling gold “double happiness” stings his eyes like a knife.
(1)

    Acting as if he hadn’t noticed his strangeness, Qin Mu’s eyes were full of sincerity as he slowly continued, “Hanyu, you are a very important person in my life.
I really hope that you can come to my wedding.” Gu Qin had given him 10 minutes before he would come in as well.
Qin Mu utilized this short window to its max as he picked the most heart-piercing of words, designed to make the regret value higher.

    When Su Hanyu heard this, he could no longer suppress himself, stretched out his hand to cover the back of Qin Mu’s hand, and said hoarsely, “You… can’t you not marry someone else.”

   Without pulling his hand back, Qin Mu just showed a bitter smile, shook his head and sighed, “We can’t go back.”

    “Are you still blaming me?” Deep pain and regret were revealed in his eyes.
Su Hanyu squeezed Qin Mu’s hand in vain as if this would make Qin Mu change his mind.
This time, Qin Mu pulled his hand back swiftly, expressing his nostalgia and melancholy for the past in a timely manner, “I did hate you once.” 

    Su Hanyu’s complexion suddenly became extremely pale, and his lips trembled slightly.
He had long been brooding about what Qin Mu said to him in the hotel.
Looking at Qin Mu with complicated eyes asked, “I do have a question I want to ask you.
“

    Qin Mu met his gaze steadily, “You want to know when I and Gu Qin got together?” Seeing Su Hanyu’s acquiescence, he smiled and said, “ At that time we had been acting a play together for you.
In fact, that was the first time I and Gu Qin had ever met.”

     Su Hanyu realized that when the other man mentioned Gu Qin, his face was full of affection.
Su Hanyu felt that his heart was so painful that he could hardly breathe.
He had to open his mouth and gasp to smooth the violent ups and downs in his heart.
He tried to calm himself, but the trembling in his words revealed his true emotions, “Do you… love him?”

    At this time, there were only two of them sitting in the cafe, and neither of them deliberately lowered their voices.
These words were clearly passed into the ears of the young man who was about to walk in.
Gu Qin paused in his footsteps, and silently hid his body behind the wall, his white face was plunged into the shadows, only a pair of clear and transparent eyes were faintly glowing with faint stars.

    Qin Mu, who didn’t realize that Gu Qin had arrived inside and was now eavesdropping, pondered for a few seconds, looked directly at Su Hanyu, and replied without hesitation: “Yes, I love him.”

    Su Hanyu’s expression was stricken.

    Before he received Qin Mu’s invitation to come here, he still had the idea of ​​being able to reconcile with Qin Mu.
However, Qin Mu unabashedly expressed his love for Gu Qin in front of him.
This kind of bravery and frankness is something Qin Mu had never had before.

    Just as he looked dazed, a young man’s voice came in from the side, accompanied by the sound of leather shoes meeting the cafe’s floor.

    “Qin Mu, the agreed time is up.” Gu Qin walked to Qin Mu’s side and pointed to the watch on his wrist.

    Qin Mu: “…” This kid came up without saying a word.

    Gu Qin took Qin Mu’s shoulders very naturally, and coldly nodded at Su Hanyu, who had a stiff complexion, “Hello.”

    Su Hanyu stood up from his seat and replied tremblingly: “…Hello.”

     “Thank you for giving Qin Mu to me.”

    Qin Mu’s eyes flashed with astonishment.
You must know that with his proud nature, he couldn’t believe that Gu Qin would ever say such a thing.
In his own mind, he recalled the conversation he had with Gu Qin.
It seemed that Gu Qin had deliberately cooperated with him in order to achieve his goal of retaliation against Su Hanyu.

    This sentence obviously gave Su Hanyu a serious crit, and he was speechless.
(2)

    Before leaving, Qin Mu smiled and said to the green-faced Su Hanyu: “My wedding, you must attend.”

    Su Hanyu: “…… okay”

    ——–

     On the way back, Qin Mu asked: “Did you hear anything just now?”

     The youth’s tone was calm and did not reveal the slightest strangeness: “No.”

     “Really?”

     Gu Qin definitely said: “No!”

    Before he finished his words, a small scoff came from Qin Mu.
Gu Qin paused, his tone stiff: “What are you laughing at?”

    Qin Mu poked the corner of his slightly upturned mouth, “Then what are you laughing at? You’ve been smiling since you came in.” He is not blind, and this kid often has a bitter and hateful expression.
Just today, the corners of his mouth are happy.
It’s like blooming a flower.

    Gu Qin immediately lost his faint smile.

    Qin Mu (☉_☉;)

    … Wow

    ————–

    The sound of water from the bathroom was heard in his ears, Qin Mu retracted his gaze from the bathroom door and bit into an apple slice that Gu Qin had personally cut up for him.
Seeing that this world was about to end but he and Gu Qin had no in-depth communication other than kissing, and Qin Mu couldn’t help but sigh heavily.

    【You have now collected 98% of the pain value of the scum gong.
】

    Qin Mu thought to himself, He was not surprised by this data.
He believed that on the day of the wedding, the remaining 2% of the pain value would be filled.

    【What are you thinking?】

    Qin Mu couldn’t help but cast his gaze in the direction of the bathroom again, “I was thinking about how to have a marginal and indescribable beep with Gu Qin——”

    【…】

   “Don’t worry, I can resist eating ice cream no matter how delicious it is.”

    【……】

   “I’ll just lick it.”

    【Qin Mu ……】

  “Shhh, he’s out now.” Qin Mu’s eyes lit up, put down the fruit plate, and greeted him, “All cleaned up?”

     “En.” Gu Qin was drying his wet hair with a snow-white towel.
Qin Mu stretched out one hand, took hold of the towel, as his low, hoarse voice sounded in his ear: “I’ll do it for you.”

The hot breath sprayed on his ears, and it made them a bit itchy.

    He did not refuse, and Qin Mu pushed him to the side of the bed and sat down.
Qin Mu moved behind him and used a hairdryer to help him quickly dry his hair.
Running his fingers through Gu Qin’s hair he gently massaged his scalp.
Gu Qin closed his eyes, enjoying Qin Mu’s rare initiative.

    Tonight, he used the same shower gel as Qin Mu, with a fresh and fragrant smell.
At this moment, the breath of the two of them entangled each other, regardless of each other, and the ambiguous factors gradually grew in the air.
He doesn’t know if it is his illusion,  but he always feels that every action of this man is a temptation.

    Just when he was hesitating to open his eyes, Qin Mu opened his mouth: “Just one quilt tonight?” Although the two of them slept in the same bed these days, they had their own quilts.

    Gu Qin opened his eyes abruptly and met Qin Mu’s suddenly serious eyes, which contained obvious deep meaning.
The long eyelashes fluttered as if they were disturbed by a butterfly.
He and Qin Mu looked at each other for a while, until he lowered his eyes, nodded, and replied, “Okay.”

   At this time, they were only a week away from their wedding.

———————————————————

1:   If I figure out how to put pictures in I will!! From my understanding, “囍”  is like “ Good fortune in marriage” or good luck and is a very popular choice for invitations.
Those are usually bright red with gold accents as they are traditional wedding colors for health and fortune.

2:   Severe Crit, a critical hit in gaming terms.
In animes, this is usually the part where the person spits up blood to show they got damaged.
Critical hits may not be the killing blow but they are very strong.