“Once upon a time, there was a cruel plush factory and a group of kittens transported there. The owner of the plush factory specialized in making toys from the fur of many, many kittens. But he thought one of the kittens was very beautiful, so he didn’t kill it. Instead, he kept it by his side on a chain as his own pet.
The other kittens were cruelly stuffed into the factory workshops. The surviving kitten watched its companions leave one by one and felt terrified. Through days of fear, it became cold and numb. Later, whenever innocent kittens entered the factory, it would immediately run far away and refuse to be friends with them, so that it wouldn’t feel afraid or sad anymore.
Afterward, a tiny kitten arrived at the factory.
The tiny kitten didn’t know what awaited it, but it was very clever. Taking advantage of the factory owner’s inattention, it secretly escaped its cage and encountered the kitten by chance. The tiny kitten wanted to be friends with the kitten, but the kitten was too cold and ignored it completely. However, the next day, the kitten did not tell his master that a tiny kitten had escaped in the night. So, the tiny kitten came to play with the kitten every evening. Slowly, the kitten lowered its guard again, and they became best friends.
The kitten and the tiny kitten secretly played hide-and-seek in the flower garden, and sometimes they sneaked into the factory owner’s study to read fairytales about other kittens’ successful adventures. They even planned an escape together, taking the other surviving kittens with them…”
“Then what happened?”
In the bedroom, Wei Changli lay quietly on the pillow, his eyes reflecting a moist shimmer in the darkness.
Yan Xu lay on his side next to him, fully clothed, following his wishes by telling him a bedtime story.
Wei Changli rarely had a fever, so almost no one knew that once he started burning up, he would experience repetitive and peculiar emotional shifts.
This was a type of rare pathological stress state—at this moment, Wei Changli displayed a personality and behavior completely different from his usual self. He was noble to the point of being a bit pampered, his thoughts were wildly imaginative, and he would occasionally make strange and eccentric requests, the very picture of a young master raised in a greenhouse.
Wei Changli held a lock of Yan Xu’s hair in his hand, playing with it as carelessly as he had three years ago. He gave it a very, very light tug and pressed, “What happened then?”
Yan Xu held his hand but didn’t push him away. His gaze was heavy; amid the gentleness and dreaminess, there was a hint of some other faint emotion.
“Then the factory owner discovered it. Angry, he decided to punish the kitten and the tiny kitten. He took them into the plush factory, preparing to use an even more cruel process to turn them into plush toys.”
Wei Changli took a sharp breath.
Yan Xu pinched his earlobe and continued, “But later, the kitten and tiny kitten’s parents found the plush factory. The factory owner ended his own life while trying to escape, the factory was shut down, and all the surviving kittens were rescued.”
Wei Changli frowned, not very satisfied with this somewhat perfunctory ending.
Yan Xu: “The story is over. It’s time to sleep.”
Wei Changli looked back at him silently.
His eyes were covered in a thin layer of mist, the corners of his eyes slightly red. His gaze was fervent, carrying a sort of hook that was innocent yet unaware of itself.
Yan Xu’s gaze darkened. He leaned down and kissed Wei Changli’s eyelid.
Wei Changli submissively lowered his long lashes. After sensing that this goodnight kiss ended just as perfunctorily as the bedtime story, he silently opened his eyes again.
“Is that it?” he asked in a low voice.
Yan Xu didn’t answer. He simply tucked the blanket tight around him and stayed by his side to rest.
Wei Changli stared wide-eyed into the silence. His dark pupils fixed on the simple, pale ceiling for a long while. He pursed his lips, as if suddenly feeling aggrieved.
In the next moment, he struggled to throw off the covers and flipped over, crossing the intangible boundary between them. With his legs apart, he sat nearly on top of Yan Xu’s lower abdomen. He leaned forward slightly, bracing both hands on either side of the headboard, pinning the man between his arms.
Yan Xu seemingly hadn’t expected him to still have such strength; his usually calm eyes wavered slightly.
Wei Changli looked at the person inches away. He reached out to hook his chin, then earnestly cupped his face, calling out “Beauty” in a dazed voice.
He was clearly feverish to the point of being unconscious.
Yan Xu wanted to put him back under the covers but worried he would topple over and hit his head on the bed, so he used his other hand to loosely support his waist.
Wei Changli, however, would not follow his lead. The young man leaned closer, like a drunken libertine, their noses touching. He let out a small puff of warm breath, his words slurred and ambiguous.
He called out “Beauty” once more.
Yan Xu frowned slightly.
Wei Changli propped himself up on his arms, looking down at him from above. He suddenly smiled—a smile that was very obedient yet very proud.
“Are you afraid?” he asked in a whisper.
Yan Xu’s deep eyes stared at him for a moment before asking, “What am I afraid of?”
“Afraid of this—”
As soon as those three words left his mouth, Wei Changli lowered his head and lightly licked Yan Xu’s lips.
It was a thin pair of lips, yet the touch was very soft, carrying a sweet coolness, like kissing a flake of snow from outside the window.
Yan Xu’s heart skipped a beat. Before he could react, Wei Changli’s warm breath approached again.
He was like a child who hadn’t tasted sweetness for a long time. The first taste had been brief, and the sliver of sweetness quickly dissipated in his mouth. Because the person beneath him remained frozen and motionless, he was eager to try a second taste.
Yan Xu suddenly reached out to press against his shoulders.
“Not allowed to kiss?” Wei Changli’s long lashes flickered searchingly. He shook his head gently and asked, “Not allowed to kiss… then why do you keep se-du-cing me?”
Wei Changli lifted a strand of Yan Xu’s hair and toyed with it between his fingers, inhaling the elegant scent of Epiphyllum from the long locks. His gaze remained fixed on Yan Xu, his voice lowered to the absolute minimum, as if someone were eavesdropping on their secrets—
“Wh-y-do-you-keep-se-du-cing-me?”
Yan Xu’s lips moved as if he were the vulnerable party caught with nowhere to hide. Yet, he held Wei Changli’s shoulders, willingly placing him upon a pedestal.
“What are you worried about?”
Wei Changli’s cheeks were flushed bright red from the fever; his body temperature was at a completely abnormal level, so everything became dizzying and dreamlike, like an out-of-body experience.
“Are you worried I’ll regret it?”
Wei Changli sat back slightly. The corners of his eyes were very red, so red it looked as if he were crying.
“I won’t regret it.”
Before those words could even land, his world suddenly spun. Before Wei Changli could react, he was pressed against the pillow by Yan Xu’s hands on his shoulders. Before he could adapt to the dizziness, a sudden pain hit his lips.
Yan Xu leaned over and bit his lip with a force that was neither dignified nor restrained—completely unlike his usual self. Blood appeared instantly.
Wei Changli cried out softly in pain, but quickly reacted by biting the other’s lips back. The two were like two drunken beasts tearing at each other; tongues tangled, chins pressed together. Their heavy breathing broke the habitual silence between them. Wei Changli arched his neck slightly, letting Yan Xu bite his throat, kiss his palms, and lick his damp fingertips.
He couldn’t see him clearly, but his body instinctively sent signals of safety. Both his heart and pulse beat rapidly, as if joyfully experiencing some kind of encouragement.
Wei Changli whispered Yan Xu’s name, and in his daze, he even called him “Gege” (older brother) a few times. He reached down, wanting to unbutton Yan Xu’s shirt, but the other grabbed his hand, interlacing their fingers in a tight grip. Disordered long hair brushed against his collarbone, causing Wei Changli to shiver from the itch.
“It’s not fair…” Wei Changli had no self-awareness as a sick patient. He exerted force to resist Yan Xu’s restraint. When Yan Xu looked at him, he stared back defiantly.
Looking at the young master who was burning like a little radiator yet still had so much strength, Yan Xu asked hoarsely, “What’s not fair?”
“Why are you dressed so neatly?”
Wei Changli straightened his own disheveled pajamas and reached out to unbutton Yan Xu’s shirt.
From the meticulous collar to the collarbone and front, the pale blue veins beneath Yan Xu’s slender neck were exposed to the night, like a bewitching green snake.
Wei Changli stared at him for a long while, unable to resist. Suddenly, he pushed himself up and bit Yan Xu’s shoulder with no restraint whatsoever. It was as if he truly hated him to the extreme, truly feeling immense grievance because of this unfairness. He asked through gritted teeth, “Why… why are you always so dignified?”
This bite was truly intended to draw blood, perhaps even to tear off a piece of flesh. Yan Xu’s shoulder tightened physiologically, but then he forced himself to relax, offering almost no resistance.
His expression at this moment also carried a hint of madness. An abnormal red simmered in the depths of his eyes, making that beautiful face appear even more vivid, like a grotesque spirit transformed from an Epiphyllum flower, appearing only in moments of lost focus and passion.
A faint metallic scent of blood filled the air. Wei Changli stared blankly at the crimson blood soaking through the fabric, meeting Yan Xu’s eyes in a slight panic. But he couldn’t discern Yan Xu’s intent, so he could only press his lips against the wound again, kissing it tentatively and carefully.
Yan Xu’s hand fell into the young man’s soft hair, stroking it tenderly.
As if receiving some kind of affirmation, a raspy muffled groan escaped Wei Changli’s throat, like the murmur of a small animal acting spoiled.
He kissed the wound over and over, yet he felt a malicious impulse to grind his teeth against it, to bite the wound open further and let the blood pour out. At this moment, he couldn’t even distinguish which crack in time he had fallen into—three years, five years, or even longer. He only spoke nonsense in a confused state: “Take me away,” “Don’t leave me,” and “Please.”
Yan Xu’s pupils grew deeper, brewing an obscure and difficult storm. He asked Wei Changli gently, his tone carrying an indescribable depth: “Do you still know who I am, Changli?”
Wei Changli tilted his head thoughtfully, his thoughts seemingly being tugged by something. His movements stilled while he thought, but a layer of mist rose in his eyes; he seemed trapped within a bewildering maze.
Yan Xu slowly let go of Wei Changli’s hand, instead supporting his back to lift him up. Ignoring his still-bleeding shoulder, he held him tightly in his arms like a small child, stroking Wei Changli’s back over and over to calm his breathing.
Wei Changli leaned against him with zero strength left. Only after a very, very long time did he briefly call out, “Yan Xu.”