The abrupt cutoff left the entire livestream in chaos, speculation spiraling further and further out of control. Some insects even ignored the risk of having their accounts banned and began making explicit jokes right there in the chat.
The internet erupted into an uproar.
And yet, the one who had caused all this turmoil, Luo, had already fallen asleep peacefully.
Having just fed, he hadn’t bitten down with much force at all. It was more like a soft, coaxing nibble, his teeth brushing and rubbing in a faintly affectionate manner.
Wrapped in the familiar warmth of Gu Yuan’s pheromones, Luo felt utterly at ease.
He made no effort to resist the wave of drowsiness that rose again. With his arms looped around Gu Yuan’s neck, he lowered his head and, in a haze, nestled into the hollow of Gu Yuan’s shoulder, drifting off to sleep just like that.
In the vast, quiet room, only Gu Yuan remained, holding the little troublemaker who had caused chaos and then fallen asleep without a care, left alone to contemplate life.
He had only just assured the Male Protection Association that nothing would go wrong and in the very next moment, an ambiguous livestream incident had erupted. What was he supposed to do now…
Countless explanations, both reasonable and far fetched, flashed through his mind, only to dissolve in the end into a long, weary sigh.
Forget it. What else could he do? He would just have to take things one step at a time.
Blaming an ignorant young male now would accomplish nothing. Besides, seeking comfort in a female parent’s pheromones was an instinct for larvae. In the end, it was his own failure, as the temporary guardian, to maintain proper boundaries with Luo.
Gu Yuan, who had always been strict and impartial in matters of reward and punishment, felt no sense of contradiction in his own reasoning.
He carried the already fast asleep young male into the bedroom, gently placed him under the covers, then bent down to pick up the rabbit plush toy that had been knocked to the floor by accident. After setting the toy neatly back in place, he quietly left the room with light, careful steps.
Three days later.
Luo sat on the sofa in Gu Yuan’s study. Cradled in his arms was the large rabbit plush toy Gu Yuan had given him. Resting his chin on the toy’s head, he held a tablet with both hands, diligently practicing writing along with the lessons displayed on the screen.
Beside him, the livestream buzzed with lively activity.
“Good morning, Luo baby! What are you learning today?”
“Luoluo, can you stream a little longer today, QwQ? Three hours just isn’t enough!”
“Luo baby, what did you eat this morning?”
“Eh, is the general not here again today?”
Luo focused on his writing, occasionally lifting his head to answer a question or two from the livestream:
“Today I ate raspberry milk and cream bread. Yuanyuan made it.”
“Yuanyuan is handling things. Luo can’t go disturb Yuanyuan.”
His learning ability was astonishing. In just three short days, he could already form smooth, complete sentences without relying on his tentacles for assistance.
Though he still used only simple vocabulary and occasionally made minor grammatical mistakes, it did not affect understanding.
At the same time, he had also learned how to access the network through his smart device.
After immersing himself deeply in the culture of the insect race on the interstellar net, Luo only then realized, belatedly, that the so called “marriage” mentioned during his first livestream had been nothing more than a joke the insects were playing on him.
But it didn’t matter. If it could bind him to Gu Yuan, he didn’t mind letting the misunderstanding continue.
Luo paused his writing and looked with satisfaction at the third “Gu Yuan” he had written on the tablet.
Very good. This time, the characters were finally no longer crooked and uneven.
Happily, he set down the stylus and glanced at the time, noticing that the agreed three hours had already passed. Without hesitation, he cut off the livestream.
“Luo is leaving now. See you tomorrow.”
As soon as the words fell, the livestream instantly went black.
The female insects, who hadn’t even had enough time to admire the young male, could only remain in the now ended stream, lamenting to one another.
“Waaah, why does Luo end the stream exactly at three hours every time, not even a second longer? That’s so heartless.”
“As expected of the child I’ve watched grow up, this mother’s heart is truly chilled, QAQ.”
“He’s probably going to find the general. Ever since that livestream incident, the general hasn’t appeared again. When Luo streams alone, he always seems a bit down, either learning to speak with the tablet or practicing writing. Do you think he got scolded by the general?”
“The general would never scold Luo baby!! When our Luo’s eyes redden, who could bear to scold him, sob sob sob!!”
As Luo stepped forward to turn off the holographic projection, he caught sight of the scrolling comments in the livestream.
His hand paused mid motion.
His long lashes trembled slightly as he stared blankly at a few of the messages, lost in thought.
Yuanyuan had never scolded him. Just like when they had first met, he still took meticulous care of him, treating him wholeheartedly as a young larva.
To be honest, Luo believed that his usual behavior didn’t resemble that of a larva at all. He couldn’t understand why every insect so firmly believed that he was just an immature child.
Could it really be because he hadn’t been able to speak before?
But perhaps it was precisely because of this “larva” identity that Gu Yuan’s indulgence toward him had only increased. Just the daily necessities Gu Yuan had purchased for him had already filled three entire storage rooms.
Luo had no doubt that if he were to say he wanted the stars, Gu Yuan would not hesitate to go out and buy him an entire planet.
The only unpleasant part, perhaps, was that Gu Yuan had started wearing a thick black leather collar.
The collar completely covered the general’s gland, leaving Luo with no way to bite.
Not only that, in the past few days, Gu Yuan had even become unwilling to kiss him. Even at home, he would intentionally or unintentionally avoid him, as though he were evading something.
These past few days, Luo had felt very lonely and very hungry. Only the big rabbit accompanied him.
Crack!
The sound of something shattering in his hand snapped Luo out of his thoughts.
He lowered his head and looked at his hand, only then realizing that he had unconsciously crushed the projector.
It didn’t matter. It was just something used for streaming.
Luo carelessly tossed the broken object into the trash can, hugged the big rabbit in one arm, picked up the tablet with the other and headed straight toward the source of Gu Yuan’s scent.
“Yuanyuan, the stream is over! Hug!”
He pushed open the door to Gu Yuan’s bedroom without hesitation, intending to throw himself into his arms but Gu Yuan sidestepped him with ease.
Gu Yuan had been handling military affairs. Documents were scattered across the table. Upon seeing Luo enter, he didn’t even bother tidying them up, instead rising hurriedly and crouching halfway down to gently rub Luo’s black hair.
“Good job. What do you want to eat for lunch, Luo?”
His tone was affectionate yet carried an inherent distance, the natural detachment of someone in a higher position addressing someone below.
It was like this again.
Luo tightened his grip on the rabbit plush.
Every time he tried to approach Gu Yuan for feeding, the other would change the subject. At first, Luo had thought it was because he had bitten too hard and hurt him and he had even felt guilty for a while because of it.
It wasn’t until he learned, through the livestream, how serious that incident had been that he finally realized, Gu Yuan was deliberately avoiding physical contact with him.
Once again being avoided, Luo lowered his gaze. A faint, indescribable irritation rose within him.
Yet Gu Yuan seemed completely unaware, continuing as if nothing was wrong:
“By the way, over the past few days, I had Wu You gather the most larva friendly pheromones from across the insect race. Would you like to try and see if there’s any scent you like?”
Not only refusing to hug him but now asking him to smell all those unpleasant pheromones?!
Having been indirectly neglected for three entire days, Luo, who had already been holding back a belly full of grievances, was finally pushed past his limit by those words.
“No.”
His voice came out low and hoarse.
He didn’t like it. He hated it. He wanted to use his tentacles to bind the other, to shut that mouth that spoke words he disliked.
The tentacles spread outward, on the verge of wrapping around Gu Yuan once more.
But then Luo suddenly remembered a fleeting comment from the livestream. The fist he had clenched loosened slightly and he let out a heavy breath.
Fine. Treat him like a larva. Like watching him act pitiful, was it?
Gu Yuan didn’t immediately notice Luo’s strange shift in mood and continued, “Just try it. Maybe there’ll be a scent you like-”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence.
Because Luo, who had been keeping his head lowered the whole time, finally lifted it.
The young male, still clutching the big rabbit plush, had reddened eyes for the first time since hatching.
The same Luo who had just crushed a projector with his bare hands bit down on his lower lip, looking at Gu Yuan with tear filled eyes, on the verge of crying.
“You don’t like me anymore…”
Gu Yuan panicked. He immediately reached out, intending to wipe away Luo’s tears, only to be struck by the rabbit plush the other was holding.
The plush hit him softly, almost weightless, just like Luo’s aggrieved accusation:
“You don’t hug me anymore and you want me to smell those bad pheromones… You don’t like me anymore.”
✦ ✧ ✦
Cressilia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧ you know what to do
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · It’s Hatching!Chapter 2 · Mealtime!Chapter 3 · Angry!Chapter 4 · F.. Found Out!Chapter 5 · SpeakingChapter 6 · RiceChapter 7 · Live BroadcastChapter 8 · XiongbaohuiChapter 9 · Bullet CommentsChapter 10 · I’m sleepyChapter 11 · WrongedChapter 12 · Going to SchoolChapter 13 · ChoiceChapter 14 · Knock KnockChapter 15 · NoisyChapter 16 · AccidentChapter 17 · WingsChapter 18 · CrowChapter 19 · General is blushingChapter 20 · RiotChapter 21 · The Insect EmperorChapter 22 · Good BoyChapter 23 · UnconsciousChapter 24 · DisappearanceChapter 25 · Tail HookChapter 26 · ReturningChapter 27 · DepartureChapter 28 · ReunionChapter 29 · Played with by tentaclesChapter 30 · Moist, Damp EyesChapter 31 Part 1 · Gu Yuan, do you like me?Chapter 31 Part 2 · Gu Yuan, do you like me?Chapter 32 · Don’t cry, sweetieChapter 33 · Reproductive tentaclesChapter 34 · Even if you kill me, I won’t grow backChapter 35 · Lord Evil GodChapter 36 · Why not refuse?Chapter 37 · He can cry; he’s not a monster.Chapter 38 · Some alternative ways of boiling waterChapter 39 · Why aren’t you kissing me?Chapter 40 · Here, my command is the highest orderChapter 41 · The Evil God’s Disguise Makes its Grand DebutChapter 42 · Be the breeding ground for my eggs.Chapter 43 · Carrying EggsChapter 44 · MasterChapter 45 · CryingChapter 46 · InterrogationChapter 47 · LikeChapter 48 · The TruthChapter 49 · ConfessionChapter 50 · Identity ExposedChapter 51 · BackgroundChapter 52 · SuspicionChapter 53 · The Feeling of HungerChapter 54 · SleepingChapter 55 · The NameChapter 56 · Memories (1)Chapter 57 · Memories (2)Chapter 58 · Memories (3)Chapter 59 · Gu YuanChapter 60 · A Falling KissChapter 61 · MonsterChapter 62 · RabitChapter 63 · Bathroom