Chu Yao was not much of a drinker. After several glasses, his head began to spin. When he looked up at the night sky, the world tilted before his eyes and even the moon and stars blurred together.
But he was dedicated to his work. Even drunk, he had not forgotten his task. He held the lamb skewer in his hand up to Jin Zhihan’s mouth. “I’ll feed you.”
The sudden statement made Jin Zhihan look at him strangely.
“Are you drunk?” As he spoke, he took the beer away from in front of Chu Yao. “Even if you aren’t, stop drinking.”
“Take a bite.” Chu Yao gestured toward the lamb skewer, brows drawn together in a pitiful little expression. “My arm hurts from holding it up this long.”
Jin Zhihan was just about to take a bite when Chu Yao shook his head. “No, no. We’re supposed to feed each other.”
He muttered to himself under his breath, and even Zhao Jing beside them realized something was off.
“Is Chu Yao drunk?” he tentatively asked Jin Zhihan.
Jin Zhihan said, “Probably.”
“Then we should finish eating and head back soon.” Zhao Jing wiped his hands and continued, “President Jin, why don’t you help him upstairs to rest first?”
Hearing that, Chu Yao frowned and refused. “No! I haven’t finished my task yet.”
Jin Zhihan exchanged looks with the others. Lu Yiwen raised his brows mischievously and sighed, “Now I finally understand why Chu Yao became a top star. With how seriously he takes a show even when he’s drunk, if he doesn’t succeed, who would?”
“Maybe he’s just using the opportunity to show off his love.” Bai Jishen smiled. “Of course, we’d all be happy to watch.”
Jin Zhihan asked Chu Yao directly, “What’s the task?”
Chu Yao casually picked up a squid skewer and handed it to him. “We have to look into each other’s eyes and feed each other.”
“Okay.”
Jin Zhihan held the squid to Chu Yao’s lips while Chu Yao held the lamb skewer to his.
The scene was certainly beautiful. The food in their hands, however, was a little too down-to-earth for such a romantic moment.
Wen Xu could not bear to watch any longer. He lifted the fruit platter. “Can’t the two of you feed each other fruit instead?”
Chu Yao nodded dazedly and speared a piece of apple with a fork. Jin Zhihan did the same.
Pretending to gaze deeply into each other’s eyes, they fed the fruit to one another.
No one could guess just how loudly someone’s little scheme was clicking away.
Using drunkenness as an excuse to do something this embarrassing felt absolutely wonderful.
After all, the directing team had never said Jin Zhihan was not allowed to figure out what was going on.
Suppressing the urge to snicker, Chu Yao pretended to be sleepy, rubbed his eyes, and yawned.
Although he was not drunk enough to lose consciousness, his head genuinely hurt and his temples throbbed faintly.
Some people were simply born with poor alcohol tolerance. They either flushed easily when they drank or became dizzy and light-headed.
That was why Chu Yao usually tried to avoid drinking too much. If he had not needed liquid courage tonight, he would never have made an exception.
Noticing the exhaustion on Chu Yao’s face, Jin Zhihan reached out to steady him. “Shall we go?”
Chu Yao stopped forcing himself and waved to everyone. “See you tomorrow.”
The production team would hire people to clean the villa, so the guests did not need to worry about tidying up. With nothing to hold him back, Chu Yao followed Jin Zhihan upstairs.
There were only about fifteen minutes left before filming ended for the day. Jin Zhihan helped Chu Yao into the master bedroom, where Chu Yao immediately collapsed face-first onto the sofa and pulled a fluffy cushion into his arms.
[Drunk Baby Yao is so cute with his red little face. I want to squish him so badly.]
[What’s going to happen after he gets drunk? I’m so excited!! Too bad the livestream is about to end. TAT]
[When is the production team going to learn to give viewers overtime? Please develop some awareness.]
Comments flew wildly through the livestream while the master bedroom itself remained unusually quiet.
Jin Zhihan fetched a basin of warm water to remove Chu Yao’s makeup. He could not exactly bathe while drunk, but wiping him clean would make him more comfortable.
Jin Zhihan remembered Chu Yao once saying that sleeping in makeup was bad for the skin.
Of course, Chu Yao’s makeup was fairly light, only foundation and a few other simple steps. Once cleansing oil was applied, it wiped away easily.
Fans were deeply moved to see a man born into immense wealth like Jin Zhihan taking such meticulous care of Chu Yao.
[President Jin is absolutely the model of a good husband. Sisters, keep your eyes open when looking for partners and make them compete according to this standard.]
[If I look for a husband according to President Jin’s standard, I’ll probably be single for the rest of my life.]
[Exactly. A man this perfect is so rare that your odds of winning five million in the lottery are probably higher than your odds of meeting one.]
[Haha, if you met someone like President Jin, you’d end up with a lot more than five million.]
Chu Yao lay sprawled across the sofa, drifting so close to sleep that all he could feel was someone repeatedly wiping his face. He could not even open his eyes to see who it was.
The alcohol had hit him hard after the fact. It felt as though all the strength had been drained from his body, and the sofa seemed to possess some strange adhesive force that glued him firmly in place, leaving him unable to move.
Without makeup, his face looked soft, springy, and almost impossibly smooth. Beneath the light, his thick lashes rested over his eyes, casting small shadows across his lower lids.
Jin Zhihan stood beside the sofa and watched him for a while. The longer he looked, the more his heart seemed to melt. Unable to resist, he poked Chu Yao’s cheek with a finger, then instinctively bent down and kissed him.
The shippers went completely wild when they saw Jin Zhihan give in to the impulse.
How much did he have to like his wife to still be unable to stop looking at him after he had fallen asleep—to poke his cheek and even give him a kiss?!
This domineering CEO was practically turning into a stone statue forever gazing at his wife.
Netizens captured screenshots of Jin Zhihan bending down to steal a kiss from Chu Yao and uploaded them to Weibo, all sighing over what a fairy-tale romance this was.
Uploaders worked through the night editing clips. The year’s great real-life idol drama finally had fresh material again!
Chu Yao knew nothing about any of this in his sleep. His brain numbed by alcohol, he slept exceptionally deeply that night.
Usually, in situations like this, the person sharing a bed with the drunk one was the unlucky one.
Jin Zhihan was sleeping soundly when he suddenly felt a kick to the waist. He frowned and opened his eyes to find that Chu Yao had rolled over beside him.
As though Jin Zhihan were a teddy bear, Chu Yao hugged him tightly and even threw one leg over his waist.
Jin Zhihan actually rather enjoyed being depended on like this. Smiling, he was about to go back to sleep when, before long, Chu Yao’s hand began wandering over his chest.
Jin Zhihan’s Adam’s apple bobbed rapidly. Sensing that his body was about to react, he quickly caught Chu Yao’s unruly hand and tried to steady his increasingly heavy breathing.
Chu Yao’s lips moved as he mumbled something. Jin Zhihan leaned closer to listen and finally understood why he had been groping around.
He was thirsty and wanted water.
Jin Zhihan threw back the covers and got out of bed to pour him a glass of warm water. He even found a straw so it would be easier for him to drink.
When the straw was placed against Chu Yao’s lips, he bit down on the tip and took a long drink.
Jin Zhihan set the glass aside, turned off the light, and lay back down.
In the darkness, Chu Yao moved closer again and mumbled beside his ear, “Do you like me?”
Jin Zhihan’s body went rigid. The hand at his side tightened and loosened again. After struggling for a long time, he finally voiced the words he had buried in his heart for so long. “Yes. I like you.”
In the silent depths of night, the man’s low, magnetic voice was filled with certainty. Feelings were helpless things to begin with. Once you loved someone, you loved them. There was no controlling it.
“What about you?” Jin Zhihan asked, his heart uneasy with anticipation.
Unfortunately, Chu Yao had fallen asleep again.
Like a spoiled little cat, he rubbed his cheek against Jin Zhihan’s shoulder and effortlessly slipped into a sweet dream.
Jin Zhihan looked at the moonlight outside the window, but now he could not fall asleep at all.
–
When Chu Yao woke, the room was filled with golden sunlight. He sat up in bed and stretched, feeling so refreshed that he almost wanted to go outside for a run.
It was rare for him to feel this good after waking from a hangover. Usually he would have a headache the next day. This time, he had only blacked out a little.
Good luck put him in an excellent mood.
Jin Zhihan was washing up in the bathroom. Chu Yao walked in, said “Good morning,” then stood beside him, filled his rinsing cup with water, and squeezed toothpaste onto his electric toothbrush.
Studying himself in the mirror, Chu Yao belatedly realized he was bare-faced and muttered in confusion, “Did I rub all my makeup off in my sleep?”
It did not even occur to him that Jin Zhihan might have removed it for him.
The man beside him did not answer. After washing his face, Jin Zhihan merely said in a flat voice, “I’m going downstairs to make breakfast.”
Chu Yao turned to look at him. “You don’t look very good. Did you sleep badly last night?”
How was Jin Zhihan supposed to tell him he had slept only two hours before getting kicked awake?
Jin Zhihan pressed his thin lips together and avoided answering Chu Yao’s question. Instead, he asked, “Have you forgotten everything that happened in bed last night?”
“……”
Chu Yao’s hand shook, nearly sending the electric toothbrush flying.
Why did Jin Zhihan look at him as though he were some irresponsible scumbag who had eaten his fill, pulled up his pants, and walked away?
They could not have… gotten drunk and… done that, could they?
But how could he not feel anything at all?
Shouldn’t it have hurt a lot?
His heartbeat sped up. Chu Yao forced himself to calm down. “Then tell me. What happened between us?”
There was a faint grievance in Jin Zhihan’s gaze. Chu Yao’s heart was practically about to leap from his throat, yet Jin Zhihan only said two disappointed words: “Forget it.”
With that, he turned and walked out of the bathroom, leaving Chu Yao with the sight of his lonely back.
Chu Yao had already imagined an entire night of wild rolling around. He tugged open his collar and carefully examined his neck and chest in the mirror, but there was clearly not a mark on him.
Why did a perfectly capable man have a mouth if he refused to use it to explain himself properly? Now Chu Yao was left imagining all sorts of things.
After washing up, Chu Yao sat on the sofa, picked up his phone, and habitually opened Weibo to check the trending topics.
Hm.
The number-one topic was “Most Heart-Fluttering Kiss of the Year.” Expecting to enjoy someone else’s gossip, Chu Yao tapped in—only to be greeted by a photo of Jin Zhihan lowering his head to kiss him.
The blogger had posted an animated image. When Chu Yao opened it, he saw Jin Zhihan slowly bend down and press his lips to the cheek of his sleeping self, gentle and deeply affectionate. No wonder people called it heart-fluttering. Anyone who saw that would have their heartstrings thrown into chaos!
In an instant, Chu Yao reacted as though he had touched a burning-hot object and reflexively locked his phone.
Who understood the feeling of going to eat gossip only to discover the gossip was about yourself???
And at that time, he had clearly been drunk and asleep. Why had Jin Zhihan secretly kissed him??
Author’s Note:
Updates will be around midnight every night. Good night, everyone.
