Zuo Shihuan’s light brown eyes curved into crescent moons as he smiled. Though he seemed to restrain himself by pressing his lips together, the corners of his mouth still quietly lifted. In the end, a smile escaped him involuntarily, his eyes sparkling with pure, bright light, as if all the joy in his heart was written plainly across his face.
It was impossible not to notice.
Gu Heng was likewise infected by that pure joy, and a tender, affectionate smile unconsciously lit up the depths of his black eyes.
Moved by impulse, he bent down and kissed Zuo Shihuan’s cheek, kissing the dimple that appeared unknowingly when he smiled, as if sweetness followed straight into his own heart.
Looking at the person before him, Gu Heng’s heart softened completely. He let out a soft sigh and said to Zuo Shihuan, “Shihuan, how could I ever bear not to recognize you? Even if I forgot myself, I still wouldn’t bear to forget you.”
Gu Heng lifted one of Zuo Shihuan’s fingers and placed it to his lips, giving it a kiss.
The kiss made Zuo Shihuan feel as if his finger were burning hot.
When Gu Heng kissed his fingertip, it was as if his heart, too, was kissed into a flustered heat in that instant.
An exquisitely slow and gentle kiss, soft and lingering.
Gu Heng’s noble, affectionate black eyes never left Zuo Shihuan’s expression. His thin lips curved slightly into a lazy, enchanting arc as he said, “So, Shihuan, you can trust and rely on me to your heart’s content, without any worries at all.”
“Even just the back view of a corner of your clothing, Shihuan, I can keep engraved in my heart. I’m intimately familiar with everything about your body. Even if you wear countless disguises, or apply makeup and change your appearance, I will recognize you at first sight, and I will stand in front of you to protect you.”
Zuo Shihuan listened until his face flushed and his heart raced with happiness, yet he also felt a bit embarrassed by how saccharine it was. He tugged at his finger, wanting to pull away from the overly intimate, scorching kiss.
As soon as he tugged, his finger was firmly seized by Gu Heng once again.
Zuo Shihuan had no choice but to meet Gu Heng’s gaze, making it even harder to resist Gu Heng’s charm and allure. Even his heart seemed to be hooked away by those deep black eyes with their irresistible pull.
His heart pounded like a drum.
The restless sound of his heartbeat never ceased.
It made Zuo Shihuan so flustered that he almost feared his heart might not be able to take it and would suddenly stop.
At the same time, he felt himself rather useless.
Always so easily tempted by Gu Heng that he lost all composure, panicking and flustered, no longer like himself.
Zuo Shihuan’s light brown eyes dodged shyly. Under Gu Heng’s barrage of sweet words, he forced himself to remain calm, his face burning red as he cowardly dared not look directly into Gu Heng’s eyes.
Yet he still spoke against his true feelings: “Alright, I know you can recognize me, Gu Heng… anyway, I’m fine. I wasn’t particularly worried.”
Actually, even if Gu Heng couldn’t recognize him while he wore the disguiser, it wouldn’t really matter. They would always find a way to recognize each other through other means.
The most important thing was that the disguiser could successfully allow both him and Gu Heng to travel safely. Rather than fussing over such a small matter, it was good if Gu Heng could recognize him; if he couldn’t, that was fine too.
Zuo Shihuan spoke against his true feelings, saying he wasn’t particularly worried, as if he truly didn’t take the matter to heart, when in fact, he cared deeply.
When Gu Heng said he would recognize him no matter when, and that there was no need to worry about the disguiser obstructing their recognition of each other, Zuo Shihuan’s gloomy expression faded, and an uncontrollable, delighted smile appeared.
In Gu Heng’s eyes, it was as conspicuous and endearing as a glowing lightbulb.
Yet Zuo Shihuan stubbornly refused to admit it.
A smile surfaced in Gu Heng’s black eyes as he teasingly raised an eyebrow and asked, “Really? Shihuan, you weren’t particularly worried?”
Zuo Shihuan pressed his lips together, slightly annoyed. “No. Believe it or not, that’s up to you. I was just raising a small doubt about whether the disguiser you gave me would actually be effective.”
Gu Heng raised an eyebrow and laughed. “Alright, I believe you weren’t worried. Of course, Shihuan, you also didn’t show an especially disappointed or anxious expression at all, like you would if you were wearing a disguiser and I couldn’t recognize you.”
Zuo Shihuan was immediately rendered speechless, biting his teeth in embarrassed anger as he said, “No, there wasn’t even a little bit of disappointment!”
“Right, what you said is right, Shihuan, hahahahahaha!”
Gu Heng couldn’t help but burst into laughter, truly wanting to pull the proud, tsundere, stubborn-mouthed Zuo Shihuan into his arms and kiss him again and again, laughing so heartily that tears welled up at the corners of his eyes.
Zuo Shihuan felt a wave of heat rush to his cheeks, feeling as if Gu Heng were laughing at and mocking him. He couldn’t help clenching his fists, forcing himself to stay rational and not rush forward to cover Gu Heng’s mouth while he laughed so freely and loudly.
So annoying!
Was it not allowed for him to be afraid that Gu Heng wouldn’t recognize him?!
That hateful Gu Heng, was he really not afraid of something like that happening at all?!
It was clearly Gu Heng who said that once the disguiser was worn, one wouldn’t be recognizable. It was perfectly normal for him to worry about that! Right… not recognizing.
Suddenly, Zuo Shihuan thought of something. A thoughtful, puzzled glint passed through his light brown eyes, and he reached up to touch the iris flower brooch hanging on his chest.
Zuo Shihuan showed a hesitant expression, but when he saw Gu Heng still laughing so unrestrainedly, a flash of irritation and resolve crossed his eyes.
“It’s normal for me to worry about not being able to recognize someone, right? Just like…”
Zuo Shihuan touched the iris flower brooch on his chest, looked at Gu Heng who was laughing maliciously, pressed his lips together, then revealed a faint, shallow smile and said, “Just like how I might not recognize you, Gu Heng.”
Not recognize… him?
Gu Heng suddenly felt a palpitation and froze. His suddenly constricted pupils slowly turned toward Zuo Shihuan, where he saw Zuo Shihuan’s calm, faint smile.
He felt increasingly at a loss.
His heart felt numb, aching faintly as if a thread had been pulled out.
Gu Heng felt that he could no longer laugh. His voice turned rough and hoarse as he said, “It’s normal if you can’t recognize me. Shihuan, you can’t see through the illusion of disguisers like I can. So this is normal, even if you can’t recognize me, it’s…”
His mouth said it was normal.
But Gu Heng froze at once; his gloomy, flustered expression was a completely different matter.
It even surprised Zuo Shihuan. He hadn’t expected that a sentence he had said casually would strike Gu Heng so hard, as if he were so distressed he was about to cry.
Zuo Shihuan hurriedly comforted him in a gentle voice. “Actually, I would recognize you. Even if you disguised yourself and changed your face, Gu Heng, I would remember what you’re wearing today and your build.”
Gu Heng’s expression darkened, and he still couldn’t feel happy. “Just… clothes and build? If I changed clothes and blended into the sea of people, would you be unable to recognize me then, Shihuan?”
Zuo Shihuan froze for a moment, suddenly unsure whether he would be able to recognize Gu Heng in that situation.
He subconsciously paused to think carefully for a moment.
Then he saw Gu Heng’s expression grow even more gloomy and sorrowful, his eyes reddening, as if the moment Zuo Shihuan said he wouldn’t be able to recognize him, he would immediately shatter.
Zuo Shihuan felt his heart clench painfully. Not caring about anything else, he immediately said to Gu Heng, “I would recognize you, because that’s you, Gu Heng, ”
Gu Heng’s dark, gloomy expression eased slightly, yet he still did not show even a hint of a smile, remaining deeply bothered by the thought that Zuo Shihuan might not recognize him.
Not only might Zuo Shihuan fail to recognize him, but he might not recognize him throughout the entire day’s date, because he was wearing a disguiser and carrying a face that did not belong to him.
How was Zuo Shihuan supposed to recognize him like that?
When even the date felt like dating another person, how was Zuo Shihuan supposed to recognize him?
Gu Heng let out a self-mocking smile, feeling his heart ache unbearably.
Because he knew this was very likely to become reality.
Aside from a monster like himself, who could see through the illusion of disguisers? Almost no one could do it, and no matter how much this monster loved Zuo Shihuan, he couldn’t change that fact.
Yet earlier he had been smug and self-satisfied, thinking that with a disguiser, even while being pursued by the Zuo family, he could still have a date with Zuo Shihuan.
Had he ended up lifting a stone only to smash his own foot?
If in the future, when Zuo Shihuan recalled their first official date, the him in that memory wore a face that didn’t belong to him, and the date didn’t feel like a date with him at all,
It would simply be a strange, absurd joke of a date.
He had looked forward to and longed for a date with Zuo Shihuan so much; how could he accept that in Zuo Shihuan’s memory of their first date, he looked like another person?
If he had known earlier…
He should have cleared away all obstacles first, including Zuo Shihuan’s father, Zuo Zoujian.
A sharp glint passed through Gu Heng’s eyes. Suppressing the heartache and anger, he couldn’t help clenching his fist and pounding it against the steering wheel, feeling so stifled and resentful that he was on the verge of going mad.
But now it was a little too late.
His date plan had gone terribly awry, and there was no way to salvage it. Even if the him in Zuo Shihuan’s dating memories differed somewhat from his usual appearance, in the end, that was still him!
The one dating Zuo Shihuan was him!
Gu Heng abruptly changed from a gloomy, fierce expression. His heart felt blocked and sour as he looked at Zuo Shihuan. On the surface he seemed to have calmed down, but his trembling voice still carried a trace of grievance and sorrow.
“Shihuan, it’s… it’s okay if you can’t recognize me. Just don’t leave my side during today’s date.”
Gu Heng almost clenched his teeth, his eyes taut and reddened, as he painfully forced out those words.
Zuo Shihuan truly began to worry about Gu Heng now, regretting that he had casually said he might not recognize him. It seemed he had really struck Gu Heng deeply, his expression kept changing without pause, as if he were about to break down and cry.
“Gu Heng, are you okay?”
Zuo Shihuan asked carefully, reaching out to grasp Gu Heng’s arm. “I was just joking earlier. Gu Heng, don’t mind these things. I’ll definitely be able to recognize you, ”
When Gu Heng heard this, a glimmer of light rose in his black eyes, then quickly dimmed and went out. With an almost fierce, impulsive momentum, he finally lightly punished Zuo Shihuan by biting his lips.
Then Gu Heng let out a self-mocking laugh and said, “Alright, I know that you’ll definitely be able to recognize me, Shihuan, so…”
The next second.
Gu Heng cupped Zuo Shihuan’s face with both hands, like a blazing torch burning wildly with brilliant light. His stubborn, scorching eyes stared tightly into Zuo Shihuan’s as he said,
“So, engrave my appearance into your mind, engrave it well into your mind…”
Zuo Shihuan could not tear his gaze away from Gu Heng’s dazzling, burning eyes. Whether he was being forced to hammer it into his brain, or whether he was shocked, stunned, and willingly imprinting it there,
He thoroughly engraved Gu Heng’s current, crazily obsessive face toward him deep into his mind.
It would likely be impossible to forget.
Likewise.
There was no way to explain it clearly anymore.
Zuo Shihuan suddenly felt a headache, knowing that he could no longer explain clearly that he would definitely remember Gu Heng’s appearance and would not fail to recognize him.
With Gu Heng in this state now, no matter what he said, Gu Heng probably wouldn’t believe it.
Zuo Shihuan sighed helplessly in his heart, and inexplicably felt a strange, subtle intuition.
—Today’s date.
—Would be… full of twists and turns.
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