…He has him?
Gu Heng’s black pupils suddenly shrank, then quickly turned extremely deep and complicated. His arms trembled slightly as he slowly pulled the strong yet smiling Zuo Shihuan into his embrace.
Holding him tightly, he held his breath without knowing how long.
Zuo Shihuan’s eyelashes trembled slightly as he raised his head to look at Gu Heng, whose expression was incomparably grave. In the depths of his eyes were gloom, regret, and guilt, as if the things Zuo Shihuan had experienced before were Gu Heng’s own fault.
It made Zuo Shihuan feel somewhat helpless and amused, yet he couldn’t help wanting to comfort Gu Heng and tell him not to care so much about the past.
But…
When Zuo Shihuan, with the mindset of comforting him, wrapped his arms around Gu Heng’s back in return, because of the closer distance he felt a furious heart beating violently, the heat scalding, even the breathing carrying the rhythm of suppressed anger.
Yet at the same time, he held him in his arms with incomparable gentleness and care.
All of it was telling that this person was furious, heartbroken, and indignant for his past.
It made Zuo Shihuan suddenly stiffen. His lips parted slightly, yet he couldn’t say a single word.
Obviously none of it had been caused by Gu Heng. He was simply perhaps a little more unlucky than others, but all of that was already in the past.
Hadn’t it already passed long ago?
He had already let go of the past.
Once, he had envied that robots couldn’t feel pain and didn’t have emotions that caused pain. He had even thought that being a robot was quite good. After all, a bottom-tier Beta like him might as well be a robot, at least then he wouldn’t feel the torment of hunger, illness, and pain.
The cheap nutrient solution eaten every day wasn’t it just the same as the energy robots needed to replenish every day?
Drinking nutrient solution was much more troublesome than any robot’s energy. You still had to earn money yourself and buy it yourself. Robots only needed to wait for their owner to input energy after completing their work.
Even though robots couldn’t control their own fate and still had to face the risk of becoming obsolete and being abandoned by their owners, in Zuo Shihuan’s eyes, wasn’t it all the same?
Under the same blue sky, who could control their own fate?
One could only struggle and work hard to survive as much as possible, not even knowing why to keep living, just unwilling and unwilling to die like that… and so one kept living.
Fortunately, he survived.
Fortunately, his genetic disease was cured, and he even differentiated into an Alpha.
And then fortunately, he met Gu Heng.
For Zuo Shihuan, the luckiest thing was still meeting Gu Heng, making him truly feel that being alive was wonderful, no longer envying robots, and no longer wanting to become a robot without feelings and without a heart.
Being a human with emotions could be so warm and happy, seeing the world as so brilliant and colorful.
All of this was shown to him by Gu Heng.
Perhaps without the hardships he experienced before, he would not have met Gu Heng step by step. Even Zuo Shihuan had never imagined such a thing would happen, but it happened right before his eyes.
Zuo Shihuan had long stopped caring about the past.
He clearly thought this way.
But… it seemed Gu Heng didn’t think so.
Seeing Gu Heng feeling sad, angry, and heartbroken for him, Zuo Shihuan’s first reaction was a sudden sense of helplessness and confusion, and the heart he thought was strong was poked once.
It didn’t hurt.
His heart instead became soft, sour and numb, at a loss.
Clearly it wasn’t Gu Heng’s fault.
At that time Gu Heng didn’t know him, had never seen him, and had no reason to help him.
Yet Gu Heng was regretting it, was angry that he hadn’t been able to help him, feeling regret and heartache for not helping the Zuo Shihuan of the past.
Feeling guilty and regretful over something that he simply could not have done.
There was really no need for that.
Was there?
For no reason Zuo Shihuan felt somewhat flustered and helpless. Holding Gu Heng, he didn’t know what to do anymore, and gradually, without even realizing it himself, his reddened eye sockets slowly filled with tears, as if they were about to overflow.
His unconsciously curled and trembling fingers grabbed the clothes on Gu Heng’s back.
He wanted instead to comfort Gu Heng, to tell him it was okay. Hadn’t he endured it very strongly back then? It had already passed, so it was okay.
Even if he encountered many difficulties and setbacks, hadn’t he still gritted his teeth and persisted, and now he was living well.
But just as Zuo Shihuan opened his mouth to speak, he discovered that his voice was choked and hoarse, unable to come out, his nose suddenly sour as if he were about to embarrassingly let out a crying sound.
Trying hard to raise his head slightly, eyes wide open.
Zuo Shihuan clearly wanted to show Gu Heng a strong and mature side of himself, yet he still couldn’t control his reddened eyes, the sorrow and grievance making tears slowly flow down…
He could be very strong, on the premise that others did not care about him or love him.
Did not help him, but went to help… that former self who had no choice but to grit his teeth and persist because no one helped him,
To go hug that lonely and helpless self from back then.
To care for him, and… truly love him.
Zuo Shihuan’s nose felt sour as he choked up, biting his lip as he said with difficulty, “I… Gu Heng, I’m really fine now.”
Gu Heng held Zuo Shihuan tightly and said in a muffled voice, “I know, Shihuan, you have always been the strongest, but I still want to hold you a little longer…”
Zuo Shihuan instantly bit his lip, and the tears he could no longer hold back burst from his eyes at once, big drops falling onto Gu Heng’s shoulder and soaking it, making Gu Heng suddenly freeze in shock when he saw.
Gu Heng reached out in astonishment to touch Zuo Shihuan’s cheek. The wet tears slid through his fingers, and he suddenly realized it, becoming flustered as he said, “Shihuan, why are you crying? I, I…”
Zuo Shihuan couldn’t control the sudden surge of emotion. With reddened eyes, his tear-filled gaze glared angrily at Gu Heng, yet the more he glared the more the tears fell like broken pearls, one large drop after another.
As if they cost nothing.
It made Gu Heng’s heart ache terribly. He quickly reached out to catch the tears falling from Zuo Shihuan, holding them in his palm as if they were precious treasures, yet they wet his palm and gathered into a small puddle.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry, ”
Gu Heng was extremely anxious and flustered. He bent down and kissed Zuo Shihuan’s warm, wet cheek, trying hard to comfort him.
Unexpectedly, the more he comforted Zuo Shihuan, the harder he cried.
At most, when he comforted him not to cry, it only made Zuo Shihuan bite his lips tightly, crying more restrainedly and quietly.
That appearance made Gu Heng even more flustered and heartbroken. He quickly hugged Zuo Shihuan and coaxed him with heartache, “Cry, cry… Shihuan, you can cry whenever you want. I will stay with you.”
Then he let Zuo Shihuan lean against his shoulder.
Gu Heng reached out and stroked the back of Zuo Shihuan’s head, then very tenderly and heartbrokenly kissed Zuo Shihuan’s forehead, lightly patting his back.
“If you want to cry, then cry. I’m here.”
After a while, when Zuo Shihuan had cried a little less fiercely, Gu Heng finally patiently began to think about what he had said just now that had caused Zuo Shihuan’s emotions to explode, and whether something had happened in the past that even someone as strong as Zuo Shihuan could not bear.
He had seen how evil human nature could be, but the moment he thought that those evils might have happened to Zuo Shihuan, an anger like burning heaven and earth surged uncontrollably within him, wanting to take the cruelest revenge on those who had hurt Zuo Shihuan.
Gu Heng’s heart ached terribly, a trace of dark anger passing through his expression as he said in a deep voice, “Shihuan, did remembering something bad from the past make you like this? It’s okay, I’m here now. I will stay with you. No one can bully you again… if someone bullied you in the past, I’ll help you take revenge.”
Gu Heng frowned tightly, the darkness in his eyes fierce, yet at the same time he was incomparably gentle in protecting Zuo Shihuan, even the kisses he placed were extremely soft and warm.
Zuo Shihuan stared blankly at the fierce, angry expression Gu Heng now showed for his sake, while also feeling the care and affection when Gu Heng hugged and kissed him.
As if he were not a tall, adult Alpha.
The outside world believed that as an Alpha he had to appear strong, mature, and powerful, and in the eyes of the Zuo family and others, Zuo Shihuan was likewise mature, steady, and capable in every aspect, not daring to show the slightest flaw of failure.
But in Gu Heng’s eyes, he could simply be a lover who needed to be carefully protected in his arms.
No matter how much emotion he showed, how embarrassed or immature he appeared, or how not strong enough he was, he would not receive any strange looks from Gu Heng, nor would Gu Heng think there was anything wrong with an Alpha losing control of his emotions and crying.
Gu Heng would only feel more heartache and protect him more, placing Zuo Shihuan at the tip of his heart to cherish, feeling anger and hatred toward those who might have hurt him in the past.
After Zuo Shihuan suddenly finished venting his emotions, he instead felt a shy, embarrassed flush on his face, as if experiencing for the first time the confidence that came from being loved.
Zuo Shihuan slightly pushed away Gu Heng’s chest and awkwardly said, “No one… I, I just suddenly remembered the past. I was fine before. It’s all Gu Heng’s fault. If you hadn’t suddenly brought it up and comforted me, I wouldn’t have embarrassingly cried…”
Gu Heng reached out and wiped the faint tear marks from Zuo Shihuan’s slightly reddened cheeks. Seeing that Zuo Shihuan’s expression had improved and he no longer looked like a pitiful helpless crybaby, he even had the mood to stubbornly blame him now.
Gu Heng raised an eyebrow and smiled, then dotingly tapped the tip of Zuo Shihuan’s nose. “Alright, alright, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have brought that up.”
Zuo Shihuan paused, then bit his lip and awkwardly said, “It’s not really your fault either, Gu Heng. I just suddenly had an emotional breakdown. I didn’t know it would turn out like this. Before, I wouldn’t have been like this…”
Gu Heng’s gaze deepened, then he smiled and said, “I know. Shihuan only becomes like this in front of me. I feel especially happy, because Shihuan trusts me.”
Zuo Shihuan raised his eyes in surprise.
Gu Heng’s gaze deepened as he chuckled lightly. “Isn’t that so? Shihuan, I am extremely willing for you to vent your emotions to me. You don’t need to hold them in, and you don’t need to act strong in front of me, because you are my lover, the person I love most…”
Then Gu Heng placed a kiss on the forehead of the stunned Zuo Shihuan.
Zuo Shihuan’s pupils moved slightly, and gradually his face and ears grew hot and red. His lips parted several times but he still couldn’t say anything, feeling extremely shy and embarrassed to say those kinds of sweet words to Gu Heng as well.
Zuo Shihuan only shyly widened his watery light-brown eyes, occasionally glancing at Gu Heng without speaking, as if he were building up psychological courage.
Seeing this made Gu Heng’s heart soften even more. He wanted to kiss him again, to kiss the overly cute and shy Zuo Shihuan until his face and ears turned red, and also wanted to burst out laughing while holding Zuo Shihuan in his arms forever without letting go.
Gu Heng slightly lowered his black eyes, the smile on his lips deepening as he said, “Even if… Shihuan were a crybaby, I would still love you the most.”
A crybaby?!
That suddenly made Zuo Shihuan freeze and think. He had originally been thinking about how to respond to Gu Heng’s sweet words, thinking of many, many things, yet none of them seemed enough to express the surging love in his heart.
But then he heard Gu Heng say he was a crybaby.
Even though he knew Gu Heng was deliberately teasing him, Zuo Shihuan still couldn’t help pouting and said unhappily, “I’m not. That was just an accident!”
Gu Heng’s eyes smiled as he reached out and wiped the moisture from the corner of Zuo Shihuan’s eyes. “That’s right, just an accident.”
Zuo Shihuan’s face immediately darkened as he gritted his teeth. “If you hadn’t suddenly said all that nonsense, Gu Heng, I wouldn’t have become so strange!”
Gu Heng raised his eyebrows, yet still said indulgently and dotingly to Zuo Shihuan, “Mm, that’s right. It’s all my fault that Shihuan became strange.”
Zuo Shihuan suddenly felt a kind of frustration that couldn’t come out. He glared at Gu Heng again, yet still surrendered under Gu Heng’s black eyes filled with love and tolerance, completely unangry.
Zuo Shihuan finally sighed in defeat, his ears red as he said softly, “Alright… I, I also love you the most, Gu Heng.”
Gu Heng’s eyes lit up, and he showed a toothy, smug smile. “I know. Who else besides me would be worthy of your love, let alone being your most loved!”
Zuo Shihuan was speechless. “……”
Sometimes he found the overly smug Gu Heng a little irritating.
But forget it.
Zuo Shihuan let out a small laugh, then raised his eyes and looked at Gu Heng with full gentleness. “Come here for a moment.”
Gu Heng asked with a smile, “What is it?”
Zuo Shihuan said mysteriously, “You’ll know soon.”
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