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Arc 1: Chapter 34

Lin Yuan didn’t know what was said during the conversation between the doctor and Huo Chen, let alone know that the doctor defined Huo Chen’s current behavior with two words-- self-destructive.

Hearing Huo Chen assert that he wanted to cure himself, Lin Yuan hurriedly nodded and said with bright eyes: “Ok, I’ll help you. What do I need to do?”

Huo Chen lovingly squeezed Lin Yuan’s cheek and said in a gentle, low voice: “Sui Sui just needs to hold my hand.”

Lin Yuan immediately tightly held Huo Chen’s hand, and even swayed it around a few times. He said with a smile: “I’m holding you tightly. Don’t be afraid, I won’t let go.”

He will obediently hold Huo Chen!

Huo Chen smiled and said: “En, thank you , Sui Sui, for holding me.”

Huo Chen’s smile made Lin Yuan blush and his heart pounded again. He secretly touched his chest, and felt relieved that his heart hadn’t jumped out. 

The clerk didn’t expect a male couple to enter the store. The tall man was extremely handsome and eye-catching. The shorter one was also handsome and sunny, with curly hair that looked fluffy. 

The clerk hesitated for a moment before walking by: “Sirs, what clothes are you looking for?”

Lin Yuan politely smiled and said: “Hello, we’re looking for a red nightdress.”

The clerk couldn’t help but think crooked thoughts. He looked at Lin Yuan’s pure and innocent face and thought: Letting such a cute boy wear a red nightdress. Damn, a little exciting.

“Sleep wear are all over here.” The clerk took the two people over and picked up a red nightdress from the rack. 

When Huo Chen saw the familiar color and similar dress, his breathing stagnated and a chill spread all throughout his body. But it wasn’t as bone-chilling as usual.

He understood that he wasn’t in a closed room but in an ordinary clothing store. It seemed a little clustered with all of the clothes, but there was no oppressive suffocation in the air.

He knew that it was safe here. 

That dress was also safe.

Lin Yuan originally wanted to ask for Huo Chen’s opinion, but when the clerk picked up the dress, he felt Huo Chen clenching his hand and Lin Yuan knew that it was correct.

He reached out to touch Huo Chen’s face and let the other look at himself: “Huo Chen.”

Huo Chen’s line of sight was forcibly taken away from the dress and fell on Lin Yuan’s clean face and warm eyes. 

Lin Yuan smiled at him and said: “Look at me. Don’t look away, otherwise, I’ll be angry.”

Huo Chen knew that Lin Yuan was helping him, saving him, and nodded with a rare meekness, like the beast had put away his claws and fangs and tamely rubbed against Lin Yuan’s hand: “Ok, I’ll look at you and won’t make you angry.”

Lin Yuan hummed with satisfaction, and looked at the clerk: “Please help us pack this one.”

The clerk who was forced to eat a mouthful of dog food and wanted more: “......Ok. I’ll pack it up right now.”

Naturally, it was Lin Yuan who took the clothes. He held Huo Chen’s hand and changed the topic with a smile: “Husband, husband, let’s go shopping. I suddenly realized that we’ve never gone on a date.”

Huo Chen’s eyes were intentionally avoiding looking at the red color, and didn’t hear Lin Yuan’s words clearly. But the word ‘date’ jerked Huo Chen awake from his nightmare. 

He was too deeply trapped by that woman. 

He shouldn’t be like this, he must become a normal person.

Huo Chen made a sound of agreement and said as calmly as possible: “Ok, let’s go on a date.”

The first floor of the mall sold gold and silver jewelry, the second and third sold clothing, the fourth was a food court, and the fifth was a movie theater. When they started to shop, Huo Chen realized that he and Lin Yuan seemed to have missed out on a lot of things that ordinary couples would do. 

In a ring store on the first floor, Huo Chen carefully selected a pair of rings. It was a simple style of platinum metal for them to temporarily wear for a few days. Once he got back, he would find a designer to design a pair of unique wedding rings and put it on Lin Yuan. 

Lin Yuan liked the ring a lot and couldn’t help looking at his ring finger and then at Huo Chen’s ring finger. The smile on his face couldn’t disappear and the cute dimple seemed to be filled with sweetness. 

When buying clothes, Lin Yuan seemed to have unlocked something inside of him and endlessly asked Huo Chen to try on clothes. He thought that Huo Chen was too good-looking, and his appearance of wearing new clothes made him want to kiss him. 

When Huo Chen went into the fitting room to change clothes, Lin Yuan looked around with a guilty heart. Seeing that no clerks were around, he immediately walked to the door of the fitting room and wanted to open it. But he found that Huo Chen had locked the door from the inside. 

Lin Yuan hummed and paced around impatiently. The moment the door opened a little bit, he instantly pushed it open and squeezed in. 

Huo Chen had changed into a new set of clothes that Lin Yuan chose. Although the style of the shirt was more casual than what he usually wore, he looked very fashionable wearing a few pieces of silver necklaces that Lin Yuan had picked out. 

Lin Yuan felt as if he’d been bewitched when he saw Huo Chen. He felt a little light headed and pounced on him: “Huo Chen~ Kiss me, I want kisses~”

He tilted his head and kissed. Huo Chen smiled and immediately lowered his head and met the warm and soft lips of the other party. He hooked the other’s tongue and gently stirred it. 

Lin Yuan’s eyes were distracted as he kissed. He felt that Huo Chen’s kissing skills were getting better and better, unlike him, who sometimes couldn’t even respond properly. 

The two kissed for several minutes. Huo Chen estimated that if he didn’t go out soon, the clerk would come over and ask if something had happened. He breathed heavily and let Lin Yuan go, but he still rubbed against the other’s lips, feeling their softness. 

In his daze, Lin Yuan had pinched Huo Chen’s shirt into many creases. After realizing it, he asked nervously: “I…… Did I ruin their clothes? Do we need to compensate for it?”

Huo Chen took a look and said: “Just buy it. Don’t you like me in this, little pervert?”

Lin Yuan was called this for the first time and retorted: “I’m not a little pervert!”

Such a serious look on his partner was really cute and tempting. Huo Chen lowered his head and pecked his ear and said: “Even if Sui Sui is a little pervert, he’s the most handsome one.”

Lin Yuan hesitated. He was happy that his husband said he was the most handsome, but being called a little pervert wasn’t good. It was really hard to decide, was he the most handsome little pervert?

While he was in a dilemma, Huo Chen had gone to the cashier to buy the clothes. He didn’t care what he wore, but his little partner liked it. 

When they came to the food court, Lin Yuan had already cultivated a habit of taking care of Huo Chen’s meals, even if they were not at home. 

⋅ ˚ ₊ ‧ ୨୧ ‧ ₊ ˚ ⋅ ˚ ₊ ‧ ୨୧ ‧ ₊ ˚ ⋅ ˚ ₊ ‧ 

After returning to the villa, the bag with the nightdress in it was put on the coffee table in Huo Chen’s room.

For Huo Chen, a dress from the same brand was enough to enlarge the shadow of the dead woman to a horrible extent. He had nightmares for several consecutive days. 

In the nightmare, the red nightdress crawled out of the bag, first the sleeves, followed by the collar, the torso, and then the skirt. 

Then white bones began to grow inside it from top to bottom, like a skeleton rack. Followed by the growth of red flesh and blood, and finally, it became an pallid and beautiful woman. 

She stood in front of the sofa all of the time, never getting closer, only staring with those eyes that were five points similar to Huo Chen’s.

Huo Chen couldn’t feel a trace of warmth or brightness. He only felt a deep chill, constantly probing into his flesh. 

Lin Yuan could feel that Huo Chen’s spirit was bad these days, and he knew the cause was the dress. 

He didn’t know what to do. He seriously thought for half a day, and after taking a shower at night, he pushed Huo Chen down onto the bed and began to take off his clothes. 

Huo Chen immediately grabbed his hand and there was a sliver of confusion and panic in his narrow, dark eyes: “Sui Sui! What are you doing?”

Lin Yuan hummed and pestered him: “I’m going to roll in the sheets~ If you don’t roll with me three times tonight, I will… I will not call you husband anymore, and not let you kiss me.”

They didn't do it these past few days because Huo Chen had an obstacle in his heart. Hearing Lin Yuan’s words, he first smiled and expressed his doubts: “Can you hold back on kissing me though, Mr. Lin?”

Mr. Lin… Mr. Lin felt that he probably couldn’t resist, but he had to hold back and said: “I…… will definitely hold back! I will keep my word. Three times~”

Huo Chen was still a little reluctant, but finally gave up under Lin Yuan’s persistence. 

This was probably the most uncomfortable time they did it because Huo Chen couldn’t concentrate. Although he still did Lin Yuan gently, he felt that whenever their bodies touched, the shadow still existed. 

The second time, Huo Chen’s state stabilized a lot. Lin Yuan held onto his shoulders and cried faintly because of the unbearable feeling. His slender fingers slowly shuttled between the man’s hair, over and over again.

“Huo…… Huo Chen……”

“There are only Lin Yuan and Huo Chen in this room, there’s no third person……”

“It’s just us. Huo Chen, take a good look, this is our room……”

Under Lin Yuan’s guidance, Huo Chen looked behind him. There was indeed no one there. There was no trace of the woman from his nightmare.

That woman created a prison of love and death from her deception and lies that confined a child with nightmares for the first half of his life. 

But here was his and Lin Yuan’s room, and there was only them. 

Huo Chen hugged Lin Yuan and changed their position without stopping his movements. The vividness of his body and the shadow of death surrounded him on opposite sides. His eyes pulled away from the gloom of the nightmare and finally fell on the face of the young man who had lost his mind from pleasure. 

For the first time, Huo Chen was clear about being alive. 

He wanted to live.

He wanted to live with Lin Yuan and grow old together. 

Lin Yuan originally just wanted to comfort Huo Chen with himself and hugs and kisses. He hoped that Huo Chen could focus his attention on himself instead of thinking of those other things. 

On the first night, he felt he was okay and could hold on. The second night, he felt like it was harder and had to persevere. 

The third night……

Lin Yuan knelt on the bed and the man behind him gripped his waist and plundered and invaded his body and consciousness like a beast. 

“Sui Sui……”

“Sui Sui……”

The sound of morbid infatuation. 

No matter how simple-minded Lin Yuan was, he finally reacted and cried out softly: “Huo… Huo Chen, are you not scared anymore?”

Huo Chen kissed his back, which was already littered with traces, and sucked a deeper mark on it. “No, I’m still scared. Sui Sui has to comfort me. Three times, you said so yourself, otherwise I can’t kiss you for a week.”