ASSHKHME Chapter 84

Chapter 84: Lover

Chen Zhuo leaned against Xie Yu’s chest and hummed. “After my parents passed away, I probably didn’t speak for about six months. The doctor said I was too traumatized and my language system had problems. Uncle Xu found me a lot of experts, both Chinese and Western medicine, and I saw a psychologist four times a week. I slowly got better.”

His tone was light as he calmly recounted his childhood, which was filled with sadness and pain.

As Xie Yu listened, his heart felt like it was being twisted by a sickle.

Chen Zhuo unconsciously fiddled with the button on Xie Yu’s shirt. “I just kept taking medicine. At that time, even when there wasn’t thunder, I couldn’t sleep at night. As soon as I closed my eyes, I would see my parents being smashed by rocks until they were a bloody mess. I had to take a large dose of tranquilizers to fall asleep, and I took them for a long time.”

Xie Yu held him tighter, his throat choked up. “Then, then now? Does this still happen?”

Chen Zhuo chuckled softly and poked Xie Yu’s waist. “I’m fine, it’s just because I haven’t rested well these past few days. I only slept for less than four hours yesterday, so I’m not very energetic and my heart is beating fast.”

“It’s my fault, I tormented you for too long yesterday.” Xie Yu picked him up and placed him on the bed, covering him with a quilt. He leaned down and kissed his forehead, gently saying, “Sleep a little longer, baby.”

Chen Zhuo wrapped himself in the sun-drenched quilt, worried. “Is it okay for me to sleep in your bed?”

Xie Yu rubbed Chen Zhuo’s brow with his thumb. “It’s not like you haven’t slept here before. You’re too anxious right now, baby. We’re both men, there’s nothing wrong with two men sleeping in the same bed. No one will overthink it. Close your eyes, I’ll be here with you.”

Chen Zhuo quietly looked at Xie Yu for a while, then obediently closed his eyes.

Sunlight streamed through the large French windows, casting warm shadows on the wooden floor, creating a warm and peaceful winter afternoon.

Xie Yu silently watched Chen Zhuo fall asleep, feeling deeply indebted.

Xie Yu knew that the death of his parents had been a great blow to Chen Zhuo, and he also knew that he was afraid of thunder because of it, but he didn’t know that he had suffered so much…

Xie Yu was very remorseful. He clearly knew that Chen Zhuo was a prickly little hedgehog, but he hadn’t delved into Chen Zhuo’s past.

He thought he could give Chen Zhuo enough love and security, but he hadn’t thought about healing Chen Zhuo’s childhood, pulling Chen Zhuo out of the shadows of the past.

Nine-year-old Chen Zhuo couldn’t escape that rainy season, but he could hold an umbrella for nineteen-year-old Chen Zhuo.

Xie Yu looked with heartache at the scar on Chen Zhuo’s wrist, hidden under the silver bracelet.

After years, it had become the same color as his skin, but if you looked closely, you could see a very shallow, thin scar.

He had only discovered this recently when he was intimate with Chen Zhuo.

Chen Zhuo had simply said that he was just playing around with something sharp when he was little, and he reassured him that it was only a shallow layer of skin, and he didn’t even go to the hospital to bandage it, it healed on its own.

Xie Yu tucked him in and got up to go into the adjacent walk-in closet.

He took out his phone and dialed a number. “Hey, Qi Zi, I remember your uncle is a psychologist? Can you make an appointment for me? I want to ask him some questions.”

Ling Qi suspiciously “ah”d. “What’s wrong with you? Have you finally realized that you have a mental problem?”

Xie Yu cursed. “Forget it, just help me make an appointment, as soon as possible.”

Ling Qi yawned. “Okay, okay, I’ll call him right now. He’s adjusting to the time difference. I’m hanging up.”

Ten minutes later, Xie Yu received a WeChat message from Ling Qi: [Thursday morning at 8:30, clinic location: 531 Changxing Street, Dongcheng Avenue.]

Chen Zhuo was still curled up in the quilt, sleeping in. Xie Yu went out, using the excuse that something had happened at home.

At 8:20, he arrived at 531 Changxing Street, Dongcheng Avenue. It was a three-story building on the street, with a sign on the door that read “Jinggang Psychological Counseling Studio”.

After the receptionist registered his name, she knocked on the office door. “Dr. Ling, Mr. Xie has arrived.”

Xie Yu heard a low, gentle voice. “Please let Mr. Xie in.”

Xie Yu nodded slightly to the staff and walked into the clinic.

The doctor inside looked very young, wearing a light blue shirt under a white coat, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, perfectly matching Xie Yu’s perception of highly educated people.

Xie Yu said, “Dr. Ling, hello.”

Ling Xu raised his hand and invited him to sit down, asking his secretary to pour two glasses of warm water and bring them in. He smiled and said, “When you were little, I used to hold you. You’ve grown so big, time waits for no one.”

Xie Yu tried hard to search his memory, but he had no impression at all. “Really? But you look really young.”

Ling Xu smiled and walked around the desk, sitting on the sofa opposite him. “Well, maybe it’s because I’m not married. I’m a whole cycle older than you.”

Xie Yu smiled, holding his water glass. “I wanted to ask you about post-traumatic stress disorder today.”

Ling Xu’s eyes observed him silently.

Xie Yu explained, “It’s not for me, it’s for my… boyfriend. He has already undergone a lot of treatment. I came today to ask, as the person closest to him, what can I do for him?”