SM Chapter 56

Ye Lai, you clearly still have feelings for me.

Sheng Mingqian and Ye Lai sat in the back row. Sheng Mingqian fastened Ye Lai’s seatbelt, and Ye Lai leaned on Sheng Mingqian’s shoulder, sleeping the whole time.

Beside Ye Lai’s left hand was a large bouquet of Hermosa roses. The sparse streetlights at the entrance of the orphanage were dampened by the rain, and scattered spots of light penetrated through, falling on the carmine petals. As the car started, the light-drenched carmine color slid onto Ye Lai’s flushed cheek from the alcohol. At this moment, Ye Lai’s soft and delicate rosy cheeks also reflected a unique play of light and shadow, just like the petals.

Sheng Mingqian couldn’t find Ye Lai in the evening. Passing by a flower shop that hadn’t closed yet at the street corner, he remembered that Ye Lai liked Hermosa roses, so he went in and bought a bouquet.

Looking at them for a long time, Sheng Mingqian realized that Ye Lai was very similar to Hermosa roses. When they are buds, they are not ostentatious, wrapping their posture inside their bodies. When the time comes, he will also shed his shell and bloom with fiery enthusiasm.

The current Ye Lai was wrapping himself up. He didn’t seem to be sleeping comfortably, his lips were tightly pursed, and he shrank back into the seat. Sheng Mingqian felt his movement and leaned closer to Ye Lai. Ye Lai’s body finally felt more support, and he only slept peacefully when he was close to Sheng Mingqian.

“Director Sheng, where are we going now?” the assistant asked after driving out of the street.

“To my house.” Sheng Mingqian brushed away the stray hairs from Ye Lai’s forehead, revealing his covered eyebrows and eyes.

After driving for a few minutes, the assistant glanced at the rearview mirror a few times and reminded Sheng Mingqian, “Director Sheng, after we turned at the intersection just now, there’s been a car following us. It might be paparazzi.”

Sheng Mingqian looked back, noted the license plate number, and called the police. A few minutes later, the police contacted the owner of the car behind them. The car behind them made a U-turn at a red light intersection and stopped following them.

A layer of frost covered Sheng Mingqian’s face, and the coldness collided in the car. Only the hand holding Ye Lai’s hand was warm, pinching his fingers and gently stroking them in his palm.

In the dream.

The faint, familiar scent that lingered around his nose never dissipated. Soon, in addition to the scent that had been clinging to his nose, the warm water surrounded Ye Lai’s body completely. A large hand held him against his back, as if afraid he would sink into the water. Another hand wandered over his body, that hand cupping warm water, droplets falling from his neck all the way to his toes, not missing an inch of skin.

The light and gentle touch was like a sudden, unexpected erotic dream. Ye Lai was unprepared in the dream, opening his mouth to hum softly, the water glistening on his lips, like the dew gathered on the petals of a Hermosa rose before the morning sun rises.

Ye Lai whimpered like a small animal, suppressing the dissatisfaction in his body, his soft, murmuring voice sounding like a complaint and dissatisfaction.

Sheng Mingqian splashed water on Ye Lai’s body, stopping his actions of giving him a bath, and quickly noticed the changes in Ye Lai’s body in the bathtub. Under the water, the skin on Ye Lai’s instep was slightly red, and his wet hair stuck to his already pink skin.

The water pressing on Ye Lai’s body was shaking, as if trying to break through that layer of resistance and soak into Ye Lai’s body.

Sheng Mingqian’s left hand supported Ye Lai’s back, preventing him from completely falling into the bathtub. The water droplets hanging on his other hand were still dripping onto Ye Lai’s body. Every time a drop of water fell, Ye Lai’s eyebrows furrowed a little more.

Sheng Mingqian had just brought Ye Lai home, and he was afraid of waking him up the whole way. He knew that once Ye Lai woke up, he would not want to stay any longer.

He didn’t dare to make his movements too big when giving him a bath. It took him almost twenty minutes just to take off his clothes. Ye Lai would stop humming as long as he made a sound, for fear of waking him up.

Sheng Mingqian couldn’t be more familiar with Ye Lai’s body, but the visual and psychological impact Ye Lai had on him lying in the bathtub at this moment was several times greater than usual.

But Ye Lai was already asleep now, and even if he was awake, given their current situation, there was nothing he could do.

Sheng Mingqian’s Adam’s apple rolled a few times. He forcefully restrained the impulse in his body, looked away, quickly finished bathing Ye Lai, wrapped him in a bathrobe and carried him back to the big bed.

Ye Lai lay on the bed and tossed and turned a few times, tightly hugging the quilt beside him and no longer moving.

Sheng Mingqian found a hairdryer to dry Ye Lai’s hair, sat by the bed for a while, and then reluctantly stood up and entered the bathroom. He quickly took a cold shower, got into bed and lay behind Ye Lai, hugging him from behind as he had done in previous years.

The familiar slender body in his arms made Sheng Mingqian feel a little dazed. There was nothing more fortunate in this world than recovering what was lost.

It was just that this regaining was temporary, and could only last at night. Thinking of this, Sheng Mingqian hugged Ye Lai in his arms a little tighter.

The second before falling asleep, Sheng Mingqian was still thinking about the last sentence Zhang Yihao asked him. The person in his arms seemed to have become a little lighter, as if he might float away at any time. He had to hug him harder to feel more at ease.

–

–

This night was particularly long, and the dreams he had were endless.

Ye Lai’s biological clock had been very accurate recently. He woke up at seven o’clock, his head aching badly after being drunk, as if it was about to split open. He still remembered drinking with Zhang Yihao, and blamed himself for not controlling his alcohol intake.

But he hadn’t forgotten the main event. He had to get to the Film Set before noon. Fortunately, today’s scenes weren’t too heavy, just a few simple side-profile and running scenes, which wouldn’t delay things.

Ye Lai’s body moved, and he belatedly realized that a heavy arm was draped around his waist. His back was pressed against a warm chest. Without looking back, Ye Lai knew that the person hugging his waist from behind was Sheng Mingqian.

His body still remembered every inch of Sheng Mingqian’s skin. He didn’t know how long it would take to completely erase such memories and imprints.

Ye Lai held his breath and tentatively moved his body again. Fortunately, there were no special changes in his body. He should have just slept in the same bed with Sheng Mingqian.

Sheng Mingqian felt Ye Lai move and knew that Ye Lai was awake, and also knew that he couldn’t hug him for much longer. He used some force on the arm wrapped around Ye Lai’s waist, and his lips rubbed against the delicate skin behind his neck, “Lai Lai, you’re awake.”

Sheng Mingqian’s body was pressed tightly against Ye Lai. Ye Lai felt the heat pressing against his thigh. He and Sheng Mingqian had been together for so many years, so of course he knew what this change meant.

Ye Lai kicked open the quilt on his body and lifted Sheng Mingqian’s hand, only to realize that he wasn’t wearing anything on his body, completely naked from head to toe.

“How did I end up at your house?” Ye Lai asked unhappily, turning his head.

“You drank too much last night, so I picked you up and brought you back.” Sheng Mingqian’s hand was still on Ye Lai’s body through the quilt, unwilling to move it away.

“How did you pick me up last night?” Ye Lai was curious. He was clearly with Zhang Yihao, so how did he wake up in Sheng Mingqian’s bed?

“I snatched you from Zhang Yihao.” Sheng Mingqian told the truth.

Ye Lai: “…”

The scene was suffocating just thinking about it. Ye Lai didn’t want to ask any more questions. He pulled the quilt up again and covered himself: “Where are my clothes?”

Sheng Mingqian propped himself up and sat up: “They’re in the washing machine, I haven’t washed them yet. There are still some of your clothes at home, I’ll go get them for you.”

After Sheng Mingqian finished speaking, he got out of bed. He was only wearing a pair of underwear, and he walked barefoot past Ye Lai’s side and entered the walk-in closet. Finally, he lingered inside for a long time before carrying a set of clothes out.

Ye Lai didn’t stay for a second longer. He put on his clothes and found his cell phone on the bedside table and walked out.

Sheng Mingqian grabbed his arm next to him: “I’ll make breakfast, I’ll take you to the Film Set after breakfast.”

“No need, I can go by myself.” Ye Lai avoided Sheng Mingqian’s gaze. The air currents in his body were churning into a mess. It was difficult to straighten things out, and he pulled his wrist out of Sheng Mingqian’s hand.

His other hand had been holding his cell phone tightly, and his finger touched the power button. The cell phone, which had been turned off all night, was now on.

The phone rang. Ye Lai picked it up and looked at it. It was Li Xun calling him. Ye Lai answered the phone and walked out, ignoring Sheng Mingqian.

Sheng Mingqian wanted to chase after him, but he wasn’t wearing anything on his body, so he had to go to the walk-in closet to find clothes to wear first.

“I saw the trending topics,” as soon as the phone was connected, Li Xun’s excited voice came over, sounding very excited. “Little Yezi, tell your sister, what’s going on between you two now?”

Ye Lai pinched the bridge of his nose and walked downstairs quickly. He didn’t know what was going on either. He wanted to live a peaceful life, but everything went against his wishes.

The paparazzi were watching him, some people couldn’t wait for him to get out of the entertainment industry, and his relationship with Sheng Mingqian was now unclear.

“Sister Xun, please don’t make fun of me.” Ye Lai was depressed and exhausted.

“Okay, okay, I won’t talk about this.” Li Xun laughed a few times and changed the subject. “I called you yesterday and your phone was turned off the whole time. Where are you now? Are you still filming?”

After yesterday’s trending topics, Ye Lai’s cell phone was flooded with calls again. He simply turned off his cell phone. He was now at Sheng Mingqian’s house, something he couldn’t say, so he vaguely glossed over it, only saying, “There were too many people calling me yesterday, so I turned off my cell phone.”

Li Xun said again, “I’m going to your place on a business trip in a few days, let’s have a meal together.”

“Okay, Sister Xun, my filming is about to finish soon.”

As Ye Lai spoke, he slowed down in the middle of the living room, his gaze falling on the bouquet of Hermosa roses placed on the tea table. His feet unconsciously changed direction.

A large bouquet of Hermosa roses was wrapped in white wrapping paper, still fresh and bright. Ye Lai bent down, brought it closer to the flowers, and smelled it. The fragrance was elegant and faint, gently wafting into his nose.

A few petals had fallen on the table, their edges slightly curled, already a little withered, indicating that the person who put the flowers down at the time had been a little rough and hasty.

Ye Lai straightened his back and pinched up those few petals, the unique texture of the petals sticking to his fingertips.

He liked Hermosa roses, he had always liked them.

“Ye Lai, are you listening?” Li Xun’s voice on the phone interrupted Ye Lai’s focus on the flowers.

Ye Lai raised his voice a little, the pitch also reminding himself to come back to his senses: “Yes, I’m listening, Sister Xun.”

Li Xun laughed, “You can be distracted early in the morning, didn’t you sleep well last night? It’s nothing important that I called, I just wanted to tell you, don’t let those public opinions affect your mood.”

Ye Lai nodded, “Sister Xun, I’m fine, you don’t have to worry about me.”

“That’s good, I’ll talk to you later, I won’t disturb your work.”

Sheng Mingqian had already changed his clothes and came downstairs. Ye Lai also hung up the phone, and hearing Sheng Mingqian’s footsteps gradually approaching behind him, he softly said, “It’s best to put these flowers in a vase. The buds are still closed now, but they will bloom completely in a few days. They will be very beautiful after they bloom.”

“Like you.” Sheng Mingqian said.

“What did you say?”

“These flowers are like you.” Sheng Mingqian held up the Hermosa roses and sent them in front of Ye Lai. “I’m not very good at arranging flowers. You like this, so let’s put them in a vase together.”

As Sheng Mingqian’s hand moved, the flowers in his hand also shook a few times. Ye Lai’s eyes also shook with the petals, and then blinked, turning his head away to refuse: “I’m in a hurry.”

Ye Lai didn’t look at Sheng Mingqian directly. He didn’t dare to look into Sheng Mingqian’s eyes right now. Just listening to him speak, he couldn’t help but think of what Sheng Mingqian said in the video yesterday, and his soft eyes with whirlpools.

Those whirlpools had suction, and could devour him without him knowing it. By the time he wanted to escape, it would be too late. He had already been devoured once.

“Mingqian, please don’t waste time with me.” Ye Lai’s body sank with his voice.

“It’s not wasting time,” Sheng Mingqian heard Ye Lai’s words, and his heart ached. Holding the flowers in one hand, he hugged Ye Lai from behind with the other, “Lai Lai, you clearly still have feelings for me.”

Ye Lai didn’t understand, and while prying at Sheng Mingqian’s fingers, he asked, “What? What has feelings for you?”

Sheng Mingqian explained to him, “When I was giving you a bath last night, you still had feelings when I touched you.”

After Ye Lai heard this, the strength in his hands suddenly drained away, and his mind roared, a white flower exploding in front of his eyes. He couldn’t see anything, only Sheng Mingqian’s sentence “You still have feelings” echoing in his ears.

So, what happened last night wasn’t a dream.

Ye Lai’s face turned red and then pale, changing several colors in a few seconds. He had no strength in his hands and couldn’t pry open Sheng Mingqian’s hand. He took a deep breath, raised his foot and stomped hard on Sheng Mingqian’s right foot in his slipper.

Sheng Mingqian was caught off guard and was stomped hard by Ye Lai. The pain made him let go immediately. He grabbed the corner of the table hard, bent over and took a few breaths of cold air. After a long while, he looked up at Ye Lai with a resentful expression: “Lai Lai, why did you stomp so hard?”

Ye Lai’s hair was also messy from the struggle, and his chest was rising and falling. This appearance instantly weakened his angry aura: “I drank too much last night, I didn’t know it was you at all. If…”

Ye Lai paused, thought about what to say after “if”, and finally said angrily, “If it was a massager, I might also have feelings. This stomp is my reaction when I’m sober.”