The voice on the phone continued.
Qi Sui just felt her head throbbing.
"Suisui, I still say that as a married couple, you need to talk things through. Our A-Jin isn't unreasonable; he has a soft heart. If you coax him a bit, he'll listen. Don't take my rambling the wrong way. I'm just worried about you two. He's my only son, and your family situation is what it is. I treat you both equally, like my own children. Don't ever quarrel and hurt your relationship."
On the other end, the old woman was earnest.
On this end, Qi Sui rummaged through her luggage for the allergy cream she brought, placed it in the man's palm.
He awkwardly pinched the small tube of cream, pulled down half of his shirt collar, revealing the skin from his left shoulder to above his triceps. In a short time, it had turned red across a large area, the color deepening.
Under the hotel's nightlight, it looked extremely alarming.
The man struggled to turn his head toward the small mirror on the desk, dabbed a bit of the white cream with his fingertip, and applied it bit by bit behind his ear.
The area behind the ear to the shoulder was manageable, but once he reached the spot near the shoulder blade, it exceeded the human limit—he couldn't reach it no matter what.
"Lower," Qi Sui couldn't help but remind him aloud.
On the phone, Qian's mother said, "Huh?" and asked, "Suisui, who are you talking to? Is someone in your room this late at night?"
"No, Mom. Please continue," Qi Sui replied.
LEO stood up. The hotel carpet swallowed the sound of his footsteps.
He stopped in front of Qi Sui, crouched down, his line of sight level with hers.
Huh?
Qi Sui asked him with her eyes.
LEO's eyes were misty and heavy.
The nightlight on the bedside table cast a yellow glow, falling on their faces, clearly outlining the contours of their bones. The man's silhouette was cast on the wall, moving slowly like a lazy beast that only stirs when hunting.
The curve of his eye corners was flat, his lower eyelid slightly lifted along the curve, half-shaded by the light and shadows.
In discussions about gender attraction, there's a topic: why do men prefer youthful-looking women?
Apart from the innocence of youthful women that evokes protective instincts, there's another reason—appearance.
But Qi Sui felt it was the same for men toward women.
The man in front of her crouched down, but due to the line of sight, he had to look up slightly. His usually deep-set eyes, which hid an unexpected innocence, were now exposed.
His dark pupils almost filled the vertical space between his upper and lower eyelids. The whites above and below disappeared. This pupil state that filled the vertical space made him look innocent and naïve.
An extreme reversal.
He was so vulnerable.
Even though when he stood up, he could completely overshadow Qi Sui's figure.
But at this moment, he looked like he really needed my help.
LEO handed over the slender tube of cream.
The voice on the phone, now that he was crouched, he could hear it clearly.
Family trivialities, endless chatter.
The aged voice, with its decades of experience, condescendingly lectured the woman before her—beautiful but ill-suitedly trapped in a wrong marriage.
It broke his heart.
It made him think of her day and night.
It made him want to take her for himself.
But still, he shyly parted his lips and asked:
"Can you help me?"
Author's Note:
---
Hey, buddy, what are you doing?
The author kneels first. Yesterday afternoon, JJ seemed to glitch; my titles disappeared, so I didn't update.
Also, good news: I'm going VIP tomorrow! Come hang out with me. I'll send everyone little red envelopes. I'm very nervous about going VIP—it's my first original novel going VIP. I hope everyone can continue reading happily, and I'll keep writing seriously.
In short, there will be a ten-thousand-word update tomorrow. Let's look forward to the iconic scene from the blurb! [Star Eyes][Star Eyes]