A Bite of Love

22. Removing the Bad Taste

"Are you awake?"

"Please don't shout," Mu Ran almost whispered, rubbing his temples. His head was throbbing with pain caused by his heavy drinking last night, but he was happy, seeing Ou Yang in his flat. Finally!

"O-kay," Ou Yang put the tray he brought to the bedside table and sat on the corner of the bed. Stroking his lover's head gently, he asked "does it hurt that much?"

Mu Ran gestured 'yes' with his eyes as moving his head was out of question.

"Then sleep a bit more," the concerned lover adjusted the quilt and attempted to stand up, but Mu Ran caught his wrist.

"Are you leaving?" he asked with a low voice, not caring how embarrassing his act was. He had many questions to ask about the day before, so he didn't want Ou Yang to leave until he was in a better condition to ask those.

Remembering Mu Ran's earlier words about not touching him, Ou Yang decided to prove him wrong. He crawled inside the quilt and gathered the shocked figure into his arms. Caressing his hair, he whispered "I will take a nap with you" and made Mu Ran drift into sleep with a huge smile on his lips.

When Mu Ran woke up for the second time, he felt heaps better. He tilted his head up slowly to look at Ou Yang's sleeping face, but his eyes were directly looking at him.

"S*ht!" Mu Ran almost jumped out of his skin while Ou Yang burst into laughter. "What the hell are you laughing at, you creep!" he snapped at his lover as he punched his arm lightly.

"You are so funny, Ran Ran!" Ou Yang sniffed and rubbed the area where Mu Ran punched.

"I am taking a shower," the irritated man murmured and got out of the quilt, only to fall back with Ou Yang's hauling.

Circling his arms around his irritated lover, Ou Yang said "I am sorry for laughing, but I find you extremely cute and you made me laugh, is it something bad?"

The effect was instant, all of Mu Ran's frustration evaporated, leaving its place to confusion.

"Do you really love me?" he asked with his heart in his mouth and felt Ou Yang's body tensed up.

"Ran Ran," Ou Yang removed his arms and turned his lover towards himself. Now they were sitting tete-a-tete and he could see the fear in his almond eyes. Staring at his lover intently, Ou Yang said "I really love you and I thought I was showing it. Therefore, can you tell me what I did wrong to make you suspect the sincerity of my love?"

Hearing his words, Mu Ran was taken aback a bit, but composed himself rather quickly. "You never come here or invite me to your house," he started shyly, "you also never touch me other than holding hands and kissing, so I thought you were still in a dilemma about our relationship."

"Oh my," Ou Yang rubbed his nape, "Ran Ran, you completely misunderstood the situation."

"Really?" Mu Ran asked with hope.

Ou Yang nodded, "I try not to come here because I am afraid to jump on you before we are completely ready. I didn't want you to think I was just a casanova, trying to get your body. I was also doing some research about 'that thing', you know."

Mu Ran could neither laugh nor cry. So, he did misunderstand Ou Yang completely, ha? "So, you are not disgusted because both of us are men?" he asked to confirm.

"Of course not," Ou Yang cupped his cheeks and gave him a proving kiss on the lips, "you have the most beautiful body I have ever seen, how can I be disgusted by an angel?"

Mu Ran heaved a relieved sigh and trapped Ou Yang's hands with his own, "can I ask one more question?" he asked timidly.

"Sure."

"Who is 'Darling' in your contacts?"

Ou Yang chuckled again, "she is my mother!"

Mu Ran lowered his head with abashment. How come things got that tangled?

Seeing his lover was uncomfortable, Ou Yang decided to continue, "she lives in Australia as you already know. Yesterday, she made a surprise and came here to see me, so I called you to inform you that I was going to the airport to get her, but you didn't answer your phone. As your mood was pretty bad, right after I dropped her at home, I came here to check on you."

"Wait!" Mu Ran exclaimed with wide open eyes, "your mother just came here to surprise you, but you spent the entire night and morning here, is that correct?"

Ou Yang shrugged, "don't worry, I told her that you were drunk and she said okay."

"WHAT?!" Mu Ran wished the ground would swallow him up.

Ou Yang chuckled again, seeing his terrified face, "she is a cool one, don't worry," he teased him a bit more.

"Just tell me that you didn't tell her who I am."

Ou Yang noticed his joke was going too far, so he ended his teasing immediately. Holding Mu Ran's hands, he said, "I told her my partner was sick, so I had to take care of him. She was the one telling me to hurry up and asked me to tell you that she wants to meet you when you recover."

Mu Ran felt the burden on his shoulders lifted up, but only for a second until he processed the last part, "she wants to meet me? Does she know I am a man?" he asked in horror.

Ou Yang smiled reassuringly, "of course she knows, she is a really cool one, don't overthink."

Well, Mu Ran couldn't help but overthink... and be petrified...