"XIAO YANG!" Zheng Hao banged on the door to attract Xiao Yang's attention.
GE!" Xiao Yang exclaimed in relief and opened the door a bit, pulling the store owner in before pushing it close again. Grabbing the latter's arms with his cold and wet hands, he said "thanks Heaven, you are here, ge, I was getting desperate."
Brimming with gratitude, Zheng Hao pulled the younger man towards himself and hugged his cold body tight, "thank you, Xiao Yang... thank you so much," he said and kissed his wet hair. Then he broke the hug and rushed to get another dust pan and bucket.
Together, they collected water with the dust pans and filled the buckets before it reached the machines. Fortunately, soon, the downpour left its place to rain, then to drizzle before stopping for good.
After pouring the last bucket from the sink, Zheng Hao could finally look at Xiao Yang properly and his heart got twisted by the sight.
His grey sweatsuit was almost black after soaking until his calves, his hands and feet were wrinkled and pale, his lips lost their colour, his body was shivering...
"Ge, shall we mop the floor first or-aah-" Xiao Yang stopped abruptly as a pair of hands grabbed him from the waist and lifted him to sit on the counter.
"Sit here, I will bring you some dry clothes," Zheng Hao said softly and went to check the hangers to find his spare clothes. When he was back after a few seconds, Xiao Yang was still in the same position, either too tired or shocked to move.
As Zheng Hao thought it was the first option, he didn't bother saying anything. He rather stood in front of the seated figure and helped him to wear the old cardigan. He also dried his hair, hands and lastly his feet with the towel he brought under the accumulated shock of the younger man. Then he pulled him down and handed him the sweatpants to change into.
When he was done with changing, Zheng Hao made him sit down on the boss chair and covered him with a baby blanket he found from the shelf. Then he put all the wet clothes and towels into the washing machine to take care of the next day and checked the damage. Being sure there was no serious harm, he decided to take Xiao Yang home to rest, but the latter was already sleeping.
"You are my hero today," Zheng Hao whispered and as if to hear him Xiao Yang hummed softly. As it was impossible to sleep in the cold store for the night, the older man simply lifted the sleeping figure off the chair in bridal style and carried him to his car. After laying him in the back seat, he returned back to the store to fetch their belongings and lock the door. For precaution, he stuffed another old piece of curtain under the door and returned to the car.
Luckily, the roads were empty, so under the fresh scent of the rain, the duo arrived home pretty soon. Not wanting to disturb his peaceful sleep, Zheng Hao applied the same method and carried his hero to his bed. Tugging him under two blankets in case he felt cold, he left the room.
As expected, in the morning, Xiao Yang was highly sore and had no energy to do anything. With difficulty, he took a sitting position and realised he was on his bed, still wearing his husband's cardigan.
"Did he carry me here?" he asked in the empty room with astonishment and a blush spread on his face. "I have to see him before class," he murmured and got out of the bed. He dragged his still swollen feet to the kitchen where Zheng Hao was cooking.
"Ge, good morning."
Zheng Hao dropped the ladle and turned around, "what are you doing up, you should rest," he said, but Xiao Yang shook his head, meaning he was okay. The man with the apron watched the other take a seat on the chair, then pointed at the phone on the table, "Ji Bo called you many times, so I just answered one and said you are sick."
"Oh," Xiao Yang frowned, wondering why Ji Bo called him that many times early in the morning, but then he saw the time and realised it was already eleven am.
"Damn, I missed all the classes of the day," Xiao Yang murmured as he checked the notes Ji Bo sent.
"Well, I am sorry for that, I wanted to wake you up, but you seemed so tired, so I turned off your alarm and let you sleep," Zheng Hao said as he continued to stir the soup.
Xiao Yang could only gape. Was he still sleeping? From when his husband started to be that caring towards him?
"Are you angry?"
"Ha? Ah- no," Xiao Yang mumbled, "thank you, ge, I really needed to sleep."
"Hmm."
"By the way, aren't you late for work?"
"I also overslept," Zheng Hao lied blatantly, "then I thought it wouldn't be nice to leave you without food. You can't take a relaxant on an empty stomach, you know."
"Ge, are you okay?" Xiao Yang asked after pinching himself to be sure it wasn't a dream.
The cooking man turned off the cooker and turned around, "I am okay... why?"
Xiao Yang rubbed his chin, "you are suspiciously so good to me."
Embarrassed to his very core, Zheng Hao turned around fast, excusing taking bowls out of the cabinet, "let's eat before it gets cold."
Seeing his odd reaction, Xiao Yang chuckled silently and dropped the topic. He silently took a spoon from his beef noodle soup, wondering if his husband chose to cook that because he was afraid of him catching a cold.
"Umm, Xiao Yang," Zheng Hao called out to the younger one when he lost against his curiosity, "how did you know about the store?"
Xiao Yang lowered his spoon with a far-off look in his eyes, "uncle told me once, that water floods into the store during downpours. He said the municipality doesn't solve the problem, so I promised to help him, but then... you know." He died.
Zheng Hao didn't fail to notice the sadness emitting his words. First photos and now this...
"So, you just grabbed my keys and rushed to the store to evacuate the water?" Indeed, it sounded so absurd for a rich young man to fight the dirty water inside a poor store, but Zheng Hao saw it with his own eyes.
Xiao Yang nodded, "I am sorry to take your keys, but you didn't answer your phone, so I had to do it. Luckily, the machines are fine, tomorrow I will call the aunt Li, she works for the munici-"
"Thank you," Zheng Hao cut him off with a sudden hug, "you don't know how much that store means to me."
After a brief second of shock, Xiao Yang returned the hug, "believe me, I know. It is the legacy of uncle, so it means a lot to me as well."
"I am so sorry."
YOU ARE READING
Utter Defeat
Romance[Completed] A one-sided love... an unwanted marriage... a bunch of misunderstandings... a lot of resistance... "You can resist all you want, but in the end, you will be mine." "Never." Never? That's too bold, isn't it?
