Jinshi and Maomao Short Stories Collection

The honey-scene: an alternative ending - Jinshi's POV

One of my readers on ao3 expressed a wish to read the last story from Jinshi's perspective, and I liked the idea, so here is it!

The honey-scene: an alternative ending - Jinshi's POV

"A smart girl like you deserves a reward."

And there was Jinshi, "giving" said reward to Maomao. Or in other words: standing in front of her with a grin on his lips and sticky honey covering his fingers that he kept moving towards her face, pretending to make her lick them clean.

Yes, pretending. He didn't actually mean it, of course, after all, he wasn't like these scumbags who needed to torment and humiliate women in order to feel powerful. Absolutely not. But why had he decided to play around with her like that out of the blue?

Well, first of all, he knew by now that she wasn't as easy to scare as other palace women, out of which some would have probably fainted by now if they were in her place. Otherwise, he wouldn't be doing this in the first place. And the main reason was that he wanted to test how far he could go with her. To try out what it would take to break her usually composed demeanor, to get that adorable girl to show some real emotions besides dancing from joy over some medicinal ingredients. And, seeing her press her back against the wall, he felt that he was very close to actually achieving that goal. Just a little bit.

But this wasn't all. There was also another reason. One he didn't really want to admit, but that couldn't be denied either: he had noticed that she had started to get used to his presence, not shuddering at his touch anymore, which he was very happy about and also sincerely thankful for, but...

...he missed her glares.

Yes, he did. He missed her staring at him as if he was an insect, a slug, a piece of garbage, you name it!

Okay, maybe there was something wrong with him...

But whatever. After having gotten what he wanted from her, he would lick his fingers himself, apologize to her, pat her head, and release her (the mere thought of the glare she would cast at him after THAT made him shiver slightly with anticipation). He figured that Maomao wasn't the resentful type, so he was pretty sure she wouldn't hate him for a prank, plus, he could always gift her another gourd of alcohol or a medicinal plant to make her forget that little incident.

So he continued his little game, acting as if he was serious.

But then suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking at her with confusion, since he saw something he had never expected to see on her face: a malicious grin. And not only that, but her eyes were now firmly fixated on his, staring directly into them without hesitation nor doubt. Confident and determined. Not intimidated at all.

This caused a strange feeling in him, an unfamiliar yet not entirely unpleasant tingling in his stomach.

"Apothecary? What is-"

But he never finished that sentence. A surprised gasp escaped his lips, and his heart skipped a beat as he felt her grab his wrist out of the blue, her thin fingers clasping around it tightly.

The honey on his fingers threatened to drip onto Maomao's arm and the floor. Of course, he could have easily freed himself, he was much stronger than her, after all, but for some reason, he found himself completely unable to, not daring to move a muscle and doing nothing but staring at her as if he was hypnotized. Wondering what would happen next.

He was completely taken aback, not understanding what was going on. What was she intending to do?

Maomao stayed silent, but suddenly started to move his hand slowly towards her still grinning mouth, not taking her eyes off him. Realization sank in, and he opened his eyes wide with disbelief.

No way! No way in hell!

He started breathing faster, feeling his insides tighten with pure panic, as if the deadliest creature in the world was standing in front of him, and he was facing his last minutes on earth.

She couldn't be serious!

"No, wait! What are you doing?"

"What do you mean, Master Jinshi? I'm simply following your orders. You want me to lick that honey off your fingers, don't you? So I will."

She was serious!!!

No, no, no! He must have heard wrong, his ears must have deceived him. She couldn't have said that she would actually lick his fingers! Did she have no shame at all?!

"I don't! Stop! That was just a joke! I simply wanted to tease you a bit! I never thought you would actually do it!"

Jinshi could feel sweat starting to drip from his forehead. His heart was beating so fast as if it was about to jump out of his ribcage, which she could surely feel as well, holding his wrist tight like that. And this was the moment he realized one thing: she was the one in control now and would not let him go that easily. There was no escape. Nowhere to run!

He was absolutely baffled, didn't know what to think nor do anymore. This was too much, way too much for him! He wasn't sure how long he would be able to take it!

"A joke? Really, Master Jinshi, it's not nice to play around like that with a young unmarried woman. It could scare some for real, even seriously traumatize them, you know?"

Traumatize them? At that moment, she was the one traumatizing him instead! He felt his knees getting weak just from the mere imagination that she was really about to stick his fingers into her mouth. He almost dropped the honey pot he was holding in his other hand, becoming as pale as a sheet and trembling like a leaf.

Jinshi hadn't even dared to dream about things like that, and now it was happening for real!

Time stood still around him. The only movement he was seeing was her pulling his hand towards her mouth. The only thing that mattered.

And when she started to pass her tongue along his trembling fingers and to lick off the honey, he thought he would lose his mind. He had trouble breathing and felt extremely hot, as if he was in the desert under a scorching sun.

A scorching sun named Maomao that was burning him alive.

Finally, she took his now saliva-coated fingers out of her mouth and looked up at him again.

He was still staring at her, not moving a muscle, his brain unable to process all the thoughts, the sensations, anything of what had just happened.

Seeing him like this, Maomao frowned and snorted quietly. Then she let go of him, shrugged and left.

But he barely registered this, still staring at the spot she had been standing in just a few seconds ago and still feeling the firm grip of her fingers around his wrist and the warm wetness of her tongue on his fingers as if they were burned into his skin.

And apart from it, nothing. His mind was completely blank, wandered off somewhere. Into some sort of Nirvana.

He needed several hours to remember who he was and to be able to move again.