LML Chapter 3

Chapter 3. Request

Gu Han Liang stared as he drank down the calming medicine, then the large glass of water, before he finally relaxed and said, “Your gunshot wound should not be exposed to water. Is it alright if I help you wipe your body?”

His previously cold eyes held an earnest look and, with the defined contours of his face – like that of a Westerner’s – after the cold expression was stripped away, what remained was the upstanding beauty of a sculpture. Don’t know if it was because of the medication, but Zhang Zi Tuo felt the roots of his ear too soft*, it all a confusing, fleeting dream.

* 耳根子軟; saying; the roots of the ear are soft; lack of one’s own belief/opinion, to be easily persuaded

“I’ll just wipe it myself, it’s nothing…..” He replied.

Gu Han Liang did not object, but his feet did not move; he remained seated where he was, his eyes still on him, entreatingly.

“Fine, alright fine.” Zhang Zi Tuo had never thought that Gu Han Liang was capable of having such an expression, so like a spoiled child; his heart had almost jumped out of his chest.

When Gu Han Liang heard the reply, the corner of his mouth slightly lifted. He followed Zhang Zi Tuo into the bathroom, stared expectantly at the indecisive* young man and reminded, “Not taking off your clothes?”.

* tbh the raws literally say: 脫也不是不脫也不是 the young man who was not undressing, but yet not undressing; basically that ZZT was still thinking about whether to take the clothing off or to leave the clothing on –> indecisive

Zhang Zi Tuo stared at the bathtub for quite a while, embarrassed, before he turned his back to Gu Han Liang, pulled off his shirt, unbuckled his belt, and bent over, lifted his leg to take off his pants.

He had the body of one who practiced martial arts, and due to his build, his muscles were not overly prominent, a thin layer evenly wrapped around his body, his honey-toned skin glistened beautiful in the light. Upon him bending over, the rounded buttocks covered tight by black underwear, rose and tilted towards the Gu Han Liang standing in the back. The latter, his nose oddly warm, hurriedly turned his line of sight.

Had yet to ascertain the other’s intentions, yet had broken down in tears just that afternoon, and yet now, here he was, already able to strip himself clean, to be wiped down by the ex-lover who almost killed him. And so Zhang Zi Tuo stripped until he was only left with a pair of underwear, his mood complicated beyond comparison.

Gu Han Liang rolled up the sleeves of his nightgown, one hand held a large towel, the other hand lifted the nozzle and ran the towel wet. The hot, damp, soft bath towel was first pressed to his face, the skin wiped clean, the pressure just right. Zhang Zi Tuo hadn’t even expected that his face would also be wiped, and so he stupidly stood there, unsure of what to do.

The ears, the neck, the back, the arms……could feel that the man had never done this before, the movements serious albeit clumsy, even the webs of the fingers were held and carefully rinsed clean. The man, when toweling dry his left hand, leaned to kiss it, as if he couldn’t help himself, but was met with him – his face red as he pulled his hand back.

Gu Han Liang startled, looked at Zhang Zi Tuo’s red face and although the kiss did not land, such an expression was already enough. He didn’t dwell on it, just continued to wipe the shoulders, the collarbones.

The towel brushed over the tip of the soft, dark-red nipple, the subtle touch made Zhang Zi Tuo bite his lip, but however Gu Han Liang didn’t have any crooked inclinations, and only silently stared at the scar on his left chest.

Only an year had passed and so the round bullet scar and the deep surgical scar still shocked the eye and astonished the heart*, could imagine how critical it was at that time. Gu Han Liang gently, gently touched his fingertips to the scar for a moment, then slowly lowered his hand as his gaze shifted up and up until his eyes met with Zhang Zi Tuo’s.

* 觸目驚心; idiom; shocked the eye, astonished the heart; a ghastly sight

Both their gazes were calm.

Gu Han Liang crouched down, brushed a kiss on the scar, then continued to wipe, as if nothing had happened. The action was as serious and careful as before, the bandaged wound carefully avoided.

“I’ll do it myself.” Seeing that he’d already been wiped to his lower abdomen, and as he didn’t want to be stripped of his underwear, Zhang Zi Tuo rushed to seize the bath towel himself, “I won’t let the water touch the wound…..”

Gu Han Liang did not say anything, but for one moment, his long, thin index finger caught on the edge of the underwear. The man who just had liberties taken with him, immediately tensed up, as if he was facing a great enemy. But the other didn’t continue, just simply handed the towel over to him, “Wipe it carefully.”

After saying that, he kissed his cheek, turned and went out.

Zhang Zi Tuo stood alone in the steamy bathroom, his hands still knew how to move, but his heart was thump thump thump fast. The tender indulging that he’d never experienced, the closeness that he’d never been given, the concession he’d never been allowed. In this small bathroom, they’d obviously met in countless embraces, went as deep into the body as could be reached, yet never had it been as ordinary as just now, only a bit of words and touches – neither light nor heavy – and it was enough to pull their hearts close, throbbing, pounding endlessly.

He dried himself off, pulled on a bathrobe stacked on the small sofa in the bathroom and walked out. The man sat on the bed, a silk sheet draped on his lap, only a moment had passed and his face seemed to have recovered its cold indifference.

Zhang Zi Tuo’s footsteps paused for a moment.

When Gu Han Liang sensed his movement, he turned his face over and unexpectedly, the frost shattered apart, revealing a faint gentleness. He stretched out a hand to the young man paused in his tracks and lightly said, “Come here.

The tone of his command seemed to be the same as it’d been during those two years, yet was somehow also different. Zhang Zi Tuo reflexively obeyed, walked over to the waiting man and grasped the waiting hand. When their skin touched, the man’s heat, which was the opposite of his name, burned from his fingertips to the bottom of his heart and the deep voice sounded out, “Is this the hand, that you just were unwilling for me to kiss?”

In the end, with a light smile that didn’t disguise his intentions, Gu Han Liang still dropped a kiss on the palm of Zhang Zi Tuo’s left hand.

The man shifted to give the spot warmed by his body to the young man, and said, “Come with me back to the States tomorrow, is there anything to bring?”

Zhang Zituo was astonished. “I didn’t agree to go with you.”

“You don’t need to agree,” Gu Han Liang looped an arm around him and pulled him to lean on his own shoulder, “As I am forcing you.”

This was just like getting on a train without even meaning to take the train*, was just like being abducted without a word of explanation and was just as nonsensical as the time he was forced into a cohabitation the moment the man saw a face so similar to Liang Si Wei’s.

* literally here, the raws say: getting on a train without preparing a ticket, but i changed that, because “without preparing a ticket” may include those who want to cheat the system for free; but the meaning here is: doing something that one didn’t even mean to do

Disappointed and irritated, Zhang Zi Tuo said, “I told you, if you treat me as…as a double, I’ll go get my face fixed!”

He raised his face, stared at Gu Han Liang, who carefully looked back, his eyes clear, with not even a wisp of confusion, before he pinched his chin, gave a little shake and laughed, “Babe should really get it fixed, just looking at this face makes me deviously angry.*“

*氣歪 “deviously angry” here is sexual, to have devious inclinations (will change if think of a better wording)

Zhang Zi Tuo turned his head, silent. Was this bastard’s name really surname Gu, given name Han Liang?

The man whose identity was being called into question, hugged him and said, “Don’t think too much, give me a chance. Let me look at you.”

His heart ached, as if he’d suddenly been wounded, “I don’t want compensation.”

But the man corrected him, “No, you need it. But I will not only give compensation, but also protection.”

Zhang Zi Tuo wanted to laugh out loud, “Protection? It’ll be more right if you say for me to protect you.”

“All right,” Gu Han Liang said, not intending to spend time on such irrelevant issues, “Then change it to you protecting me. You should know, those that want to kill me in the States are no less than those here, those who want to kill me are more than your hatred of me.”

“That’s quite a lot,” He mocked.

Gu Han Liang didn’t take his words to be serious and so leaned in to kiss him, but was pushed away.

He poked his finger at the man’s heart and gritted out, “Don’t go back to America, just die over here.”

The man stopped speaking, under the glow of night, the blue of those Prussian Blue eyes seemed shallow, yet was the deep blue of the ocean, tinged with sorrow. The man who had uttered the cruel words couldn’t help but be struck by a pang of alarm at the weakness in the man’s eyes, a plea that even a child could see through.

“Please, come with me, stay by my side,” Gu Han Liang said, the words almost imploring. “It doesn’t matter to me if you don’t forgive, don’t believe, or don’t accept. Just let it be as if you lent yourself to me. If you hate it, if you feel sad, then go back at once. I will not force you a second time.”

Zhang Zi Tuo could not speak, but his heart trembled.

Gu Han Liang’s kiss pressed onto his forehead and the deep voice sounded again.

“If…you find that you don’t hate it and don’t feel sad, then lend me a lifetime.”

When did this cold man learn such sweet speech, such honeyed words*? In a trance, Zhang Zi Tuo thought – he’d even spoke the word “lifetime”, yet not even half a word requesting for forgiveness or expressing his love. Was he a fool or was he that confident of himself?

* 甜言蜜語 idiom; sweet speech, honeyed words; hypocritical flattery

But Gu Han Liang still looked at him, sorrowfully, waiting for his answer.

A cold man suddenly thawing into warmth, was especially moving, and a strong man suddenly weak, was also irresistible….Zhang Zi Tuo looked at the man whom was both and, restraining the uproar in his heart, calmly asked, “Do you think I’m easy to persuade?”

 “Of course not,” Gu Han Liang replied.

“I think I’m always soft at heart. Xiao Chen has even said harsh things about me, calling me some Virgin Mary.” As the words came out, he – in his mind – picked up the little him representing himself and gave him a good spanking. “But I’ll give you a chance.”

Gu Han Liang’s eyes suddenly lit up – like stars reflected in the water, like the Milky Way flowing through a Prussian Blue sky.

“If you jump out the window right now and run round the house all night, until six o’clock in the morning, I’ll temporarily lend myself to you.”

The man got out of bed in his nightgown, picked a workout outfit from the closet and asked the bodyguard to bring up a pair of shoes. After he finished dressing, he stood in front of the window, turned toward the Zhang Zi Tuo sitting on the bed and smiled slightly.

“Babe, your entire lifetime is mine.”

The look was proud, like after one downed wine, happy and satisfied*, along with disguised gratefulness for the new beginning*. After the man finished talking, he simply flipped into a jump and jumped out from that second floor window.

* 酣暢淋灕 idiom; to drink wine very happily and satisfactorily; to express something fully
* 劫後餘生 idiom; after the calamity, renewed life; new lease of life

Zhang Zi Tuo again rummaged for the man’s cell phone, then stepped out of bed barefoot and leaned to look over the window as he dialed a number.

“Zi Tuo?”

“Xiao Chen, I’m going to America.”

Then, suddenly, there was a burst of ghostly wails, howls of wolves*, with deep sighs of despair*: “Oh Zi Tuo! I tell you to gamble once in a while, but I didn’t think you’d be this quick to turn over your cards! Don’t tell me you didn’t think that being this quick will blahblahblah*….and also, if you accompany him over, you’ll basically be in the palm of his hand, what if blahblahblah, he might just blahblahblah, at that time, you’ll definitely regret agreeing to him so quickly today!”

* 鬼哭狼嚎 idiom; to wail like ghosts and howl like wolves
* 唉聲嘆氣 idiom; sighing voice, wailing breath; to heave deep sighs of despair
* blahblahblah –> all of them are written in english in the raws XD

He laughed. “Just say that you don’t wanna give me up, no need to make that many excuses.”

“I am talking to you seriously!” Fan Chen said sadly.

“He’s running,” Zhang Zi Tuo interrupted Fan Chen’s posturing and smiled as he continued, “He will run until six o’clock, only then will I go with him.”

Fan Chen paused for a moment, as if he’d gone to check the time, “Six and a half hours?!”

He softly sucked in a breath, but still felt it wasn’t harsh enough. “Even I can run for six and a half hours, there’s no rule about how fast you need to run. If it was me, I’d have long returned him a bullet!”

Zhang Zi Tuo laughed out loud, just as Gu Han Liang finished a lap and was now back to the window. He looked up, saw him leaning against the window laughing and exclaimed, “What you looking at, go back to sleep!”

Zhang Zi Tuo waved his hand, not listening to his words, but the words instead scared the bodyguards peeking over; their own boss jumped out of the window and ran around the house, all in the middle of the night! This was so strange, could even be a candidate for the world’s scariest event. Each and every one of them were first veterans of hundreds of battles, before they’d been selected to protect Gu Han Liang, their mental strength so good that their expression wouldn’t change even if Mt. Tai collapsed*, but it was inevitable that they’d darted glances at the running figure. Therefore, upon hearing this shout, each subconsciously thought he was shouting at themself and so each hurried to busy about, no longer peeking at what they shouldn’t be peeking at.

* 泰山崩于 from the commentary work 权书 (Book of Rights) from the Song Dynasty, to be steady and calm in the face of disaster

Fan Chen was still shouting, “That bastard!”

“Okay, okay, don’t scold more nonsense, I’m leaving tomorrow…..” Zhang Zi Tuo said.

“He may not necessarily be able to run for six and a half hours!”

Zhang Zi Tuo smiled, only remained silent.

Fan Chen was quiet, before he continued, full of grief, “You white eyed wolf*, after your body got better, you forgot who put all his efforts to take care of you, and now you want to elope with the murderer…don’t think that because you’re my senior brother, that I can’t beat you!”

* 白眼狼 slang; white eyed wolf; someone who is ungrateful

He then quickly realized that he himself was indeed no match for his brother, and so hurriedly added, “Anyways, remember to protect yourself, run back when you’re about to get hurt, don’t be such a Virgin Mary.”

“I know,” Zhang Zi Tuo said, “I won’t disturb you anymore, go sleep.”

With astonishing energy, the other side shouted, “You give me your word!”

He could only obediently raise his hand to make an oath, with nary a bit of the dignity of an older brother: “I swear, to protect myself, and when there’s danger, will run back to find you!”

Fan Chen hung up the phone, satisfied.

Zhang Zi Tuo closed the window, returned to the bed and rolled about, seeking the most comfortable position to sleep. Limbs akimbo, he felt that this bed was the most pleasant place to sleep; all his disorderly thoughts were gone, even his misgivings, his worries had all disappeared. He immediately emptied his mind and fell asleep thinking about the silly way someone downstairs was running.

This was the best sleep he had in a year, the nightmares didn’t come, and the panic attacks didn’t bother him. Zhang Zi Tuo, his arms wide, legs spread* took up most of the bed and slept soundly, until someone gently straightened his sleeping posture and then plopped heavily down on the bed.

* the exact wording is that his head, arms and legs were positioned like the chinese word for big: 大

Even the world-class sturdy bed creaked.

He was a genius martial artist, even through sleep, he was able to detect movement around him, but as there was no need for defense against Gu Han Liang’s scent, it wasn’t until Gu Han Liang himself collapsed on the bed, exhausted, did he feel that he ought to say something.

“What’s the time?” he asked.

“6:20.” The man had never felt so tired before, had forced himself into the shower, sleep was almost upon him as his head touched the pillow; yet he still forced his eyes open to answer.

He would never allow himself to appear weak in any situation, especially in front of his beloved. This was not only necessary due to his identity, but also due to his prideful self.

Zhang Zi Tuo had only seen his cold side before, but over the mere short span of a day, he’d been able to force from Gu Han Liang so many different expressions; he was happy.

He ran a hand through Gu Han Liang’s hair, and sympathetically said, “Just sleep, to be honest, even I would be tired after running for six and a half hours.”

So don’t pretend to be brave.

Gu Han Liang’s eyes were half-open, he seemed to not have clearly heard his words, but he suddenly used strength and dragged him into his arms before – in a flash – he fell asleep, his breath steady and regular.

.

The sun had yet to completely rise.

Gu Han Liang woke up after less than two hours of sleep, but even then, he looked as calm and impeccable as ever. There were no dark circles under his eyes, his eyes not even bloodshot, the type of physique that made one jealous.

 At 8:30, the man absentmindedly asked, “What else do you want to bring?”

What was there to bring?

What was there that couldn’t be given up?

He’d followed his Master ever since he was young, ran from the skies of South, all the way to the earth of the North*, and never had he anything that resembled a “home”. Later on, the Master had introduced him to Mr. Xiao, and while he was indebted to him for that year or so of care, there was no time to get attached to anything. After that, he’d lived here, with the guy right in front of him, for two years.

* 天南地北 idiom; skies of the south, to the earth of the north; all over the place

The people around him, no matter if they were Master, Xiao Chen, Su Ye, or Mr. Xiao, they weren’t anyone he couldn’t let go of; they were able to protect themselves, and felt it pointless to leave him some knickknack to remember them. It was him who was the weakest, the most in need of care. And now, upon leaving this place, upon being asked if he’d anything to bring, only now did he realize that he’d nothing precious that couldn’t be parted with.

Other than……

He looked at the desk drawer beside him; locked in there, were his precious life experiences.

 Gu Han Liang followed his gaze, his expression froze, and then, without a trace, he averted his eyes. “Then get it, we’ll leave after you’ve put it away.”

Zhang Zi Tuo made a noise of agreement, dragged the suitcase over to the front of the desk, his fingers fiddled the lock open. He first placed the thick lockable diary deep into the suitcase, then took out the rest, and arranged and secured them one by one, before he finally closed the case.

Most of the various bits and bobs were small things that Gu Han Liang’d given him: watches, pinky rings, cufflinks, even a gold card……all of which were valuable, but none of which even suited him. He’d never used them, had only kept them here, treasured and hidden away.

Gu Han Liang watched those things being so carefully tucked away, then turned his head to the side, silent.

“Let’s go.” Zhang Zi Tuo said and together, they went down the stairs.

Translator has something to say: Sorry for the long wait >.< The next chapter is being edited, should be up soon. Ideally a third chapter would be out latest Thursday. I’m sorry, I originally wanted everything done by Sunday but…lol. (3 chapters of LML, 6 of SBHA will be up by Wednesday/Thursday)

Here’s a spoiler for the next chapter: a bit of explanation and (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄

(and off topic, but for those that MTL and have nothing left to read, here’s a BL that seems yet to be on NU; it’s an adorable shounen ai (or yaoi, not sure, haven’t read it yet). I have no current plans to translate it; it’s called Sky Full of Stars 满天星 by 睡芒; here is a translation of the summary) (the cover is so cute, the summary is so cute, the title is so lovely, the reviews seem pretty good, the language also seems to be simple enough for MTL ~) (don’t take me on that last point tho, I didn’t try )

Chapter 2

Chapter 4