DILLYH Chapter 24

TL: Hua

Chapter 24: Open one’s heart

In the dimly lit underground parking lot, Yu Haozhou sat quietly in the passenger seat, not speaking a word. Although he was a little drunk, there was a thread of sobriety in his mind. He knew he was in Zhou Zizheng’s car.

He also knew that he had slapped Zhou Zizheng in front of everyone just now. He felt a little regretful; he shouldn’t have hit him. After all, he was a CEO of a large company, and being hit like that could damage the company’s image. He should have waited until they were back home, in a room with just the two of them, to deliver that slap.

The car slowly started. The journey was silent, and Yu Haozhou gradually closed his eyes. When he regained consciousness, the car was parked in their parking space, and he was being carried horizontally toward the elevator. The man’s shoulders were broad, and his embrace felt very safe.

Yu Haozhou wasn’t sure what he was angry about today. Maybe he was angry at Zhou Zizheng’s so-called ‘care and protection’ for him, which made him very uncomfortable. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly why he was uncomfortable.

Han Jin had asked him if Zhou Zizheng had done anything to betray him. Yu Haozhou said no. He recounted the whole situation in detail, trying to enlist an ally. However, Han Jin gave him a difficult look and instead asked him, “Are you okay?”

Yu Haozhou scoffed, saying no one understood him. Han Jin rolled his eyes to the heavens, thinking that anyone who sided with him on this matter would be an idiot. He just didn’t say it aloud.

Then he started to question himself: Was it really his problem? Did Zhou Zizheng have no fault at all? He never discussed anything with him, always made decisions on his own, and never asked for his opinion. He always did things under the guise of doing what was best for him, but was it really for his own good? Had anyone ever asked him?

Yu Haozhou didn’t feel this was love but rather politeness. Only by being overly polite would one go to such lengths not to bother the other person. If he was so afraid of being a bother, what was the point of them being together? They should just focus on their own lives and not get entangled with each other.

No, Yu Haozhou thought, that wasn’t entirely correct. There was one thing Zhou Zizheng was never afraid to bother him with—when they were in bed. No matter how tired he was, Zhou Zizheng would always make sure he was satisfied before letting him go.

Shit. Thinking about it this way, wasn’t Zhou Zizheng just a scumbag who was only after his body?

…

Yu Haozhou felt himself being stripped naked and placed in the bathtub. Someone was supporting his head to prevent him from slipping and drowning. After a while, the water in the bathtub overflowed, splashing onto the floor with a dripping sound.

The person leaned close to him: “Zhouzhou…”

Yu Haozhou’s neck was supported, and his lips were pried open. He closed his eyes and responded unconsciously. It wasn’t until a feeling of suffocation hit him that Yu Haozhou suddenly opened his eyes and pushed the person away.

He was gasping by the edge of the bathtub when Zhou Zhizheng leaned in close, pressing their bodies together, holding him tight. “Why are you angry?”

How should Yu Haozhou put it…

Because I feel you respect me enough, and you’re thoughtful enough?

That sounds so silly to say.

Yu Haozhou fell silent. Zhou Zhizheng started his punishment again. Yu Haozhou muffled a groan, his face flushed crimson. He struggled to pull at the hand clamped tightly around his waist and gritted his teeth, warning, “Get out.”

“Why won’t you say it?” Zhou Zhizheng pressed harder. “If you don’t say it, how will I know what’s in your heart, Zhouzhou…”

“We’ve wasted so many years. Please don’t make me guess what you’re thinking, okay?”

“Hiss…”

Yu Haozhou was suddenly flipped over, and the two were face-to-face.

Zhou Zhizheng looked at the flush on his face and touched the droplet on his skin—whether it was sweat or warm water, he couldn’t tell. “Want to talk about it?”

Yu Haozhou pushed against his chest with both hands: “Then why don’t you get the hell out first?”

“Will you talk?” Zhou Zhizheng asked him.

Yu Haozhou still bit his lip, refusing to speak, but finally, under Zhou Zhizheng’s intense gaze, he had to nod: “I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

Zhou Zhizheng then retreated with a look of regret, even sighing, “You’re driving me crazy.”

Yu Haozhou: “……”

After showering, they moved the setting to the bed.

After drinking the hangover soup, Yu Haozhou was mostly sober. Zhou Zhizheng was still downstairs feeding the kittens. A while later, Zhou Zhizheng came up after finishing his task. His hands were freshly washed and still damp, and he childishly smeared the water onto Yu Haozhou’s neck.

Yu Haozhou was enraged, sitting up: “Zhou Zhizheng, if you want to die, just say so!”

Zhou Zhizheng sat on the edge of the bed and simply smiled: “You’re cuter when you have a temper.”

Yu Haozhou paused, then rolled his eyes and cursed insincerely: “Idiot.”

“Tell me, why did you ignore me this afternoon?”

Yu Haozhou didn’t try to hide it: “What do you think?”

Zhou Zhizheng thought seriously, then shook his head: “I can’t think of anything.”

“I don’t think I said anything that would make you angry.”

“Heh.” Yu Haozhou sneered. “To put it plainly, you just don’t think you did anything wrong, right?”

Zhou Zhizheng leaned over, bringing their eyes to the same level. He shamelessly hummed in agreement and tentatively said, “Please, baby, enlighten me.”

“……”

Goosebumps rose on Yu Haozhou’s skin. He stuck out his foot and kicked Zhou Zhizheng: “Ugh, Zhou Zhizheng, you’re disgusting!”

Zhou Zhizheng chuckled and grasped his well-defined ankle. The person who claimed he was disgusting didn’t even force a struggle.

Zhou Zhizheng then understood that Yu Haozhou didn’t reject the cloying nickname because he was a little shy.

Yu Haozhou pulled his foot out forcefully and, as if changing the subject, quickly said, “I’m asking you, why did you decide to find caretakers for the kittens without consulting me? Is this house only yours to live in?”

Zhou Zhizheng was stunned. He truly hadn’t considered this, having only focused on getting someone to care for the kittens during the day and then quickly sending them away in a few days.

The person who had been so sure he was right instantly lost his footing and spoke with difficulty: “I’m sorry. That was thoughtless of me. I…”

Yu Haozhou knew he was definitely misunderstanding but didn’t plan to remind him.

“I’ll tell them not to come tomorrow, and the kittens will be sent away too…” Even though he was reluctant, Zhou Zhizheng couldn’t allow the appearance of any person or thing to affect Yu Haozhou’s mood.

“Fine. Since you’ve made up your mind so quickly.” Yu Haozhou crossed his arms. “Then I’ll move out tomorrow as well. Anyway, you make all the decisions in this house, and I’m just a dispensable accessory.”

“No, that’s not it, Zhouzhou. Why are you like this?” Zhou Zhizheng immediately panicked, his eyes widening in disbelief at what he had just heard.

Yu Haozhou calmly raised an eyebrow: “Is that not what you meant?”

He gave him an example: “Whether it’s bringing the caretakers in, sending the caretakers away, caring for the kittens, or sending them away, did you ask for my opinion?”

Zhou Zhizheng’s eyes were full of panic. He was completely without the strategic poise he had during business negotiations. He subconsciously stammered, “I thought—”

“You thought, you thought, everything is just what you thought!” Yu Haozhou cut him off directly, pressing him with one question after another. “Am I unable to speak? Are you the tapeworm in my belly? Do you really think you understand me so well? You make decisions on everything without permission. Since you claim to love me so much, why didn’t you decisively pursue me back then? Do you think the time wasted was only yours? Is my time not time too?”

Yu Haozhou was also slightly surprised that, in his emotional state, the kittens’ issue had suddenly spiraled into their relationship problems. But since the words were out, it was too late to take them back. He could only pretend not to care and took a deep breath.

“Forget it.” Yu Haozhou was utterly weary. “It’s all up to you. Just let me know when you get tired of me.”

Yu Haozhou had a sense of tired despair, as if he was done talking about anything and completely disappointed in him.

Especially that last line. This made Zhou Zhizheng extremely panicked. He hadn’t expected the situation to escalate so seriously.

Just as Yu Haozhou pulled the duvet over himself, turning his back to lie down, Zhou Zhizheng finally moved. He leaned over and hugged him. A hot tear landed on Yu Haozhou’s cheek.

“Zhouzhou, it’s my fault. I was too stupid.” Zhou Zhizheng actually still didn’t understand exactly what he had done wrong, but he was afraid if he persisted, he would lose his wife. Regardless of anything, he bowed his head in apology first and squeezed out a few tears.

He knew Yu Haozhou was the type who was tough on the outside but soft on the inside. Especially through their time together recently, Zhou Zhizheng could feel that Yu Haozhou liked him too. He was just used to keeping up a strong front and wouldn’t admit it.

“Then tell me, what did you do wrong?”

“……”

“Heh.” Yu Haozhou nudged him with his elbow. “Go away.”

Zhou Zhizheng quickly ventured a guess: “I… shouldn’t have suggested sending the kittens away?”

Yu Haozhou closed his eyes and softly hummed, giving him ample patience: “Continue.”

For a moment, Zhou Zhizheng felt like he was back in a high school class, put on the spot by the teacher for daydreaming and unable to answer the question, an intense feeling of pressure.

“You secretly like the kittens a lot too?” He observed Yu Haozhou’s expression and spoke tentatively.

Yu Haozhou suddenly opened his eyes, his chest heaving with anger. He understood nothing.

Zhou Zhizheng saw this, thought to himself, “This is bad,” and hugged Yu Haozhou with even greater force, terrified he would break free and run away.

Yu Haozhou finally understood completely: Zhou Zhizheng wouldn’t figure out what was wrong until the day he died.

After spending so much time, things always need to be resolved. He went straight to the point: “I don’t love the kittens a lot, but I don’t dislike them either. If you like them, you can keep them. You don’t have to be so cautious and arrange everything just because of me, afraid of causing me trouble. When you do that, it actually makes me feel like I’m a guest in this house, and it gives me a heavy psychological burden. I feel like it’s because of my presence that you can’t keep the kittens you like.”

“But I don’t feel wronged,” Zhou Zhizheng eagerly expressed his feelings. “Compared to all that, I care about you more.”

Yu Haozhou stated plainly, “I don’t have a sense of belonging.”

Zhou Zhizheng fell silent: “……”

“You can discuss anything with me, and I will give you my most honest feelings,” Yu Haozhou said. “If I don’t like something, I’ll say so directly. I won’t suppress myself, and I won’t do things that make me unhappy.”

They rarely had such a calm conversation. After being together for so long, Yu Haozhou had long understood his own heart. He just couldn’t bring himself to talk about the issues that existed between them before.

Perhaps the wine tonight gave him courage, because after saying some of the feelings in his heart, he felt much lighter and not as stressed as he had imagined.

Zhou Zhizheng truly understood Yu Haozhou’s meaning at this moment. He was even more moved, to the point of tears. Yu Haozhou saying all this meant he was willing to properly build a life with him. How could he not understand?

Taking this step likely required a lot of mental preparation from Zhouzhou.

He was so stupid. He couldn’t even guess this. Since he was the one who initiated the marriage, the breaking of the ice in their relationship should also be initiated by him.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhizheng’s heart felt warm. He lowered his head and touched his sensitive ear with his nose: “Zhouzhou, thank you for giving me a chance…” To let me love you, and thank you for being willing to love me.