DCHHLT Chapter 8

Liang Xingyuan froze in place, too tense to speak for a moment.

To Chu Junshan, however, this reaction read as disapproval.

In Chu Junshan’s impression, Mr. Liang had always been quite old-fashioned when it came to romance. Last night, he had dropped plenty of hints, but Liang Xingyuan was like an outdated wireless receiver, failing to pick up on the message he was sending.

And now… he was actually trying to keep his distance.

Chu Junshan let out a soft chuckle, a spark of teasing curiosity glinting in his eyes.

Liang Xingyuan wasn’t the first tentacle monster he had encountered, but he was certainly the first monster he had seen that was so self-restrained and bound by propriety. It was as if he had been entirely assimilated into human society, strictly abiding by human etiquette and social rules, refusing to commit the slightest faux pas. Even though Chu Junshan had already expressed his consent, Liang Xingyuan didn’t seem to think he had the right to be overly intimate at an inappropriate time.

Truly… an old-fashioned and fascinating monster.

Chu Junshan narrowed his eyes slightly, his long, dark eyelashes fluttering with the gentle rise and fall of his breath, as he thought to himself: A monster actually behaved better than a human in certain ways.

However, for Chu Junshan, that was hardly good news.

He raised his head, gazing earnestly into Liang Xingyuan’s eyes—dark and cold as distant stars—hoping to catch a glimpse of the monster within.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t find the emotion he was looking for. All he saw was a poorly hidden trace of endurance and restraint.

Sensing something, Chu Junshan narrowed his eyes again, raising his hand to lightly crook his finger. “Come here.”

His words seemed to hold magic. 

Before Liang Xingyuan could even react, he felt himself taking a few steps forward. It wasn’t until his hand rested against Chu Junshan’s lean, supple waist that the cool touch burned him, nearly driving him to pull back to a safe distance between them.

However, how could Chu Junshan let this opportunity slip away?

Frowning slightly, he pinned Liang Xingyuan’s wrist, gently pulled him closer, stood on tiptoe, and proactively pressed his lips against Liang Xingyuan’s.

This single motion acted like a signal to attack, fanning the deepest flames of desire within Liang Xingyuan. The tentacles he had been desperately suppressing broke completely out of control, nearly revealing their true form. Yet, forced down by the sliver of sanity Liang Xingyuan still retained, they could only disguise themselves as shadows beneath the lamplight, softly squirming and swaying.

“Let us out! Let us out!” 

“This human smells so, so, so, so good—” 

“Liang Xingyuan! Release us!! Don’t you dare hoard his scent all to yourself!”

Liang Xingyuan naturally refused to let such inhuman monstrosities reveal themselves in front of Chu Junshan. He struggled to hold them back, making his kiss stiff and rigid. 

Noticing this, Chu Junshan let the soft tip of his tongue peek out slightly, brushing against the seam of Liang Xingyuan’s lips.

The next second, Liang Xingyuan unconsciously parted his lips. Chu Junshan deftly seized the moment, launching a fierce assault—

Caught in a dilemma, Liang Xingyuan could only stand rooted to the spot, supporting Chu Junshan’s strikingly soft waist while allowing him to conquer every inch of his lips and tongue.

So sweet…

Liang Xingyuan thought belatedly.

Chu Junshan… smelled so incredibly good.

The subtle fragrance felt like tiny hands, kneading those desires into a tight knot as their breaths intertwined.

Chu Junshan’s eyelashes were long. As he hooked an arm around Liang Xingyuan’s neck to kiss him, his lightly fluttering lashes brushed against Liang Xingyuan’s cheek with a soft, ticklish touch.

Panting softly, Liang Xingyuan exchanged breaths with Chu Junshan. A faint mist veiled his pitch-black eyes. Even the tip of his tongue seemed to melt into a soft tentacle, instinctively intertwining with Chu Junshan’s.

He raised his eyes unconsciously and saw that those auburn eyes were no longer clear and bright as usual—

They held an extraordinarily deep desire.

For a split second, Liang Xingyuan even thought he was mistaken.

How could someone so pure, cold, and quiet harbor such profound lust in his eyes?

But that thought lasted only a moment.

Liang Xingyuan pressed down on his waist, turning the tables to capture his breath, slightly lowering his trembling eyelashes as he kissed him even deeper.

Yet, such intimate contact seemed incapable of satisfying the wicked needs of the monster’s true nature.

His body was screaming, commanding Liang Xingyuan to possess Chu Junshan in an even more outrageous way, ideally wrapping tentacles all over Chu Junshan’s body, sharing his mucus with him…

Desire and obsession tangled together, quickly evolving into a dark, wicked craving unique to humans.

Soon, both of them felt subtle changes in their bodies.

Chu Junshan tilted his head back, his mist-veiled eyes half-closed. His thick, dark eyelashes drew together gently, revealing just a sliver of his pale irises. His lips had been kissed a soft pink. While his tone carried its usual cool detachment, a hint of amusement laced his voice, sounding distinctly different to Liang Xingyuan’s ears now: “Teacher Liang.”

Liang Xingyuan couldn’t help lowering his head, falling straight into those pale tea-colored eyes, dazzled by the bright laughter gleaming within them.

“Do you want to keep kissing?”

Chu Junshan asked with a playful smile.

“N-no, that’s fine.” Liang Xingyuan seemed to only just realize what he and Chu Junshan had just been doing. He took a step back, gentlemanly withdrawing the hand that had been tightly clamped around the other’s waist. A hand that had deliberately invaded foreign territory with a clumsy air of trying to hide the obvious. “…I’m sorry.”

Saying “that’s fine” was a lie, of course.

From the very moment Chu Junshan took the initiative, a single thought had surfaced in Liang Xingyuan’s mind.

He wanted to possess him.

Desperately, intensely so.

The innate wickedness unique to a monster, one that no amount of studying poetry, etiquette, or morals could ever conceal, was laid bare in full display at this moment.

Yet reason reminded Liang Xingyuan that if he wanted to completely and permanently possess this nearly perfect human before him, now was not the time.

They were both adult humans now. If they kept kissing… things were going to get out of hand.

No matter how reluctant Liang Xingyuan felt, he restrained his desire and took a step back, his eyes locked onto Chu Junshan standing in the dim shadows before him.

Chu Junshan lowered his gaze, his fingertips pinching a jade-colored button on his chest. His long, fair fingers brushed against his skin—beautiful, exquisite, and utterly breathtaking.

But Liang Xingyuan’s mind strayed to something else entirely.

Just now… Chu Junshan had taken the initiative to kiss him.

Did that mean Chu Junshan wasn’t entirely indifferent to him after all?

The thought bloomed in Liang Xingyuan’s heart and transformed into a sky full of effervescent bubbles, fizzing up inside his head until he practically lost the ability to think straight.

If that was the case, he was even less willing to let Chu Junshan marry him in such a vague, half-baked manner.

Their feelings were mutual, weren’t they… They had to be, right?

Liang Xingyuan thought to himself silently that he was going to give Chu Junshan a romance free of any regrets.

In the end, Chu Junshan successfully put a stop to Liang Xingyuan’s plan to sleep in separate rooms through pure physical persuasion.

Though there had been a minor hiccup along the way, the outcome was satisfying enough.

On Saturday, Chu Junshan woke up bright and early, yet Liang Xingyuan had still beaten him to the punch. By the time Chu Junshan opened his eyes, the other was already bringing out breakfast.

“Good morning, Mr. Chu.” Liang Xingyuan offered a gentle smile, a faint, lingering shyness showing on his face. “Would you like to have breakfast now?”

Chu Junshan quietly observed the expression on his face for a few seconds before answering in a soft voice, “Mm.”

Hearing the commotion in the living room, Yaoyaoling, a master at using its charms to win over its owner, quickly trotted over, pitter-pattering with its little bowl held in its mouth.

“Woof woof woof-awooo~~”

It skillfully pounced toward Chu Junshan, expecting to leap straight into the sweet-smelling, soft arms of its master just like yesterday. However, its old master had craftily circled behind it at some point, sticking out a foot and sending Yaoyaoling tumbling belly-up onto the floor.

Yaoyaoling: “…”

Having achieved his goal, Liang Xingyuan smiled. “Poor Yaoyaoling, how did you manage to trip over your own feet? Looks like you’ve been eating too many freeze-dried treats. Time to go on a diet.”

Yaoyaoling hadn’t expected this human to turn around and blame it instead, barking in extreme fury: “Woof, woof, woof!”

What foul language!

Chu Junshan didn’t notice the subtle battle that had just taken place between the man and the dog out of his sight.

From the very beginning, his eyes had been fixed squarely on Liang Xingyuan.

Whether it was just his imagination or not, he felt that Liang Xingyuan was a bit odd today.

The energy fluctuations were much more intense. His evasive expressions betrayed the strangeness of his behavior. What’s more—

Chu Junshan slightly lowered his gaze, his eyes landing at Liang Xingyuan’s feet.

Just a split second ago, he had caught a dark shadow flitting past that very spot.

Could it be… Liang Xingyuan was finally going to make his move?

Today was an overcast day. The temperature had dropped, and humidity was high. It was a perfect day for tentacles to slither across the damp floor.

The Chu Junshan before him appeared “frail and pale”, looking completely helpless in a fight. And last night, Liang Xingyuan had already “sampled” his scent.

Perhaps, as a predator, Liang Xingyuan had taken a fancy to him as prey, finding his flavor quite to his taste.

If Chu Junshan were the monster, he would choose this exact moment to strike, too.

Suppressing all these suspicious conjectures, Chu Junshan kept his eyes lowered. His long, dark eyelashes gathered together, concealing the complex emotions swirling within.

He took a seat at the dining table in front of Liang Xingyuan, keeping a calm facade and pretending to have noticed nothing. In truth, Chu Junshan gripped the dinner knife tightly, casually tracing the etched pattern on its handle as he silently gauged its hardness.

It was a completely ordinary dinner knife, likely bought by Liang Xingyuan at a supermarket when he lived alone.

With a Mohs hardness between 48 and 52, it was neither too hard nor too soft. It was only capable of cutting through soft bread, tender meat, and a few small bits of cartilage. For a monster, this knife was far too thin and brittle.

Yet for Chu Junshan, thrusting this knife with flawless precision into a tentacle monster’s body posed no difficulty at all.

He used the knife to slice the yeast bread before him, observing every subtle shift around him with an unruffled expression.

Soon, Chu Junshan realized that Liang Xingyuan, who had been hovering around him just moments ago, had vanished from his field of vision at some point.

The front door was open. He must have gone outside.

Was he testing him? Or scouting the area to see if anyone would catch him devouring a human?

Chu Junshan sliced off a piece of bread and unhurriedly used a soft plaid napkin to wipe away the crumbs clinging to the blade’s bright, sharp edge. The slender knife twirled nimbly around his fingertips before slipping silently up his sleeve.

Footsteps sounded behind him. It was light as air, as though trying not to startle the prey or let this easily cornered catch escape.

Finally, Liang Xingyuan stopped directly behind him. Amidst the silent yet razor-thin, tense atmosphere, Chu Junshan heard him whisper softly, “Mr. Chu.”

Chu Junshan tightened his grip on the knife poised in his sleeve. Braced to face whatever hideous monster face Liang Xingyuan had transformed into, he turned his head, only for his heart to skip a beat.

He was met with a scenario he had never once encountered in his entire career.

Directly facing Chu Junshan was no hideous monster face, but… a vibrant, passionate bouquet of red roses.

He was so close to the bouquet that its subtle floral fragrance instantly seized his attention, leaving him momentarily unable to react.

After a moment of staring at the bouquet clearly intended for him, he thought to himself: What the hell.

This seemed… even scarier than all the hideous monsters he had ever seen.

However, Liang Xingyuan had no idea what was running through Chu Junshan’s mind.

He placed the bouquet into Chu Junshan’s arms, lifting his eyes with gentle bashfulness as he looked at him with a touch of caution. “Mr. Chu, everyone says that a good romance starts with a bouquet of flowers. I don’t want our relationship to feel so transactional. This is my first time falling in love with someone. I want to give you a romantic relationship you’ll never regret.”

His eyes were dark as cold stars, yet right now, they sparkled warmly and brightly under the soft daylight streaming through the window. With deep sincerity in his voice, he asked, “Mr. Chu, will you give me a chance to court you?”

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