Coming clean

"There are a few things I want to come clean about."

Ye Ruan led Gu Cheng by the hand to the only place they could sit.

It was the little, battered wooden bed in the storage room.

Ye Ruan had only managed to find a few cardboard boxes, which he flattened and spread over it.

There was nothing else he could do with so little available.

Gu Cheng found it amusing. "Baby, I could actually have Xu Chu clear out a clean, comfortable lounge at the institute for us to use."

Use...

Ye Ruan's ears reddened. "I didn't bring you here to..."

Gu Cheng deliberately asked, "To what?"

"Bad wolf!" One look at his roguish grin told Ye Ruan he was teasing him again.

Gu Cheng slipped an arm around Ye Ruan's waist and pulled him against him.

His grin was just as wicked. "What did you want to tell me?"

Ye Ruan rested his fingers on his shoulders and calmly reasoned with him.

"I think we should spend some time apart. Wait until I've dealt with Nan Han, and then we can..."

Without another word, Gu Cheng clapped a hand over his mouth.

"You called me here to break up with me?"

Ye Ruan shook his head, then thought it over and nodded.

Gu Cheng laughed in anger. "So everything I said this afternoon was just bullshit?"

Ye Ruan made a couple of muffled sounds.

Thoroughly enraged, Gu Cheng pinned him to the bed, his dark eyes fixed on Ye Ruan.

"I'll ask you one last time. Are you sure you want to spend some time apart from me?"

Ye Ruan had never seen Gu Cheng so cold. He hunched his shoulders in fear and said in a tiny voice:

"I'm not breaking up with you. I just want you to pretend you don't know me. Only for a month."

Gu Cheng smiled. "Sorry. I'm not agreeing to that."

With that, Gu Cheng caught the fleeing little bunny by his slender ankle and pulled him back.

"Bunny, I'm very angry. You're not getting out of this room today."

Ye Ruan's eyes widened. "Didn't you say yourself that you wouldn't get angry even if I lied to you?!"

Ye Ruan kept edging backward until Gu Cheng caught both his wrists and pinned them against the wall.

"You'll have to let me break my word once. After you ran away, I fucking searched for you like a madman. I was scared to death."

"Every day without you, I missed you so much I couldn't sleep or eat. You were all I could think about!"

Unable to contain his animal instincts any longer, Gu Cheng buried his face in the crook of Ye Ruan's neck.

Ye Ruan cried out softly in pain, his eyes misting over, but he couldn't escape.

In the end, Gu Cheng couldn't bear to hurt him and gently kissed the spot he had bitten red.

"Li Tuantuan doesn't matter. Whoever her parents are, if you want to use her to earn their favor, go ahead. Our First Team doesn't need her to get ahead."

"If she's useful to you, take her. But you can't leave me."

"And I can't pretend you're a stranger."

Gu Cheng's fingers tightened. He no longer hid the ferocity in his voice, and the violence lurking in his expression began to surface.

"You're mine, and I'm yours. We belong only to each other. From the day I fell for you, I've wanted everyone to know."

Ye Ruan froze. A moment later, tears began to fall.

The little bunny bit his lower lip and cried silently.

Gu Cheng waited quietly.

After a long while, Ye Ruan finally spoke:

"I'm using Li Tuantuan to ask for a favor. I want them to set my mother free."

"She's miserable. She's like a breeding machine. Before every operation, she's in agony."

"That's why I need Li Tuantuan-to win my mother's freedom."

"I'm sorry... Gu Cheng."

Ye Ruan looped his arms around Gu Cheng's neck and sobbed as he hugged him.

"I'm afraid of that lunatic Nan Han. I'm afraid he'll hurt you, that you'll end up like that little swallow that stopped breathing..."

"I'm afraid you'll become a rotting corpse among the roses."

Ye Ruan cried bitterly, trembling in Gu Cheng's arms as he struggled to catch his breath.

"I can protect myself, and I can protect you too."

"As long as you come to my side, even worn and weary from the journey, that means more than all the tenderness in the world."

The big gray wolf held the little bunny tightly, enclosing him in their tiny corner of the world.

Fierce, surging love burst forth in that little space, like green vines creeping upward, winding around him layer upon layer, seemingly savage but truly gentle.

It surrounded him without a sound, carefully forming a protective circle and hiding his beloved within.

Ye Ruan couldn't break free-or rather, didn't want to. He let the big gray wolf possessively leave his scent on him and mark him.

Sunlight streamed through the narrow window.

It formed a shaft of light, illuminating the tiny specks of dust floating in the air.

Ye Ruan watched for a while, then reached out with his slender, pale fingers to touch it.

The big gray wolf behind him stirred, caught the little bunny's hand, and tucked it inside his coat.

"Still cold?"

"N-no. Not anymore."

Ye Ruan tucked his neck down, shying away from his breath.

Gu Cheng radiated heat. He was like a furnace, warm even when he wore thin clothes in cold weather.

"Your bunny ears are burning. Feeling shy again?"

"Baby, with the relationship we have now, is there any need to be shy?"

Ye Ruan's face reddened too. He stammered, "Wh-what relationship?"

"You've learned some bad habits. Playing dumb now, are you?"

Gu Cheng leaned over and kissed the little bunny's cheek.

"Get some sleep. You still have to go to the training grounds at ten. Can you manage? Want your husband to take your place?"

Ye Ruan closed his eyes, ignoring the shameless title the sly wolf had given himself.

"No need. I can do it."

Gu Cheng sighed. "I never said you couldn't."

"It's just that if you get so much as a scrape or a bruise, it'll break my heart."

"Then why did you..."

Ye Ruan turned to face him in a huff.

Gu Cheng raised an eyebrow, suppressing a laugh. "Why did I what?"

"I told you... to stop. You wouldn't listen."

Thinking back on last night left Ye Ruan mortified.

"Your wolf form... was so..."

Gu Cheng shamelessly asked, "Just heavy?"

"What else?!" Ye Ruan snapped.

Gu Cheng laughed. "Can't you think of any other descriptions?"

For a moment, Ye Ruan didn't catch his meaning.

He was sleepy too, so he decided to close his eyes and ignore the sly wolf, bestowing a new nickname on him in his annoyance.

"Gu Dog!"

Gu Cheng: "..."

"All right." Gu Cheng accepted it. "Call me whatever you like, baby. A little bedroom fun. I get it."

Ye Ruan decided not to argue with this shameless wolf.

After a while, the little bunny's breathing gradually steadied in his arms. Once he was sure Ye Ruan was asleep, Gu Cheng slipped his arm free and got up.

The books stacked in the room had scattered all over the floor, and most were beyond salvaging.

The two of them had ruined them. They would have to be thrown away.

Luckily, Gu Cheng's coat was thick and long enough to fit perfectly over the bed boards.

Gu Cheng hadn't slept all night, but instead of feeling tired, he was bursting with energy.

He wanted a cigarette, and to show off a little while he was at it.

From now on, he was a man with a wife.

That put him a whole tier above the bunch of single guys at the base.

Unable to resist, Gu Cheng took out his phone to torment his childhood friend.

Gu Cheng: [What do I do if my wife is too clingy?]

Xu Chu replied quickly.

[What the hell do you mean? I spent the whole fucking night doing research. I just lay down, and you woke me up... You're a goddamn animal.]

Bare-chested, Gu Cheng leaned against the wall and snorted, his fingers flying as he typed a reply and sent it.

He was utterly, shamelessly smug.

[Right, single guys like you will never know a lover's tenderness. Go to sleep. Hope you find someone in your dreams soon.]