Yuan Su lowered his eyes to the tousled head nestled against his shoulder, watching her long eyelashes tremble slightly.
He rarely looked at that scar himself.
Whenever his gaze swept over the mirror while he showered, he gave it only a fleeting glance.
Did it hurt? Not anymore. Was it ugly? It was, like a centipede sprawled across his back, hideous and grotesque.
He had never imagined that one day someone would touch it this way.
Not with fear, not with sympathy, not with that cautious sort of pity.
But with a kiss.
Kissing it reverently, tenderly, as though it were something precious.
"Yu..."
Yuan Su's voice was terribly hoarse, as though something had lodged in his throat and would neither rise nor fall.
He wanted to say something. "Don't do that." "Aren't you scared?" "Get up." But when the words reached his lips, he could not get a single one out.
It would have been too dishonest.
He loved it so much he was almost going mad.
Pu Yu did not lift her head.
Her lips were still pressed against his shoulder blade, her warm breath spilling across that sensitive patch of skin and sending fine shivers through him.
"Yuan Su," she said, her voice muffled and a little indistinct, "you're not allowed to do that sort of thing ever again."
"What sort of thing?"
"You know..." She paused, her voice trembling with lingering fear. "Things like... risking your life for money."
Yuan Su said nothing. He merely raised his hand and gently rested it against the back of her head.
"...Mm."
His answer was very soft.
But Pu Yu was not satisfied. "What does 'mm' mean? Are you agreeing or not?"
"I am."
"Then swear it."
Yuan Su smiled at her stubbornness, the corners of his mouth lifting