The Little Pink Cat's Secret Wish

After returning home.

Lu Yan pushed the door open, set down the paper bags of all sizes, and pierced the seal on Aemeath's milk tea with a straw.

He had been forced to socialize for a long time today, but with Aemeath by his side the whole time, he found that he wasn't utterly drained as he usually was. Instead, his heart was filled with an unprecedented sense of security.

"A-Yan, your phone's flashing." Aemeath kicked off her slippers and sank into the armchair, crossing her legs.

Lu Yan took out his phone, expecting another barrage of calls from Miss Lin. When he checked, though, he found a private message on the commission platform.

The profile picture was a little pink cat curled up in a ball.

ID: Venus

[Hello, are you Teacher Lu? I really like your art style.]

[I'm interested in a long-term commission. For the first piece, I'd like a girl living a quiet life on an afternoon.]

[Eight hundred per piece, and I can pay half upfront. If our collaboration goes well, we can discuss the price again.]

Lu Yan stared at the little pink cat on the screen, his fingertip hovering over it for a moment.

Eight hundred per piece, with half upfront. That was a fairly standard rate in the commission scene, but for an artist with as little experience as him, it was quite generous.

He wasn't short of money, actually. The savings he'd built up over the years were more than enough to rent an upscale two-bedroom apartment in a better part of the city on a regular basis.

But deep down, he always felt uneasy. Now that Aemeath had joined his household, a steady income was essential, even if only to buy her more food.

Venus was quite an evocative ID, but he had a feeling he'd heard it somewhere before.

Lu Yan replied: [Hello, I'm very interested. Do you have any specific requirements for the girl's appearance, or any reference images?]

After sending it, he instinctively glanced at Aemeath on the sofa.

Aemeath was holding her milk tea, the straw slightly misshapen from her biting it. Her golden, starry eyes stared at him over the rim of the cup without moving.

"A-Yan, is that 'big sister' looking for you again?" Aemeath's voice was a little muffled.

Lu Yan walked over and sat on the armrest. "It's not Miss Lin. It's a new client called Venus. She wants a picture of a girl living a quiet life on an afternoon."

"A girl?" A playful glint flashed deep in Aemeath's eyes.

She put down her milk tea and flopped across Lu Yan's thighs like a boneless cat, looking up at him.

"Who are you planning to draw, A-Yan? Don't you have a beautiful girl right here at home?" Aemeath winked playfully.

Lu Yan's hand paused at the ends of her hair, and he shook his head seriously.

"No, I'm not drawing you."

Aemeath's smile froze. Her arms tightened slightly around his waist, and a note of grievance entered her voice:

"Huh? Why not? Am I not serene enough, or do you think I don't deserve to be in your art?"

"Because it's you, I can't just draw you for someone else to see." Lu Yan spoke softly.

"That's my job, how I make money. I'd have to hand the finished piece over to the client. It could be used in all kinds of commercial settings, and countless strangers could point at it and pass judgment."

He stroked Aemeath's head, his fingers lingering unconsciously behind her ear. "Aemeath, I don't want to sell you to anyone as material or a reference image."

"You're the family I hold close to my heart. Even if it's a drawing, I only want to keep it to myself, in a folder that only I can open."

Aemeath froze.

She had already prepared a whole plan to guide Lu Yan into gradually drawing her, and had even figured out how to secretly leave a watermark in the artwork that only the two of them would understand.

Lu Yan's confession, at once self-conscious and conceited, rendered all the plans she had rehearsed in her head useless.

His words of affection made her feel better than any sweet talk could have.

But, silly A-Yan, do you know that the so-called client is actually me? Aemeath murmured inwardly.

She had originally wanted to use this method both to slip Lu Yan some money and to give him a perfectly legitimate reason to keep looking at her and drawing her.

But now she realized she had lost completely.

"A-Yan~"

Aemeath reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face against his lower abdomen. Her voice was filled with pleasant surprise. "Then it's a promise. For the rest of your life, the pictures you draw of me are for our eyes only."

"Mm, I promise." Lu Yan gently patted her back.

His explanation was like a bucket of icy mint water, instantly dousing the little flame that had just flared up in Aemeath's heart.

Aemeath closed her eyes contentedly and lay back down in Lu Yan's arms.

"I've chosen a place too, over on the south side of the city." Lu Yan opened his tablet and pulled up a rental listing.

"It has two bedrooms and a living room, it's on a low floor, and it has floor-to-ceiling windows. The surroundings are nice, and security is tight."

Lu Yan's voice was full of anticipation.

He had savings, and now he had Aemeath. He no longer had to shut himself away in an old residential complex and drift through his days as he had before.

"Once we move, you'll have the bedroom with the best natural light. I'll decorate it however you like."

Aemeath buried her face in his embrace, her voice carrying the languor of someone whose fur had just been smoothed.

"A-Yan~ There's no rush about the apartment..."

Lu Yan's hand stopped in her hair. "What's wrong?"

"I want to stay here a few more days first." Aemeath's voice softened. "This is where you used to live. Where you lived alone for a long time."

Lu Yan fell silent for a moment.

He didn't press her. He simply set the tablet aside and rested his palm on her head again.

"Okay. We'll stay a few more days."

Aemeath's stray lock of hair brushed against his chin.

The two embraced for a long time in the warm afternoon sun.

At last, Lu Yan's phone rang again. It was a reply from the client: [There's no specific reference for her appearance. Teacher Lu, please feel free to use your imagination. As long as it makes people feel that this is where the girl belongs, that's enough.]

[The deposit has been sent. Please check.]

Four hundred yuan had arrived.

Lu Yan looked at the transfer notification and smiled as he patted Aemeath's head. "Looks like I'll have to get to work, so a certain little cat can always have milk tea to drink."

Aemeath obediently sat up from his arms, pulled out the computer chair for him, and thoughtfully opened his drawing software.

"Then hurry up and draw, A-Yan! I'll keep you company right here."

Aemeath sat beside Lu Yan, fiddling with her new phone, but she was thinking, If the girl in his drawing is too pretty, I'll just give that folder a tiny, harmless little crash.

Lu Yan took up his pressure-sensitive stylus and touched it to the blank canvas.

He didn't intend to draw Aemeath, but the outline of the girl sitting beside him, gazing at the distant sunset, still involuntarily carried a trace of that pink figure in his mind.

After all, his safe haven was now filled with traces of Aemeath's scent.