Sweet Artwork

Lu Yan swallowed, his fingers trembling slightly as they slid toward the answer button.

The moment he pressed it, he instinctively glanced at Aemeath.

Aemeath didn't lean over to eavesdrop. Instead, she sat gracefully on the armrest of the sofa, her arms crossed and her eyes slightly narrowed as she watched in silence.

"Hello, Sister Lin." Lu Yan put on his signature cheerful smile, even though she couldn't see it.

"Little Lu, you finally picked up." A woman's voice came through the phone, professionally brisk yet familiar.

"Have you finished the line art from yesterday, the girl in traditional Chinese style?"

"Tomorrow's the deadline. If you still don't turn it in, I'll have to come find you myself."

His heart sank. He'd originally planned to start drawing it today.

But right now, he had only a few pictures of his own on his computer.

"Um... almost, almost." As Lu Yan brushed her off, he felt a tickle rise at the back of his neck.

Aemeath was slowly leaning down, stopping less than three centimeters from his ear.

Her warm breath fell directly on his neck. He wanted to pull away, but didn't dare move.

Lu Yan's heart was practically in his throat, and his mind raced.

What he feared most right now wasn't Sister Lin pressing him for the work, but Aemeath beside him.

He could sense something churning beneath Aemeath's seemingly calm gaze.

Miss Lin laughed on the other end of the line. "Almost? That's what you said last time."

"Little Lu, I don't mean to nag, but your art is important, and so is your health."

"I saw the selfie you posted on your Moments last time. You've gotten even thinner."

"You're so handsome, but you spend every day cooped up in that rental, staring at a computer. It breaks my heart to see it."

Lu Yan felt as though the air beside him had turned cold in that instant.

Aemeath rested a hand on Lu Yan's shoulder, her nails lightly caressing his collarbone through his hoodie.

She felt Lu Yan's body gradually stiffen, and the golden glimmer in her eyes deepened.

An almost uncontrollable surge of hostility rose in her heart: How dare this person use such a flirtatious tone and covet the only one she had?

Every word from this woman called Sister Lin tested the limits of her patience.

Miss Lin lowered her voice, her concern carrying a teasing note. "How about this? If you really can't keep drawing, why don't you let me take care of you?"

"I just moved into a big apartment, and I could use a roommate who can draw and is easy on the eyes. Want to consider it?"

He'd encountered this kind of flirtatious back-and-forth before, but every time, he'd managed to dodge it by claiming he was a socially anxious artist.

But today, a little pink kitten sat beside him, ready to bristle at any moment.

"Sister Lin, you really know how to joke!" Lu Yan's voice rose as he hurriedly refused, as though trying to prove his innocence.

"I'm a hopeless case. I just like living in this little place."

"I'll definitely turn in the artwork on time! Really!"

"Can't talk anymore, can't talk anymore. I'll get started right now!"

Miss Lin: "Hey, you..."

Beep, beep, beep...

Lu Yan quickly hung up and let out a long breath.

Before he could put down his phone, a pair of soft but strong arms circled his neck from behind.

Aemeath was pressed snugly against Lu Yan's back. Though two layers of clothing separated them, that astonishing softness made him freeze.

"Take... care of you?" Aemeath's voice was quiet, with a trace of chill.

She tilted her head, her pink hair falling against Lu Yan's cheek and carrying a pleasant fragrance.

"A-Yan, are the 'big sisters' here all this forward?"

"No, no, no, she talks like that to everyone!" Lu Yan hurried to explain.

Aemeath straightened up and walked around in front of Lu Yan, looking down and directly into his eyes.

"She wants you to go to her big apartment?"

Aemeath reached out and traced his lips with her fingertips. "She wants to watch you draw, and her heart aches for you?"

Lu Yan raised both hands in surrender. "I turned her down! In this world, there's no one I want to know except you."

That last sentence clearly pleased Aemeath.

Some of the displeasure in her eyes faded, replaced by a deeper tenderness.

"Hmph~ I didn't think you'd dare." Aemeath turned and walked over to the computer desk.

"Since you have artwork to finish, let's start now."

"I want to see if the girls you draw are prettier than me." Aemeath proudly lifted her chin.

As though granted a pardon, Lu Yan hurriedly got up and went to the computer.

"Aemeath, I need to make something clear first." As Lu Yan turned on the computer, he carefully watched her expression.

"The jobs I take are all popular-style anime girls. Don't read too much into it."

Aemeath pulled over a chair and sat down right next to Lu Yan. Their thighs brushed together from time to time.

"I'm not looking at anyone else. I'm just watching you draw." Aemeath propped her cheek on one hand and looked at him.

"If I think you've drawn something wrong, I'll give you pointers."

Lu Yan smiled and opened his drawing software.

Because the timeline had changed, he had to stay up tonight and produce a new, high-quality finished piece.

Lu Yan picked up the pressure-sensitive pen for his drawing tablet.

As he entered his creative state, both the seriousness deep in his bones and the cheerfulness he showed others quickly receded. He grew quiet, leaving only absolute focus.

He was drawing a girl in traditional style, holding a round fan and wearing a qipao.

That was the design Miss Lin had requested.

At first, the only sound in the room was the scratch of the pen against the tablet.

He worked quickly, his lines smooth, and the girl's outline gradually took shape.

But Aemeath clearly didn't intend to be a quiet spectator.

"Here, the waist is too thin." Aemeath suddenly spoke, pointing at a spot on the screen.

Lu Yan paused. "That's what the style calls for. Most anime waists are drawn fairly slender."

Aemeath pouted and pressed herself against him again. "I don't like it. A fuller figure is the most beautiful."

Aemeath grabbed the hand holding his pen and forcibly guided it across the tablet. "It needs to be two millimeters wider here, and the chest is too flat."

Lu Yan blushed. "Th-this is a fresh, innocent style. I can't make it too exaggerated."

"What's exaggerated about it?" Aemeath pushed out her chest and rubbed it against Lu Yan's arm. "Can't you just draw her with my proportions? Or don't you think I look 'fresh and innocent' enough?"

"Aemeath, stop fooling around. I'm trying to work." Lu Yan tried to push her away.

But Aemeath was like a piece of taffy he couldn't peel off. She simply climbed onto his lap and straddled him.

He could clearly feel her astonishing weight, as well as her softness and warmth through their clothes.

Aemeath wrapped her arms around his neck and stared into his eyes from up close.

"A-Yan, you've been drawing this fake person for half an hour."

Aemeath's gaze gradually darkened, and a trace of grievance crept into her voice. "You haven't even looked at me once."

"Isn't this how I make money?" Lu Yan's voice trembled.

Though he longed to be loved, this kind of intimate contact was a tremendous challenge for someone like him, a master of theory but a novice in practice.

"What's more important, money or me?"

Aemeath lowered her head, her pink hair falling against the tip of Lu Yan's nose.

She extended her little tongue and lightly touched his Adam's apple.

Lu Yan shuddered as though he'd been electrocuted, and the pen fell from his hand to the floor.

"A-Aemeath... don't do that. I won't be able to finish drawing."

"If you can't finish, then don't." Aemeath tightened her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. "I only want you to look at me, only want you to draw me."

"But we have to make a living." Lu Yan smiled and patted Aemeath's back. Being relied on so completely was a heavy feeling, but it filled him with a sense of fulfillment he'd never known before.

"Then... promise me one thing." Aemeath raised her head, a sly glint flashing in her eyes.

"What is it?"

"Don't make the face in this picture too pretty. Make her eyes look a little vacant."

Aemeath pressed her forehead against Lu Yan's, her eyes full of tenderness. "In this world, I'm the only one you can draw as the most beautiful."

Lu Yan looked at the girl so close to him, at her eyes that plainly said, You're all I have left. The defenses in his heart crumbled completely.

He smiled and said, "Okay, I'll do whatever you say."

For the next few hours, Lu Yan worked under extremely peculiar circumstances.

Aemeath never left his arms. Like a kitten, she clung securely to him.

Whenever he hesitated over a stroke, she used her ability to make fine adjustments to the color balance directly on the screen.

By the time the artwork was finished, moonlight was shining in through the curtains.

Lu Yan looked at the girl in a qipao on the screen. She was very pretty, but there was a certain goofiness in her expression. He smiled helplessly and shook his head.

He turned to look at Aemeath in his arms.

The girl's lips were slightly parted, and her breathing was steady.

Even in her sleep, she clutched the hem of Lu Yan's clothes tightly, as though he would leave the moment she let go.

Lu Yan gently reached out and smoothed her disheveled pink hair.

He murmured softly, "Like Miss Lin said, if you're the one I'm taking care of, I'll do my best."

He didn't notice Aemeath's eyelashes tremble slightly as he spoke.

She snuggled deeper into Lu Yan's embrace. Even in her dreams, she wanted to possess him completely.