Don’t be a Kept Man – Chapter 37

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Chapter 37

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Using his crutches, Huo Ming Chen stepped closer and closer towards them. His expression was so calm it could scare people to death. Lu Qi wanted to reach out to hold him, but he could foresee the other immediately granting him a slap. He thought about it and then retracted his hand back to fix his collar. He pretended that everything he did was on purpose and sipped on his coffee, saying in a voice that was overly calm and collected, 

“Why did you come?”

His outer appearance was as stable as an honest dog, but in reality he was really freaking out.

Huo Ming Chen ignored him and only stared adamantly at the person sitting opposite of Lu Qi.

Huo Ming Cheng’s anger had not dissipated yet and seeing Huo Ming Chen walk over, his head began to throb in pain. He stood up and slammed down hard on the table, angrily saying, 

“You heard what he said just now, right? Do you want me to repeat it? This kind of person, this kind of scumbag! What redeeming qualities about him do you like?!” 

Despite the fact that he was just innocently sitting there, Lu Qi was being slandered to his face.

“This is not important. What is important is that he can only be with me for the rest of his life.”

Huo Ming Chen emotionlessly said that and then without even looking, dragged Lu Qi by the back of his shirt collar, like a little chicken frozen stiff and about to be butchered on the chopping block. Their two pairs of eyes met and the darker his eyes appeared, the more cruel and heartless it felt.

Huo Ming Chen acted like Lu Qi just now with the corners of his mouth hooking up. He then tilted his head and pronounced each word very lightly but clearly, 

“You, did you hear that?”

Lu Qi stiffly nodded his head, 

“I heard it.”

Huo Ming Chen asked again, 

“Then do you still want to leave me right now?”

Leave = Death.

Do you still want to leave me right now? = Do you still want to die right now?

Lu Qi instantly plastered a smile on his face and shook his head, 

“No, I don’t want to.”

Hearing an answer that satisfied him, Huo Ming Chen glanced back at his big brother. Silence filled the air as he looked at him,

“Big brother, I have said it time and time again. Whatever you want to do, come at me. Don’t involve him. If you really want us to break up, then separate us when we are both five feet under.”

Never mind the corpses, even if they were dust, they would still have to be together.

Hearing this, Lu Qi subconsciously lifted his head and was about to say something when Huo Ming Chen immediately gave him a glance. The hand on his shoulder gripped him tighter and Huo Ming Chen stared at him with silent threats on his lips, 

“You. Keep. Your. Mouth. Shut.”

Lu Qi was caught saying bad things behind someone’s back, so he naturally had no basis to argue with Huo Ming Chen. What could he do but immediately and obediently shut his mouth. This scene played out in front of Huo Ming Cheng’s eyes and coincidentally lent some truth to Lu Qi’s words–

Huo Ming Chen was deeply in love with Lu Qi, but the latter was pressured and forced to be with him.

His heart was at once helpless and hateful. Now, Lu Qi, that once open road was blocked off. Huo Ming Cheng sighed and took off his glasses, pointing at his immature and useless brother, 

“For a man…… For this kind of man…… he doesn’t even love you…… yet you are still persisting to be with him?”

If before he was worried about his little brother being in a relationship with a man, then his worry now was that his little brother was in a relationship with a scumbag. Lu Qi was not the best choice. Sooner or later he would be inflicting bruises and cuts to Huo Ming Chen’s soul.

Chinese people have the special type of personality where they would rather settle for second best. If something bad were to happen, it would be hard to accept. But if something even worse happened at the same time and they can compare the two; unconsciously they would be able to more easily accept the former.

“Brother, I know that you are worried about me, but I’m not a small child anymore. I know what I want and I know what consequences this will bring me.”

Huo Ming Chen seemed to want to say something else, but looking at Huo Ming Cheng’s pale white face, he could no longer find the words he wanted to say. Silence surrounded them for a while, and then Huo Ming Chen bowed his head very low before turning around to leave.

He walked two steps, and then as if he remembered something, he stopped. With his face looking quite terrible, he turned around to look at Lu Qi, eyes cold, 

“What are you doing just sitting there? Waiting for the new year?”

Lu Qi immediately stood up and followed him, looking as obedient as he could be.

There were not a lot of pedestrians on the streets, and after walking a bit away from the coffee shop, Lu Qi took the initiative to walk forward a couple of steps and tugged on Huo Ming Chen’s hands. The next second however he was immediately flung off, leaving a red mark on the back of his hand.

He stroked his hand, and in a show of perseverance and unwillingness to let the situation lie like this, made another grab at Huo Ming Chen. But without a doubt he was flung off again.

Pull, hit, pull again, get hit again, pull once more, get hit once more. The two of them were playing around like this until they reached their home.

The moment they entered the door, there was no need for consideration. The situation could not simply be fixed by holding hands. Huo Ming Chen threw his crutches into a corner and didn’t even have time to turn his head around to take his revenge when he was suddenly hugged from the back.

He angrily struggled, 

“Let go of me!”

A certain person behind him shook his head, voice bringing an undertone of laughter, 

“No.”

“Let go!”

“No.”

Huo Ming Chen’s hands were tightly bound in the embrace and Lu Qi kissed the back of his neck. A warm tickling feeling came over his ears, making Huo Ming Chen suddenly lose his strength. But strengthless does not mean he did not harbor anger and vengeance in his heart. He twisted his head and bit down in the direction of Lu Qi’s arm, wanting to make him let go.

The pain on his arm was not very strong, only feeling as if it was scratched by a little kitten. Huo Ming Chen did not use his full strength, only biting down halfway and then he let go. He let out a “puh” sound and said to Lu Qi, 

“If you don’t let go, I will bite off half of your flesh. Don’t say that you don’t believe me. And don’t cry after and wail that I was heartless.”

“Go on, bite,” 

The person behind him was in a good mood, letting him fool around all he wanted. His mouth was smiling as shrewd as a fox and close to Huo Ming Chen’s ear, Lu Qi slowly said,

 “As long as you can release your anger, however you want to bite, then…… bite.”

The moment the last word was spoken, both of his hands were immediately turned around, and then Lu Qi was pressed against the wall by his collar. The situation was now flipped around, and Lu Qi could only blink. After he came to his senses, he smiled warmly. Showing off a face of indulgence and pampering, letting whatever the person holding him do whatever they wanted.

Huo Ming Chen looked at him, narrowing his eyes, 

“The person who first chased you was me?”

Lu Qi acted dumb and didn’t acknowledge it, 

“You remembered it wrong. It was me who first chased after you.”

Huo Ming Chen: “I was crying, wailing, screaming to be with you?”

Lu Qi: “No, it was me crying, wailing, screaming to be with you.”

Huo Ming Chen: “I can’t live without you?”

Lu Qi smiled again, 

“It’s me.”

Lu Qi finally reacted, gently holding onto the hands attached to his collar, and lowered his head to give them a kiss,

“I’m the one who can’t live without you.”

The two of them, whoever left, couldn’t live without the other.

Huo Ming Chen was really easy to coax. One word from Lu Qi was able to let the anger in his chest disappear into the wind, making his hands relax from their strong grip. He bit his lip, wanting to say something but didn’t want to let this go so easily. And so he could only emotionlessly look at him.

Lu Qi continued to show that obedient soft smile and leaned forward to kiss him on the lips, using the only gentleness he had in his bones to slowly, one bit at a time, weaken the thorns on Huo Ming Chen.

His mouth was easily pried open. Huo Ming Chen’s face tried to stay tight for a few rounds, but in the end, his cover was thrown into a mess. He bit Lu Qi’s bottom lip with force, and when he saw blood, he slowly let go. In the other’s stunned eyes, he said, 

“Don’t let there be a next time. I don’t like to hear you say those words.”

And the issue just now could be considered settled.

Lu Qi hugged him, pressing him against the wall and lifting his legs up. He said in a low voice, 

“Idiot, said you were dumb and you really are dumb. Whether it’s truthful words or lies, can’t you hear them?”

Huo Ming Chen hooked his arms around Lu Qi’s neck, eyes sharp like a hawk, 

“Even if they’re lies, I still don’t like you saying it like that.”

Lu Qi was being very gentle and listened to him, 

“Alright, then I will never say it again.”

Huo Ming Chen was then satisfied, and he lurched forward to continue kissing. Licking the mark that he himself just bit on Lu Qi’s lips, slowly in small motions, one small lick at a time. The temperature of the room was just rising and Lu Qi was still in a clear state of mind to ask, 

“Your leg…..”

“Can’t be wasted away. It’s been more than a month now. Tomorrow I’ll be going to the hospital to take the cast off. I’m the bottom and I didn’t even utter a sound of complaint. You better stop resisting and causing so much fuss.”

Lu Qi had a moment where he thought Huo Ming Chen really needed to be taught a lesson and immediately shut up. He lifted him up and tossed him onto the bed. Standing by the edge, he slowly undid his top button of his shirt, close to his neck.  He looked down at Huo Ming Chen from a higher perspective, with the outer part of his eye pointing downwards and his face seemingly emotionless. It was full of very contradicting signals, what with his looking sexy but like it was hidden.

Huo Ming Chen hooked his hands behind his head and, composed, tilted his head back to look at him, 

“What, angry?”

Lu Qi didn’t speak, letting him taste it in the air.

Huo Ming Chen spoke again,

 “Don’t, don’t make this revenge for something personal. You can’t purposefully torture me on the bed.”

His tone was of that of someone who was scared, but his face was still giggling in laughter, as if he was not afraid at all. Lu Qi’s anger turned to laughter, and he looked at him with a deep stare, slowly nodding his head in acknowledgement, 

“Mhmm, I’m not that kind of person.”

Lu Qi came forward, his actions the very definition of gentle, 

“Don’t worry, I’m just simply thinking of you.”

Simply thinking of teaching you a lesson.

The light in the bedroom was shining a little too brightly. The more one stares at it, the more easily it could make someone’s head dizzy. Once it was dizzy, it was easy to say something that didn’t pass by the brain.

Even though his leg had a cast and their positions were limited, the quality was still passable. Huo Ming Chen’s mouth was stubborn and vicious which could easily send someone up to the heavens or straight down to hell. But Lu Qi thinks that he has never liked his stubborn mouth as much as he did now.

After a hard and furious battle was fought, Lu Qi leaned against Huo Ming Chen with sweat dripping from his bangs and slowly sliding down his throat. His eyes were so bright it could frighten anyone who saw it,

“Dare to go again?”

Huo Ming Chen heaved and could not stand the disdain in Lu Qi’s. He mockingly shook his head, 

“What do I have to be afraid of? I’m only scared that you can’t.”

Very good. Lu Qi was very satisfied with his answer.

Time passed for who knows how long, and the second time finally reached its end. Lu Qi’s mouth was covered in smiles, and a cold finger brushed over Huo Ming Chen’s eyebrows, concluding, 

“You can’t anymore.”

Huo Ming Chen grabbed his hand and viciously bit down, but he didn’t really have any more strength, 

“No matter how many times, I still can.”

Lu Qi nodded his head, smiling gracefully, 

“That’s true. There’s only the cow that is worked to its death, never a field worked to death.”

The two of them linked together for who knows how long. The sounds of the two of them on the bed and their quick breaths did not stop and neither did the clock on the wall. After the hands have completed countless circles, a hoarse voice finally couldn’t stand it anymore yelled out —

“Lu Qi! You are not fucking human! You won’t even let go of an injured person–!”

The heaving sounds were still continuing, and no one paid attention to him. So the hoarse voice rang out weakly again,

“Lu Qi, my leg’s broken, you can’t do this……”

His eyes were excited to the point of redness, and tears were leaking out. The man kissed his eyes and finally graciously said, 

“Don’t worry, I didn’t touch your leg. Tomorrow, I’ll bring you to take off your cast.”

“Fuck you…… If you don’t stop, believe it or not, I will castrate you!”

Lu Qi bit his earlobes, saying lowly by his ear, 

“Even if I die beneath a peony flower, I will be loose even as a ghost.”¹

But he has never seen a peony flower that was as bold and unreasonable.

Huo Ming Chen’s consciousness could not really focus, and he could only hold on to Lu Qi’s shoulders for dear life, 

“You are taking revenge on me, abusing me with your power…..”

Lu Qi calmly said, 

“I’m not that kind of person.”

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Notes:
^*1 Even if I die beneath a peony flower, I will be loose even as a ghost: A line from a poem which compares peony flower to a woman, basically saying that even if a man dies underneath a woman, it doesn’t matter because he’s having sex/the time of his life. Even if he knows he will die/become a ghost, he’ll be happy and will still flirt/have sex with women (even if it or the woman was the cause of his death).

Another tidbit on title: Author didn’t name it 😦

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Edited and Proofread by Plum

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Next – Chapter 38

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