Honey Stewed Squid

Silence.

With the tip of his nose, he nuzzled her lips. “Don’t want to?”

She clutched her skirt, her eyes tightly shut, so anxious she did not even dare breathe.

He chuckled, calmly, soundlessly allowing the tip of his nose to continue gliding downwards, following that sweet smell to brush over her tiny chin and then her neck.

Sliding further downwards, it was her slender neck. And then…

Her pet.i.te, beautifully-curved…

… collarbone.

At last, he lowered his lips onto that spot. Searing hot was her skin. So soft. Slowly, he caressed it… Then slowly, he moved up until he was directly beneath her long hair, behind her ear. “Mmm…” he murmured gently. “It smells the nicest here…”

The little girl in his embrace was soft and supple, and like a doll, he held her in his arms.

Not even a single movement did she dare make.

Not even a single sound did she dare emit…

“The negotiations between the two major gaming alliances were successful, and they’ve merged now. But poor EFK. It dissolved immediately, simply because it was unable to negotiate a cooperation agreement…” Inside the phone, Navi’s voice sounded rather peculiar, as if he had detected something.

“The strong will prey on the weak. It’s survival of the fittest. There’s nothing deserving of pity.” Gun did not care at alL about any of this, and in English, he responded to the phone conference discussion.

“Leader… I understand Chinese, you know, aaaah…” In the phone, the head of the Taiwan branch of the organization who had called in was breaking down, and his tone carried sobs. “But Leader, trust me. I didn’t hear anything. Ah, ah, breaking up! Connection’s cutting off!”

Beep, beep, beep… One person had left the call.

Those people in the European and Americas regions who had been fully immersed in the discussion were all somewhat perplexed and asked in English, who had gotten disconnected? Who had withdrawn from the call? Wasn’t that person worried that Leader would straight up tell him to fly over to see him for physical punishment? …

In the end, even Navi could hold himself back no longer, and speaking in Chinese, he griped, “G.o.dd.a.m.n it, Han Shangyan, don’t forget that I understand Chinese, too! Show some restraint!”

He gave a snort of laughter. Releasing Tong Nian, he stretched his arms and, in an indolent tone, said in English, “Sorry, everyone, it’s my problem. My girlfriend is having a little outburst here. I’ll soothe her first. We’ll continue the meeting in half an hour.”

The entire group was stunned. But before they had a chance to congratulate their big boss on the happy news that he had a girlfriend, the phone was hung up.

Quiet was once again restored in the room.

Tong Nian was utterly dazed, unable to believe that he had… not muted the phone…

She was still in his arms as they seemed to spin a half a circle around. Then, she felt his arms loosen their hold on her and heard the sound of typing on the keyboard.

Huh?

No more… kissing?

Peeking open her eyes secretly, she saw his face, which was so near as he looked over her and stared at the computer screen. He looked quite proper and seriousness as he…? She turned her head and found that, sure enough, row upon row of English words was appearing on the screen.

Responding to emails?

“Let me reply to an email first,” he told her.

……

……

Done.

He typed “Gn,” then clicked “send.”

Gun brought his gaze back onto her face again. Seeing her lashes quivering slightly, he suddenly was amused and touched them with his fingertip. “Your lashes are pretty long, hmm?”

… Following along her eyelashes, his fingers grazed down until they touched her face. “What were we talking about earlier?”

When were we actually talking?…

We were just “doing”…

Tong Nian’s face was bright red. Shifting her body slightly, she rubbed against his thigh. She did not even know what she might have already inadvertently touched. “We weren’t… talking about anything.”

“Oh?” His laughter was suppressed in his throat. “But I now remember. So what should we do about it?”

… His joke had come from such a close distance that when he spoke, even his breath fell upon her face. They had returned to that topic once more. She even lowered her eyes again, waiting—waiting for him to pull her into his embrace and press his kiss onto her. One second, two seconds… Little after little, time elapsed. No sort of movement at all?

Were they… not going to kiss anymore?

Furtively, she lifted her eyes and glanced at him.

In that dim room, only those eyes shone brilliantly, and they were looking at her. Yes, they truly were looking only at her, as if they were gazing upon something fresh and new, something that had suddenly appeared in his life—so uncertain, so unfamiliar, and so unaccustomed to it.

Was he regretting his decision?

The feelings of weeping from yesterday were still present. It was as if, with a single sentence from him that he suddenly wanted to take back what he had said, she would never again be able to see him. She was uncertain, insecure. Everything seemed to have suddenly fallen into her lap…

She gripped the hem of his short-sleeve shirt.

Drawing upon all of her greatest courage, she brought her face up close to his. In that instant when she made contact, he suddenly moved away and evaded her. Tong Nian froze. Her eyes instantly reddened, as if she had confirmed the suspicion she feared most. He really did regret his decision?

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Go back. Tears, go back… His face all of a sudden leaned in close to hers. And then, he kissed her.

She was shocked. Her eyes fluttered as they blinked and blinked some more. Then, slowly, docilely, she closed them.

……

He was inhaling the breath that the little lady exhaled. He felt her body quivering slightly against his body. With all her might, she was gripping his clothes. Everything was so very real. The stimulation on his senses of touch and smell, the feel of her beneath his palm—all so very real…

Previously, she had still been so unfamiliar to him, to the point that, after knowing the kid’s name, how old she was, and what school she was in, he had not really concerned himself with her. “Being together” with her was only because that night, he had gone too far, so he wanted to try to take responsibility, to see whether he really was suited to have a girlfriend… But her lips were right here, against his, and her little tongue was submissively allowing him to probe and taste…

That strange, unfamiliar sensation made him unable to stop…

So… what was love? …

Was it this?

He wanted to make all of her become all of his, to use all possible ways to do so…

He shut his eyes, and at the same time, released his hold on her.

The little girl was gasping heavily. As she leaned against his shoulder, the breaths that she blew out all permeated into his skin. Moist. Hot. Lowering his head, he brushed a kiss onto her ear with his lips and squeezed her in a firm hug. “Go out first…”

Her breathing ragged, Tong Nian looked at him with unfocused eyes…

She felt a pat on her back.

Only then did she start back to awareness. With ears that were glowing scarlet, not daring to say anything at all, she darted downstairs. The stair steps were just too tall, however, so she could not run fast. Stumbling, she arrived at the second level, where she immediately leaned herself against the wall and covered her face with her hands.

Oh G.o.d…

Oh G.o.d…

Her lips were still numb.

Tong Nian could not help biting down on her lip, trying to repress that feeling, but instead, she at once tasted the sweetness of candy.

With a whoosh, her entire body seemed to burn up.

And so, when Dt strolled upstairs to tell everyone it was time for dinner, he saw Tong Nian, standing in the spot where the stairs turned a corner and, with all her might, stomping her feet and covering her face with her hands. The instant she raised her head and saw him, though, it was as if she had seen a ghost. Crying “Ah!” she immediately darted off to the first level again, tripping and running her way there. Mystified over what might be the reason for this, Dt tilted his head up to glance at the third floor.