ITOTIABSAM | Interstellar Orcs | 122
As he reached out his hand, Gu Cong prepared himself for Xie Ye to dodge.
To his surprise, the young man didn't move at all. He let Gu Cong rub his fluffy ear for a moment, then glanced at him lightly after finishing his words, saying, "Not satisfied yet?"
"Ahem." Clearing his throat, Gu Cong obediently withdrew his arm.
Thinking about the rumors of the idle Xie Ye being allowed to enter freely, the recent actions of the other party undoubtedly showed a special indulgence towards himself. Compared to the nervousness he felt when entering a few minutes ago, Gu Cong's heart at this moment was so light that it almost felt like flying, all thanks to the cool night breeze calming down his racing heartbeat.
"I was startled when I saw you standing by the balcony when I opened the door." The atmosphere of honesty in clearing up misunderstandings between them was so good that Gu Cong couldn't help but want to prolong it.
As if still feeling the tingling sensation left by the man's touch on his ear, Xie Ye looked down and confirmed, "I won't commit suicide."
"I know, but I'm scared. I'm a coward," one thing leads to another naturally, Gu Cong naturally held Xie Ye's wrist through his sleeve, "Let's go, back to the living room first. It's getting cooler today, don't catch a cold."
Staring at the moon for a while, Xie Ye's body temperature was indeed a bit low, but Gu Cong was like a little stove, transmitting warmth to him constantly through the thin fabric.
"What do you want to eat?" Pulling the young man with a bit of force to sit on the sofa, Gu Cong pulled over the small blanket draped over the back, covering his legs, and turned on the light brain.
Suddenly not hungry after mealtime, Xie Ye was about to refuse when he saw Gu Cong deliberately glance at the trash can in the distance, almost writing "I know you're lying" all over his face.
"I've been thinking about this during the gathering." Gu Cong whispered as he opened the virtual screen.
Continuing, he added, "Pick one, which one do you like?"
Even though the distance was too close, even the lightest volume couldn't escape Xie Ye's ears. His eyes softened for a moment, and he shook his head, saying, "Just make a bowl of noodles, whatever."
Gu Cong: "Instant noodles?"
The other party seemed quite interested in this when he was acting like a cat. Could it be because the domineering CEO had never eaten it?
Seeing through what the other was thinking with just one glance, Xie Ye's ears twitched, forcibly forgetting about the image of himself burying his head in a cup of instant noodles. He stood up and said, "Noodles."
"But my cooking skills aren't that good." Noodles, eggs, frozen dumplings—Gu Cong's fridge always had plenty of these easy-to-cook foods in stock. Giving Xie Ye a preemptive heads up, he earnestly recalled his most successful experiences. But as he turned his head, he found the silver-haired young man already inspecting the condiments in the corner.
Gu Cong was slightly surprised, "You can cook?"
—He couldn't be blamed for being surprised. With Xie Ye's appearance and temperament, he looked completely disconnected from the kitchen. Even though the other was currently wearing soft, loose home clothes, he still looked like he was on a runway.
"Yes," Xie Ye confirmed once he made sure the basic condiments were available, "but I rarely do."
Rarely do.
Gu Cong felt like he understood.
Thanks to his frequent kitchen disasters in his early years, his taste buds and stomach were quite strong. Regardless of what Xie Ye ultimately cooked, he was confident he could eat it calmly without showing any strange expressions.
"I remember there's an apron at home," seeing the young man's hand reaching for the oil bottle, seemingly ready to start cooking right away, Gu Cong hurriedly said, "Don't rush, let me find it."
With skin as delicate as his, how could he handle any splashes?
He hadn't used the apron much since he bought it. Fortunately, he was quite organized with his belongings, and within a few minutes, he had found his target from the cupboard.
After carefully washing it, Gu Cong neatly folded the dark-colored apron. Apart from a few wrinkles pressed out from being folded, it looked decent enough.
When Gu Cong returned to the kitchen, the silver-haired young man was standing by the sink washing spring onions, the only green leafy vegetable in the fridge that Gu Cong occasionally cut a few pieces from to add flavor.
"Here's the apron," Gu Cong offered, seeing that the young man's hands were too occupied with wetness from the flowing water, "Do you need help?"
Originally, he intended to take the spring onions from Xie Ye's hands and help him dry them so he could put on the apron himself. Unexpectedly, the young man seemed to misunderstand his intention, slightly stepping aside and bowing his head.
Reacting faster than his brain, Gu Cong raised his hand and put the apron on him.
In the process, he accidentally brushed against the slightly drooping cat ears of the young man, feeling the soft fur against his fingertips, which tickled him a bit.
Completely unaware of the changes in the expression of the person next to him, the silver-haired young man turned back to the sink and continued washing the spring onions.
After a few seconds, Xie Ye suddenly spoke up, "The straps."
"Okay." Completely forgetting about the previous incident, Gu Cong walked behind Xie Ye as instructed, lifted up the two hanging straps, and gently pulled them towards the middle.
The young man's waist was very slender, usually hidden under his home clothes. With the straps tightened, it revealed the soft and smooth lines, followed by the fluffy and obedient big tail. Adjusting the straps to the right tension, they naturally fell downwards, resting at the base, resembling a bow tied on a tail.
Subconsciously, Gu Cong's index finger twitched.
But he managed to control himself. As they were too close to each other, when he prepared to step back, Xie Ye raised his head after finishing washing the spring onions, and Gu Cong's nose unavoidably brushed against the swaying little tuft of fur.
The hair was fine and soft, a pure yet undecayed white. The slightly longer part was tied up by the verdant green hairband, prompting people to inadvertently think of the cat's eyes that were always hidden by its owner.
"The hairband is a bit loose," unable to resist the urge any longer, Gu Cong remembered the small braid he had tied for the silver-white cat, speaking seriously, "Can I help you redo it?"
The young man, now at the cutting board chopping onions, nodded, his straightened back slightly tilting backward, his hands reaching out as if afraid of getting food dirty.
—Even though he rarely shed fur when he was a cat.
At first glance, it didn't seem like much, but when Gu Cong actually reached out to adjust the hairband, he realized that this posture made it look like he was embracing the young man entirely.
The sensation of the silver-white hair was somewhat different from that of a beast's form, but both were equally pleasant to touch. Skillfully using his fingertips to smooth down the hair for the other, Gu Cong acted as if his hand were a comb, tying the young man's hair back into a similarly beautiful, but slightly more perky tuft.
Unfortunately, it seemed like Xie Ye had eyes in the back of his head. With the knife poised, he warned, "Don't mess around."
Dealing with one troublesome real tail that swung around carelessly was already headache-inducing enough; he had no interest in adding another.
"Ahem." Caught in the act of sudden mischief, Gu Cong, though realizing there was no real intent to ignite anger in Xie Ye's tone, still untied the hairband, reverting the young man's hair back to its original state.
Fifteen minutes later, a pot of simple hot and sour soup noodles was steaming hot on the table.
Worrying that Xie Ye, who rarely cooked, might mess up, Gu Cong picked up the chopsticks and tasted a bite first. If it was just a minor issue of too much or too little salt, he might be able to brush it off and make a quick fix.
However, he soon realized that he had probably worried unnecessarily.
Clearly using only the most basic and common ingredients, but under the young man's skillful hands, they were mixed into a refreshing flavor. The poached egg soaked in the light golden broth was also perfect; a poke with the chopsticks revealed the runny, yet not fully solidified, yolk inside.
His throat rolled, and Gu Cong, who initially only intended to eat a few bites with Xie Ye, suddenly felt hungry.
The 1101 in his consciousness also swallowed saliva.
"It's just a bowl of noodles," Xie Ye gracefully sat down after removing the apron, "Go ahead and eat."
The physiological hunger brought about by sleeping beauty syndrome, in a sense, could also be considered binge eating, with noticeable aftereffects. Under normal circumstances, Xie Ye would actually have a reduced appetite, lacking much interest in food.
But as he had once said, Gu Cong was like a plant growing in the sunlight. Even if he didn't do anything, just being around him could improve his mood, making him move his chopsticks more.
Half a pot of noodles, and eventually two-thirds of it ended up in Gu Cong's stomach. Feeling content to take on the dishwashing duty, Gu Cong said satisfactorily, "Clear division of labor. How about showing off your cooking skills another day?"
Sipping lightly from the glass of warm water, Xie Ye replied indifferently, "Depends on your performance."
Intentionally lowering his brows, Gu Cong instantly became serious:
"Alright, Mr. Xie."
Amused, Xie Ye, in his human-cat hybrid form, quietly flicked his tail.
Perhaps the lingering effects of the medication in the small bottle were gradually stabilizing. Xie Ye maintained his appearance as a cat-eared human until right before falling asleep. Without waiting for the other to say anything, Gu Cong found a blanket for himself and claimed the sofa.
Being tall, sitting was fine, but once he stretched out on the sofa, it felt a bit cramped.
Fortunately, since the night Xie Ye first transformed into a human, Gu Cong had already slept once, so he didn't feel sleepy at the moment. He turned off the lights with the remote control and said, facing the slightly ajar bedroom door, "Goodnight."
A low response came from inside the room.
Gu Cong had been living alone since college, and now that there was someone else in the house, not a cat but a person, he surprisingly didn't feel any awkwardness. Instead, he unconsciously lifted the corners of his lips.
He could clearly feel the rift that had formed between them after Xie Ye's true identity, slowly fading away and disappearing. Gu Cong slept particularly soundly that night. The next day at work, even the company's front desk staff, with whom he usually had little interaction, could tell that he was in extremely good spirits.
On the other hand, Xiao Meng, who sat across from Gu Cong's workstation, had two dark circles under his eyes. Being a gossip enthusiast, he had spent the previous night carefully browsing through countless entertainment gossip, roughly determining the romantic hints between several female celebrities.
But he had no idea which one Gu Cong was dating.
Anna, who pretended to pass by casually, also breathed a sigh of relief. She had heard about Gu Cong leaving early last night. Judging by his current state, she probably wouldn't receive any greeting messages from the boss in a short while.
As the perspective shifted rapidly downwards, near the vicinity of Ark Technology, a sleek black private luxury car was parked quietly.
"Yes, yes, Mr. Xie hasn't shown up at the company for the past ten days, I'm very sure," the voice on the phone deliberately lowered its volume, without activating the video. Sitting in the back seat, Xie Haiguo squinted as he looked towards the tall building not far away. "Some of the employees are also speculating that Mr. Xie has gone missing."
The nails he had planted at great expense in the early years finally had a chance to be put to use. Although he was not part of the core project team, he could still make some residual heat.
The last trace of doubt in his mind was dispelled, and Xie Haiguo withdrew his gaze. "That's right."
"Xie Ye did indeed go missing. You just need to make more colleagues believe this."
He had seen that girl named Anna before; she wasn't easy to fool. With internal and external troubles, a double-sided attack was the only way to make Ark Technology fall into disarray.
After ending the call, Xie Haiguo glanced at the time on his smart brain, feeling confident.
Two minutes later, most of the citizens of Capital Star suddenly received a message push from StarNet:
"#Xie Ye Missing#"
"#Shocking! Founder of Ark Technology may have died#"
Author's Note:
Xie Ye: ? You're the one who's dead.
1 Comments
Thanks for the update
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