XVII

The next morning, Ling Mao Er woke up to feel his entire body aching, it seemed like his waist was no long his own.

Turning his head to look at the Mu Mu beside him, he didn't feel surprised because he had woken up to see this face many times in the past.

Ling Mao Er, "..."

Wait!

Something doesn't feel quite right.

Ling Mao Er covered his face and strove to remember. A few spring coloured fragments returned one by one and he gradually pieced together an 18+ scene with himself as one of the male leads, and the man laying beside him seemed to be the other male lead.

With a quiver, Ling Mao Er's mind cleared a bit, lunging onto Mu Mu's body to grab his collar —— he was naked —— and changed to squeezing Mu Mu's neck, straddling the other's body, naked.

Having laboured away the entire night, Mu Mu very unwillingly opened his eyes and immediately felt that he was screwed. Ling Mao Er's gaze travelled down bit by bit; Mu Mu's body was quite spectacular, other than bite marks, there were also scratches, very telling of the previous night's intensity.

Ling Mao Er's expression was peculiar and Mu Mu wasn't sure what he should say.

"You topped me?" Ling Mao Er stiffly asked.

Mu Mu wanted to give a final struggle, explaining, "Actually, last night, you..."

"Are you going to take responsibility?" Ling Mao Er refused to listen to his explanation.

Mu Mu was a bit dumbfounded, "Ah?"

"I'm asking if you're going to take responsibility?" Ling Mao Er grouchily asked, applying force with his hands, as if he was going to strangle the other should they refuse him.

Mu Mu blanked for a moment, "...Take, take responsibility."

Ling Mao Er released a breath and also let go. Without a doubt, this was the most surreal morning, no, forenoon, that Mu Mu has ever experienced.

"You can't take it back!"

Mu Mu, "..."

Ling Mao Er still threw a tantrum when he got up though, because Mu Mu had torn his shiny silver outfit, which might require a lot of compensation.

Wrapped in a swallow-tailed coat, when Ling Mao Er left the hotel with the coat's owner, he heard about something strange that had appeared the previous night: there were two guests that were found unconscious in the washroom, foaming at the mouth. After being sent to the hospital for emergency treatment, they only spoke nonsense when they woke up, it seemed as if their mentalities were not quite normal.

"It's not food poisoning, right?" Ling Mao Er asked.

"It might be." Mu Mu earnestly answered.

The annual banquet changed the relationship between the two: Ling Mao Er and Mu Mu began to formally date.

Because the two skipped over the confession, hand holding, and kissing steps, jumping straight into combat at close quarters and faced each other in sincerity, living together also seemed to be expected.

Ling Mao Er didn't move in, rather, he found reasons to freeload at Mu Mu's place, freeload freeload and then stay over for the night, the two can then conveniently do some shameless things. Actually, Ling Mao Er can't be blamed for his excessive demands, the main reason is that when he smells the scent on Mu Mu's body, he goes into heat and he really can't control it.

Mu Mu also gets quite into it when they do it, but he feels an ineffable guilt after they finish, feeling as if he's swindled a minor whenever he looks at that face.

He seriously expressed his thoughts to Ling Mao Er once and received the other's, "..."

Ignoring the intimate bed matters between the two for now, Ling Mao Er always feels like Mu Mu has something on his mind.

He went through a lot of trouble – threats, promises, act coquettishly, threw tantrums – and finally pried open Mu Mu's mouth.

It turned out that Mu Mu felt that Mao Er(Cat 2) didn't come over as often. Ever since the two of them got together, Mao Er(Cat 2) had never spent the night at his place.

He knew that the Siamese was a cat breed prone to jealousy, maybe it was because of this point that it refused to come to his house.

The Ling Mao Er who spent almost every night at Mu Mu's home could only respond with, "..."

Ling Mao Er realized that he couldn't continue like this. Mu Mu would eventually discover that where Mao Er was, Mao Er(Cat 2) would not appear and vice versa, it was too much of a coincidence.

Moreover, he was more used to living in his cat form and has had to worry every night that he might change form after he fell asleep.

A perplexed Ling Mao Er ran off to consult the experienced single dog —— Ke Le.

The Ke Le who had been late to notice, "What? You're dating Teacher Mu?"

Ling Mao Er, "..."

Ke Le was very worked up, "Mao Er, are you crazy? He's human!"

"I know ah."

"Then does he know that you aren't human?"

"Doesn't know."

"Teacher Mu is 32 this year, you are 19. In ten years, he'll be 42 and you'll still be 19. Do you think that he wouldn't be suspicious? Teacher Mu will become senile but you'll be like this forever, will you still want to be with him then?"

"We might not date for that long ah," Ling Mao Er stubbornly responded, "maybe it won't even last 10 years. Aren't human emotions always fickle?"

He came up with such an example but his heart stung painfully. Just thinking about this kind of possibility already made him uncomfortable, if there was really such a day, it's hard to promise that Mu Mu's life won't be in danger.

Having been caught in the crossfire, Ke Le rolled his eyes.

"Even though we just have a model-assistant relationship between you and I, it still required a lot of time for me to accept the truth. Are you sure that once Teacher Mu finds out that his significant other is a demon, he can still accept you without animosity?"

Ling Mao Er bit on his lip silently.

"In conclusion, I hope you will consider this prudently. Humans and demons are different, don't fall in too deeply."

He tossed over a book, "Here."

"What is this?" Ling Mao Er had something on his mind and reacted half a beat slower than usual.

"Congratulations, "Kitty Magazine"'s annual kitty playboy."

Ling Mao Er silently stared at this cover that he had been looking forward to for such a long time, at the beautiful and moving photo of 'Mao Er' (Cat 2) that Mu Mu had taken, however, the expected excitement for this moment never arrived.

***

"Mao Er, Mao Er?'

Mu Mu called out twice before the person in question turned, "En?"

"Have you had something on your mind recently?"

"...No ah."

Mu Mu didn't believe it, he had rarely seen Ling Mao Er in this kind of state, listless even during the bed exercises that he usually adored.

Mu Mu began to suspect that either his technique had diminished or Ling Mao Er's interest in him had decreased. At the age of 19, he was at the height of his youth with an unlimited future ahead of him after all; children were capricious and passion both came and left quickly. Furthermore, the reason they got together was due to an accident.

Thinking that this might be the reason, Mu Mu also became melancholic. The two people each had their worries as they walked in single file with a group of a dozen or so people along the narrow mountain path.

They came out this time for an outdoor shoot, the outdoor location had been visited by staff in advance for investigation, with high mountains covered in mist and clouds, it was like a celestial paradise away from civilisation. The scenic effect was exceptional but because it hadn't been developed for tourism, the mountain paths were particularly difficult to traverse. The group of people trudged on for many hours before finally reaching their destination at the mountain.

Mu Mu carefully examined the surroundings, "It's very dangerous here, the cliff is very steep. Are you sure that you want to shoot here?"

"Only the effect here is the best, we'll hook the model up to the wire in a bit and create the effect of drifting amongst the mountain tops."

Mu Mu was a bit worried about Mao Er.

"Do you fear heights?" He quietly asked.

"It's alright," Ling Mao Er appeared to be quite indifferent, "isn't there still wire?"

A staff member helped him secure the wire and Ling Mao Er looked as if he was a mountain god in the wind with the flowing white robes.

Uneasy, Mu Mu tugged on the ropes.

With the help of the group, Ling Mao Er slowly moved to the edge of the cliff, leaning forward slightly, seeming as if he was suspended in midair.

"I'm ready." He spread his arms as he spoke, as if he was ready to jump down at any moment.

Mu Mu restrained his worry. He must set down his status as Ling Mao Er's boyfriend for the moment and return to his identity as a photographer in order to not let Ling Mao Er down, so that he could take the most perfect photo.

Along with the continuous clicks of the shutter, Ling Mao Er assumed various graceful poses at the edge of the cliff. Even in this kind of dangerous environment, dangling from the uncomfortable wire, he could still maintain a calm bearing. The staff of the shoot who had previously disregarded him due to his young age now had a whole new level of respect for him.

Ling Mao Er's body revolved 180 degrees, standing with his back to the cliff.

"Good, continue to release (the wire)"

With a command from the group leader, the staff slowly extended the wire. Ling Mao Er was lowered more and more until he was suspended below the cliff.

Mu Mu lay by the edge of the cliff, wanting to finish the set of photos as quickly as possible, but disaster struck.

The rope that was supposed to be very sturdy started to break. Losing his support, Ling Mao Er began to drift downwards as Mu Mu watched on in horror.

"Mao Er!" Mu Mu bellowed in anguish.

Thick fog suddenly covered the mountain top. The humans were enveloped in the white fog, alarmed yet unable to see what was happening.

During his rapid descent, tens of vine-like plants suddenly appeared in front of Ling Mao Er, swiftly reaching towards him from the top of the cliff and firmly wrapped around his waist.

Ling Mao Er's fall came to a stop and those plants gently pulled him up bit by bit until he was pulled over the cliff.

Having escaped death and chanced upon survival in such a desperate situation, Ling Mao Er returned to the ground unscathed. He blankly stared at the familiar yet foreign man standing in front of him.

The soft branches that were wrapped around his body slowly unfolded, leaving his body and returned to Mu Mu.

Ling Mao Er was shocked speechless, his gaze fully expressing his inner thoughts.

The bizarre fog dispersed and everyone anxiously surrounded him, worriedly inquiring about the situation just now.

Through the group of people who were all speaking at once, Mu Mu and Ling Mao Er's eyes met silently. Other than the two of them, no one else knew the truth.

The shoot was forced to be cut short, the group dispiritedly cleaned up. Despite the wire malfunction, however, it was very fortunate that the person in question was safe.

Since leaving the mountain top, Ling Mao Er had not spoken to Mu Mu at all. Mu Mu's expression was despondent, but even if time turned back, he would still unhesitatingly repeat his actions, even if it meant that Ling Mao Er would avoid him.

When they had almost reached the foot of the mountain, Ling Mao Er left the main group to walk into a small grove and Mu Mu subconsciously followed.

Finally, only the two of them were left. Ling Mao Er stopped and turned, Mu Mu knew that it was time to confess.

"I'm sorry," He apologetically spoke, "just as you've seen, I'm not a normal human."

Ling Mao Er did not speak.

"I am a plant that has existed for many thousands of years. I was unwilling to remain lonely and idle so I changed into human form. I didn't dare tell you because I feared that you'd be scared and distance yourself from me."

Mu Mu pathetically lowered his eyes, "However, since you already know the truth now, you probably won't be able to accept it. I will take the initiative to distance myself and I won't tangle with you any more."

He turned and wanted to leave, but after two steps, a familiar hoarse meow came from behind him.

"Meow——"

Mu Mu turned in astonishment but there was no trace of Ling Mao Er. Instead, it was "Mao Er" (Cat 2) the Siamese that was sitting in his place.

"..." Disbelieving, Mu Mu cautiously called out, "Mao Er?'

The Siamese ran towards him, jumping into his arms with practised ease and licked by his lips with that barbed tongue.

Mao Er (Cat 2) became Mao Er and tightly hugged his neck, exchanging a scorching kiss with him before they separated.

"It's me." He responded.

Mu Mu received an unexpected surprise and his eyes shone.

"Do you mind that I'm a cat?"

"I don't mind." Mu Mu's eyes were filled with mirth as he responded.

"I also don't mind that you're a tree."

The two began to intensely make out, setting down all misunderstandings and barriers from now on.

Another lingering and entwined kiss came to an end, Ling Mao Er hooked his arms around Mu Mu's neck and asked, "You've already seen my original form. In the end, what plant are you?"

Mu Mu smiled, "Silver vine."