Move your arms

"Huangjin, I have to take off your shirt," she called out gently. However, the smell of whiskey was too strong off him, and her nose wrinkled as she punched him lightly on his chest. "And you stink. If you vomit on my sheets, you're buying me new ones. Sh*t, why didn't you just go home?"

Her hand immediately got to work, unbuttoning his shirt carefully. One by one, as they came undone, his bare chest appeared in her view, and as she worked her way lower, the toned muscles of his abdomen peeked out from between the opened sides of this shirt.

Ying Yue's throat felt constricted, and she bit her lip at the sight of him. He was truly one fine specimen of a man -- she'd certainly give him that.

She inhaled deeply before fully opening his shirt, exposing the entirety of his torso. She felt her hands and face heat up. "Huangjin, move a little." She slapped his chest, waking him up and causing him to involuntarily flex his abdomen. The muscles there became even more defined, and Ying Yue could hardly breathe at the view. "Move your arms, I'm taking off your shirt."

His eyes were still closed but he groggily complied, weakly raising himself up so she could peel the shirt off him. Once that was done, Fei Huangjin dropped back on the bed with a sigh.

She was about to get up to wash his shirt when a hand shot out to hold her arm very lightly. "Ying Yue…"

"Hmm?" She glanced at him. The outline of his face was as sharp as ever but his forehead was more creased than before. She avoided looking downwards to his bare torso. If she did, she wouldn't be able to stop all the dirty thoughts that would come running through her head -- such unspeakable things were too embarrassing to even think about.

He stirred and briefly opened his eyes before closing them again. "I like you," he mumbled, "A lot."

Her breath hitched. A warm sensation crept up on her chest, making her heart accelerate. There were tingles prickling her neck, and a giddy feeling started to emerge from nowhere. It was a good thing he was drunk, otherwise, she'd be scared that he'd be able to hear the loud thumping sounds coming from her chest.

"What in the world are you saying? You drunk idiot," she admonished, willing herself to calm down.

The hand on her arm loosened and dropped back lightly on the bed. He had already fallen asleep again.

Unknown to the both of them, despite the harsh words that flowed from her lips, an unconscious smile had already found its place there.

Fei Huangjin's head was lolled to one side, his breathing deep and even, and his bare chest was rising and falling in tune to it. She cocked her head to one side. He looked younger as he slept like this. Deciding that she wanted to see him up close while he was unconscious like this, Ying Yue balled up his alcohol-reeking shirt and aimed it at her laundry basket across the room. With a little force on her end, the ball was thrown in an upward curve, landing softly inside the basket. ��Yes!" she exclaimed quietly. She made a mental note to wash his shirt later.

Ying Yue then turned to the sleeping man on the bed, then lowered herself slowly next to him -- until her head was directly in line with his, and her cheeks were warmed by his hot, whiskey-laden breath. She wrinkled her nose for a moment as she trained her eyes on the man next to her.

His vulnerability at this moment was quite enchanting to her, and she wondered if this was the view she'd be sleeping and waking up to everyday once they got married. That giddy feeling crept up on her again.

She was honestly, secretly, a little bit excited to get married to this man. But he didn't need to know that. He was blatantly obvious in his affections for her that sometimes she wondered if everything was real. She hadn't had an easy life, after all.

However, whether things were real or not, she was the one who ultimately decided to go down this path with him. She could have chosen to disappear from S city, get reassigned by Juyan somewhere else, even perhaps get a new identity and all that. But she didn't. Because if she was really honest with herself, she liked being around him. She liked that he was crazy about dating her. She liked that he was cruel to the world but not to her. She liked that he liked her.