Stay put

At that moment, Ying Yue made a choice that the next time he was sober enough to tell her how he felt, she would say it, too.

I like you, she thought. Even if we started out in a very weird way, I actually like you.

Her eyes became heavy. It was already past midnight, after all. She willed herself to stay up just a little bit more so she could stare at his face unabashedly. Besides, she still had to clean up the living room, make him drink a glass of water, wash his shirt, and check her kitchen for ingredients to a hangover drink he could take the moment he wakes up. It was a good thing that tomorrow was the start of the weekend.

She tried to recall if she put anything in his schedule for Saturday morning, but she didn't think she did. The more she thought about it, the more sluggish her brain got and the heavier her eyelids became. Gently, like being tided over in calm waters, she drifted into unconsciousness.

***

Ying Yue stretched her arms over her head and opened her eyes to check her bedside clock. It was seven AM, which was the usual time she woke up on weekends. She closed her eyes again. Since she was still suspended from Juyan for the time being, she'd just take five more minutes to sleep.

However, at that moment, she realized that her head wasn't lying on a pillow, but on a muscled arm, and that a hand was wrapped around her waist. She opened her eyes with a start and attempted to roll over, but her back was met with a hard wall instead.

Oh. Damn.

Memories of putting a drunk Fei Huangjin on her bed immediately surfaced in her brain and her grogginess was immediately dispelled. She instantly tried to get up, but the hand around her waist tightened, and she was pulled back against his chest.

"Stay put," a hoarse voice floated through her ears, and she could feel her face start to flush. "Come here."

Fei Huangjin tugged her closer, and Ying Yue turned around to face him with wide eyes. "You're awake."

"Mmm." His eyes were still closed and his eyebrows were caught together in a frown. He looked like someone with a raging headache after a night out.

"Let me go so I can make you a hangover drink."

"Stay here for a moment."

"You stink." She pointed out, wrinkling her nose while she was at it.

"Sorry." He didn't make a move to let her go. Instead, the hands on her back pulled her to him gently. "Just for one minute."

The pleading tone of his voice made her acquiesce. Besides, it was just for a minute. "You were like a big baby last night."

"Mmm. Sorry. Zihan made me drink a lot." The hoarseness of his voice still hadn't faded away. His throat must've been really dry by now. She remembered that she hadn't gotten him to drink water before they both fell asleep last night.

His body radiated so much warmth, and she flushed a deeper shade of red when she realized that she was sticking to his naked torso. The memory of unbuttoning his shirt and the view of his abs filtered through her thoughts and she bit her lip to suppress it. "Fei Huangjin," she whispered. "It's already been a minute."

"Mmm."

At first, she thought he wouldn't let go. But after a few seconds, he managed to release his hold on her, allowing her to get off the bed. "Stay here, I'll be back," she whispered.

Ying Yue got to work in the kitchen pretty fast. She brewed a cup of green tea and added grated ginger to it. Ginger was a well-known cure to nausea for ages, and it helps to keep the stomach from churning when someone had a hangover. At least, that's what she learned from Ying Shen when she was younger. She took a lemon from the pantry and squeezed half of it into the drink.

When the concoction was done, she took the mug and padded over to her bedroom. Fei Huangjin was still on the bed, this time with an arm covering his eyes.

"Huangjin," she called out.

He stirred, and slowly, he got up to sit on the side of the bed. His hair was a mess and he had sleep lines on his face and arms. The image made her smile. It was a rare sight for the CEO of Fei International to look as unruly as this. "Here. Drink this."

"What is this?"

"Just drink it."

He took a few sips, found the taste to be tolerable, and drunk it some more. It certainly made his stomach calm and his mind clearer. Halfway through the mug, he reached out for her hand to play with it as he continued drinking.

"This feels like we're already married," he said in between sips.