Huo Chen didn't have any more nightmares for a long time. He never dreamt about that room and the woman again, like his curse had been finally lifted.
Tonight, Huo Chen had a very different dream.
He was in bed, and his body was more tired and heavy than ever, and an indescribable pain wracked his body like his bones had broken into pieces.
He sat up with difficulty and saw that he was back in that room, but he was grown up and no longer in the form of a powerless child.
He couldn't control his body. His soul could only follow along as his body stood up and staggered out of the room and down the stairs.
Huo Chen looked at his body moving on its own like an outsider.
He saw himself light a fire, and the burning flames quickly seared and devoured the mansion and consumed his body that was on the verge of death.
Under the flames, only ashes were left.
Huo Chen fiercely awoke and opened his eyes. Huo Chen, who used to not be able to differentiate between life and death clearly understood the feeling of brushing close to death. He heard a steady breath next to his ear, and warmth puffed against his neck. He hugged the lively body in his arms.
Huo Chen lowered his head and stared at Lin Yuan, who was sleeping deeply. Ling Yuan's fluffy black curls were a mess, his eyelashes were slender and curly, and his handsome face looked as soft and harmless as usual.
For an unknown reason, Huo Chen felt like the young man in his arms was a fantasy. A beautiful fantasy that he didn't dare imagine. He carefully stretched out his hand and caressed Lin Yuan's cheek, which was warm and tangible.
Then he put his hand on Lin Yuan's chest. Through his flesh and blood, Huo Chen felt the heartbeat underneath his palm. With each thump, the feeling was clear and vivid, and struck Huo Chen's heart.
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Lin Yuan hadn't spent a long time living as a human being, and he didn't grow up in the human world, so he didn't understand many human conventions. Hence, Lin Yuan had no concept of clinginess.
But, Lin Yuan felt that his husband had been inseparable from himself recently.
For example, when they were watching TV in the living room, Lin Yuan got up from Huo Chen's arms, but as soon as he stood up to put on his slippers, Huo Chen pulled him back down.
Huo Chen hugged him from behind and bit his ear and said in a low voice: "What do you want to do?"
Lin Yuan said: "I want to go to the bathroom."
Huo Chen was silent for a few seconds before saying: "I'll go with you."
"Ah?! You're going with me?" Lin Yuan didn't understand why they needed to go to the bathroom together, but Huo Chen got up from the sofa and urged him: "Didn't you want to go to the bathroom? Let's go."
Lin Yuan blinked: "Oh."
Another example, when Huo Chen went to work in the morning, he insisted on bringing Lin Yuan with him. Lin Yuan couldn't deliver lunch to him anymore, and he had to trouble Housekeeper Yuan every day. However, among all of this, Lin Yuan was very happy. The only one who was sad was 521.
Although 521 was a novice system, it could already tell that its senior had become entranced by a man and couldn't extricate himself. Its nonexistent heart was very confused.
The senior used to be a fur ball too, just like itself, so how come now he was kissing and rolling around with a human every day? Every day he was rolling around the bed, and wasting so many points to stay in this world. The most important thing should be its performance evaluation!!
521 expressed its incomprehension.
Lin Yuan blushed and said in a small voice: "... You'll know when you get a husband."
Huo Chen took a long time to prepare everything, such that at the shareholders' meeting, he officially stepped down from the CEO position.
Huo Chen, who was unemployed, lived a very simple life. Except for the necessary daily activities, his life completely revolved around the young man.
Play with Lin Yuan, watch TV with Lin Yuan, play games with Lin Yuan, and sleep with Lin Yuan. Now, he paid a lot of attention to health and exercise. Because he was older than Lin Yuan by 10 years, he had to work hard to extend his life little by little so he could die with his lover.
So Lin Yuan discovered that his husband was much stronger than before. His husband's abdominal muscles were tight, his muscles and mermaid lines were smooth and beautiful. His countenance looked much better and he was no longer bloodless.
Lin Yuan felt that Huo Chen was very good-looking like this and wanted to exercise with him. But then two days later, he felt that lying down was much more comfortable. Anyways, his husband had all of the muscles, he could touch his husband's if he wanted to.
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On the side of the Huo family, the Huo enterprise was no longer as harmonious as it used to be.
No one expected that Huo Chen would walk out of his trauma and discard his scars.
In the beginning, Elder Huo gave Huo Chen 15% of the shares to tie him down to the family so that he would work like a mule for the Huo family. Furthermore, he used Huo Chen's illness as a timely-bomb that could be an excuse to take back everything in Huo Chen's hands.
But he didn't expect that Huo Chen's condition would improve.
Before Huo Chen stepped down as the CEO, he gave Elder Huo two choices. One, let Huo Huai An take his position. If Huo Huai An proved himself capable, then he would hand over his 15% of shares to Elder Huo. Two, if Huo Huai An didn't have the ability, then Elder Huo had to give him another 15% of the shares and he would go back to manage the Huo enterprise. Huo Chen even promised to give Huo Huai An 15% to squander for the rest of his life. If the old man didn't accept his conditions, then he threatened to directly sell his shares and then resign from his position.
Huo Chen could think of ways to directly take over the Huo enterprise, but that would be boring. He would let Huo Huai An believe he could get everything, and then realize his uselessness and incompetence. Then when Huo Chen took away what he always regarded as his own, he would finally learn his lesson.
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Huo Huai An's filial piety and affection were only displayed when he had the leisure and time. Now that he was managing a group as large as the Huo enterprise, he didn't have enough energy and ability to care about others.
When Lin Yan heard about what happened between Huo Chen and Lin Yuan, he couldn't accept it. When Huo Chen wasn't sick, he was his best choice and the most perfect partner, and Huo Huai An was just the next best thing to settle for.
But now it was too late. He gave up first and he did still like Huo Huai An.
Except their relationship fell to a freezing point when Huo Huai An began to manage the Huo enterprise.
It was after a long while that Lin Yan could no longer stand Huo Huai An and ended their 11 year relationship.
When Huo Huai An was managing the Huo enterprise, Elder Huo hoped to prove Huo Chen wrong, but he was too old and even though he was the largest shareholder, he had to bow down to profits and accept that Huo Chen was more capable.
Before Elder Huo died, Huo Chen visited the hospital. The old man could no longer speak and mutely lay on the hospital bed. Huo Chen said casually: "Dad, there's something you should know. Recently, Huo Huai An started a business. I plan to let him fail and make him owe a huge debt, such that he must sell the 15% of shares in his hands."
"Didn't you say that the Huo enterprise would only be Huai An's? You were wrong, it will be mine."
"Oh right, Mom is waiting for you. You've been paralyzed and can't walk away now. When you arrive down below, you'll never be able to leave Mom. I hope that you will turn into a spirit after death so you and Mom can torture each other for a long time."
⋅ ˚ ₊ ‧ ୨୧ ‧ ₊ ˚ ⋅
The final situation of the Huo enterprise was determined. Huo Chen held 46% of the shares, and all of the decision-making power was in his hands. He left 1% for Huo Huai An, then privately acquired 2%.
Now there was nothing more to do. Huo Chen used half a year to prepare some time off to bring Lin Yuan out and make up for their honeymoon trip.
This was Lin Yuan's first time seeing towering mountains and an endless sapphire ocean. The world in front of him was vast and brilliant. He explored gorgeous valleys with gurgling streams, and in the boundless desert, he looked up at the sparkling stars in the night sky with Huo Chen.
They strolled through the grassland, and watched herds oxen and horses gallop by. They climbed to the top of ancient towers to enjoy the autumn foliage. At the North Pole, they saw gulls fly through the bright sky and sunlight seemed to glide off of their wings.
Lin Yuan felt as if he really became a human being. Huo Chen turned him into a human.
The night before their trip ended, Lin Yuan stood on the street of a foreign country and an unknown emotion surged in his heart. At the hotel, he devotedly kissed Huo Chen's lips in the dark and picked up the man's hand and put it over his heart.
"Huo Chen, it's uncomfortable here. I might be sick." Lin Yuan said aggrievedly.
Huo Chen rubbed Lin Yuan's chest and picked him up onto his leg and eagerly pried opened the other's lips. Their lips and tongues were wrapped around each other and their bodies pressed against each other.
"Sui Sui isn't sick..." Huo Chen said hoarsely and his fingers gently pushed back Lin Yuan's slightly sweaty black hair and traced his eyebrows: "You just can't bear it."
"It's okay, in the future I'll bring you outside... I can give you anything..."
The voice of the young man became fragmented and mixed with intermittent gasps. They drifted in the air and ignited desire.
The light rose up and down alongside their actions, like a boat on the ocean waves.
"Huo Chen...."
Lin Yuan called out his name over and over again. He could no longer think of anything else except for the man who controlled his body.
Huo Chen kissed him deeply and swallowed the other's gasps. He lightly rubbed the back of Lin Yuan's neck. Even when he withdrew himself from the other party, he didn't want to distance himself from Lin Yuan. He lowered his head and met his lips again.
"Lin Yuan... we still have a long way to go..."
t/n this is the last chapter of Arc 1, it's almost time to say bye bye to Huo Chen (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈)