Chapter 195 02

Chapter 195.02

Faced with He Lin's relentless advance, Li Shang, somewhat abashed, turned his head away, avoiding He Lin's gaze as he towel-dried his hair and feigned ignorance. "This is your home. Why are you asking me? Besides, I don't really care for sweets."

"Say that again—whose home is this?" He Lin took a step forward, cornering Li Shang, who hadn't yet fully secured his bathrobe, back into the shower stall.

Li Shang retreated a step but remained silent.

He Lin, however, wasn't about to let him off the hook. "But these look familiar to me…" He Lin pulled out the bag, sifted through its contents, and continued to question the man in the bathroom who was struggling to maintain his composure. "These should all be the ones I gave you before, shouldn't they?"

Seeing that he could no longer conceal it, Li Shang still refused to concede, stubbornly feigning cluelessness even as the tips of his ears burned with the lie. "Really? I don't recall."

"You don't recall? That's peculiar. Perhaps I'm mistaken. I wonder if they've expired." A trash can stood right by the bathroom door. He Lin stepped on the pedal to open the lid and held the bag of candy over it, making as if to drop it. "Since you don't know either, I'll just throw it away."

Li Shang's expression shifted. He stepped out from behind the shower screen and reached out to snatch the bag from He Lin's hand. "No!"

But Li Shang was too slow. He Lin, having anticipated his move, dodged him.

Meeting He Lin's mirthful gaze, Li Shang knew he was being teased again.

But since things had come to this, Li Shang decided to be forthright. His tone turned serious. "You know you gave them to me, so they're mine. You can't just discard them like that. Give them back."

After all, he had painstakingly collected them. Li Shang reached out again, attempting to grab the bag from He Lin.

But He Lin, like a possessive puppy, moved the hand holding the bag behind his back, refusing to let him take it. He continued to tease Li Shang, "As a law enforcement officer, building a case demands evidence. You have to prove they're yours before they can be considered yours."

Next to them was the bathroom counter. He Lin reached out, scooped Li Shang up, and placed him on the counter, adopting a stance that suggested he wouldn't let him down until he got an answer.

That section of the counter was cantilevered. Li Shang, a grown man, wasn't sure how sturdy it was. He could only perch precariously, using his legs to hook around He Lin for support to maintain balance.

The mirror was still fogged, reflecting He Lin's approaching figure. The hem of the bathrobe offered little protection from the chill of the marble, but it couldn't compare to the warmth of He Lin's palm pressed against his waist.

Then He Lin produced a candy and asked, "This one looks familiar. When did it come from?"

Li Shang squinted. "Captain He, are you interrogating me?"

He Lin deliberately adopted a grave expression. "Confess and be treated leniently; resist and face severe punishment."

Li Shang reached out and cupped He Lin's face. "Is this how you handle cases? All you know how to do is intimidate the witness."

"Answer honestly!" He Lin threatened, leaning in as if to bite him.

Li Shang looped his arms around He Lin’s neck, feeling himself firmly supported, and finally answered seriously, "It was during that case at the study room. We went together to the victim’s home in the countryside to investigate. You gave one to a child to get information, and I took one too."

"What about this one?" He Lin took out another piece.

Li Shang looked at the candy, a sweetness tingling in his throat. He immediately replied, "After the avalanche, when I went out to look for you, I was afraid I might get low blood sugar, so I took it from your backpack. I ate a few pieces at the time, and this one was left."

"And this?" He Lin pointed to a lollipop.

Li Shang paused, his eyelashes fluttering, then looked up at He Lin. "The day I joined the Missing Persons Investigation Unit, you took me to send that child back and handed it to me casually."

He Lin drew a sharp breath. He knew his memory wasn't great, but Li Shang's recollection was remarkably precise.

Every piece of candy—when it was obtained and how—was recalled clearly and distinctly.

As they bantered, those memories flooded back one by one in He Lin’s mind. Even if past events were hazy, he still remembered the things that had happened in the past year.

Especially these candies—they were like anchors for their shared memories.

Hearing Li Shang describe the origin of each piece of candy in detail, He Lin felt his heart grow warm, as if steeped in a comforting embrace.

It felt as though every hidden affection he had once harbored was truly known and carefully treasured by someone.

Besides the candies, there were also a few opened candy wrappers neatly flattened at the bottom of the bag.

He Lin didn’t ask Li Shang about them. He recognized one milk candy wrapper himself—it was from the kindergarten case. When they went to investigate the scene, Li Shang had low blood sugar, and He Lin had unwrapped it and placed it in his mouth.

But he never expected that even that candy wrapper had been carefully kept by Li Shang.

Moved as he was, He Lin still wanted to playfully punish Li Shang. Out of the blue, he bit Li Shang’s lip, releasing him only when he heard Li Shang gasp. "Weren't you just saying you didn't remember and didn't know? How come it all came back to you now? Does the future Commander Li know what kind of punishment awaits those who give false statements?"

Faced with He Lin’s "official tone," Li Shang responded quite provocatively, "What brilliant insight does Captain He have?" With that, Li Shang hooked his leg and gave He Lin’s butt a light kick.

He Lin shuddered, almost losing his grip on Li Shang.

Somewhat indignantly, he said, "Let's set aside the false statement for now. The evidence is conclusive—these are indeed your candies." He Lin continued, "But I'd like to ask the owner of the evidence: why didn't you eat the candies I gave you?"

Li Shang hesitated for a moment, then turned his head slightly and said faintly, "I didn't feel like eating them at the time, so I kept them."

He Lin already knew the answer.

He couldn’t bear to.

Because initially, Li Shang wasn’t sure he would remember everything. If he ate the candies, they would be gone.

At one time, those candies were his solace, his hope.

And not only had Li Shang not eaten them, but he had also endured every hardship imaginable while searching for He Lin.

The thought made He Lin’s eyes sting. He wanted the rest of this person’s life to be filled with sweetness.

Just as he was feeling emotional, Li Shang placed his other hand on He Lin’s shoulder and gently brushed his thumb over the scar on He Lin’s head. "Captain He, you don’t need to feel bad. I don’t really like sweets. I only accepted them to avoid hurting your feelings."

He Lin looked up at him, his eyes fixed on Li Shang’s slightly reddened eyelids. "Really?"

Li Shang stubbornly insisted, "Why else?"

He Lin said, "I already told you—giving false statements warrants punishment."

Li Shang was unconcerned. "What kind of punishment?"

He Lin thought for a moment. "You may not like these candies, but I like them very much."

Li Shang asked, "So you want me to give them back to you?"

"Feed me," He Lin said, leaning closer.

Li Shang felt He Lin’s warm breath against his neck. After a moment’s hesitation, he unwrapped a piece of candy and brought it to He Lin’s lips.

But He Lin didn’t open his mouth. He shook his head and tightened his arm around Li Shang’s waist. "With your mouth."

Li Shang held the candy between his teeth, lowered his eyelashes, and leaned down slightly to kiss He Lin.

He Lin tasted the sweetness in his mouth and gently returned the kiss.

Lips and teeth intertwined.

The candy shifted between their tongues, melting into a sticky sweetness.

The warm yellow light in the bathroom still glowed, the steam not yet dissipated.

He Lin didn't close his eyes; he watched the moisture on Li Shang's eyelashes, unable to tell if it was from the mist in the bathroom or unshed tears.

Li Shang gently pushed the candy toward He Lin with his tongue, but He Lin deliberately blocked it with his own tongue.

Feeling a slight resistance, Li Shang arched an eyebrow.

His tongue deftly curled, taking the candy back.

By the time He Lin went after the candy with his tongue, Li Shang had already taken it away.

He Lin leaned forward, softly pressing Li Shang gently against the glass mirror behind him.

A piece of candy passed back and forth between their mouths; it was the melting kind and soon dissolved completely.

He Lin kept kissing him until the last trace of sweetness was gone, then released him.

Li Shang was left breathless from the kiss.

He Lin gazed at Li Shang with undeniable tenderness in his eyes, licking his lips as if savoring the lingering sweetness of the candy.

But soon, taking advantage of Li Shang's catching his breath, he leaned in again and kissed Li Shang's lips several times before wiping the corner of his mouth with his thumb and said, "You weren't lying about this part."

Under Li Shang's puzzled gaze, He Lin whispered in his ear, "Compared to you, this candy really isn't sweet enough, not delicious enough."

Then, forehead to forehead with Li Shang, he threaded his fingers through Li Shang's still-damp hair and chuckled softly, "And, it turns out that whole 'I don't like candy' act was a lie."

"Who said—" Li Shang started to retort but was cut off by another wave of kisses. He Lin held him in his arms, kissing him over and over again.

Li Shang suddenly felt that all those unspoken worries from the past seemed to melt into threads of sweetness in this sweet kiss.

Yes, these candies really weren't sweet enough, but from now on, he would no longer need to rely on them to think of you.

After kissing for a while, He Lin finally released him, then opened his mouth and nipped at Li Shang's neck. The light nibbling sent a tingling sensation down Li Shang's spine from his neck.

Soon, faint red marks appeared where he had been bitten.

He Lin, not done yet, gradually kissed downward, from the neck to the collarbone...

At the same time, Li Shang felt He Lin's hand lift the hem of the bathrobe, his fingertips brushing against his waist before finally resting on the old scar on his abdomen.

Li Shang reached out, his left hand gently covering He Lin's hand, his right arm wrapping around He Lin's strong shoulders. His legs also hooked around He Lin's waist, using the height difference.

In this way, he almost hung his entire weight on He Lin.

He Lin wrapped his other arm around Li Shang's waist, pulling him even closer until their bodies were nearly pressed together. With his movement, the bathrobe slipped completely onto the bathroom counter.

He Lin looked up at him. Li Shang's eyes were still red, his damp hair falling over his forehead. He called He Lin's name in a husky whisper: "He Lin..." He leaned down, his lips close to He Lin's ear, "..."

All the love buried in their hearts in the past became this tenderness.

The fog on the mirror grew thicker, blurring their intertwined figures.

Just like their future, even if the path ahead is unclear and fraught with hardships, they will walk hand in hand, entwined with each other, until the end of time.