No need?
Zheng Hao thought he misheard Xiao Yang, but seeing the latter collecting his stuff off the coffee table showed him that he heard him right. As Xiao Yang never said no to his help offer, Zheng Hao realised how much he hurt the younger man's feelings.
"Are you sure?" What the hell?! What next? Will I also beg him to let me help?! I must have gone insane!
Xiao Yang turned around to look at him, "yes. I don't want your pity. I asked and you refused. Now you only want to help because you heard my conversation with Ji Bo."
Damn, he was smart. He guessed it right. 100%. Then why he felt bad, hearing it from his mouth? Why he felt guilty? Why he wanted to make it up to him? Aiish!
"It isn't a pity." Well done, mouth!! The brain should go to the bench and let you shine!
"What?"
Taking a deep breath, Zheng Hao said "you were right, I used to help juniors because it was my responsibility. It isn't a secret that I don't approve of this marriage, but before being your so-called husband, I was your senior. Therefore, I want to help... as your senior."
Xiao Yang didn't know how to respond. He wanted to cry for the marriage comment, but also wanted to thank him for being a good senior.
As Xiao Yang was silent with a blank face, Zheng Hao took the lead. Snatching the laptop from his hand, he sat on the sofa with it.
"I... will prepare coffee then," the dazed man replied and went to the kitchen.
When he came back with two mugs of coffee with milk, Zheng Hao had already finished checking two paragraphs.
"You complained so much, but you actually grasped the assignment right," the older man commented while getting his mug.
Initially, Xiao Yang wanted to behave indifferent. He planned not to smile as well as not to sit next to Zheng Hao. However, the moment he heard his words, he forgot about his plan altogether. Beaming, he sat next to his husband, almost spilling his coffee.
"Is it really okay?" the excited man asked with shiny eyes.
"Hmm, not that bad," Zheng Hao replied as he leaned on the right side to put some distance between them. Then he took a sip of his perfect coffee and continued reading, trying to ignore a pair of puppy eyes fixed on him.
"Here, you need to refer to the data more."
"Oh, okay, ge."
"This part needs more explanation."
"Got it."
"You should make-" Zheng Hao's words unfinished as he saw Xiao Yang sleeping peacefully in a sitting position, the empty mug in between his hands. Zheng Hao raised his hand to shake him awake, but couldn't bring himself to do it as the younger man looked very tired yet peaceful, hmm maybe a bit cute too.
"I will let you sleep because you actually did a pretty good job with the assignment," he justified his act and pulled the mug off his grip. After putting it on the coffee table, he continued to peruse the document while adding notes in red for Xiao Yang to check later.
When he was done, it was already four am. Zheng Hao clicked the save button and closed the document. He was also about to turn off the laptop, but a folder attracted his attention.
Hao Ge 831
It was so wrong, Zheng Hao knew it, but he couldn't win against his curiosity. What did 831 mean? Was it a code? What if Xiao Yang collected some information against him to threaten him later? He needed to check when he had the chance, right?
With that, Zheng Hao clicked on the folder and got the shock of his life.
The entire folder was full of his pictures!
Studying... eating... talking with his friends... playing basketball... walking...
Couldn't bear to look more, Zheng Hao turned off the laptop and almost threw it on to the coffee table. It was beyond creepy! He was of course aware of the undying attention of Xiao Yang on himself, but this was stalking!
To wake Xiao Yang for confrontation, Zheng Hao again raised his hand, but it froze midair with indecisiveness. Waking a sleeping man in the middle of the night while he was boiling with anger didn't sound logical. He should wait for tomorrow.
Nodding his head in approval of his rational decision, Zheng Hao went to his room to sleep.
Although Zheng Hao planned to confront the stalker at breakfast, when he left his room, Xiao Yang was already gone, but there was a yellow note on the kitchen table.
The remains of yesterday's dinner is in the microwave, eat it before you go to work! By the way, you could cover me with a blanket, you know :S all my bones are aching!!!
Zheng Hao crumpled the paper in his fist and threw it to the trash bin before throwing the food as well. Who knew, maybe that little psycho also put something to the food!
Huffing and puffing, the angry man went to work and managed to finish the day. In hurry, he drove home and was delighted to catch the stalker in the kitchen.
"Oh, ge, you are early today," unaware Xiao Yang greeted the other with a smile, "your notes were a great help, so I bought food for thanks!"
With a suspicious look, Zheng Hao pushed the food bags aside and looked the younger man in the eye, "how long have you been stalking me? Why do you have a folder full of my pictures?"
Xiao Yang flinched, but recomposed himself rather quickly. With a slight smile, he asked "can't I take my husband's pictures?"
"CUT THE CRAP!" Zheng Hao yelled, slamming his hands on the table, "THERE ARE PICTURES FROM TWO YEARS AGO!"
Never seeing Zheng Hao that angry before, Xiao Yang didn't know what to do. He leaned against the kitchen top for support and waited a few seconds for him to calm down. When Zheng Hao's breathing seemed back to normal, he started to talk.
"Ge, from the moment I saw you I fell in love with you, and you know it. Yes, it isn't nice for me to take your pictures in secret, but I can't help it when you look so ethereal at certain times. I am sorry for not telling you, but I really didn't share them anywhere or showed them anyone. I just like to look at them when I am sad or when you ignore me."
"Delete them."
"What?!" Xiao Yang asked in horror. There was no way he would delete his two-year endeavour, his only light at dark hours.
"You heard me," Zheng Hao snorted with a glare, "delete all of them or I will never talk to you again."
"Ge!" Xiao Yang darted forward and grabbed Zheng Hao's arms, "please let me keep those, I won't take new pictures without your knowledge!"
Zheng Hao pushed the younger man away, "no, delete them now," he said threateningly.
Xiao Yang's shoulders stooped dejectedly. He knew he was wrong, but he thought his husband would understand him when he explained. Too bad, he again underestimated his dislike for himself.
"I guess you didn't check all the pictures, ge," he said with an emotionless tone.
Zheng Hao looked at him with squinted eyes, but didn't say anything. Indeed, he didn't check all the pictures, but why is that important?
Xiao Yang chuckled bittersweetly, "I guessed so. As you didn't let me have a few pictures, for the first time, I will retaliate, ge," he said coldly and rushed to his room to grab his laptop. When he came back, he opened the certain folder and clicked on a picture before showing the screen to Zheng Hao, making him freeze.
It was a picture of him and his dad, working in their store...