Falling In Love Inside An Urban Legend — Chapter 23.2

mtl’d and edited by dogpotato. please leave a comment if there are any questions or errors!

Chapter 23.2, Arc 2: The Lover in the Attic

As a result, the two once again began watching TV in harmony.

While watching TV attentively, Yao Ye didn’t know whether it was because his vision was dazzled from staring at the screen, but when he glanced at Yun You next to him out of the corner of his eye, he unexpectedly saw the always gentle and refined man licking his lips with annoyance. Dark emotions Yao Ye couldn’t make sense of flashed in his eyes.

Huh?

Yao Ye turned his head in surprise.

Noticing his gaze, Yun You withdrew his line of sight from the TV. He looked at him, puzzled, with an innocent expression across his face.

“What’s wrong? Darling?”

！！！

Yao Ye was so scared that he nearly launched himself off the sofa.

How could Yun You know what the rich woman called him!? Could it be possible that he knew something!?!?!

All of a sudden, Yao Ye was drenched in cold sweat.

“W-what do you mean, ‘darling’? Why did you say that out of nowhere ah, it’s so sappy!”

Flustered, Yao Ye’s eyes dodged away, feeling that he was only one step away from getting killed.

“Yes, isn’t it sappy?”

Yun You had a faint light in his eyes. Subtly, his lips hooked up.

Then, he pointed to the man and woman displaying their affection on the screen, explaining as amicably as before, “Calling someone ‘darling’ like they do on TV. You’re right, it does seem a little sappy.”

So, it didn’t matter if this sappy endearment disappeared, right? His little guy.

Only then did Yao Ye realize that it was actually a pet name in this brain-dead idol drama, and the three souls and seven spirits that had been frightened out of his body were immediately gulped back down into his belly.

He wiped away his sweat, pretending to be calm as he replied, “Yes, these trashy idol dramas are always kind of sappy.”

Smiling, Yun You gazed at his lover’s adorable appearance. He truly was so in love that he wished for nothing more than to swallow him into his stomach in one bite.

However, if he did swallow him up, he would never see the cuteness of his little guy again…

Therefore, it was best to stay by his side like this forever…

“Then, how about calling you ‘Little Guy’? You are quite a few years younger than me, so this way we can be closer, ba.” Yun You suggested with a smile.

Yao Ye rubbed the goose bumps on his arms. He still thought it was sappy, but it was definitely better than continuing to call him darling.

“Actually, wouldn’t it be better to call me Xiao Yao?”

“But there are many people who call you Xiao Yao ah. I’m the only one who can call you Little Guy, isn’t that right?”

When Yao Ye thought about it, it was true that he’d been employed in menial positions everywhere he had worked part-time. The name ‘Xiao Yao’ had long been worn out, but ‘Little Guy’ was too sissy and didn’t clearly represent his masculinity one bit.

“Then you might as well call me Xiao Ye.” Yao Ye muttered weakly.

No one had ever called his name so intimately before.

Yun You’s tone softened as he asked gently, “All right, then I’ll call you Xiao Ye from now on, okay?”

Yao Ye was stunned. Looking into Yun You’s warmth-filled eyes, his heart was unexpectedly moved for the first time in a long while.

This was the first time anyone had ever cared about his opinion like this, rather than just treating him as a dispensable existence.

With a rare feeling of shyness, Yao Ye averted his gaze and nodded, ears reddening.

“I guess it’s okay to call me Xiao Ye.”

Seeing his lover’s bashful appearance, the tenderness in Yun You’s eyes deepened.

The atmosphere inside the living room became a little baffling.

Yao Ye got the feeling that something was off, but he couldn’t tell what was wrong, so he had no choice but to endure the sense of strangeness and continue watching TV.

In this way, he who had always regarded himself as a steel straight man[1] spent a leisurely afternoon with another man in this atmosphere of pink bubbles[2].

After night fell, Yao Ye refused Yun You’s offer to cook, not wanting to ‘eat plain rice’ again, and went into the kitchen to make tonight’s dinner.

He took out ingredients from the refrigerator, prepared and cooked them with a pan on the stove. Quickly and efficiently, he finished making a few home-cooked dishes.

“Huh?”

Yao Ye had been planning to see if there was any meat that could be stir-fried in the freezer compartment below the fridge, but found that a thick layer of frost had formed on the lower compartment that completely prevented it from opening.

Was the refrigerator broken?

So it turned out that even this kind of high-end refrigerator would also have the problem of the freezer icing over until it couldn’t be opened ah. Yao Ye inwardly sighed over the refrigerator manufacturer’s lack of conscience, and simply did not bother opening the freezer. He picked out a few ready-made dishes at random from the fridge, stir-fried them in the pan for a bit, and took them off the stove.

All the dishes were ready now. After plating them, the congee on the other side of the stove was also finished cooking.

Yao Ye looked at the large assortment of dishes with gratification, deeply moved that his ‘treasured sword had not aged’[3]. He called Yun You over to serve the dishes.

“Dinner is ready! Yun You, can you come here and lend me a hand?”

Behind him, the frost on the freezer was slowly melting. Dark red liquid leaked out onto the floor under the refrigerator little by little.

In the living room,

Yun You, who was in the middle of dealing with a few shreds of the female ghost that had escaped, responded with a smile, “Okay, I’ll be right over.”

Indeed, ‘the soul of the dead had not yet dispersed’[4].

The brutal ruthlessness in Yun You’s eyes was almost stirred up into a storm when he looked at the shreds of flesh constantly oozing blood on the floor.

This disgusting person was dragging out her miserable existence by hiding inside some rift in space. Just like an insect, it would make anyone sick to their stomach.

The devil revealed his terrifying original form and the black fog surrounding his body rushed at the heap of shreds, engulfing it all until there was nothing left.

A moment later, Yun You looked at the carpet that was clean as ever. His expression returning to his usual mildness, he turned and walked towards the kitchen.

In the kitchen,

his lover was crouched on the ground, inspecting the blood seeping out from the freezer in bewilderment.

Seeing this scene, the perfect mask on Yun You’s face crumbled for a split second.

“Xiao Ye, what happened?” The bangs hanging over Yun You’s forehead concealed his eyes that were faintly emitting a blood-red glow.

“Oh, come take a look, the freezer seems to be broken. All the frozen meat inside looks like it’s gone bad, and it’s even thawed enough to leak bloody water—”

Yao Ye apprehensively touched the still-frozen freezer compartment, uncertain.

Weird, did that piece of red meat inside move just now?

The author has something to say: ying ying ying, there is a bit of a lag in the home network, and it can’t be posted, so it’s a bit late, I am very sorry!

[1] internet slang for a typical, 100% straight guy; usually a little dumb, can’t understand subtext, knows nothing about fashion, low EQ, inflexible in thinking, so on and so forth…

[2] internet slang describing affectionate, happy, romantic, or sweet feelings, like the pink bubbles that appear as an overlay/background when a character is happy or two characters fall in love

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lovebubbles6.jpg — *https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LoveBubbles*

[3] idiom meaning skill or strength not diminished by age, usually in reference to an old martial artist able to pull off the same kung fu moves as in his youth

[4] idiom meaning a person’s influence lingers after death or the spirit of some kind of doctrine or idea still lives on, but Yun You is using it literally here

thoughts of dogpotato: ＼(￣▽￣)／mysterious moving meat!

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