Guardian: Zhen Hun (Novel) Vol. 2

by Priest

It’s fine if I’m the only one to know. It’s fine if only I remember, Shen Wei thought.

Shen Wei, my dear...

Shen Wei had done everything imaginable to protect this one person—the one person he could never touch.

Chu Shuzhi waggled his eyebrows at Zhao Yunlan. Shen Wei had picked up on the very first ring. That was a level of attentiveness one couldn’t even get from their own father.

So relatable

Shen Wei had left the car running to keep it warm as he went upstairs to collect him. Zhao Yunlan noticed it as soon as he got in, and the gesture warmed his heart.

I freaking love Shen Wei

It had been a long, long time since he’d felt such warmth on a cold night.

Deep down, Zhao Yunlan had always yearned for a certain kind of life: a life two people shared companionably, where they could even enjoy silence together. Neither would find the other annoying or hound them or try to pick fights. They would make space for one another, but there would always be warmth between them. Like they had always lived together, existing in their own private world, needing nothing but each other.

I love this so much

It was more than Shen Wei could possibly stand. Pressing his hands to the bed on either side of Zhao Yunlan, he let their lips brush together, soft as a dragonfly dipping its tail into the water. It lasted only a moment. His eyes were closed, as though he had taken immeasurable comfort from that most fleeting contact. His heart thundered inside his chest, offering the illusion of mortality. For just a second, Shen Wei almost felt human.

There in the dim light, he’d stolen a kiss from the love of his life. His heart soared with elation and sweetness. Even if he had died then and there, he wouldn’t have uttered a word of complaint.

Shen Wei...

Millennia of loneliness and desolation had failed to drive him to insanity, but a few offhand sentences passing through the lips of this one man were enough to send his emotions careening out of control. The ancient line was painfully true: For love, the living may die, and the dead may live again.

“Sorry,” Zhao Yunlan said. He gently eased Shen Wei’s clenched hand open, holding it in his own. Then he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the back of Shen Wei’s hand, casually tossing the incredibly expensive property deed aside. “If this is too much for you, just pretend I never said a word.”

“I have plenty of assets, but I doubt they’d appeal to you. All I really have to offer is my heart. But if you won’t accept it, then just forget about this.”

Zhao Yunlan, babe...

The words smashed into Shen Wei’s heart like a stone, unearthing an ancient memory of a voice right by his ear, speaking in the exact same offhand way. “I hold all the world’s famous mountains and rivers in my hand, but what of it? They’re nothing but a bunch of rocks and wild waters. Of all that I am, the only part worth anything may be my heart. If you want it, it’s yours.” The man before him was the same as always, as if the past had come back to life.

One of the most beautiful love confessions ever, you can't change my mind

Shen Wei suddenly grabbed hold of him again. “I accept,” Shen Wei said quietly. Zhao Yunlan froze for a second, but Shen Wei smiled, sounding almost calm as he repeated, “I accept. In this lifetime, whether dead or alive, I won’t let you go again. Even if one day you’ve had enough or tire of me, even if you want to leave me, I’ll never let you go.”

Shen Wei’s eyes were still locked on him. “If you must die, it must be in my arms and by my hand.”