The King's Mate - Part 3: Guishi

Chapter 10

It took quite a long time for Xie Lian to calm down. And once he did, he realised just how late it had gotten in the meantime. Thus, he patted TianMa a few more times, promising to be back tomorrow, and turned to leave. However, the moment he turned around, he saw Hua Cheng entering the horses' box at a remarkably quick pace.

"San Lang", Xie Lian greeted him smiling.

Seeing Xie Lian, Hua Cheng came to a rather abrupt stop, and seemed to be a bit confused. That was, until he'd gotten a better look at Xie Lian's face.

"I felt your distress. Are you alright, gege?", he asked, and walked closer to Xie Lian until he stood right in front of him, at which point Hua Cheng enveloped him in one of Xie Lian's favourite hugs.

"I'm alright now. I just didn't expect to see TianMa here, or ever again... and I couldn't quite help myself", Xie Lian admitted sheepishly. "But how did you know I was here?", Xie Lian then asked curiously.

"Haven't you noticed yet?", Hua Cheng asked, leaning back a little to get a better look at Xie Lian's face.

"Noticed what?", Xie Lian asked, feeling rather confused now.

Hua Cheng huffed in amusement before he replied.

"Once we're a certain distance apart, there's this light, internal pull that makes me want to go in a certain direction. As it just so happens, you always end up being in that very same direction when I follow it. Obviously, that's part of our bond now", Hua Cheng smiled, and kissed Xie Lian's forehead.

Xie Lian on the other hand, had never noticed an internal desire to go in any particular direction when Hua Cheng was out of sight. Feeling rather mortified of his inattention, he swore to himself that he'd make sure to rectify it.

Hua Cheng then took a moment to check up on TianMa as well, feeling equally as displeased by the new scar his treasured horse had acquired as Xie Lian had felt, but Hua Cheng didn't feel angry enough about it to leak the emotion to Xie Lian.

He still felt like he should apologise for letting this happen. However, when he opened his mouth in order to do just that, Hua Cheng gave him his 'don't-you-even-dare' look, and so Xie Lian didn't.

"I still feel sorry though", he muttered after a moment anyway, albeit in a more petulant manner than was appropriate for an apology.

Hua Cheng felt nothing but amused at this, but gave him a stern look in response.

"No apologies", he said strictly, walking back over to Xie Lian. "Let's just turn in for the night."

They did take the time to walk back home, and Xie Lian enjoyed taking a walk along such familiar paths with his mate quite a lot more than he would have expected. It felt... peaceful. And with Hua Cheng by his side, Xie Lian could feel nothing but safe. He realised then and there that he hadn't felt such inner peace for such a long time that it almost felt foreign to him. Though, the deeper he allowed himself to sink into it, the more familiar it was starting to feel again as well.

And by the time they arrived in the inner courtyard of their house, Xie Lian, at long last, just felt right again, as if his body wasn't a shell he'd felt detached from anymore, but like it was grounding him again. And it felt amazing.

Once they had taken a bath and eaten dinner, they made their way into their bedroom, where Xie Lian noticed he had a rather strange desire. He contemplated for a short moment, biting his lip in a small bout of embarrassment, but eventually he did turn around to his husband.

"Gege, why are you blushing?", Hua Cheng asked with a warm chuckle while letting his outer robe fall onto the sedan carelessly.

Xie Lian felt his blush intensify at the question, even though he knew how silly it was to feel shy about such a thing this far into their marriage. But still, they had been apart for so long that Xie Lian couldn't quite help but feel like he needed to battle his bashfulness all over again.