At first, Shu Tang thought she was hearing things. But when she realized the mermaid was indeed laughing, she bit his shoulder in anger.
“I will never let you go!”
“Just wait for me to haunt you until you die, and then begging me will be useless!”
However, the more she threatened, the deeper the mermaid laughed, his silver-white hair falling over, his chest even trembling. Shu Tang was extremely angry, and she felt a wave of sadness, biting his shoulder twice more as she lay on it.
But perhaps stricken by conscience, the mermaid began to gently pat the small cat’s back, trying to calm her down.
She remained angry for a while, but probably because the air from outside flowed in, the bathroom became well-ventilated, and her mind gradually cleared. Shu Tang belatedly realized she was still in the bathroom taking a bath, the bubbles not yet fully washed off, and her mind buzzed.
Shu Tang immediately covered the mermaid’s eyes and said, “You better leave now.”
The mermaid slightly tilted his head in confusion, calling her “Tang”, as if asking how he was supposed to leave with his eyes covered.
Shu Tang said, “Close your eyes and turn around.”
So the mermaid obediently closed his eyes and turned around.
But he did not leave; Shu Tang pushed him to go, recalling how she had secretly cried inside, so he silently did not budge.
Shu Tang was very angry, but she couldn’t push the mermaid away, and she felt very insecure about the situation, so she thought she might as well just quickly finish up.
Sure enough, the mermaid obediently sat down beside her, unmoving.
Like a statue.
Shu Tang felt a bit more at ease.
In the narrow bathroom, with steam rising, the mermaid’s already very large body made his presence completely undeniable. In the cramped space, the heavy breathing of the beast was omnipresent.
Even quietly closing his eyes, like a silent, obedient large dog, but the flapping fins and the agile and explosive body just sitting there still felt like an intensely present danger.
She hurriedly rinsed off the water.
The sound of the water clearly and unmistakably fell on the ears of this fierce beast.
Shu Tang started to complain about the poor quality of the door but completely ignored that even if the door was of better quality, it would not last a second in the hands of this ferocious mermaid.
After a few minutes.
The mermaid slightly tilted his head and asked, “Tang?”
Was he asking if she was alright?
Such a tame and obedient beast only revealed a hint of its nature in the moment its deep voice sounded, for it became extremely hoarse.
This hoarseness stemmed from her dissipating pheromones, which instilled in the beast a strange kind of hunger, yet this hunger was not for food, it tortured its nerves somewhat.
She was somewhat flustered, quickly reaching for her bath towel: “I’ll be ready soon!”
In an attempt to cover her discomfort, she started to complain softly, “Didn’t I tell you to wait outside? Why must you stay right here?”
The mermaid remained silent; he was worried that once he left, she would hide and cry again.
The mermaid felt the warmth of the steam, her breath came a bit closer, like a warm breeze flashing in front of him.
Involuntarily, the mermaid leaned back, his fingers curled over the edge of the bathtub, as if restraining something.
His Adam’s apple also moved very slowly up and down.
Perhaps because the more anxious you are, the more mistakes you make, Shu Tang bumped her head as she looked up.
She covered her forehead, grabbing the bath towel.
But it was a bit late, as the sound of the thud had already alerted the vigilant beast, which immediately pricked up its fins and opened its eyes.
Shu Tang was stunned, and so they both froze.
The mermaid’s body was cold, his breath was cold, but his gaze and eyes were as scorchingly hot as lava.
It seemed they could melt her inch by inch.
Shu Tang stuttered, unsure of what to say, and was about to wrap herself up in the towel, but the beast that had always sat obediently and subserviently began to slow its breathing, and its dark pupils started to change.
The mermaid pressed down on her, first slowly checking her slightly reddened forehead, then his cold, large hand grasped her waist.
She couldn’t push the mermaid away, and didn’t know why she became timid under his gaze, feeling almost as if she would melt under his eyes at that moment.
Perhaps realizing his gaze was too aggressive, the mermaid lowered his eyes, took the bath towel from her, and took over the task.
The mermaid again remembered the sticky rice cake she had described.
There was a pause.
A simple task, carried out by the beast with care and precision, clumsily wrapping her up again after wiping every inch of the residual water.
Shu Tang’s mind went blank, just listening to the heavy breathing by her ear was also a great torment.
The mermaid stopped, still sitting, looking up at her with an obedient expression.
The beast began to seek her opinion, asking in a low voice in front of her chest, “Tang.”
His tone seemed very meek, almost pleading.
As if asking: May I have a taste?
Her scalp tingled under his gaze, instinctively sensing danger and wanting to back away, but this large creature was not so compliant.
Shu Tang had always vaguely felt that she was the one in control. However, it was only when control passed to the other party that she belatedly realized the perilously dangerous side of the mermaid.
After all, one could not expect such a ferocious creature to be as tame and obedient as a large dog. To think so would be a grave misunderstanding.
The cold large hand supported her waist.
With a slight push, he moved forward.
The bath towel’s button was violently torn apart, burst open, and fell to the floor. Cold lips and teeth traveled from the middle of the towel up to her neck, biting along the way.
…
It was only when the night deepened and a cool sea breeze blew that Shu Tang was carried back to the upstairs bedroom by the tall mermaid and placed on the bed.
Shu Tang kicked “him” and immediately burrowed into the thin blanket.
The mermaid wasn’t angered by the kick but instead softly called her “Tang” and apologized.
Had it not been for what just happened, this large, fierce beast seemed very docile and easy to bully.
But Shu Tang was fuming, her eyes and face red. She threw a pillow at the mermaid, driving the tall creature out of the bedroom.
Shu Tang’s head was steaming, and she rubbed her chest, still feeling a faint pain.
She remembered when the mermaid had asked her what that was earlier, the feeling that made her scalp tingle. Shu Tang had wanted to fool the mermaid, but she was too flustered and stuttered without finishing, thinking he wouldn’t understand and she could bluff her way through. Instead, amid the steaming mist, she became like a piece of candy, chewed and bitten, and swallowed whole.
While changing into her pajamas, Shu Tang noticed the marks on her neckline were very conspicuous, so she opted for autumn pajamas instead.
After a while, the monster knocked on the door again, calling her “Tang.”
He held the ointment from last time, humbly asking if she wanted to apply it.
Shu Tang’s temper flared.
“Don’t bother, leave it there. I’ll do it myself.”
Under normal circumstances, the sensitive and gloomy monster would think he had done something wrong and then back down, compromising, and internally sharp criticism as her not loving “him” enough.
But today, those sharp thoughts had vanished.
This monster showed no signs of backing down; “he” didn’t obediently put down the medicine and return to the study. Instead, he sat directly on the edge of her bed.
The mermaid called her “Tang” in a very low and subdued voice while he unrelentingly pulled her from under the blanket.
Shu Tang covered her face with a pillow, trying to kick him, but the mermaid caught her leg with his large hand. Her normal human strength seemed futile against this fierce creature, and after struggling a bit, she accidentally kicked the mermaid’s chin, startling herself.
She immediately poked her head out from the blanket and asked him, “Why didn’t you dodge?”
But when she looked up, she met the creature’s intense gaze.
Shu Tang didn’t realize that her complaints and threats were, to the mermaid, the most straightforward expression of love. This insecure, treading-on-thin-ice creature suddenly received such a gift, like a man in the desert being told he had not just a bowl of water but a whole spring. How could he not lose control of his insane devotion and affection for her?
Yet she was slow to understand, so she merely complained about the creature’s greed, not noticing the stormy emotions hidden beneath his calm facade.
His posture as he looked down at her was docile.
His action of holding her ankle was restrained.
But his gaze was predatory.
The man’s voice was husky and deep as he slowly called her “Tang” again.
This caused her heart to flutter and her scalp to tingle with a foreboding feeling.
…
…
Shu Tang gradually calmed down, mindful of the saying: “A wise man submits to circumstances.”
But after he obediently fastened her buttons, she quickly shot him a glare.
She felt annoyed and angry, emotions that seemed to stem from a kind of bashful rage.
Clearly, if she had been the one instructing him, her demeanor would be one of proud satisfaction. But the tables were turned; things didn’t go as she had anticipated. She lost control and was pitifully bullied, starting her annoyance.
She still hadn’t allowed the mermaid back into the bedroom, and since she had just cleared out the study, the mermaid could very well sleep there.
Shu Tang felt that the study was the mermaid’s rightful place.
However, after sending the imposing mermaid to the study and monopolizing the bed with a hug pillow, Shu Tang suddenly remembered his identity.
She began to feel uneasy about having sent the chief to the study.
Shu Tang wondered: Could she be arrested for this?
But then, looking at the ointment beside the bed, she decided to temporarily forget the mermaid’s identity.
She rolled around on the bed for a while.
Knowing such a reality-shattering truth, Shu Tang should have been sleepless all night, either crying or suffering from insomnia.
But probably because of the interruption, her tragic thoughts vanished.
Even thinking of the obedient mermaid sleeping next door in the study brought her a slight sense of revengeful pleasure.
Shu Tang thought: She could let him sleep in the study a few more days before he threw her under a car, and then torment his heart and body cruelly with various threats and household chores.
Although it wasn’t exactly fair, Shu Tang figured: consider it as paying a debt in advance.