"Nnn..haa..aaa.." she bit her bottom lips, attempting to hold back her moans as he sucked on her neck, leaving his own scent on her body. He marked her lips once again with his fingers tracing from one faded hickey to the next until it met her cleavage. Her tank top and undergarments were in the way, but he didn't mind the obstacles.
The tip of his fingers reacted naturally as if it had its own functional brain. It brushed against her thighs and felt her sensitive spots. Recognizing her held back groans, his body positioned between her legs, parting them. His fingers lifted her chin slightly as he continued marking her neck, specifically on the spots that made her moans escape fully from her mouth.
Her lips unwillingly parted as another moan came out. "M..Meanie..hsaaa.. ahhhh." As his fingers traced down to the new hickey he gave her, a satisfied smirk appeared on his face from her body's response to his touches. "Hmmm? Dear, it's my hobby to bully you like this. The doctor said I've been having low sugar lately, so I need more sweets. Your body fills that bar up."
"Hahaha, your lines get lamer every day. Aiyo, so cheesy." She let out a soft laugh before getting cut off by his melting kisses to her lips. Only when he felt their lips were turning numb, did he stop and whisper to her ears, "Sweet like cotton candy."
She continued to giggle as they continued kissing back and forth with random flirtatious lines.
"Where do you get all these lines from? Hahahahaa" she laughed while rubbing her stomach.
"What?~ I told you like fishes need bait to get hooked up from the waters. You've captured me and now you need to take responsibility and eat me!" his arms hugged her body closely.
"Pfft, that's like saying flowers need sunlight and I'm the energy you need to stay alive." Her fingers combed his hair as she joked.
"Well, it is true. With you around, I have everything. So as long as I have you, I don't need or want anything." He gave her a peck on the forehead before pulling the blanket over her.
She snuggled closer and stayed quiet for a few minutes. Hearing his words made her heart ache because she knew she needed to tell him sooner or later that she was sick. Struggling between what words to use and how to say it, her eyes started to heat up with tears filling them.
At first, Chen Mu thought that she fell asleep. It was when he pulled the blankets to cover her shoulders that he realized that her face was flushed, and the corner of her eyes was soaked. She was trying to control her breathing so that he wouldn't notice her crying.
"Susu? Don't scare me, what's wrong? Are you feeling pain somewhere?" Her slightly irritated eyes opened and looked at the nervous man in front of her. Her thumbs swept across his cheeks as her rasped voice broke out the torturous truth that she's been wanting to hide and tell him at the same time. He waited patiently for the words she wanted to say.
Slowly, tear drops dripped down her face, and her rosy lips parted, "C..Chen Mu, I..I'm sick. I have Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, early stage. I..I've been taking treatment to control the cancer from spreading, but I don't know when these bad cells will spread and conquer my health."
"I know I'm selfish for accepting your love and hiding this the whole time. It's just that when I see you smile at me and spend time with me, I couldn't help but tell myself to wait just one more day. Even an extra second would be good enough because that was how happy I am when you're with me. Then, day by day, I only get more attached. More unwilling to leave you."
"From sleeping in separate beds to cuddling together at night.. From eating my breakfast alone with acquaintances to realizing how great it feels to eat with someone I love wholeheartedly.... Everything that I have never and ever thought of that would come true.. you made me believe in it. You made me fall in love and believe that I'm not alone."
"...And I'm no longer alone because I have you. Sorry, this took me months to say it, and it could have taken longer. But I knew that if I continued pushing this reality away to keep something so precious, I would lose courage eventually. I originally planned to go on a date with you and tell you, but the plan obviously didn't work out. I just hope that I wouldn't become the reason why you're upset or sad."
She forced a bitter smile as tears rolled down her face, "If you don't want to be with me, I'll understand. But even so, I still want to tell you thank you. Thank you for staying by my side this entire time. These few months had been the greatest time of my life..."
She tried to wiggle out of his embrace, but couldn't. When her head tilted upwards, his warm mouth kissed her passionately and toppled over her. His face was similar to hers; flushed and wet from tears.
"You silly girl! Did I ever say that I would let you go? Who cares about cancer? Would that be a reason for me to stop loving you? Stop caring for you? Stop worrying over every little, tiny thing that happens to you? Huh? I've loved you for the longest, and you've completed a part of me that could only be puzzled together in my dreams. Did you know how many years I've secretly loved you?"
Cupping her wet cheeks in his palms, his sincere gaze fixated intently at her eyes, "Yin Susu, listen carefully to what I'm about to say. I, Chen Mu, would never give you up even to the grim reaper. As for the cancer cells in your body, I will use as long as it takes in research to find loopholes and methods to prolong your life. I will try my best to still be able to hold you close with our hands intertwined at eighty or older."
Her mouth parted, but she waited for him to finish, "The moment you accepted my love and asked me to date you, you were cursed to have me stuck to you until our last breath. So until gray hair starts to grow on your head and until I lose all of mine, I'll be the book worm in the lab. Believe in me. I will cure you or at least show you everything you've never seen before. I'll teach you how it feels to be loved, comforted, protected, cared, and wrapped in someones hand as a precious treasure."
Tears kept flowing out of their eyes as their palms soaked up each other's salty tears. The more he wiped her face, the faster her tears seem to escape from her eyes. He said, "I love you so much. More than anyone could ever imagine. We'll fight this cancer together and win those bastard cells. We'll make mountains and mountains height of memories for our future kids, grandchildren, and great great grandchildren to see, okay?"
"Chen Mu..."
"Mmm?"
"I love you.." She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a kiss. He brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her back. "I love you too," he whispered into her ears.
"Chen Mu.."
"Mmm?" he paused on his kisses.
"How long have you known?"
"Welp, no point in hiding it from you. I've been waiting for you to tell me this yourself. I've known even before we started dating."
"That long?"
"Mhmm.. I've known about it, but I didn't once hesitate in loving you. It only made me want to spend more time with you. Cherish you more. Kiss and hug you whenever I can. If possible, I wish I could dote on you forever and have you depend on me more." He kissed her cheeks and bumped their foreheads together.