Upon receiving the kiss, Xie Lian's first instinct was to purr, much to his mortification. There were still other people in the room! How indecent! He immediately stopped himself with a splutter, which caused Hua Cheng to laugh softly. He even crooned at Xie Lian as if he was a little kid!

"San Lang", Xie Lian whined in embarrassment, and hid his face in his hands.

Hua Cheng chuckled again, before he schooled his face into something more serious.

"Right. I think you're done dancing for today. The musicians may leave", he ordered, and Xie Lian could immediately hear shuffling from behind the screen. He didn't have the nerve to face them however, and just stayed put as he was, hiding his face until he heard the door close again, even though they had been very polite in bidding the king good night.

"I agree, I think I'll have a very good night", Hua Cheng chuckled as soon as they were alone in the room.

Before Xie Lian could comment on that, Hua Cheng leaned back, until his back rested against the backrest of the divan, pulling Xie Lian along with him, effectively having him lying flush on top of the alpha. If Hua Cheng had been careful to not place Xie Lian too close to his bulge before, he didn't seem to care about it at all anymore now.

And while it was indeed rather comfortable to lie on Hua Cheng like this, he still pushed himself up a bit, just because he wanted to look at the alpha's face. He hadn't quite expected his face to have turned this soft in the meantime, and felt entranced by the look of- of sheer… adoration… on his face. Xie Lian felt his face turn a shade darker, but it felt so incredibly nice to be looked at in such a way, he couldn't possibly bring himself to look away.

Xie Lian hadn't noticed it himself, but he must've slowly leaned in towards Hua Cheng, since somehow their noses were touching now. It was just… the look on his face was one thing, but there were also his lips that had somehow lost all of their grim hardness, and looked so incredibly soft- Xie Lian had wanted to touch, to see if they really were as soft as they looked, and since the gentle look on Hua Cheng's face had entranced him, he thought it was a good idea to touch the alpha's lips with his own.

Before he could switch his brain to working mode again, he leaned forward to overcome the last bit of distance between them, and lightly pressed his lips onto Hua Cheng's, somewhat hesitantly. Hua Cheng's eyes immediately closed, and he kissed him back without any hesitation, just as softly as Xie Lian had started the kiss. However, it was that small movement of Hua Cheng's own lips that snapped Xie Lian out of the stupor he'd been in, and all his rationality came rushing back into his brain with a vengeance.

Thus, Xie Lian leaned back quickly, gasped in absolute horror, jumped off the divan, yelled a too loud "sorry!" at Hua Cheng, and proceeded to run towards the door as fast as his feet could carry him, screaming his repeated apologies along the way.

Xie Lian was still screaming variations of "sorry" and "I'm sorry", once he'd already made it down to the second floor, when two strong arms suddenly encircled his waist from behind, and held him in an iron grip, preventing him from escaping any further.

Xie Lian was so out of it and had fallen into straight up despair at having acted so rashly and without thought that he actually started keening, and tried to break out of Hua Cheng's grasp.

The alpha didn't let him go however, and, after a startled "gege!" started crooning at him again, though he only did it for a moment before he changed to rumbling, the vibrations of which Xie Lian could feel on his back, since Hua Cheng was pressing his chest so closely to him.

Xie Lian didn't really want to calm down, he'd behaved much too indecent after all, and only deserved what his rationale threw at him. However there was nothing he could do against feeling incredibly soothed by the alpha's actions, and he couldn't help but relax against Hua Cheng after only a few moments. Even his keening had turned into soft mewling.

"Gege", Hua Cheng said after another short while had passed. "Why did you run?"

"Isn't it obvious?! I-... I- I kissed you!", Xie Lian exclaimed, and the only reason why he wasn't going straight back into hysterics was because the alpha had started scenting him.

Hua Cheng hummed.

"Did you see me complaining?", he then asked gently.

"N-no…", Xie Lian had to admit, and finally managed to stop the worst of his trembling.

"See? I think more than anything, gege startled himself. Am I wrong?", Hua Cheng asked as perceptively as always.

Now that Xie Lian was properly calming down, he had to admit that the king was right, and blushed an even deeper shade of red.

"You're not wrong", Xie Lian mumbled.

Before Hua Cheng replied, he nudged Xie Lian a bit, and turned him around in his arms, but still didn't let go of him.

"And gege… do you remember what I told you how I feel about you running away from me?"

Xie Lian didn't even have to think in order to remember that.

"I'm sorry", he whispered.

"There's no need to apologise. I just wanted to make sure you still remember. And to ask you to keep it in mind."

"I'll try to", Xie Lian replied, now feeling properly calm again. "I'm really sorry I acted out like this just now."

"It's a non-issue, gege", Hua Cheng smiled, and kissed his forehead. And then his temple.

Xie Lian somewhat expected him to kiss him properly on the lips again as well, but he didn't, and it left Xie Lian a little disappointed. After all, it wasn't that he hadn't wanted to kiss him properly, it was just that he had been too surprised by his own actions.

He didn't quite know what sort of look he had on his face when he realised that Hua Cheng wouldn't give him another kiss on the lips, but apparently it caused the king's eye to twinkle with mischief.

"Is gege dissatisfied with something?", he asked with fake innocence.

"Can we- can we try again?", Xie Lian asked. He was determined, but he was also still shy about this matter.

Thankfully, Hua Cheng had mercy on him, and didn't tease him any more after that.

"Will gege promise not to run away again if we do?", he instead asked earnestly.

"I'll try my best", Xie Lian promised nervously.

Hua Cheng didn't look very convinced, but he pulled Xie Lian even closer to him, before he placed one of his hands on the back of Xie Lian's head. Xie Lian was so nervous, he could feel his heart almost beating out of his chest, and he was convinced Hua Cheng could feel it, too. He couldn't help but clutch onto the king's clothes above his chest in an attempt to steady his nerves..

"Are you sure?", Hua Cheng asked, and he seemed concerned.

"I'm sure", Xie Lian didn't hesitate to reply this time. He knew he wanted this. He was just nervous because he'd never really done it before.

Hua Cheng gave him another long look, before he finally started leaning in, albeit very slowly. When their noses were just about to touch, Hua Cheng stopped completely, giving Xie Lian all the chances to pull away if he didn't want it after all. It had the opposite effect however, and Xie Lian was almost growing impatient instead. He didn't dare to move though, too scared of messing up again.

When Xie Lian couldn't take the tension anymore, he closed his eyes, hoping it would ease that feeling in his gut if he didn't have to see Hua Cheng's handsome face so close to his.

It felt like an eternity, but in truth it was only a short moment later when Hua Cheng finally pressed his lips to Xie Lian's. He was gentle and soft and tender and careful, while still having the dominance of an alpha who knew exactly what he was doing, and somehow that reassurance was what eased Xie Lian into reciprocating the kiss, as properly as he could. He pressed up against Hua Cheng's lips, and slid his hands up over the alpha's shoulder to hug his neck at the same time. He could feel Hua Cheng smile into the kiss, just before he pulled back a bit, but now that Xie Lian wasn't a hysteric mess anymore, he didn't want to end the kiss so quickly, and chased after him. Luckily, Hua Cheng noticed, and allowed another lingering kiss, which was followed by another one, and then one more.

When Xie Lian eventually stopped chasing after Hua Cheng's lips, the alpha chuckled fondly.

"Who would've thought that gege would be so greedy", he teased softly, with a gentle smile on his face.

Xie Lian felt his face darken yet another shade again, and hid it in Hua Cheng's chest with a whine of "San Lang!"

Hua Cheng chuckled, sounding incredibly happy.

"Of course, gege can be as greedy as he likes. This San Lang will never complain", he said, and pressed another kiss right on top of Xie Lian's head. So of course Xie Lian couldn't help but smile as well.

"How about we go to bed early today, hm?", Hua Cheng asked after they had hugged for a few moments longer.

As soon as Xie Lian had nodded, Hua Cheng led him into his bedroom, the very same one where that disaster of a rut had happened. However, last time Xie Lian had been so preoccupied with everything that was happening, as well as his own thoughts, that he hadn't even spared a second to take in the room itself. Which was a shame, because it was truly befitting of a king.

True to Hua Cheng's own unique style, the furniture was all black lacquered wood, the bed and divan had dark red bedding and pillows, as well as drapes in the case of the bed. There were decorative carvings on every single piece of furniture as well, all of them silver and incredibly pretty to look at. It felt cozy and romantic, despite the slightly haunting feeling it created. Xie Lian really wondered why Hua Cheng had chosen such a creepy aesthetic for himself, but he didn't ask; he didn't want to be rude after all.

However when he saw a human sized skull serving as an incense burner, shivers went up and down Xie Lian's spine, and he couldn't help but turn to Hua Cheng after all.

"Why… why does San Lang have a skull in his room?"

Once the question registered, the expression on Hua Cheng face turned somewhat ugly; he smirked in a sinister, almost twisted way, and was all sharp teeth and cold eye. It was an expression that left no doubt in Xie Lian's mind that Hua Cheng had it in him to be exactly what the Guoshi had warned him about.

"Oh that? I thought I'd be merciful and make Jun Wu's empty head useful for once, even if it's only in his afterlife. If gege finds it distasteful, we can naturally throw it out", Hua Cheng said, and by the time he ended his sentence, his face was all soft and gentle again. It was a somewhat harrowing change in its suddenness.

"I… It's your room. I won't tell you to throw out anything", Xie Lian replied. He felt like he should be more cautious around Hua Cheng after having witnessed his sudden change of face, but… deep down it felt wrong to be cautious around this alpha, and Xie Lian decided to listen to his gut feeling, as usual.

Hua Cheng glanced at him with amusement, before he walked over to the skull, pulled the already burnt incense sticks out, picked the skull up, and proceeded to walk over to the window. He opened it, and threw the skull out, just like that.

When he saw Xie Lian staring at him with an utterly flabbergasted face, Hua Cheng laughed.

"Someone will have it cleaned up by tomorrow morning, don't worry about it. I admit that it was a bit unsightly to have something like that in my bedroom. Gege was completely right in wanting it gone."

Xie Lian didn't quite know whether to laugh or cry; after all, who could bear to be so disrespectful to the dead? In the end, he figured he was better off forgetting this little episode had ever happened, and he pointedly changed the topic.

"Can you help me take the accessories off?"

"Of course, gege."

Once that was taken care of, they both readily settled into bed.

The bed was beautiful in that the dark red drapings were plentiful, and lying down in it felt like entering a lair of satins and soft fabrics, all of which were comfortable and felt extremely nice on the parts of his skin that were exposed. It also gave a sense of privacy and intimacy and Xie Lian just really liked it a lot. There was a big difference to it since the last time he'd seen it. While he hadn't taken notice of much during Hua Cheng's rut, he could clearly recall that the drapes hadn't covered the bed as much as they did now. There would have been no way for Xie Lian to see Senior General Pei poking his head in if the drapes had been like they were now.

"Is something wrong, gege?", Hua Cheng asked, when he climbed into the bed after him, and Xie Lian scooted over towards the wall.

"Not at all. I was just wondering why it seemed like there are more drapes here now than there were before", Xie Lian explained.

"It's because there are. Gege has a keen eye, as always. I'll have to disappoint you though, there's no particular reason why I added more. I just felt like it", Hua Cheng chuckled, and threw the blanket over both of them. "Do you dislike it? If it's too much for gege, I can take some of them down again."

Xie Lian quickly shook his head.

"No. I really like this… it's very cozy."

"I think so, too", Hua Cheng agreed, and pulled Xie Lian closer to him.

Xie Lian turned onto his side, and cuddled up to Hua Cheng properly, before he lifted his hand to touch his cheek, though his fingers accidentally bumped against his eye patch.

"I'm sorry", he apologised immediately. "Did it hurt?", he asked, because he didn't know what affliction made him hide his eye.

"Not at all. This eye doesn't hurt me, gege", Hua Cheng said quietly.

Xie Lian would have disbelieved him if he hadn't been able to smell the sincerity on his scent.

"If… if there's nothing wrong with your eye, then why are you wearing an eyepatch? Surely it can't be comfortable?", he asked curiously. He didn't know if he touched a sour spot with that question, but he was sure Hua Cheng would let him know if he'd overstepped the line.

"Just because it doesn't hurt me, doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with it, gege", Hua Cheng explained, still sounding calm.

However Xie Lian frowned, not quite following.

"I'm afraid I don't understand, San Lang…", he admitted.

Hua Cheng was quiet for a while, before he sighed softly.

"Since gege has already trusted me so much as to spend my rut with me, I might just as well repay his courage with honesty. My right eye is… abnormal. Horrible to look at, and especially monstrous in the dark like this. It's not a deformation gege should ever have to lay his eyes upon."

Xie Lian couldn't believe it was as bad as Hua Cheng made it out to be. He figured that maybe he had the extremely rare case of having two different eye colours, and had had some horrendous experiences because of it.

"San Lang… we're already like this. Is there really any reason to keep these sorts of secrets from each other? I'd be honoured if I ever got to see San Lang's whole face someday", he said as gently as he could.

Hua Cheng hesitated before he spoke again.

"What is the point of seeing it? I would hate for gege to become afraid of me because of this deformation."

"The point is that we should be honest with each other. Shouldn't we be? I don't really care what you look like underneath that eyepatch. I just want to know… well, all of you, and whatever you think is wrong with that eye of yours is also still a part of you. So of course I'm curious about it as well."

Hua Cheng was quiet for a few long moments, before he sighed in defeat.