Chapter 2
Edward Quan ·
7
I woke in a haze and picked up my phone to check the time.
Then I sat bolt upright.
I had slept for a whole day and night.
My body burned.
Instinctively, I went looking for Zhou Yewang.
“Wangwang… Huh?”
Why was my voice so hoarse?
And what was that strange sensation behind me?
I stumbled to the mirror.
Couldn’t believe my eyes.
“What is…”
A long tail protruded from my clothes.
Its tip was heart-shaped.
It swayed as though it had a mind of its own.
Two sharp, bright red horns curved dangerously out of my hair.
A pair of small wings had grown on my back too.
They even fluttered with the movement of my muscles.
“Must be a dream. I’m not awake yet.”
Overloaded, my brain chose to ignore it.
I was about to go back to sleep when Zhou Yewang opened the door.
“Cancan, how are you feeling… Hmm?”
He was clearly startled too.
“Are you cosplaying?”
The sight of him made my already dry throat even thirstier.
An oasis in the desert.
I wanted to throw myself at him.
“I don’t know… I woke up like this…”
As I stammered through my explanation, he caught my restless tail.
“Battery-operated? It looks real.”
He seemed fascinated.
His lightly callused fingers stroked it slowly, then gently squeezed the heart-shaped tip.
It immediately turned pale pink.
An unfamiliar sensation struck me like lightning.
So powerful it tore through reason.
“L-let go…”
I trembled.
Only then did he realize something was wrong.
“Another fever? Your neck’s red.”
“I’m fine… Go outside.”
I clenched my teeth.
But after one step, my legs softened.
He caught my shoulders before I fell.
“Don’t push yourself. If you feel ill, I’ll take you to the hospital…”
He stopped.
I was rubbing against him without thinking.
The feeling…
Thirst.
A frightening thirst.
Desire flared at the slightest touch and swallowed me.
It felt as though my body had burned hollow, leaving only a thin shell of skin struggling to hold together.
The need was torture.
“I’m sorry…”
Tears spilled from the intensity.
I shook.
“Why is this happening…”
I tried clumsily to deal with it myself.
I had no idea what I was doing.
The hand on my shoulder tightened.
I thought he was angry.
Looking up, I saw restraint instead.
He took a deep breath.
“Do you want my help?”
His voice was low and rough.
His eyes darkened.
I nodded quickly.
He sat on the bed and drew me into his lap.
“Don’t worry. Leave it to me.”
After that, he helped me several times.
Until the horns, wings, and tail all disappeared.
8
The concert was approaching.
Everyone threw themselves into rehearsal.
But whenever my eyes met Zhou Yewang’s, I blushed.
Our dance teacher tapped my head.
“Cheng Can. Distracted again.”
“Go easy on him. Spring has come for our youngest.”
“They’re always glued together. You get used to it.”
The whole room laughed.
9
At last, concert day arrived.
After my solo, I sat backstage with nothing to do but wait for Zhou Yewang.
Then I spotted Jiang Liang sneaking past.
Suspicious.
I followed him.
Sure enough, he was meeting a tanned young man carrying flowers.
…
I was still wondering what to do when I turned around.
Zhou Yewang stood right behind me.
Quickly covering his mouth and signaling for silence, I pushed him against the wall.
…
The other two soon left.
10
We got home exhausted after the concert.
“Rock, paper, scissors?”
“No need. You shower first.”
Zhou Yewang shook his head and went to his room.
I settled into the bath and leaned back to rest.
Drowsiness took over.
When I woke, he was standing there, his eyes a little red.
“I thought you’d fainted again… Come out. The water’s cold.”
He turned away.
I noticed something odd.
“Wangwang… You’re hard.”
His voice was rough.
“That’s a normal physical reaction… What are you doing?”
My tail had wound around his knee.
“Maybe it wants some practice.”
I grinned.
“I’m not very good at it, after all.”
He saw through me at once.
His jaw tightened slightly as he caught the waving tip of my tail.
“All right. Lend me this.”
“What for?”
“Practice.”
11
The sensation was so intense that my tail thrashed uncontrollably.
I had no idea how many times it struck him.
Countless red heart-shaped marks covered his skin.
The sight was dizzying.
Afterward, he carried me out of the bathroom.
His knees were bruised.
I noticed a little cut at the corner of his mouth.
My heart beat so hard I thought it would burst.
“Do you know when to stop?”
I thumped his chest.
He only smiled, thoroughly satisfied.
“Sorry.”
My mother chose that moment to video-call.
Before answering, I glanced at Zhou Yewang to warn him not to misbehave.
He knew my family well. Saying hello would normally have been perfectly natural.
But he was in quite a state.
He nodded to show he understood.
Then his eyes lowered, looking faintly wronged.
Why did I feel like a bandit who had carried off some innocent man to be my husband?
That wretched guilt.
I answered.
Blue sea and sky filled the screen.
Mom was on holiday in Hawaii.
She took off her sunglasses and leaned closer.
“Sweetheart, has anything unusual been happening to your body?”
“I’m fine. Why?”
What was I supposed to say?
Your son grew a tail?
“Hmm. You should be awakening around now.”
Zhou Yewang and I both froze.
“We’ll come back to that. What happened to your neck? Have you got bugs in the house?”
I hurriedly covered the red marks.
Beside me, Zhou Yewang was laughing so hard his shoulders shook.
“Maybe…”
Offscreen, I pinched his cheek.
“What did you mean by awakening?”
“Hmm. I suppose it’s time I told you.”
After thinking for a moment, she moved closer to the camera.
She tapped a sharp horn protruding from her hair with a knuckle.
Then smiled mischievously.
“Sweetheart, we’re sex demons.”
My mouth fell open.
Mom had once been a famous actress. Obsessive fans constantly harassed her.
Tired of the entertainment industry too, she had retired several years earlier.
According to her, our kind had lived peacefully among humans for a long time.
“Remember how you used to cry that strange people were following you? Our particular nature attracts obsessive people.”
Memories stirred.
There had been a time like that.
In secondary school, people followed me after class.
Took secret pictures when I went for walks.
Someone had even rushed over and tried to pull open my jacket.
But Zhou Yewang had always been there.
Nothing happened.
He could easily drive the creeps away.
Remembering that, I stopped pinching his cheek and ruffled his hair instead.
He rested his chin by the edge of the sofa, listening to me talk to Mom.
He let me ruin his hair without a complaint.
Now and then, he tugged gently at my sleeve.
As though to say, I’m here.
From that angle, he looked like a puppy.
“Sweetheart, why do you keep looking down?”
“Nothing, Mom. What were you saying?”
I took it back.
He was not a puppy.
He was a vicious dog.
The kind no leash could hold.
A moment later, he caught my ankle and pressed my foot somewhere it did not belong.
Then he smiled and mouthed, Not a sound.
Slowly, he rubbed against it through his pajama trousers.
Then lightly licked my calf.
I began to tremble.
Oh my god.
What was he doing with my foot?
“Mom, I’ve got to go.”
I struggled to sound calm.
“Early start tomorrow. I’m filming a show.”
“All right. Good night, sweetheart.”
The moment the call ended, he bit down.
I felt his slightly protruding canines.
A sweet little sting.
A ring of tooth marks appeared on my leg.
“You—!”
“Just collecting a little practice fee.”
His fingertip traced the bite.
His gaze was feverishly intense.
“Don’t be angry.”
Some strange switch inside him seemed to have been flipped.
12
An incubus’s newly awakened period was unstable.
I couldn’t summon or hide my wings and tail at will.
Mom said absorbing energy through close contact was necessary.
It would help me get through the transition faster.
“I think we could get a little closer.”
Unable to sleep in the middle of the night, I climbed into Zhou Yewang’s bed.
How much closer, I wasn’t sure.
He woke and looked at the hand I had placed on his waist.
His expression was unreadable.
“Not enough practice today?”
“Plenty.”
Near him, I was already getting sleepy.
“But tomorrow’s shoot is long. I want to charge up in advance… Can I hug you while I sleep?”
Half asleep, I felt him pull the blanket over me.
“You really know how to torment someone.”
His voice was soft as moonlight.
13
Early in the morning, we went our separate ways.
He had guitar practice.
I had filming.
By the time I came home late that night, I was at my limit.
He was leaning by the window, a guitar pick between his lips.
Seeing the state I was in, he tossed aside the lyric sheet and opened his arms.
“Come here, Cheng Can.”
I fell into his embrace.
Something felt strange at my waist.
Lifting my shirt, I found intricate crimson patterns covering both hips.
They definitely hadn’t been there that morning.
“What are these?”
“Demon marks, probably. Mom mentioned them.”
Suddenly, the patterns seemed to come alive.
They reached toward him.
We looked at each other.
Then he placed a hand on my waist.
The marks lit up and took its shape.
Like a man who had found a new toy, he kept moving his hand.
The patterns followed faithfully.
My body became an experiment to satisfy his curiosity.
“I thought of something fun.”
His voice had roughened.
“Want to try?”
My need to hold him close was so powerful that I could barely think.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and nodded.
Our hearts raced.
Thud. Thud.
As though trying to break free of our chests.
His finger slid across my back.
The marks gathered there.
Heat rose like lava breaking through the earth.
“Guess what I’m writing.”
Lyrics.
He even covered my eyes.
“No cheating. Feel it.”
I tried to follow each stroke.
Finally, I worked out a line.
“You got some soft lips and some pearly whites.”
“Right?”
Something soft touched my face.
He uncovered my eyes.
His own were bright.
“Right. But yours must be softer.”
Only then did I understand.
I had been tricked.
Because it was him, I found it endearing.
“Try them, then.”
I rose onto my toes and answered the longing written so plainly on his face.
When our lips met, we seemed to melt into each other’s eyes.