NOVEL WEB Chapter 73: Enough for Both Of Us
“Are you alright, Yue? Is Vitya bullying you?” Natasha asked, reaching out to touch Yue’s hand as she noticed how spacy Yue seemed. Viktor and Alexei were enthralled in their own conversation about filling a position in the Lords of Belarus but Yue made no effort to start a conversation or even to lift his head.
“Yes?” Yue murmured, he hadn’t really paid attention to what Natasha had asked.
“Ow!” Viktor suddenly exclaimed in the middle of his sentence and turned to Natasha.
“Why’d you do that?!”
“Don’t bully, your lover!”
Yue was confused by this conversation and Alexei was unsurprised as he watched the two siblings fight.
“It’s hard to believe but they were attached at the hip when Vitya was young,” Alexei said to Yue with telepathy.
Yue was silent for a second but he imagined Viktor and Natasha when they were kids and couldn’t help but smile.
“I didn’t bully him…” Viktor pouted.
“He’s right he didn’t bully me, I wasn’t thinking when I answered,” Yue murmured, bowing his head a little as an apology. He looked a little apologetic toward Viktor. Natasha must’ve kicked him pretty harshly if he reacted.
“Hmm? You learned Russian?” Natasha asked with an excited expression.
“I’ve learned a bit,” Yue said in Russian and smiled.
Viktor’s expression as he heard that made Alexei and Natasha laugh. He had at first felt pouty because he had wanted to teach Yue Russian himself and he wished Yue hadn’t learned by himself while they were going through their rough patch but after hearing Yue speak Russian he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed for some reason.
“Hehe, you’re doing well.” Natasha giggled.
“Really? Is my pronunciation okay?” Yue asked eagerly.
The three Russians sitting around him nodded quickly in response. And Yue just smiled, happy to hear that.
—
Yue and Viktor were still pretty awkward around one another but Viktor wasn’t letting them separate this time. He held Yue’s hand as they walked through the halls after seeing Natasha and Alexei off.
“...Your sister married at a very young age…” Yue murmured.
“Hmmm...not really? Not even a century ago, 19 would’ve been considered pretty late for a young noblewoman to marry.” Viktor murmured.
“It’s still pretty young...how old were you when she got married?” Yue asked.
“I was 9. She had been engaged to Alexei since before I was even born so…” Viktor chuckled.
‘It feels weird to think about marriage when we’re barely out of what is probably our first fight…’ Yue thought to himself, glancing over at Viktor.
“I’m surprised you don’t have a fiancée,” Yue murmured.
Viktor immediately froze after hearing that. He examined Yue’s face for a second, noting the slight blush on Yue’s cheeks as he looked away after saying that. He hugged Yue from behind with a grin.
“I’m way too stubborn to accept an arranged marriage. Even if it were with a man I still wouldn’t say yes to marrying someone I didn’t love.” Viktor said and kissed Yue’s neck.
“And...I won’t have anyone but you.”
“Oh…” Yue mumbled, his cheeks were red.
“Now I wonder if my Yue has had any lovers in the past…” Viktor murmured, turning his head to peek at Yue’s expression.
“I didn’t...My love life was non-existent until I met you. You on the other hand…” Yue completely flipped the question around as payback for Viktor teasing him. Viktor always got flustered when Yue asked about that. Yue knew Viktor wasn’t unfaithful but he always looked guilty when the topic was brought up. He felt bad for bringing it up but he honestly wanted Viktor to just tell him everything. He wanted both of them to tell each other everything.
“I’ve never loved anyone but you,” Viktor said and smiled.
Yue was completely caught off guard. He expected Viktor to be flustered like the past few times when similar topics have come up in conversation but Viktor didn’t falter.
“I’m serious.”
“T-That’s not possible. I have an excuse because I followed the path of structured cultivation but how could you not have had other loves!” Yue exclaimed, his cheeks bright red.
“I knew about you long before you knew about me, Yue,” Viktor said and smiled, caressing Yue’s cheek.
“W-what…How?” Yue asked, embarrassed.
“My mother has an item that lets her see what the Four are doing, I saw you when I was a child and fell for you,” Viktor murmured, he was embarrassed to be admitting this. “You have always been the only one for me. Somehow, I never loved anyone else.”
“Bu-But you…”
“Yes I have been with other men but I’ve never loved any of them. I’ve honestly hated most of them.” Viktor faded into a laugh at the end of his sentence, he didn’t know why he was still talking. He wanted to just move past it.
“Anyway, I seriously-”
“Then why did you.” Yue said, completely serious as he scanned Viktor’s face. He wanted to say more but he completely stopped speaking as he saw Viktor’s expression. Viktor tried to think of what to say but as he looked at Yue’s expression he couldn’t think.
“You...If you hated them then why. Did they--”
“Yue. Does that bother you?” Viktor interrupted, looking down at the ground.
“No.”
“...That’s good then--” Viktor said and smiled. He was going to try to change the subject again but then he was grabbed by the collar and pulled closer to Yue.
“It doesn’t just bother me. It makes me so angry I can’t breathe.” Yue said through gritted teeth, forcing Viktor to have eye contact with him.
Yue’s eyes were like they were when he was partially transformed. He was so angry that he was transforming. Scales were beginning to appear on his neck and wrists. A breeze was picking up in the room and flowers in a nearby vase were suddenly growing as a result of Yue’s anger.
“...I’m S-”
“Don’t you dare apologize,” Yue said and only became angrier.
Viktor was confused, why didn’t he want him to apologize? He was angry because of him, wasn’t he?
“It was Mark. Wasn’t it? I’ll Kill Him.” Yue switched over to Chinese near the end.
“You can’t. It’d be a disaster for Belarus if he was killed.” Viktor quickly said but that only made Yue angrier.
“Yue. I love you. I love you so much, but trust me, I’m fine. I definitely didn’t like it but I didn’t really care back then. If I did care I could’ve killed him back then… and now the situation is a bit more complicated since we’re adults. But I still don’t really care...I know it bothers you but I can’t turn back time. I never expected to meet you and actually be able to have you so back then I didn’t care about doing that with other people.” Viktor said and hugged Yue, stroking his head, hoping to soothe his anger.
“I don’t care that you’ve done it before I care that you were forced to do it!” Yue exclaimed, he didn’t want to tear up but as his anger disappeared his frustration could only be expressed this way.
Viktor didn’t respond. He just silently continued to hug Yue.
“I hate that you don’t care about yourself.”
Yue knew that Viktor could probably say the same for him but he already knew that about himself so he didn’t mind if Viktor said it back to him. But perhaps Viktor didn’t know that about himself because he froze after hearing that.
“Yeah. I hate that about me too.”
Yue wanted to punch Viktor after hearing that.
“You’re seriously….Fine. Love me enough for the two of us and I’ll love you enough for two of us you jerk.” Yue murmured, hugging Viktor tightly and hiding his face in his chest.
“...That’s easy,” Viktor murmured and kissed Yue’s forehead.
--
The evening was painfully long. Yue and Viktor had nothing to do but neither of them felt up for training. Yue just laid on the bed staring at the pages of his grimoire, he wanted to add some spells but he couldn’t think. He was going to try just cultivating to pass the time but Viktor sat down next to him on the bed. Yue looked at him blankly for a bit and then blushed as Viktor rests his hand on his chest, right over the high waistline of his Hanfu.
“There are only two hours until dinner…” Yue murmured.
“That’s perfect, isn’t it? You won’t be tired if it’s only for two hours.” Viktor murmured and smiled.
“...You can definitely tire me out in two hours,” Yue murmured, not believing Viktor for a second.
“I’ll tell them to bring dinner to us.” Viktor chuckled.
“...Alright,” Yue mumbled. He gave in as Viktor’s eyes trailed over to the ribbons that would allow him to remove his Hanfu. Viktor was making it clear what he was thinking of. He was practically undressing him with his eyes before he actually started undressing him.
There was a hint of awkwardness from Yue. Because of what he knew now, seeing Viktor on top of him made some anxiety bubble up inside of him. Viktor made him calm down and relax as he smiled. Seeing Viktor’s genuine, relaxed smile made him feel less uncomfortable with what they were doing.
Viktor moved over so he was hovering over Yue and stared into his eyes for a while. His hair was still much shorter than it was back when they first met but as it fell around both of their faces it was clear that it had grown quite a bit.
“It looks just as long as it was back then,” Yue murmured.
“That’s just because we’re so close together.” Viktor chuckled, “That was years worth of hair growth y’know.”
“I know, It’s still grown pretty quickly though.” Yue laughed, moving some of Viktor’s hair away from his face before they began to kiss. He raised his hands during the kiss and pulled off Viktor’s blazer with his eyes clothes, feeling his way around to begin undressing Viktor as he went. His movements were slow on purpose and he could tell Viktor was getting impatient because of that.
Viktor pulled away from the kiss when Yue was only halfway done unbuttoning his dress shirt.
“On second thought...I don’t think I’ll be able to let you go in two hours after all.” Viktor said and began taking off Yue’s hanfu. He had only done it once but he moved like an expert.
“As long as I get dinner that’s fine.” Yue giggled and blushed as he found himself completely bare in front of Viktor. All that was left on him was a necklace that Viktor was not interested in fumbling with at the moment. He just left it there and began kissing down Yue’s body.
Yue was focused on unbuttoning Viktor’s pants as Viktor kissed down his chest but he felt a sense of déjà vu as we watched him. He was tempted to think about it for a while longer but Viktor distracted him as he reached lower and lower.
Two hours later Yue felt that the maids were coming to the room and silently thanked them. They both reached their climax so he gave Viktor a clear look so he knew that he was definitely still conscious.
“My dinner is almost here,” Yue murmured and laughed at Viktor’s dejected look as he pulled out.
Yue pulled Viktor’s dress shirt on and blushed at his marked-up thighs before glancing over at Viktor who was putting his pants on. He looked the same as when they started, just a little disheveled.
‘I should use more force...I wanna leave a mark too.’ Yue thought to himself.
“I’m going to bathe,” Yue said and smiled, getting up and walking over to the bathroom carefully as the maids knocked on the door. Viktor just nodded and waited for Yue to enter the bathroom before he opened the door.
--
Yue stood in front of the bathroom mirror, silently staring at the necklace around his neck.
“It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s alright. There’s still one more prophecy.” He whispered to himself with a shaky breath as he looked at the oh-so-familiar silver necklace with blue gems.
“It’ll be fine. He promised me.” Yue murmured and wiped his tears before they got a chance to fall and stain his cheeks.