Before Yiming had spent even three minutes touching him, Zhan saw him move to the other side.
Quickly, he sat up and moved backward, still not stopping his crying and pleading, confused.
After a few seconds, Yiming turned and looked at him with his bloodshot eyes.
Their eyes met, and Zhan became even more flustered. His voice trembling through tears, he said, "For Heaven's sake, have mercy. I am begging you, please, have mercy."
Yiming shot him a glare, stood up as if he would rise to the ceiling, headed to the door, and left the room. Seeing that, Zhan felt like he was dreaming. He couldn't even make a solid move. When he finally lowered his head, he saw the blood that had stained the white bedsheet beneath him.
He slowly moved backward, staring at the blood without blinking, his heart pounding at the same time. And he realized it was coming from his body. Then he remembered he was due for his period...he had been off it since Maryland, almost a month and some days.
Out of nowhere, he felt relief wash over him. He leaned against the bed frame as hot tears fell from his eyes. He stayed like that for over five minutes, then, seeing that he would keep soiling the bedsheet, he got down, grabbed his jacket, and wrapped himself in it. His body still wouldn't stop trembling. He stood in the room, thinking about what to do.
He looked at his leg and felt the blood flowing down. He put down his jacket, went into the bathroom attached to the room, and after a few minutes came out, put on his jacket, and looked at the stained bedsheet. He began carefully trying to remove it until he had taken it off completely.
He opened the room door and found Yiming standing right there. He froze, standing quickly, his heart pounding as he looked at Yiming.
Yiming glared at him and said, "What are you using that for?"
Zhan's lips trembled as he said, "No, I'm just going to wash it."
Yiming said, "Put it down. I don't ask you to take it out of the room for me."
He bowed his head without arguing, put the bedsheet by the side of the bed, and headed for the door, terrified like a coward. But he couldn't walk past Yiming to get out of the room because of fear.
Yiming was blocking the way.
Zhan stood there for over 30 seconds, his heart pounding, unable to leave.
Yiming just looked at him without praise or criticism. Barely able to speak, Zhan said, "I need to pass." Seeing the way Yiming was looking at him, he didn't say anything else. He slipped past him and left the room. Yiming looked at where Zhan had been standing...he had also stained the place with blood.
Zhan had already gone into the room where he was first kept and hurried to the bathroom, feeling his lower abdomen tightening. He wasn't even feeling period pain, just some backache and weak legs that lasted only a few hours. He managed to wash his body and came out, wiping himself because of the pain in his lower abdomen.
He opened the closet that Yiming had shown him and looked for a pad, but saw no sign of any. He started thinking about what to do, feeling the sign of his blood coming down his body. Even if he had a piece of small towel, he could manage with that. But no matter how much he searched, he saw no sign of any towel in the closet...just sexy, expensive clothes.
He was so confused and in pain at the same time. He didn't know what to do.
He lost count of how many times he went back to the bathroom, washed his body, and came out again. And since it wasn't a heavy flow on the first day, he couldn't even sit down properly because of the pain in his lower abdomen.
Tears began to fall from his eyes. He went to the side of the bed in the room, knelt down, rested his head on the bed, and closed his eyes, trying to endure the pain he was feeling. He stayed like that for over 20 minutes when he heard the room door open.
He quickly lifted his head from the side of the bed, still squatting. He looked at Yiming, his heart pounding.
Yiming entered the room, placed a bag from his hand, and looked him up and down briefly. He said, "What does that mean?"
Zhan's voice trembled as he said, "I am having cramps."
Yiming said, "When did you start having cramps? Is this also among your lies?"
Zhan bowed his head, and fresh tears fell from his eyes.
Yiming said, "I'm not going to leave this house again tonight because of you. After all, you'll endure labor pain."
Zhan didn't say anything to him until he left the room. Only then did he lift his head with tears rolling down his face.
He looked at the bag Yiming had left.
He crawled to the bag, opened it, and saw sanitary pads. In the other bag was food Yiming had bought for him from an eatery, along with bottled water. He forced himself to stand up with difficulty, removed one pad, opened the closet, took new underwear from inside, and went to the bathroom. After fixing himself up, he washed the jacket that had gotten stained in the bathroom, then came out. He took a nightgown that was slightly more modest than the others and put it on; it came down almost to his knees.
He refused to eat the food Yiming had bought for him. He opened the bottled water, drank some, then took a pillow, placed it on the floor, took the duvet from the bed, and lay down, feeling his abdominal pain intensifying.
He was separated from period pain from the very first day he started menstruating. Tears kept streaming from his eyes until sleep finally took him. Then he heard the door open. He forced his eyes open and held his breath, his heart pounding intensely.
Yiming came over to where he was and squatted in front of him. He reached out and touched Zhan's forehead, which made Zhan open his eyes quickly.
Yiming handed him medicine and water.
Zhan lowered his eyes, then forced himself to sit up, took the medicine and water from his hand, and swallowed. He placed the remaining water beside him, still unable to look Yiming in the eye.
He heard Yiming say, "What's with the bed? Why aren't you on it?" Zhan just shook his head. Yiming said, "Get on the bed now."
Zhan stood up, went to the side of the bed, and sat down. Anyone looking at him could see how terrified he was.
Yiming took the pillow and duvet and placed them on top of the bed for him. Zhan lay down, covered himself with the duvet, and shut his eyes. He felt Yiming leave and lock the door on him. He opened his eyes quickly and saw that Yiming had turned off the room light. Tears rolled down the sides of his eyes.
Gradually, the period pain began to subside after almost an hour of taking the medicine Yiming had given him. Then, before he knew it, deep sleep overtook him.
:
:
Around 3 a.m., hunger woke him. He sat up, scanning the room, his body trembling from hunger because he hadn't eaten since the previous day, and the medicine he had taken had nothing in his stomach. He got down from the bed, looking for the bag of food Yiming had brought him, but saw that it was gone. He didn't know what to do.
He was just sitting there when he heard Yiming open the room door, his phone in hand, the light on. He came in and turned on the main light switch. Zhan bowed his head like a coward, feeling his heart throbbing.
Yiming said, "What are you doing here?" Only then did Zhan lift his head, barely managing to look weak, but he didn't say anything. Yiming frowned and said, "I said, what are you doing here?"
Barely able to speak, Zhan said, "I am hungry."
Yiming said, "Why didn't you eat the food I brought you yesterday?"
Quietly, Zhan said, "I couldn't eat it."
Yiming turned and left the room. Zhan snuck back onto the bed and lay down, holding his breath. After almost ten minutes, Yiming returned to the room with the food after microwaving it for him. He placed the food and bottled water on the bedside drawer for him.
Zhan didn't wait for him to say anything...he sat up, bowed his head like someone guilty, reached out, and took the food. Yiming stood there watching him. Slowly, Zhan began to eat until he had eaten half. Then he looked at Yiming with all the courage he could muster and said, "I'm full."
Yiming said, "Eat the rest."
He didn't argue and continued eating until he had finished everything, though he had to force it down. He placed the plate on the bedside drawer. Yiming turned and left after turning off the room light. Zhan went back to lie down, resting his head on the pillow. He had no thoughts left to think at this point. He wiped the tears he felt rolling down his face. He didn't fall back asleep until dawn.
✴✴✴
Around 7 a.m., he came out of the bath wrapped in a towel, walking slowly, and opened the room's closet, thinking about what to wear. Anyone looking at his face could see he was deeply troubled. He was still afraid: now that his period was ending, what then? Where would he even start looking for a solution now? What next?
He burst into quiet tears, feeling pain in his chest. He leaned against the closet and cried as much as he could, pitying his own life. Finally, he wiped his tears slowly, took a dress that reached the floor but was transparent, set it aside on the bed, and removed the hair net he had been wearing since the previous day.
He walked slowly to the room's mirror.
There were various perfumes, oils, and hair products. He applied a little body spray, then put oil on his hair because he had left it for a whole day without oil...no matter how tangled it got, he had just kept it loose inside Aunt Fin's hair net. Aunt Fin's hair was the same way. In fact, all of them...Lina and Meilin, Meiqin...had the same hair texture.
Dark.
Silk
Soft and long.
While he was applying oil to his hair, the room door opened. He stayed where he was, his heart beginning to pound. He didn't dare look in Yiming's direction. He barely managed to put down the oil and picked up the hair net to put his hair back inside.
He saw Yiming take the net from his hand and turn him around to look at him. He bowed his head, his chest heaving. Yiming just looked at him...he was only wearing shorts, having clearly just taken his bath. He pulled Zhan close to his body, rested his forehead on top of Zhan's hair, and at the same time gently stroked his long black hair.
Zhan closed his eyes, his heart pounding. He heard Yiming's low voice say, "Why did you change your mind about me? It's all my fault, right?"
When Zhan didn't say anything, Yiming lifted his head and looked at him. Zhan suddenly felt Yiming's lips on his after Yiming closed his eyes. Zhan was too afraid to resist because he didn't know what would follow if he did. His body trembled like someone with a fever, tears falling from his eyes as he shook his head at Yiming, but he couldn't say anything...afraid Yiming would slap him as he usually did.
And so Yiming pulled him onto the bed and handled him. He made sure he romanced him deeply, to the extent that he almost lost control of himself.
Finally, he let him go, afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself since Zhan was on his period. But he managed to keep his composure before letting Zhan go and moving to the edge of the bed, breathing heavily with his eyes closed. Everything about Zhan was just perfect for a man or woman. The softness of his body alone was enough to unsettle anyone.
Zhan moved to one side of the bed, quietly crying in frustration, his heart pounding even harder. After a few minutes, Yiming turned and looked at him...saw how his long hair had covered his entire face as he cried.
Then Zhan slowly slid down from the bed, curled up with his head against the bedframe, sobbing. He felt Yiming grab him, and he turned around in fright, moving backward because he hadn't seen Yiming come around. Yiming used both hands to move all of Zhan's hair to the side of his face and looked at him.
Zhan had already stopped crying out of fear. He bowed his head, his chest heaving. Yiming pulled him close, wrapped his arms around him, and closed his eyes. Zhan stayed still, frozen with terror. And so he felt Yiming's heartbeat against his body. They stayed like that for three minutes.
Finally, Zhan saw Yiming slowly stand up and leave the room. Zhan followed him with his gaze, wiping the fresh tears streaming down his face.
For the rest of that day, Zhan stayed in the room except when Yiming brought him food. Whenever he remembered what Yiming had done to him recently, he would panic. It felt like he was hallucinating. That started giving him headaches, and he felt like a fever would overtake him.
He almost had a panic attack in the room if not for Heaven's mercy. All he could think about now was what the future of his life would be.
Was this it? Would he just give up, stay married to Yiming, and continue swallowing all the sadness that marriage would bring him? Did he even have anyone to stand by him since Yiming was his husband? Did he even have a way out with the way things had suddenly turned out? Was this going to be the beginning of a new era in his life? Was this the kind of separation he would have from his housemates? Maybe he wouldn't even see them again in his life? Was this how Yiming would continue caging him in his house with the threat of killing his siblings if he refused to stay with him?
All these thoughts made him cry, pitying the new life he was trying to fall into. Because he knew that once Yiming realized his period was over, he wouldn't hold back, and that would be the end of him.
And so he would have to stay and be married to Yiming even if it meant cutting pieces of his flesh to torture him.
Since his mother gave birth to him, he had never felt such distress as he did at this moment. Whenever he felt that Yiming was about to enter the room, he would wipe his face and brace himself for the arrival of abdominal pain...
In this state, Zhan spent three days in the house with Yiming. During these three days, despite his condition, Yiming still made him go and cook in the kitchen because he didn't like restaurant food. Zhan had never wished for his period not to end as much as he did at this time. He wished he could keep flowing continuously like the woman with the issue of blood, but he knew it would end in two days because he never went beyond five days on his period.
His anxiety kept increasing whenever he remembered that.
Today, since dawn, he had bathed, put on a pad, and was lying on the bed because of a terrible headache. All these past days, he hadn't gotten any proper sleep at night due to the worry and thoughts he had put himself through.
Finally, he forced himself to go to the kitchen with difficulty to prepare breakfast before Yiming came out of his room, just as Yiming had ordered him two days earlier.
As he passed through the living room, he looked into the compound and saw that Yiming's car was gone...meaning he had gone out. He tried the living room door and found it locked, just as he had thought. He sat on a chair, held his head, and hot tears fell from his eyes. After a while, he stood up, sobbing, and went to the kitchen.
While he was preparing breakfast, he heard Yiming's car enter the compound. After a while, the living room door was opened. He listened carefully and thought he heard a woman's voice in the living room. Then it went quiet.
He continued with what he was doing, his body weak, until he finished and cleaned the kitchen. Then he turned to leave and almost ran into a woman in her late 30s who was about to enter the kitchen.
From head to toe, the woman standing at the kitchen door was giving him a look that could only be called contemptuous.
Zhan had looked at her once, then bowed his head. He didn't even know when he greeted her because he was so confused. He also noticed that she looked like Yiming, even though Yiming had never shown him any picture of his family.
The woman said spitefully, "I spend so many minutes in this house, you didn't come to greet me, you deceitful creature, in my brother's house, you betraying trust... In your father's house, did you learn to greet me like this?"
Only then did Zhan lift his head again and look at her in surprise because her words had come at him out of nowhere. He didn't even know when he said, "You can insult me, but don't insult my parents..."
Mei-Mei opened her mouth in surprise, looking at him, seeing his audacity.
Before she could say anything, Zhan moved past her to leave the kitchen, nearly brushing against her at the exit.
Burning with anger and bitterness, Mei-Mei grabbed him and pulled him back in front of her, then delivered a heavy slap that sent him staggering. She tried to hit him again but couldn't reach him properly and missed.
Just then, Yiming arrived. In an instant, his expression changed because right before his eyes, his sister had slapped Zhan and was trying to hit him again. Raising his voice, Yiming said, "Come out and leave my house, Mei-Mei. How dare you? What did he do to you that you would slap him like that? Are you out of your mind? Get out of my house, please. Leave me alone."
Mei-Mei opened her mouth again, looking at him without blinking. Burning with anger, he went and opened the living room door, his chest heaving, and said, "I said get out, Mei-Mei, before I pay what you did to him back at you."
With great boldness, Mei-Mei held her chest with one hand and said, "Yiming, are you telling me to get out of your house?"
He threw down his phone, breathing heavily, and headed toward her as if to hit her, raising his voice: "I said get out....is this your house? Get out of this house before I lose control, Mei-Mei. Get out!"
Zhan was glued to the doorframe, his body trembling. Slowly, slowly, Mei-Mei went and got her handbag and small travel bag...she had come straight from the airport, and Yiming had picked her up and brought her to his home.
She headed for the living room exit, then turned and looked at him in surprise, saying, "Yiming, are you raising your voice at me, telling me to get out and leave your house because of that wretched creature? Are you even claiming you'll raise your hand to me? Me, Yiming?"
Loudly, he said, "I've done it all. Get out of my house, madam."
She left the living room, and he followed behind her as if he would fly, went and opened the gate for her. She went out, and he banged the gate shut and locked it. By the time he returned to the living room, Zhan was still glued to the doorframe, so terrified that not even a drop of the tears from the slap Mei-Mei had given him remained on his face.
Yiming went to the kitchen, looking at him. Zhan bowed his head. Only then did he feel tears begin to fall from his eyes.
💚💙❤🖤