Chapter 433, Sweetness of Valentine's Day

…Even if I were dreaming, I wouldn’t have dreamed of a day like this.

Normally, even if he was making chocolate for his lover, he wouldn't go to such lengths. From the materials to the shape, the feeling in the mouth, the melting taste, and the flavor, he tried to make everything very carefully. He felt that this was already a professional level.

Seeing Ling carefully squeezing the ganache into the mold and covering it with chocolate, Zhuo was filled with gratitude and relief.

But now, if Haul came over, it would disturb her work, so Zhuo could only watch honestly, which made Zhuo feel subtly itchy in her heart.

"Then we just need to wait for it to solidify naturally...?"

It seemed that the project was almost finished. When Ling turned around, Zhuo hugged her with his arms.

"what happened?"

"...No, I just thought I really liked you."

Zhuo formally said what he was thinking, and Ling tilted her head slightly to observe his expression carefully from the chin. But perhaps she felt happy, and after retracting her gaze, she moved twice in Zhuo's arms to adjust to a comfortable position and no longer resisted.

During this time, Zhuo discovered that perhaps because of the tasting, there was chocolate on the corner of Ling's mouth, so he lowered his head and prepared to lick it off. Ling stared as if frightened, then looked at him motionlessly, and then closed his eyes.

After taking off the chocolate, Zero opened his eyes again and stared at him with even more surprise.

"Why……"

“…because it’s covered in chocolate.”

"If that's the case, you should follow me..."

"I'm sorry if you don't want to."

"I didn't say I didn't want to. Are you trying to play a trick on me again?"

Seeing Ling looking up at him with a bit of dissatisfaction, Zhuo couldn't help but want to kiss her again, but he felt that he should get Ling's permission and let her go. As a result, he was glared at again for some reason.

"…I should have kissed you just now."

"…Is it too difficult for Her Royal Highness to judge?"

"I need to redo the chocolate I gave you, um—"

Zhuo kissed Ling, who had lowered her brows and was talking quietly. Ling suddenly became stiff all over and began to tremble slightly, so Zhuo had to endure the pain of having his feet stepped on while comforting her.

……

"……wash."

"..."

“…Please open your mouth.”

"..."

"Mr. Utsunomiya, please open your mouth."

Being stared at by Ling without blinking, Zhuo wanted to escape.

However, because Ling occupied the position on Zhuo's leg, he could not escape as he wished.

Although the long skirt was covering him, with Zero straddling his legs, he was very troubled about where to look. If they continued to be in close contact, even though there was fabric between them, other parts were about to touch. It felt terrible.

Normally, Zero would never take this kind of action on his own initiative. It was because Zero was thinking about making Zhuo eat the "remade chocolate" that she chose to have such close contact. "...I, I will open my mouth, anyway, calm down?"

"Are you saying that the chocolate I made is inedible?"

"Where does this clingy drinking habit come from~"

It seemed that Ling was determined to make Zhuo pay the price after playing a prank on him, so knowing that he could not use force, he used his own body to better "control" Zhuo.

After Ling sat up straight, his eyes were at the same level as Zhuo's. Or maybe because he was bent over because he felt guilty, Ling was looking down at him. Although it was very cute, his posture and momentum made him feel that he couldn't enjoy this moment purely. It seemed that he was about to enjoy this moment in another sense.

"Zhuo won't eat my chocolate."

"I'll eat. I will eat. You go down first."

"Are you saying I'm heavy?"

"No, you are very light! The problem is not there, it's..."

"I'm your lover, there's no problem."

A lot of them. It was because they were already sure they were together that she was so reckless. Zhuo thought it must be because in Ling's heart, all her future would definitely belong to Zhuo, or maybe it was already in her heart - and this recklessness was eroding Zhuo's rationality.

As if she was trying to prove that Zhuo would definitely eat the chocolate today, she was holding the chocolate and moving her body closer to Zhuo.

Ling looked up at Zhuo, her eyes seemed to be subtly uneasy. Even at this time, she seemed to be carefully observing Zhuo's reaction, afraid that he was really unhappy. Zhuo couldn't refuse when being looked at like this, so he made up his mind and took a small bite of the chocolate in Ling's hand.

That was not ordinary matcha chocolate, but a chocolate prepared for Zhuo that was completely free of sweetness and almost entirely made of cocoa and pure coffee powder. It spread a strong bitterness and irritating astringency in the mouth... Zhuo could already foresee his fate before he even took a bite.

In order to successfully eat the chocolate, Zhuo prepared to bite it into pieces and swallow it in one go... Then, as if to make up for the missing sweetness, Ling let go of his hand the moment he bit the chocolate. Then, before Zhuo could see clearly and had no time to react, Ling had already bitten the other half of the chocolate, and at the same time bit Zhuo's lips that were holding the chocolate.

Thinking that the bitter taste would be swallowed by the other person, Zhuo stared at Ling's closed eyes with her eyes open. Even so, she naturally had no intention of opening her eyes, and the chocolate in her mouth was gradually melting.

Because the distance was the closest, Zhuo could clearly see Ling's eyelashes closed, and could feel Ling's rare active kiss.

Perhaps because it had happened more than once, Zhuo thought of the rainy night two years ago when he carried Ling back home.

——Because you are in the rain, I won’t hold an umbrella either.

Even though her mouth was helpless, Zhuo's eyes showed a knowing smile, and she happily responded to Ling's kiss. But then, she flinched and tried to escape from Zhuo.

This kind of thing is the only thing that Zhuo discovered that he is relatively talented in, so of course he would play a trick on Ling.

The aroma and strong bitterness of chocolate are mixed with the sweetness from Zero.

In the mouth that was so sweet that it was incomparable to what it was just now, Zhuo smiled quietly while greedily eating the already limp Ling as if he was squeezing honey.

When their lips parted, Ling's dissatisfaction had completely cooled down, and she sat on Zhuo's legs, tensing her body. Although he understood the reason why she tensed up, Zhuo had no intention of letting her go because it was Ling who started it.

"…I ate it, am I still angry?"

"...No, I'm satisfied, please let me go."

"don't want……"

He reached out to the table and put another chocolate from the tray that Ling had just taken into his mouth. The moment it entered his mouth, it seemed as if the concentrated flavor of Chinese medicine spread in his mouth. Zhuo tried hard not to make any expression as he looked at Ling.

Now, Ling, who would never look at Zhuo alone, had to bow his head again.

(End of this chapter)