Chapter 113: Voice message

Lin Feng’s heart began beating a little faster.

This way, he hadn’t broken his promise to his grandfather. He hadn’t called the man or taken the initiative to seek him out.

He had merely sent a message to inform him. Surely, that little bit was harmless, right?

With that justification, Lin Feng decisively pressed the send button. Then he sat upright on the bed, holding his phone in both hands as he eagerly waited for a reply.

...

The room was dark, and the sound of splashing water from the shower could be heard through the closed bathroom door.

The phone on the bedside table lit up as a message came in.

After a quarter of an hour, the bathroom door clicked open, releasing a cloud of cedar-scented steam into the cool bedroom.

A tall man emerged from the bathroom, his sculpted silhouette outlined by the light behind him.

He was drying his dark hair with a small towel, his broad shoulders moving with the casual ease of a mature man. His movements were languid, yet there was power beneath them, with muscles flexing beneath his skin, giving off a strong sense of masculinity.

A white towel was wrapped dangerously low around his hips. Droplets of water still clung to his neck, where an ink tattoo of a black dragon snaked from his bronzed chest. The droplets traced slow paths down his sculpted abs, past his navel and along the prominent veins of his lower V-line, before disappearing beneath the towel. The residual warmth of the bath had left an alluring flush on his skin.

His dark gaze happened to fall on the blinking notification on his phone. Assuming it was a message from one of his subordinates or perhaps one of his friends, he casually walked over and picked it up.

But the moment he unlocked the screen and saw the message, his hand paused.

A slow, knowing smile gradually tugged at his lips.

That side had reached out first.

Ring—

Lin Feng was startled. He immediately grabbed the pillow and covered his phone with it, trying to muffle the ringtone.

He had forgotten to mute his phone!

His room was on the same side as the master bedroom, where Grandpa Bai was sleeping. Lin Feng could only pray that his grandfather was already asleep and hadn’t heard the sudden ringing.

The phone rang for a while without being answered.

The man on the other end: ?

He looked at the phone again, rereading the message.

Had he misunderstood? Was the boy really just informing him?

Finally, the ringing stopped.

Lin Feng sighed in relief. He gingerly removed the pillow and grabbed his phone, quickly swiping through the settings to mute all sounds.

Then he waited with bated breath again, waiting for the phone to ring.

The phone lit up.

Lin Feng thought it was a call, but when he saw that it was a message, he felt a little disappointed. However, he soon perked up and read it.

[I know. I’ll be going too.]

The boy’s eyes softened into pools of water.

He typed: [Then, I’ll see you tomorrow?]

[Um. See you tomorrow. You rest early.]

Just as Lin Feng thought their short conversation was over and was feeling wistful, another message followed.

[Send me a voice message.]

Voice message?

Oh right, there was this function.

Lin Feng fumbled with his phone before finally managing to record a short voice message, his cheeks flushed.

Hou Yizhen received the voice message. As soon as he tapped on it, the boy’s soft and gentle voice rang out in the room. As if afraid someone else might hear him, the boy had whispered into the phone’s receiver, his voice airy and breathy, tickling the man’s ears.

"Uncle Hou, I miss you so much."

The man closed his eyes and played it again, taking a deep breath as he listened. It was as if the tiny nerves in his ears were transmitting the pleasant sound to all his senses.

He could almost imagine the boy sitting on his lap, leaning his head against his broad shoulder and whispering softly into his ear.

The boy must be blushing, Hou Yizhen thought.

The pent-up frustration in his heart instantly found an outlet, but the frustration building in his body went straight down to his groin.

Another message appeared.

[Uncle Hou, can you send me a voice message, too?]

The corner of the man’s lips lifted slightly. Then his gaze dropped to his body.

He really wanted to call Lin Feng and talk to him for a long, long time, perhaps even the entire night. But he also knew that tomorrow would be the boy’s first official banquet since waking up from his coma. Lin Feng needed to be well-rested and full of energy.

After receiving psychological counseling and some helpful advice, Hou Yizhen now understood that the boy would likely face all kinds of scrutiny and comments from the people in high society tomorrow. He would have to navigate complicated social interactions with influential figures, and he needed to be in the best possible condition to handle them.

Hou Yizhen didn’t want to make things any more difficult for him.

So, despite the desire burning inside him, he forced himself to hold back.

He brought the phone close to his lips, still slightly damp from the shower, and whispered in a low, husky baritone, "I miss you too, baby. Go to sleep. Good night."

His voice was deep and resonant, seeming to vibrate from his chest. It was dark, velvety, and rich, with a honeyed warmth that seemed to wrap around whoever listened to it.

In his own room, Lin Feng heard that long-missed masculine voice, and his heart immediately fluttered. It felt as though thousands of butterflies had suddenly taken flight in his stomach.

His ears turned red as he typed back:

[Um, good night, Uncle Hou.]

That night, a restless man panted inside his room, his hot breath forming a faint mist in the air as he sweated while ’exercising’ alone. His dark eyes were filled with passion, while a voice message played repeatedly in the background.

That same night, a boy fell asleep with a smile, hugging his phone to his chest as a low, deep baritone played over and over in his ears.