Chapter Text
It was evening, and the setting sun was softly shining on the inside of a small pharmacy workshop. And if the muffled noise of the members of the Heavenly Comrades Alliance training could still be heard from the street, then there was silence inside, which was diluted by barely audible footsteps, the rustle of paper, the clatter of a stone pestle against a mortar and the chime of flasks.
After pouring the bitter-smelling powder and sealing the tube with a stopper, Tang Gunak handed it to his daughter, Tan Soso, for sorting. Meanwhile, Tang Zhan and Tang Pae walked around the warehouse, checking medicines and ingredients for expiration dates.
The Tang family has long complained that it has been a long time since an audit was carried out, as the war that gradually began constantly pushed the deadlines for taking care of the warehouse. Besides the family of the head, there was also a young man who was sitting with his head on the table and swinging his legs back and forth. From the outside, however, he could indeed be confused with part of the family: the emerald ribbon that tied his hair, the same-colored rope on his belt, tightening his waist, and a small tassel hanging from a sword.
Tang Gunak crushed the last of the ingredients, so he began to roll up the leftovers into small pieces of paper, looking with interest at the swordsman who had joined their company. Two hours earlier, he had simply fallen in with them and started walking around in circles, examining the drugs and tasting them, until Tang Pae got tired of pulling the curious “cat”, who had already scooped up the sweet-smelling powder with his finger.
After a ten-minute lecture on the safety of using poison, Cheong Myeong wilted and finally calmed down. And when asked why he was here, the swordsman waved off that he was making sure that those who were suspended from training for family reasons did not just chill here.
“So what was that powder?”
“An aphrodisiac.”
“Is it delicious?”
“Yes, it also increases blood pressure and stimulates or enhances sexual desire and activity.”
“Hmm...”
The bored Cheong Myeong was already tired of sitting in silence, so an endless stream of questions poured out of his mouth, and those present had to satisfy the swordsman's curiosity:
“Although the limbs are jet black, they are not poisonous. And what about the fluids released by the body? Is it urine, sweat, or saliva?”
Exhausted from the monotonous work, Tang Zhan replied wearily:
“Almost all the fluids released by our bodies are harmless. However, this does not apply to saliva, it has a paralyzing property.”
“Apparently, it's quite difficult for the men of the Tang family to find a mate. Not every girl would want to go limp when kissed.”
When the conversation turned into an interesting topic, Tang Pae joined in as the future head with extensive knowledge about procreation:
“There are pills to neutralize this effect, they temporarily cancel this effect of the oral cavity and saliva. They are usually accepted by both the young man from the Tang and the lady with whom the kiss is to take place, in order to eliminate any risks.”
“Oh, they were lying here somewhere, if I'm not mistaken.”
Muttering to herself, Tang Soso also decided to take a break and headed towards the boxes. After going through a few of them, she took out a bundle and handed it to Cheong Myeong to take a closer look at the contents.
“Here, look. The tablets themselves are mustard brown in color, but we paint them red. So the association is more pleasant than if they were the original color.”
“It looks like plum blossoms.”
“Outwardly, yes. Do you want another interesting fact? When a guy offers a girl to “taste the red pill", this is a kind of designated mood for a kiss.”
Cheong Myeong thoughtfully examined the small round objects lying in other people's hands. Reaching out to take one, Tang Soso tapped his fingers. Making a grumpy face, he withdrew his hand.
“What do they taste like?”
“They're usually tasteless. However, the craftsmen of the family add different flavors, at their discretion, or at the request of their beloved.”
“It just seemed to me that I had already tried them, and they tasted like plums.”
Four heads turned in his direction at once, as he spoke thoughtfully. The children began to periodically cast a pleading glance at their father, which caused him to clear his throat and ask a question of interest to all those present:
“Ahem, are you sure you didn't mix it up? Who was the daredevil who decided to give you this medicine?”
“They were just as bright red, I remember that for sure. That idiot offered them to me about four-five times.”
“Who?”
Tilting his head back and forth thoughtfully in response, as if missing the question, Cheong Myeong abruptly stood up, snatched one of the pills from Tan Soso's hands and stormed out of the room, throwing one last:
“I'm going to ask!”
***
The gradually setting sun barely illuminated the training area. At the end of the day, the students decided to arrange sparring sessions between sects and families, and shouts rang out from different sides, depending on who was fighting. However, the guys' entertainment didn't last long, as soon as they saw a disgruntled-looking Cheong Myeong running towards them. He was still recovering from intense battles on the battlefield, so he did not participate in general training, but he still bothered absolutely all members of the alliance.
What was the surprise of the Tang family's disciples when he flew into their crowd and began to shake his head, searching around, looking for the right person. And finally, having found the target - a young man with a pink hairpin in his hair, he grabbed him by the collar and persistently dragged towards the building with the Mount Hua students' rooms to loud cheers and surprised faces of the crowd.
Dragging his friend down the hall to his room, he almost kicked the door off its hinges with a loud kick and pushed the guy inside. The mood was to slam him into the nearest wall, but until the swordsman's assumption was confirmed, he tried to be friendly and even let go of someone else's collar. Only, his "friendliness" made Tang Bo's skin crawl and her hair stand on end.
"Hyun-nim! Wh-what happened?"
His voice was trembling because the swordsman's expression was constantly changing from angry to deeply thoughtful. And now Tang Bo could have sworn that he saw stray sparks in someone else's pinkish eyes.
"Bo-a~."
He almost purred and called the guy across from him. Reaching for the hand of the guy opposite, Cheong Myeong placed a very small thing in the black palm. Tang Bo shifted his gaze from the other's narrowed eyes and brought his hand closer to see what exactly his dear Hyung had thrust at him.
And when he saw the painfully familiar red pill on his sweating hand, he realized that the conversation could probably drag on. The gears in his head spun at breakneck speed, he begged the heavens that Cheong Myeong wouldn't guess anything.
"Bo-a, what kind of pills are these?"
With an air of arrogance, in order not to arouse suspicion, Tang Bo pushed back a lock of hair and complained:
"I told you that these medicines are needed to improve the taste of alcohol, and they also help the circulation of qi. I didn't think that you were ignoring all my explanations..."
"Don't take me for an idiot. If you're going to keep messing with your head, then be prepared to be hung upside down right on the gates of my sect."
Oops.
He seems to have found out everything.
The insolence in Tang Bo's words instantly disappeared as soon as he was cut off in mid-sentence. Now it was important to change tactics and try to mitigate his guilt by gradually changing the subject.
"You know, Hyung, there is an effect when a patient is given an empty pill, but they say it is very useful. And indeed, a person heals quickly. Ah, the brain is such an interesting thing!"
"Why are you talk your teeth into me right now. I was told about the reason for creating this particular pill."
"Hey, you don't trust me, are you checking up on me?! And anyway, why the hell are you always eating and drinking everything I give you! Maybe I'd like to feed you an aphrodisiac!"
Cheong Myeong was pretty tired of his friend's attempts to squirm like he was in a frying pan, so he grabbed the guy's chin and brought his face in hand closer to his own to meet his gaze. Tang Bo began to shake his head, breaking free from someone's weak grip. But the dagger master did not expect that the swordsman would grab his red face from the tips of ears with two hands on his cheeks and pull him closer.
"Just tell me why you took the pill with me then."
Tang Bo's eyebrows tried to furrow, but from the outside, it began to look rather pathetic. His eyes dropped shyly as he considered what to say. There was no point in lying anymore. He was caught red-handed.
"Because my Hyung-nim is not romantically minded. I've tried so many times to create an atmosphere, I've looked after you in every possible way, I've given you gifts. That's why in those moments when I thought I was ready to risk kissing you, I gave you a pill, otherwise you might start to think that my saliva tastes disgusting, that my tongue is colicky or stinging..."
It was a sincere confession. Take it or take it away.
Afraid to even breathe, Tang Bo squeezed his eyes shut, as if the floor had caved in under his feet. Meanwhile, the rough palms on his cheeks pulled a little. Expecting a blow to the face, he lowered his head more.
But what was his surprise when, instead of a rude fist flying towards him and his own broken nose, he felt someone else's wet tongue touch his lips.
"Open your mouth. Now let's check how disgusting your mouth tastes."
Whether obeying someone else's order, or out of shock, Tang Bo did as he was asked. He felt the presence of a hot tongue inside, which clumsily, but rather impudently and persistently tried to intertwine with his. His Hyung had some understanding of the concept of kissing, but skills were absolutely mediocre. Therefore, the Tang member decided to help a little, gently guiding his tongue, trying to teach the technique of kissing, at the same time wrapping both arms around a thin waist and pulling a muscular body to himself.
Sometimes Tang Bo considered his Hyung to be a monster. And now he was becoming more and more convinced, because this scoundrel was learning pretty fast, deepening the tart kiss so much that the oxygen in his lungs was gradually running out. Trying to pull away, he was pulled back again. But now Cheong Myeong also periodically biting Tang Bo's dry, pale lips in a fit.
His leech had blatantly lied to him, according to Cheong Myeong's conclusion. It was pleasant to kiss, and his tongue felt a little numb and tingling, as if he had eaten too much particularly spicy Sichuan food.
It was really worth a try without any medications.