Silence filled the room.
He met Si Yu’s scathing glare with complete equanimity.
Everyone in the world wants to see Si Yu stripped bare. Not in some action movie meant to showcase strength, but as Si Yu tempting them.
That idea, it’s a good idea, but…
The director rubbed his chin, looking somewhat troubled.
Over at TK Corporation, the contract we signed explicitly states they don’t accept nudity exceeding a certain percentage.
Exactly!!!
Nie Shuang sprang straight up into the air.
At that moment, he desperately wanted to rush over to the guy named Ye and grab him by the ears, demanding to know if he had any idea what heaven has eyes, the company dies actually meant.
When Si Yu had first debuted, he ran into so many greasy, backhanded schemes that they could be numbered sequentially every single day.
Back then, Shen Que’s father had passed away in a helicopter accident, and the Shen family assets had been seized by Shen Que’s second uncle.
Even with the empire on the verge of collapse, Shen Que could stand up, slam his hand down on the table to curse out his own grandfather, and then grab an anti-riot iron crowbar, literally, to drive away anyone who lingered too close to Si Yu.
As Si Yu’s career grew longer, the low-class, crude schemes dwindled, replaced by people who actually knew how to pull strings.
At that time, Shen Que had been overwhelmed and exhausted by the public listing, with several major investors driven away by his second uncle.
Yet even with disaster looming, right on the verge of securing an investor at the eleventh hour, he threw a public fit over a single inappropriate comment and chased away an investor who had dared to reach for Si Yu.
Later on, Si Yu gradually solidified his standing, and TK, under Shen Que’s leadership, claimed half of the Chinese-language film and television industry.
Shen Que’s methods for solving problems grew increasingly civilized.
Si Yu had never once been entangled in a romance scandal, not only because he kept his own nose clean, but because Shen Que protected him far too well.
Every single aspect of his career and life had been personally handled by Shen Que, right up until the moment their relationship took a sharp nosedive and completely imploded.
Yet even so, Shen Que treated Si Yu just as he always had, or perhaps even worse, with an intensity that only deepened.
Because of this, Nie Shuang didn’t even dare to imagine how Shen Que would react if he found out about Ye Ming, this greasy old scumbag who refused to tear his eyes away from Si Yu. Would he grind the man’s ashes to powder on the spot?
And strip naked, of all things!
Ah!
Ye Ming stared in disbelief as Nie Shuang suddenly lunged forward and pinched his ear in a stealthy sneak attack.
Glaring at the person who scrambled to hide behind Si Yu, Ye Ming let out an exasperated breath and said, Not naked! Down to the back, right around the shoulder blades.
Ye Ming lit a cigarette and continued, It’s a perfume commercial, selling a fantasy, not soft-core porn. Besides, completely naked ruins the…
Swish!
Ye Ming’s words were cut short by a splash of cold water thrown directly into his face.
Si Yu set down his water glass.
Literal cold water.
Si Yu, you’re getting paid an endorsement fee, shooting just this little…
Smoking indoors. Si Yu shot him a sidelong glance. What is wrong with you?
Ye Ming tossed away the soggy cigarette butt, wiped his face, and offered an amused smile.
Of course we can shoot it. Si Yu raised a hand to summon his makeup artist. Just remember, I’m doing this for the final cut, not to satisfy some perverted fetish.
Furious, Nie Shuang whipped out his phone to send a status report, only for his collar to be yanked back hard by Si Yu.
Once we wrap up, find a few guys and beat him up!
Got it!
Three minutes later, Nie Shuang received a nearly identical reply.
[President Shen: He agreed?]
[Nie Shuang: Yeah, brother said it’s for the final cut.]
[President Shen: Good.]
[President Shen: Did the director change it last minute?]
[Nie Shuang: No, it was the photographer. He’s got a seriously punchable mouth!]
[President Shen: Good. When we wrap, hire some people to give him a beating first.]
Nie Shuang held up three fingers, thinking to himself: If Her Majesty the Empress knew about this, she’d definitely say, let’s just make it three beatings!
Alright, alright, attention everyone, last shot! The bathtub scenes will be filmed tomorrow.
No sooner had the director finished confirming the desired visual effects with Si Yu’s makeup artist than Ye Ming’s shrill scream echoed from behind.
Ah! Ye Ming clutched his shoulder. How on earth did a heavy shelf like that just tip over?!
Si Yu looked at Nie Shuang, who had been standing by his side the entire time. The assistant gave an innocent shake of his head.
Shrugging, Si Yu walked back to sit at the vanity table, completely missing the dark shadow that flashed through the corner of the room.
That shadow trailed close behind Si Yu like a homegrown tail, concealing itself exceptionally well within the falling night.
Si Yu sat alone in the darkness, staring fixedly at the front door without letting down his guard for a single second.
Equally tense was Nie Shuang, who turned on the floor lamp and set a small dining table down right in front of Si Yu.
Take a bite, just one bite! Nie Shuang pleaded. No, wait, you don’t even have to eat! Just pick up the fork!
Tch!
Annoyed beyond measure, Si Yu grabbed the utensils, poked a piece of steak, and brought it up to his mouth with exaggerated pretense,
Done!
Nie Shuang turned off the camera and frantically fired off the photo.
He had originally assumed that once he headed upstairs, the night would finally quiet down, but apparently, someone else strongly disagreed.
When Si Yu hung up the phone for the third time, the landline on the table started ringing.
Perhaps it was He Yun.
He Yun?
The dark shadow in the corner shifted.
Si Yu was wearing a gray oversized RUA baseball sweatshirt. Because it belonged to He Yun, the hem hung straight down past his thighs.
His bare legs against the brown hardwood floor looked all the more fair and straight, glowing with the cold, bright sheen of moonlight in a pool.
Upon hearing the voice coming through the receiver, the disappointment in his eyes grew even more pronounced.
Hearing my voice, are you that disappointed?
A sharp, throbbing pain flared behind Si Yu’s temples.
Not wanting to waste a single syllable, he hung up the phone and slumped face-first into the couch.
The dark shadow crept closer to Si Yu, only to have its footsteps cut short by rapid, hurried footsteps echoing up the stairs.
President Shen, Brother Si Yu isn’t feeling great today, yeah, yeah, okay, I, I’ll give him the…
Nie Shuang covered the mouthpiece of his phone and shot frantic, desperate eye signals at Si Yu.
Yet Si Yu lay sprawled flat on the couch, his face turned sideways and completely buried beneath a cascade of long hair, looking uncannily like an ancient mummy recently unearthed by an archaeological team and accidentally dropped on its side.
Helpless, Nie Shuang hit speakerphone and placed it down on the coffee table.
Did you enjoy today’s shoot?
Shen Que’s voice filled the entire duplex apartment decorated in Baroque style.
That person named Ye Ming, I’ll handle him. Don’t let him get to you, alright?
The first half of Shen Que’s sentence was delivered in a calm tone, but the second half failed to conceal the quiet, careful vulnerability of someone terrified of being rejected.
Shen Que likes Si Yu. Shen Que treats Si Yu very well.
The edges of the dark shadow blurred further, receding deeper into the shadows.
The apartment plunged into absolute silence, so quiet that even the breathing of the four occupants vanished from earshot.
Everyone was waiting for Si Yu to respond.
With agonizing effort, Si Yu lifted his hand, his fingertips making a sluggish attempt to aim for the red button on the screen,
Sisi, is your head hurting?
Shen Que asked.
Si Yu’s fingertips froze in place.
His arm dropped limply to his side as he squeezed his eyes shut in utter exhaustion.
Nie Shuang, second row, third grid on the right in the medicine box. The round red pill.
Got it, got it, I, I’ll go grab it right now!
Panicking, Nie Shuang scrambled up and down the stairs, completely failing to notice when a cup of warm water had materialized on the kitchen counter.
Brother, here, take your medicine.
Wait.
President Shen, what is it?
Clutching the pill, Nie Shuang looked with confusion at the screen displaying the ticking seconds.
How long has it been since his last meal?
Uh, well, right when I sent the photo…
I know he didn’t eat. How long?
About six hours.
Mmh. He can only take one.
Oh, right, okay, just one!
I packed moxa sticks in the bag.
I know, moxa the Dazhui point first, then Fengfu and Fengchi.
Right. Are his feet cold?
Yeah, the floor heating is on, but Brother…
A heavy sigh drifted through the phone speaker.
Don’t move him. Tuck the blankets in tight, get a hot water bottle.
I know, President Shen. I’ll go set it up for him right now. Maybe you should get some rest.
No need. Go ahead.
Si Yu finally secured the peace and quiet he wanted.
Nie Shuang’s movements were swift yet feather-light, terrified that the slightest noise might disturb him.
Shen Que stayed on the line as well, maintaining a heavy silence as if trying to reassure himself by listening to the sound of Si Yu’s breathing.
He Yun…
Si Yu’s voice was barely a whisper, no louder than a gnat’s hum, so faint that only Shen Que managed to catch it.
Even now, with the person sitting beside you being me, is his name the only one you’ll ever call?
Si Yu wanted to roll over, but the painkiller had kicked in with a vengeance, making even the simple act of blinking feel like moving through molasses.
If he truly loved you, he would know which boundaries you never wanted crossed.
Si Yu wanted to say something.
He’s far too young. He has no way of protecting you.
Si Yu desperately wanted to refute him.
Sometimes I even wonder what it is you’re even trying to find with him.
Shen Que paused for a brief moment.
Is it because you know that your scoldings, your slaps, and your cold indifference can never truly hurt me, that you sought him out instead?
Shen Que kept talking.
Is it because you know that watching you throw yourself into someone else’s arms is the only way left to hurt me?
Si Yu had fallen asleep.
The only person in the room injured by his silence tonight was He Yun, standing in the shadows with his fists clenched until they trembled.
From the moment Shen Que had uttered those two syllables, his fingernails had never once left his bleeding palms.
Sisi
Pronouncing it required slightly parting the lips and clicking the teeth together, just like the motions made during a kiss.
He Yun relaxed his grip, rubbing his stinging, reddened eyes.
Yet the tears refused to stop.
The next morning, Si Yu paused on the stairs, wrinkling his nose and waving a hand in front of his face to fan away the air.
What’s that smell? So gross!
Downstairs, Nie Shuang was in the middle of clearing away a table littered with moxa sticks, moxa rolls, and herbal medicine packets: …
Are you drinking Chinese herbal medicine?
Si Yu asked offhandedly.
Then, picking up his coffee mug, the familiar taste hitting the tip of his tongue made him freeze dead in his tracks.
Yeah, I wasn’t feeling too great last night.
Nie Shuang kept his head down, not daring to meet his gaze.
You brewed this coffee?
Huh? Nie Shuang responded absentmindedly while pulling out his phone to send a quick text. Oh, yeah.
Pouting, Si Yu stared at the slightly lopsided latte art and muttered, And here you tried to claim it was your exclusive recipe. Even Ah Shuang knows how to do it.
The lingering scent of wormwood and the out-of-place cup of coffee failed to arouse any suspicion from the preoccupied Si Yu and Nie Shuang.
Ye Ming, however, spent the entire day hovering right along the razor’s edge of their breaking points.
Si Yu, point your toes more.
Si Yu, give me a bit more in the eyes.
Si Yu, show a bit more shoulder.
Bro, bro, bro! Hold it in! Hold it in! Nie Shuang wrapped his arms tightly around Si Yu’s waist. President Shen isn’t here, there’s no one to dig a trench and bury our corpses!
Let go! Si Yu hissed through gritted teeth. The second this shoot wraps, I’m going to grind his bones to dust!
Grind ’em! Dust ’em!
Nie Shuang soothed Si Yu, coaxing him back into the dressing room.
President Shen said if he weren’t worried about disrupting your work, he could have had that guy packing his bags and crawling back to his hometown today. Brother, don’t lower yourself to his level!
Rubbing his temples, Si Yu pointed toward the door. Go slash the tires on his damn motorcycle right now!
At once!
Receiving his imperial decree, Nie Shuang backed out of the room.
It was no wonder Si Yu was this furious. If it were standard physical demands required by the work, Si Yu wouldn’t hesitate to leap headfirst into a frozen lake at minus thirty degrees Celsius.
But today’s shoot was blatantly engineered by Ye Ming to stir up trouble, repeatedly taking advantage of directorial guidance to cross physical boundaries and touch things he shouldn’t have.
The only reason Si Yu hadn’t lost his temper on the spot was out of consideration for the executives from the perfume brand’s headquarters who were present.
The production team for this project had been personally handpicked and recommended by Si Yu as an all-Chinese crew. If things blew up into a public fallout, securing future projects would become an uphill battle.
For a piece of trash like this, it simply wasn’t worth it!
Fuming, Si Yu grabbed a towel and angrily dried off his toes, which had grown wrinkled from soaking in the bathtub.
Before he could reapply his body lotion, the door was pushed open after a double knock.
Si Yu, it’s all for the sake of work. You wouldn’t really…
Leaning against the doorframe, Ye Ming was just about to light a cigarette when his peripheral vision caught Si Yu’s half-curled legs.
His gaze suddenly flared with a bright, consuming light.
His eyes swept over the bare feet coated in a layer of white lotion, tracked all the way up his damp, pale thighs, and finally lost themselves right where the hem of an oversized sweatshirt and shorts concealed the tops of his thighs.
Stunned for a beat, Ye Ming tucked the cigarette back into its pack.
Know why things weren’t going smoothly during the shoot just now?
Pacing closer, Ye Ming reached out to click the door shut behind him.
We still don’t know each other’s bodies well enough.
Dropping to a single knee right in front of Si Yu’s feet, Ye Ming looked up at him.
Si Yu, we still have a major chunk of scenes left to shoot. It’s not too late.
Lifting a hand, Ye Ming didn’t make direct contact, but the sickening wave of body heat radiating from him was already closing in.
Narrowing his eyes, Si Yu calculated the shortest geometric trajectory for a kick while weighing the options between Ye Ming’s infatuated gaze, his pathetic chest, and his lower half.
Ye Ming didn’t seem inclined to hesitate any longer, or perhaps, with Si Yu half-reclining against the plush mattress, he had never intended to give anyone room for hesitation.
Si Yu tried to lift his foot, but his ankle was already gripped in a tight, unyielding hold, instantly turning his jade-like skin burning red.
He rose straight up and delivered a vicious, ringing slap across the face of the man blinded by lust.
Rewarding me?
Keeping his head turned to the side, Ye Ming gave a nonchalant flick of his tongue against the inside of his cheek before shifting his gaze back to Si Yu.
Baby, hit harder next time.
Utterly repulsive.
Snatching up the crystal vase from the bedside table, Si Yu hurled it straight at Ye Ming’s head,
Crash!
The vase smashed against the thick carpet with a muffled thud.
Yet the person who was supposed to be struck by the vase had already been yanked off his feet, his head slammed repeatedly against the wall.
He Yun!
Sitting upright on the bed, the flash of utter astonishment in Si Yu’s eyes barely had time to register before it was completely swallowed by panic.
Aside from a violent, unhinged He Yun, there was also Ye Ming, bleeding profusely from a head wound, a sight that, after a brief moment of disorientation, drove Si Yu to scramble desperately to He Yun’s side.
Yet his frantic calls and desperate tugs failed to make He Yun halt his movements.
He Yun’s arms, arms possessed of absolute, devastating strength.
The very same arms that had once held Si Yu in the crook of an elbow so he could watch an entire show from the back row of the aquarium, were now effortlessly slamming a human skull against the wall.
In his grip, Ye Ming was nothing more than a rag doll, stripped of any ability to fight back.
He’s going to kill him!
Clutching desperately around He Yun’s arm, Si Yu shouted with a cracking, trembling voice: Are you trying to throw your life away in prison for a piece of trash like him?!
He Yun finally stopped.
Looking down at the person sliding into a limp heap like a puddle of mud on the floor, the ruthless, murderous chill lingering in the depths of his eyes slowly began to recede.
I won’t.
Si Yu was left stunned and utterly bewildered.
He had no idea whether the won’t meant Ye Ming wouldn’t die, or that he himself wouldn’t go to prison.
My family used to have plenty of friends, and the ones left are still numerous. It’s just that I usually prefer not to trouble them.
Turning his head, He Yun spoke with absolute, terrifying calm.
Borrowing a helicopter from a governor in Manaus isn’t trouble, and disposing of a dead body in Italy won’t be trouble either.
Si Yu’s pupils quivered slightly as he stared in a daze at a side of He Yun he had never known existed.
He had only ever remembered He Yun’s disgraced, scandal-ridden father, completely forgetting that he belonged to a family holding hereditary titles stretching back centuries.
If a mere 1.3 trillion debt could be wiped clean in a matter of months, then a friend could easily be some count, prime minister, or reigning president.
So…
Si Yu was pressed flat against the mattress.
Can we talk about us now?
Hovering right above him, He Yun stared straight down into his eyes.
Si Yu, are you trying to break up with me?