Upon meeting Shen Yijin’s eyes which could only be described as cold—Jing Xun felt a chill run through him.
He tried calling out, “Sir?”
Shen Yijin, whose figure was almost entirely hidden in the darkness behind the door, nodded. “Mm.”
“…Are you okay?”
“Are you okay?” Shen Yijin repeated the words, mulling them over. In the past, he probably would have just answered “good” or “not good,” but this time, he simply tilted his head, his gaze deepening as he stared at Jing Xun, but he said nothing.
This was completely contrary to his usual behavior.
After a long while, he suddenly asked, “Is there something you need, Xiao Xun?”
His tone was normal. His voice was deep, filled with the same texture as always.
But even Jing Xun, who didn’t interact with many people and wasn’t exactly well-versed in the ways of the world, knew that the big brother was clearly not himself right now!
Jing Xun hadn’t forgotten the conditions he had negotiated with Shen Yijin, nor had he forgotten his own purpose.
Wasn’t he there for the villainous Sir precisely to help him calm down?
It was just that the Sir’s shift had been so sudden… They had never rehearsed anything like this before. Now that he was supposed to “calm him down,” how was he actually supposed to do it?
How exactly was he supposed to go about it?
Jing Xun licked his lips. When there was something he didn’t understand, he usually just asked directly.
So, he took the liberty of looking back at Shen Yijin. “Is there anything I can do to help you, Sir?”
The moment those words left his lips, Shen Yijin paused. Another flash of lightning struck, and Jing Xun clearly saw him frown.
…For someone like Shen Yijin, who usually wore no expression, such a frown was incredibly obvious.
He was undoubtedly in a terrible state, his mood extremely poor. His eyes were abnormally bloodshot, more terrifying than a normal person after pulling an all-nighter.
Even more terrifying was that the bloodshot eyes couldn’t mask the coldness within them. Especially when he stared fixedly at someone, it gave the sensation of being instantly frozen solid, as if one’s neck could be snapped in an instant.
Jing Xun’s spine began to stiffen, but he kept his body standing straight.
His clear, bright gaze didn’t dodge or waver; he met the stare gently and patiently.
His reasoning was quite simple. Shen Yijin had helped him so much in the capacity of a fiancé; he couldn’t back down when it was his turn to be useful.
Besides, during the last episode, hadn’t Shen Yijin refrained from devouring him whole when he was still a stranger? Cough, cough though it had been a different kind of “peeling”…
Wait, could the way to “calm his mood” actually be… that?
…Although that felt a bit ridiculous. The trope was a bit too melodramatic. But, theoretically…
People in a bad mood often feel much better after venting, right?
Just as Jing Xun finished his deduction and was basically certain he had it right—or even if he was wrong, he could at least try—Shen Yijin spoke.
He answered his question: “No.”
Jing Xun: “?”
“If there’s nothing else,” Shen Yijin raised a hand to press against his own temple, “don’t come and disturb me.”
With that, he moved to shut the door.
Jing Xun: “…”
Honestly, perhaps it was because the Sir had always been overly polite—he might not say much, but he never used harsh words. So, hearing this suddenly felt like a jarring drop.
Jing Xun felt as if he had finally experienced the cold, harsh side of the big villain, like being doused with a bucket of cold water. However, he didn’t miss the pain gradually appearing on the other man’s face as the door slowly closed.
In that instant, despite being lost and unsure of what to do, Jing Xun found himself reaching out to block the door before he had even realized it.
Then, meeting Shen Yijin’s shocked and incredulous gaze, Jing Xun squeezed his slender body through the gap in the door.
Bang. The solid wood door closed entirely behind him. Jing Xun leaned his back against the wall, not daring to move.
…Coming inside, the smell of cigarettes in the room was even heavier. Before this, Jing Xun hadn’t smelled smoke anywhere else in the house, nor had he seen anything like an ashtray if not for the occasional faint trace of tobacco on Shen Yijin’s clothes, he would have almost forgotten the man smoked at all.
So, the Sir likely didn’t smoke often. Only when he was in a bad mood would he turn to it.
Having confirmed this, Jing Xun looked around, finding he could see nothing. The entire study was pitch black, indistinguishable from his first meeting with the man.
Actually, Jing Xun had noticed yesterday that every window in this house had thick curtains. Shen Yijin didn’t seem to be someone who disliked sunlight; what he disliked might just be the lightning outside…
But why not turn on the lights?
As these questions arose, Jing Xun felt someone suddenly approach his position.
…The kind of proximity where you could feel their breath.
Instantly, the sound of the other man’s breathing reached his ears. It was heavy.
Shen Yijin’s voice was low and hoarse, full of texture. His tone carried confusion as he whispered lightly into Jing Xun’s ear: “Xiao Xun?”
“Mm…” Jing Xun responded uncertainly. The man’s unusually raspy voice made him breathe with extra caution.
He tried to say, “It’s me, Sir.”
“What are you doing here?”
Although Shen Yijin’s voice had changed, his tone was light, airy, and carried a trace of playfulness. If it weren’t pitch black, if he could see Shen Yijin’s face, Jing Xun felt the man must have had an extremely wild and violent expression right then.
But what would that look like?
His mind was filled with the image of the man standing handsomely in the bright light, and for a moment, he couldn’t imagine what a ferocious Shen Yijin would look like.
But because of that, a sense of sorrow suddenly welled up in Jing Xun’s heart—he wanted the Sir to return to his normal self. He wanted him to be free of pain.
So he tried saying, “I came in… to keep you company. Sir, is there anything you want to do? Is there anything you want me to do with you?”
“Anything is fine,” Jing Xun added as a safeguard.
But when his voice fell, it was met only with Shen Yijin’s silence. Though he didn’t speak, the man’s breathing seemed to become even heavier, like the rain outside. A sense of manic frustration, suppressed with great effort, spread rapidly through the air.
In the completely dark room, Jing Xun suddenly felt a hand rest on his shoulder. At the same time, Shen Yijin rasped, “Anything?”
Honestly, being touched like this in the pitch dark was a real test for his heart. But considering the “long-legged Sir” was sick and unable to control himself, Jing Xun still chose to forgive him.
Not only that, he reached out with his other arm and placed his hand over Shen Yijin’s large one. He curled his fingers slightly, gripping it gently.
Jing Xun said firmly, “Anything is fine.”
The hand beneath Jing Xun’s palm became noticeably rigid. Shen Yijin’s voice sounded even hoarser: “Are you not afraid of me?”
Afraid.
Subconsciously, this answer appeared in Jing Xun’s mind. But before the words could leave his lips, he suddenly remembered what he had said while sitting in the center of the city, eating at the 68th-floor revolving restaurant… He had said he was no longer afraid of Shen Yijin.
So, Jing Xun finally said, “I’m not afraid now.”
Click. The room’s light was manually flipped on.
The brilliant light poured down from the ceiling, somewhat blinding for someone who had been in the dark for so long. But Jing Xun endured the glare, staring unblinkingly at Shen Yijin.
Jing Xun’s gaze was soft, gentle as a pool of warm water. And now, in that pool, reflected Shen Yijin’s deeply furrowed, somewhat ferocious expression.
However, none of this had any impact on Jing Xun. At least to Shen Yijin’s perception, the young man had not only gripped his hand tightly but had moved it from his shoulder, opting to hold it with both hands instead.
…
Every time there was thunder and pouring rain, Shen Yijin would show abnormal irritability. But what he felt went far deeper than what he expressed.
In the rain, people cry, people scream, and some vanish without a sound. All of them would jump out at this time, invading his memory, controlling his perception, and attempting to alter his mood.
But one time was different. That time, the young man was as soft as water and as passionate as fire. Polite to the point of being adorable, pitiful, and… very warm.
And now, the other man was looking at him with that same warmth.
Under Shen Yijin’s unblinking stare, Jing Xun tried, without provoking him, to ask softly: “Sir, have you taken your medicine?”
Shen Yijin seemed to take a long time to process the question, tilting his head slightly. “Mm.”
Jing Xun: “…”
The villainous Sir needed to take medication. Although he hadn’t seen him take it with his own eyes, Jing Xun had seen the doctor’s prescription in the man’s medical reports. Because his condition wasn’t typical mania, the medicine Shen Yijin took was just the standard type to soothe emotions.
Clearly, it wasn’t working at this very moment.
Jing Xun felt a chill in his heart, and he couldn’t help but worry for Shen Yijin—would his mood never improve as long as it kept raining?
“Then what should we do?” he tried asking: “Is there anything you want to do, Sir? Last time…”
Jing Xun was throwing caution to the wind. Actually, it was nothing; it was just when he and Shen Yijin went to take a bath together, and then, then… they were in that kind of relationship now, anyway.
Having said that, when it came to actually doing something, Jing Xun, who lacked experience, couldn’t help but blush.
Sigh. It shouldn’t be because his skin was thin or he couldn’t let go. It must be because the dreams he’d been having lately… they were just too stimulating and too easy to lead his thoughts astray!
The Shen Yijin opposite him clearly heard his words. The hand held by Jing Xun actually began to exert force; soon, it became a situation where both of Jing Xun’s hands were wrapped in the other man’s large ones…
The heat from the back of his hands made Jing Xun all the more embarrassed. Although, in his field of vision, Shen Yijin’s gaze remained sharp, and the coldness in his bloodshot eyes looked like falling snow.
Beside his ear, Shen Yijin’s breathing also grew heavier.
The man asked him: “Do you not regret it?”
Jing Xun blinked blankly: “Regret what?”
Shen Yijin didn’t say what he would regret. Jing Xun only felt his breathing become heavier. After a long time, the man retreated slightly and said in an unquestionable tone: “Then come here.”
Following that, Shen Yijin used his other hand to pull open the door, his large hand still gripping Jing Xun’s tightly, and Jing Xun was pulled back into the corridor.
The corridor was still lit. The rain outside was still falling.
Jing Xun, suddenly pulled out of the study, thought they would turn right and return to the bedroom. But he didn’t expect Shen Yijin to turn around and pull him… into the living room?
…Was this going to be that intense?
With the smart control system in place, the curtains in the room had long been drawn at some unknown time. Not much lightning could get in. Only the annoying sound of rain couldn’t be completely blocked out. Or rather, Jing Xun suspected that as long as it was a specific type of weather or a specific period, Shen Yijin would have an episode, regardless of whether he could see lightning or hear thunder.
While he was distracted thinking about this, he had already been pulled to the sofa and sat down. Shen Yijin turned back, saying he had to get something and telling him to wait.
Jing Xun: “…”
Jing Xun kept his legs together and sat there obediently, appearing somewhat uneasy and constrained. He wondered, Shen Yijin wasn’t going to pull out something strange, was he?
Even if Jing Xun was naive, he was still a young person, and he often mixed with classmates who were in the middle of puberty. So, he knew a thing or two about bizarre items and equipment…
…The Sir wasn’t planning on playing something extreme, was he?
As far as he could tell, the big brother in the middle of an episode still had a clear consciousness and, to a considerable extent, could control himself. But… who could say for sure? After all, one can still do strange things while in control…
It seems that when Shen Yijin is in a good mood, they really need to have a practice run to see how to deal with such situations in the future.
Yes, maybe he should start tomorrow.
Just as Jing Xun was letting his imagination run wild, Shen Yijin returned. He had long legs and a long stride, so he moved quickly. Soon, he was in front of Jing Xun, and Jing Xun saw clearly what Shen Yijin was holding…
A chessboard?
…International chess???
The Sir wants to… play international chess with me???
Jing Xun was astonished and immediately cast an incomprehensible gaze toward Shen Yijin.
Shen Yijin looked down at him from his height:
“As Xiao Xun said, if I have an episode, we will…”
“?”
“Read books and play chess.”
Jing Xun: “…”
Excuse me.
He didn’t care whether the Sir was sick or not right now. He was starting to suspect that maybe he was the one who was sick.
But this… this was okay, too. It wasn’t bad.
Because later, they actually started playing international chess. And the effect was unexpectedly good. Although Shen Yijin showed obvious signs of irritation several times during the process, and occasionally spent a long time thinking about the next move, Jing Xun waited patiently every time, guiding him like an obedient student waiting for the teacher to call class, never showing a hint of impatience.
Under the gaze of his bright, clear eyes, it seemed that playing chess really could alleviate Shen Yijin’s symptoms.
After they finished one round and started the next, Jing Xun was even able to ask a few simple questions. For example, asking if he was feeling better now, whether he disliked light or sound, and how he had spent his time in the past.
Some of these questions Shen Yijin would answer; others, he wouldn’t.
Jing Xun felt as if the man’s mind was going through a protracted war. So sometimes Shen Yijin was normal, and sometimes he wasn’t. And the fact that the Sir still had coherent logic and clear consciousness was entirely due to his sheer willpower.
“So, can you sleep, Sir?”
Seeing him in such pain, Jing Xun couldn’t help but ask. After all, maybe he wouldn’t feel so bad if he could sleep.
Shen Yijin said: “I can’t sleep.”
“Okay,” Jing Xun said quickly, “then let’s continue playing chess.”
During this time, Shen Yijin even went back to the study for a smoke. Jing Xun suggested he could smoke in the living room, but Shen Yijin refused. Clearly, even when the big boss was in a bad mood, he had his own rules: he only smoked in the study.
Taking advantage of the time the other man went to smoke, Jing Xun checked the time. Waiting was boring anyway, so he simply ran to the kitchen, rummaged around, and finally found a teapot and cups. He opened a package of beautifully packaged tea leaves and brewed a pot.
Jing Xun thought that since they couldn’t sleep, they might as well drink more water. When you’re feeling bad, you have to try to stay optimistic and happy. This was a method Jing Xun used to regulate himself in the past. Although, he wasn’t really good at brewing tea.
Fortunately, it was flower tea, and the overflowing aroma filled the entire living room as soon as it was brewed.
When Shen Yijin came out, he saw the young man sitting there, beckoning him with bright eyes: “CEO Shen, have some tea.”
Later, after playing two rounds of chess, Shen Yijin said he had a headache, so they didn’t continue. They switched to reading books. At times like this, you couldn’t expect the big boss to settle down and read any text, so it was Jing Xun reading and Shen Yijin listening.
Because the Sir said he had a headache, Jing Xun tried massaging his head to relieve it. And in order to read while massaging, Jing Xun simply let Shen Yijin lie on his lap.
There were two large bookcases standing on both sides of the study, filled with all kinds of books and diagrams. Of course, they were all professional reference books; there were no novels or the like to soothe one’s mood. So, after Jing Xun finished reading three chapters of New Century Capital, Shen Yijin started complaining about a headache again, not wanting to understand the content of Capital.
“Okay, let’s switch to another one,” Jing Xun said.
When Jing Xun put the book down and looked down, he saw Shen Yijin’s cold peach-blossom eyes staring directly at him.
…Uh, yeah.
Although he was used to being stared at by the Sir, at this angle… it was better not to. It was said that when taking pictures, if the camera shoots from top to bottom, it makes the person look fat with a big face. If he was being stared at so nakedly like this, it probably wouldn’t look good either.
Jing Xun subconsciously covered his thin chin so the other party couldn’t look at it anymore. He didn’t intend to continue reading, either.
He asked Shen Yijin: “Is there anything else to play with at home? Like a game console?”
Shen Yijin, who was still staring at him, indicated: “No.”
“Hm.” Jing Xun: “Then… computer games? Does the Sir like to play?”
Shen Yijin’s eyes blinked without looking away.
Jing Xun: “…”
Fine, he had vaguely guessed it; such a busy big boss shouldn’t play any online games.
Jing Xun’s line of sight finally fell on a piano placed in the corner of the living room.
Right…
He suddenly remembered the silent headphones on the nightstand.
“Does the Sir want to listen to music? Shall I get you the headphones?”
The thunderous rumbling outside had long since disappeared, and lightning hadn’t visited their house for a long time. Without realizing it, the rain had eased considerably.
I don’t know if it was his imagination, but Jing Xun felt Shen Yijin’s spirit had calmed down a lot. At least, his eyes were still indifferent, but they didn’t seem as sharp and frantic as before.
If so, maybe listening to music now would completely soothe his mood!
But although Jing Xun thought well, Shen Yijin frowned slightly and immediately refused: “I don’t want headphones.”
Jing Xun had to try again: “Shall I play a song for you?”
This time, Shen Yijin had no objections. He even got up directly and said: “Okay.”
Although the house was filled with smart devices, and he believed there must be smart speakers hidden in the living room that could play music just by a voice command… the theme for tonight was only one thing helping the big brother (enjoy himself physically and mentally).
So, Jing Xun didn’t mind making a fool of himself.
There were a lot of piano scores attached to the piano stand. Jing Xun flipped through them, found two upbeat pieces, and started to play.
He had never studied piano. The only reason he could play was because he had a good memory; when he was in the orphanage, he always watched the teacher play. Over time, he remembered all the keys and fingering.
However, in professional terms, what he played had no soul. Although he easily recognized the sheet music later due to his photographic memory, Jing Xun would often stutter and press the wrong keys during his playing.
In short, although the whole piece was basically in tune, it was no different from a mess.
But even so, the young man sitting in front of the piano was smiling.
Jing Xun curled his lips slightly. When he occasionally pressed the wrong key, he was the first to laugh at himself, looking at Shen Yijin, who was standing beside him, in a playful manner. The tear mole at the corner of his eye became even more distinct.
And in Jing Xun’s eyes, although the Sir was in a bad mood, there was no change in his appearance. Not only was his face still handsome, but even his clothes didn’t have a single wrinkle. He stood tall and straight to the side; if you ignored his slightly cold, bloodshot eyes, he might have still been the noble and polite Shen Yijin he was during normal times.
Shen Yijin had indeed been unusual just now, but perhaps because the piano music had completely drowned out the sound of the rain, and the humid night had been ignited by the upbeat notes, Jing Xun felt that the aura around the big brother didn’t seem as cold as before.
Thinking this, he smiled at the other man again, his eyebrows curved. Because he was distracted, he pressed the wrong key again, and the music went out of tune.
But Jing Xun didn’t care.
Since it was all for relaxation anyway, if he played badly, he wasn’t afraid of being laughed at by Shen Yijin. He even became more relaxed and bold, looking in Shen Yijin’s direction every now and then, occasionally making eye contact with the other man.
Just like this, the piece was finished under Jing Xun’s nimble fingers. The picturesque young man rose from the piano bench and bowed quite formally to the only audience present.
He wanted to ask the other man if he played well.
But he had only just straightened up when he heard Shen Yijin call him: “Jing Xun.
Jing Xun looked up, suddenly feeling the other man leaning in close to him, and subconsciously wanted to take a small step back. But at the same time, his waist was wrapped by a strong, powerful arm.
Feeling the strength in the man’s arm, as if his whole body was shrouded by the man’s powerful aura, Jing Xun couldn’t help but look at Shen Yijin, his eyes filled with confusion and incomprehension.
And just when he had no reaction at all, Shen Yijin nodded slightly, and his thin, light-colored lips fell…
Landing precisely on his brightly colored lips.