Mo Yunyu was terrified out of his wits, his hands trembling as he signed his name. The moment he finished, Zuo Yan dialed the security office to have the man at the door chased away.
“You are going too far.” Mo Yunyu was entirely encircled within Zuo Yan’s embrace, grievance dripping from his voice as he used his hands to wipe away his tears.
Unabashedly, Zuo Yan clamped a hand around Mo Yunyu’s lower back, pulling the youth closer against his body until the latter’s entire frame rested flush against him before he felt satisfied.
“I was just afraid you would back out.”
Unwilling to engage with Zuo Yan any further, Mo Yunyu swung his legs, trying to plant his feet on the floor, but the other man locked him securely in place within his arms.
“Let me go, I want to go home!” Mo Yunyu pushed against Zuo Yan’s chest, only to brush against something thoroughly unusual.
“I will not feel at ease if you go home right now. Just stay here for today.” Zuo Yan leaned in, biting down on Mo Yunyu’s pearl-like earlobe, watching with satisfaction as the pristine white skin bloomed with a pink mark of his own making.
Since the other had put it that way, Mo Yunyu would have been the biggest fool in the world not to realize what was pressing against him right beneath his hips.
He turned his head away in vexation, his lashes wet with tears and clumped together, making him look all the more pitiful. “Then I want to call my sister, and you are not allowed to…”
“Not allowed to what?”
“Not allowed to bully me…” Mo Yunyu was already frightened half to death by Zuo Yan. Once he finished speaking, he cautiously lifted his gaze to scan the other’s expression, terrified of being tossed out the front door the next second.
Noncommittal, Zuo Yan simply tossed his phone to Mo Yunyu while keeping his hand forcefully clamped around that slender waist, making it abundantly clear that he intended to supervise the phone call.
Old schemer! Shameless!
Mo Yunyu ground his teeth, forced to place the call to his older sister first to reassure her of his safety.
Clearly, however, Zuo Yan had already tipped Mo Yunniao off in advance. Who knows what lies this old fox had spun to his sister, but she actually felt entirely at ease leaving him to stay here.
“Yunyu, I will pick you up as soon as I finish taking care of things, alright?”
Hearing those words through the speaker, Mo Yunyu wished he could resort to his old tricks, knock Zuo Yan out cold and have his sister come rescue him. Yet with not a shred of opportunity at hand, he could only swallow his pride and agree for the time being.
Once the call ended, Mo Yunyu tossed the phone aside and swung his legs, trying once more to plant his feet on the floor, but the hand on his waist remained as immovable as if it had been glued to him.
“What are you doing? Let me down right now!” Mo Yunyu struggled with a bit more force this time.
Unflustered by Mo Yunyu’s exasperated glare, Zuo Yan instead reached over to scoop up the necktie he had set aside, expertly caught Mo Yunyu’s pair of wrists, and bound those ivory-white hands together with tender, gentle efficiency.
Mo Yunyu didn’t even dare utter a peep throughout the entire process, watching with wide eyes as Zuo Yan tied a neat knot around his wrists using his own necktie.
“Because today, I just want to bully you.” Zuo Yan pressed an ambiguous kiss directly into Mo Yunyu’s palm.
Mo Yunyu whipped his hand into a tight fist, pulling it away to dodge. Zuo Yan shot him a flat glance before flipping up the hem of his upper garment.
“What are you doing again?!” A chilly draft swept upward from below, leaving Mo Yunyu equal parts mortified and furious as he tried to curl his entire body into a ball to salvage some shreds of dignity.
To be frank, Zuo Yan adored this side of Mo Yunyu, the way he reined in his fiery temper specifically for him, and naturally, he loved it just as much when the youth was driven to his wits’ end and lashed out like a little cat with its claws bared.
Utterly adorable.
“Still do not get it?” Zuo Yan’s hand marched straight back to grasp Mo Yunyu’s waist.
Stiff as a board across his entire frame, Mo Yunyu was nevertheless maneuvered into a straddling position right on top of Zuo Yan’s lap. This posture made the hard object pressing against him all the more glaringly obvious, bringing him to the brink of dying from sheer embarrassment.
Yet if anyone were to walk in right now, Mo Yunyu wouldn’t look like a victim of coercion at all, instead, he would look like an eager participant, wrapping his arms around the man’s neck and spreading his legs wide, shamelessly straddling his lap.
Extremely pleased with the current view, Zuo Yan pressed Mo Yunyu’s head down to seal their lips together, thoroughly tasting the sweet nectar within that mouth.
Even while being kissed, a dazed Mo Yunyu couldn’t help wondering why every single one of these men possessed the magical ability to kiss him until he was practically on the verge of suffocation, even hooking his tongue with theirs until the very roots of his tongue grew numb.
Once the kiss concluded, the man set him back down onto the bed without any further moves. It wasn’t until a cool, soothing sensation bloomed against his skin that Mo Yunyu realized he was being treated with medicine.
Catching Mo Yunyu’s expression of having words teetering on the edge of his tongue, Zuo Yan let out a low chuckle. “What are you imagining?”
Zuo Yan had genuinely intended to stop at just applying medicine, after all, the young master had delicate skin and flesh, prone to bruising from the slightest bump or scrape, let alone an abrupt kidnapping ordeal.
Tying his hands up and the like was merely a minor personal indulgence of his.
However, Mo Yunyu’s terrified demeanor, fearing he would go all the way, tickled him too much to resist, so he simply followed his heart and went through with it.
“Do not be scared.” Zuo Yan added with a buoyant mood, “At least before our engagement, I will not do anything to you.”
Licking his still-burning lips, Mo Yunyu rolled his eyes internally and averted his gaze with profound awkwardness. Feeling the chill of the ointment spreading across his skin, he locked his entire body rigid and refused to utter a single syllable.
Once the application finished, Zuo Yan finally released him. The instant his wrists regained their freedom, Mo Yunyu bounced straight off the bed and fled the bedroom entirely.
Watching someone who seemed remarkably unaffected by the trauma of being kidnapped, Zuo Yan felt a flicker of doubt, but still rose to follow.
The residence Zuo Yan brought Mo Yunyu to was his primary dwelling, located in the heart of downtown right near his company offices.
Mo Yunyu had never set foot here before. The moment Zuo Yan loosened his grip, he began exploring the sprawling flat with wide-eyed curiosity. Although the decor leaned toward Zuo Yan’s signature minimalist cool-toned aesthetic, it exuded a rich, lived-in warmth.
There was even an enormous aquarium housing a fully developed underwater ecosystem.
Noticing Mo Yunyu’s deep fascination with the fish tank, Zuo Yan stepped up behind him.
“Like it?” As he asked, he tapped the chilled aluminum surface of a soda can against Mo Yunyu’s cheek, which looked all the more refined under the aquarium’s ambient glow.
“So cold!”
Startled out of his wits, Mo Yunyu shivered before breaking into a delighted grin as he eagerly accepted his favorite beverage.
Such a childish temperament, Zuo Yan thought to himself, a wave of fondness he didn’t even recognize washing over him.
Once Mo Yunyu had taken a few small, leisurely sips of his drink, Zuo Yan slowly cast his line toward the fish outside the tank.
“Now that you have accepted the benefits, shouldn’t you start considering our engagement date?”
Naturally, Mo Yunyu had zero desire to tie the knot at such a tender age. Hearing that question, he reflexively laughed it off. “I think we need to build up our relationship over a period of time first…”
Pausing deliberately to ensure Zuo Yan didn’t look inclined to object, Mo Yunyu pressed on, “Besides, I do not even know you well yet. We need to thoroughly understand each other before taking the next step.”
“Just like how romance comes right before engagement.” With a nod, Mo Yunyu looked thoroughly pleased with his own speech, right up until Zuo Yan’s reply nearly caused him to bite clean through his own tongue.
“So, we are in a relationship now?”
“No, no, no…” Mo Yunyu shook his head like a wind turbine.
A dangerous glint sharpened in Zuo Yan’s eyes. “Not?”
Mo Yunyu’s head-shaking came to an abrupt halt, forcing a tearful, grievance-laden nod. “…Yes.”
Utterly satisfied, Zuo Yan took his freshly minted little boyfriend by the hand and led him toward the dining area.
“You have been sleeping for ages, you must be starved. What do you want to eat? I will cook for you.”
Spurred by a sudden urge for petty revenge, Mo Yunyu rattled off a lengthy laundry list of complex dishes, only to meekly retract them all under Zuo Yan’s half-smiling gaze, hastily assuring him that he was never picky and was exceedingly easy to feed.
Knowing full well that the young master was notoriously difficult to please at the dinner table, Zuo Yan let it slide without further comment, turning toward the kitchen as he instructed over his shoulder, “Your phone is on the nightstand. Go grab it and play with it within my line of sight.”
A tiny internal cheer erupted in Mo Yunyu’s heart as he fetched his beloved gadget, sprawling across the sofa in a completely uninhibited, crooked posture to game and scroll.
The perks of an open-concept kitchen manifested themselves to perfection at this exact moment.
Watching that fluffy head of hair bobbing within clear view, Zuo Yan’s expression softened into a profound warmth.
This place finally feels like a home.
With the phone back in his grip, Mo Yunyu’s very first instinct was to check up on Zhou Xingyu, who had shared his fate by inhaling the smoke trap.
He had completely forgotten, however, that the phone Zhou Xingyu used was issued by the production crew, completely severed from the outside world.
With no other choice, he pivoted to contact Shi Jingchi instead.
“…Yunyu? Is that you, Yunyu?”
Listening to the trembling, choked wave of disbelief coming through the speaker, Mo Yunyu suffered a delayed reaction, realizing that this incident hadn’t just wreaked havoc on his own life, it had left ripples for everyone else too.
Especially those who cared about him.
“It is me…” Mo Yunyu suddenly found himself at a loss for words, nobody had ever taught him how to comfort people, after all, since the high-and-mighty young master had never needed to soothe anyone in his life.
At the other end of the line, Shi Jingchi chugged a mouthful of water to quell his surging emotions, clicking on speakerphone to prevent Zhou Xingyu from snatching the handset away. “Are you alright? Where are you right now? I am coming to get you.”
Mo Yunyu answered point by point: “I am fine, nothing happened to me. I am currently at, um… a very safe place, you do not need to come looking for me, I just wanted to call and let you guys know I am okay.”
Having addressed that, Mo Yunyu remembered Zhou Xingyu. “Right, is Zhou Xingyu okay? He was caught in that smoke with me.”
“I am fine.” Zhou Xingyu’s voice cut in. “As long as you are okay.”
Just as the two men on the line were hesitating on how to broach the question of why Mo Yunyu had dropped out of the show, a completely different voice intruded from the other end, the voice of an unfamiliar man.
“What are you doing?”
The next instant, the call was abruptly disconnected, leaving behind nothing but a flat dial tone.
Back in the living room, observing Zuo Yan’s noticeably darkened expression, Mo Yunyu decided preemptively to strike first.
“Why do you walk without making a sound? You scared the life out of me!”
Zuo Yan fixed his gaze on Mo Yunyu for a long, heavy beat, but the youth simply jutted his chin out with stubborn defiance.
“I just came out to ask if you have any dietary restrictions,” Zuo Yan said smoothly.
Mo Yunyu let out a silent sigh of relief, his expression far too transparent to hide, which instantly dissolved whatever lingering trace of displeasure Zuo Yan harbored.
After all, he is still just a kid. I will just have to keep a tighter leash on him from now on.
That was his mental conclusion.
“No cilantro!” To cover up his guilty conscience, Mo Yunyu bellowed the command at the top of his lungs.
Zuo Yan couldn’t help a chuckle. “Noted.”
The moment Zuo Yan retreated back into the kitchen, Mo Yunyu completely relaxed, immediately diving into the massive backlog of unread notifications lighting up his phone.
Selecting a few critical ones to answer, Mo Yunyu’s fingers raced straight toward his primary social media app.
Sure enough, trending topics regarding his kidnapping and subsequent departure from the talent show were still plastered high up the rankings.
Both the production team and his agency had already issued joint statements, uniformly revolving around the narrative of a contestant suffering severe psychological shock and being unable to continue, expressing profound regret alongside formal apologies for the venue’s lax security protocols.
Mo Yunyu let out a soft sigh, and right then and there, used his verified main account to draft and publish a brand-new post.