Yun Qi gritted his teeth and slapped away Duan Xingge’s somewhat unclean hand. The necklace between his fingers fell with a thud, and the diamond ring serving as the pendant shimmered brilliantly under the room’s lights.
“I think you’re tired of living,” Yun Qi said coldly.
“Why is President Yun so agitated? It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve applied ointment for you.” Duan Xingge didn’t care at all that his hand had been slapped red; instead, he tried to “appeal to his emotions and reason,” saying, “Besides, this diamond ring is truly well-designed. If the outside world knew its designer was actually President Yun—”
It was the same old threat, nearly worn out, yet it was undeniably effective. Once linked to his shares, Yun Qi found himself powerless to resist.
The afternoon sun flowed into the room, accompanied by the sound of the sea.
Yun Qi wore a blank expression as he slipped off half of his shirt, though in truth, he was grinding his teeth in frustration.
Duan Xingge squeezed out the ointment, warmed it in his palm, and then evenly applied it to the person’s back and neck.
His movements were incredibly skillful, as if, just as he had claimed, he had applied medicine many times before—yet Yun Qi had absolutely no memory of it.
The scorching temperature traveled through the slick ointment from behind, and after a moment, Yun Qi felt the sensation of palm pressed against skin.
Yun Qi forced himself to act as if nothing was wrong, but his involuntarily straightened spine betrayed his inner turmoil.
At first, Yun Qi was filled with an indescribable sense of shame, but after a while, realizing that Duan Xingge’s technique was genuinely professional while he himself had no memory of it, he couldn’t help but wonder in his heart—had Duan Xingge truly taken care of him many times, only for him to be completely unaware of it?
If that were truly the case, the story seemed to take on a different nature, somewhat like the Little Mermaid in the fairy tale, having saved the prince only to be utterly forgotten by him.
Yun Qi felt a sudden pang of guilt, but his way of expressing it was to take the initiative: “…The medicine is applied; it’s your turn to fulfill your promise. When did you find out?”
Duan Xingge didn’t try to coax him this time. As he wiped away the excess medicine, he said, “If I remember correctly, your high school years were when your allergies were most frequent. The company was in chaos, and you didn’t want anyone to know about your weaknesses, so you always gritted your teeth and persisted, refusing to tell anyone.”
Yun Qi was stunned. He calculated the timeline: when Duan Xingge was in high school, it was exactly when Yun Mingyue had just passed away and Wen Fenglin had taken over the company.
However, Wen Fenglin’s position wasn’t secure—after all, compared to an outsider like Wen Fenglin, Yun Qi was clearly better suited for that position.
More than one person in the company’s senior management held this view. Over time, Wen Fenglin practically regarded Yun Qi as a thorn in his side.
Added to that, he already had an illegitimate child outside; Yun Qi was not his only son, so he became even less restrained.
But the two were, after all, father and son, and Wen Fenglin was very concerned about his image, making it difficult to do things too blatantly on the surface. Consequently, those bloodless, dark undercurrents began to surge in private.
“I saw you have an allergic reaction for the first time when I was sixteen,” Duan Xingge continued. “At that time, you were applying medicine in your bedroom by yourself, with your shirt half off. When I came in, seeing that something was wrong, you were already in such a severe state of shock that you couldn’t even recognize who I was. But you insisted on holding my hand, making me promise not to look for a doctor. Because the doctor was one of Wen Fenglin’s people, and you didn’t trust him.”
Yun Qi suddenly recalled that he had indeed said those words to someone once when he had a severe reaction.
But at that time, it was as if a veil separated him from the world; he was burning with heat and itching everywhere, completely unable to see the person’s face.
During that period, Wen Fenglin made frequent moves; Yun Qi had been on high alert during the day, suffering from paranoia, and it wasn’t impossible that he had dreamt about it at night.
Furthermore, when he woke up, he had found himself alone in the bedroom, leading him to believe it was just a hallucination caused by his severe reaction, or perhaps just a dream, and he hadn’t given it another thought.
But he never expected… that it wasn’t a dream after all.
Yun Qi couldn’t help but look up at the mirror in front of him, seeing Duan Xingge behind him with his head bowed, his expression unclear.
“You wouldn’t let me go to the doctor, so I could only stand guard in the room, watching over you for an entire night,” Duan Xingge said, lowering his eyes to veil his gaze. “You have no idea what I felt inside at that moment… I could only watch you, unable to do anything.”
His tone was very flat, but Yun Qi’s heart tightened for no reason, and an indescribable emotion welled up.
“I hated you for treating me like a child then, and I hated myself even more for being incompetent.” Duan Xingge was rarely so serious in his words, yet his hand moved along the spine, contrary to the gravity of his speech. “You always ask me what I’m plotting after working so hard for all these years. At first, I just didn’t want to see you lying in my arms, your life hanging by a thread. As for later… desires tend to grow along with power.”
Yun Qi’s heart felt numb; he opened his mouth, but didn’t know what to say.
He couldn’t help but think of that sea again.
If his guess were true, then the little puppy he raised had bustled about all his life, only to end up having to watch him die in his arms.
Just as helpless as he had been when he was sixteen.
So, with what kind of despair had Duan Xingge been holding his corpse when he threw himself into the sea?
Yun Qi dared not imagine it.
Silence permeated the room. After a while, Yun Qi suddenly realized that the numbness didn’t originate from the depths of his heart, but from the base of his spine.
He suddenly snapped back to reality and grabbed the hand behind him: “…Where are you rubbing?”
Duan Xingge seemed to perceive his low mood. After a pause, he laughed: “But watching over you that night wasn’t entirely wasted. President Yun, no need to feel guilty—the payment was already collected long ago.”
Duan Xingge was exactly this type of person; every time Yun Qi wanted to pity him, he would always pull some new trick to make Yun Qi furious.
Yun Qi’s eyelids twitched, and an ominous premonition suddenly arose: “…What did you do?”
Duan Xingge chuckled lightly at this, the sound so chilling that it made Yun Qi’s hair stand on end.
Then, Duan Xingge, in an incredibly calm tone, told him everything—everything that had happened without holding back.
Even though seven or eight years had passed, Duan Xingge still remembered that day vividly.
Even today, there was still no adjective that could fully describe the impact that flush of crimson on his translucent skin had on him.
Yun Qi had returned from a business dinner in the middle of the night. Duan Xingge had been so worried he hadn’t slept at all; hearing the movement of that person’s return, he immediately came out of his bedroom, and then he saw a ray of light peeking through the slightly open door.
He didn’t know why he subconsciously softened his steps. When he carefully walked to the doorway, everything through the crack in the door froze him in place.
That person had his head tilted slightly, his shirt hanging half off his shoulder, and inexplicable red marks were dappled across his fair neck. His Adam’s apple rolled continuously, and his slender fingers, stained with ointment, rubbed all the way from his neck to his lower abdomen.
Looking through the crack, Duan Xingge could even clearly see the trembling of the man’s eyelashes.
At that moment, sixteen-year-old Duan Xingge felt something explode in his brain.
But the person had his back to Duan Xingge, and, tormented by the allergic symptoms, hadn’t noticed the scorching gaze at the door.
Not long after, the shirt was completely taken off, his butterfly bones quivering slightly, and Yun Qi reflexively reached back to rub the ointment along the small of his back. But when he couldn’t reach further up, he could only reach down—but before he could rub the ointment in, he had fainted halfway from the severity of the symptoms, falling directly onto the bed.
Duan Xingge suddenly snapped back to reality and hurriedly pushed the door open to enter.
However, when he truly reached the bedside and saw the state of the person on the bed, his pupils contracted uncontrollably, and his heartbeat practically went haywire on the spot.
His sweat-drenched sideburns were messily scattered on the pillow; his lips, slightly parted due to his rapid, allergic breathing, were red, and the tip of his tongue was faintly visible.
There was still half-melted, transparent ointment on his fair collarbone.
Duan Xingge’s throat tightened, and he felt as if he were melting, but his movements were swift. He hugged the man’s waist with one hand and held him up, while the other reached for Yun Qi’s phone on the bedside table, intending to find a doctor.
But the person hooked Duan Xingge’s neck with the last bit of his sanity. He couldn’t control his strength, his entire body practically plastered against Duan Xingge’s neck.
Duan Xingge’s movements suddenly paused, and then he felt a hot, soft touch pressed against his ear, trembling as he said: “N-no, you can’t find a doctor… he is one of Wen Fenglin’s men…”
Seeing him in this state, Duan Xingge was so anxious he felt like he was being ignited. He gritted his teeth and asked: “Then what should we do?!!”
“The medicine is… in the study cabinet.” After Yun Qi finished saying this, he passed out completely.
Duan Xingge didn’t dare to delay, running to the study for the medicine as if racing against time, but when he returned, Yun Qi was completely delirious. His teeth were clenched shut; he couldn’t be fed anything at all.
Left with no choice, Duan Xingge could only pinch his chin and forcibly pry open his lips and tongue to feed him the medicine.
Yun Qi’s mouth was extremely hot; Duan Xingge’s scalp kept tingling as he fed him the medicine. Yet Yun Qi’s tongue kept unconsciously pushing the pill out. With his brain heating up, Duan Xingge fiercely bit the tip of his tongue, as if punishing the person in his arms for being disobedient, or perhaps retaliating for his concealment.
The unconscious man felt the pain and pulled back his tongue, not daring to push the pill out again, and finally obediently swallowed the medicine.
Yun Qi’s most severe allergy symptoms were at the base of his thighs; Duan Xingge had to apply ointment three or four times throughout the night, yet the other party’s legs were clamped tightly shut after he lost consciousness.
Applying the ointment filled Duan Xingge with a burning irritation—half from despair over the future, half from desire.
The cold fire burned painfully.
It rained heavily that night. Duan Xingge didn’t sleep all night, looking at the downpour outside the window while holding the person who was burning hot, his tone as calm as his state of mind: “Brother, if you die, I will kill Wen Fenglin and then go with you.”
“That is the whole process of what happened that day,” Duan Xingge said, spreading his hands. Aside from that last sentence, he had told Yun Qi everything in detail, including the process and his inner emotional journey.
He seemed to have no concept of what shame was. By the time he finished his unreserved confession, the entire room fell into an unspeakable silence.
To be fair, Duan Xingge’s confession was unreserved; setting aside the content, his attitude was impeccable.
However, the problem was that one simply couldn’t set aside the content; it was truly too perverted—so perverted that Yun Qi wished he could slap him.
Yun Qi was so angry he didn’t know how to speak for a moment. After a long while, he finally regained the ability to talk: “You”
“Oh right, I forgot the initial question after saying so much.” Duan Xingge decided to add fuel to the fire, smiling, “The most severe symptoms after your allergy were actually at the base of your thighs. It’s just that every time you passed out, you clamped them too tightly, making my hands go numb”
Before he could finish, a pillow was thrown directly into his face.
Yun Qi was so angry that, for once, his face showed some expression. His brain felt hot and swollen. After gritting his teeth for a long time, he asked: “…How many times did you feed me the medicine?”
He seemed to be asking about feeding the medicine, but Duan Xingge understood his meaning. Raising an eyebrow, he expressed himself directly: “Four times. Each time you refused to eat the medicine properly, so I kissed you every time.”
After saying this, he seized the opportunity while Yun Qi was speechless with rage to add a review: “Sometimes you would respond; it can’t really be called me forcing you”
Consequently, the remaining pillow was also slammed into his face.
Follow-up question: Would you like to proceed to the next chapter, or is there a specific interaction or plot detail you would like to analyze?