“…”
Why on earth was Chang Ming here?
Wen Chaosheng hadn’t expected to hear that name from his friend’s mouth. He shot to his feet in an instant. “Where is he now?”
Jian Jinzhao on the other end of the line picked up on Wen Chaosheng’s quickened breathing and sensed that something was wrong. “Are you coming over? If you don’t want to see him, you can slip out the hotel’s back door. I’ll just call the police and handle it.”
“No!”
Wen Chaosheng rejected the suggestion immediately. “I’m on my way.”
He didn’t want to see Chang Ming, but if they involved the police right now, the man would likely make an even bigger scene.
Jian Jinzhao respected his decision without question. “Got it. Second lounge on the left in the outer hall. I’ll wait for you.”
“Okay.”
Wen Chaosheng ended the call and handed the phone back to Yu Yan.
Yu Yan caught the unnatural tremor in his right hand. “Director Wen, are you alright?”
Before the words had even settled, another voice piped up from nearby. “Why’d you stand up?”
Xi Zhui had returned after downing his drink. He took one look at Wen Chaosheng’s ashen face and frowned with concern. “Feeling sick? You look pale.”
Wen Chaosheng’s heart raced uncontrollably, but he forced himself to sit back down with feigned calm. “I’m fine. Just had too much to drink—feeling a little dizzy.”
“…”
Yu Yan observed the entire sequence of Wen Chaosheng’s reactions. Not knowing what Jian Jinzhao had said on the phone, he held back from pressing the issue for the moment.
After another three minutes or so, Wen Chaosheng turned to Xi Zhui at his side. “I need to use the restroom.”
He felt like a third-rate con artist, drawing on a lifetime of acting chops to preserve Xi Zhui’s trust. Fortunately, the man didn’t seem to suspect anything.
“Mm. If you’re really not feeling well, just say the word. I’ll take you home early.”
“Mm.”
Wen Chaosheng exhaled a quiet breath of relief and rose to his feet, walking slowly toward the door.
Only after he was certain he was out of Xi Zhui’s line of sight did he break into a run. He arrived at the lounge door to find his friend waiting there.
“Jin Zhao.”
Wen Chaosheng’s breathing was still ragged. “Where is he?”
Jian Jinzhao arched a brow toward the room next door. “Inside.”
About ten minutes earlier, the hotel’s duty manager had alerted Jian Jinzhao that someone was causing a disturbance in the outer hall. When he went to investigate, he discovered—
A young man in a wheelchair, his long hair framing overgrown bangs that shrouded his eyes. Peering through the strands revealed deep brown irises tinged with a sickly, brooding gloom.
Jian Jinzhao had encountered all sorts in the entertainment world, but this Chang Ming radiated a strange, contradictory aura.
Whale Shadow Culture had booked out the entire banquet hall, so the hotel staff had blocked this outsider from entering—which sparked a fierce argument.
Chang Ming, playing up his disability, had escalated quickly, even hurling a wine glass that nearly struck Jian Jinzhao himself.
With years of navigating the industry under his belt, Jian Jinzhao had seen every type. He stated flatly that he’d call the police.
Perhaps recognizing him as an actor—or simply reluctant to draw police attention—Chang Ming deflated. He announced he was there to see Wen Chaosheng and demanded to meet him that night, or he wouldn’t budge!
Right around then, Yu Yan had called the long-absent Jian Jinzhao, and he’d passed the news along to Wen Chaosheng.
“…”
Jian Jinzhao couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
If Chang Ming and Wen Chaosheng were old friends, why corner him at the wrap-up banquet instead of just calling?
If they weren’t acquainted, then why was Wen Chaosheng panicking like this? Could there really be some shared history—maybe even a romance?
Jian Jinzhao backed Wen Chaosheng unconditionally. “You sure you want to meet him?”
The lounge door swung open just then.
The wheels of the chair whispered faintly over the thick carpet, grating against Wen Chaosheng’s ears and fraying his nerves.
He whipped his gaze over in panic—and locked eyes with that achingly familiar face.
Chang Ming’s lips curved in a faint smile. “Brother Wen, I finally found you.”
“…”
Wen Chaosheng ached to turn and bolt, but his legs felt weighted with lead.
Determined not to lose it in front of his friend, he gripped the hem of his shirt until his knuckles whitened. “What are you doing here?”
Chang Ming maneuvered his chair closer, tilting his head in a picture of perfect docility. “To take you home, naturally.”
He seized Wen Chaosheng’s wrist, weaving accusation into his sweet smile. “Did you forget? We agreed you’d come home once the movie wrapped. You’ve been dodging me lately, so I got worried and came myself.”
The chill of that palm slithered over his skin like a viper’s touch—one twitch, and the venom would sink into his veins, straight to his heart.
“…”
Every trace of alcohol’s warmth fled Wen Chaosheng’s face.
Chang Ming wouldn’t let up. “Brother Wen, let’s talk inside?”
He flicked a glance at Jian Jinzhao and the arriving Yu Yan, striking home effortlessly. “Or do you want your friends butting into our business?”
Wen Chaosheng swallowed hard. “Let’s talk inside.”
Half a minute later, the door shut once more, cutting off Jian Jinzhao and Yu Yan’s curious stares.
Wen Chaosheng struggled to even his breathing. “Chang Ming, when did you get back to the country?”
Sneaking in undetected and tracking down the crew’s wrap-up banquet—what was his game?
Chang Ming drank in the play of emotions across his face, prattling on. “So Brother Wen does care about me after all? Then why ignore me lately? No helping it—”
The fingers of his right hand drummed the armrest—one tap after another, a subtle warning. “I had to come fetch you home personally.”
Lately, Wen Chaosheng had stopped responding to his WeChat messages. Calls didn’t even connect.
Afar overseas, this bred in Chang Ming an ominous sense of slipping control. Naturally, he had to return and reclaim what was his.
Wen Chaosheng’s throat tightened. “I heard you picked a fight with the staff? Chang Ming, this isn’t the place for your antics tonight.”
“…”
“Don’t worry, Brother Wen. I’ve been good. I haven’t breathed a word to your friends about what happened six years ago.”
Chang Ming brushed off the rebuke and slowly peeled back the blanket draped over his knees. “Unless you’d rather they learn how I lost this leg?”
Wen Chaosheng’s gaze fell on the empty left pant leg. His pupils contracted sharply as the brutal truth he’d once buried roared back to life.
Chang Ming relished the fear in those eyes, slamming his knuckles against the armrest once more. “Brother Wen, I’m not here to make trouble. I booked a hotel room. Won’t you take me back now?”
Voices suddenly rose from the corridor beyond the door.
Wen Chaosheng picked out Xi Zhui’s voice crystal clear. Sensation flooded back into his leaden legs, urging him to flee.
“Wen Chaosheng, take me back!”
Chang Ming clocked the resistance and hardened his tone into a threat. “Or heaven knows what I’ll do—or say—later!”
“…”
Wen Chaosheng froze mid-step.
Chang Ming wheeled up behind him and flung open the door before he could argue further.
The sound drew eyes from all three in the hall: Jian Jinzhao and Yu Yan, now joined by Xi Zhui.
“…”
Xi Zhui zeroed in on Wen Chaosheng’s ghostly pallor, his brows knotting tighter. His gaze shifted to the wheelchair-bound young man. Their eyes met level—for level—in a clash of raw appraisal.
Jian Jinzhao spoke up from nearby. “Chaosheng, everything alright?”
Chang Ming’s threat still echoed like thunder.
Wen Chaosheng placed a hand lightly on the armrest, capitulating for the moment. “Chang Ming’s not very mobile. I’ll get him back to his hotel first, Jin Zhao. Skip the wrap-up banquet for me.”
The banquet hall crawled with staff.
He’d witnessed Chang Ming unravel before. No way could he let a meltdown ruin everyone’s night!
“…”
Chang Ming?
The male lead from that old movie Cloud End?
Xi Zhui dredged the name from memory, surprise edging into his assessing stare.
How’d this guy ended up in a chair?
Had he and Chaosheng kept in touch all these years?
Chang Ming approved of Wen Chaosheng’s words, phrasing his reply with pointed emphasis. “Yeah, if you’ll excuse us. My brother and I will head out.”
“Your brother?”
Xi Zhui latched onto the intimate label, a sour note creeping in. “Since when does Director Wen have a brother who can’t get around?”
Wen Chaosheng opened his mouth to clarify before a misunderstanding took root—but Chang Ming cut in from his chair. “It’s no surprise Mr. Xi doesn’t know me.”
“…”
Chang Ming sheathed his barbs in a smiling lilt, severing ties on Wen Chaosheng’s behalf, word by deliberate word. “Brother Wen and you are just colleagues, after all. He’s never one to air his private life.”
Tension crackled through the air like gunsmoke.
Jian Jinzhao and Yu Yan traded looks, both registering Chang Ming’s peculiar claim on Wen Chaosheng.
Unsettled at the thought of his friend leaving alone with this guy, Jian Jinzhao proposed, “Chaosheng, you’ve been drinking. It’s not safe heading out like this. Xi Zhui, have your driver give them a lift?”
Xi Zhui jumped on it. “No problem.”
Chang Ming shot back at once. “We’re fine!”
Xi Zhui blanked him entirely, slipping to Wen Chaosheng’s side and tweaking his address with intent. “Brother Wen, shall we?”
Wen Chaosheng met Xi Zhui’s mild gaze and felt some tension ease. “Sure.”
Without pause for Chang Ming’s protest, he pushed the chair swiftly toward the elevators. “Let’s go.”
…
Xi Zhui’s chauffeured car idled on the basement level.
Old Zhang hopped out first, offering a polite nod. “Mr. Xi. Director Wen.”
He knew Wen Chaosheng by sight, but eyed the stranger in the wheelchair curiously. “And this is…?”
Chang Ming despised such stares from outsiders. A surge of deep-seated shame darkened his face on the spot.
Wen Chaosheng immediately sensed the abrupt shift in his aura and spoke up to introduce him. “Master Zhang, this is my friend. Could you trouble yourself to drop him off at his hotel first?”
The driver, Old Zhang, glanced at Xi Zhui. Seeing that his boss had no objections, he readily agreed. “Of course, no problem.”
“But our car doesn’t have any powered lift equipment, so getting in might be a bit tricky.” He bent down proactively, intending to help out of kindness. “Let me assist this gentleman into the car?”
