Chapter 10: Taste

Lin Jianxi had developed the habit of taking his medicine on time while staying at Song Cheng’an’s house. After swallowing his evening dose, he stared blankly at the pill box, turning it over and over in his hands. In the end, he couldn’t even remember the name of the medicine.

He was mulling over what Gu Heng had said.

It seemed to make a certain kind of sense.

Lin Jianxi fell silent for a moment, then dialed Shen Ze.

The line was noisy on Shen Ze’s end. “Come out drinking?”

Lin Jianxi paused. “…Half a month ago, you said you were gonna say hi to Song Cheng’an. Did you? What’d he say?”

Shen Ze: “Ah… oh, that? Nah, I bailed. That guy’s got some scary history—better not poke the bear… But his vibe was nothing like I expected. Bumped into him right as I was leaving, and he actually smiled at me. I swear, thought I was seeing things. Grinned all pure and innocent, like the neighbor kid. Should’ve chatted him up. Regrets… So, drinks?”

“No thanks,” Lin Jianxi said, setting the pill box aside. “Got something going on here at home… What exactly did he do back then?”

Shen Ze: “…Yeah, you don’t wanna know. I told you about the Song family before, right? The shit that goes down in circles like that—you could guess. Nothing good. C’mon, President Lin, drink with me. I’m lonely as hell; none of these guys are half as hot as you. Spill on that pet story. Asked you today and you clammed up…”

Lin Jianxi let out a soft chuckle. “Knew you’d just wanna drink. Suffer in solitude for now—I’m beat. Tomorrow.”

~~~

The day Gu Heng was taken away, Lin Jianxi pulled him into a tight embrace and whispered in his ear, “I’ll wait for you to come out, husband.”

“…”

The word struck like a thunderbolt, leaving Gu Heng stunned, his breath catching in his throat.

“You didn’t… sign…?”

“You’ll find out the day you get out,” Lin Jianxi murmured, pressing his face into the crook of Gu Heng’s neck, his forehead resting there. “Be good in there. Settle your mind, think about your problems. You’ll rise again. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

“…” Gu Heng clutched him tighter. “Sorry… sorry, sorry… I’ve put you through so much hell, I…”

Gu Heng’s voice cracked, as if he were fighting back tears. “I’m immature. Bad temper. I know my issues. I’ll change, Lin Jianxi—wait for me. I’ll be out soon. Just wait… Those people? I’ll make them pay.”

~~~

Autumn had arrived.

Lin Jianxi took his medicine right on schedule, but his body only grew weaker by the day. Sometimes just a few steps would leave him soaked in cold sweat.

He gazed into the distance, the image of Gu Heng’s retreating figure from that day flickering in his mind like a ghost. Slowly, he squatted down and began picking up fallen leaves. Every now and then, one would land on his head, only for a gust of wind to whisk it away to the ground.

One settled on his shoulder—wind blew it off.

One on his knee—another gust.

One in his palm—and the wind scattered them all.

Lin Jianxi gazed mildly at the little fluffball frolicking with the breeze right in front of him, darting this way and that. The creature noticed him pause and seemed startled. It shook itself, fluffing up its fur, and cleared its throat with a couple of coughs.

“Yo, long time no see! It’s me, the System—remember? Congrats! Plot completion’s hit fifty percent!”

Lin Jianxi went back to gathering leaves. “This isn’t what you told me.”

System: “It’s your first time jumping into a book. I held back the full plot so you wouldn’t break character early on. But you probably figured—”

“Couldn’t figure it.” Lin Jianxi stopped moving.

“You… mad at me?” The System began looping anxiously over his head. “Nooo, don’t be, don’t be, waaah…”

The thing really cried. Lin Jianxi watched as teardrops rained down around him, forming a perfect circle on the ground. He smiled helplessly. “Alright, tell me about the plot.”

“Okay, okay!” The System halted, tears drying up in an instant. “First, the book’s genre and setup. This is a super steamy H novel—a total smut fest. The main pairing? You and Song Cheng’an.”

Lin Jianxi: “…………?”

The System pressed on. “It’s straight-up NTR lit. The story’s about how Song Cheng’an slips up with words as a kid, gets dragged home by you and Gu Heng, abused like crazy for four years until he’s old enough to escape your clutches. He turns into a successful psycho and steals you away, driving Gu Heng insane.”

System: “To make sure you could handle it, I had you transmigrate a year late—let the original host do a year’s worth of damage first. See? You couldn’t bring yourself to hurt him. Pretty smart, huh!”

“…”

Lin Jianxi let out an inexplicable laugh. “Oh. So how’d the original host abuse him?”

System: “Every way you can imagine. The original host was worse than Gu Heng—messed-up family, all twisted inside. Dumped every ounce of rage on Song Cheng’an. But that’s not the point. I’m here to tell you what comes next.”

“Which is: just go with the flow!”

Lin Jianxi: “…”

System: “Noticed your body’s tanking? Partly the story’s setup—you get frail as hell, can’t lift a finger. Throw in your shitty habits, and you might even cough up blood. Worse than scripted. Doesn’t matter, though. Just hang in there till Gu Heng gets out of prison. Task complete!”

~~~

In the living room, the fluffball chomped noisily on a banana nearby. Lin Jianxi stared at his hand, clenching it slowly into a fist before releasing it just as slowly. Even that simple motion made his fingers tremble. The fluffball placed a small chunk of banana in his palm. “Don’t stress. Song Cheng’an won’t go as hard as in the original story. Just enjoy the ride.”

“…” Lin Jianxi gave a wry, helpless laugh. “But I’ve been raising him like a son. That’s way too messed up.”

Fluffball: “…” 0.0

Fluffball: “Guy screams psycho from scene one—how do you raise that like a son?! No way that works!”

Lin Jianxi: “…He was too little. Cried so pitifully.”

Fluffball: “…”

Fluffball: “Eh, don’t sweat it. Give it a few days—you’ll see it’s a horror show. Gu Heng nailed it. Think about why he vanished for three years and now pops up out of nowhere?”

The furball scooted closer. “Because he watched you on the brink of death and you still didn’t beg him. He wanted to give you one last chance—to divorce Gu Heng and come with him. But you refused every time. Now he’s done offering opportunities. You’ll find out soon enough what a monster he really is. That rose-tinted filter of yours? It’s shattered beyond repair.”

~~~

Darkness.

Silence.

Song Cheng’an lounged on the black leather sofa, using the tip of his shoe to tilt a man’s chin upward. He gazed down imperiously. “Tell me, why hasn’t he divorced that thing yet?”

“I… I don’t… I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“N-No—ah!” Song Cheng’an kicked the man flying across the room. “You don’t know? It’s the simplest question in the world. Doesn’t Lin Jianxi fucking love that Gu bastard? You don’t know that?”

The man buried his face in the floor. “…I know.”

Song Cheng’an chuckled. “You know? If you know, then why the hell did you go after those two old fogeys? Why stir up trouble by telling Lin Jianxi that Gu Heng once paid off his parents’ debts? What, you think they’re not in love enough already? You treating this like some sappy idol drama?”

“No… I didn’t think…”

“Oh, you didn’t think. So it was all for you. Using the power I gave you to threaten him into a candlelit dinner date.”

“…”

Song Cheng’an crouched in front of the man and lightly tapped his cheek with his cigarette. “Isn’t his voice just exquisite? Even through earphones, it gets you all worked up, doesn’t it? Hm?”

The man broke into sobs. “…I know I was wrong. I’ve been reflecting on it here for half a month, Mr. Song. Please, let me go.”

Song Cheng’an hated watching men cry.

He stood up, bored. “Get out.”

Once the man had scrambled away, Song Cheng’an stared at the bandages wrapping his wrist and fingers. He didn’t move for a long time.

Be nicer to yourself?

Those were your words, Lin Jianxi.

He let out a soft laugh and slowly closed his eyes.

His fingers trembled faintly as they brushed over the white gauze, as if touching the tips of Lin Jianxi’s fingers from when he’d bandaged the wounds—warm, pale, with a hint of pink.

So beautiful, Song Cheng’an thought.

They could be even more beautiful.

~~~

Lin Jianxi finally understood what the System had meant by “horror movie.”

His place was never locked. Every time he woke up, the house was crawling with strangers. The first day, he hadn’t grasped how serious it was—not until one of them pinned him against the wall and deliberately jammed a knee into his crotch. Only then did he realize this was different from before.

He had no strength left. A few feeble struggles left him drenched in sweat, his black hair plastered obediently to his forehead, his face ghostly pale. In the end, he could only slump with his head on the man’s shoulder, his body shaking.

“Fuck…”

He heard someone mutter, “What good deeds did Gu Heng do in his past life?”

The man holding him against the wall eased off. In a soft voice, he asked, “What do you even like about him?”

“I don’t know…” Lin Jianxi’s head swam. It felt like every organ in his body had ground to a halt. If not for the man propping him up, he’d have collapsed to the floor.

The man let him go. Lin Jianxi staggered to the sofa and curled up in the corner. Someone draped a blanket over him and leaned in. “Cold?”

Lin Jianxi shook his head.

“Hey, what are you standing around for? Feed him something.”

“Back off. Don’t shove that much in one spoonful—you’ll choke him.”

Lin Jianxi sipped the porridge in silence as someone gently took his hand. “I’ve seen you in the lab. This hand used to be rock steady. We all thought you’d be the next Shen Ze.”

Lin Jianxi looked up. “You’re from the company…?”

The man said nothing more. He tucked Lin Jianxi’s hand under the blanket. “No one will remember you.”

Lin Jianxi really didn’t remember faces. Aside from Song Cheng’an, Gu Heng, and Shen Ze, everyone else was a blur.

He studied the man’s profile for a moment but drew a blank. Then he slumped against the sofa and fell asleep.

~~~

He lacked the strength to leave the house. The next day brought a fresh batch of visitors—rough around the edges, but they never went too far.

In the old days, Lin Jianxi wouldn’t have hidden. But now even breathing felt like a chore. Terrified he’d drop dead at their hands, he dragged himself into the wardrobe and crammed in as deep as he could.

Unable to find him, the men grew rowdy and barged into the bedroom. Lin Jianxi held his breath—

Suddenly, silence fell outside.

Through the narrow gap in the wardrobe doors, he spotted a pair of legs—black trousers, polished leather shoes. The air carried a familiar whiff of expensive cologne.

Song Cheng’an.

Lin Jianxi shrank deeper into the wardrobe.

Knock knock knock.

His body jolted. He yanked back even his toes, anything that might give him away.

Song Cheng’an knocked lightly on the doors again.

Lin Jianxi clamped a hand over his mouth and nose, pressing his head against the wooden panel.

Two fingers slipped through the gap. A ring gleamed on the index finger, catching the light and stabbing at his eyes. Lin Jianxi slowly shut them.

The fingers paused. Then, in a slow drawl: “Lin Jianxi, I can smell your scent.”

“…”