Chapter 42 Part 3

No sooner had he spoken than Yu Jin burst out laughing. “Come on, tell me—what exactly were you planning to do with me?”

Yu Jin’s gaze brimmed with provocation.

Yun Qi wanted to explain that wasn’t what he meant, but Yu Jin cut him off without leaving any room for excuses. “Taking you out today to mooch off Zhou Yu’s meal—what does that have to do with his sister? I never gave her a second thought, let alone considered her. My heart took a devastating blow three years ago—that much I’ll admit. It stranded me in Berlin for two whole years, more than six hundred nights without a single peaceful sleep. Do you really think someone like me can just casually fall for anyone else? That I could start something new whenever I felt like it?”

It was the first time Yun Qi had heard him speak of his time in Berlin.

He was the one who had provoked Yu Jin into this. Yu Jin hadn’t intended to say a word—he wasn’t the sort to play up his tragedies or fish for pity.

What he hated most was Yun Qi’s expression right then: that mix of guilt and heartache in his eyes made Yu Jin want to ravage him without mercy.

Yun Qi’s voice was thick with guilt. “It’s my fault…”

“Yes, yes, it is your fault,” Yu Jin said, his breathing ragged. “What makes you think I bounce back so easily? That I could throw myself wholeheartedly into another relationship? Do you pat yourself on the back for being so kind, presuming to map out my future? You want to push me toward some girl you barely met—did my feelings even cross your mind? Have you forgotten every vicious word you spat when you dumped me? Can I forget? Don’t you know the shadow it cast? How the hell am I supposed to start over?”

That night of deep sin, he had thrust the cat into Yu Jin’s arms. “I don’t want you, and I don’t want it! I never want to see you again—not now, not ever! Stay out of my life. We’re done—severed clean!”

“Don’t cling to me. Don’t show up around my family! I’m begging you. We were wrong to fall in love. It’s not normal! We’re insane! This relationship is sickening!”

“I’m going to live a normal life—you should too. University, a good job, marriage, kids. Don’t interfere. Never come back…”

The night had been pitch-black, the streetlamp busted. He had sobbed and screamed hysterically into the darkness. Yu Jin—so proud, with his fine family, striking looks, and exceptional talent—had endured every ounce of Yun Qi’s malice that evening. Yet he had clung to Yun Qi’s wrist and said, “I won’t let go.”

All that met him were greater barbs, crueler justifications piling one atop the other. In the end, that person had wrenched free and fled—from his arms, from his world entirely.

Yun Qi hadn’t forgotten.

It was precisely because he remembered that he felt such guilt toward Yu Jin. Young and foolish back then, he hadn’t known how to handle his emotions or deal with someone who loved him so fiercely. If he’d told the truth, Yu Jin would have understood. He would have waited—because that’s the kind of man he was, the kind of lover who would never abandon him. But Yun Qi didn’t want that. He didn’t want Yu Jin wasting his life waiting for a man who would marry, father children, and follow the path his parents had laid out.

He and Yu Jin weren’t cut from the same cloth.

He could never break free of society’s chains—not really.

“I just didn’t want to hold you back,” Yun Qi said, shaking his head. “It’s happened once already. I…”

“Why put yourself up on such a pedestal?” Yu Jin said coldly. “What makes you think you can sway me so easily? Or that I’d ever give you a second chance to dump me?”

Yeah—what position had he imagined himself in?

Yun Qi snapped awake to the realization. Yes, he had feared dragging Yu Jin down, but the man from three years ago wasn’t the same as the one before him now. They’d both changed. Yu Jin might not even choose him anymore, so how could he possibly be influenced—held back a second time?

Yun Qi’s fingers clenched the bedsheet beneath him.

Yu Jin watched those fingers twist the fabric into wrinkles, his own gaze turning icy. Yun Qi, head bowed, missed the tangled complexity in it. “The past is the past. I haven’t held it against you, so don’t you get mired in it. We’re not lovers anymore. I’m your captain. Your buyer. Your job is to prove your worth so I keep you around. That’s it—nothing more.”

The words landed like a blunt declaration: “We’re just teammates now. Nothing else.”

How could Yun Qi fail to grasp it?

Because he did grasp it, his heart sank even lower.

“I don’t know where you picked up that rumor or what nonsense you heard,” Yu Jin said, his eyes piercing. “But I’ve got no patience left for your drama. The International Tournament is almost here. Pull yourself together. Jiu Ke is your toughest competition—stay focused.”

He rose and walked out.

Yun Qi stayed on the bed, turning those words over in his mind.

Yu Jin took two steps out, the door not yet closed behind him, when Yun Qi suddenly sensed the shadow looming before him. His chin was abruptly lifted as Yu Jin gripped his face, gazing down imperiously. “You’ve disappointed me greatly. Don’t let me hear those words from you a second time.”

With that, he shoved Yun Qi away and strode fully out of the room.

Yun Qi closed his eyes, the night feeling utterly absurd.

Remorse and anger churned within him, his expression a mix of grievance and innocence. He had been thoroughly outmaneuvered, and now every path ahead seemed blocked.

It was all his own doing—wanting too much while fretting over too much.

Fearing this, dreading that, and in the end grasping at nothing.

Yun Qi clutched the bedsheet beneath his hand, a sharp sting emanating from the band-aid. But compared to the bitterness in his heart, it was nothing at all.

The next day.

Tata was sent away.

Yun Qi had no idea where, only that when he checked the balcony again, it was empty.

Over the past two days, Yu Jin hadn’t exchanged a single private word with him. The two of them tacitly avoided any mention of that night, but the sudden chill in the air made it clear something was amiss.

Ziwu kept his head down over his meal and said nothing about it.

Since that evening, Yun Qi had seen far less of Yu Jin. When they crossed paths in the Training Room by chance, Yu Jin stayed silent, muttering only a few words to the others before they each went their separate ways. The easy closeness of the previous days was gone.

Yesterday in the corridor, they had brushed past each other, Yu Jin reeking of alcohol.

Yun Qi froze in place, staring at the tightly shut door of his room for a long, long time.

With Tata gone, Yun Qi found himself at loose ends during his downtime. Yu Jin was ignoring him now—the roles had reversed for the one who had once been so carefully avoided.

This time, he had truly angered Yu Jin.

Yun Qi sat lost in thought on the balcony—after training, after lunch, or whenever he had nothing pressing—just lounging in the hammock chair, mind adrift.

Today was no different. He had barely settled in when Ziwu wandered over.

“You’ve been keeping a low profile these past couple of days,” Ziwu observed. “Looks like my reminder that night got through to you.”

Yun Qi rocked gently in the hammock chair, ignoring him.

Ziwu leaned against the balcony railing, cigarette dangling from his fingers, his athletic build on full display. A lock of his slightly long hair fell forward, tucked behind his ear and swaying in the hot breeze. “Don’t blame me for it. KRO’s long-term success depends on Brother Jin, and with your track record, I can’t afford to take chances.”

Yun Qi stayed silent.

Ziwu glanced back. The hammock continued to sway, its occupant appearing relaxed and at ease—yet also forlorn and pitiable.

Ziwu’s resolve softened. He flicked ash from his cigarette. “Fine, I’m not actually trying to stop you two. Once this year’s International Tournament wraps up, go ahead and do whatever you want with Brother Jin. Hop into bed for all I care. Sound good?”

The figure in the hammock gave no sign of having heard, hands resting idly on his lap, the band-aid stark against his skin, eyes lowered.

“Brother Jin hasn’t seemed happy these past couple of days either,” Ziwu rambled on. “But what’s to be done? The International Tournament is right around the corner. I need you both focused. Set the petty romances aside for now—don’t pull a repeat of three years ago, blowing up right before the Grand Tournament with all that life-or-death drama. You’re on the same Esports Team now; hurting either one of you strikes at KRO’s core. Things are fine like this—who needs to talk to whom, who needs to care about whom? Clear your heads and concentrate on training.”

The warm evening light bathed Yun Qi, lending him an air of pure innocence laced with a cold detachment that Ziwu found oddly alluring.

He stubbed out his cigarette and stepped closer, nudging the hammock to a halt with his knee.

Ziwu lifted Yun Qi’s hand. The other offered no resistance, sitting there like an automaton, utterly still and compliant.

Ziwu’s thumb brushed over the band-aid. “That Little White-Eyed Wolf even scratched you—no conscience at all. Does it hurt?”

Yun Qi withdrew his hand, offering no response whatsoever.

Ziwu gripped the hammock’s sides, the cool iron chains biting into his palms as he pinned the chair—and its occupant—in place. After a long pause, he said abruptly, “You’re really beautiful.”

Yun Qi looked up, his cold gaze piercing like a blade.

Ziwu brushed off the glare, drinking in that stubborn, defiant face with a warm smile. “After the Grand Tournament, if Brother Jin doesn’t want you anymore, how about being with me instead?”

Yun Qi’s stare sharpened like a knife’s edge.

“I’ve never had a proper relationship,” Ziwu continued. “What you walked in on that day was just a transactional thing—you needed me, I made demands. You’re exactly my type. If it doesn’t work out with Brother Jin down the line, why not give us a shot, Luo Shen?” The name hung heavy with layers—admiration, perhaps, or biting sarcasm.

In the clash of their sharp gazes, Yun Qi’s expression grew icier by the second, while Ziwu’s lit up with growing amusement. With a teasing shove of his knee, he held the hanging chair steady at a teasing height—neither too high nor too low. The precarious position sent a jolt of panic through Yun Qi, and in his fluster, he grabbed Ziwu’s waist for support, his only anchor.

The chill in Yun Qi’s cold eyes deepened.

“Has Brother Jin fucked you?” Ziwu’s question hit like a blunt hammer, raw and invasive. His hands and knee trapped Yun Qi in an awkward, immobile angle.

“Do you know how obsessively you stare at him?” Ziwu went on. “It’s like that day you barged in and cut me off—pure, unquenchable hunger. But you’re even deeper in it than I was. I could at least get some release, but you lusting after the ex-boyfriend who dumped you? That’s a dangerous path, my friend.”

Ziwu chuckled, his grip tightening on the iron chain as he leaned down to peer at the man on the chair. “Luo Shen, if it’s really eating you up, I can help. I’m partly to blame for the mess between you and Brother Jin. Relieving that tension? I can do it for free. My skills are exceptional. Care to test them out?”

Yun Qi caught the heavy mockery in Ziwu’s eyes. He knew nothing of Ziwu’s background or upbringing, but right then, one phrase summed him up perfectly: spoiled playboy.

Did watching Yun Qi squirm bring him that much joy? The prying questions about his privacy were a sham, the probe into how far things had gone with Yu Jin was a sham—his true aim was to see Yun Qi humiliated. Spot on, if Yun Qi had to guess.

Things had already soured badly with Yu Jin over the past two days, so Yun Qi sure as hell wouldn’t let Ziwu gain any more ground. The guy was wielding Yu Jin like a weapon to remind, threaten, humiliate, and warn him. For Yu Jin’s sake, Yun Qi would play along for now, but that didn’t make him some easy mark.

Playing hardball? Two could manage that.

Yun Qi dropped the silent act. He was, after all, a sly little cat who showed his claws to everyone but Yu Jin.

No more pretending to be mute in the face of Ziwu’s taunts. “Come on, then. Right here.”

Yun Qi parted his knees and tilted his head up. “What are you waiting for?”