Chapter 43 Part 3

Yun Qi twisted his wrist free—or tried to—his voice ice-cold. “I never said I’d get in your car. Let me go.”

Ziwu planted one hand on the car beside Yun Qi’s head and grinned. “Luo Shen, this is a public garage. Anyone could come down any second. Everyone knows I’m into guys. Catch us like this, and they’ll assume…”

“Let them assume whatever,” Yun Qi said, back pressed to the door as he tilted his head up to meet Ziwu’s roguish stare. “I told you, I don’t need your ride. I don’t need your apologies. Putting distance between me and him? That was my call, not just because of you. You don’t owe me a damn thing, and I don’t want it.”

But Ziwu didn’t relent. He moved to bundle Yun Qi into the passenger seat.

“Hands off me!” Yun Qi fought back. “Let go!”

“I get it—you’re pissed at me,” Ziwu said, pinning his hands. “Can’t be helped. I love this Esports Team of mine way too much. And my dear captain. Hurting you was a last resort. Rein in your personal drama a little, yeah? Go ahead and chew me out—I’ll allow it. But don’t test my patience. Get. In. The. Car.”

Yun Qi thrashed against his hold, but Ziwu’s grip was ironclad. Finally, he glared up at him. “You think I’m sneaking off to meet him?”

Ziwu’s expression darkened as he stared him down.

“You’re overthinking it,” Yun Qi said. “You’re right—before the International Tournament, no way should I be distracting him with some fling. Back then, I was the one who let him down. But listen: for his sake, I’ll do whatever it takes. That’s the debt I owe. If he’s gunning for the International Tournament title this year, I’ll back him up, not hold him back. My selfish feelings? I can bury them. I will bury them.”

That final line sounded less like a retort to Ziwu and more like Yun Qi steeling himself.

He kept struggling until his wrists burned red, then wrenched free at last. “If you’re that worried, tail me. But don’t expect me to ride with you. I don’t want any connection to a guy who’s into men—not for a single second. You’ve seen my videos. I’ve been through sexual harassment. Don’t give me any reason to think you’re eyeing me wrong. Call it paranoia if you want, but guys like you scare the hell out of me.”

He’d witnessed Ziwu getting intimate with someone, too.

Heard Ziwu trash-talk love itself straight from the source.

The man scorned romance, toyed with hearts, and had flat-out admitted Yun Qi was his type. Probe or not, it had set every defense in Yun Qi’s body on high alert.

Ziwu stood there by the car door, eyes burning into him.

Yun Qi strode out of the garage.

He emerged from the villa and had to walk a stretch before he could flag down a cab. Glancing at his wrist, he saw it mottled with angry red marks—Ziwu’s grip had been vise-like, and struggling had hurt like fire. The guy was unhinged, forcing a ride out of nowhere.

Yun Qi had gone only a few paces, convinced he’d ditched him, when that garish red sports car purred up alongside, matching his stride. Ziwu lounged with one arm hooked over the doorframe, the picture of casual, eye-catching charisma. Such a shame he was a lunatic, Yun Qi couldn’t help thinking.

“Looks like I underestimated your determination when it comes to Brother Jin. Damn, this puppy love of yours actually pulled off something real.” Ziwu rested one hand on the steering wheel, enjoying the breeze, while Yun Qi ignored him and kept walking steadily along the smooth road ahead.

Ziwu asked with a comfortable sigh, “You know, tons of people would kill for a ride in my car, but they never get the chance. I only pick up two kinds: the ones I like, and the pretty ones. So which are you?”

“Neither,” Yun Qi replied. “I don’t deserve a ride in your car.”

Ziwu laughed. “Then you’re dead wrong. I genuinely want to give you a lift. You’re good-looking. If you weren’t with Brother Jin and I’d spotted you during trial training, you’d owe me a little something at least.”

Yun Qi had pegged Ziwu as ice-cold. Back when he’d first arrived, he could chat with everyone—except Ziwu, who’d acted totally disinterested. Yet here was that same aloof guy now, trailing after him and scraping for conversation. What was this? The universe playing tricks?

“Aren’t you heading to see Brother Jin? Who are you meeting instead? Got more admirers lurking out there?”

Yun Qi rolled his eyes at him. “Do you only hang out with your hookups?”

Ziwu picked up on the skepticism but brushed it off, propping his head on his hand. “If it’s not to meet a lover, I really have zero interest in going out. But Lao Xun won’t let me keep anyone on the side, so I’m stuck eyeing the grass right under my nose—flirting with a bunch of trial trainees.”

His tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction. “This year’s batch is nothing special, though. None of them really do it for me. Picking out a fresh, pretty face from a pack of roughnecks is fucking impossible.”

Yun Qi remembered what he’d overheard while eavesdropping. He had no idea how Yuanwei was holding up now, so he seized the moment. “Do you flirt with guys who are already taken too?”

“What’re you getting at?”

Yun Qi dropped the pretense. “Do you know Yuanwei?”

Ziwu paused, the name flashing through his mind, then shrugged it off casually. “Never heard of him.”

“He’s a former member of DYJ,” Yun Qi said. “He came here as a trial trainee—for the guy he likes.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“You’ve got something going on with the guy he likes,” Yun Qi pressed. “Is that even moral?”

Ziwu got it now. “Oh, you mean I seduced his boyfriend? Yuanwei’s?”

“Isn’t that right?”

Ziwu glanced over at him. “How’d you find out?”

Yun Qi didn’t answer.

Ziwu didn’t press, eyes fixed on the road ahead. “Too bad—I don’t know any Yuanwei, and I sure as hell don’t know if I broke anyone’s heart. There are a couple standouts among the trial trainees, but do you really think I need to chase after them?”

Yun Qi stared at that infuriatingly smug face—universally punchable—and had his answer in an instant. No, Ziwu didn’t need to chase. A guy like him was way too popular for that.

“Some people don’t even need me to make a move,” Ziwu went on, all frankness. “I just glance their way a couple times, and they come running, begging. I only pay attention when I’m in the mood. Like I said, it’s a straight-up supply-and-demand thing—they need, I provide. No contact otherwise, and when there is, it’s just for that. Everyone’s got needs. Blow off some steam, then buckle down for training. It’s good for the body—helps me focus better, at least.”

“So what do they get out of it?” Yun Qi didn’t buy into Ziwu’s whole philosophy, but hey, it wasn’t his business. If it was consensual, what could anyone do?

“Get out of it? Sleeping with me once is their lucky ancestors rising from the grave. They want more than that?” Ziwu stuck a cigarette between his lips, fished out a lighter from the car, lit up, and continued. “I could fuck the rent boys from the clubs until they piss themselves. Letting them have my skills for free? That’s plenty. Hell, I don’t even charge.”

Yun Qi was starting to lose patience. “Can’t you tone it down a little? Talk like a normal person?”

Ziwu blew out a smoke ring. “We’re all guys here—what’s there to be delicate about? Can’t handle the truth?”

Yun Qi ignored him.

Ziwu eyed Yun Qi’s waistline. “You’re not tall, but you’ve got great proportions. Pale and soft-looking—just too skinny. Brother Jin’s built like that; he won’t have you crying by the end?”

Yun Qi stopped dead in his tracks.

Ziwu’s car pulled a little ahead before braking to wait. Yun Qi stood there behind it, lost in thought or whatever. Ziwu glanced back and shook the ash off his cigarette. “What? Embarrassed again?”

Yun Qi strode past the car, irritation clear in his voice. “Don’t pat yourself on the back for being hilarious. If you want to talk about that shit, find someone else.”

Ziwu started driving again, patient as ever, cruising slowly behind Yun Qi. The guy ahead had his hands shoved in his jacket pockets, his slim back tense, steps quick and agitated—strangely endearing.

He caught up quickly enough but fell silent for a long stretch. It wasn’t that he was worried about pissing Yun Qi off; he’d just lost interest in the topic. Once the cigarette was done, he spoke up again. “The Little White-Eyed Wolf got shipped off because of you?”

Yun Qi thought about Tata, wondering where it was now, who was taking care of it, and whether it could ever come back. Yu Jin had gotten angry and banished Tata, but actually Tata hadn’t done anything wrong—it was he himself who had provoked Yu Jin, and Tata had just gotten caught in the crossfire.

“Actually, Lao Xun had asked Brother Jin to send away that Ungrateful Wolf a long time ago, but Brother Jin never agreed. The Ungrateful Wolf has a bad temper—everyone at the KRO Base knew about it and just avoided provoking it, so there were no issues. But as soon as a newbie showed up, they got into trouble. Last time, someone who came to deliver stuff nearly got their face clawed. A cat like that really isn’t suitable for the KRO Base,” Ziwu said. “But after spending so much time with it, we’d gotten used to its presence. Now that it’s gone, it actually feels pretty empty. Thanks to you, though—after seeing you get scratched by the cat, Brother Jin banished it. What does that tell you? Brother Jin cares about you more than you can imagine.”

Yun Qi said, “Weren’t you hoping I’d keep my distance from him? Why are you telling me all this?”

“To cheer you up,” Ziwu said, looking at him. “Did it work?”

Yun Qi tossed out two words: “Boring.”

He arrived at the spot to hail a cab but didn’t get into Ziwu’s car. Ziwu didn’t force him either. After Ziwu’s car pulled out onto the road, the red sports car followed closely behind the taxi.

Yun Qi lowered his head to check the time—it was almost there.

Li Meng sent him another message, asking if he had arrived yet.

[Almost.]

Yun Qi turned his head to look back and saw that eye-catching red sports car in the rearview mirror. The driver remarked, “Rich folks, huh? Driving a supercar like that.”

In the rearview mirror, the red supercar stuck tightly to their taxi. Yun Qi couldn’t see Ziwu’s face, but from the reactions of the passersby on the road, he knew Ziwu’s flashy outing this time would soon hit the internet.

It might even trend.

Yun Qi ignored him and waited. What awaited him was more trouble—he had no idea what Li Meng wanted to say, but just thinking about it weighed heavily on him.