Chapter 1: Kidnapped at the Same Time as My Boyfriend’s White Moonlight

◎ One current boyfriend, one secret crush ◎

Wen Tong had just finished buying fruit and was heading home when he got a call from Xie You at the entrance to his residential complex. Xie You said he was coming to drop off food.

He said he was almost there, so Wen Tong didn’t have the heart to send him back. He waited by the gate.

It was half past six in the evening, well past dinnertime. The older residents had already eaten and were out strolling and chatting.

An auntie passed Wen Tong, recognized the pretty young man from the neighborhood, and greeted him with a smile. “Your partner’s bringing you food again?”

Wen Tong froze for a second, then shook his head. “He’s not my partner. Just a friend.”

As he spoke, a luxury car pulled up to the curb a few meters away.

The man who got out was tall and straight-backed, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed half-frame glasses, a smile at his lips. He looked every inch the modest gentleman.

Xie You’s looks and aura drew attention, and he’d stepped out of a luxury car besides. A luxury car paired with a handsome man was enough to make passersby at the compound gate stop and stare.

Wen Tong didn’t want to become gossip fodder for the neighborhood aunties and uncles. He pulled Xie You aside and said helplessly, “Tell Auntie not to go to the trouble next time. I can just eat something simple.”

Xie You hummed in acknowledgment and handed him an insulated lunchbox. “Next week is Mom’s birthday. She told me to bring you home for dinner.”

“Okay. I’ll go pick out a gift in the next couple of days.” Wen Tong noticed a delicate gift bag in Xie You’s right hand, adorned with a striking pink bow. He couldn’t help glancing at it twice.

“What did you buy Auntie?”

Xie You handed him the bag directly.

Wen Tong didn’t stand on ceremony. He opened it and saw a luxury-brand watch.

A gift he couldn’t afford.

He was about to give it back when Xie You took the watch out himself. “This is for you.”

Wen Tong blinked. “For me?”

Xie You smiled. “What else would it be?”

Wen Tong was confused. It wasn’t his birthday. “Why would you give me a watch for no reason?”

“It’s the same model as mine.” Xie You pushed up his glasses. The faint reflection on the lenses blurred whatever was in his eyes.

Wen Tong looked at his wrist and grew even more confused.

It really was the same model.

Couple watches?

The thought flashed through his mind, and he couldn’t help saying, “Brother Xie, we’re only pretending to date to fool Auntie and get Uncle to accept that you’re gay.”

“Let’s skip the couple watches.”

It was too gay. Made him uncomfortable.

Wen Tong was straight. The only reason he’d agreed to fake-date Xie You was that Xie You had said his father wouldn’t accept men and asked for his help.

He had come to this world as a Cannon Fodder Pawn to push the plot forward and get the Protagonist Top and Bottom together.

Helping the Protagonist Top clear his family obstacles and smoothing the romantic road for the White Moonlight Protagonist Bottom was exactly what he was supposed to do.

With that thought, Wen Tong moved to put the watch back in its box.

A large hand with prominent knuckles stopped him. Xie You held his wrist with one hand, took out the watch with the other, and slowly slid it onto Wen Tong’s wrist.

“It’s just to fool my mom,” Xie You said, head lowered. “We’ve been dating for a year. It’d be impossible for us not to have a single couple’s accessory.”

“Wear it for now and get used to it, so you don’t forget when the time comes.”

His tone was gentle, but his movements were immovably firm.

The cold metal of the watch face seeped into his skin, making Wen Tong shiver. “Fine. I won’t even take it off when I sleep tonight.”

Xie You: “Once you’re used to it, there’ll be even less reason to take it off.”

“It’s normal for friends and brothers to use the same style of things. Don’t read too much into it. Just treat it as payment for playing my boyfriend.”

Wen Tong was persuaded. True enough; ordinary people wouldn’t think two men using the same style of things were gay.

Looking at the watch again, he suddenly found it much more pleasing to the eye.

He asked casually, “By the way, how are things with Bai Yue lately?”

Bai Yue—the Protagonist Bottom.

[T/N: “Bai Yue” (白月) is an intentional pun on “White Moonlight” (白月光 – Bái Yuèguāng), a classic Chinese trope referring to an idealized, unforgettable first love.]

Xie You’s tone was flat. “Pretty good. A couple of days ago, my dad’s company started a partnership with his family’s hospital, so we had dinner together.”

Wen Tong’s eyes lit up. “And then?”

Xie You thought for a moment, skipped the details, and said simply, “Then I took him home.”

Not bad, not bad. Wen Tong nodded in satisfaction. If he could take the man home today, tomorrow he could get him into bed.

Once the Protagonist Top and Bottom’s relationship progressed by leaps and bounds, his mission would be complete.

It had been seven whole years, from Xie You’s ninth-grade year to his current junior year of college.

At last, he could see the first light of mission success—and of leaving this world.

“Alright. Brother Xie, want to come up and sit for a while?”

“No, I have something else to do.”

Wen Tong nodded. “See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.” Xie You lifted his eyes, watched Wen Tong’s retreating back, and spoke again. “Tongtong, remember to lock your doors and windows when you sleep tonight. Be careful of—”

“What would a grown man like me have to be afraid of?” Wen Tong didn’t turn around. He raised a hand and waved without looking back.

Xie You watched him walk farther away until he turned the corner and disappeared. Only then did he withdraw his gaze—and meet the knowing look of a nearby auntie.

“Young man, that was your partner, wasn’t it?”

Xie You nodded.

The auntie laughed. “I knew it! I always see you coming by to drop things off.”

“But that young man just said you weren’t his partner.”

Xie You gave a soft laugh, his voice low and gentle. “He’s shy.”

“Gay, right? I get it. The country allows same-sex marriage now. My daughter’s classmate’s younger sister is gay too—it’s very common these days…”

***

From the compound gate to the elevator, Wen Tong mulled over his mission the whole way.

As a newly hired low-level employee of the Space-Time Bureau, his clearance was low. He had no legendary System assistance, nor did he know the Worldline’s exact development.

He only knew his missions. First, play the role of the Protagonist Top’s good friend—Xie You’s good friend.

The second was to be kidnapped alongside the White Moonlight Protagonist Bottom. The Protagonist Top would save the White Moonlight, while Wen Tong would die by the kidnapper’s gun. Then he’d complete his Cannon Fodder Persona mission and retire with his work done.

The first wasn’t hard. He’d already been Xie You’s friend for seven years.

The problem was the second mission. There was too little information. He didn’t know the exact time, place, or reason for the kidnapping—nothing. He could only wait, hoping the Protagonist Top and Bottom would start their romance soon and trigger the kidnapping scene.

Ding—eleventh floor.

The elevator doors slid open. Wen Tong pulled back his wandering thoughts and saw a strange man standing outside.

The man was tall and broad, with hard facial contours, wheat-colored skin, and narrow eyes with a faint sanpaku cast. He carried an innate air of menace, the kind of man who looked like trouble.

[T/N: “Sanpaku eyes” show white space below or above the iris, associated with an intense, dangerous, or villainous look.]

Wen Tong looked away and stepped out.

The building had two apartments per floor and two elevators; residents from other floors generally didn’t come up here.

The person who lived across from him was a young woman. Was this man her friend?

Thinking that, Wen Tong stole another glance at the man.

That glance collided straight with the man’s pitch-black eyes.

The man hadn’t entered the elevator. He still stood by the doors, turned sideways, staring fixedly at Wen Tong like a predator that had spotted prey, his gaze full of bad intent.

Seeing the man staring, Wen Tong stopped and asked tentatively, “Do you need help?”

The man gave a lazy nod.

Wen Tong waited quietly, but no further words came. Holding on to his patience, he asked, “Is there something you need?”

The man’s gaze dropped to Wen Tong’s right hand, which held the fruit. The plastic bag was digging into his fingers, leaving red marks across the pale, slender digits.

Wen Tong noticed his gaze and unconsciously curled his fingers.

This guy was strange.

Surely a man dressed like that wasn’t eyeing the few apples he’d bought?

Suddenly, the man spoke. His voice was unexpectedly pleasant, deep and magnetic—it was just that the content was a little off.

“Want me to carry those for you?”

Wen Tong: “???”

Help carry five apples?

Wasn’t I the one who just asked if you needed help?

The man’s bizarre words gave him a slight chill. Wen Tong raised his eyes and said hesitantly, “No need to trouble yourself.”

“I can manage.”

He quickly walked past the man, stopped at his door, and flipped open the fingerprint lock cover.

The hallway was unnaturally quiet. Apart from the electronic lock, the only sound was the breathing of the man behind him.

Wen Tong could feel the man still staring at him. He hurried to open the door.

Click—the door opened.

At the same time, the man spoke again. “I can help you with another favor.”

Wen Tong was about to say he really didn’t need help when he heard the man step forward, leather shoes clicking sharply against the tile.

“Wen Tong.” The man said his name slowly, unhurried.

Wen Tong’s expression shifted. Goosebumps prickled instantly across his back.

The man’s shadow fell over him, bringing with it a dangerous aura that drew closer and closer until his scalp went numb.

Wen Tong’s eyelids twitched wildly. The instant the man drew near, he twisted aside to dodge.

He wanted to run, but the man blocked the only way out.

The man hadn’t laid a hand on him, but his nearly six-foot-three frame loomed like a mountain, radiating threat.

Wen Tong was only five-foot-seven. Beside the man, he was like a chick before an eagle.

Trapped in the narrow gap between the man and the door, his heart hammered with fear, and cold sweat broke out all over him.

He couldn’t duck inside, and he couldn’t run out.

Wen Tong glanced at the man’s solid arm muscles and instinctively leaned back, trying to put distance between them.

His back pressed against the wall. Out of the corner of his eye, he measured the emergency stairwell two steps away, then forced himself to sound calm. “Hey, man. Let’s talk this out.”

“What do you want? The money and computer are inside. I’ve already unlocked the door for you.”

His gorgeous features struggled to hide his panic, but his creamy, delicate cheeks were growing paler, and his lips had lost all color.

Lu Fei’s Adam’s apple bobbed unconsciously. He stepped forward and said with malice, “I don’t lack money.”

Wen Tong lowered his eyes and immediately saw the handgun tucked under the man’s open suit jacket.

Anyone who carried a gun that openly was either a cop or a criminal. This man was clearly not the former.

Wen Tong’s face went white, his heart pounding. Not after money, not a robber. A deranged killer, then? After his life?

He couldn’t die now.

There were only two points at which he could return to the Origin World: completing his mission, or waiting for the Worldline’s plot to end.

If he died at any other time, there was a very high chance he’d fall into Space-Time Turbulence and never make it back.

Wen Tong drew a deep breath and forced himself calm, steadying his voice. “What favor do you want to help me with?”

“You still want to help me carry these?”

He slowly lifted the bag of apples in his left hand.

Lu Fei looked at his reddened fingertips. The pale, slender fingers trembled slightly, like a tickle brushing across his heart from a distance.

He’d only offered to carry the apples to tease Wen Tong, whose skinny arms and legs made him look incapable of lifting even a few apples.

Now that Wen Tong had asked him directly… as if possessed, Lu Fei slowly reached out.

Wen Tong tightened his grip on the insulated lunchbox in his right hand.

The instant he handed the apples to the man, he swung the lunchbox at his head with all his strength.

“Carry this!”*

Bang—

A loud crack rang out. Wen Tong didn’t dare look closely at what he’d done to the man’s head—and he certainly didn’t notice that, a split second before the lunchbox could hit, the man’s arm had blocked it.

The moment he struck, he bolted for the stairs.

While running, he pulled out his phone and yelled at the top of his lungs, “Hey Siri, call the police!”

An electronic female voice drifted out, echoing through the stairwell. “Which number would you like me to dial?”

“110, 120…”

Frantic and furious, Wen Tong shouted, “11—”

Before he could finish, a hand seized his collar, then closed around his throat, choking off his breath.

A damp towel was clamped hard over his mouth. A sharp, faintly sweet chemical smell flooded instantly into his nose and mouth.

Wen Tong’s consciousness blurred. He slumped limply into the man’s arms.

Through the haze, he heard the man’s mocking laugh. “Why run?”

“I told you, I’m here to help.”

“Help you break up with Xie You.” With that, Lu Fei kicked the phone away.

He hoisted Wen Tong onto one shoulder with one arm. The motion made the spot where the lunchbox had struck him throb.

Lu Fei viciously pinched the unconscious young man’s neck to vent his anger, then strode upstairs.

He dialed a subordinate. “Where’s Xie You?”

“He just got to the office.” The voice on the other end paused, then asked cautiously, “Should we go grab Xie You?”

“Grab him my ass.” Lu Fei returned upstairs, crushed the lunchbox under his shoe, and sneered, “Grab Bai Yue.”

“Huh?”

“One current boyfriend, one secret crush. I want to see which one he likes more.”

“Right, right. With those two in hand, Xie You will come running to die.”