Chapter 14: Targeted by a Powerful Tycoon 14

He Yao pinched his chin. Yuan Feixing jerked his head away and tried to struggle free.

Even when he’d been perfectly healthy, he hadn’t been a match for He Yao. Now his right arm was useless, and panic and anger churned inside him. Afraid he might hit the surgical incision, He Yao held him still and soothed him gently. “Little Jia, don’t move. I won’t hurt you.”

Yuan Feixing thought, Oh, go to hell! You sick pervert! If I ever believe you again, I’m an idiot!

But outwardly, he stopped struggling. He looked up at the man with wide, dewy eyes, tears glimmering in them. Even now, the innocent young master couldn’t believe his closest brother would treat him this way.

“Brother, we’re real brothers! How could you…” The partition in the car did a good job blocking sound, but Yuan Feixing’s voice was barely a whisper. He was worried someone might catch them, and ashamed of feelings he couldn’t bring himself to name.

He Yao lowered his eyes, letting his gaze roam over that smooth, jade-pale face. Clear tears dampened the boy’s long lashes; his eye corners were red, and his enticing lips—lips He Yao had savored again and again not long ago—were swollen.

When He Yao didn’t answer, the frightened little prey grew more and more misty-eyed.

A warm palm brushed his cheek. Soft fingertips traced his reddened eye corner, light and slow. He Yao wore the same faint smile, the corners of his eyes gently curved, making his dark gaze seem deep and tender.

He Yao didn’t want to frighten his precious boy, but he wanted far more than this.

“Why can’t I?”

Before the words had even settled, the man captured his soft lips again.

Yuan Feixing twisted with all his strength, but no amount of struggling could free him from He Yao’s grasp. The man was incredibly strong, but even more shocking than his strength was the unmistakable reaction Yuan Feixing felt against him after a few brief struggles…

His body went rigid. His expression turned complicated and bewildered. Faced with the man’s overwhelming desire, both Yuan Jia and Yuan Feixing were completely stunned!

He Yao had no intention of letting him go. He gently nipped Yuan Feixing’s lower lip, and the pain jolted him back to his senses. He Yao kissed him as he murmured a warning. “Be good, or I won’t stop here.”

[Yuan Feixing: Fuck you!!!]

[Notification Chime: Beep beep beep. Be a civilized host; build a civilized world.]

[Yuan Feixing: He’s going to fuck me!! Why aren’t you making him be civilized!?]

Whatever the System said next, Yuan Feixing couldn’t spare the attention to hear it. He sat in He Yao’s arms, afraid to move, while He Yao loosened his hold and cradled his face, kissing him with aching tenderness.

The soft flesh of his mouth was sucked, teased, and explored again and again. He Yao’s low, feverish breaths closed around Yuan Feixing like an airtight cage, trapping every thought in his head.

The frail little prey was terrified. A sharp fang rested against his throat, gleaming with a chilling light.

He knew perfectly well that the one who wanted to devour him wasn’t a stranger. It was the brother he’d trusted most, the person he’d given his whole heart to. Tears clouded his eyes. Big drops slid down his cheeks and fell soundlessly onto his soft clothes, leaving damp spots that vanished as soon as the breeze touched them.

When He Yao saw him sob, his gaze darkened. He released Yuan Feixing’s already reddened lips and pulled him into his arms instead, stroking the fluffy hair at the back of his head as he soothed him. He pressed his thin lips to Yuan Feixing’s crown and whispered, “Little Jia, don’t hate your brother.”

Burying his face against the man’s chest, Yuan Feixing began to cry softly.

This time, he was really crying—heartbroken, wronged tears. He’d worked so hard, done every mission properly, and this was the result? He’d raised the villain only for him to grow up and fuck him? Heaven had betrayed him!

He asked the System weakly, [Is there only one road left for me?]

The System gave him the blunt truth. [Lie back and take it.]

[Yuan Feixing: …]

Your mother’s grocery bill just doubled!

Once Yuan Feixing’s sobs had faded, He Yao pulled out a tissue to wipe his tears. Yuan Feixing snatched it from him and wiped his face himself with his one good hand.

When he got out of the car, Yuan Feixing pushed He Yao away, determined to walk on his own. He leaned on the butler’s arm and did his best to keep his upper body steady.

Hong Manshu looked at He Yao, left standing behind, and asked softly, “What happened? Did you and Little Jia fight?”

He Yao rubbed his nose and gave a helpless shake of his head. “He still wants to go back to Wings of the Stars. I wouldn’t let him.”

Thinking of the Yuan Jia she’d just seen, Hong Manshu suspected he’d been crying. His lips were unusually red and swollen, hardly the look of someone upset because he couldn’t reach an agreement about Wings of the Stars. She also remembered that at the hospital, Yuan Jia had not only had something on his face… but had unusually lost his temper with He Yao. A faint suspicion took root in her mind.

Still, she wore an understanding expression and gently consoled him. “Little Jia’s rarely been this interested in performing. After the accident, of course he’d be upset. But he’s still a child at heart. Just indulge him a little and talk him around.”

“Mm.” He Yao sighed softly. His expression was complicated, and as he walked away, he looked troubled and frustrated.

Hong Manshu tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at the stately gates of the He Residence. Suddenly, she remembered the first time she’d stepped into the He family’s home. Back then, she’d been a third-rate actress who’d used a child to climb the ladder. Now, she was the respected Mrs. He. It felt like a lifetime ago.

…

Without He Yao’s help, Yuan Feixing struggled to get himself back onto the soft bed, panting with exhaustion. The family doctor had already examined him, and Yuan Feixing had used the excuse that he wanted to sleep to send He Yao’s father away as well.

He buried his face in the fluffy pillow and clenched his teeth in anger.

His ultimate remedy for negative emotions was to pull the covers over his head and sleep. A long, restful sleep and sweet dreams helped him unwind and recharge for whatever came next.

But now that sick pervert He Yao had thrown everything into chaos. Every time Yuan Feixing closed his eyes, he saw their lips tangled together. The memory of their ragged breathing made him feel utterly wretched.

[Yuan Feixing: Aaaaaaaaaah!!!]

[System: Hm? Did you finish?]

[Yuan Feixing: Get lost! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻]

[System: Oho~ You’re mad, you’re mad~]

[Yuan Feixing: Mad? I’ll give you mad!]

[System: Sobs, you’re so mean. We Systems were born and raised by machines too. I won’t let you talk about my motherboard grandmother like that.]

[Yuan Feixing: …]

Don’t mention machines right now! He wanted to cut his ass off! He didn’t want a straight guy to have to deal with that bizarre sensation!

Yuan Feixing knew he couldn’t keep spiraling like this, or he really would start having problems. He picked up his phone to scroll through the ridiculous bloggers he followed, hoping for some funny videos and jokes from the past couple of days. Instead, he was sorely disappointed.

His and Su Chenyu’s names were still trending. He tapped the supertopic linked to their names on Weibo and discovered that their Dustbound Fate ship had already become a well-organized, full-fledged “official army.”

In just a few days, it had amassed nearly a hundred thousand followers, and its view count had already topped a hundred million. Since both boys were rookies and only one episode of the show had aired, there was hardly any material for fans to edit into couple videos beyond the practice-room clips released by the production team. Even so, the Dustbound Army refused to give up. They’d made matching reaction memes and couple profile pictures, drawn chibi fan art, written fanfiction and comics, and cross-referenced background details from the official encyclopedia…

The longer Yuan Feixing looked, the more numb he felt. If he stayed in this supertopic much longer, his gayification score was bound to go off the charts… Inspiration struck. He searched for an anti-Dustbound Fate supertopic and began reading earnestly, hoping to cleanse his mind.

[Stop shipping them already. Chenyu can slay all on his own! What does Yuan Jia have besides a pretty face? He phoned it in during his first performance! Breaking his arm really did him a favor! He made a major mistake onstage; without the pity vote, his ranking would’ve been a bloodbath! If you have no talent, get out now! Chenyu fans refuse to be tied to him so he can leech off our boy!]

Yuan Feixing read it with mixed feelings.

[I’m so sick of this. Does everyone have to ship every pair that comes along? Are all gay people disgusting? Chenyu already said they’re just good friends! Do you people not understand plain English?! Get lost, you gay freaks!!!]

Yuan Feixing frowned as he read. He wasn’t gay himself, but he respected everyone’s choices and hated this kind of talk.

But he soon had more important things to worry about.

[What the hell do you mean, the Starshine ship?! Yuan Jia’s already been played to death by his sugar daddy, and now he’s trying to sell this musician image? Disgusting enough already, and he’s still pushing a ship? Have some shame! [image] [image]]

The post had been up for barely ten minutes, but the comments were already piling in. Yuan Feixing opened the attached pictures. They were screenshots from a well-known gossip app. According to the poster, they were going to spill the behind-the-scenes secrets of the Wings of the Stars contestants, based on gossip passed along by a friend of a friend. The original post made it clear that it was all hearsay and might not be true, so people should just read it for fun.

The most sensational claim was about Yuan Jia: “Don’t be fooled by his injury keeping him out of the competition. He’s definitely getting a spot in the final lineup. The reason is wild! The He brothers! If you know, you know ♂ I won’t say any more! Yuan Jia’s about to blow up~” Next to the text were three lewd reaction images of muscular men fooling around, with Yuan Jia’s face photoshopped onto the one on the bottom.

Before clicking, the gossip-hungry crowd had never imagined that the shocking part wouldn’t be Yuan Jia having a sugar daddy, or the fact that he could still be “fast-tracked” into the final lineup despite missing multiple rounds with an injury. No, the shocking part was that the two He brothers were both involved!

The comment section exploded:

[Brothers?! Hot!!]

[Is it what I think it is?!]

[Holy crap! Please, OP, tell us more!]

[Oh my god! How scandalous! I’m only a twenty-five-year-old baby… Could I ask if it’s one in front and one behind, or are they all together? It feels like there’s not enough detail to be convincing [OvO].]

[Holy crap, now you’ve got my attention!]

[Your resident pervert has arrived!]

[Where’s OP?! Get back here and keep spilling! Otherwise, I’m coming through the screen to beat your ass!]

…

Yuan Feixing stared at the screen, dumbfounded.

[Holy crap! This world is beyond my wildest imagination! Fine, say I’m hooking up with He Yao. But why He Zhuo too?! Ahhhhh! I’d pay a fortune for a pair of eyes that hadn’t seen that picture!]

[System: Hm? Why is hooking up with He Yao fine?]

[Yuan Feixing: Is that the point?!]

Giving up on complaining to the piece-of-junk System, Yuan Feixing sent the screenshots to Shen Jiaming and asked with a grimace, “Brother Shen… does this need to be handled?”

Shen Jiaming replied quickly. “You saw it too? I’m handling it now. I’ll tell you more later.”

Yuan Feixing obediently agreed, turned off his phone, and buried himself in the pillow again, utterly exhausted.

He’d originally been trying to cleanse his mind, but now his head was full of even stranger images! He didn’t want to see either He Yao or He Zhuo for a long, long time!

“Knock, knock.” Someone tapped on the door. Yuan Feixing’s heart gave a little jump. Then he heard He Yao’s low, gentle voice. “Little Jia, it’s me.”

Yuan Feixing sneered. Oh, it’s you. Great. Time to pretend I’m asleep.

After a moment of silence, the door swung open.

Yuan Feixing: …

So the knocking had just been for show?!