Chapter 15: Targeted by a Powerful Tycoon 15

He Yao pushed open the door and found himself looking into a pair of wide, dark eyes. Like a startled fawn, Yuan Feixing met his gaze, then quickly turned away and yanked the covers over his head. A muffled voice came from beneath them. “I’m going to sleep. Please don’t bother me!”

He Yao’s lips curved. He reached back to close the door, one hand balancing a plate of glistening strawberries.

His footsteps barely made a sound on the carpet, but Yuan Feixing’s senses magnified each one until it seemed as if He Yao were stepping right on his heart. Thump, thump, thump—his pulse raced in wild disorder.

“Little Jia, if you’re still awake, get up and have some milk strawberries. They’re freshly picked.”

Yuan Feixing had developed something of a milk-related phobia, and he wanted even less to face this man. He stayed silent beneath the covers, continuing to pretend he was asleep.

He Yao simply rolled him over and pulled him out from his pillow. Tears welled again in the corners of Yuan Feixing’s eyes, veiling his lovely gaze. The way he frowned up at He Yao made the man’s heart itch with desire. A little strawberry still attached to its stem, just waiting to be plucked, must look this tempting.

He Yao set the glass plate on the bedside table, then bent down and scooped his little strawberry out from under the covers. Ignoring his struggles, he drew him into his arms, then adjusted the pillows behind him until he was comfortably propped against the headboard.

He set the strawberries on Yuan Feixing’s lap, within easy reach of his free hand.

The glass plate was crystal clear, its surface rippling with a textured pattern. Flecks of gold leaf ran from around the middle to the bottom, making it look especially delicate and beautiful in the sunlight. Paired with the plump, scarlet strawberries beaded with water, it was enough to make Yuan Feixing’s mouth water. What a shame that He Yao, the pervert, was sitting right beside him, ruining his appetite.

Yuan Feixing lowered his eyes and slowly placed his left hand on the edge of the plate. For the first time, the young master found himself trapped in such an awkward, inescapable situation.

“Brother… are you still my brother?”

He Yao looked down at him, his features deep and gentle. At the question, he leaned over, picked out the biggest, reddest strawberry, and fed it to Yuan Feixing himself.

“Of course.”

Yuan Feixing’s eyes were red-rimmed. He wanted to demand an answer. If He Yao still considered him his little brother, why was he doing something so forbidden?

He shouldn’t have to face a predicament this impossible!

As a professional tasker, Yuan Feixing had mastered the art of summoning the right emotions. He’d barely managed to get out, “Then why…” when the plump, juicy strawberry burst between his teeth with a wet pop. A bead of red juice shot straight onto He Yao’s lips.

The coincidence was so astonishing that Yuan Feixing froze, staring blankly as He Yao’s lips curled. The man slowly licked the juice from the corner of his mouth.

Yuan Feixing’s face flared bright red. For a moment, he and the strawberry were a perfect match.

Seeing him stunned like that, He Yao found him unbearably cute. Smiling, he asked, “Was the strawberry too big?”

Yuan Feixing screamed inwardly. Aaaah! This is the most humiliating thing that’s ever happened to me!

The next moment, He Yao pressed a hand to the back of his head and slipped his tongue inside, deftly stealing the half-strawberry still in Yuan Feixing’s mouth.

He chewed it slowly, savoring the taste.

“Mmm. So sweet.”

His gaze wandered freely over Yuan Feixing’s lips. It was impossible to tell whether he meant the strawberry or the mouth.

Yuan Feixing: [I’m dead.]

System: [What happened? Did he steal the strawberry from your mouth and plant one on your neck?]

Yuan Feixing: [Get out of my head!]

He did not want that image in his mind!

Yuan Feixing opened and closed his mouth a few times before managing, dazedly, “Brother, you…”

He Yao sat down beside him. He picked up a plump, beautiful strawberry from Yuan Feixing’s lap and placed it directly between his still-parted lips.

Yuan Feixing had no idea what he was planning, but as the man drew closer, he tensed again. He tried to raise a hand to stop him, only for He Yao to pin it down.

“What are you doing?”

He Yao pressed his nose to Yuan Feixing’s. His dark eyes reflected the fear on Yuan Feixing’s face, and his voice turned even gentler. “Little Jia, you’ll always be the little brother I love most. And you’ll be the one I love for the rest of my life, too.”

He Yao bit into the strawberry, and a fierce, domineering kiss crashed down on him.

“Mmph!”

The sweet, milky fragrance of strawberry lingered between their lips, making Yuan Feixing’s already soft mouth even more tempting. He Yao was nearly driven mad by it.

He couldn’t hold back. He pinned Yuan Feixing hard against the headboard and took from him with ruthless hunger, plundering the sweetness in his mouth.

All of Yuan Feixing’s experience came from this man. The force of the kiss made him realize that He Yao had been holding back before. Now the relentless demand left him no chance to catch his breath.

“Mmph!” He bit down hard on He Yao’s lower lip. Only then did the man finally let him go. Yuan Feixing gasped, his lips glistening with saliva.

He Yao’s eyes darkened again. He caught Yuan Feixing’s lower lip between his teeth, and Yuan Feixing resisted through a haze. “Brother… please… don’t do this…”

But He Yao’s breathing only grew heavier and rougher. His lips and teeth moved lower, until the delicate hollow of Yuan Feixing’s throat was surrounded by warm, damp kisses. Yuan Feixing shuddered all over, letting out a faint, miserable whimper like a kitten.

He Yao hadn’t expected him to be so easily affected. His mouth grew bolder, his tongue stroking and sucking as his husky voice seemed to travel along Yuan Feixing’s skin and bones.

“Little Jia, what about this?”

Yuan Feixing shook his head, his voice breaking. “No, no…”

His slender, pale hand covered his eyes, hiding his shame. No amount of explanation could conceal the desire rising inside He Yao. The world Yuan Jia had known had crumbled completely.

He Yao kissed him again, from his red lips to his teeth, then every soft place inside his mouth. He pulled away Yuan Feixing’s hand, forcing him to witness the slaughter carried out in love’s name.

His hand was pried aside, and the poor little prey had stopped struggling.

The kiss was no longer gentle. He Yao’s tongue swept and seized, their breaths burning hot.

Suddenly, He Yao stopped, as if checking something once more. Then he gave a soft laugh.

“Mm?”

Yuan Feixing’s pupils shrank. The shock of it sent a surge of strength through him from who knew where. He shoved away the weight holding him down. The movement was so sudden that the glass plate on his lap tumbled to the floor, too.

Scarlet strawberries rolled everywhere. The plate landed upside down on the wool carpet with a dull thud.

He Yao seemed pleased by this unexpected discovery, but he also knew his little strawberry couldn’t take any more surprises today. He touched the corner of his lip, where Yuan Feixing had bitten him, and smiled faintly before turning to leave. Opening the door, he called to the housekeeper nearby, “Something spilled. Come clean it up.”

His gaze lifted and met Hong Manshu’s at the landing. He Yao gave her a slight nod. She smiled warmly and nodded back.

He Yao left. The housekeeper finished cleaning and left, too.

Only then did Yuan Feixing come back to his senses. He threw off the covers and looked down at the Little Yuan saying hello to him, his feelings a tangled mess.

System: [Well. So much for being straight.]

Yuan Feixing thought it over, then asked tentatively, [Was Yuan Jia gay?]

System: [Wake up. Yuan Jia’s the real straight one.]

Yuan Feixing buried his face in the pillow. If his right arm hadn’t been injured, he’d have been rolling around on the bed by now.

Yuan Feixing: [How did this happen?! I like girls! How did a man kiss me like that?! What kind of god-awful mission world is this?!]

System: [Don’t be sad. You get extra compensation every time you kiss, and Tongtong will apply for it right away for you~]

Yuan Feixing was at a loss. For the first time, money couldn’t soothe his troubles. He stared at the light fixture overhead, lost in a confusion unlike anything he’d ever felt before.

After a while, he picked up his phone again and typed a question into the search bar: What does it feel like when a straight man is kissed by another man?

“Thanks for asking. That bastard who dared kiss me has a whole mouthful of fake teeth now!”

“It’s disgusting. Girls are so soft!”

…

Amid a flood of disgusted responses, Yuan Feixing finally found one that sounded a little like his own experience: “A friend of mine says his heart races, and he even gets a reaction…”

The comments piled on, demanding more details!

Eventually, after enough people badgered him, the man replied bashfully: “I’ve turned. Don’t ask!”

Yuan Feixing: …

He stared at the circular light fixture overhead again.

Yuan Feixing: [Everyone in this world must be bent!]

System: [Is there a woman you like?]

Yuan Feixing: [Uh… not really.]

System: [Then you’re a spring-loaded straight guy.]

Yuan Feixing: [?]

System: [You look straight at first glance, but every layer curves into a circle.]

Yuan Feixing: […]

He had just turned off his phone when it lit up again. A gentle piano melody played as Shen Jiaming called. He got straight to the point.

“Little Jia, so you’re CEO He’s younger brother.”

Yuan Feixing really didn’t want to admit it, but he cleared his throat and answered, “Yes.”

Shen Jiaming chuckled. “You should’ve said so earlier. I nearly got the whole thing backwards.”

Yuan Feixing’s expression darkened. Remembering what people online had been saying, he asked, feeling at a loss, “Don’t tell me you thought He Yao was keeping me, too?”

Shen Jiaming burst out laughing again. “Of course not! You look like you were born into money. You don’t look like someone who’s being kept.”

Yuan Feixing’s temple twitched. You’re laughing way too hard for me to believe a word of that.

Once he finished laughing, Shen Jiaming turned serious and gave him the public-relations plan in a nutshell.

“We don’t respond.”

Yuan Feixing was lost. “Huh?”

His first thought was that He Yao, that bastard, wanted him to be completely ruined, then planned to overthrow the He family and keep him as a pretty little bird in a gilded cage. What a sinister plan!

Shen Jiaming explained patiently, “You’re brothers, and you’ve done nothing wrong, so you have nothing to hide. Since the mud’s already been slung, we might as well make good use of it.”

Yuan Feixing perked up, intrigued. Shen Jiaming continued, “Let the rumors spread for now. The more people criticize you, the better. Ideally, Wings of the Stars, Starshine Media, and even the He family should all get dragged through the mud.”

“The worse the backlash now, the harder you’ll fall. Once the truth comes out, the rebound will be that much stronger.”

Yuan Feixing understood and instinctively offered a couple of compliments.

Shen Jiaming laughed. “Just business as usual, just business as usual. For now, focus on recovering at home. Don’t respond to anything online.”

Now that He Yao had gone completely off the rails, Yuan Feixing couldn’t afford to give up his plan to take refuge in the entertainment industry. He asked at once, “What about the show?”

“Rest easy. Your recovery comes first. You can skip the show, though we haven’t made a final decision yet. We’ll see how things develop.”

Yuan Feixing agreed. Just before hanging up, Shen Jiaming added, “I didn’t know you were CEO He’s brother before. I was a little hard on you. Don’t hold it against me, okay?”

Yuan Feixing laughed. “Don’t worry, Brother Shen. From now on, just treat me like ordinary Yuan Jia. I’m not some delicate young master.”

Even as he said it, his tongue hurt. What a shameless thing to say. Shen Jiaming chuckled, said he had other things to take care of, and hung up.

The Notification Chime suddenly sounded.

[Dear Host, the Contingency Compensation Fund you requested has been deposited in full. Please check your account.]

Yuan Feixing immediately opened the Control Interface. He stared blankly at the long string of digits in his balance.

Then he said to the System, [I’ve made up my mind.]

Yuan Feixing continued, [Only an idiot turns down a chance to make money.]

Yuan Feixing sent three messages in a row: [So what if he’s a pervert? That’s a whole lot of cash!]

It was the first time the System had encountered a host who’d deliberately talked himself around for the sake of money. It offered its sincere approval.

[Well, that’s… pretty impressive.]

Yuan Feixing: [Thanks for the compliment.]

System: […]