Brother, Don’t Delete Me! 54

Chapter 54: The Game

Due to the immense popularity of the previous incident, most Luminary fans already knew who Luo Jing was and what he looked like before they became fans.

This boy held a special significance for Luminary. Even new fans who didn’t know him would be informed by older fans. So, after seeing who Xie You gave the flower to, the entire venue erupted in an uproar.

All the staff knew that Young Master Luo was coming today, so the director also thought this was a specially designed segment and thoughtfully focused the camera on their future boss’s face. Even in the dim lighting, his delicate features were clearly visible.

After Luo Jing waved at the camera, the atmosphere in the venue reached a new high.

After waiting for a while, seeing that the camera wasn’t moving away, he smiled helplessly, with a slightly pleading expression, and gestured for the camera to switch to someone else.

Even so, the director, risking his job, stubbornly stayed on him for another three seconds before reluctantly switching the shot.

The camera then focused on another member, who was holding up a poster—a popular meme of Xu Xing.

Xu Xing, who had been interacting with the fans, instantly teleported to that member at an inhuman speed, trying to block the poster with comical movements.

So everyone’s attention was diverted again.

Luo Jing breathed a sigh of relief, then glanced at the time, thinking it was time for him to leave.

Looking up again, he saw Xie You still standing there.

Luo Jing: “?”

So he waved at Xie You.

Xie You seemed to snap back to reality, his lips moving, as if he wanted to say something.

But he had already been standing there for a long time, and staying any longer would be too conspicuous—even though the girls behind Luo Jing were seizing this rare opportunity to take pictures.

Luo Jing couldn’t think of anything that needed to be said on such an important occasion and felt he might be overthinking it. Xie You wasn’t trying to talk to him, but was simply spacing out.

After a pause, Xie You pursed his lips and left.

Fans from other sections who had been peeking over gradually looked away, and everything slowly returned to normal.

The girl sitting next to Luo Jing, having taken enough pictures, finally decided to take a break. She put her camera on her lap, briefly reviewed a few shots, and then turned it off with satisfaction.

Hearing a slight movement beside her, she looked over and saw Luo Jing on his phone, seemingly calling a taxi.

“Are you leaving, Luo Luo?” she asked, a hint of regret in her voice.

“Yes, I have something to do,” Luo Jing replied, then smiled at her. “Thank you for the pictures, they’re very good.”

Seeing his smile, the girl suddenly felt a surge of maternal affection: “Has your car arrived? Be careful when you’re alone.”

“…Okay, it hasn’t arrived yet,” Luo Jing chuckled. “Your concert should end quite late, right? Be careful when you go back too.”

The girl agreed, then paused, looked at the yellow rose in Luo Jing’s hand, and said with a hint of envy, “Can I take a look at that flower? I want to take a picture.”

“Of course,” Luo Jing readily handed her the rose. “Here, you can have it.”

“O-oh?” the girl’s eyes widened.

“Mm, you take it. My car is almost here.” Luo Jing glanced at his phone screen. “It shouldn’t have been given to me in the first place.”

“If you don’t have space for it, you can leave it on my seat. No one else is coming,” he added, looking at the girl’s bags.

The girl took the rose, stunned. Luo Jing said goodbye to her friendly and then left.

He didn’t finish work early today.

After signing the contract, the other party insisted on having dinner with Huai Dan.

Since the business trip was to a neighboring city, neither too close nor too far, and it was the weekend, Huai Dan would usually just book a hotel room and return the next day.

But things were different now.

Business negotiations were mentally draining. On the high-speed train, Huai Dan closed his eyes to rest.

His phone vibrated. Huai Dan instinctively picked it up, glanced at the message from Ye Lin, then turned off the screen.

Before the screen went black, he glanced at the time. It was already 7 p.m., and the train was about to arrive at the station. He quickly calculated that he would be home around 8 p.m….

The other person seemed persistent and sent several more messages.

Huai Dan: “…”

He unlocked his phone.

Ye Lin had forwarded him a post.

The thumbnail was blurry, but he still recognized Luo Jing in the picture.

Huai Dan’s fingers tapped the screen, and the page switched to Weibo.

The picture was taken from the side, the composition professional. The focus was on two people, one squatting on stage, the other reaching out from below.

The center of the image was a yellow rose, illuminated by a spotlight.

The photographer’s timing was perfect, capturing the moment the two exchanged the rose, their fingers touching on the flower’s stem. Everyone else in the picture was blurred, creating a strong sense of atmosphere.

The boy on stage had exquisite makeup and a calm demeanor, naturally attracting everyone’s attention under the stage lights.

The boy below the stage was equally eye-catching. Unlike Xie You, even though he was wearing simple clothes without any extra decorations, his handsome appearance still drew attention, creating a strong contrast with Xie You and adding a sense of story to the picture.

This photo was taken by a fansite manager who had been following Xie You since his debut. There was no caption, but it easily trended online.

The post had already received tens of thousands of reposts, likes, and comments, and the numbers were still rising.

Clicking on the hashtag, he saw countless fans who were at the concert had captured this scene, both from the big screen and from the audience. But this picture was the most representative and had been reposted by countless marketing accounts, appearing everywhere on the trending topics list.

Huai Dan lowered his eyes, closed the app, and switched back to WeChat.

His chat with Luo Jing still stopped at his “Have fun” message. He opened the chat window and typed a few words, but didn’t send them.

A new message popped up, from Ye Lin.

Ye Lin: [What’s going on with this little celebrity?]

Ye Lin: [Is this part of the show? I have to say, this picture is quite good, Luo Jing is very photogenic.]

Ye Lin: [I watched the video, the little celebrity seems a bit off. Don’t tell me he’s like you too?]

H: [Not the same.]

Ye Lin sent a question mark, but Huai Dan didn’t reply.

The driver was waiting for him at the exit of the high-speed train station. Huai Dan listened to the news that Luo Jing hadn’t returned home yet, nodded, and had him start the car.

It was completely dark, and during rush hour, the traffic on the overpass moved slowly, the taillights forming a long, red river of light.

The wind had started picking up when he left the station, and now it was drizzling, the car windows gradually getting wet.

H: [What time does it end?]

H: [There will be traffic later, remember to tell me in advance, I’ll have the driver pick you up.]

The messages were sent five minutes ago and hadn’t been replied to yet.

He was probably watching the concert and hadn’t had time to check his phone.

Huai Dan stared at the black screen of his phone for a while, a sense of unease and a subtle pang of jealousy rising in his heart.

Perhaps not so subtle.

This feeling was overwhelming and unfamiliar, and he frowned slightly.

“How long until we arrive?” Huai Dan asked, lowering the partition.

The driver looked surprised but replied truthfully, “Mr. Huai, there’s a bit of a traffic jam, it might take another half an hour.”

Huai Dan nodded: “Try to be as quick as possible.”

This was the first time his boss had urged him to hurry. He had never done so before, even for important business matters. The driver found it novel and thought he should buy a lottery ticket tonight.

He felt that Huai Dan must have something very important to do, so he also became fully focused, driving as quickly as possible within the speed limit.

When they arrived home, it was pouring rain. The elevator ascended slowly. Huai Dan, wearing a light trench coat and carrying a briefcase, lowered his eyelashes, his expression indifferent.

He suddenly felt like he was going crazy.

Luo Jing hadn’t returned home yet, so there wasn’t much point in him rushing back.

But the urgency he felt was inexplicable.

He suddenly recalled a similar night from the past.

At that time, his position hadn’t been fully secured yet, and an uncle had criticized his proposal during an afternoon meeting.

Although the criticism was baseless, and Huai Dan had calmly refuted and resolved the issue, he still felt unhappy.

Because this uncle had been quite nice to him when his parents were still alive.

He had been in a bad mood all afternoon. Standing in the elevator, he received a message from Luo Jing.

AAA.Vocabulary Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [[Picture]]

AAA.Vocabulary Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [Brother, guess what this is.]

The picture showed a dish of food with a rather complex color scheme, making it difficult to identify the ingredients. He seemed to see some green peppers and maybe some mango pieces.

H: [?]

AAA.Vocabulary Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [This is a new dish from the cafeteria today, some kind of vegetarian medley. It’s super disgusting.]

Huai Dan chuckled helplessly: [If it looks disgusting, why did you order it?]

Luo Jing was silent for a moment.

AAA.Vocabulary Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [I was too curious.]

Huai Dan couldn’t help but laugh.

But his mood seemed to have improved a bit.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt that falling for Luo Jing was actually quite natural.

Perhaps it was the subtle emotions he felt when Luo Jing left, or perhaps it was the teary-eyed hug. In any case, by the time he truly realized it, he already wanted him to be his alone.

He wanted to see what Luo Jing, solely his, uniquely his, would be like.

And he wouldn’t allow any other possibilities.

He had played many games, but this was the one he wanted to win the most, and also… the one he was most cautious about.

The elevator doors opened, and Huai Dan walked to his door, paused, then opened it.

As expected, the living room was dark. Huai Dan closed the door, his hand hovering over the light switch. He suddenly didn’t want to turn on the lights.

In the darkness, the city lights twinkled outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the entire city within view.

He lowered his gaze and put down his briefcase.

A message notification sounded, not from his phone. Huai Dan froze and instinctively looked towards the source of the sound.

The phone screen lit up slightly from the new message. The boy lying on the sofa was still wearing the red hoodie he had worn today, seemingly fast asleep.

As if disturbed by the light, or perhaps having slept enough, Luo Jing frowned slightly, then opened his eyes.

Seeing the person standing in front of him, he froze slightly, his voice still laced with sleepiness: “Brother, you’re back?”

“Mm.” Huai Dan looked down at him, silent for a moment, then reached out and smoothed his messy hair.

Luo Jing let him, his bangs slightly long, brushing against his eyes, and he instinctively closed them.

“Where’s the flower?” he heard Huai Dan ask in the darkness.