Chapter 15: Does He Seduce Others the Way He Seduces Me?

After Sister Chen finished handing over with the magazine team for tomorrow’s shoot and set an appointment with the reality show director, she charged over to the Solaron-X dormitory.

She first dragged Duan Qiong, who was reading a cookbook, out.

“My little ancestor.” Sister Chen knitted her brows, jabbing his shoulder fiercely with her finger. “Solaron-X literally just debuted. Are you trying to ruin this family?”

Duan Qiong didn’t dodge or flinch, standing as steady as a mountain.

“Ruin Solaron-X…?” He looked down at Sister Chen, sounding genuinely confused. “But what did I do?”

Don’t you know what you did yourself?

Who posted that random Weibo? Who walked around half-dressed like a peacock spreading its tail?

But there wasn’t a drop of pretense in Duan Qiong’s confusion. Sister Chen, who couldn’t exactly spell it out, was immediately choked speechless by his bewilderment.

She reorganized her words before speaking. “Why wasn’t that Weibo of yours last night reviewed by the team staff?”

“Because I have a sense of discretion. That Weibo didn’t have a single thing that could be faulted.” Duan Qiong said coolly. “As for the hot search content—that’s just CP fans running wild. It’s already strayed far from what the post actually said.”

Sister Chen: …

Actually, she also knew Duan Qiong’s Weibo had no ulterior motive; it was purely fans amusing themselves. It’s just that Solaron-X was so popular right now that any rustle of wind could stir up a storm.

But knowing was one thing. Hearing Duan Qiong explain so calmly, the fire in Sister Chen’s heart still wouldn’t go out.

She scanned Duan Qiong from head to toe, her gaze landing on the cookbook still in his hands.

“You’re a singer! An idol! Why are you studying recipes? Are you entering the Cooking King Competition or something?” Sister Chen grabbed the cookbook out of Duan Qiong’s hands and flipped through it noisily. “You should eat fewer midnight snacks from now on. If you have that kind of time, spend it writing more songs.”

Duan Qiong was very talented in music—he could write both lyrics and melodies. In their past life, those hugely popular songs on Solaron-X’s albums that had spread like wildfire were all his work.

But…

Duan Qiong looked down, taking the cookbook back from Sister Chen. “I haven’t had much inspiration lately.”

It wasn’t that he lacked inspiration.

It was just that Duan Qiong had realized the lyrics he was writing now were all those maudlin, heartbreak-ballad types—the kind of song only an idiot who’d been dumped eight times by the same person would write.

After a pause, Duan Qiong said, “Besides, studying recipes is nice.”

“You… fine, Duan Qiong, I’ll leave you alone for now.” Sister Chen said. “But if you do anything out of line again, I really will have to rein you in.”

Duan Qiong: …

How exactly would she rein him in?

Just as Sister Chen’s words fell, the phone in her pocket rang. Seeing the caller, a smile immediately appeared on her face. “Hello, Chairman…”

After answering the call, Sister Chen silently waved Duan Qiong off, telling him to head back inside.

Shutting the door on Sister Chen and that old man’s voice on the phone, Duan Qiong looked up to see Yu Huaili and Jiang Qing with their heads nearly touching, sneakily eating cherry tomatoes.

The cherry tomatoes were ones Duan Qiong had ordered on his phone after reading the cookbook. He’d planned to make a vegetable salad at noon.

Duan Qiong narrowed his eyes, then forcibly squeezed himself between Yu Huaili and Jiang Qing, separating the two whose shoulders were practically glued together.

“These aren’t washed yet.” Duan Qiong said. “I just put them in the fruit bowl for now.”

Yu Huaili: …

He looked at the cherry tomato in his hand and said, a little pained, “Were they sprayed with pesticides…? Forget it, I’ll go rinse my mouth.”

Watching Yu Huaili head to the kitchen to get water, Duan Qiong swept a dissatisfied glance at Jiang Qing. “Why are you eating so many?”

Jiang Qing: ?

Hello? What kind of tone was that from Duan Qiong?

Like Jiang Qing was a pig waiting to be butchered, and eating too much meant getting weighed and slaughtered.

“I only ate a few, okay? Look at you being all stingy.” Jiang Qing clicked his tongue twice, extremely unconvinced. “And your boyfriend ate way more than me—why don’t you say something to him? You’re so biased.”

Hearing this, Duan Qiong froze for two seconds.

For some reason, he didn’t rush to refute the word “boyfriend” Jiang Qing had used. Instead, he gave Jiang Qing a condescending look. “Are you eighteen too? Do you need to grow?”

Jiang Qing: …

As if annoyed by how much effort it took to talk to Jiang Qing, Duan Qiong didn’t wait for his response. He picked up the few remaining cherry tomatoes and took them to the kitchen to wash.

“No need to drink that much water.” After washing them, Duan Qiong looked at Yu Huaili, who had poured himself another glass of water. “Are you still hungry? Should I cook?”

As he spoke, Duan Qiong tried to hand the cherry tomatoes to Yu Huaili.

But Yu Huaili lowered his head slightly, bit the bright red fruit straight from Duan Qiong’s hand, then curved his eyes and looked up at Duan Qiong.

Looking at Yu Huaili’s glittering eyes, Duan Qiong was stunned for a moment. He stayed in that position for a long time without letting go.

“Are you really trying to feed me?” Seeing Duan Qiong stop moving, Yu Huaili wrinkled his nose and mumbled, “If you don’t let go, I’m going to bite your hand.”

Feeling the tip of Yu Huaili’s tongue sweep across his fingertip, followed by his sharp little canine tooth pressing against his knuckle, Duan Qiong—whose gaze was locked on Yu Huaili’s lips—finally snapped out of it like a man waking from a dream. He let go as if electrocuted.

…The bitten fingertip was a little numb.

The damp fingertip twitched uncontrollably. Duan Qiong hid it behind him, looking at Yu Huaili, whose expression was perfectly natural. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and he couldn’t help opening his mouth. “You…”

Yu Huaili swallowed the fruit, raising an eyebrow at Duan Qiong, who was clearly holding back words. “Hm? What were you going to say, Bro?”

Duan Qiong: …

Just then, he had almost lost control and asked why Yu Huaili’s movements were so practiced and natural.

Was it because other men had fed him like this too? Had he done this same thing to other men? Did he seduce other men the way he seduced him…?

Duan Qiong desperately wanted to grab Yu Huaili by the shoulders and ask who those men were, wanted to tell him—did he know those men would ruin his bright future?

But once he realized what he was actually thinking, Duan Qiong’s expression subtly turned ugly.

He and Yu Huaili were inseparable. Naturally, he knew no man could be closer to Yu Huaili than he was.

Why was he thinking about things that never happened?

He was going crazy…

Within a few breaths, Duan Qiong’s expression returned to normal. He glanced down at the sharp little tooth mark on his thumb knuckle and said quietly, “Like a little dog.”

Although Duan Qiong was just standing there quietly, Yu Huaili somehow felt that the emotions Duan Qiong was suppressing were surging violently.

He had no idea what Duan Qiong was orgasming over inside his head.

“What are you doing, secretly cursing me?” Yu Huaili wiped his hands, looked up at Jiang Qing who had wandered into the kitchen, and said casually, “Bro, can you stop going online and shipping random CPs?”

Just a moment ago, when Jiang Qing was looking at his phone, he’d teased Yu Huaili countless times—first calling Duan Qiong his boyfriend, then calling Xi Xingheng his little boyfriend, then saying that left him as the fourth wheel.

Jiang Qing said carelessly, “I was just saying it casually. Why do you have to take it so seriously? I said the same thing to Duan Qiong just now, and he didn’t take it seriously.”

Just as Jiang Qing’s words fell, Sister Chen pulled open the kitchen door.

She swept her gaze over the three of them and frowned. “What are you all crowding in the kitchen for? Right—you have a magazine shoot tomorrow, but we’ve changed our flights. This afternoon, the team staff will head over first.”

After a pause, Sister Chen said, “Because the Chairman just called me. In a little while, the station director of our local channel and the director of ‘Entertainment Broadcast’ are having a meal… the Chairman will be there too.”

“Entertainment Broadcast,” full name “Entertainment Star Weekly,” was a variety show that had endured for a decade. Whenever celebrities had promotional events, they’d go on “Entertainment Broadcast” to promote.

Looking at the silent group, Sister Chen sighed. She reached out and squeezed Jiang Qing’s shoulder, her tone softening. “Kids, there’s a first time for everything. Getting to know more people isn’t a bad thing. Even though it’s the Chairman and the station director, relax—it’s definitely not one of those shady, corrupt drinking parties. Treat it as a simple dinner.”

Sister Chen said, “Besides, you’re going as the Chairman’s guests. They won’t make things difficult for you.”

Although Sister Chen had said that, Yu Huaili blinked and gave her a heads-up. “Sis, I can’t drink at the table. My tolerance is terrible. Two glasses and I’m out cold.”

This was true. He wasn’t lying.

If he drank, he really would turn into a puppy.

He sighed internally, thinking—most of his failed missions could be traced back to him drinking.

After Yu Huaili said that, Sister Chen hadn’t reacted yet, but Duan Qiong’s brows uncontrollably knitted first.

In his past life, Duan Qiong almost never attended such drinking parties unless it was absolutely necessary. After Solaron-X achieved fame and success, Duan Qiong went even less.

But Yu Huaili probably loved going, because Duan Qiong remembered he was often photographed by paparazzi.

But now Yu Huaili was saying his alcohol tolerance was bad… At those parties, did he often get drunk?

At the thought, irritation and displeasure flickered in Duan Qiong’s eyes. He couldn’t help but gently wrap his hand around Yu Huaili’s wrist.

Seeing Yu Huaili look up at him with puzzled, curved eyes, Duan Qiong thought:

Never again.

He wouldn’t let Yu Huaili get drunk in front of other men.

Sister Chen was right. At the drinking party, Solaron-X was essentially no different from mascots.

After all, if the station director were coming, it couldn’t be because he thought this just-debuted boy group could make him money. They were there for Wen Zheng—or perhaps also for Xi Xingheng.

So when Wen Zheng heard Yu Huaili say he couldn’t drink, he just smiled and whispered a few words to the attendant standing nearby.

Before long, the attendant brought over a glass of warm milk and a glass of coconut milk.

Yu Huaili, who had never liked drinking milk: …

He’d rather be drinking alcohol.

Yu Huaili curved his eyes, said “thank you” to the attendant, but by the time that glass of milk went cold, he’d only taken a single small sip.

And with Sister Chen watching him like a hawk from the side, he didn’t dare eat much of the dishes either.

The party was more than half over. Yu Huaili, unable to stand the smell of tobacco in the private room anymore, made an excuse to go to the bathroom and instead went to the stairwell’s ventilation opening to play with his phone.

While Yu Huaili was scrolling through low-calorie videos and chatting with the viewers in his live stream, a pair of black leather shoes suddenly entered his field of vision.

He looked up and met Wen Zheng’s eyes.

A sense of helplessness—like being caught slacking off by his boss—rose in Yu Huaili’s heart. “…Boss.”

Hiss. Did Wen Zheng walk with no sound at all?

“Do the dishes not suit your taste?” A faint smell of alcohol lingered around Wen Zheng. He smiled lightly, his tone as familiar as an elder fussing over a junior. “I noticed you didn’t eat much, or drink anything.”

Yu Huaili glanced from Wen Zheng, standing before him, to the corner he was leaning against.

Even though it felt really strange, Yu Huaili explained, “It’s not that. It’s just that we have a magazine shoot tomorrow, and I’m worried about how I’ll look on camera.”

“Ah…” The ventilation opening in the stairwell was dim. Wen Zheng’s gaze fell lightly on the young boy’s face.

He narrowed his eyes as if to get a better look at Yu Huaili’s features, and took a slight step forward. Curving his eyes, he said, “You don’t need to worry about that. You have a great image.”

Yu Huaili could already smell the faint alcohol on Wen Zheng. He said nothing, but inside he wanted to leave.

Perhaps sensing Yu Huaili’s silence and discomfort, Wen Zheng took a light step back. “Sorry. Do you find talking with me boring?”

Ah—so Wen Zheng thought the two of them were having a chat? Yu Huaili thought they were playing question-and-answer.

Yu Huaili blinked and gave face. “Not at all.”

“Good, glad to hear it. I’ve been wanting to connect more with you young people…”

Wen Zheng’s words were cut off by a voice.

“Yu Huaili.”

The night outside had already swallowed the darkness. Duan Qiong stood at the stairwell entrance, looking at them. The warm, dim light of the corridor fell across Duan Qiong’s face, only making his expression look even more gloomy.

Duan Qiong walked down the stairs step by step, his footsteps echoing in the empty stairwell. He kept his eyes locked on Yu Huaili with such single-minded focus that it was as if Wen Zheng didn’t exist in that space at all.

“I’ve been looking for you for ages.” Duan Qiong narrowed his eyes and gave a soft smile. “What are you doing here?”