[Rich lady hugs!!!]
[Upstairs Teacher, check out my CP fanart!!]
Yi Chen replied to the group messages one by one, admired the fanart submitted by artists, saved a full page of CP fanfics, switched between major Dawn CP platforms, and even bought promotions for analysis posts he loved.
His expression stayed perfectly calm, but inside, he was exploding with joy.
Ship it—all of you, ship it hard! I’m making you ship it!!!
Didn’t you hear?
Yu Xi didn’t deny he still loved him!!!
No denial of love meant he still loved him!!!
He! Still! Loved! Him!
–
The next morning, Yu Xi was woken by Guan Zifan’s call.
“Ancestral boss, where’d you go? Xiao Chen said you didn’t come home all night? You didn’t go get wasted somewhere and get tricked into bed, did you? I know you probably wouldn’t, but people might try something shady. Don’t worry—speak up if you’ve been wronged. Guan Ge’s got your back.”
“I’m fine…” Yu Xi wasn’t fully awake, his voice groggy. “No need to worry. I’m great. Phone was on silent last night, didn’t hear…”
Guan Zifan’s tone shifted instantly: “Fine my ass—get up! Where’s your sense of time?! It’s almost time! Are we shooting the D·A·Y promo or not?!”
Yu Xi: “…”
Meanwhile, Liu Yun was looking for Yi Chen too.
Yi Chen had just woken up and groggily answered the phone. Liu Yun’s voice came through: “Why aren’t you here yet?”
“Isn’t it still early…?”
“Not early.” Liu Yun said. “Promo shooting starts in an hour. Where are you? From your voice, you haven’t even gotten up?”
Yi Chen bolted upright in bed. He checked the time—damn, overslept! Forgot to set the alarm last night!
The frantic rustling on the other end said it all. Liu Yun sighed lightly: “Stayed up late? Alright, I’ll have Xiao Liu come pick you up. Get up and freshen up first.”
The call ended. Yi Chen kicked on his slippers and rushed to the bathroom.
He opened the door to find Yu Xi, equally hurried.
Yu Xi wore the pajamas Yi Chen had prepared the night before, hair messy with a few strands sticking up. An eye mask hung around his neck, and he clutched two face towels, facing off with Yi Chen at the bathroom door.
Yu Xi: “I go first!”
Yi Chen: “I’m in a rush—me first!”
Yu Xi: “Use the master bedroom toilet!”
Yi Chen: “There’s only one.”
Yu Xi: “Wait, a three-bedroom has only one bathroom?”
Yi Chen: “Why would I need more living alone?”
Hearing this, Yu Xi looked at Yi Chen puzzled.
First, the apartment was clearly a three-bedroom, two-living-room, two-bath setup. Second, he’d slept in the study last night, while Yi Chen had used the guest room—from the doorway, it was obvious Yi Chen used it regularly. So what about the master?
Yu Xi’s gaze drifted to the tightly shut master bedroom door: “You don’t use the master? Impossible. What’s in there?”
Yi Chen stiffened: “Nothing.”
“Then I can use the toilet inside? I’ll freshen up there.”
As Yu Xi moved toward it, Yi Chen grabbed him: “You can’t go in… Fine, bathroom’s yours. Go ahead—I’ll change first.”
Yu Xi eyed him suspiciously, but Yi Chen didn’t give him a chance to question further. He shoved him into the bathroom and slammed the door—”bang.”
Hearing the water start inside, Yi Chen finally exhaled and headed to his room, mentally planning to add more locks to the master—lest Yu Xi pry them next time he wasn’t looking.
Halfway there, Yi Chen remembered something.
His bathroom was dry-wet separated, with the shower area stepped down two levels. Lately, the upstairs pipe had been leaking. He’d arranged with the neighbor for a plumber in the next couple days. The toilet probably still had some pooled water from above—slippery.
“Be careful,” Yi Chen shouted toward the bathroom. “There’s been a leak from upstairs lately. There’s probably some water on the steps—watch out, don’t slip… fall…”
Before he finished speaking, there was a dull “thud,” followed by Yu Xi’s howl: “Fuck—”
In the study.
Yu Xi sat on the bed while Yi Chen half-squatted on the floor, checking his injury. A home medical kit sat beside them.
The fall wasn’t too severe—no broken bones—but it wasn’t minor either. His ankle was sprained and swollen, and his calf seemed to have cramped up from the twist, the muscle taut and painful to the touch.
Yu Xi looked at Yi Chen with some resentment. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“Who knew you’d be so careless?” Yi Chen carefully cradled Yu Xi’s calf and gently kneaded the muscle to pinpoint the strained spot. “Does it hurt here?”
“Hiss.” It hurt a lot. Yu Xi couldn’t help shrinking back.
Yi Chen roughly located the area and said to Yu Xi, “Good thing there’s no bone damage. I’ve fallen here before myself—it’s nothing serious.”
He took out some medicated oil, unscrewed the cap, and a cool, spicy medicinal scent filled the air. Yi Chen poured the oil into his palm. “I’ll rub it in for you. This stuff works well—you won’t feel the pain in a bit. Give it a try first, and if it doesn’t help, we can go to the hospital. Take off your pants for now.”
Yu Xi: “?”
In an instant, countless educational videos with injury scenes flashed through his mind. He grew alert. “Why do I need to take off my pants?”
Yi Chen looked up helplessly. “Your pants are too tight—it’s inconvenient to apply the oil. Change into some shorts. Here, those over there.”
“Oh…” Yu Xi felt a bit awkward and hurried to grab the shorter pants from nearby. Yi Chen turned his back voluntarily, and Yu Xi quickly changed. He nudged Yi Chen with his toe to signal it was okay to turn around.
The pants Yi Chen had prepared weren’t long, and with Yu Xi wearing an extremely loose short-sleeved shirt, they rode up even further when he sat down, tucking under the hem. When Yi Chen turned around, he was momentarily dazed by the sight of those pale, slender legs.
Yu Xi’s legs were very good-looking—long, straight, with evenly toned muscles.
Yi Chen cleared his throat and gently gripped Yu Xi’s ankle with his oil-slicked hand. “I’ll rub it now. Tell me if it hurts, and I’ll go lighter.”
–
Xiao Liu was fast. From the time Liu Yun contacted him to when he arrived at Yi Chen’s door, only about ten minutes had passed.
When he opened the door, the living room was empty.
He had already knocked and rung the doorbell, but there was no response—he had no idea what Yi Chen was doing.
As Yi Chen’s personal assistant, Xiao Liu naturally had the door code. After waiting outside for a bit and getting no reply to his calls or messages, he punched in the code and entered.
Yi Chen wasn’t in the living room. The bathroom and bedroom doors were closed, but one door was slightly ajar, and a faint minty scent mixed with a spicy aroma wafted out from the crack.
Yi Chen’s gentle voice drifted out too, coaxing like he was soothing someone: “Does it hurt when I touch here?”
At that moment, inside the room, Yi Chen was carefully massaging the strained muscle on Yu Xi’s calf with the medicated oil. “Tell me if it hurts—don’t hold back. Is this pressure okay?”
Xiao Liu: “?”
“Hiss… lighter.” Another voice responded, nasal and a bit hoarse.
A spot on his calf hurt more than the rest. Yu Xi instinctively pulled away, his tone curt. “Don’t touch there!”
Xiao Liu: “???”
He didn’t dare make a sound. Holding his breath, he quietly edged toward the source.
The closer he got, the stronger the spicy, cooling scent became.
Yi Chen poured more oil into his palm and rubbed it in, saying softly, “You know, this oil really does smell spicy. It feels hot the moment it touches my skin—like my palm’s on fire.”
Yu Xi felt it deeply. The oil was effective for sprains—after Yi Chen rubbed for a while, the strained muscle didn’t hurt as much, and the ankle pain had eased considerably. It worked, sure, but it burned too. “It is spicy. It burns even more once it’s rubbed in.”
Xiao Liu: “!”
Rubbed in?!
Holy shit, no wonder Yi Chen slept in today.
So he was hiding a lover?
Kinky. Using some stimulating essential oil that smelled intense even from here.
Once the massage was about done, Yu Xi moved his leg—it felt much better. No more muscle pain, no ankle ache. Walking was definitely fine; it probably wouldn’t delay the shoot later.
He was about to stand when Yi Chen suddenly said, “Hey, wait.”
Perhaps scraped during the fall, the inside of Yu Xi’s knee had a shallow abrasion with a trace of blood. Yi Chen fetched some alcohol, disinfected the scrape, then turned to the kit for a bandage. Half-kneeling in front of Yu Xi, he applied it with utmost care and seriousness.
Yu Xi looked at the tiny wound on his knee. “…Does that even need one?”
Xiao Liu: “!”
Does that even need one?!
This dialogue was getting more and more… provocative…
Xiao Liu froze.
The door crack wasn’t big, but from his angle, he had a perfect view of the scene inside.
Yu Xi—it had to be Yu Xi! He’d been Yi Chen’s assistant long enough that he could never mistake that face!
Right now! At this moment! Yu Xi was at Yi Chen’s place. The two were in the room—Yu Xi on the bed, Yi Chen half-kneeling before him, intently staring down between his legs (patching the wound on his knee).
Xiao Liu: “!!!!!!!!”
The scene was too shocking. His legs gave out, and he plopped onto the floor with a loud “thud.”
Startled, Yu Xi and Yi Chen hurried out of the room to check.
There sat Xiao Liu, who had somehow entered. He was on the floor, trying to bury himself in it, trembling as he covered his face like he’d seen something he shouldn’t. His tone was panicked: “You two keep going, keep going—don’t mind me! I didn’t see anything, didn’t hear anything!!”
Yu Xi: “?”
Yi Chen: “?”
