Chapter 2: Arrogant Big Star

It was too unbearable. In the end, Ji Xingci still tilted his head back and swallowed the pill.

Maybe this time it would work.

But it didn’t.

Not even a little.

It only got worse.

Ji Xingci pressed his head against the wall, the ends of his hair sticking to his neck. His broad back tensed, veins bulging along his arms.

But he still couldn’t get it out.

He tilted his head back in despair.

Suddenly, the image flashed in his mind of 05 wrapped in a bath towel, water dripping from his hair as he drew close.

“Damn it!”

Ji Xingci slammed his fist against the wall in frustration. He finally gave up completely. Face dark, he stormed off for a cold shower.

He wasn’t sure if it was the meds, but the effect wasn’t strong enough. He had to grab another box of ice.

His fingers turned red from the chill. Goosebumps prickled across his skin.

Ji Xingci gritted his teeth, his mood plunging once more.

When he’d left that morning, he’d thought pursuing Xu Qing was nothing but a hassle.

But now he reconsidered.

No. He had to find out if Xu Qing could solve his problem.

If he could…

He had to make it happen.

He just couldn’t take it anymore.

Water droplets trailed from Ji Xingci’s bangs onto his eyelashes. The biting cold morphed into sharp pain, parting his lips slightly and dilating his pupils.

Thud.

The ice pack slipped from his hand and hit the floor. Ji Xingci slumped against the wall, letting out a heavy breath. His eyes reddened.

Screw it. He might as well call Xu Qing in to be his personal chef.

He had to ditch that annoying roommate no matter what.

…

The next day, Lin Wu went with Xu Qing to deliver the boxed lunches.

The little sis handling the handoff hadn’t expected two handsome guys to step out of the car. She shot Lin Wu a surprised glance.

“Is he your friend?”

Xu Qing nodded. “Yeah.”

“He’s so handsome, birthmark and all.”

The little sis gestured wildly, at a loss for words. “But he really looks good.”

Lin Wu’s features were perfectly sculpted, like something out of a 3D model. He was tall, too, and hauling the boxes brought out the defined lines of his arms.

Anyone who bothered to look closely would see the birthmark hardly mattered.

Hearing the praise for 05, Xu Qing couldn’t help glancing over himself. He remembered how 05 used to feel insecure about it.

But damn, he looked good now.

Lin Wu’s eyes curved in a smile.

The production team had booked out an entire five-star hotel for the actors’ downtime.

The two delivered all the lunches and double-checked the count. They were about to head out when Xu Qing got held up.

“Sir… um…”

“Mr. Ji wants you to bring his lunch to him separately.”

“Oh, right, got it.”

Xu Qing’s surprise and fluster were obvious as he fished the deluxe box out of the insulated bag.

Thanks to Ji Xingci’s words the day before, he’d made this one himself.

Lin Wu glanced down and saw him staring blankly at the box, clearly nervous. He recalled the original plot where Xu Qing’s love went unrequited, nearly driving him to jump.

“I’ll go with you.”

Deeper into the corridor stood Ji Xingci’s resting room—the biggest one.

He sat before a row of vanity mirrors, still in his ancient costume with the male lead’s makeup intact.

Ji Xingci was undeniably striking. Even in the cutthroat entertainment world, his face earned him “godly visuals” status.

Anyone who looked at him might fall for that face.

Right now, a head of silver hair made his features seem even more ethereal. A loose black robe with subtle dark patterns draped over him.

His broad shoulders and long legs filled it out perfectly, though his icy expression made him look more villain than hero.

Lin Wu waited outside.

Xu Qing went in alone. As he handed over the lunch box, Ji Xingci glanced at him and seized his hand, stating as if it were the most natural thing.

“Help me out with something.”

Outside, Lin Wu counted to ten. Without hesitation, he shoved the door open—just in time to see the protagonist gong and shou standing close.

Ji Xingci had been hesitating, his hand hovering toward Xu Qing’s waist.

He looked up and spotted Lin Wu in the doorway.

After lugging boxes earlier, Lin Wu sported a ponytail, sweat glistening on his collarbone. His T-shirt clung to his chest.

That splash of red birthmark on his pale skin looked even more grating.

Ji Xingci recoiled a step and fixed him with an angry glare.

“What the hell are you doing here!”

“05.”

Xu Qing turned, spotted Lin Wu, and hurried over.

Lin Wu asked, “Not leaving yet?”

Xu Qing explained, “Ji Xingci needed help with something.”

“What kind?”

“Running lines.”

Xu Qing’s cheeks were still flushed, his face a mask of confusion. “Looks like a romance scene with the female lead.”

“Oh.” Lin Wu turned to Ji Xingci.

“I can help too.”

Ji Xingci: “…”

Right then, Xu Qing’s phone rang.

“It’s the Boss.”

“Then let 05 help you.”

Xu Qing figured Ji Xingci desperately needed someone, so he said that and stepped out to take the call.

The vast resting room held only the two of them now.

Lin Wu eyed Ji Xingci.

“Still rehearsing?”

Ji Xingci snapped, “Get out.”

“Then why’d you insist on Xu Qing helping before?”

Ji Xingci’s head snapped up at that. He smirked at Lin Wu.

He figured he’d pegged the guy’s intentions.

“You like Xu Qing?”

Lin Wu said nothing.

Ji Xingci closed in and grabbed Lin Wu’s collar, slamming him against the wall.

Ji Xingci’s handsome face twisted into a malicious smile. With the silver hair and black robe, he looked every inch the villain.

“I’d advise you to know your place. Don’t show your face around me again. You piss me off. Makes me want to deck you.”

“You think you’re fit to compete with me?”

Ji Xingci’s grip was iron-tight, but Lin Wu’s expression didn’t flicker. Instead, he clamped a hand around Ji Xingci’s wrist.

Ji Xingci’s wrist burned under the touch.

Lin Wu’s long fingers locked around it completely. Ji Xingci could even feel the ring on his index finger.

Lin Wu dipped his gaze, thumb stroking Ji Xingci’s palm.

Ji Xingci froze, then yanked his hand free.

“What the hell! Don’t touch me.”

Lin Wu barely reacted. Once his hand was shaken off, he turned and walked out as if his business was done, ignoring him completely.

Ji Xingci: “??”

Outside, Xu Qing called, “Ah, 05, the Boss is rushing me back.”

“Then let’s go.”

“No more running lines?”

“All done.”

Xu Qing paused, then left with Lin Wu.

“…”

Ji Xingci had never been dismissed like that in his life. Fury boiled inside him.

He couldn’t steady his breathing for ages. Finally, he stormed to the bathroom and scrubbed his wrist furiously. What the hell was that guy playing at?

Talk about bad luck!

He had no idea that 05 had already made a note in the Task Log.

【Contact successful.】

~~~

After finishing lunch, Ji Xingci unusually felt very drowsy.

His rest room was well-equipped, complete with a bed for him to lie down on.

So he took a nap.

And he had a dream.

In the dream, a pair of slender, pale hands with prominent knuckles roamed over his body.

He couldn’t make out who they belonged to. He only wanted to shove them away, but instead, his wrists were pinned down.

Then those hands spread their fingers and pressed hard against his stomach, the force compressing his organs. It was as if they were measuring a slab of fish meat on a cutting board.

Ji Xingci was never one to tolerate being pinned down. Just as he bared his teeth, gathering his strength to fight back—

The person holding him raised a fist and smashed it unhesitatingly into his gut.

Ji Xingci was stunned.

He’d been in fights before and wasn’t afraid of pain, but this was the first time in his life someone had landed a punch that left him completely immobilized, forgetting even to breathe.

How could a person have that much strength??

Then those hands pressed against his belly again, relentlessly squeezing inward until it felt like they burst through his skin and flesh, seizing his intestines in a vise grip.

“Ah!”

Drenched in sweat, Ji Xingci jolted awake from the nightmare.

The terrifying force and agony from the dream lingered vividly.

But when he sat up, his body’s reactions were something else entirely.

He was covered in sweat, his legs weak, yet other parts of him were the exact opposite. He was utterly unable to move—not from pain, but for some unspeakable reason.

His tailbone throbbed with a mix of pain and numbness, burning hot, like it was about to explode.

So he couldn’t move.

Ji Xingci’s eyes widened as he lay there, panting heavily, utterly baffled for a long time.

This affliction that had tormented him for so long had never flared up this intensely before. Why…?

Was it the medicine from yesterday, or…?

Had his condition worsened?

~~~

“Xingci, you don’t look so good today?”

After wrapping up an afternoon scene, the director approached him hesitantly.

Ji Xingci rubbed his forehead, his face pale and drawn.

“Yeah…”

He’d lain there for half the afternoon before he could even stand, then inexplicably took several cold showers.

How could he be in good shape?

Even now… His hand secretly pressed against the tight cinch of his costume’s corset, clenching into a fist. His stomach still felt utterly strange inside.

With his status, he could throw a tantrum and claim he felt unwell, and the director wouldn’t dare complain. But Ji Xingci was stubbornly professional about his acting.

After barely powering through the afternoon’s shoots, night had fully fallen.

Ji Xingci thought it over for a long time and finally decided.

He wanted to see Xu Qing.

Meanwhile, Lin Wu—dressed in simple jeans, a sleeveless T-shirt, and a guitar slung over his back—looked fresh and youthful, like a college guy heading out. He was on his way to the bar.

Standing at the door, he suddenly anticipated a new plot twist and turned to ask Xu Qing.

“Bro, wanna come with me?”

“Hm?”

Xu Qing shot to his feet.

Lin Wu lowered his voice. “I kept you company all day.”

Xu Qing’s eyes widened. He’d been worried about Lin Wu getting dragged into drinking till dawn again, but he didn’t want to nag like an overbearing mom.

He hadn’t expected 05 to invite him along—and call him “bro,” no less.

“Of course.”

Xu Qing felt inexplicably happy.

He’d worked in the back kitchen of that bar before. He’d even recommended the gig to 05 when he was moping around too much. He had no qualms about dropping by again.

But he hadn’t expected to get a call from Ji Xingci at the bar, with the guy asking if he had time.

Xu Qing panicked at once. “But I’m here with 05 while he works.”

“What?”

It was noisy on Xu Qing’s end. Ji Xingci’s brows furrowed.

“I said I’m at the bar.”

Impossible—why would Xu Qing go to a place like that?

But then he remembered the stench of booze filling that living room.

Lin Wu again?

Ji Xingci’s gut boiled with anger once more.

Suppressing his irritation, he asked which bar, then ignored his manager’s protests and drove straight there in his Lamborghini.

The bar street was lively at night, thronged with groups of young people coming and going.

Lin Wu’s workplace was just your average spot—no valet, the kind of place Ji Xingci would never set foot in under normal circumstances.

His Lamborghini drew plenty of stares right away, with people snapping photos on their phones.

When Ji Xingci stepped out, he was forced to don a mask and sunglasses.

Two undercover bodyguards stuck close behind him.

Ji Xingci was already in a foul mood.

And the moment he walked in, he spotted Lin Wu again.

The young man, dolled up for the occasion, sat on a high stool with his guitar, singing on the bar’s stage.

The dim lighting blurred the birthmark on his face, accentuating his enviable physique.

The spotlight overhead made his hands—gripping the microphone—stand out crystal clear.

Slender, pale, with a ring on his index finger, fingers tapping lightly on the mic.

Like a persistent ghost.

Ji Xingci nearly turned on his heel and left.

Unlike his disgust, every audience member was riveted to the stage, lost in the song, utterly captivated.

Lin Wu was performing a hot new track that had recently taken streets and alleys by storm, propelling a half-forgotten minor celeb to stardom.

But Lin Wu’s rendition was worlds apart. The nuanced emotion, the full-bodied range.

It was far better than the original.

His coworkers kept glancing back in disbelief.

“Lin Wu’s on fire tonight?”

Back when he’d auditioned, guitar in hand, he looked half-dead. If they hadn’t been short-staffed, the boss might not have hired him.

Who knew he could sing like that!

No one knew it was originally his song.

Ji Xingci was the only one in the crowd whose heart it grated on.

He refused to watch the stage and claimed a booth, about to pull out his phone to call Xu Qing when the singing stopped.

He glanced over. Lin Wu was stepping down from the stage, probably for a break—and heading his way.

But halfway there, a pretty girl with dyed blonde hair hooked his arm and dragged him toward the back of the stage.

No lights back there—some narrow alleyway. The pair’s figures were quickly swallowed by the dark. In the last glimpse, the girl was practically in Lin Wu’s arms.

Ji Xingci froze for a second, then let out a cold sneer.

Ha!

He’d almost forgotten—when they first met, Lin Wu had been cavorting with a mixed crowd of guys and girls.

And this guy had the nerve to warn him to stay away from Xu Qing? What kind of saint was he?

Ji Xingci gripped his phone so tightly his knuckles whitened with rage.

He had originally planned to leave as soon as he found someone, but now he simply sat down.