Chapter 60

Jiang Xiao replied, “Because this is a horror game.”

Si Mingyu choked.

The comments were all laughing. The comments all read [Streamer, you’re actually a straight man! Lil bro just wants you to hug him, who needs you to explain the reason?!]

Jiang Xiao was skeptical. He didn’t think it was strange for a boy to be afraid of ghosts. In the past, playing horror games, his roommate would take one look and yelp in terror, the next day showing up with dark circles under his eyes telling him he had nightmares.

But this wasn’t a real ghost, just a 2D, immobile ghostly face. Wasn’t being scared like this a bit of an overreaction?

But the fact that the comments could determine he was a straight man with one sentence also rather shocked Jiang Xiao.

“Are you… okay?” Jiang Xiao softened his tone, trying to comfort him, “There are still a lot of ghosts coming up. You’ll get used to them after seeing more.”

Si Mingyu: “…”

[Identification complete: Streamer is a pure straight man!]

Jiang Xiao changed his approach: “Even if there are ghosts, I’ll beat them up first. No need to be afraid.”

[Identification complete: Streamer is a straight man pretending to be gay!]

Jiang Xiao really wanted to shut down the stream.

Si Mingyu saw the comments and said seriously, “Brother Jiang likes men. He’s not straight, he just has a straightforward personality. Who does he like? Hmm…”

Jiang Xiao tossed the mouse to Si Mingyu, timely interrupting him: “Your turn.”

Si Mingyu’s control was actually quite good; you could tell he played games often. But as soon as he encountered a ghost, he’d throw the mouse and hide in Jiang Xiao’s arms. Eventually, Jiang Xiao had almost gotten used to it. Whenever he felt the presence of a ghost, he would reach out and cover Si Mingyu’s eyes, calmly saying:

“Don’t look, there’s a ghost.”

And let go after this part was over, effectively stopping Si Mingyu from getting handsy with him.

After repeating this several times, Jiang Xiao didn’t even need to look at Si Mingyu anymore. He just needed to stare at the screen, reach out—

His palm was gently licked by something soft and warm.

Jiang Xiao was already a bit drowsy, but this lick shocked him so much his soul nearly left his body. He yanked his hand back swiftly. Si Mingyu pretended as if nothing had happened, asking him: “Brother, what’s wrong?”

The comments were also full of question marks, asking what happened. Under the public’s gaze, Jiang Xiao naturally couldn’t question Si Mingyu. He only said, “Since you’re so afraid of ghosts, let’s play a non-scary game today.”

The comments were all saying [What game? Nothing beats watching a horror movie, the scarier the better], clearly eager for more excitement.

Jiang Xiao opened “Fireboy and Watergirl” in a Forest setting. This game was purely jump-based puzzle-solving. Jiang Xiao could operate it with one hand. He played for an unknown amount of time, already feeling drowsy, and had clocked enough streaming hours. Just as he was about to send Si Mingyu back, the guy, at this moment, was suddenly very sensible and left without a word.

When Si Mingyu returned to his room, Si Lin seemed to still be dealing with the case, not looking up at the sound. Si Mingyu was in a pretty good mood, humming a song as he went into the bathroom, came out smelling all nice, and started picking things out from the wardrobe.

Just as he had picked out his choice and was about to head out the door, Si Lin’s calm voice came from behind him:

“Stop right there.”

Si Mingyu ignored it, opening the door on his own.

“Do you want me to go to his room to drag you back?” Si Lin said, “I won’t show any mercy.”

Si Mingyu’s expression suddenly darkened. He turned around abruptly: “Why are you here?”

“My reason for being here is the same as yours.” Si Lin didn’t even raise his eyelids. Although this was the age of technology and most people were accustomed to electronic documents, he still preferred to scribble on case files with a fountain pen.

The room was deathly silent, leaving only the “scratch scratch” sound of the pen on paper.

“Don’t tell me you also want to pursue him.” Si Mingyu sneered, deliberately poking at Si Lin’s sore spot, “After what happened, do you think he’ll ever forgive you? Even if he remembers nothing, what’s done is done. He can never be with you in this lifetime.”

The writing action slowly stopped. Si Lin finally looked up. Si Mingyu was utterly unafraid, challengingly meeting Si Lin’s gaze.

The corner of Si Lin’s mouth curved up, inch by inch, at that moment. He didn’t smile often, even Si Mingyu had almost never seen him smile. So this smile seemed exceptionally eerie.

Si Mingyu’s heart skipped a beat, a bad premonition rising within him.

Si Lin’s eyes were deep black, his face like thousand-year-old ice that hadn’t melted. His voice carried a chill, speaking word by word:

“When I kissed him back then, he gave me a slap. But do you know what he said at that time?”

“The name he said was yours.”

“He can’t tell you and me apart. So the person he rejected then wasn’t me, but you.”

“The one who should truly be afraid, should be you.”

“Si Mingyu.”

Jiang Xiao tidied up his equipment a bit. He didn’t know if it was because he’d played games too long, and unlike horror games which occasionally provided a shot of adrenaline with ghost faces, he was now incredibly sleepy, able to fall asleep the moment his eyes closed.

He dealt with things in a drowsy daze, too lazy to even tidy the bed, ready to collapse onto it.

But then, a certain thought suddenly pierced his mind like a needle—

No, this wasn’t normal.

He usually didn’t get this sleepy so fast. Furthermore, they were in a game instance; normally he wouldn’t be sleepy until past midnight. The medicine Si Mingyu mentioned was too effective.

And his timing tonight was also very coincidental.

What exactly was in that cup of milk? For Si Mingyu to dare let him drink it so openly.

Jiang Xiao: “Is anyone dying tonight?”

The System: “If there’s no news at midnight, you can sleep.”

Jiang Xiao got up. In reality, he was so tired his soul was almost drifting out, but he still managed to walk to the bathroom and splash his face with cold water a few times.

The bone-chilling cold dissipated some of the drowsiness, but quickly, it surged back again.

The second hand ticked forward, thirty minutes left until midnight.

Jiang Xiao had washed his face many times already. The tips of his hair were damp, his cheeks pale and almost translucent from the cold. Leaning on the sink, he was almost swaying.

His thoughts began to blur, the world spinning before his eyes. Drowsiness was like a venom that sticks to the bone, invading from all directions.

Vaguely, he belatedly heard the sound of the door being pulled open. The other person seemed slightly surprised to find him in the bathroom. Jiang Xiao gave a cursory glance, only registering that the person was wearing a black shirt. In this house, only one person wore black shirts.

“Lu Moxing?” Jiang Xiao murmured, somewhat confused. “Why did you come up?”

“What are you doing in the bathroom?” The man didn’t answer his question, his eyes sweeping over Jiang Xiao. His voice was very low. “Aren’t you afraid of catching a cold?”

The water on Jiang Xiao’s face hadn’t been dried, dripping down his brows and eyes. His hair tips were just as wet, appearing even darker from the water, making his skin look exceptionally pale.

“I…” Jiang Xiao reacted slowly. By the time he came back to his senses, “Lu Moxing” had already led him into the bedroom.

“Where are your pajamas?” the other asked.

Jiang Xiao pointed at his suitcase.

He had planned to organize his clothes before sleeping, but he was just too tired and hadn’t gotten around to it.

With a “zzzzip,” the other person opened the suitcase, found the pajamas. Seeing Jiang Xiao’s pupils were a bit dilated, he didn’t call out to him, just changed him into his pajamas and covered him with the blanket.

At this point, Jiang Xiao still hadn’t fallen asleep. His eyes were half-closed, his dark pupils somewhat dazed as he stared blankly at him.

“Why aren’t you sleeping yet? Not sleepy?” The man asked with considerable patience.

“…What time is it now?” Jiang Xiao asked, and a question belatedly arose in his heart.

Since when did Lu Moxing have such a good temper?

But this doubt quickly rolled into his drowsiness and disappeared.

“It’s past midnight,” ‘Lu Moxing’ said.

“Oh… CEO Lu, are you sleeping on the bed?” Jiang Xiao asked again. “I can sleep on the floor.”

The other party gave a laughing snort and said, “He’s not staying with you for that kind of reason.”

A question mark slowly popped up above Jiang Xiao’s head.

After a few rounds of question-and-answer, Jiang Xiao finally settled down completely. His eyes closed, his long lashes fluttering down quietly, his breathing even. He looked quite obedient.

“To be able to hold on for so long after taking the medicine, it actually makes me admire you a little,” Ji Yanli mused with rare sentiment. “Should I say your vigilance is strong enough? What a pity…”

Ji Yanli tilted his head slightly, scrutinizing Jiang Xiao. After a long while, his gaze became dark and unreadable.

His fingers gently brushed aside the few strands of hair scattered across Jiang Xiao’s temple. Ji Yanli chuckled softly, but the smile carried several complex undertones.

“Jiang Xiao…”

The name, rolling off his tongue, carried a hint of sentimental tenderness. But more than that, there was confusion, bewilderment, mixed with a burning jealousy and coldness.

Ji Yanli stared fixedly at the sleeping Jiang Xiao, his thoughts unknown. His slender fingers rested lightly on Jiang Xiao’s neck, feeling the skin rise and fall gently with his breathing beneath his hand, as if knowing nothing at all.

“Who are you, really…?”

Ji Yanli slowly tightened his grip. Jiang Xiao gradually felt the threat, his eyeballs restlessly twitching under his eyelids. But ultimately, he couldn’t fight the drug’s effect. The next second, Ji Yanli withdrew his hand.

The medicine was indeed very effective. To prevent Si Mingyu from discovering his intentions, he’d asked him for a variety of miscellaneous drugs. But a mixture of three of them created a potent sleeping draught, one that left the victim with no memory upon waking.

Si Mingyu had planned quite well, but the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Ji Yanli had long anticipated that Si Lin wouldn’t let Si Mingyu do as he pleased. Therefore, entering Jiang Xiao’s room had become an act of impunity.

But he hadn’t expected Jiang Xiao to still be awake. Even more interestingly, Jiang Xiao had mistaken him for Lu Moxing.

Ji Yanli had confirmed his own conjecture.

Jiang Xiao, he… couldn’t tell people apart.

No wonder he’d shown hesitant expressions during their previous encounters. Ji Yanli had thought he was feeling guilty.

Ji Yanli leaned down slightly, gently biting the back of Jiang Xiao’s neck, leaving a suggestive kiss mark. He looked left and right, still unsatisfied, and added another fresh one right beside it.

Jiang Xiao furrowed his brows slightly, having a nightmare about being bitten in the neck by a wolf—absolutely terrifying.

Afterwards, Ji Yanli adjusted Jiang Xiao’s collar. The location was very hidden; even Jiang Xiao himself wouldn’t discover it.

“Go on your date tomorrow, wearing my mark,” Ji Yanli curved his lips slightly. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”

“Sweet dreams.”

Ji Yanli stood up, the shirt on his body not even wrinkled. He straightened himself slightly in the mirror. Just as he was about to open the door, he heard footsteps approaching without a doubt.

The door was pulled open abruptly. Lu Moxing came face-to-face with Ji Yanli.

Lu Moxing clearly hadn’t expected there to be someone in the room, but he had already very unhappily narrowed his eyes, his shoulders tensed up, looking at Ji Yanli.

“Why are you here?”

Ji Yanli smiled. Showing no trace of the guilty panic of having snuck into someone’s room and being caught by the owner, he only left a vague sentence:

“I just came to say goodnight. What about you, CEO Lu?”

“This is my room,” Lu Moxing said coldly. “You’re quite at ease here.”

Ji Yanli didn’t plan to confront a jealous person, especially since he had already done what he wanted. He said, “Jiang Xiao is already asleep. I won’t disturb you either,” and then gracefully left.

Leaving Lu Moxing behind, his expression changing constantly. Finally, with a face full of anger, he entered the room to find trouble with Jiang Xiao.