Chapter 120: You Don’t Have to Do Anything; There Are Plenty of People to Love You
Warm water rolled over their brows and eyes.
Shen Jixing’s voice was calm and cold. “Because you look pitiful, and I want to be with you.”
Zhou Yili watched him through the damp mist. He had offered himself up to comfort the "little lion" simply because he thought he looked a bit pathetic. It wasn’t aloofness; he just didn't know how to get along with people.
“Who is the one who’s truly pitiful?” Zhou Yili chuckled, raising his hand to wipe away the water trailing from the corner of Shen Jixing’s eye. “Little Star.”
It looked just like tears.
Except for those specific moments, Zhou Yili couldn’t bear to see him cry. Shen Jixing was meant to remain forever high above, looking at everyone as if they were nothing more than dogs.
Shen Jixing did not stop his gesture, as if he could sense the other man's emotions. “I was merely stating a fact. Do not imagine things where they don't exist.”
Every time he spoke his true feelings, Zhou Yili would look as if he were heartbroken enough to cry. He looked so utterly worthless in those moments. Shen Jixing smiled faintly, thinking it was actually quite cute.
“There are indeed many things I do not know how to do, but I learn very quickly.”
It was rare for Shen Jixing to say such a thing.
“You can teach me.”
The words sounded somewhat amusing. A brilliant, natural-born genius was seeking a solution from a "little lion" widely considered to be a fool.
Zhou Yili didn't truly understand the meaning, but that didn't stop him from acting out. He pulled that thin, narrow waist into his embrace, letting Shen Jixing stand on his feet to make up for the height difference, and leaned down to bite at the wet white jade button on his collar.
“What could I possibly teach you?”
Shen Jixing tilted his head back, the water flowing down his pale neck, and spoke with a slight movement of his Adam’s apple.
“Teach me how to love you.”
Shen Jixing felt he was quite poor at this. Even though Zhou Yili loved him—had always loved him—it had taken him a long time to be certain of it. He was never sensitive to the warmth others bestowed upon him, which often left the little lion hurt.
Zhou Yili’s spine went rigid for a long moment, his dark, damp lashes letting the water droplets roll off. Suddenly, he pushed Shen Jixing against the wall, looking fierce. “Are you trying to kill me?”
Shen Jixing: “?”
His long, wet lashes fluttered. “What?”
“Is it not enough that you seduce me every single day?”
Zhou Yili pressed his palm against Shen Jixing’s thin back, shielding him from the cold, and impatiently bit open his shirt. “Are you trying to make me die on top of you?”
“Shen Jixing.”
The fierce lion’s fangs pricked at his collarbone. Shen Jixing felt pain for only a second before the sharp points retreated, replaced by a gentle soothing touch.
Zhou Yili’s husky voice was exceptionally clear amidst the mist. “No need to learn, no need to change. You don’t have to do anything at all.”
“There are plenty of others who will love you.”
What did it matter if he didn't know how? Someone like Shen Jixing never needed to know.
“But none of them will love you as I do.”
Shen Jixing listened to his voice, feeling a rare, subtle confusion. “Aren’t you…”
“Not pitiful, and not aggrieved.”
Zhou Yili lowered his gaze to kiss his eyes, thinking that this man, hailed as the top idol, was often like a clean sheet of white paper. Where did he get this filter that he was some kind of poor, pathetic creature?
“Can’t you feel it?”
Zhou Yili’s thin lips curled into a lazy, mischievous smirk. “I feel fucking amazing.”
“…”
Shen Jixing finally gritted his teeth and cursed him. “Pervert.”
***
Meanwhile, a black car pulled up downstairs.
The bodyguards rolled down the windows and used binoculars to survey the apartment building.
“This is the place!”
“Once we’ve found the young master’s lair, it’s easy. The moment he dares to step out, we’ll nab him.”
The bodyguards settled down downstairs, feeling relieved. They thought, if they’ve found his home, how could they possibly fail to catch the young master? The doctor made it sound easy, but it wasn't as simple as just wearing women’s clothing; if they failed to carry out the orders from above, they would be useless. Bo Yu might force them to wear dresses and beg under an overpass.
“Don’t panic. We have three days. Are you afraid we won’t catch him?”
“Right, we definitely will.”
***
*Two thousand years later*
***
The bodyguards passed the burning-hot potato of a phone between them, and when the ringtone finally sounded, their hearts turned to ash.
“S-Sir.”
“Where is he?”
Bo Yu’s voice sounded almost calm. Only the doctor knew how volatile he had been over the past few days. With the only two people who could soothe his mood absent, Bo Yu’s mental state had been stretched to the point of snapping.
“We’ve been guarding the young master’s building, waiting for him to come out so we could make our move, but…”
“But the young master hasn’t come down once in these three days.”
As for why he hadn't come down, the answer was self-evident. The bodyguards didn't dare say it, but Bo Yu dared to ask.
“What happened to him?”
Shen Jixing had been frail and sickly since childhood; Bo Yu assumed he was just resting because he was ill.
It wasn't until the bodyguard’s voice came through cautiously: “He’s… he’s been trapped by Zhou Yili.”
The doctor’s heart went cold. *It’s over.*
Bo Yu’s face darkened in an instant. “What did you say?”
The doctor seized the moment to intervene. “If you don’t know the truth, stop spouting nonsense! The young master is the person the master values and cherishes most. Do you know what the price for spreading rumors is?”
*Could they understand his hints? Cherish, value, rumors.*
The bodyguards immediately felt as if they were facing a life-or-death crisis, their knees nearly buckling. “Sir, we truly aren't making things up, Sir…”
“The young master really hasn't come down for three days! Zhou Yili only came down once, humming a tune while buying a bunch of colorful little boxes. We really aren't lying…!!!”
The doctor felt his vision go dark and clutched his forehead. He felt they deserved their fate. Now the situation was even more…
“Hang up,” Bo Yu said, his voice eerily calm.
The doctor hadn’t expected such a placid reaction. “Alright, and what about them…”
“They don’t need to come back.”
The doctor felt a chill in his heart. What a psychiatrist fears most is not a patient’s hysteria, but the moment their emotions begin to settle into a terrifying, flat calm. For some reason, he saw in this supreme ruler a sense of helpless confusion after all his struggles. Stripped of everything, he was just a patient without hope.
“Sir, you…”
Bo Yu looked at the maple leaves blowing outside the window. “You don’t need to come anymore. I intend to leave this place.”
The doctor felt a subconscious surge of joy at these words. It wasn't just because he was finally escaping his own sea of suffering, but because he was happy for Bo Yu. When he was finally willing to change his environment, it meant a new beginning.
“Have you finally thought it through?”
“Yes.”
“And the young master…”
Bo Yu wheeled his chair away from the room. “I will take him with me.”
Doctor: “…”
*You haven't thought anything through, you’ve just tied yourself into a dead knot, haven't you?*
He looked toward the direction Bo Yu had gone—toward the attic. Remembering something, he hurriedly chased after him, trying to stop him. “Sir! Why don’t you wait a while before checking? I’ll have them come back and put on the women’s clothes for you…?”
Bo Yu only cast a cold glance at him. “Get lost.”
The doctor was acting solely on the instinct of medical ethics. He knew Bo Yu’s mind was pathologically distorted, and he didn't want him to suffer any further triggers. But he couldn't stop him.
The attic door opened slowly. The afternoon light fell upon the young man; he was sleeping quietly amidst a pile of old clothes, looking pale, thin, and pitiful.
Three small cakes were placed before him.
They remained untouched.
Bo Yu scanned the three cakes coldly. The cream had already melted, and the entire attic was filled with a cloying, sweet scent.
He asked in a low, heavy voice: “Why didn’t you eat the small cakes?”