Xiao Cheng really wanted to pretend he hadn’t seen it, but after thinking it over, he couldn’t resist replying:
[What do you think?]
Wasn’t Luo Jingshu just asking the obvious?
He put his phone away, deciding not to pay any more attention to Luo Jingshu’s responses.
Xiao Cheng didn’t know what Luo Jingshu had sent the twin brothers, but it clearly had an effect.
During dinner, they finally stopped clinging to him and didn’t even fight over the seat next to him. However, Xiao Yixi kept casting pitiful, resentful glances his way, making Xiao Cheng’s skin crawl.
It seemed He An also noticed the strange tension between them. She tried to steer the conversation several times, preventing the twins from overly focusing on Xiao Cheng.
The room He An assigned to the twins was right next to Xiao Cheng’s, and he had initially been worried about their antics. But seeing how they finally settled down, he relaxed a little.
Who would’ve thought his relief would be premature?
Xiao Cheng had just showered and was towel-drying his hair when someone knocked on his door.
He casually tossed the towel aside. His damp hair still dripped water as he brushed it back.
When he opened the door, sure enough, it was Xiao Yixi standing outside.
Xiao Cheng kept one hand on the doorknob, blocking the gap. He frowned and asked, “What do you want?”
“Brother Cheng, I have something to tell you. Can I come in?”
Xiao Yixi had changed into another outfit, a long coat wrapped snugly around him. His hand clutched his collar tightly, and his fingers tightened their grip under Xiao Cheng’s scrutiny.
Xiao Cheng eyed him skeptically from head to toe. “If you have something to say, just say it tomorrow. I’m a little tired.”
His instincts told him that Xiao Yixi showing up at his door at this hour was definitely bad news.
“I want to say it now. You’ll just avoid me tomorrow,” Xiao Yixi said, sniffling slightly, trying to make his expression seem sincere.
After spending the entire day testing the waters, Xiao Yixi realized that Xiao Cheng wasn’t moved by pleading or playing pitifully.
He placed one hand against the door. “Brother Cheng, I swear I’ll just say a few words and leave.”
Xiao Cheng hesitated for a while. He feared Xiao Yixi might say something inappropriate for others to hear, so he reluctantly let him in.
As soon as Xiao Yixi stepped inside, he sighed in relief. He glanced around Xiao Cheng’s room and muttered, “You never used to let me into your room.”
Xiao Cheng frowned. “I still don’t want to let you in now.”
He picked up the towel from the sofa and continued drying his hair. His damp bangs partially obscured his view, but Xiao Cheng vaguely noticed Xiao Yixi fiddling with something.
But when he looked carefully, the guy was just standing there, looking around the room.
Xiao Cheng gave him a quick glance, then ignored him. He hung the towel back in the bathroom and grabbed a hair dryer from the cabinet.
When he came back, Xiao Yixi was fumbling with the buttons on his coat, looking nervous.
No, it wasn’t just that.
The movement looked a bit like he was unbuttoning his coat.
Xiao Cheng stopped in his tracks, his expression turning complicated as he locked eyes with Xiao Yixi. Neither of them spoke.
Xiao Yixi stared at him with wide eyes, his fingers nearly freezing in place. After about ten seconds, he finally forced a smile and let his hands drop.
“Brother Cheng, are you going to dry your hair?”
What a pointless question.
Xiao Cheng clutched the hair dryer tightly, unsure if he should even approach. “What are you doing?”
Good thing he came out earlier.
Initially, Xiao Cheng had planned to dry his hair in the bathroom but didn’t feel safe leaving Xiao Yixi alone in his room. Sure enough, his caution paid off.
He knew Xiao Yixi knocking on his door this late at night wasn’t for anything good.
Xiao Yixi’s coat was unbuttoned, revealing a stretch of pale, toned skin. He looked down at his collar and said, “I… feel a little hot?”
Xiao Cheng simply put the hair dryer on the table, deciding to skip drying his hair altogether. He sat down on the sofa, his expression flat. “Just say whatever you came to say.”
Xiao Yixi’s eyes darted nervously around the room. After a long pause, he finally spoke. “Brother Cheng, your ex-boyfriend is no good.”
Xiao Cheng raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.
The more Xiao Yixi talked, the angrier he became. He took two steps closer to Xiao Cheng and said, “You don’t even know what he’s done. He’s been threatening us.”
“He’s forcing us to stay away from you, or else he’ll—”
The rest of the sentence got stuck in his throat.
Xiao Yixi glanced at Xiao Cheng nervously, realizing the man seemed to already know about this. There was no confusion or curiosity in his eyes.
“Anyway, he’s not a good person,” Xiao Yixi concluded firmly.
Xiao Cheng hummed in agreement, indicating his approval of the statement.
“If he were a good person, he wouldn’t be my ex-boyfriend,” he said, emphasizing the “ex.”
Xiao Yixi didn’t know how to respond to that. Come to think of it, Xiao Cheng wasn’t wrong.
“So, did you break up with him because you found out what he’s really like?”
Xiao Yixi moved two steps closer, carefully, as if afraid Xiao Cheng might kick him out.
In this regard, they were indeed no match for Luo Jingshu.
Up until now, all they knew was a name and his identity.
But Luo Jingshu somehow found out about their little secret—and even had evidence.
God knows how furious Xiao Yixi felt when he received the pictures Luo Jingshu sent.
His biggest regret was not punching Luo Jingshu in the mall. Even if it had caused a scene, it would have relieved some of his anger.
“That’s none of your business.” Xiao Cheng took in all of Xiao Yixi’s small movements. His legs, which were hanging down, tensed slightly, ready to move away at any moment.
Xiao Yixi didn’t notice Xiao Cheng’s vigilance. He finally shuffled closer and cautiously sat down beside him.
“Brother Cheng, you don’t like him anymore, do you?”
Xiao Cheng didn’t want to answer, but Xiao Yixi’s persistent expression made it clear he wouldn’t let the matter drop without a reply. Xiao Cheng chuckled and countered, “Would you like a dead person?”
Xiao Yixi froze for two seconds before realizing what Xiao Cheng meant. His face lit up with unconcealed joy. “You’re right!”
Xiao Cheng was wearing a loose-collared pajama top. Droplets of water from his hair slid down his collarbone and trailed slowly over his skin.
Xiao Yixi’s gaze was drawn to the scene, and he stared in a daze.
The reason the twins were so obsessed with Xiao Cheng undeniably had a lot to do with his looks.
If Brother Cheng weren’t so good-looking, they wouldn’t have been infatuated with him for so long.
“Brother Cheng,” Xiao Yixi swallowed hard, unconsciously tugging at his collar. He felt warm.
“Actually, there’s something else I want to say to you.”
“Then say it and leave already,” Xiao Cheng said as he bent to pick up the kettle from the table and poured himself a glass of water.
But Xiao Yixi seemed to misunderstand. He reached out his hand and said, “Look at you, being so polite, even pouring water for me.”
Xiao Cheng: …
He glanced at Xiao Yixi and was about to scold him for being shameless when something caught his eye through the gap in Xiao Yixi’s open collar.
Xiao Cheng swore it wasn’t intentional; it was just a casual glance. But unexpectedly, he discovered Xiao Yixi’s little secret.
His face showed a moment of shock, followed by a sudden realization. His conflicted expression made him frown as he looked at Xiao Yixi.
“Brother Cheng, what’s wrong?”
“Ah, nothing,” Xiao Cheng quickly looked away. “It’s normal for people to have little hobbies. Nothing unusual about that.”
Xiao Yixi: ??
He glanced down at himself and suddenly understood.
“You saw it?”
Xiao Cheng felt awkward and unsure how to react. “I didn’t see anything.”
But Xiao Yixi swiftly undid the few buttons left on his coat. The view beneath it could no longer be hidden and was now exposed to the air.
He was wearing a spaghetti-strap nightgown, clearly designed for women, with two delicate straps hanging over his shoulders. Large expanses of skin were now visible to Xiao Cheng.
“Brother Cheng, do you think I look good like this?”
Xiao Cheng was stunned by his boldness and directness. It took him several seconds to react, his eyes widening as he looked at Xiao Yixi.
“This isn’t about whether it looks good or not.”
Xiao Cheng stood up abruptly, turning to look out the window. “If you have nothing else to say, leave.”
“Why won’t you even look at me?” Xiao Yixi deliberately moved to stand in front of him. “I wore this just for you.”
Xiao Cheng couldn’t take it anymore. “Must you keep testing my limits?”
He really wanted to throw Xiao Yixi out.
“You don’t like this, do you?” Xiao Yixi sounded disappointed as he adjusted his clothes. “Fine, I won’t dress like this next time.”
“There won’t be a next time,” Xiao Cheng said. After Xiao Yixi straightened his clothes, Xiao Cheng finally looked him in the eye. “Can’t you act normal for once?”
Xiao Yixi nodded sullenly. But just before leaving the room, he suddenly glanced back at Xiao Cheng.
“What now?” Xiao Cheng asked.
“Nothing.”
Xiao Yixi withdrew his gaze. But in that brief moment, a thought popped into his head: this outfit would probably look better on Xiao Cheng.
The image flashed through Xiao Yixi’s mind, and he quickly covered his nose, dazed for a long time.
He seemed to have pinpointed the real problem.
Xiao Cheng was fuming. He no longer felt like drying his hair.
He suddenly thought he must be out of his mind. He had known from the start that Xiao Yixi couldn’t be up to anything good, yet he still let him in. And in the end, he was the one left frustrated.
All in all, he had underestimated Xiao Yixi’s shamelessness.
But then again, what exactly was Xiao Yixi trying to do?
He claimed he had something to say, yet he did not say anything of substance.
He claimed he wore this outfit for Xiao Cheng to see, yet he did not insist on looking at it.
Xiao Cheng even felt that if he hadn’t accidentally noticed something amiss, Xiao Yixi might never have revealed it at all.
So, what was his real intention in insisting on entering the room?
As Xiao Cheng thought back to Xiao Yixi’s actions earlier, he frowned and took a few steps toward the bed.
He distinctly remembered tidying up the bedding before his shower. Yet now, the blanket at the foot of the bed was creased, as if someone had been sitting there.
Combining Xiao Yixi’s earlier flustered actions of buttoning his clothes, Xiao Cheng was startled by his own speculation—what exactly did Xiao Yixi do?
He carefully examined his bed but found no other traces.
Maybe he was overthinking.
–
Xiao Yixi left Xiao Cheng’s room and headed straight to Xiao Yinan’s.
Xiao Yinan was waiting for him. As soon as Xiao Yixi closed the door, he asked, “So? How did it go?”
“If I’m handling it, what are you worried about?”
Xiao Yixi took his phone out of his coat pocket and waved it in front of him.
Xiao Yinan let out a sigh of relief but soon frowned again. “Don’t you think this is too childish?”
Xiao Yixi shrugged off his coat, unconcerned that his brother would see him in the women’s nightgown underneath.
“Who cares? He provoked me first,” Xiao Yixi said as he pulled up a photo on his phone and handed it to Xiao Yinan. “Look, does it have that vibe?” He spoke with a hint of pride.
The photo showed Xiao Yixi himself lying at the edge of Xiao Cheng’s bed, wearing the women’s nightgown and smiling at the camera.
“He’s not going to believe this,” Xiao Yinan said after glancing at it. “Brother Cheng isn’t even in the picture.”
“Like I’d dare let Brother Cheng see me taking this,” Xiao Yixi stuck out his tongue. “You don’t even know—later, when Brother Cheng noticed the gown I was wearing underneath, the way he looked at me was like I was a pervert.”
“He flat-out refused to let me get close to him.”
Xiao Yinan couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s normal.”
That was precisely why he had been willing to let Xiao Yixi take this golden opportunity—because Xiao Yinan knew Xiao Cheng would never give him the time of day.
“Do I not look good like this? Brother Cheng wasn’t even moved,” Xiao Yixi muttered, his face showing a conflicted expression. After hesitating for a while, he said softly, “Brother, don’t you think… maybe we’ve been going about this the wrong way from the start?”
“What do you mean?” Xiao Yinan replied absentmindedly while editing the photo.
Xiao Yixi cautiously ventured, “Have you ever considered that maybe the reason Brother Cheng doesn’t like us has nothing to do with our looks or identity? What if we got Brother Cheng’s… type wrong?”
Xiao Yinan froze and looked up sharply, his brows furrowing. “What?!”
“We always assumed Brother Cheng was the dominant one, but…” Xiao Yixi hesitated. “What if he’s actually the submissive type?”
“If that’s the case, we’ve had it wrong from the very beginning. Of course, Brother Cheng wouldn’t accept us.”
A pairing of two submissive personalities wouldn’t work.
Xiao Yinan frowned deeply but said nothing.
Xiao Yixi pressed on, “Think about Brother Cheng’s ex. Sure, he had a pretty boy face, but the vibe he gave off…”
Xiao Yixi didn’t want to praise his rival, so he trailed off. But it was enough for Xiao Yinan to understand.
The two of them exchanged glances, their nearly identical faces both showing signs of deep conflict.
After a while, Xiao Yixi snapped out of it first. “Forget it. We’ll observe this more later. Did you send out the photo?”
“Yeah,” Xiao Yinan finally responded, regaining his composure. “I sent it.”
–
On the first night of New Year’s Day, Luo Jingshu received a photo from his love rivals.
He stared at the familiar room in the photo for a long time, gripping his wine glass tighter and tighter.
After an indeterminate amount of time, a sudden crash echoed through the room. The glass shattered, scattering shards and spilling wine everywhere.
Luo Jingshu stared intently at the phone screen, his eyes rimmed red in the faint glow of the display.
“Brother Cheng…”
His trembling fingers dialed the number of the person he couldn’t stop thinking about.
Leaning back against the sofa, Luo Jingshu tilted his head up, stretched out his legs, and rested his fingers on his forehead as the dial tone droned on in his ear.
After what felt like forever, the call was finally answered.
Xiao Cheng was nearly asleep. He’d had an especially busy day and felt drowsy the moment his head hit the pillow, his eyelids too heavy to lift.
The phone buzzed insistently, and Xiao Cheng forced his eyes open. Without even checking the caller ID, he swiped to answer.
Holding the phone in one hand, his head resting on the soft pillow, he didn’t even bother to open his eyes.
“Who is it?” His voice was thick with sleep.
Hearing Xiao Cheng’s voice, the turbulent emotions Luo Jingshu had held back surged uncontrollably. In a low, trembling voice, he called out, “Brother Cheng.”
Xiao Cheng’s sleep-clouded mind didn’t immediately recognize the voice on the other end. “What?”
He threw back the covers and sat up. The cold air outside the blankets jolted his muddled mind into clarity.
Xiao Cheng moved the phone away from his ear and finally looked at the caller ID.
“Luo Jingshu? Why are you calling me so late?”
Xiao Cheng had been about to fall asleep, only to be interrupted. Luo Jingshu was lucky Xiao Cheng didn’t have a bad temper when woken.
“Brother Cheng.” Luo Jingshu didn’t say anything else, just kept calling him in a hoarse, low voice. Even his breathing sounded heavier than usual.
“What do you want to say?”
Xiao Cheng was utterly baffled. Couldn’t this have been a WeChat message? Or even a call during the daytime?
More irritatingly, Luo Jingshu had said nothing since the call connected, repeating his name in an oddly oppressive way. Frustration welled up in Xiao Cheng.
“Speak up, or I’m hanging up.”
His tone was laced with impatience, and he sounded ready to end the call any second.
Luo Jingshu’s tone turned pleading, and Xiao Cheng thought he even heard a hint of sobbing.
“Brother Cheng, don’t hang up!”
Perhaps it was the unusually quiet atmosphere or the fact that today was a special day, but Xiao Cheng found himself unexpectedly patient.
“What exactly do you want to say?”
Luo Jingshu removed the hand covering his eyes. His pair of alluring peach blossom eyes were red and swollen, and his voice was rough beyond recognition.
“Is there someone with you?”
Xiao Cheng instinctively glanced to his side and shivered inexplicably.
“Are you trying to scare me with ghost stories this late at night?”
But after saying this, something else occurred to him. “Did Xiao Yixi say something to you?”
It might have something to do with Xiao Yixi’s sneaky behavior earlier in the evening.
Luo Jingshu neither admitted nor denied it. Instead, he said softly, “Brother Cheng, I know you don’t like me right now. I’m still on probation.”
“But please, don’t take in any other puppies, okay?”
Sometimes, he genuinely wanted to do something—to leave a mark on Xiao Cheng and to make everyone know that Xiao Cheng was his.
Xiao Cheng felt an intense urge to roll his eyes. Not everyone shares this kind of possessive kink. At least, before Luo Jingshu said these words, Xiao Cheng had never even considered it.
“Even the most obedient dog wouldn’t want its owner to have another competing for affection.” Luo Jingshu’s voice softened. This time, Xiao Cheng could tell that he really had been crying.
How could a big boy love to cry so much?
Xiao Cheng couldn’t help but picture Luo Jingshu with red, tear-filled eyes. Leaning against the headboard, Xiao Cheng’s face remained calm and indifferent.
He wanted to ask if Luo Jingshu had been drinking—his voice was obviously off.
But asking would make it seem like he cared, so Xiao Cheng swallowed down the words.
He let out a quiet sigh.
“But I never agreed to take you in.”
His words were light, even his tone calm, but Luo Jingshu’s breathing suddenly became heavier, like he’d just been punched in the gut.
“Brother Cheng, don’t…” Luo Jingshu choked on his words.
Don’t say what you’re truly thinking.
He couldn’t bear it.
Xiao Cheng closed his eyes, the drowsiness vanishing in an instant. He was fully awake now.
“Luo Jingshu, stop wasting your time on me.”
His voice was unusually gentle, almost like an older brother coaxing a sulky child.
“You’re capable, clever, and good-looking. There are plenty of people who like you. Why fixate on someone who doesn’t?”
Luo Jingshu wasn’t sure if it hurt more to hear Xiao Cheng say he didn’t like him or to hear him suggest liking someone else.
Either seemed enough to crush him, to drive him mad.
“But I like you. I only like you,” Luo Jingshu said, crying quietly. His voice trembled, growing hoarser, with a heavy nasal undertone.
“Brother Cheng, I only want you.”
Not anyone else.
Xiao Cheng was silent for a while. “Do you really like me?”
“Maybe you’re just unwilling to let it go.”
Luo Jingshu quietly waited for him to finish before softly rebutting, “No.”
After a brief pause, his voice turned gentle and tender. “It’s not about unwillingness. It’s because I love you.”
He understood his own feelings. His obsession with Xiao Cheng wasn’t born of stubborn pride—it was love.
When they first broke up, he had failed to see his true emotions. That mistake led to bad decisions, where he continued to hurt Xiao Cheng with cold words when he should have apologized.
If his feelings for Xiao Cheng were merely about being rejected, he could have resorted to forceful means to keep Xiao Cheng by his side—as he had initially thought—to cage him like a canary.
But Luo Jingshu had probably never learned how to view their relationship as equal.
Love itself is a balancing act. Before, he had wanted to control Xiao Cheng. Now, he was willing to put shackles on himself, to be entirely at Xiao Cheng’s mercy.
As long as Xiao Cheng could love him again.
How could he just stand by and watch Brother Cheng be with someone else?
Luo Jingshu thought he could never fulfill Xiao Cheng’s wish to let go or move on.
“Brother Cheng, I love you,” Luo Jingshu said with a steady yet tender tone.
The words of love he hadn’t been able to say when they were dating were now conveyed in the deep quiet of this night.
Xiao Cheng listened in silence for a while. “Why?”
He asked, “Back when I chased after you for so long, you never felt anything. Now, we’ve only just reconnected, and you’re already saying you love me?”
He couldn’t understand where Luo Jingshu’s love came from. How could anyone guarantee this wasn’t just another trick?
“Brother Cheng, it’s because I didn’t recognize my feelings sooner.”
Luo Jingshu didn’t know how to explain his thoughts. Self-reflection was hard; too many words were stuck inside, unable to come out.
Xiao Cheng took a deep breath. “You see, even you can’t explain it.”
The person on the other end of the line fell silent, and his heavy breathing came through the receiver, making Xiao Cheng feel uneasy as well.
He had thought he wouldn’t care, yet at this moment, he seemed to feel Luo Jingshu’s helplessness and sorrow.
“You…” A thought crossed Xiao Cheng’s mind, and he tentatively asked, “Do you have a deep grudge against Jiang Ying?”
Hearing Jiang Ying’s name from Xiao Cheng’s mouth, Luo Jingshu’s tone turned icy. “Did he bully you again?”
“Not really.” Xiao Cheng licked his lips, his heart beating a little faster.
It felt like he was about to uncover the truth.
“What exactly happened between you two?”
He had always wondered. In the previous life, Luo Jingshu seemed to have gone through the original storyline. But as someone who pursued Luo Jingshu, why hadn’t he helped Luo Jingshu when Jiang Ying was bullying him?
Had he never thought of helping him?
Luo Jingshu asked back, “You don’t know?”
He paused briefly before continuing, “When we first met, you warned me to be careful of Jiang Ying. I thought you knew.”
Xiao Cheng gripped his phone tightly. “But I want to hear it from you.”
Luo Jingshu had no intention of hiding anything anymore. Hearing this, he didn’t play coy and seriously recounted what had happened in the previous life.
He didn’t share everything, but it was enough for Xiao Cheng to listen with increasingly heavy breaths.
Most of it aligned with the original storyline he knew!
The only difference was that Luo Jingshu was depicted as a submissive, pitiful character constantly oppressed by the scummy protagonist Jiang Ying in the original work. Not only did he never fight back, but he also endured everything silently.
That was from the perspective of a reader.
But in reality, Luo Jingshu was no such thing. From his perspective, he had merely played along with Jiang Ying’s charade and had never truly taken him seriously.
Not to mention, he ultimately drove Jiang Ying to bankruptcy.
After Luo Jingshu finished, Xiao Cheng asked, “In the previous life, I didn’t know all this was part of your plan, did I?”
Luo Jingshu responded softly, “You didn’t.”
Xiao Cheng then asked the question he had been dying to know the answer to. “Then did I ever think of helping you?”
This question happened to be the very thing Luo Jingshu couldn’t understand.
It was precisely Xiao Cheng’s indifference that had made Luo Jingshu doubt his feelings, leading to the irreversible mistakes he made after being reborn.
Luo Jingshu lowered his gaze, staring at the dim light in the room. His jaw tightened, then slowly relaxed, his voice hoarse.
“You didn’t.”
