“Don’t eat me!”
With a loud shout, Ye Shanshan abruptly opened his eyes, and the chandelier on the ceiling appeared in his sight. Stunned for a full half minute, Ye Shanshan cautiously touched his own arm—it was still there!
Originally, because he had snuck out while Gong Yue was asleep last night, quietly searching for “sweets” to satisfy himself before going to bed. But for some reason, he ended up dreaming all night, dreaming that he was about to be eaten by a great demon king.
In the dream, Gong Yue wore a black cloak, sitting on a large throne, his face frosty, and he would eat him at the slightest disagreement, which scared him awake.
Hearing Ye Shanshan’s scream from the dressing room, Gong Yue quickly returned to the bedroom. He saw Ye Shanshan sitting on the bed, holding the quilt, and only turned his head slowly after hearing the footsteps, staring blankly, still with a lingering panic in his eyes.
“Shanshan, having a nightmare?” Gong Yue walked to the edge of the bed, his tone carrying a comforting meaning.
Ye Shanshan nodded pitifully, “Yeah, dreamed that you were going to eat me.” He even touched his own shoulder, “In the dream, my arm was already eaten by you. Why is your eating habit so strange? I’m not tasty at all!”
“I wasn’t going to eat you, those were all dreams,” Gong Yue patiently explained.
Seeing the real version of Gong Yue, Ye Shanshan scratched his head, and after a while, he calmed down. He noticed Gong Yue was buttoning his shirt with one hand, so Ye Shanshan quickly lifted the quilt, knelt on the edge of the bed, and patted it,
“Come here, let me help you with the buttons.”
Gong Yue hesitated for half a second but then let go, allowing Ye Shanshan to help him.
Carefully fastening Gong Yue’s shirt buttons, Ye Shanshan was very careful, and even tidied the cuffs neatly.
“You look handsome today!” Not knowing what persona he had set for himself, Ye Shanshan finished speaking, then kindly patted Gong Yue’s shoulder, in an old-fashioned manner, “Young man, work hard!”
“…”
After that, Gong Yue brought the tie from the dressing room. Ye Shanshan naturally took it and leaned over to help Gong Yue tie a beautiful Windsor knot, “There you go.”
Staring at Gong Yue in front of him, Ye Shanshan suddenly remembered last night when Gong Yue hugged his waist with one hand and lifted him onto the desk. The scorching temperature of his palm seemed to have been imprinted on his waist. His gaze subconsciously became a bit erratic, and his heart rate began to fluctuate again.
After zoning out for a while, Ye Shanshan couldn’t resist the surging courage in his heart. Silently reaching out, he gently touched Gong Yue’s abdominal muscles.
After touching twice, Ye Shanshan, with a triumphant look, quickly rolled off the bed and said, “Brother, wait for me to come downstairs, I’ll brush my teeth and wash my face quickly!” Then he disappeared around the corner.
Feeling the sensation in his abdomen, Gong Yue let out a sigh.
※※※
The car stopped at the back door of the set. Ye Shanshan got out of the car, then turned around and bent down, waving to Gong Yue sitting inside. He seemed to have finished mentioning everything he needed to pay attention to, but just in case, he summarized it one last time,
“When we get to the company, you mustn’t use your right hand too much. If there’s anything, instruct Qin Xuan, the assistant, to do it. And also, we must have dinner together tonight!”
“Okay.”
With Gong Yue’s affirmative answer, Ye Shanshan stood up straight. After watching the car leave, he turned around and prepared to go inside.
But as soon as he raised his eyes, he saw Xu Tian standing not far away, not sure how long he had been watching. Ye Shanshan didn’t think much of it, unfolded a smile, greeted him, then hummed a song and went to the dressing room.
Xu Tian stood still, recalling the Maybach that had just driven away, and the faint figure of a man sitting inside. After a while, he slowly illuminated the screen.
“At ten o’clock tonight, the usual place, clean up the bed and wait for me.”
Looking at the message received early in the morning, he remembered various quirks of that old man from Jia Tai with some disgust—he had changed agents after Zhao Yaozu was arrested, so now, the existence of this old man had become a nuisance, and it was time to shake him off.
But how to shake him off required careful planning.
※※※
Ye Shanshan’s first scene today was a scene with the character “Serwin” in the drama. Serwin was a mixed-race man, the second one to die among ten people, and it was his death that made Yan Ke, played by Yan Ke, first suspect Hu Yan.
Standing on the balcony of his room, Hu Yan held a glass of water in his hand. Outside was cloudy, the clouds were heavy, and the light was dim. After swallowing the water in his mouth, Hu Yan placed the half-full glass on the wooden round table on the balcony, then directly flipped over the balcony railing, showing remarkable agility.
Stepping on the protruding decorative stone bars on the wall surface, pressing his body close to the wall, Hu Yan easily vaulted onto the balcony next door—where Serwin lived.
He stood in front of the French windows, his face hidden in the shadows, as if he had draped all the darkness over himself.
Director Zhang saw Ye Shanshan standing still and quickly called for a close-up shot. In the frame, Ye Shanshan’s eyes were a kind of inorganic black, as if he had detached himself from his emotional side. But upon closer inspection, there was a sense of sadness seeping through the cracks.
This subtle expression made Director Zhang’s eyes light up.
The faint sound of bullets being loaded filled the air, and without further hesitation, Hu Yan stepped into Serwin’s bedroom, like a grim reaper harvesting life.
Serwin, feeling a bit unwell, was resting on the bed. When he heard footsteps and looked over, he stared at the gun in the intruder’s hand, his pupils contracting in fear as he sat up, “What are you—”
A muffled “thud” pierced the air, the silencer concealing the sound of the gunshot, leaving only the sound of the bullet piercing flesh to enter the ears. Hu Yan confirmed that the person had stopped breathing, then retrieved the gun and quietly returned to his room, without alerting anyone.
When others discovered that Serwin was dead, it would probably be when Jiang Rui went to knock on his door and call Serwin to dinner.
Director Zhang gestured to Ye Shanshan, “Change a few camera angles and reshoot, especially the part where you climb the wall, do it again.”
Ye Shanshan was still having his hair styled by the makeup artist. Hearing Director Zhang’s words, he couldn’t help but correct, “Director, the term ‘climbing the wall’ feels a bit strange!”
“I’m the director, and if I say ‘climb the wall’, then climb the wall!” With a wave of his microphone, Director Zhang continued, “Alright, your lunchbox will have chicken legs.”
Ye Shanshan immediately smiled.
“You little rascal!” Director Zhang laughed and scolded, seeing his expression, then put down the microphone and turned to Yan Ke sitting behind the camera,
“Shanshan seems a bit excited today. His whole aura is almost overwhelming Serwin’s presence.”
“He’s improving quickly.”
“Yeah,” Director Zhang nodded, “He learns fast, and he’s very quick to self-reflect and self-correct. I have to say he’s really a good seedling. In the first few scenes, he seemed more like he was integrating and imitating, but now he finally has some of his own things in it.”
Saying that, he looked at Ye Shanshan who was drinking water, “Both in action and dialogue, it’s good, but unfortunately, there’s always something missing in the performance.”
※※※
After shooting a few scenes, Ye Shanshan approached the camera and watched the previous footage together, planning to reshoot anything that didn’t seem right.
Director Zhang smoked two cigarettes quickly and then extinguished them.
Ye Shanshan’s attention was drawn to the sparks extinguished on the ground. “Director, does the cigarette taste good?”
“It’s alright, but men always want to smoke a couple when they’re feeling restless.”
After saying a few more words, Director Zhang watched the footage with Ye Shanshan, then suddenly asked him, “Do you have any plans on November 16th?”
Ye Shanshan shook his head, “No.”
Director Zhang took out his phone, tapped a few times, and handed it to Ye Shanshan, “There’s a requirement to shoot a public service advertisement on that day. I think there’s a role in it that suits you particularly well. Do you want to do it? There aren’t many scenes, so it’ll be done quickly, in a day or two. If you agree, I’ll talk to Lao Zheng.”
He found the interaction between Ye Shanshan and Zheng Dong quite interesting. Most of the time, it was the agent who made decisions for the artist, but with Ye Shanshan and Zheng Dong, Zheng Dong directly asked if Ye Shanshan was interested, and if he was, then they discussed further.
Ye Shanshan quickly flipped through the proposal and found the character’s setting interesting, so he handed the phone back to Director Zhang and blinked, “If there’s a chicken leg deluxe meal, count me in.”
Director Zhang chuckled, “Alright, you’ll be satisfied!”
※※※
It was only just past six o’clock when he got home. Ye Shanshan nibbled on a piece of fruit, humming a song as he prepared to go to the audio-visual room to watch a movie, waiting for Gong Yue to have dinner together.
But as he passed by the study, his footsteps suddenly stopped.
He stared at the tightly closed study door for a while, and suddenly the scenes from last night played automatically in his mind, including how he was kissed by Gong Yue, and how his chin was pinched, filling his nostrils and mouth with Gong Yue’s scent.
A tingling sensation surged along his spine, and his body began to heat up.
Patting his face, Ye Shanshan felt a bit strange. After a moment of thought, he turned around and ran downstairs, eagerly fetching a mop from the cleaning room and meticulously mopping the living room.
The butler, Huo Ke, followed Ye Shanshan, completely unaware of what had happened.
※※※
After dinner, Ye Shanshan followed Gong Yue cautiously. “Brother, I have an unusual request.”
“Yeah?”
Feeling that Gong Yue was in a good mood, Ye Shanshan approached him, “I want to try smoking, just to see how it feels.” As he spoke, he extended a finger as thin as a scallion and shook it, “Just one stick.”
After seeing Director Zhang smoking today, he had been wanting to try it himself, just to see what cigarettes tasted like.
“Okay, just one stick.”
In the study, Ye Sh
anshan saw Gong Yue open a drawer and take out a silver lighter and a pack of cigarettes.
There was a leaf pattern on the metal case of the lighter, all made of diamonds, shining brightly under the light.
Ye Shanshan saw his brother skillfully playing with the lighter and suddenly realized, “Brother, you secretly smoke!”
Gong Yue opened the cigarette box, “Occasionally, I haven’t touched it for the past two months.”
He took out a cigarette, presented the end of it to Ye Shanshan’s lips, and said, “Open your mouth.”
Ye Shanshan instinctively opened his mouth and held the cigarette, looking curious and excited.
The lighter spun between Gong Yue’s slender fingers a few times, and with a flick of his thumb, there was a faint “click”, and the metal cover of the lighter opened.
“After lighting it, take a slow puff, and you’ll know what cigarettes taste like.”
Ye Shanshan nodded, indicating that he understood, his eyes full of anticipation.
Gong Yue approached, ignited the lighter, and the orange light slowly moved with his movements.
The flame touched the cigarette, the tobacco ignited, changing from deep brown to golden red, and wisps of light blue smoke appeared.
Ye Shanshan followed Gong Yue’s instructions, carefully taking a puff, and instantly widened his eyes—what a strange and peculiar taste!
With a bitter expression on his face, his mouth still filled with smoke, he didn’t know what to do next, so he just looked at Gong Yue with a pleading expression, his eyes clearly unable to accept the taste of the cigarette.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Gong Yue’s mouth as he took the cigarette from between Ye Shanshan’s lips and extinguished it in the ashtray, then casually placed the lighter on the table, emitting a subtle “clack” sound.
Then, he raised his left hand, gently pinched Ye Shanshan’s chin.
Next, he leaned in slightly, taking Ye Shanshan’s lips between his own, and the wet sensation intertwined once again.
His tongue pushed into the crevice of Ye Shanshan’s lips, and with a gentle suck, the smoke from Ye Shanshan’s mouth transferred to Gong Yue’s mouth through their contact.
As the smoke slowly exited Ye Shanshan’s mouth, Gong Yue exhaled a small smoke ring, his eyes slightly narrowed, inexplicably charming.
“Does it taste good?” His voice was hoarse, his thumb rubbing the corner of Ye Shanshan’s mouth, where there was still a bit of moisture, unsure if it was saliva from either of them.
Ye Shanshan stared at Gong Yue’s lips, feeling a bit infatuated. He licked his upper lip, inexplicably blurting out, “I want to try again.”
1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you and Enjoy reading ❤️”
