Not Biologically Related

Ye Qing had been in the bath so long that the water had turned lukewarm. His face felt slightly cool when he pressed it against Gu Ze's.

Gu Ze moved his hand and gently touched Ye Qing's face. His skin was smooth, like warm, flawless jade.

Ye Qing looked at him with watery eyes. The movement left his chest fully exposed, and Gu Ze quickly turned his head away.

But even that brief glimpse kept replaying in Gu Ze's excellent memory. Gradually, he felt the air around him growing hotter.

Gu Ze didn't know what possessed him. He heard himself ask in a hoarse voice, "Do you need me to help you bathe?"

Ye Qing couldn't have asked for more. He felt weak all over and didn't want to wash himself, so Gu Ze's offer delighted him.

Besides, this was Gu Ze. Who would turn down help like that?

Ye Qing considered it with his rather muddled mind and decided it was an excellent suggestion.

Without hesitation, he lay back in the tub and waited for Gu Ze to wash him.

Gu Ze gently rinsed the suds from Ye Qing's hair. It was smooth and soft as silk.

Gu Ze's touch was so light that Ye Qing could barely feel it.

Once his hair was done, Gu Ze moved down to his neck, shoulders, and collarbone.

Ye Qing's collarbone was beautiful, delicately shaped and sharply defined. It appeared and vanished beneath the rippling water like a trail in the snow, inviting the eye to follow it.

A tiny mole sat on his collarbone, so small it would have been easy to miss. Yet that little round mark drew Gu Ze's gaze.

Gu Ze couldn't help rubbing his thumb over it. Before long, the skin around it had flushed faintly red.

Perhaps Gu Ze had pressed too hard, because Ye Qing let out a soft hum.

The sound seemed to bring Gu Ze back to his senses. Looking at the faint redness, he realized just how fair and delicate Ye Qing's skin was.

Gu Ze knew he was acting strangely tonight. He had gone too far; he had never done anything so improper before.

He kept his voice under control. "You can wash the rest yourself."

Ye Qing didn't object. He thought it was already kind of the award-winning actor to have done this much for him.

"Be careful. Don't fool around, all right?"

"Got it, got it."

Ye Qing finished bathing, but then came out without even wrapping himself in a towel.

Gu Ze gritted his teeth and called Ye Qing by his full name for the first time. "Ye Qing!"

Startled, Ye Qing looked aggrieved. "What?"

"Why aren't you wearing anything?"

"I couldn't find anything. Why are you yelling at me?"

Gu Ze was at a loss with this little troublemaker. He had never looked after anyone like this in his life.

With no other choice, he found Ye Qing a bath towel and wrapped him in it. Then he carried him to a chair, brought out the hair dryer, and dried his hair.

Only when Gu Ze finished did he realize Ye Qing had long since fallen asleep. Asleep, he was much better behaved than when he was drunk.

Gu Ze let out a long breath. At least he was asleep now.

Worried Ye Qing might wake in the middle of the night with no one to look after him, Gu Ze made do with the hotel sofa.

As he lay there, Gu Ze thought back over all the strange things he had done that day. A thought rose in his mind.

As he drifted off, he wondered whether Ye Qing would remember any of tonight in the morning.

As it turned out, Ye Qing remembered nothing of the night before. He woke and looked at Gu Ze innocently. "Brother Gu, why are you here?"

Gu Ze could barely contain his irritation. "Do you remember anything from yesterday?"

"Yesterday? I remember getting drunk, and then... nothing after that."

Realization dawned on Ye Qing. "Brother Gu, did I cause you trouble? I hardly ever get drunk. I'm sorry."

"But..." Ye Qing had a question. "Did someone hit me? Why is it so red here?"

The patch had been small yesterday, but for some reason, the redness had spread.

Ye Qing was pointing to his collarbone. Gu Ze suddenly had nothing to say.

"A mosquito probably bit you on the way back last night."

"Are there still mosquitoes this time of year?" Ye Qing asked earnestly.

"Yes," Gu Ze said with certainty. He couldn't very well admit he had caused it. That would make him sound like a pervert.

Ye Qing believed him.

After Ye Qing wrapped filming, members of the production crew posted on Weibo to celebrate.

Gu Ze's and Xie Quan's posts drew the most attention.

Gu Ze: Congratulations on wrapping, my friend. @Ye Qing.

Xie Quan: Congratulations on wrapping, my dear little brother. @Ye Qing.

Both men were known for rarely posting online. For Gu Ze in particular, this was already his second Weibo post about Ye Qing.

"Wow, Brother Gu really has made a new friend."

"Right? He's been posting so often lately."

"What good does that do if he won't post a photo?"

"There's a photo of them together."

"I want one of him alone. Is that so wrong?"

Xie Quan's fans reacted much the same way. Ye Qing gained more followers because of it, too.

Meanwhile, a message arrived on Xie Quan's phone. "Who's the person in the photo with you?"

"You don't need to know."

At his office, the man's brows drew together when he received that reply. His expression was unreadable.

A young man on the other side of the office asked softly, "Brother Li, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," the man replied coolly.

The Ye family was delighted when Ye Qing came home after wrapping filming. Without him around these past few days, life had suddenly felt dull.

Watching news about Ye Qing online had only made them wish they could go there and witness the drama firsthand.

As it happened, there was a banquet around the time Ye Qing returned, so the family brought him along without a second thought.

Who knew what juicy gossip they might hear?

The Li Family was fairly well known in their social circle, and not for any flattering reason. They were famous for playing favorites.

Everyone favored someone to some degree, but this family took it too far.

Both boys were their children, yet the parents favored the younger son beyond all reason. He had a nice room, while the older son lived in a north-facing room that wasn't even the same size.

The younger son dressed in finery and jewelry, while the older son wore plain clothes.

They always took the younger son to banquets, as though their older son didn't exist.

Yet everyone who had met the older son praised him as a fine young man, while the younger son was rather unruly.

No one knew what the couple was thinking. They simply kept favoring the younger son.

Their favoritism was so extreme that no one in their circle could understand it. People thought the couple must have something wrong with their heads.

Wait, the younger son isn't even their biological child!

The Ye family: Now that's some juicy gossip!