The man who saved him

An Shi and Qi Sijing both hurried back to the banquet hall.

When Old Mr. Qi heard that his grandson had gone to the hospital, he grew worried, and the banquet ended a little early.

He had wanted to go find Qi Sijing, but Father Qi coaxed him into going home.

By then, only the servers were left in the banquet hall, cleaning up.

Upstairs, Cheng Yu had finally shaken off Qi Sinian, who had been pestering him. He couldn't be bothered to return to his apartment and decided to stay at the hotel where the banquet had been held.

As he passed a room, however, a sound rang out in his mind at a decidedly inappropriate moment.

Gurgle~ Gurgle~

Cheng Yu: What the hell was that noise?

On second thought, he could only hear one particular person's voice. But that was strange. He remembered Lin Xingye's room being on the fourth floor, while he was currently on the sixth.

At that distance, he shouldn't have been able to hear him.

Cheng Yu's gaze darkened, and he knocked on the door.

No one answered.

Bo Xi... feels so good...

Cheng Yu: *...?*

Cheng Yu lit a cigarette.

Less than three minutes later, he tossed it into the trash and pounded twice on the door.

After another short wait, the door finally opened. Bo Xi appeared in a bathrobe, his hair wet.

"Need something?" Bo Xi asked.

Cheng Yu's expression was quite a sight. "Is Lin Xingye in there?"

Bo Xi nodded, not forgetting to give him instructions. "Someone slipped Star something. Go find out who."

Cheng Yu clenched his fists, stepped forward, and roughly grabbed him by the collar of his bathrobe. "What did you do?"

Bo Xi gently pushed him away, his gaze as indifferent as ever. "What's that got to do with you? Star didn't like you when he was little, either."

The man opposite him suddenly smiled, as though relieved. "So you didn't do anything."

Bo Xi said nothing. Sometimes, knowing someone for too long clearly wasn't a good thing.

"I did."

The delighted expression froze on Cheng Yu's face, disbelief filling his eyes.

"But not all the way."

Cheng Yu flew into a rage. "You bastard!"

"Shh. Star's taking a bath. I'm going to check on him. What if he falls asleep and slips under the water? You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Bo Xi's tone was as even as ever, but he couldn't hide the smugness in his eyes.

The door shut so quickly it nearly hit Cheng Yu's nose.

This was the second time today Cheng Yu had lost his composure.

He was about to blow a gasket.

Lin Xingmo was frantic, constantly messaging his brother. Xu Chen was on the fourth floor reassuring Father Lin and Mother Lin, while Qi Sijing and An Shi checked the surveillance footage in the nearby security room.

They rewound the footage and saw Lin Xingye enter the elevator, then shove the receptionist out on the third floor before collapsing back into the elevator.

The sight made everyone's heart lurch.

Qi Sijing was so anxious he wanted to curse. He called someone to track down the receptionist. "Find that bastard, now!"

For some reason, the footage after that was completely black, as though someone had deliberately tampered with it. The hotel manager kept his head lowered, barely daring to breathe.

Thankfully, someone had saved him.

"Found him." Lin Xingmo received a notification and opened his phone to see a message from Lin Xingye.

He turned the phone around to show them. There was only one reply in the chat.

This is Bo Xi.

Everyone fell silent.

An Shi's gaze dimmed, his expression bland. "Since he's fine, I'll head back."

With that, he left without hesitation.

Qi Sijing, however, remained rooted to the spot for quite some time. Lin Xingmo needed to tell his parents as soon as possible, so he left first, too.

The manager didn't dare hurry him along and asked cautiously, "Mr. Qi, about this..."

Qi Sijing said, "Save it. You still haven't found the person I told you to find. Until you do, no one's going home tonight."

He sat back down in the chair, as though he could finally relax now that he knew a certain someone was safe. Yet a bitter, aching feeling kept welling up inside him.

"Let go of me... no, don't touch me!"

"Please..."

In the dim room, his consciousness slowly faded. The man pinned him down like a mountain, leaving him unable to breathe.

"...Star, don't be scared."

"I won't do anything. Don't worry."

"Star, don't cry."

The terrifying shadow loomed over him, yet every word it spoke was exceedingly gentle, as though soothing a child, afraid he might suffer even the slightest harm.

Was this... that day in his previous life?

He opened his eyes. Dazzling sunlight poured down, making him close them again as a few reflexive tears squeezed out.

He struggled upright. The enormous floor-to-ceiling windows reflected the scenery outside, where even the leaves gleamed in the sunlight.

How long had it been since he'd relaxed enough to appreciate the beauty of the world? Looking at the vast expanse of green leaves outside, Lin Xingye was overcome with emotion.

A breeze passed, and the emerald leaves looked like little sprites greeting him. They swayed merrily in the wind, cheerfully wishing him good morning.

Just looking at them lifted his spirits.

So green. My eyes just got hit with a dose of good health. Love it.

"Pfft."

Laughter came from behind him. Lin Xingye froze as scattered memories of the previous night surfaced in his mind.

He turned around. Bo Xi was leaning against the headboard, smiling fondly. Sunlight fell across his face, gilding him with a golden halo.

He looked like a sculpted god.

Little did he know that, in Bo Xi's eyes, there was only his pretty little head, bathed in sunlight and seemingly golden. He was adorable.

I'm such a beast. I even made a move on Little Fish.

Bo Xi: *?*

But he's so, so handsome. I just... I only made the same mistake anyone would make.

Bo Xi couldn't help laughing. "Star, are you feeling okay?"

That "Star" suddenly overlapped with the voice in his dream, leaving Lin Xingye frozen in place.

He seemed to have discovered something incredible.

It was Bo Xi. It had been Bo Xi in his previous life, too. Bo Xi hadn't done anything to him, just like last night.

To put it bluntly, he had been the one taking liberties with Bo Xi. Bo Xi hadn't done anything at all. He had behaved himself impeccably.

He couldn't even bear to look at the evidence of his own misbehavior. Bo Xi wasn't wearing a shirt, and the teeth marks on his chest were perfectly clear. He didn't dare lift his head to look.

Thinking back carefully now, he had felt sore all over after being sent home in his previous life, and there had been a few embarrassing marks on him. He had jumped to the conclusion that something had happened.

But that soreness was more likely from falling while trying to escape. As for those marks, considering how he'd clung to Bo Xi last night, the man had only sucked on his skin a few times.

What a guy. That took some serious restraint.

When he continued saying nothing, Bo Xi worried that he'd misunderstood something and hurried to explain. "Star, I didn't..."

"I know. I'm thinking." Afraid of having his train of thought interrupted, Lin Xingye looked utterly serious.

He was still puzzled. How had he ended up being brought back by Li Hanwen afterward?

Bo Xi looked a little hurt. "Star, do you really not remember anything?"

Lin Xingye was confused. "Remember what?"

Bo Xi asked, "Not even what happened at the cliff?"

Lin Xingye was stunned.

So you were the one who saved me at the cliff before, too?

He was a little angry now, but he couldn't take it out on him.

You never said anything, and someone else took all the credit!

You made me just as blind as you!

Bo Xi was a little taken aback. Someone had taken the credit? And he was blind, too?

Suddenly, he felt as though he couldn't understand Chinese anymore.

Afraid of another misunderstanding, Lin Xingye asked, "When Momo and I went hiking and I accidentally fell, were you the one who took me to the hospital?"

Bo Xi nodded.

Lin Xingmo was so angry his stomach hurt. "Then if I hadn't woken up today, where were you planning to take me?"

The question was a little strange, but Bo Xi still answered seriously. "I was afraid you wouldn't be able to accept it when you woke up, so I was going to take you back to your room on the fourth floor to keep sleeping."

Lin Xingye had a theory. Li Hanwen must have come to lurk near his room the next morning, but hadn't run into Bo Xi.

Then he had seen the unexplained marks on his body and misunderstood. The only question was how Li Hanwen had gotten inside. Presumably, someone had already been helping him then.

Thinking about it now, it had probably been Qin Ke.

Bo Xi sat up worriedly and pressed a hand against his abdomen. "Does it hurt badly? I ordered breakfast. Have a little when it gets here."

His face was far too handsome up close. Lin Xingye shyly lowered his head.

No, he couldn't look at his chest, either. He shyly raised his head again.

Lin Xingye's face was scarlet. "How about putting your clothes on first?"

This humble little one doesn't dare look.

I'll just sneak another hundred million peeks. (//∇//)

Bo Xi reached out and ruffled his soft hair. "All right. But perhaps you should also tell me what happened to your hand?"