Qin Yuheng lowered his gaze and met his eyes.
Only after a long pause did he ask quietly, "How did you figure it out?"
Yu Nian's eyes widened. "So it really was you!"
He wriggled out of Qin Yuheng's arms and listed every hole in his story.
"Never mind everything before. You almost had me fooled."
"But I never believed someone would send me that many gifts and watch every one of my streams without even wanting basic emotional gratification," Yu Nian said through gritted teeth. "If Y really liked me that much, there was no way he could resist reaching out to me privately. But he never did. Not once."
"That just doesn't make sense."
"Unless Y was some saint with no wants or desires, or he was someone's alternate account. Someone who already had plenty of contact with me in real life, so he didn't need to say much to me online. Saying too much would only give him away. That was what you thought, wasn't it?"
Yu Nian gave a cold laugh. "But today you said, 'You're not the other man.' That also explains why you could stay so calm online. And coming in to bring me fruit right after sending that message was a little too deliberate."
He rose onto his knees, gently tipped Qin Yuheng's chin up, and looked down at him. "Qin Yuheng, were you putting on an act to back up your own alternate account, or were you actually jealous of yourself?"
Qin Yuheng's eyes darkened. He took Yu Nian's hand and pressed it to his cheek, his eyes full of devotion. "I'm sorry. How do you want to punish me, baby?"
His deliberately slow words and low, tender voice sounded like willing submission, yet also like an invitation to do something to