Cat teaser

In a villa among the clusters of wealthy households on the outskirts of Seaside City, Shen Siyi was leisurely teasing a gray British Shorthair with a cat teaser.

Beside him, his manager Wen Xian looked thoroughly displeased. "I'm begging you, can you please stop saying whatever comes into your head on the show next time? Do you know I ran all over Seaside City to find you this cat that can do backflips?"

Shen Siyi lazily lifted his eyelids to glance at him, one eyebrow rising slightly. "Oh, now I do."

"You!" Wen Xian was so angry that he rolled up his sleeves, wishing he could punch Shen Siyi right then. But remembering that he still depended on Shen Siyi's face for his livelihood, he instantly lost his temper. "Actually, even if you made it up, you didn't have to find a real cat. Nobody would know whether what you said was true anyway."

Shen Siyi stopped waving the cat teaser. "Wrong. Someone will find out sooner or later."

Wen Xian froze briefly, then his eyes widened several times over as realization struck. "You're not planning to drag Song Nianxing back here by force and lock him up, are you?"

Shen Siyi frowned and clicked his tongue softly. "What are you thinking? I just thought that once we get a little more familiar with each other next week, I could invite him over to have a look. So I needed to have the cat ready first. After all, I've already said it."

Hearing that, Wen Xian breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. Just don't be like your adoptive father..."

As he spoke, he saw Shen Siyi's expression change and abruptly stopped, realizing he had said the wrong thing.

Just then, Shen Siyi's phone happened to vibrate.

The instant the words "Nianxing calling" appeared on the screen, Shen Siyi's expression, which had darkened at Wen Xian's words, immediately brightened again.

"I'll come get you. Don't be afraid. Wait for me."

After saying that, Shen Siyi hung up, tossed the cat teaser onto the table the very next second, then stood and put his coat back on. Only as he was about to leave did he seem to remember Wen Xian, turning back to say:

"Oh, I can't put you up today. My baby is coming over."

"What the hell?" Wen Xian said incredulously. "Wait, you just said you weren't bringing him over until next week."

Shen Siyi shrugged helplessly, his smile a little sly. "Can't help it. A very pleasant surprise~"

When he sent those two texts earlier that day, he had actually only been hoping to see whether he could have a video call with Song Nianxing, because Song Nianxing hadn't taken the star plush home.

Not being able to see his baby could easily drive him mad, so he had frightened him a little again, hoping that he would have a legitimate reason to make a video call later.

He hadn't expected an unexpected reward~

His Ah Xing had asked to come over to his place himself.

Since he's coming of his own accord, why not stay forever?

The words Wen Xian had spoken earlier seemed to play again beside his ear. Bring him home by force and lock him up?

Could I?

At the thought, the smile at the corners of Shen Siyi's lips unconsciously took on a hint of madness. Coming back to himself and looking at the dumbfounded Wen Xian, he spoke again with a trace of warning. "Anyway, I hope you'll be gone by the time my baby and I get back. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to call that man of yours and have him pick you up."

"Wow, Shen Siyi, you ungrateful bastard! Go ahead and call him if you've got the guts. Our marriage is just an agreement anyway. You think he can control me? That's hilarious. Believe me, I'll..."

Shen Siyi ignored Wen Xian's continued cursing and slammed the door as he left.

The instant Song Nianxing opened the door and saw Shen Siyi, his nose stung uncontrollably, and the tears brimming in his eyes came pouring out like a burst dam.

Ever since finishing his call with Shen Siyi, he hadn't dared look at his phone again. His nerves had remained taut the entire time, and all he could do was silently repeat Shen Siyi's words, "Don't be afraid. Wait for me," over and over, using that one sentence to soothe the panic that was nearly driving him mad.

During that time, he had also asked himself thousands of times whether Shen Siyi would really come to get him, especially as the seconds and minutes passed and the night outside the window grew darker.

Now that he saw the "savior" he had been longing for, he instinctively wanted to get closer and closer. "Senior Shen..."

He moved toward Shen Siyi's embrace and called softly, his voice muffled and heavily nasal. He kept gently rubbing his head against Shen Siyi's shoulder, trying to draw some sense of security from him.

"I'm here."

The instant Shen Siyi's gentle voice fell, Song Nianxing realized what he had just been doing. He hurriedly took a step back and apologized, his eyes full of panic:

"I'm sorry, Senior Shen. Just now, I was... I was far too forward. I'm really sorry."

Shen Siyi's hands, which he had already raised to wrap around Song Nianxing's waist, abruptly froze, and a flicker of regret crossed his face.

"It's all right. I allow you to be forward with me."

The more forward, the better.

"Huh?" Song Nianxing was taken aback.

Shen Siyi blinked. Realizing that his last remark was entirely out of character, he quickly explained, "What I mean is, it's all right. I understand you only did that because you were so scared. Come on, let's go home. Once we're home, you won't be afraid anymore."

Go home... Once we're home, you won't be afraid anymore.

Song Nianxing fell into a daze again.

He kept feeling that those words were so familiar, but he simply couldn't remember who had said them.

While he was lost in thought, Shen Siyi took his hand again. "Why is your wrist so red?"

Song Nianxing came back to himself. Seeing Shen Siyi rubbing the red marks left on his wrist by Jiang Jingzhe's grip, he felt a tenderness well up inside him that he had never experienced before.

He was silent for a moment, then recounted what had just happened to Shen Siyi, leaving out some of the parts about Jiang Jingzhe's dissatisfaction with him. As he spoke, he seemed not to notice how much he now trusted Shen Siyi.

After hearing his account, Shen Siyi's eyes immediately darkened.

"So you and Jiang Jingzhe used to be that close?"

"That was in the past. We can't go back to how we were now." As Song Nianxing spoke, he lowered his eyes, still unable to hide his sadness.

Watching him, Shen Siyi felt as though a breath had lodged in his chest. "That's right. You can never go back. But there's no need to go back, either. He went so far this time. You mustn't forgive him again, Nianxing."

Song Nianxing didn't notice the storm of obsession filling Shen Siyi's eyes at that moment. He merely nodded in agreement.