Lu Xunji held a thin black card between his fingertips and waved it in front of Xie Ji, his voice a little huskier than usual.
"You want this?" He tilted his head, his gaze full of teasing mockery as he looked at Xie Ji.
Like a predator toying with prey it was about to devour.
Xie Ji's gaze followed the black card, like a cat drawn to catnip. His pale gold hair looked impossibly soft under the lights.
Lu Xunji's Adam's apple suddenly bobbed. He turned his head slightly, bringing the tip of his nose a little closer to Xie Ji's hair.
A delicate fragrance slowly drifted up to his nose.
He knew this scent well. He had the same brand of shampoo in his bathroom, even the same fragrance.
Citrus, fresh and gently delicious... it smelled tempting enough to bite.
Xie Ji only had eyes for the black card and completely missed Lu Xunji's unusual state. He reached straight out and grabbed the other end of the card, smiling sweetly.
"Little sis... eldest disciple, that's far too distant. We're family. What's yours is mine, isn't it?
Come on, take your big brother's advice. You're young. You can't handle this black card.
But I'm different. I've been gutting fish at RT-Mart for ten years. My heart's colder than my knife now. A little hardship is nothing to me. Let me handle it."
Lu Xunji curled his lips and let out a husky laugh.
His laughter held seven parts mockery and three parts desire as he deftly slipped the black card out of Xie Ji's hand.
Because they were closer now, Xie Ji's ear brushed lightly against Lu Xunji's lips.
The rich fragrance stirred his desire again and again. He parted his lips, took Xie Ji's soft, rounded earlobe between them, and gave it a light suck.
Xie Ji instantly straightened and stared at him in disbelief!
Lu Xunji himself hadn't expected to do that. But when that warm, soft touch brushed the corner of his mouth, it had become the only thought left in his head.
The atmosphere in the back seat immediately turned awkward. Lu Xunji knitted his brows and was about to find an excuse to brush it off when Xie Ji covered his ear and yelled, "If you won't give it to me, fine! Why are you biting me?"
The driver sitting up front hadn't noticed what was happening in the back, but Xie Ji's shout made him glance over through the rearview mirror.
His gaze was full of curiosity.
Everyone in the circle knew what kind of relationship these two had. Were they about to fight in the car?
Lu Xunji had never liked that kind of look. The overwhelming desire in his heart instantly turned into a sort of agitation, and even his gaze toward Xie Ji grew cold.
Xie Ji held out his fair, tender palm with perfect confidence. "How about this? Give me the black card, and I'll pretend nothing happened. I won't tell anyone how petty you are, either."
Lu Xunji turned his head away and said coldly, "Get lost."
"Tsk, look at you. Why get so worked up?"
Xie Ji leaned over again and shamelessly wheedled, "Dear big brother, my ear hurts. Only a black card can make it better. If you think one bite isn't enough, then this ear-"
He turned his head and offered his other ear to Lu Xunji. "You can just bite this one too, can't you? But let's agree first, okay? Not too hard. Only a tiny bit harder than last time. My life is still a life, after all."
The driver's gaze went from curiosity to confusion. When he saw Xie Ji actually close his eyes and earnestly wait for Lu Xunji to bite him again, it turned into a strange sort of shock.
As though he had stumbled upon some earth-shattering gossip.
Lu Xunji: "..."
He had never seen such an idiot in his life. Lu Xunji was shocked too.
Seeing Xie Ji open his little mouth to keep chattering, he raised a hand and covered it, cursing under his breath through gritted teeth, "Shut up!"
Xie Ji blinked and glanced toward the black card.
Meaning he could shut up, but the black card would be his.
"Don't even think about it," Lu Xunji snapped irritably.
[System notification: Target [Lu Xunji]'s favorability toward you has decreased by 50. Current favorability: -160.]
Xie Ji: "..."
He wouldn't give him the black card, had bitten him, and now he was even deducting favorability?!
Why did this man want everything his own way?
Curled up in Xie Ji's pocket, Little Black's vision went dark.
Getting stuck with Xie Ji was truly an ordeal. His host's entire future was already clear at a glance.
Just as Xie Ji was getting ready to act like a little shit and disgust Lu Xunji, the system notification sounded again.
[Friendly reminder: When the target's favorability drops to -200, a punishment mechanism will be triggered. Punishment unknown. You are advised not to risk yourself; when the target's favorability drops to -500, the achievement [Truly unafraid of death] will be unlocked, your HP will be reduced to zero, and the mission will fail.]
Xie Ji: "..."
The price of being a little shit was rather steep.
Xie Ji obediently shrank back and sprawled across the back seat, radiating the faint air of a living person who was slightly dead.
Only two hours later did the driver, who had been sitting on pins and needles up front, finally speak. "We're here."
Lu Xunji opened the car door first, ready to get out.
A salty, damp breeze blew into the car. Xie Ji wrinkled his nose, got out, and stretched before slowly taking in his surroundings.
This seemed to be some dock. An endless sea lay before them, and only a scattering of crew members were on the dock, running around with cameras and adjusting equipment.
Several seaplanes floated on the water nearby.
"Congratulations. You're the first guests to reach the dock." A voice came from behind them. Lu Xunji and Xie Ji leaned against the car doors and looked back.
The tall, straight-backed man was bundled up tightly from head to toe, with only his eyes showing. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the director of this show. My surname is He. You can call me Director He."
With the car between them, Xie Ji glanced at Lu Xunji.
Lu Xunji stood to one side. The sea breeze lifted his shirt, revealing a stretch of lean, powerful waist.
Xie Ji sucked at his back teeth in envy. He knew the young man only looked thin. Beneath his clothes was a perfectly proportioned layer of lean muscle, his body's lines smooth and flowing. Even his cold, pale skin carried a vigorous sense of strength.
He looked exceedingly dangerous, and in reality, he was no safer.
That was why Xie Ji still hadn't laid a hand on Lu Xunji despite losing 160 favorability points to him.
His current body was simply too weak. He didn't know whether it was because he had been pampered since childhood, but his skin was delicate and fragile. Even a slightly strong breeze made his face sting.
There wasn't a scrap of flab around his waist, but of course, there wasn't a single abdominal muscle either. It was so flat and slender that even he couldn't stand looking at it.
Sometimes, he really couldn't tell which of them was the all-purpose bottom.
"Since you're the first guests to arrive, you'll receive special treatment-you'll be granted an exception and allowed to bring one personal item each onto the island. Everyone else will have to leave everything with the production team, including communication devices, apart from essential daily necessities," Director He said. "Once everyone arrives, we'll take the seaplanes you see over there to our destination. The production team spent six months building a farmstead on an isolated island. That will be your home for these two months."
Director He paused after finishing and looked up at them. "Is that clear?"
"I have nothing I need to bring," Lu Xunji said flatly.
Xie Ji hurriedly objected, "No, you do. You need to bring my... no, your black card."
Lu Xunji: "..."
Xie Ji thought for a moment, then asked, "Director He, can we receive packages here?"
"There's a temporary delivery point arranged by the production team over there. It's mainly for the crew."
Xie Ji walked toward the delivery point. "I mailed something a few days ago. That's what I want to bring onto the island."
At that, Director He seemed to remember something, and his brows furrowed. "So the package delivered this afternoon was yours?"
Xie Ji nodded. "Unless something went wrong, it should be."
Then he pressed his lips together, lowered his head, and smiled shyly. "It's a present for Brother Lu. He'll definitely love it."
Lu Xunji saw a trace of shock surface in Director He's previously unruffled eyes-the exact same look the driver had given them in the car.
An inexplicable unease rose in Lu Xunji's heart.
...What nonsense was this idiot up to now?
Then Director He quickly regained his composure. He cleared his throat and looked at Lu Xunji. "Young people should still exercise some restraint... never mind. Go get it."
Xie Ji happily went off.
When he returned, he was holding a...
Person?
To be precise, it was something wrapped in a shipping bag in the shape of a "person." Judging by its curves, it was even a "woman."
But that wasn't the point. The point was the words "Discreet shipping" brazenly plastered across the human-shaped package.
Lu Xunji: "..."
[System notification: Target [Lu Xunji]'s favorability toward you has decreased by 35. Current favorability: -195. Approaching the punishment mechanism's activation threshold.]
The smile on Xie Ji's face froze.
?
Little Black: "What did you buy?! I'm asking you, what did you buy?!"
"A little rubber wife. What, I bought him a little rubber wife and he's still unhappy?" Xie Ji said with perfect confidence. "It was really expensive, okay?"
Little Black: "..."
So tired. It felt like the helplessness of spending seven days without food or drink rushing to finish homework, only to discover it had been someone else's homework.