The next day, Liu Yuâan brought breakfast home after his morning run, to find that Shao Yanxi, who usually has himself dressed and packed tidily, ready for work as soon as he has his breakfast, is still in his pyjamas.
A rare moment for him to look so homely.
Liu Yuâan closes the door and walks towards the dining room and asks, âno work today?â
âNo.â
Liu Yuâan is shocked.
Shao Yanxi is, in his own motherâs words, working 366 out of 365 days a year.
For him to say that he isnât working today?
âDid something happen?â Liu Yuâan asks as he puts the breakfast down.
âMm,â Shao Yanxi answers. He doesnât elaborate, however.
Liu Yuâan doesnât ask further and instead goes âI see,â then say, âhave you washed yet? You can start eating if youâre done already. Iâll go have a quick shower first.â
With the warming weather these days, heâs covered in sweat after running; itâs sticky.
âAlright.â
Shao Yanxi can see that Liu Yuâan is in his sportswear. Perhaps itâs thanks to him having just worked out, he looks especially bright, especially active, especially⌠manly.
No wonder he used to like him. Such a Liu Yuâan really is attractive.
Shao Yanxi thought as he retracted his gaze.
He walks over to the table, but doesnât start eating, instead waiting until Liu Yuâan has walked outside after showering.
He looks over the untouched breakfast and asks, âwhy are you not eating?â
Shao Yanxi pauses for a while, and speaks after some thought, âtogether.â
âSure,â Liu Yuâan chuckles as he takes a seat opposite Shao Yanxi.
After breakfast, Shao Yanxi went outside at ten. Meanwhile, Liu Yuâan also got called over by Ren Jianzhang; apparently, the One Emporium needs to retake a set of photos.
It was a bit past three in the afternoon when Liu Yuâan was home. Soon enough Shao Yanxi also came home â wounded.
More accurately, they are scratch wounds, especially on the face, hand and other exposed areas.
It is quite terrifying, frankly.
Liu Yuâan is in a bit of a panic as he gets the first-aid kit and pulls him over to the sofa, asking, âwhat happened? what did you do?â
Shao Yanxi doesnât answer. Liu Yuâan realises his eyes are reddened as well.
So he finds all his questions stuck in his throat. In the end, he can only ask, âdoes it hurt?â
He starts disinfecting the wounds on his face.
Though the scratches arenât deep, they are quite numerous. One scratch after another, Liu Yuâan continues gently treating the wounds. As he is a bit close, his breathing is all landing onto Shao Yanxiâs face. So he is slightly uncomfortable, and moves his head back slightly.
But Liu Yuâan then says, âdonât move. Itâll be done soon. Thereâs just a few more.â
The moment he speaks, he can feel his breathing even more clearly. Uncomfortable.
Shao Yanxi quietly holds his breath.
Thankfully it is over soon enough like Liu Yuâan said, or he wouldnât know what to do anymore.
âGive me your hand,â after that, Liu Yuâan says.
Shao Yanxi has a very beautiful hand. Itâs well-defined, long and delicate.
But right now it is full of scratches. It canât be called beautiful in any way.
Liu Yuâan asks again, âdoes it hurt?â
Shao Yanxi shakes his head but then realises Liu Yuâan is looking down at his hand treating his wounds so he says, âit doesnât.â
After that, he starts subconsciously staring at Liu Yuâan.
Liu, Yuâan. Which one⌠is the real you?
Liu Yuâan, meanwhile, has no idea what heâs thinking about. After disinfecting and treating all those wounds, he looks at his face covered all in alcohol, and says, âwe should go to the hospital. Just treating them like this wonât do. None of them is severe but Iâm afraid they might leave scars.â
Though Shao Yanxi doesnât answer for a long time. Liu Yuâan looks up to see that Shao Yanxi is blanking out. His eyes are unfocused.
So Liu Yuâan pats him on the shoulder and repeats what he just said.
Shao Yanxi replies, âno, thanks.â
It doesnât matter if heâs ugly.
Liu Yuâan is hesitant, but doesnât say anything other than, âalright. We can still get the scars removed if any formed.â
In the plot, there was one time when the protagonist Yue Zhun was injured on the face in one of his movie shoots, and the author arranged for this world to have such exceptional scar removal techniques that any sort of scar can be cleaned up.
Shao Yanxi neither agrees nor disagrees. Instead, he says, âIâm a bit tired, so I want to rest for a bit.â
âSure,â Liu Yuâan moves out of his way.
Shao Yanxi goes upstairs into his own room.
Liu Yuâan takes out his phone to call Shao Yanxiâs driver. Though he thinks itâs unlikely for the driver to know where he went either, but he wants to ask just in case.
Just as he thought, the driver replies that heâs off work today.
This means that Shao Yanxi doesnât even want to let the driver know about this. So itâs something private.
Shao Yanxi has no one he calls a friend, so itâs probably something else.
Then, family?
Shao Yanxi doesnât really have a family to speak of anymore, though.
His mother is in a psychiatric institute after going mad.
His siblings are either incarcerated or also sent into psychiatric institutes. They all hate each other.
And the maternal relatives? After his older sister died after falling from the second floor which drove his mother in her forties mad but he, an eight-year-old seemed âcompletely unfazed,â the relatives thought he was too cold-blooded, cruel; just like that father of his. And never opened up to him again.
If so, then⌠Itâs most likely that Shao Yanxi went to visit his mother.
His mother, in her madness, failed to recognise him, and scratched him.
âŚWhat a terrible fate to befall someone. And, by that authorâs own hands, neither will fate be any kinder for him in the future, with all the repercussions from going against the protagonist Top, and the world just falling apart around him.
For the first time, Liu Yuâan canât help but think⌠What a good thing for Shao Yanxi to become free of the plot.
Itâs definitely not something someone like him should think about. In fact, the very thought makes Liu Yuâan himself surprised.
Though he isnât someone to dwell over something like that. If heâs feeling like this, then that must mean he thinks Shao Yanxi deserves better.
He deserves to be treated better by this world.
Therefore, he decides to bake a whole tray of egg tarts and an apple pie. Then, he makes two cups of milk tea with red bean pudding inside.
Shao Yanxi got out of bed in the meantime, and decides to lean lazily on the kitchen counter, to watch him make the milk tea.
Liu Yuâan then points to the oven, saying âI made some egg tarts and apple pie. They should be done by now. Can you help me taste-test?â as he walks over to take the tray out.
Shao Yanxi replies, âthanks.â Then he tries some, and says, âtheyâre delicious,â then he pauses before adding again, âthank you.â
âNo problem. Iâm still waiting for all the amazing work contracts from you,â Liu Yuâan chuckles as he recalls how yesterday Shao Yanxi said he introduced Jinâan to him because he made meals for him.
Though, the guy in question fails to comprehend humour. He answers, all serious-like, âalright⌠I donât understand the entertainment industry much. I will hire someone later to be in charge of procuring work for you.â