Ling Lang visited empty handed when he last went to Feng Hao's home. This time, he visited Feng Hao's home bringing his carry-on luggage.
He stood for a long while at the doorway without entering, while Feng Hao stood quietly beside him without questioning or urging him.
“About what you asked me at the beach…” Quite unusually, Ling Lang took the initiative to open his mouth, and Feng Hao listened to him with attention.
“When I was young, I've always worried about these unusual tendencies of mine. In university, I focused on my studies and kept my mind off of it, but for the full ten years after that, I…” He hesitated for a bit, “Whether you believe me or not, I've never liked anyone for the first half of my life. You told me that you like me, but I don't even know what it means to like someone…”
Feng Hao approached him and encased him in a gentle hug, “I believe you, and I'm also very happy that you can take the initiative to tell me this. Just with you by my side, telling me what's in your heart, I'm delighted.”
At the end of their embrace, Feng Hao released him. “I will help you clear away any uncertainties that you have, and I will patiently wait for you to understand what you don't yet understand.”
His expression was serious, “But I'm sure you understand that as soon as you walk through this door, we will no longer share the same relations.h.i.+p as in the past. And I'm also sure that you can understand that the relations.h.i.+p I want with you is not just that of a mere lover.”
Ling Lang looked at him for a moment, and nodded solemnly.
The corners of Feng Hao's lips curved up as he reached out to Ling Lang, “Thank you for leaving me with your first step, and I will also a.s.sure you that I will properly bring you down this path.”
This is the first time the agent entered Feng Hao's home, so he carefully examined every corner of the unit.
“So, did you find anything?” Feng Hao asked with a cheerful smile.
“What are these rooms for?” He pointed towards a few locked doors.
“Just a storeroom for sundries.”
The agent could feel that what he said was definitely not true just by looking at that foxy smile on Feng Hao's face. Nevertheless, he could not expose his lie right to his face.
He walked to the window and carefully observed every corner that could possibly hide anything.
Don't worry, this is a closed management unit. The paparrazi will not even be able to go through the main entrance.”
The agent did not believe him, “That's what you said at the island too, but didn't you still get caught by them?”
Feng Hao shrugged helplessly, “That was a one-off negligence on my part. What's more, my relations.h.i.+p with Senior is already half-public; what would it matter if we got another photo taken?”
The agent jumped in fury, “But I haven't admitted to it yet! Right now, the two of you are just cooperating in a publicity stunt!”
“Alright,” Feng Hao sighed, “Anything you say.”
Only then was the agent satisfied, “Did you swipe your card twice when you brought me in just now?”
“Yeah, a card is required to go through the main entrance and courtyard.”
“Do you have another sub-card? Give me one, and also prepare a spare key.”
“Nope,” Without even giving an excuse, Feng Hao gave him a direct refusal.
The agent was so p.i.s.sed off by Feng Hao's straightforward rejection that he was glared in a fit of anger, “I used to have Ling Lang's house card and keys..”
Feng Hao was unaffected by his reaction and smiled as usual, “But this is my house.”
When Ling Lang entered the living room, he saw the two chatting with all smiles on one side, and gritted teeth on the other. Things seem to inevitably flow towards this direction as long as the two were to b.u.mp into each other.
“Is there an issue here?” Ling Lang was never one for idle chatter, and would always go straight to the point.
The agent shot Feng Hao a glare before he started to blab everything out to him, “I've discussed it with the company, and it's better for you to show yourself a little less in public during this time. Even though the two of you are already…cooperating for the publicity stunt, there is no need to make it so high-profile.”
“I've refused as many of the other publicity gigs that I can for you, so you just have to stay at home and relax. Go out as little as possible and don't interact with the media.”
Ling Lang never liked doing publicity gigs or having any social interactions, so his agent's arrangements were in line with his own wishes. Not to mention, for Feng Hao, this was the one sentence from the agent that pleased him the most ever since he stepped into the house.
“In any case, there hasn't been any suitable scripts for you lately either, so just take this as one big holiday.”
“Senior is very blessed,” Feng Hao sighed exaggeratedly, “I wish I could have a holiday too.”
“Tell your agency to freeze your contract, so you can be on holiday everyday,” The agent said sarcastically.
“Unfortunately, I'm not signed to an agency. Otherwise, I would've brought it up to management,” Feng Hao put on a look of pity, which caused the agent to helplessly grit his teeth.
“I'm still looking for another house for you, but I'm not able to find a suitable one so soon, so there's no hurry,” The agent suddenly recalled.
“You don't have to look anymore, senior has already decided to stay with me for the long-term,” Feng Hao cut in, “You can pack up the rest of his things and send them over.”
The agent did not believe him at all, “I understand Ling Lang better than you. He won't be able to get used to cohabiting with someone since he's been living alone for so long,” He turned to ask Ling Lang, “Isn't that right?”
Ling Lang did not even move his eyes, “Just do as he says.”
“I…” The rest of the agent's words stuck in his throat, and could not go up or down
The agent really could not deal with them, so he could only check to make sure that there were no security issues before leaving.
Feng Hao sent him to the door and pa.s.sed him a small note.
“What's this?” The agent looked at the numbers on the note.
“This is the landline number for my house. If you have any problems in the future that can be settled with just words, you can just call this number. There's no need to trouble yourself to come over.”
The implications in Feng Hao's words were clear as day. The agent's mouth twitched, “What do you mean problems that can be settled with just words? Can't I come over to send him his scripts, contracts, and whatever else?”
With a smile, Feng Hao pa.s.sed him another note. From the looks of it, it had been prepared long ago.
“And what's this now?”
“The courier's number. Please just courier the doc.u.ments over.”
“You…” The agent was once again stunned and unable to say anything.
“In short, as long as it's unnecessary, please try to reduce the amount of times you're present here,” Feng Hao's tone of speaking was polite and sincere, but it was hard to stay polite with him from the contents of his words.
When the agent heard this, he was ready to stomp his feet in anger, “And why is that?”
Feng Hao presented him an impeccable response, “Because this is my house.”
After sending the agent away, Feng Hao returned to the living room to say goodbye to Ling Lang.
“I need to do an appearance today, so be a good boy and wait for me,” Following that, he left a peck on Ling Lang's face.
Even though it still felt a little unnatural to him, Ling Lang forced himself to accept it and did not evade him.
“I'll buy some groceries for tonight's dinner, What would you like to eat?”
“I'm free, I can buy them.”
Feng Hao refused him with a smile on his face, “I'm afraid that you'll cause a roadblock at the supermarket door.”
“I can wear a pair of sungla.s.ses or something.”
“That would be too eye-catching,” Feng Hao touched his face, “I can go. I'm not as famous, so I don't have to be afraid of being recognized.”
After he left, Ling Lang sat around with nothing to do for a moment. He did not feel it when Feng Hao was still around, but now that he had stayed too long in someone else's personal s.p.a.ce, he felt lost without the habits he had developed over the years.
He turned the TV on, but there was nothing he wanted to watch; he wanted to read, but all the books on Feng Hao's bookcase were in English. Suddenly, it felt very empty in the living room, and in the bedroom, the photos of himself that were placed on the walls made him not know where to look.
When he was in his own home, he would pa.s.s the time by cleaning up the place, but not a single speck of dust could be found in Feng Hao's house; it was even cleaner than his own room.
He walked around the house, and the rooms he had not entered before were still locked. With nowhere to go, Ling Lang eventually came to the study.
The network was connected on the computer, so Ling Lang browsed through the entertainment news on the net. Unsurprisingly, it was filled with news pertaining to Feng Hao and himself. Most of the news were centered around the photos of them taken by the paparazzi on the island. After all, this was the first scandal Ling Lang had been in since his debut. Most of the large media sites wanted to dig into it.
Ling Lang had no interest in any news concerning himself, but he recalled the Weibo account that was mentioned during the meeting. So he took out the ID and pa.s.sword he had gotten from the a.s.sistant, and logged in.
Sure enough, Feng Hao was the only person he was following on that account. The very last post ‘he' made on it consisted of a mere word, “Landed”, followed by a landscape photo of an airport, but not a single person could be seen in the photo.
Even though it was such a simple post, the sharing rate was quite high. Ling Lang noticed that Feng Hao had also shared this post on his own weibo, and the note he added was “It was clearly a ten hour flight, why did it feel like we landed in the blink of an eye?” followed by a reaction image of a wronged expression.
The comment section below that post was very lively. There were those that said that time flies when you're with your lover, and others who said that there is no need to feel sad because they are still together even after landing. But more commonly, most posts simply said——Get together.
Ling Lang clicked on Feng Hao's page after that. The newest post he made was an announcement that he had “reached a million fans, but most are probably dead accounts (grieving). Sweeties, if you're alive, please share to prove that you love me (love you).”
Ling Lang was not very used to the complex world of Weibo, so he clicked around the page a few times. He did not know what he had done, but before he could take a clear look, he heard the sound of a key turning in the door.
He put the mouse down and headed to the door. Feng Hao had already entered the house holding one shopping bag and leaving another bag on the ground.
“Why didn't you ring the doorbell?” Ling Lang wanted to help him with the bags, but Feng Hao picked them up before he could.
“Just my habit,” With two bags in hand, he headed towards the kitchen, “I'm not sure what senior likes to eat, so I bought a bit of every type of vegetable, and I think I ended up buying quite a lot.”
Ling Lang followed Feng Hao to the kitchen with empty hands, and started to look through the bags after Feng Hao put them down on the kitchen counter.
“I think senior seems to prefer vegetarian dishes?” Feng Hao moved the meat aside, “Then I'll put these in the freezer for now.”
Ling Lang reached out to grab them, but Feng Hao moved them away from him silently. Thus, he could only watch as he put the packets of meat into the freezer.
“Should we eat potatoes tonight?” Feng Hao asked as he picked up a potato with a smile.
Ling Lang wanted to help him wash them, but Feng Hao had already turned the tap on. Ling Lang wanted to get the peeler, but he was held back, “I can do it.”
Finally, Ling Lang could not endure it anymore, “I can do these things too.”
There was a time when he did not know how to do these things, but he had long since learned to manage his own life after living alone for such a long period of time.
But Feng Hao shook his head with a grin on his face, “I don't need you to do any of these things.”
Ling Lang frowned, not understanding him, “I don't want to just be a leech.”
“Do you really want to help me?” asked Feng Hao.
Ling Lang nodded.
Feng Hao's smile was exceptionally gentle, “Then help me bring my slippers here.”
Ling Lang was stunned where he stood, but Feng Hao was still watched him with a smile on his face. His eyes were filled with indulgence but his voice held a firmness that was hard to resist.
Since they had known each other, all of his commands to him were casually made, almost as if it was a joke, but he was not able to laugh at any of them.
He stared at Feng Hao for a moment, then left slowly with his body leaning forward.
After a short while, Ling Lang reappeared in the kitchen. He lowered his head and put the pair of slippers softly by Feng Hao's feet.