Zhuo Yue did not reject the idea of homosexuality and thought it was just another form of love, but he did not consider himself homosexual. He had a girlfriend when he was studying at drama school. Although they didn’t have a substantial relationship, he did feel something during the kisses. That impulse stemmed from the instinct of a man.
But at this moment, he had the same impulse from witnessing the SM behaviour of two men. That desire grew wildly like weeds in the spring breeze. When he found that he had started caressing his genitals without knowing, he trembled all over, got up and rushed into the bathroom.
Because masturbating for this kind of thing was really hard for him to accept. He doused himself with cold water and finally suppressed the evil fire with a trembling body. When he woke up the next day, his head was groggy, and his breathing was heavy and blocked.
He obviously…caught a cold.
Zhuo Yue struggled to get up, washed briefly and then went downstairs to have breakfast. When he saw Fang Mingyan, his face turned red. He said, “Morning” and looked away.
“You look so bad. You didn’t sleep well?” the man asked while drinking coffee.
“…Yeah.” He responded softly, drank a small bowl of porridge, and then returned to the room to recite his lines.
Fang Mingyan raised his lips silently at his back. Today he had some work matters to deal with, so he went to the company after breakfast. When he came back in the afternoon, the butler Zhou Chi said, “Young Master Ming, Mr. Zhuo barely had anything to eat at noon, and he said there was no need to call him for dinner. So can you…”
“I’ll go up and have a look.”
The man stood outside the guest room door and knocked, but there was no movement. He pushed the door open and entered, the room was dark with no lights on. He looked around and saw no one. He was stunned for a moment, and then he noticed a pile of quilts on the single sofa by the window. He took a closer look and saw Zhu Yue was curled up in a ball under the quilt. He tilted his head like a rice dumpling and fell asleep, holding a book in his hand.
“Zhuo Yue?” Fang Mingyan called softly.
The other party’s eyebrows moved. He woke up in a daze, and his black and white eyes looked at him confusedly.
“It’s time to eat.”
“Yeah, coming.” His voice was muffled.
The man noticed something strange and raised his hand to turn on the light. He found that the man huddled under the quilt was listless, and his face was abnormally red. He put his hand on his forehead and frowned, “You have a fever.” He said. Then he removed the quilt and said, “I’ll take you to the hospital.”
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Zhu Yue grabbed the quilt tighter, like a snail shrinking into its shell, and refused, “I’m not going.”
Fang Mingyan was puzzled by his stubborn attitude, “Why?”
“It’s just a cold. I’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep…” He was breathing hard and had a heavy nasal voice.
“Whether it’s a cold or not, that needs a doctor to determine.”
“I won’t go.”
The man shook his head helplessly and simply picked him up with the quilt on his side and placed him on the bed. Then he came in with a medicine box and took his ear temperature with a thermometer. “Thirty-eight point five degrees. Zhuo Yue, the temperature in the room is constant. Why do you catch a cold?”
He lay there with a bit of embarrassment in his eyes and said nothing.
“Do you want to answer the question, or do you want me to roll you up in a quilt and take you to the hospital?”
He turned his head slightly and whispered, “I took a cold shower yesterday.”
A trace of surprise flashed in Fang Mingyan’s eyes, and then he curled his lips in understanding and did not continue to ask. After a while, a middle-aged man in his forties came to see a doctor in a white coat. He confirmed it was just a common cold and fever, prescribed some medicine and left. The man forced him to eat a few mouthfuls of hot porridge, then took fever-reducing medicine. The man put a small ice pack on his forehead to cool down and joked, “Taking a cold bath. You are very self-restraint.”
Zhuo Yue was so groggy that he didn’t hear clearly what he said, so he just sighed, closed his eyes and fell asleep. The distant and indifferent gaze in his eyes was covered, making him look a little more gentle. The eyelashes quivered gently between breaths, like the wings of a small insect.
Fang Mingyan looked at the sleeping face sunken into the soft pillow, smiled lightly, and reached out to tuck him in.
In order for the master to have a comprehensive understanding of the slave’s behaviour, numerous prisms at different angles were embedded in the walls of the cage. Zhuo Yue’s whereabouts were revealed the moment he appeared at the stairs that night. What surprised the man was that his eyes did not show disgust or rejection when he looked at their behaviour. Instead, his eyes turned from shock to shame, and finally, he ran away quietly. It now appeared that he had developed a desire, and instead of masturbating, he took a cold shower.
This approach fits his personality very well and was very interesting.
Zhuo Yue’s constitution was not very good to begin with. Recently, he was pursued for debts, narrowly avoided a compromising situation, and was stressed about auditions. All of this left him physically and mentally exhausted. Finally, he relaxed a little under Fang Mingyan’s wings, but his vitality hadn’t fully recovered. The ordeal with the cold was quite severe, with a fluctuating fever persisting for three days before the temperature finally subsided.
He opened his eyes and looked at the man leaning on the bedside reading the report. The other party personally took care of him patiently and meticulously for three days. He was so grateful for the patience and care he had received, but he didn’t know how to say it.
The room was very quiet. Fang Mingyan felt his gaze, lowered his head and asked, “You’re awake, are you thirsty?”
Zhuo Yue shook his head and said with some embarrassment, “I’m sorry for causing trouble to you these days.”
The man smiled and naturally stretched out his hand to touch his head, “If you feel sorry, please get better soon.”
A cold like this was easy to get rid of and sometimes lasted for ten days and half a month. Fang Mingyan cared about everything for him and asked the chef to prepare nutritious meals for him without showing any signs of inconvenience. Zhuo Yue, though grateful, was not adept at expressing his feelings eloquently. He just took the initiative to make him a cup of tea or cut some fruits and silently did the trivial things he could. Fang Mingyan never acted like a boss towards him. Ever since he discovered Zhuo Yue’s tendency to blush, he often teased him deliberately. After getting along for a period of time, Zhuo Yue, who was cautious at the beginning, gradually adapted to the situation and became familiar with each other’s styles.
That night, the two had dinner. Zhuo Yue made black tea and handed it to Fang Mingyan.
“Sit down.” The man stopped him.
A variety show was playing on the TV, and a popular girl group sang and danced happily on the brightly lit stage.
“What do you think?” Fang Mingyan asked.
Zhuo Yue looked at it for a while and said, “It’s pretty good.”
“If you could pick someone to be your girlfriend, who would you choose?”
He was stunned and asked, “Are you going to create a scandal?”
Fang Mingyan smiled faintly and did not respond.
Since there was already an agreement to hand over oneself to the other party, Zhuo Yue stopped asking, looked at it again and said, “The second one from the left.”
“Reason?”
“Looks relatively gentle and not very scheming.”
The man curled his lips while looking at the TV, picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip, “This kind of scheming heart, if it’s noticeable to others, indicates a low level of sophistication. In the entertainment industry, there was no such thing as true unity or peaceful coexistence. If you observe carefully, you will find that the person you chose answered the host’s questions at least twice and deliberately fell down to steal the spotlight in the game. It’s just that she did it more naturally, without any obvious signs of intent,” He glanced at Zhuo Yue and said, “Your insight is terrible, but your choice is correct. If you want to stir up sex scandals, it is best to choose such a useful and smart girl.”
“No matter what the company arranges, I will cooperate.”
Such a serious and rigid attitude amused Fang Mingyan, who leaned on the sofa and looked at him with half-squinted eyes.
Zhuo Yue felt uncomfortable and asked awkwardly, “What’s wrong?”
“When you are serious.” The man’s lips curved into a smile, “You do exude a restrained charm.”
“…it’s called boring.”
“Then let’s talk about something that’s not boring.” Fang Mingyan changed the subject, “For example, why do you resist going to the hospital?”
Zhuo Yue was stunned. He was silent for a moment, and said, “The atmosphere in the hospital feels very depressing.”
“You know I can tell if you’re lying.” The man’s eyes were as clear as cold stars.
Zhuo Yue’s gaze shifted, turning towards the teacup in his hand, and slowly said, “My biological mother suffered from gastric cancer. When it was discovered, it was already in the late stage, and she eventually passed away in a hospital bed. She was extremely thin in those last days. I was very young at that time and couldn’t do anything except cry. When she was in intense pain, she would bite the pillow and her own arm, and her mouth would be filled with blood. I didn’t dare to sleep every night because I was afraid that if I fell asleep and woke up again, she would… be gone.” He paused for a moment and continued, “Later, she died, and I couldn’t contact any relatives, so I stayed in the morgue for two days. Later, several kind-hearted neighbours helped organize the funeral, and she was cremated. I don’t like going to the hospital; it gives me a sense of fear.” These words were spoken very slowly, without any embellishments on past events, yet they conveyed the desolation and despair of a six-year-old child at that time. Many years had passed, but he still harboured a fear of the place that took his mother away.
Seeing him showing his vulnerability to himself without reservation, Fang Mingyan felt a little unbearable, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t ask these things.”
“It’s been a long time.” Zhuo Yue smiled at him and suddenly said, “If Chairman Fang feels sorry, why not tell me something you’re afraid of in exchange.”
The man was startled for a moment, then smiled like a spring breeze, “Cat.”
“You’re afraid of cats?” Zhuo Yue opened his eyes wide.
Fang Mingyan saw his surprised look and smiled, “You look like you’ve discovered a new world.”
“Why are you afraid of cats?”
“I won’t tell you.”
Zhuo Yue raised his eyebrows and smiled. His handsome face was like a white plum blossom reflecting the snow, as beautiful as a painting.
Notes:
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