“Did I offend you somehow? Why are you going to such extraordinary lengths just to torment me?”
Gu Xichao had asked the question casually, yet it left Yu Yan speechless. A thousand words crowded his throat, but in the end, he could not force out even one.
His dark gaze lingered on Gu Xichao’s cold, proud face as a sudden thought crossed his mind.
He did not want Gu Xichao to become like him—forever tormented by an illness that could never truly be cured.
Seeing that Yu Yan still had not lit his cigarette, Gu Xichao reached into his pocket, took out the lighter, and lit it himself. Smoke curled lazily before his face, and only then did his mood ease slightly.
He raised their joined hands, gave the handcuffs a light shake, and said:
“Take them off.”
“If I do, you’ll run away again.”
Yu Yan narrowed his eyes at him, his smile strained and far from pleasant.
At least Yu Yan had not completely lost his senses. If Gu Xichao waited until he fell asleep and then tried to use the key he carried to unlock the cuffs, Yu Yan would most likely seize it before he could succeed.
What Gu Xichao had not expected was how much stronger Yu Yan had become.
In the past, Yu Yan often handed him bottles and jars, claiming that he could not open them, then sweetly called him “Xichao” and asked for help. Yu Yan had used that trick countless times, and it had always worked.
Over time, Gu Xichao had unconsciously begun to believe that if the two of them ever confronted each other directly, he would at least not be the weaker one.
“So I’m supposed to stay chained to you like this?”
Disappointment welled up inside Gu Xichao. Neither gentleness nor force had worked, leaving him no choice but to endure the situation for the time being.
Because their wrists remained cuffed together, Gu Xichao walked ahead while Yu Yan obediently followed behind.
“I used to keep you as my lover, and now you’ve come back to humiliate me. Is that why you locked me in here?”
Gu Xichao’s voice was completely devoid of emotion.
“Kept me as your lover?!”
Yu Yan raised an eyebrow, clearly displeased that Gu Xichao had reduced all their beautiful memories to nothing more than a transaction of money and flesh.
Gu Xichao could not even be bothered to respond.
He entered the living room and stopped in front of Amity. He no longer wished to continue speaking with Yu Yan. In this entire house, Amity was the only thing he found remotely agreeable.
Just as he was trying to figure out how to restart it, an adorable mechanical voice suddenly rang out:
“Hello, I’m Amity. How may I assist you?”
The two round eyes on Amity’s screen immediately lit up. The moment it came back online, it saw the two men standing before it, both wearing stormy expressions.
However, when it noticed their hands were still cuffed together, it completely misunderstood the meaning behind it and exclaimed happily:
“The superstar and Mr. Gu have made up! Amity is delighted to continue serving both of you.”
Yu Yan was about to scold it for siding with an outsider, but then he remembered Amity mentioning that its operating system was suffering from conflicting commands. In the end, he swallowed his complaint.
“Amity, I had no choice but to lock you inside today. Send the footage from the camera in the corner of the room to Yu Yan, and we’ll call it even.”
Gu Xichao bent down, resting both hands on his knees. His expression was gentle, though his tone carried a trace of severity.
“I want you to remain neutral. This is as far as you’re allowed to help him. If either of you crosses the line again, I’ll ignore both of you from now on.”
As Gu Xichao bent down, the handcuffs forced Yu Yan to lean forward with him. Standing beside him, Yu Yan listened as an odd ticklish sensation spread through his ears.
That final sentence was clearly not directed at Amity alone. Gu Xichao was deliberately warning him as well.
Before Amity could answer, Yu Yan spoke first.
“Agreed.”
Of course, he was also speaking to Amity.
“Yes, Mr. Gu. I will do my best to remain neutral and respect your wishes. Please don’t ignore Amity.”
Amity looked at him pitifully.
Gu Xichao gently patted its metal head, as though he were stroking the little dog he had once raised.
Watching the scene only made Yu Yan feel worse.
Why could Gu Xichao be so gentle with Amity, yet show him nothing but cold indifference?
Yu Yan asked resentfully:
“What is that supposed to mean? You care about it, but you can’t even be bothered with me?”
Gu Xichao silently headed upstairs, dragging Yu Yan after him without the slightest consideration. Yu Yan stumbled from the sudden pull.
“Why won’t you even say a word when it comes to me?” Yu Yan muttered under his breath. “It’s a robot, and I’m a human being. You could at least be reasonable.”
“I’m giving it away tomorrow!”
“Gu Xichao!”
No matter how loudly Yu Yan shouted, Gu Xichao refused to answer.
He knew Yu Yan was determined to cling to him tonight. The more agitated the younger man became, the calmer Gu Xichao had to remain. He would simply treat Yu Yan as the only one who was angry and consider the rest none of his concern.
He intended to rest in the guest room, but when he turned around, he saw Yu Yan still cuffed to him.
“You’re too noisy. I want to sleep. Are you going to remove the handcuffs or not?”
Yu Yan shook his head.
Gu Xichao continued pretending he did not exist, but soon found himself facing another problem.
With the two of them cuffed together like this, how was he supposed to shower or change his clothes?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He abruptly lifted his right arm, making Yu Yan suck in a sharp breath from the pain. The cuff had already rubbed a vivid red mark around the inside of his left wrist.
“How am I supposed to shower? How am I supposed to change? Take them off!”
Gu Xichao finally lost his temper.
“It’s not as though we haven’t seen each other naked before. What are you embarrassed about?”
Yu Yan shamelessly continued on purpose.
“Besides, I never got around to putting on a shirt. Taking another shower won’t make any difference.”
Gu Xichao was so furious that he laughed, his voice turning icy as he warned:
“Watch your mouth. You and I have no relationship anymore, so stop acting like a pervert.”
Fortunately, Gu Xichao was accustomed to showering in the morning and had already showered once that day.
With no other choice, he tightly wrapped the two sides of his robe around himself, pulled back the covers, and lay down stiffly on the bed.
Yu Yan stretched their cuffed arms toward the edge of the mattress and crouched beside it. Then, taking advantage of every inch Gu Xichao had given him, he said:
“If you’re not showering anymore, move farther inside. I’ll sleep on this side.”
As he spoke, he lifted the covers and began climbing into bed. He even deliberately hugged Gu Xichao’s arm, trying to make room for himself.
Gu Xichao refused to move. He merely closed his eyes, determined to ignore him.
Before long, however, someone suddenly seized his right wrist. Before he could react, a powerful force shoved his entire body aside.
When Gu Xichao opened his eyes, he found himself lying on the other side of the bed.
Yu Yan had taken over his former spot. Propping his head up with one hand, he grinned like a shameless rogue.
“Sorry, President Gu. You’ll have to endure a slightly cramped bed tonight.”
Furious, Gu Xichao turned over and presented Yu Yan with his back.
“How am I supposed to sleep when you’re lying like that?”
Yu Yan moved closer from behind and whispered beside his ear.
Naturally, Gu Xichao could not fall asleep.
He could even clearly feel Yu Yan’s breath passing through the soft hair at the nape of his neck, hot and damp against his skin, sending a faint tingling sensation across his scalp.
He immediately rolled onto his back and placed Yu Yan’s hand between them, drawing a clear boundary down the center of the bed.
“I’m warning you. Behave yourself.”
“All right.”
Yu Yan’s eyes shone as he looked at him. He adjusted his position as well and obediently remained on his side of the boundary.
Night had already fallen deep, yet neither man sharing that bed could easily drift off to sleep.
Gu Xichao thought that if he were alone, he might find a way to break the window and escape by himself.
But if Yu Yan discovered that he had vanished, would the younger man cause even more trouble?
While waiting for someone outside to come looking for him, perhaps he could temporarily placate Yu Yan and make him a few empty promises.
Unless he was truly driven into a corner, Gu Xichao had absolutely no intention of considering the bargain Yu Yan had once proposed.
Being locked up here just to lie beside Yu Yan, then receiving a sum of money in return—how was that any different from being kept as a lover?
In the past, it had always been young men who willingly sought their way into his bed. Never had Gu Xichao imagined that one day, he would fall so far—like a tiger forced down from the mountains, only to be mocked by dogs on the plains.
He assumed Yu Yan had returned to torment and humiliate him.
Even Gu Xichao did not truly believe that their relationship back then had been nothing more than an arrangement between a wealthy patron and his kept lover. Yet if Yu Yan was not doing this to humiliate him or exact revenge, Gu Xichao genuinely could not imagine what other motive he might have.
His thoughts gradually drifted away. Countless fragments from that so-called “kept relationship” surfaced in his mind.
Then, without realizing when it happened, Gu Xichao slowly fell asleep.
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