Half an hour later, the two men sat across from each other in the mediation room at the police station.
From beginning to end, Gu Xichao kept his eyes lowered, his gaze fixed on some point on the tabletop.
Ever since entering the room, he had not looked at the man opposite him even once.
Yu Yan was the complete opposite.
He was grinding his teeth so hard that he nearly crushed his molars. From the moment they left the banquet hall until now, he had barely blinked, staring relentlessly at Gu Xichao’s face.
His gaze was sharp and heavy, as though he wanted to burn two holes straight through the man’s face.
It contained anger, suspicion, and so many complicated emotions that even Yu Yan himself could not explain them.
Fortunately, tonight’s masquerade ball had been a private event.
Yu Yan had worn a mask the entire time, so neither the paparazzi nor any fans had managed to photograph him.
Even when he was taken into the police car, his face remained fully covered by a mask. He did not remove it until he entered the mediation room.
The door was suddenly thrown open.
A woman with long, curly red hair strode inside in high heels. Cheng Yan and Shen Jizhou followed closely behind her.
“Yu Yan, what exactly happened? Did anyone take pictures?”
Agent A asked as she pulled out her phone, already preparing to contact people and control the situation.
She was Yu Yan’s manager. From the day he debuted until he became the top star he was now, she had always treated this superstar like her personal God of Fortune.
“No matter what happened, I’ll suppress the news immediately. I guarantee that not a single word about tonight will get out.”
The police officer lightly tapped the table.
“Ma’am, what is your relationship with him?”
Agent A tossed back her long hair.
“I’m his manager. I handle everything concerning him.”
The officer pointed toward the national emblem on the wall.
“This is a police station. Do you know why Mr. Yu Yan was brought here tonight?”
“Our Yu Yan has always kept a clean reputation and obeyed the law. What could he possibly have done…”
“He harassed a man.”
The officer spoke without expression and pointed toward Gu Xichao, who had remained silent across the table.
“What?!”
Agent A followed the direction of his finger and froze as though someone had pressed the pause button.
She cupped Gu Xichao’s face in her hands and stared at him for several seconds. The phone in her other hand nearly fell to the floor.
“…President Gu? You’re not dead?!”
Agent A had worked with Yu Yan for many years, so of course she knew what his powerful patron looked like.
She had seen photographs of Gu Xichao and had even met him in person. On holidays, she would prepare gifts for him on Yu Yan’s behalf.
But that man had clearly died two years ago.
After the fire, there had barely been any ashes left behind.
Yet now, a living, breathing man sat right in front of her, with a face identical to the one in those photographs.
“Hah.”
Yu Yan tilted his head slightly. The corner of his lips curved into a faint smile, but he still did not say a word.
His gaze slowly traveled from Gu Xichao’s face down to his slender neck and beautifully shaped collarbones. Then his brows drew together unconsciously.
Tsk.
He could not even dress properly. His shirt clearly had buttons, yet he had left them undone, exposing his collarbones and the defined muscles beneath them…
Since when had he started dressing like this?
Who was he trying to seduce?
Cheng Yan had already walked a full circle around Gu Xichao, examining him from head to toe before taking a deep breath. Finally, he turned toward Yu Yan.
“He looks exactly the same… This is obviously the real person! Gu, Gu, Gu, Gu… Mmph!”
Yu Yan shot him a cold glance.
Cheng Yan had barely managed to utter the first syllable of Gu Xichao’s name before immediately shutting his mouth and returning to his seat in frustration.
Yu Yan had once warned him never to mention that name in front of him again.
Agent A finally recovered her voice.
“Exactly! His face, his figure, even the way he sits are identical!”
“That’s enough.”
Shen Jizhou draped his coat over Nolan’s shoulders before sitting down with a cold expression.
“Is it polite for a group of people to surround a foreigner and stare at him from every angle?”
“Superstar Yu Yan, is this how people in your entertainment industry behave? Disregarding the law and showing no respect for basic human rights?”
Shen Jizhou cast Yu Yan a cold glance.
Seeing Yu Yan sitting there with his eyes lowered and saying nothing, he assumed the celebrity had been frightened into silence. He gently patted Gu Xichao’s shoulder and reassured him:
“Nolan, don’t worry. As long as I’m here, no one in this country will dare bully you.”
“I’ll call a lawyer right now and ask the best one to come help you.”
Just as Shen Jizhou took out his phone, Agent A stepped forward and caught his wrist.
“President Shen, please wait. There must be some misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
Shen Jizhou turned to look at Gu Xichao.
At last, Gu Xichao raised his eyes.
They were distant and calm, like the still surface of a frozen lake.
His gaze briefly passed over Yu Yan’s face before finally settling on Shen Jizhou.
He spoke slowly and clearly, one word at a time:
“I don’t know him, and I don’t know any of these people.”
The moment he finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.
Yu Yan planted both hands on the table and leaned forward, reducing the distance between himself and Gu Xichao to less than thirty centimeters.
A dark mist clouded his eyes.
“You don’t know me?”
Gu Xichao looked directly into his eyes, his expression completely unchanged.
Not even his eyelashes trembled.
His lips parted slightly, and the words he spoke were clear and sharp as a blade:
“I don’t know you.”
Gu Xichao remained seated calmly, the faintest hint of a smile touching his lips. He glanced at Yu Yan, his gaze as light as a feather brushing across bare skin.
That indifferent expression was the final match, igniting every emotion Yu Yan had accumulated over the past two years. Longing, guilt, nightmares, despair… all of it erupted violently at once.
Yu Yan slammed both hands against the table, his arms trembling.
Seeing this, Cheng Yan hurried over and gripped his shoulders.
“Yu Yan, calm down. There are security cameras in here…”
“Let go. I won’t cause trouble.”
Yu Yan brushed Cheng Yan’s hands away, walked around the table, and stopped in front of Gu Xichao. His eyes were bloodshot, as though he wanted to tear the man apart and devour him whole.
Gu Xichao remained motionless, looking calmly back at him.
Anger and hatred twisted together inside Yu Yan. In truth, he had nearly lost all control over his emotions, but in the end, he still forced himself to swallow every bitter and bittersweet feeling.
He lightly grabbed Gu Xichao by the collar.
His grip was not strong, as though what he held was nothing more than the tangled mess of thoughts inside his own heart.
A police officer immediately stepped between them and tried to pull Yu Yan away.
“What are you trying to do? This is a police station!”
“Yu Yan!”
Cheng Yan and Shen Jizhou shouted at the same time. Both hurried forward, but Yu Yan did not move.
He merely tightened his fingers around the fabric, his gaze locked firmly on Gu Xichao’s face.
At that moment, another officer pushed open the door and entered.
“We’ve verified Nolan Koo’s identity. He is indeed a foreign national and does not hold Chinese citizenship.”
Yu Yan did not hear a single word anyone else was saying.
He bent down, leaned close to Gu Xichao’s ear, and softly uttered three words:
“Still pretending.”
“Let go.”
Gu Xichao did not raise his voice, but everyone in the room heard him clearly.
“Mr. Yu, you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
Yu Yan ignored everyone trying to stop him. Right in front of them all, he slowly smoothed out the collar he had wrinkled, then fastened Gu Xichao’s shirt buttons one by one.
“Mr. Nolan, you should button your shirt properly.”
The collar Yu Yan had pulled out of place was now neat and perfectly smooth, without a single crease.
The corner of Yu Yan’s lips lifted slightly. His eyes overflowed with intrigue and undisguised desire.
Gu Xichao was speechless.
Everyone present fell silent.
The gesture was both intimate and suggestive, almost like a silent declaration of ownership.
In the end, the two officers still had to pull Yu Yan away from Gu Xichao. Otherwise, no one knew what else he might do.
Shen Jizhou stepped in front of Gu Xichao, keeping Yu Yan one step away from him.
Their gazes briefly met, but neither man spoke.
Yu Yan returned to his seat and stared at Gu Xichao’s flawless face. A single crease still remained on the collar of the white shirt he had just grabbed.
He suddenly remembered countless mornings from the past.
Gu Xichao would sit on the sofa looking at his phone, dressed in a spotless white shirt with the collar slightly open.
Yu Yan would usually approach him from behind, lean down, and kiss his neck. The edge of the collar would brush lightly against Yu Yan’s chin, cool and soft, creating an incredibly pleasant sensation.
Each time, Yu Yan would kiss him for a long while. Whenever desire took over, he would simply press Gu Xichao down onto the sofa…
Every time that happened, Gu Xichao would remind him not to dirty his shirt, or he would have to change into a fresh one.
Back then, what Yu Yan loved most was seeing Gu Xichao in a white shirt. He looked both pure and irresistibly seductive.
Breathing heavily, Yu Yan would coax him and beg him not to refuse…
Yet now, with only a table between them, Gu Xichao sat directly across from him.
The white suit he wore was so immaculate that not a single wrinkle could be found. Yet he could not even be bothered to raise his eyes, saying only in a distant voice:
“You’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
What was he still pretending for?
Did he hate Yu Yan that much?
So much that he only wanted to stay as far away from him as possible?
So much that he would not even spare Yu Yan a single pleasant expression?
Yu Yan’s gaze gradually turned cold.
Then, without warning, he let out a quiet laugh.
“Fine.”
His voice had returned to normal, yet somehow it was even more frightening than before.
“Settle it. I’ll pay whatever compensation he wants.”
Seeing this, Agent A immediately leaned closer and quietly asked if he was all right.
Yu Yan merely waved her away, his gaze falling upon Gu Xichao once again.
But this time, the look in his eyes was no longer the same.
It was as though he were waiting for something…
Like a starving wolf watching from a distance as its prey slowly became its next meal.
Patient and silent, waiting for the prey to expose a weakness so that, at any moment, it could tear away the disguise and bite through its throat.
Keep pretending.
Go ahead and keep pretending.
Gu Xichao, I will tear off your mask with my own hands.
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