Chà Chà Novel

But the moment the words left his mouth, Yi Feng began to regret them.

He tilted his head and glanced at Gu Yan, suddenly realizing that he wasn’t entirely sure whether his older brother would actually agree to go to the movies.

“I’ll get going first.”

Yi Feng peeled Wang Zhiliang’s arm off his neck and pretended they weren’t heading in the same direction.

In reality, he secretly slipped away to a deserted spot, intending to call his brother and get a definite answer.

When the call came through, Yi Heng was in the middle of an online meeting.

He glanced at his constantly vibrating phone but ignored it.

However, Yi Feng was remarkably persistent.

Even after waiting for what felt like forever without an answer, he refused to hang up.

A moment later, Yi Heng finally reached over and swiped the screen.

“One moment. I need to take a call.”

With that, he muted his microphone in the online meeting.

“What is it?”

Yi Feng had known his brother would answer at the very last second!

In the past, whenever he called Yi Heng while he was working, the phone would ring endlessly without anyone picking up.

Eventually, Yi Feng would lose patience and hang up himself.

Once, his mother happened to witness this and explained that whenever Yi Heng didn’t want to answer a call, he would deliberately wear down the caller’s patience until they gave up.

But in reality, if the person persisted long enough, Yi Heng would eventually answer at the very last moment.

“Bro, can I ask you something?”

The snow on the trees had begun melting into tiny droplets.

A gust of wind sent one falling onto Yi Feng’s neck, making him shiver.

“Would you be interested in going to the movies with us tomorrow? There’s a new horror film out, and I’ve heard it’s pretty intense.”

“No.”

As expected, Yi Heng rejected the invitation without a second thought.

Yi Feng tried again.

“You’re really not going? You work so hard. Don’t you ever want to go out and relax?”

“If you’ve got that much free time, go yourself. Don’t bother asking me.”

Beep—

Yi Heng ended the call decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

Yi Feng broke into a huge grin.

He chuckled like a complete idiot.

The familiar rejection.

The familiar sarcasm.

The same old formula, exactly as he remembered it!

That sharp, indifferent tone felt like a little whip striking his body, filling him with an oddly comforting sense of familiarity.

But what Yi Feng didn’t know was that there was always someone capable of outmaneuvering even the cleverest person.

Meanwhile, Wang Zhiliang was enthusiastically filling Gu Yan’s head with new ideas.

“Yan Zi, you absolutely have to ask Yi Heng when you get home tonight!”

“Don’t listen to Yi Feng’s nonsense. If you’re going, Yi Heng will definitely go too!”

“Think about it. You’ve been together for so long, but have you ever gone to the movies or walked around shopping together like a normal couple?”

“This is such a perfect opportunity! You can’t let it slip away!”

“You’re the emperor who isn’t worried, while I’m the eunuch panicking on your behalf!”

“Opportunities like this don’t come around twice. Just ask him! What if he actually says yes?”

“A dark movie theater, a quiet atmosphere, the two of you sitting side by side… You could even hold hands!”

“Are you seriously telling me that doesn’t make your heart flutter?”

Wang Zhiliang’s mouth fired words like a machine gun, one after another without stopping.

After listening to his relentless persuasion, Gu Yan genuinely began to waver.

He really did want to spend more time with Yi Heng.

A movie would last at least an hour, probably longer.

That meant he could sit beside Yi Heng for the entire time.

Although Yi Feng had explicitly said that Yi Heng disliked places like movie theaters and that asking him would be pointless, Gu Yan still thought it was worth a try.

*

That evening, after finishing his homework and taking a shower, Gu Yan sat on the sofa waiting for Yi Heng to return from work.

He held a philosophy book borrowed from the study.

The words of famous thinkers in the book sounded remarkably profound, sometimes even offering sudden moments of enlightenment.

But after reading for a while, Gu Yan inevitably began staring into space.

Then came the drowsiness.

He rubbed his eyes and wandered over to the coffee machine, fiddling with it as he considered making himself a cup of instant coffee to stay awake.

But just as he took out the coffee container, the sound of the front door opening came from the entrance.

Yi Heng had been exceptionally busy that day.

For once, a trace of exhaustion was visible on his face.

“Still awake? Were you waiting for me?”

Yi Heng’s voice carried a little more languor than usual.

His long, elegant fingers methodically removed his coat and loosened his tie.

The dark fabric wound around his fingertips, creating an unexpectedly captivating sight.

“Mm.”

Gu Yan stared, momentarily mesmerized.

With a small movement of his finger, he quietly pushed the coffee container behind him back into place.

“Um… there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

He nervously rubbed his earlobe.

“Are you free to go to the movies with me tomorrow?”

Yi Heng’s movements paused for a brief moment.

Hadn’t Yi Feng asked him exactly the same question earlier?

Seeing that Yi Heng hadn’t immediately refused, Gu Yan’s eyes brightened.

Following Wang Zhiliang’s advice, he decided to strike while the iron was hot.

“You work so hard all the time. Maybe you should go out and relax once in a while?”

Yi Heng: “…”

Why does that sound so familiar?

Gu Yan carefully studied Yi Heng’s expression, ready to retreat at the first sign of reluctance.

If Yi Heng showed even the slightest unwillingness, Gu Yan would immediately give him an easy way out.

But Yi Heng asked something completely unexpected.

“Do you want to see it?”

Gu Yan nodded stiffly.

“Mm.”

It wasn’t that he particularly wanted to watch a movie.

He mostly just wanted to sit beside Yi Heng.

Yi Heng replied,

“Alright. I’ll go.”

*

Friday afternoon, Central Mall.

Yi Feng walked at the front of the group, humming cheerfully with the confident air of someone who already had victory in the bag.

Gu Yan and Wang Zhiliang followed behind him.

But before long, Yi Feng could no longer smile.

He stared at the man standing outside the cinema entrance, holding a cup of milk tea.

His eyes widened so dramatically that they nearly popped out of their sockets.

Seeing his reaction, Wang Zhiliang immediately clapped his hands in delight.

“Bro?! Didn’t you say you weren’t coming?”

Yi Feng was utterly dumbfounded.

The bag of potato chips he had bought to enjoy during the movie suddenly didn’t seem appetizing anymore.

Wang Zhiliang wasted no time adding fuel to the fire.

“Hurry up and crawl backward! Come on, crawl!”

“I have to record this precious moment! When I die, I’ll turn the video into a QR code and engrave it on my tombstone. Anyone who scans it will get to watch!”

Yi Feng’s face turned bright red.

“Get lost!”

Wang Zhiliang chased after him relentlessly.

“Don’t run away! A promise is a promise! Hey! Feng!”

Yi Heng’s gaze passed over the two noisy figures ahead.

He walked up to Gu Yan and handed him the milk tea he was holding.

“This is yours.”

In winter, a cup of warm, fragrant milk tea could bring comfort to both body and soul.

“Thank you.”

Gu Yan pressed his lips together slightly.

“When did you get here?”

They had originally agreed to meet at five o’clock.

But judging by Yi Heng’s appearance, he seemed to have been waiting for quite some time.

“Not long ago,” Yi Heng replied.

Compared to Wang Zhiliang and Yi Feng, who were still bickering nearby, the two of them standing together looked like a perfectly peaceful, harmonious painting.

Yi Heng hadn’t set foot inside a movie theater since middle school.

But returning to one with Gu Yan actually felt rather nice.

Wang Zhiliang had purchased four consecutive seats in the best viewing section of the theater.

Yi Feng instinctively started walking toward Yi Heng, intending to sit beside his older brother.

Unfortunately, Wang Zhiliang immediately grabbed him and dragged him back.

There weren’t many people who came to movie theaters specifically to watch horror films.

For one thing, the atmosphere was simply too frightening.

On such a massive screen, a female ghost dressed in red could suddenly leap forward and appear right in front of your face.

Anyone with a low tolerance for scares might scream and embarrass themselves.

Secondly, all sorts of eerie rumors made many people reluctant to watch horror movies in cinemas.

“I heard someone once got scared to death watching a ghost movie here.”

Wang Zhiliang secretly leaned closer to Yi Feng and whispered.

Yi Feng felt his scalp tingle.

“Shut up! Stop talking!”

The lights suddenly dimmed.

The movie officially began.

“This story is based on true events…”

The narrator began slowly recounting the story.

Gu Yan took a sip of milk tea, his gaze drifting toward Yi Heng.

Under the shifting light and shadows from the screen, Yi Heng’s handsome features looked even more sharply defined.

He approached everything he did with complete seriousness.

Even while watching a movie, he kept his eyes fixed attentively on the screen.

A girl in the row behind them gasped at a particularly disturbing scene.

Yet Yi Heng’s expression remained calmer than a windless lake.

He looked as though he were watching a childish cartoon.

Looks like Yi Heng isn’t afraid either.

Gu Yan looked away, feeling a little disappointed.

On the way here, he had imagined that when Yi Heng became nervous or frightened, he could take the initiative to hold his hand and show off his protective side.

But instead…

Before long, Gu Yan had already finished half his milk tea.

At that moment, the protagonist on the screen was reviewing surveillance footage.

Without warning, the female ghost suddenly appeared directly in front of the security camera, her terrifying face filling the entire screen!

“AAAAAAAH!”

Wang Zhiliang let out an ear-splitting scream that sounded like a pig being slaughtered.

Gu Yan nearly crushed the milk tea cup in his hand.

Wang Zhiliang’s poor little heart was pounding wildly.

He immediately threw himself against Yi Feng, and the two huddled together in a terrified heap.

Gu Yan couldn’t help laughing.

Two tall, muscular Alphas, and they were actually afraid of something like this?

But just as he finished laughing, he noticed a couple sitting a few rows ahead.

The girl was so frightened that she didn’t dare look at the screen and had buried herself tightly in her boyfriend’s arms.

The boy gently patted her back to comfort her, a blissful expression spreading across his face.

Gu Yan: “…”

A sudden flash of inspiration struck him.

If the mountain won’t come to me, then I’ll go to the mountain myself!

Yi Heng wasn’t afraid.

Gu Yan wasn’t afraid either.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t pretend!

He could simply act as though he were too scared to watch and use the opportunity to move closer to Yi Heng.

At the thought, Gu Yan’s heartbeat gradually quickened.

Even the cinema’s air conditioning didn’t seem quite as cool as before.

But seriously… what’s actually supposed to be scary about this movie?

Gu Yan stared blankly at the female ghost on the screen as she twisted her body into a grotesque position and crawled toward the audience.

Meanwhile, Wang Zhiliang, sitting on his right, was reacting dramatically.

He kept jumping in fright and occasionally turning toward Yi Feng for protection.

Gu Yan quietly observed Wang Zhiliang’s movements for a while.

Then, the next time the ghost suddenly flashed onto the screen, he steeled himself and grabbed Yi Heng’s arm.

Yi Heng, who had remained expressionless and motionless like a stone statue throughout the entire film, finally showed a reaction.

He turned his head, looked at the hand gripping his arm, and parted his lips.

“Scared?”

Scared, my ass.

Gu Yan didn’t dare meet Yi Heng’s eyes, afraid his little performance would be exposed.

“… Mm.”

Yi Heng’s searching gaze swept across Gu Yan’s face before settling on his trembling eyelashes.

He could tell at a glance that Gu Yan was lying.

Earlier scenes had been dozens of times more terrifying than this one, yet Gu Yan had calmly sipped his milk tea as though nothing were happening.

How could such a minor scare possibly frighten him?

But Yi Heng didn’t expose the lie.

Instead, he silently lowered his shoulder slightly, making it easier for Gu Yan to lean against him.

Then he took the hand gripping his arm and enclosed it within his warm palm.

Gu Yan tasted the sweetness of success.

He felt as though he were walking on clouds, convinced that Yi Heng had truly believed him.

Little did he know that Yi Heng’s acting skills were a hundred times better than his own.

Every one of Gu Yan’s little schemes had already been seen through.

Yi Feng had grown thoroughly annoyed by Wang Zhiliang clinging to him.

He forcefully pushed Wang Zhiliang’s face away.

“Get off me! It’s too hot! Go hug Gu Yan instead!”

Having lost his human-sized pillow in the form of Yi Feng, Wang Zhiliang instantly felt his sense of security disappear.

He looked pitifully toward Gu Yan, hoping for a little comfort.

But when he turned around, he was greeted by the beautiful sight of Gu Yan and Yi Heng holding hands tightly.

As a certified single dog, Wang Zhiliang felt deeply wounded.

And yet he couldn’t stop stealing glances at them.

Even when the movie was nearing its end and the female ghost practically crawled out of the screen, he barely reacted compared to earlier.

His mind was filled with nothing but pink bubbles of romance.

*

The movie ended.

Yi Feng stood up and stretched.

“I thought it was pretty good. The horror atmosphere was really well done, and the plot was solid too. What did you guys think?”

Wang Zhiliang, who had spent practically the entire second half of the movie suffering emotional damage and missing all the exciting scenes:

“…”

Gu Yan couldn’t offer much of an opinion either.

He barely knew what the movie had been about.

His attention had been entirely focused on Yi Heng.

At one point, while leaning against Yi Heng’s shoulder, he’d nearly fallen asleep.

Yi Heng gave a brief assessment.

“It certainly suits you.”

“???”

Yi Feng had the distinct feeling that his brother was mocking him.

Unfortunately, he had no evidence.

After the movie, Wang Zhiliang wanted to take everyone out for a lavish dinner.

However, Yi Heng still needed to visit the company that evening, so he couldn’t join them.

Gu Yan thought for a moment before saying,

“Then I’ll eat at home.”

Yi Heng hadn’t eaten anything during the movie.

And now that he was rushing back to the office, he probably wouldn’t have time for dinner either.

Gu Yan wanted to return home and prepare some of Yi Heng’s favorite dishes with the housekeeper.

That way, once Yi Heng finished dealing with work and came home, dinner would be waiting for him.

Wang Zhiliang replied regretfully,

“Alright, then. Yi Feng and I will go together. You two be careful on your way home!”

Gu Yan nodded.

“Okay.”

The time he’d spent with Yi Heng at the cinema that afternoon had left his heart feeling as sweet as though it had been coated in sugar.

After practicing so many times, he was now perfectly capable of preparing several of his signature dishes on his own.

Steamed fish, tofu with scallions, and corn and pork rib soup.

This time, he was determined to redeem himself in front of Yi Heng!

Gu Yan carried all the dishes to the dining table.

He even took special care arranging the food beautifully on each plate.

“Oh no!”

A sudden cry of alarm rang out from the study.

Gu Yan hurriedly put down what he was holding and rushed over, not even taking the time to remove his apron.

“What happened?”

The housekeeper stood there holding a cleaning cloth, pointing helplessly at the items on the desk.

“I-I was just cleaning, and I accidentally knocked over President Yi’s cup with my elbow. The water… it’s spilled all over the desk…”

Numerous documents lay spread across the surface, including several contracts.

Gu Yan immediately stepped forward to inspect the damage.

Many of the papers were soaked through, sticking together in wrinkled, soggy clumps.

“Quickly separate them and lay them out flat to dry. Be careful not to tear anything,” Gu Yan instructed calmly.

“Oh! Alright, alright!”

The housekeeper hurriedly gathered the documents from the desk and moved them to a dry surface.

Together with Gu Yan, she carefully peeled apart the damp sheets one by one and laid them out to dry.

Just then, a thick envelope slipped out from among the documents.

It was bulging, as though it contained quite a few things.

But the outside of the envelope was completely soaked.

Whatever was inside had probably suffered the same fate.

If they didn’t remove the contents quickly, some of them might be ruined by the water.

Gu Yan noticed that the envelope had already been opened.

Worried that it might contain written agreements or other important documents, he hurriedly took everything out.

However, the moment he saw what was inside, Gu Yan froze completely.

His pupils contracted sharply.

The envelope was filled with photographs secretly taken of him.

His heart seemed to freeze in an instant.

With trembling fingertips, he picked up the first photograph.

It showed him helping his grandmother leave the hospital after her discharge.

The second photograph captured him entering and leaving the university in recent days.

The third had been taken a little earlier.

To his astonishment, it showed the day he had visited the gaming café with Wang Zhiliang…

In every single photograph, Gu Yan’s face had been crossed out with a red pen.

And on the back of each picture, someone had written a message.

“Never investigate again.”

“Very good. That’s more like it.”

“Remember, I’m always watching him.”

For several seconds, time seemed to stand still.

Gu Yan wanted to look through the remaining photographs, but his hands were shaking so badly that he couldn’t separate them.

He tried several times without success.

His throat felt painfully dry, as though a fishbone had become lodged inside it, leaving him unable to speak.

What did these threatening messages mean?

Was someone using him to threaten Yi Heng?

A sharp pain shot through his head.

His mind struggled to start working again.

He gripped the photographs so tightly that his knuckles turned white.