After Dumping the Scumbag Top, I Was Relentlessly Chased by a Top-Tier Idol - Chapter 1

“Teacher Lin, you have to do your best!”

It was already ten o’clock at night, and this was the final scene of the day. The film crew was working at full speed to make the last-minute preparations. As the lead actor of the production, every staff member who passed by Lin Yizhou would say this to him.

After all, whether they could wrap up early depended entirely on the actor’s performance.

Lin Yizhou stood at the edge of the set while two staff members checked the safety of his wire harness. He kept his head slightly lowered, his expression faint. His uniquely cold and detached aura seemed somewhat out of place with the bustling atmosphere of the set.

He merely offered a slight nod in response to the greetings from the staff.

Once the inspection was complete, the wires hoisted him up, and he began to rise slowly. He felt certain he could exceed his usual performance today; after all, he also wanted to finish work early.

Today was the one-year anniversary of him being with Song Chizheng. It was a legitimate reason for him to call Song Chizheng. They hadn’t seen each other in half a year and hadn’t spoken on the phone for a month. Song Chizheng always told him, “Don’t call me if there’s nothing important; the company has been very busy lately.”

Lin Yizhou could understand; he was very busy himself. But he missed him dearly.

“All departments ready, Action!”

As the director’s voice landed, the lights were extinguished instantly. Darkness spread, followed by a deathly silence.

With a “pop,” Lin Yizhou felt as if a string had snapped in his brain. His body shuddered violently and uncontrollably. Fear was like a web being woven—growing larger and larger until it wrapped him in layers.

He opened his mouth to try and cry out, but his throat felt as if it were blocked by something; he couldn’t make a sound. He clutched his own neck, forcing himself to take large gulps of air.

Help… Help me! He screamed in his mind.

As if someone had heard his cry, several flickering flames suddenly appeared directly in front of him. Before he could see clearly, cheerful voices exploded in his ears: “Happy one-year anniversary to President Song and Xiao Zhou!”

The same sentence was repeated three times, and he shouted three times in his heart: Lights, turn on the lights quickly.

But no one heard, and no one responded. There were only the sounds of cheering and joy drawing closer and closer to him.

His feet touched the ground, and the lights flared up.

Lin Yizhou quickly adjusted his breathing, but his body continued to tremble uncontrollably. His legs felt like they were treading on cotton; he couldn’t stand steadily at all, and his whole body leaned forward, falling.

The person holding the cake had a slight change in expression. He took two quick steps forward to catch him with one hand, pulling him into his embrace. His tone was teasing: “What’s this? Miss me that much?”

Lin Yizhou took the opportunity to wrap his arms around the man’s waist, using him for support to prop up his trembling body. He didn’t say much, only letting out a soft “Mm” like a small cat.

“Good boy.” Song Chizheng gestured with the cake in his hand, and a staff member very tactfully stepped forward to take it away. His free hand stroked the back of Lin Yizhou’s head as he chuckled softly. “Do you like this surprise?”

Lin Yizhou was dazed for a few seconds before slowly lifting his eyes. He saw people holding banners that read “Happy Anniversary to President Song and Xiao Zhou” and “May You Last Forever.” All the staff members around them were looking at them with “Auntie smiles.”

He lowered his gaze, his expression faint, but the tone of his voice was light and airy: “I like it.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a cold, large hand suddenly landed on the back of his neck, squeezing hard and jerking his head up.

The moment their eyes met, Lin Yizhou’s pupils constricted sharply. His beautiful face was filled with terror. The man before him had a frozen smile and a vicious look in his eyes. The words he spoke sounded as if they were being crushed between his teeth: “You like it? So, when you said you were afraid of the dark before… you were lying to me?”

“No!”

Lin Yizhou cried out in alarm and bolted upright. He breathed raggedly for a few moments, looking around at his surroundings. Realizing he was in the living room at home, his lingering fear quickly subsided.

He had had this dream many times. Sometimes, it would even repeat several times in a single night.

In truth, this wasn’t just a dream. This was something that had actually happened on his and Song Chizheng’s one-year anniversary. He just didn’t know why he had been dreaming about it so much lately, and why it was becoming increasingly eerie.

The first time he dreamt of it, he would wake up the moment the lights went out, falling from the darkness of the dream into the darkness of reality, unable to recover for a long time. Starting from the second time, perhaps because his subconscious was unwilling to wake up, he would wake up at different points each time: the moment the descending flames were extinguished, the moment he fell and no one caught him…

And then there was just now. That terrifying version of Song Chizheng was something he had never seen before.

He shook his head slightly, choosing not to dwell on it. It was just a dream, after all.

Suddenly remembering something, he looked up at the ceiling light in the living room. The light was off.

Song Chizheng had come back last night.

As always, he would turn off the lights but ignore Lin Yizhou sleeping on the sofa. He probably really hadn’t noticed. Lin Yizhou comforted himself this way for the countless time.

Just then, the sound of footsteps came from the staircase.

Song Chizheng was wearing a dark gray bathrobe. The high-quality silk clung to his body, outlining his well-trained physique. The muscles of his abdomen were faintly visible, his hair was damp, and water droplets hung from his exposed chest. His face bore no expression as he walked slowly downstairs.

Lin Yizhou stood up and walked over. His eyes reflected the morning sunlight, making them look exceptionally bright. His faint expression softened with warmth as he said in a slightly raised tone, “Azheng, you’re up? What would you like for breakfast? I’ll go make it.”

Song Chizheng paused as he walked past him and asked, “Do you like me?”

Lin Yizhou was stunned by the sudden question. He paused for half a second before quickly reacting and answering, “I do.”

Song Chizheng raised an eyebrow slightly, the corners of his mouth curling into a sarcastic sneer. “They say if you like someone, you’ll remember all their preferences. Your ‘liking’ is not even knowing what I like to eat for breakfast?”

“That’s because…”

Before he could finish, Song Chizheng walked straight into the kitchen to make his own coffee.

“Because what you eat is different every time,” Lin Yizhou finished the sentence in a murmur.

Not knowing specifically what to prepare, Lin Yizhou took it upon himself to make two bowls of shrimp noodles. When he brought the noodles out, Song Chizheng was sitting at one side of the dining table, occasionally sliding his finger across a screen, seemingly checking some documents.

“Azheng, eat break—ah!”

Before he could finish, Song Chizheng suddenly swiped his hand away. The bowl of noodles fell to the ground with a “clatter,” shattering into pieces as the broth splattered everywhere.

Song Chizheng stood up, grabbed Lin Yizhou by the collar, and spoke in a cold tone: “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

Lin Yizhou was hoisted up, his face showing a trace of panic. “I didn’t.”

“You should know that the thing I hate most is the noodles you make. What exactly can you do well?” Song Chizheng paused and let out a sneer, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Oh, I forgot. You just won Best Actor last year. You must be great at acting—being able to act like you’re hopelessly in love when you don’t love me at all.”

“I’m sorry.”

Song Chizheng threw him aside, picked up the tablet from the table, and left the dining room.

Lin Yizhou kept his head lowered. His hand, splattered with soup, hung by his side as the liquid trickled down his fingers onto the floor.

He had messed up again.

He didn’t know why, but ever since they started living together, he seemed to make Song Chizheng angry every single day. Yet, he truly didn’t know what he was doing wrong.

“How much longer are you going to stand there?”

Hearing the voice, Lin Yizhou lifted his head as if waking from another world. He saw Song Chizheng standing in the living room, already changed into his business suit, frowning at him. “Waiting for me to clean it up?”

“No, I’ll take care of it right now.” Lin Yizhou forced a small smile. “Be safe on your way to work.”

Song Chizheng said nothing more and walked out the door. As the front door closed, the house fell back into silence.

Lin Yizhou cleared away the mess on the floor before finally attending to his hand. He turned on the faucet and placed the back of his hand under the stream. The water peeled back a layer of scalded skin, sending a jolt of sharp pain through him.

“Hiss…”

He instinctively gasped, quickly turning the water pressure down. After rinsing it for a while, he turned off the tap, found the first-aid kit, and dressed the wound himself.

Just as he put the kit back in its place, his phone on the table rang. He walked over and saw the caller ID “Azheng.” His face remained expressionless, but his voice immediately became soft and gentle. “Hello, Azheng.”

Song Chizheng skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point: “Go to the study right now. Find the second document in the pile on my desk and bring it to the company.”

“O—”

Before he could finish saying “Okay,” the call was disconnected.

Lin Yizhou didn’t hesitate; he was long used to this treatment. He called for a ride on his phone while running upstairs.

It was the morning rush hour. The streets were choked with vehicles, and the taxi sat motionless in the traffic. Lin Yizhou looked out the window and checked the time—they hadn’t moved for five minutes. This document must be urgent; he couldn’t afford to waste time here.

He paid the driver, opened the door, and started running toward the company. He bolted all the way into the Song Corporation building and straight into the elevator heading for the top-floor executive office. He stared at the rising floor numbers, wiping sweat from his face and trying to steady his ragged breathing.

With a ding, the elevator doors opened. He took one last deep breath and stepped out.

The secretary outside the CEO’s office was startled to see him but quickly stood up. “Mr. Lin, what brings you here?”

Lin Yizhou pulled his lips into a slight smile and raised the folder in his hand. “Delivering a document to Azheng.”

The secretary understood. “Go right in, the President is inside.”

Lin Yizhou nodded, rubbed his face to make sure his expression wasn’t stiff, and knocked on the door. A voice from inside quickly replied, “Come in.”

Behind the desk, Song Chizheng was looking down, flipping through papers. Lin Yizhou walked over and presented the document with both hands. He noticed Song Chizheng’s gaze linger on his hand for a moment. Song Chizheng’s brow furrowed as he looked up with a cold expression. “Are you trying to make a point to me?”

Lin Yizhou froze for a second, then withdrew his bandaged hand and shook his head slightly. “No.”

Song Chizheng snatched the documents and tossed them aside, looking at him with an indifferent tone. “From the soup this morning?”

Lin Yizhou nodded slightly.

A faint curl appeared at the corner of Song Chizheng’s mouth, his voice cool and thin. “It was just a splash. Is such an exaggerated bandage really necessary?”

Lin Yizhou smiled gently. “Wrapping it like this helps it heal faster.”

In reality, he probably needed to change the gauze. The run over had caused him to sweat under the bandage, and the burn was now throbbing with stinging pain, causing his hand to tremble uncontrollably.

Song Chizheng glanced at his hand and dismissed him. “Go back then.”

The light in Lin Yizhou’s eyes dimmed slightly, but his lips remained upturned in an effortless smile. “Alright, I won’t disturb you any longer.”

On his way out of the building, many employees greeted him. At first, Lin Yizhou forced himself to smile back, but eventually, he stopped. Facing Song Chizheng just now had seemingly drained all his strength; he simply had no energy left to deal with anyone else.

He couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh. How did things between him and Song Chizheng… suddenly become like this? When did he ever have to be so cautious around him?

Lin Yizhou pinched the bridge of his nose, once again making excuses for the man: —He’s just feeling insecure.

Just as he stepped out of the company entrance, a black sedan slowly pulled up in front of him. He looked up and recognized it as the car Song Chizheng used for work. The chauffeur stepped out and ran over to him. “Mr. Lin, President Song asked me to take you to the hospital.”

He opened the door and waited for Lin Yizhou to get in.

Lin Yizhou paused, then declined. “No need. I can re-dress it myself when I get home.” He didn’t want Song Chizheng to think he was making a mountain out of a molehill. He was already satisfied that the man had shown this much concern.

“Mr. Lin, please don’t make things difficult for me,” the driver said firmly, remaining by the open door.

Lin Yizhou frowned slightly but got into the car without a word.

Not far away, a red sports car slowed to a halt. The owner rested his elbow on the window, watching the scene at the entrance with a lazy, leisurely posture. A smile involuntarily spread across his lips. Seeing the sedan depart, he started his engine and followed.

Support After Dumping the Scumbag Top, I Was Relentlessly Chased by a Top-Tier Idol