Even A Heartthrob Can Lose A Puppy - Chapter 5

The wind chime on the door that had just been pushed open was still swaying back and forth in the air, its crisp ringing sending a tingling sensation straight to the tips of He Yun’s nerves.

“Someone is chasing me outside.”

He Yun’s arm was held even tighter.

“Help me, won’t you?”

He Yun was not fond of such intimate gestures. He brushed the man’s hand away and pointed toward the red landline phone on the wall.

“Dial 999 for the police.”

With that, he picked up a baseball bat from the corner and walked straight out without looking back, completely missing the look of astonished disbelief on the man’s face behind him.

Reaching the sidewalk, He Yun indeed spotted a crowd gathered around the street corner.

He tightened his grip on the baseball bat and scanned the crowd quickly.

However, he did not see any menacing thugs; instead, everyone was an exquisitely dressed woman, mostly with Asian faces.

Just as he was feeling puzzled, a few of the women ran up to him and asked eagerly, “Handsome, are you Chinese? Did you just see Si Yu come by?”

“Who?”

He Yun asked.

“Si Yu, of course! That is him!”

The women pointed behind He Yun.

He Yun turned around to see several workers suspended against the exterior facade of a shopping mall, busy putting up a newly printed giant poster featuring none other than the man currently inside his shop.

“Have you seen him?”

The women pressed on.

He Yun took a breath, glancing toward the storefront where a pair of sunglasses could be seen pressed against the bottom of the glass display window, peeking in secretly.

He Yun turned back. “No, I have not.”

“Thank you so much!”

The massive celebrity named Si Yu pressed his palms together, looking entirely grateful and gazing at him with starstruck eyes.

“Mhm.”

He Yun nodded, put down the baseball bat, returned behind the counter, and resumed calculating his bills without saying another word.

“Say, He… haha, is this photography studio yours?”

A shadow fell across He Yun. His pen paused, and he replied, “No, I am just working part-time here.”

“I see. But what a coincidence, we are both expats.”

A wave of rose fragrance drifted into He Yun’s nostrils. He tilted his head slightly, lifting his gaze to look at the man who was leaning in closer and closer.

“We are already closed. I said that once already.”

Si Yu shrugged, picked up the water mug on the desk without a care in the world, and drank it dry in one breath.

“That is my mug.”

He Yun glanced at the emptied coffee mug and said coldly.

“Sorry about that, I was just too thirsty.”

While apologizing with his words, Si Yu wore not a trace of apology on his face. Instead, resting his chin on the hand holding his sunglasses, he struck a gorgeous magazine-shoot angle and smiled at He Yun.

“Please leave. We are already closed.”

Without hesitation, He Yun grabbed the mug and tossed it into the trash can, then pointed toward the shop door with his ring-bearing index finger.

“Just tell me, so I can properly thank you!”

Unrelenting, Si Yu looked at him with an aggrieved, pitiful expression.

He Yun packed up his backpack and said in a deep voice, “I do not need your thanks. The people outside have dispersed now, so you can leave.”

“I ran out of my hotel to play, and I did not bring anything with me. If you kick me out right now, how is that any different from throwing me to the wolves?”

He Yun grabbed his keys and scarf, looking helplessly at Si Yu, who was once again pressing his palms together and pleading pitifully.

“Please, please!”

The pendulum swung back and forth between them, and the chime of six o’clock sounded simultaneously with He Yun’s voice.

“Let us go.”

“Thank you so much! By the way, what is your name? I am Si Yu.”

“Your fans already told me all about it just now.”

“So, what is your name?”

“He Yun.”

“Good name, sounds nice and easy to remember! Say, do you actually not know who I am?”

“Mhm.”

“I knew it. Not everyone knows who I am. Going out abroad definitely means I will be totally fine.”

“Do not forget how you ended up hiding inside my shop.”

“Hehe. Right, why do I feel like you look a bit familiar? Have we met somewhere before? Hey, do not walk so fast, He Yun!”

Si Yu trailed right beside He Yun like a chirping little sparrow, though whenever another Asian face appeared nearby, he would hurriedly duck behind He Yun’s back.

“They are gone.”

He Yun glanced sideways.

Si Yu hooked his fingers onto He Yun’s shoulder and peeked his face out slowly, gazing at him with a pair of wet, affectionate eyes.

He Yun looked away, unwrapped the scarf from his neck, and handed it to Si Yu.

“You can use this to cover up a bit. It is freshly washed.”

“Thank you.”

Si Yu’s smiling eyes grew even more enchanting.

Especially after taking the scarf and wrapping it around himself at a leisurely pace, he still did not forget to look up at him and ask, “Does it look good?”

He Yun’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he turned forward and resumed walking without answering.

They rounded the corner of Hyde Park, continuing along a street decorated with Christmas lights in advance.

The golden lights reflected across Si Yu’s face, completely lighting up his amber pupils.

He seemed to have an endless stream of things to talk about.

He talked about filming at the Burj Khalifa, where he looked so disheveled that a wealthy local mistook him for a homeless person and tipped him, which he accepted without a second thought;

He talked about walking down the street and getting called a slur by a westerner for rejecting a pass, prompting him to instantly beat the person up;

He talked about his first time going abroad, where he did not understand tipping culture and a waiter chased him out of the restaurant, thinking the waiter wanted an autograph and signing the man’s outstretched hand instead.

He Yun could not help letting out a laugh.

Even he could not remember how long it had been since he last interacted with a stranger, or how long it had been since someone made him laugh.

“That restaurant totally ruined such a high rating, let me tell you, I…”

“Ancestor, where on earth did you run off to?!”

Following the voice, He Yun looked across the street to see a visibly panicked man running toward them.

The man inspected Si Yu from left to right before casting a suspicious gaze right at He Yun.

He Yun looked up at the sign of The Dorchester hotel surrounded by blooming flowers, realizing that Si Yu’s destination had arrived.

“I will be going first.”

He Yun nodded at Si Yu and turned to leave.

“Si Yu-ge, who was that?”

Nie Shuang pulled his gaze away from the man’s tall retreating figure.

The very next second, he was utterly startled by the look of textbook coquettishness plastered across Si Yu’s face.

“He is my true love, my destined one, my—” Si Yu clutched the black scarf around his neck tighter, his eyes shining with pure bliss, “TRUE LOVE~”

Nie Shuang: ???

“How long have you two even known each other?”

“Princess Ann found her true love in Rome in a whole day, and as for me, it only took one hour.”

Si Yu pointed a slender index finger at Nie Shuang’s bewildered forehead. “Carriage, let us return to the palace!”

Nie Shuang was completely and utterly dumbfounded.

When it came time to report Si Yu’s three daily meals and schedule back to Shen Que, he did not even know how to respond.

“Is he happy? Has he been eating? Is he adjusting to the weather?”

“Quite… quite happy.”

“What does that moments post he just made mean? What true love? Did he catch his eye on something? A bag or a diamond? Did you buy it?”

“Well, um, how should I put this…”

Nie Shuang scratched his hairline.

For reasons unknown, the relationship between Si Yu and Shen Que had continued to deteriorate over the past year.

This turned what should have been direct inquiries from Shen Que into reports that had to pass through him, the head eunuch.

“There is nothing hard to say. Is he trying to invest in London real estate? Is he still short on money?”

“No, it is a person.”

“What kind of person?”

“A… man.”

On the other end of the line, Shen Que fell silent for a moment.

“He likes that man?”

“No, no, it should just be a passing whim. Judging by his behavior, he is just messing around for fun!”

When He Yun spotted Si Yu sitting in his classroom, he initially thought the man was just messing around for fun, too.

Instead of sitting next to Si Yu who was tapping wildly on his chair, He Yun chose a spot at the other end against the wall.

Clearly, that was not going to stop Si Yu, who quickly moved over to join him.

“You finally came! I have been waiting for you forever!”

Si Yu pulled down his mask, cradled his face in his hands, and smiled with his eyes curved into crescents.

“What are you doing here?”

He Yun pulled a laptop from his bag and asked sideways.

“London is way too boring, and in the middle of winter I had no idea where to go play, so I came to find you!”

“Then how did you know I study here? And how did you even know I had this class today?”

Si Yu blinked and asked earnestly, “Do you want the truth or a lie?”

He Yun took a breath, opened his laptop screen, and gave no answer.

“Are you mad? I am sorry, okay, I did not mean to have someone follow you.”

“Apologizing too quickly makes your sincerity look fake.”

Rolling his eyes, Si Yu rested his chin on the desk and looked up at He Yun. “It is the truth! If it were a lie, I would have said it is because our destinies are intertwined by fate that we bumped into each other!”

He Yun stopped typing on his keyboard and said in a low voice, “I do not like people prying into my privacy. Do not do that again.”

“I know, I asked your classmates just now, but none of them had your contact info. The only person in your group chat said they did not dare give it out.”

“…”

“So, can you just give it to me yourself? That way, I will not have to pry anymore and can just ask you openly!”

“…”

Such flawed pirate logic.

He Yun glanced sideways at the phone Si Yu was thrusting toward him and remained unresponsive.

“Give it to me, or else I am just going to keep following you everywhere.”

“He Yun, He Yun, He Yun!”

“Seriously, I just need your phone number!”

“He Yun, He Yun, He Yun!”

“I will not bother you for long, I am heading back to China right after Christmas!”

“He Yun, He Yun, He Yun!”

He Yun clenched both fists, using his thumb knuckles to rub his brow bone, attempting to ward off the little sparrow through sheer willpower.

“If you can stop talking, I will seriously consider your request.”

With that, He Yun went back to reading his assigned text, though he quickly noticed Si Yu still had not replied.

Turning his head, he caught Si Yu covering his mouth with both hands while blinking frantically at him.

The corners of He Yun’s lips twitched upward before he forced his gaze back to the screen.

The next class was a seminar. Si Yu trailed right behind He Yun to another teaching building and took a seat beside him at the round table.

Coincidentally, a group member brought up The Lingchi Highlands, a film that had just won Best Picture at the London Film Festival.

They raved about the brilliance of its cinematography and how camera angles vividly showcased the inner world of the android protagonist, while also showering endless praise on the lead actor, repeatedly attempting to pronounce Si Yu’s name.

He Yun glanced sideways to see the android protagonist currently stuffing a slice of bread beneath his face mask.

Si Yu halted his movements, pulled out his phone, and typed quickly: Is eating food forbidden too?

He Yun was about to nod before realizing it might invite misunderstandings.

Watching He Yun hand the phone back to him, Si Yu looked down and read: You can.

Si Yu smiled and happily resumed chewing on his bread.

By the final class, Si Yu could no longer sneak past the newly installed card reader onto that floor.

He Yun looked through the glass door at the dejected Si Yu outside.

Just as he was about to speak up, Si Yu had already waved at him first, urging him to hurry into class.

He watched as Si Yu casually leaned against the wall, pulling a fresh slice of bread from his bag.

Shaking his head, He Yun turned and walked toward the classroom.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Halfway through the lecture, the phones of every student, including the professor at the podium, started buzzing.

He Yun picked up his phone:

[AirDrop]

The photo was a screenshot of a notes app that read: Looking at you makes me hungry, I will wait for you at the cafe.

At the bottom was a hand-drawn colored heart.

None of the students in the class were Chinese, but everyone immediately understood what that heart symbolized.

They began teasing him in turns: “Who stole this little sweetheart’s heart? Give it back!”

For no logical reason, He Yun felt his ears growing somewhat warm.

He knew full well that Si Yu did not actually mean it in that way.

Si-Little Sweetheart-Yu was currently devouring sugar at breakneck speed inside the cafe.

He had not lied; looking at He Yun genuinely made him want to eat.

As he reached for his third mini cake, his phone began vibrating relentlessly.

[Shen Que: The film festival is already over.]

[Shen Que: When are you coming back to China?]

Si Yu rolled his eyes and chose to ignore it.

Yet the sender seemed unwilling to give up, sending another message.

[Shen Que: What kind of person is it that makes you refuse to leave?]

[Shen Que: I am quite curious.]

Stunned for a moment, Si Yu grabbed his phone.

[Sweetheart Yu: The tax bureau is definitely very curious about you too]

[Sweetheart Yu: Mind your own business]

[Sweetheart Yu: [Sticker]]

Clatter!

Si Yu dropped his fork, losing his appetite entirely.

Glancing casually toward the floor-to-ceiling window, he spotted a sight that made him even less hungry:

Standing right in front of He Yun was a pretty white girl handing him her phone.