Even A Heartthrob Can Lose A Puppy - Chapter 6

“WhatsApp will be fine.”

Just as He Yun extended his hand, a figure suddenly stumbled and blocked his path.

“Sorry about that, but did you lose this?”

Accompanied by the girl’s exclamation, He Yun tilted his head slightly to look at Si Yu, who had his back turned to him.

Si Yu was hooking his finger through a platinum necklace, at the bottom of which dangled a diamond-paved letter s.

He Yun had no idea what Si Yu was up to, but he chose not to interrupt.

After a moment of surprise, the girl denied that the necklace belonged to her and began chatting with Si Yu.

Realizing his objective was achieved, Si Yu had no intention of lingering further.

However, the girl proved frustratingly enthusiastic, acting as though she wouldn’t let him leave without handing over his contact info.

Left with no choice, Si Yu opened his Instagram profile.

The young woman stared at the one hundred million followers in stunned silence, leaving her with no option but to watch Si Yu walk away.

“Hey, are you waiting for me?”

Si Yu ran over to stand beneath a tree, asking a question with an obvious answer.

He Yun thought for a moment and nodded.

“That is wonderful, you…”

“I was waiting for her, too.”

“Huh?”

Si Yu widened his eyes, watching He Yun reach over to take the phone from beside him, tap something onto the screen, and hand it back to the very same girl.

Si Yu:

The bare branches truly offered nothing much to look at, especially beneath the overcast, gloomy sky.

Having fumed the entire walk, Si Yu finally couldn’t help asking: “How come you gave her your number so readily, yet you made me wait and drag it out for so long?”

Stopping in front of a luxury apartment building, He Yun countered with a question of his own: “Do you also need me to write your essays for you?”

Si Yu: blinks

He Yun: shrugs

Patting his head and clicking his tongue in annoyance, Si Yu hurried to catch up with He Yun, only to be blocked outside the entrance by the security guard.

“Your number, your number! You still haven’t given me your number!”

He Yun, who had already vanished around the corner, suddenly popped his head back out.

Then, pressing a finger to his lips to signal silence, he disappeared once more.

Si Yu:

Si Yu felt that the greatest Waterloo of his entire life was happening right this second.

Returning to the apartment, He Yun did not turn on the lights.

He set down his backpack, bypassed various pieces of furniture draped in dust covers, and walked into the spacious living room piled high with luxury shopping bags.

He Yun casually picked up a paper bag, opened it carefully, and expertly began photographing the presentation boxes, limited-edition coats, and receipts with his phone.

[UK London Second-Hand Group (11) 500]

[HY: Selling Albert Henry’s latest autumn-winter runway coat, brand new and unused, half price. DM if interested, face-to-face trade in London.]

[HY: [Photo]]

He Yun switched to a secondhand trading app and posted the exact same listing there.

Ding-dong!

[UK London Second-Hand Group (11) 500]

[xxx: @HY Is Young Master He’s luxury stash still not sold out yet?]

[xxx: Then why are you still living in your Zone 1 apartment?]

[xxx: Better sell it so you can help fill your dad’s financial holes]

Despite the apartment’s transparent layout and great natural lighting, the abysmal weather left He Yun’s face permanently shrouded in shadow.

[UK London Second-Hand Group (11) 500]

[HY: Selling.]

[HY: @xxx Are you buying?]

[HY: Viewings available anytime.]

Swiping back to his camera mode, He Yun continued photographing the endless luxury goods scattered across the hall.

Buzz-buzz.

He Yun glanced at the unknown number on his screen, hesitated for a long time, and finally pressed answer.

“When is your dad going to pay back the money?! If he doesn’t pay up soon, we’re going to call every single person in your classmates’, teachers’, and phone contacts lists!”

He Yun pulled the phone away and turned on the unknown number block.

He didn’t seem affected at all; he simply continued the silent, expressionless, and repetitive routine.

Opening a bag, taking out an item, photographing it, uploading it.

The luxury bags stretched on endlessly, mirroring the crushing debt left behind by He Yun’s father.

They dragged at He Yun so relentlessly that even when he caught sight of starlight shining on the edge of the horizon, he, deeply trapped in the vortex, didn’t dare reach out a hand, nor even dare take a second look.

He Yun closed out of Si Yu’s Instagram profile.

“Si Yu-ge, please just eat something!”

Nie Shuang was nearly losing his mind with anxiety.

“Today I didn’t manage to snap a single photo of you eating. How am I supposed to report back to President Shen!”

Clatter!

Si Yu knocked the entire food tray flying.

“Am I a toddler in kindergarten? Is his precious Shen Que my birth father?” Si Yu kicked viciously at a table leg. “Show a little restraint when you’re sucking up to Shen Que!”

Nie Shuang let out a long sigh and sat down opposite Si Yu. “There’s nothing I can do. I’m backed into a corner here. Who asked, who asked President Shen to be the boss…”

Si Yu’s nostrils flared as he turned his head to glare at the rain-lashed glass window.

“Besides, didn’t you and President Shen have a pretty good relationship before? If you just stopped ignoring him, naturally he…”

“Shut up! If I hear you mention Shen Que’s name one more time, I’m going to go skinny-dipping in Trafalgar Square!”

Snatching up his phone and scarf, Si Yu stormed out of the hotel suite in a fury.

Many of London’s paving stones had loosened over time, causing muddy water to splatter upward whenever Si Yu marched past in heavy strides.

Those droplets seemed to have legs of their own, boring persistently into the cuffs of his trousers.

The wind howled fiercely, rendering it entirely useless even when Si Yu hunched his shoulders and buried half his face inside his scarf.

After walking for a quarter of an hour, Si Yu finally gave up on fighting the atrocious weather and ducked into a restaurant.

The dishes listed in black italic lettering on the menu were easy enough for Si Yu to recognize, yet he had no idea what to pick.

It felt much like his career: there was always someone else making every choice for him. What clothes to wear, what scripts to accept, which camera angle to face, how deep to bow, and everything in between.

For the past year, Si Yu had been fighting back with every ounce of his strength, rebelling against Shen Que.

Yet that rebellion only earned him Shen Que’s intensified, suffocating control.

Shen Que began monitoring his whereabouts; any place he visited required a full report.

Shen Que began monitoring his social circles; anyone he contacted required a full report.

Shen Que began monitoring his thoughts; anything he lingered on for an extra second required a full report.

Si Yu couldn’t bring himself to blame Nie Shuang for acting as an informant, because he knew how much this job meant to him.

His feud with Shen Que shouldn’t drag anyone else down.

Still, he was so utterly exhausted.

Si Yu rubbed his eyes with weary frustration, the rainwater soaking straight through his palms.

“Tonight’s chef’s recommendation is this dish, if you’re fond of seafood.”

Si Yu froze mid-motion. He slowly lowered his hands and lifted his head.

“Of course, the steak is also very good.”

Standing against the light, shadows sharpened the rugged angles of He Yun’s face, yet the warmth and gentleness lingering in the corners of his eyes and smile remained intact.

Holding a menu in one hand and a pen in the other, He Yun didn’t rush him. Instead, while Si Yu remained dazed, he patiently began introducing other items on the menu.

“Any dietary restrictions?”

“No nasty vegetables.”

He Yun’s pen paused for a fraction of a second before he smoothly wrote down the adjustment: Please replace the carrot with asparagus.

“Very well, please wait a moment.”

“He Yun!”

He Yun turned back to find Si Yu nervously pinching the fabric of his sleeves.

“I didn’t follow you,” he said.

Lowering his eyelids, He Yun broke into a soft, quiet smile. “Mn, I know.”

He handed the ticket to the kitchen, walked over to stand by the counter, and watched from a distance as Si Yu picked up a cup of hot water and took slow, small sips.

He ate at a snail’s pace. It wasn’t until He Yun began tidying up the shop that Si Yu finally left a generous tip on the table and stood up to take his leave at a sluggish pace.

He Yun paused mid-stride while moving a chair, exchanged a few words with a colleague, and then grabbed his bag and umbrella before dashing out of the restaurant.

Night had long since fallen. Under the glow of the streetlamps, the driving rain tumbled back and forth like clumps of rolling snow.

He Yun glanced left and right through the crowd of diverse passersby, but failed to spot Si Yu among them.

He instinctively brushed his thumb over the ring on his index finger.

After standing quietly for a moment, He Yun let out a quiet sigh.

Pulling his cap down, he picked up a black long-handled umbrella from the nearby stand, and just as he turned around:

“You British people really seem to hate using umbrellas.”

Squatting in the corner of the wall, Si Yu spoke up.

Along the edges of the emerald-green wave-patterned awning, sheets of water cascaded downward in a constant curtain.

Beneath that water curtain, He Yun popped open his umbrella and walked slowly to Si Yu’s side.

“Mn.” He Yun tilted the umbrella slightly to block the wind blowing toward Si Yu. “But I know how to use one.”

“Can you walk me back?”

“Alright.”

The black umbrella was quite large, but the biting wind was even bigger.

Watching Si Yu duck his head to shield himself from the chill, He Yun tilted the umbrella a fraction further.

Yet Si Yu had already found a far better solution.

Reaching out with his left hand, he gently caught He Yun’s raised forearm and buried his face against it.

Noticing He Yun slow his pace, Si Yu looked up and asked in a small voice, “Is this okay?”

Fearing that He Yun might reject him the way he had earlier, he tightened his grip on He Yun’s sleeve even harder.

He seemed to have forgotten that if He Yun truly wanted to push him away, the tiny pinch of fabric he was clinging to wouldn’t stop him at all.

He Yun’s right arm twitched slightly.

Si Yu’s heart plummeted.

“Would it be easier to hold on if you do this?”

He Yun’s voice was soft, sounding as though it could be swept away by the wind at any second.

Lowering his gaze to look at He Yun’s outstretched arm, Si Yu reached out and looped his arm securely through it.

The sounds of the wind and rain remained, but Si Yu could no longer hear a single trace of them.

“Your scarf.”

Si Yu stepped forward a pace, clutching the cashmere scarf that still retained He Yun’s body heat even tighter.

“It looks like you didn’t prepare any winter clothing,” He Yun said. “If you don’t mind, you can keep it.”

Watching He Yun turn to step back into the driving rain, Si Yu called out once more: “He Yun.”

He Yun turned around.

“I really didn’t follow you.”

He Yun nodded.

Looking puzzled, Si Yu asked, “Why do you believe me this time?”

Glancing at the mud splatters on Si Yu’s trousers and his thin top, He Yun replied, “Because you don’t strike me as someone who would willingly walk out into weather like this unprepared.”

Si Yu lowered his head, glaring with annoyed frustration at his filthy shoes.

“Hope you enjoy your stay in London.”

Because you looked so heartbroken.

He Yun turned and walked away, vanishing into the London rain and mist.

Si Yu’s heart hammered wildly once more, the damp chill clinging to his clothes seeming to evaporate instantly.

Ignoring Nie Shuang’s frantic shrieks, he locked the man outside the suite, hurried into the walk-in closet, and yanked open a cabinet door.

Hanging in the innermost corner was a black shirt. Si Yu gently lifted it out and pulled it tightly into his arms.

“Hope you enjoy your stay in the South of France.”

A year ago, standing beneath the starry night sky of the South of France, He Yun had said those exact words to him.

He Yun was the kindest person he had ever met.

He Yun would help homeless people pick up dropped bottles.

He Yun would patiently take photo after photo for tourists.

He Yun would help colleagues clean areas that weren’t even his responsibility.

Yet, it seemed he was that endlessly good to everyone.

Si Yu despised it.

He plunged straight back out into the rain, right as He Yun was about to hand his umbrella over to a female classmate.