Flirted Then Forgot Everything - Chapter 15

The paparazzo was emboldened by their lack of reaction, shamelessly trailing behind Yu Cheng with his phone, his finger never leaving the shutter.

Jian Li buried his face in the crook of Yu Cheng’s neck. At such close proximity, he felt completely enveloped by the man’s distinct, clean scent. The embrace was so warm and secure that, despite being followed by a persistent tabloid leech, he comfortably let out a small yawn.

“Sleepy?”

Yu Cheng’s voice was low and deep against his ear, sending a faint itch through Jian Li’s ear canal.

Struggling to keep his eyelids open, Jian Li yawned again. Through the fabric of the coat covering his head, he subconsciously nuzzled his ear against Yu Cheng’s cheek.

“A little. Not too bad.”

The nuzzling was entirely instinctive—a muscle memory from a past he couldn’t recall. He hadn’t even realized he’d done it.

The hand Yu Cheng had resting on Jian Li’s back slid upward, patting him gently. “Go to sleep. I’ll wake you when we get there.”

Jian Li shook his head, nuzzling Yu Cheng’s cheek once more. He couldn’t see the man following them, but he could hear the frantic, uneven footsteps. He leaned close to Yu Cheng’s ear and whispered, “Don’t we need to deal with him? It sounds like he’s taken a lot of photos.”

Yu Cheng didn’t look back, treating the man behind them as if he were invisible. “Ignore him. He’s just trash.”

He didn’t lower his volume. The man behind them heard it and began snapping photos even more maniacally, cursing loudly: “Just you wait! So what if you’re a Film King? You’re finished. Once these photos are out, you’re dead. Act tough now; tomorrow, I’ll be the one laughing!”

The man seemed addicted to the chase, clearly having no intention of letting them go.

Underneath the coat, Jian Li felt a bit stifled. He carefully lifted a corner of the fabric on the side, turning his face toward Yu Cheng to steal a breath of fresh air.

While Jian Li felt better, Yu Cheng was having a harder time. Jian Li’s warm breath puffed directly against his ear. The sound and the heat scraped against his earlobe and funneled into his ear canal. After a moment, Yu Cheng’s entire ear began to burn.

Seeing the reddened ear up close, Jian Li felt like he’d discovered something precious. He reached out and lightly touched the cool cartilage. “Why is your ear so red?”

Yu Cheng tilted his head away slightly. “Don’t touch.”

Jian Li’s fingertip jerked and accidentally poked straight into Yu Cheng’s ear. His heart skipped a beat—what an awkward move!

Yu Cheng came to a dead stop, startling the man following them. He lowered his voice and asked Jian Li, “What exactly are you trying to do?”

Jian Li retracted his finger and buried his face back into Yu Cheng’s neck, playing dead. Yu Cheng hoisted Jian Li slightly higher in his arms and warned, “Behave yourself.”

Jian Li gave a tiny nod against him, his eyes fixed on Yu Cheng’s ear, not daring to move again.

However, Jian Li was wearing slippers. Since he was being carried, the slippers kept sliding off. He had to keep his toes flexed just to keep them on. With his right ankle still throbbing, he soon lost his strength. One after the other, his slippers hit the ground with two very distinct thuds.

Looking at the slippers on the ground, Yu Cheng felt Jian Li press his face even tighter against him. He released the hand supporting Jian Li’s back and lowered them both into a squat.

“Hold on tight.”

Jian Li obediently wrapped his arms tighter around Yu Cheng’s neck. He felt himself tilt back for a moment before being hoisted upright again.

With one hand supporting Jian Li and the other hooking the two slippers by their straps, Yu Cheng continued down the small path toward the filming location. By the time they reached the set, Jian Li was already drifting off in a daze.

Yu Cheng adjusted the coat over Jian Li’s head, wrapping it snugly around him without mentioning putting him down. He gathered the fabric of Jian Li’s high-slit dress, pulling it tightly across to cover the boy’s legs completely.

The passing crew members stared wide-eyed as Yu Cheng carried Jian Li inside. Zhou Qingbai and Yu Manman rushed out to meet them. Seeing Jian Li’s half-closed, glassy eyes, Yu Manman asked frantically, “What’s wrong with Jian-ge?”

Yu Cheng looked at her. Though his expression was neutral, the sheer weight of his gaze made her take an instinctive step back.

Zhou Qingbai quickly intervened. “Shh, keep it down. Jian Li is likely asleep.”

Yu Cheng finally spoke, asking Yu Manman, “Which hotel is he staying at?”

After she provided the address, Zhou Qingbai said, “I’ll get the car. Manman, go grab Jian Li’s things. Yu Cheng and I will take you back.”

Yu Manman nodded and ran toward the dressing room.

In his drowsy state, Jian Li heard the voices. He tilted his head slightly, his lips grazing Yu Cheng’s earlobe without him realizing it. “Are we there?”

Yu Cheng pulled the coat up a bit further, shielding Jian Li’s eyes from the bright lights of the set. “Not yet. Go back to sleep.”

Jian Li hummed and slumped back against him, his chest pressed tight against Yu Cheng’s. He fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.

Before getting into the car, Yu Cheng caught Zhou Qingbai’s eye. Understanding the silent command, Zhou Qingbai had the junior assistant drive while he and Yu Manman sat in the front, leaving the back to Jian Li and Yu Cheng.

Yu Cheng carefully settled Jian Li onto the back seat, sitting beside him to keep watch. Jian Li was a restless sleeper; the moment he left the warmth of the embrace, his hand began searching blindly until it found Yu Cheng’s hand. Only after pulling Yu Cheng’s hand to his cheek and snuggling against it did he settle down.

Yu Cheng stared at Jian Li’s sleeping profile, momentarily lost in thought. Jian Li’s face was actually a mess right now—his makeup from the shoot had been smudged into grey streaks by the coat. Yet, even with such a face, Yu Cheng’s gaze remained focused and intense.

Jian Li’s lips were a natural, vibrant red, parted slightly in a pout. Yu Cheng lightly brushed his thumb against the boy’s lip and then checked his fingertip. It was clean—the lipstick from the shoot had long since been wiped away. The color was entirely natural.

“Book two new rooms later,” Yu Cheng said, his voice barely a whisper to avoid waking the sleeper.

Zhou Qingbai whispered back and called the hotel to make the arrangements. “We’ll move the luggage tomorrow. There are spare clothes in the car.”

“And check on someone for me.”

Yu Cheng informed Zhou Qingbai about the incident with the paparazzo so he could be prepared. Zhou Qingbai frowned. “Probably not a staff member, likely a paparazzo who snuck in. It’ll probably leak tomorrow.”

“Find out his identity either way,” Yu Cheng said.

Zhou Qingbai immediately shifted into work mode. After making a few calls, he asked, “Yu Cheng, do you want a PR response?”

A Film King caught eating with a “mysterious woman” at midnight, following a public scandal with another male top star—this was a PR nightmare. Yet Zhou Qingbai asked before acting.

Yu Cheng looked at Jian Li, who was sleeping peacefully against his palm. His fingertips twitched as he lightly grazed Jian Li’s warm cheek.

“No need for PR.”

Zhou Qingbai gave an “I knew it” look and went back to his calls.

Yu Manman, who had been watching the exchange with wide-eyed curiosity, began to panic when she heard they’d been photographed. She followed Zhou Qingbai’s lead and pulled out her phone, but realized she didn’t know who to call.

Seeing her distress, Zhou Qingbai remembered his own early days and offered some advice. “Contact Jian Li’s manager.”

Yu Manman scrolled through her contacts and then looked up, nearly in tears. “I… I don’t have the manager’s number.”

“How can you not have the manager’s number? If you don’t have his phone, you must have him on Feixin, right?” Zhou Qingbai was incredulous.

Yu Manman shook her head repeatedly. “I was hired directly by Jian-ge. My salary comes from his personal account, not the agency.”

Even someone as socially adept as Zhou Qingbai couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh. “Wan Tao really has it easy. A top star like Jian Li comes to a set with only one little assistant while the manager is a total no-show. Quite the ego on him. Well, he did buy into the company and become a shareholder, so I suppose his ego grew with his shares.”

Yu Manman was on the verge of tears. “What, what should I do? Will Jian-ge be attacked by anti-fans again?”

In her anxiety, her voice rose. Yu Cheng, silent until now, reminded her, “Lower your voice. He’s sleeping.”

His eyes never left Jian Li. His long fingers alternated between stroking the boy’s cheek and touching his eyelashes—a tender display that was a world away from his previous cold disdain.

“He didn’t catch Jian Li’s face; he thinks it’s a woman,” Yu Cheng added.

Yu Manman choked back a sob, and after a moment, she let out a relieved laugh. “That’s wonderful!”

Realizing the setting, she quickly apologized to the two men. Yu Cheng wasn’t angry. “You’re not wrong. Looking out for your artist’s interests is exactly what you should do.”

Yu Manman nodded vigorously. She thought to herself that the internet was completely wrong. Who said the Film King looked down on their Jian-ge? He was practically treating him like a fragile treasure. She had never seen anyone treat Jian Li so well—it was like watching a “Model Boyfriend.”

Wait.

Yu Manman’s eyes widened as she looked at the two in the back. She clutched her chest. Did I just stumble onto the secret of the century on my very first job?

Zhou Qingbai smiled at her. “We’ll handle this. When Jian Li wakes up, just tell him what we said.”

At the hotel, Yu Cheng got out first and carefully carried Jian Li inside. The movement made Jian Li stir; the feeling of being airborne made him instinctively hook his arms around Yu Cheng’s neck.

“Yu Cheng, are we there yet?” he mumbled.

Yu Cheng lowered his head and whispered into his ear, “Not yet. Go back to sleep.”

Jian Li nodded, his sleep-warmed cheek pressing against Yu Cheng’s face. He didn’t forget to mumble, “Why is this road so long.”

Yu Cheng asked softly, “Is it bad for the road to be long? You don’t like it?”

Jian Li shook his head slowly. “I like it. I like it very much.”

A gentle smile played on Yu Cheng’s lips. Yu Manman followed close behind with the luggage, watching the interaction with pure amazement.

Before joining the industry, her impression of Yu Cheng was limited to the big screen or interviews. In interviews, he was always polite with a faint, professional smile. Here, he was so tender he seemed soaked in honey. Even as a bystander, she could smell the sweetness in the air; Jian Li, submerged in that sweetness, must be saturated with it.

Yu Cheng took Jian Li all the way to the room and helped him out of his coat. Looking at Jian Li lying on the bed in his red dress, he said to Yu Manman, “Go get some rest. I’ll take care of things here.”

Yu Manman nodded. As a female assistant, it was indeed less convenient for her to look after him.

As soon as they got out of the car, Zhou Qingbai vanished to parts unknown. With Yu Manman gone, the room was left to only Yu Cheng and Jian Li.

Jian Li sank into the soft bedding, stretching his limbs comfortably. The skirt that Yu Cheng had wrapped so tightly around him finally fanned out, leaving his long legs fully exposed. He slept without a shred of defense, shifting poses every few minutes—the telltale sign of a restless sleeper.

Yu Cheng stood by the bed and picked up the remote to turn on the air conditioning. As the stuffiness was chased away, the room grew pleasantly cool. No longer bothered by the heat, Jian Li began to burrow toward one side, his hands fumbling across the comforter as if searching for something. Eventually, he caught hold of a pillow and dragged it into a hug, resting his head gently against it.

Rather than just hugging a pillow, Jian Li’s posture looked more like a yearning to be held by someone. It was as if he had grown accustomed to sleeping in an embrace; now that he was alone, he subconsciously sought out that warmth.

Yu Cheng sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at the sleeping youth. The expression on his face faded—the polite, slight curve of his lips was gone, and the mask of the refined gentleman was stripped away. In this moment, Yu Cheng looked cold. His “phoenix eyes,” usually so soulful, felt chillingly sharp when devoid of emotion, and his dark pupils radiated a sense of danger.

Yet, when those dangerous eyes fixed on Jian Li, they softened. It was a subtle light—not burning or intense, but hauntingly captivating.

Jian Li rolled over while clutching the pillow, landing on his stomach. The fabric of the long dress twisted like a rope around his legs, and the decorative laces crisscrossing his back pressed into his skin, leaving faint red marks.

Yu Cheng leaned in slowly. He reached out to untie the knots and gently pulled the laces free from the dress. The red cord slid slowly past Jian Li’s side, coiling around Yu Cheng’s fingertips like a thread of fate from the Old Man under the Moon. Without the laces to hold it together, the back of the dress fell open, the straps sliding down until the garment became little more than a shapeless piece of red cloth.

Yu Cheng let go of the cord and pulled the comforter over Jian Li. He rose to leave, but his hem was suddenly snagged by Jian Li’s hand.

“Yu Cheng.”

Jian Li’s brow was knitted tight, seemingly caught in a dream. His grip on the fabric of Yu Cheng’s shirt tightened until his knuckles turned white, refusing to let go.

“Yu Cheng.”

He called the name over and over, a stray tear sliding slowly from the corner of his eye. Yu Cheng sat back down and patted Jian Li’s hand gently, but the boy wouldn’t release him.

“Yu Cheng.”

Jian Li’s breathing suddenly grew shallow and frantic, as if he couldn’t catch his breath or was in extreme agony. His brow deepened, and the tears fell faster. Yu Cheng leaned down, whispering into Jian Li’s ear:

“I’m here. I’m right here, Jian Li. I haven’t left.”

Every time Jian Li called his name, Yu Cheng answered, his patience infinite. The system dutifully appeared to report the progress in Jian Li’s mind, though the dreamer remained oblivious.

“Congratulations, Host. Target Yu Cheng’s favorability +3. Current score: 64. Keep up the good work.”

Soothed by Yu Cheng’s presence, Jian Li gradually calmed. He had long since discarded the pillow, focusing entirely on clutching Yu Cheng’s shirt as if it were a priceless treasure he would never let go. Yu Cheng placed his hand over the back of Jian Li’s, trying to coax the fingers open to free himself.

Even in a deep sleep, Jian Li seemed to sense the movement; the moment the fabric shifted, his grip tightened. Left with no choice, Yu Cheng braced himself against the mattress with one hand while slowly unbuttoning his shirt with the other.

His coat was already with Jian Li, and he’d left his jacket in the car. He ended up leaving his shirt for Jian Li as well, slipping out quietly and heading to the newly booked room next door. No one would have guessed that the great Film King would be seen scurrying through a hotel hallway shirtless in the middle of the night.

Jian Li slept late, finally waking around six in the morning. Even at that hour in midsummer, the day was bright. The hotel curtains couldn’t quite block the sun, and slivers of light filtered into the room.

The room was cool thanks to the AC. Jian Li sat up in a daze, rubbing his eyes only to find a piece of white cloth clutched in his hand. He blinked and held it up—it was a white dress shirt, crushed and wrinkled, especially at the hem, which had been squeezed nearly out of shape.

“Isn’t this Yu Cheng’s shirt?”

His newly awakened brain stalled. Why was Yu Cheng’s shirt with him? He set the shirt aside and went to stand up, only for the comforter to slide down, revealing his bare skin.

Jian Li yelped, jumping back. The dress had turned into a tangled mess of fabric wrapped around his waist like a dried prune. His torso and legs were completely bare, with the twisted remnants of the dress barely covering his backside.

What was going on? Why was Yu Cheng’s shirt here? Why wasn’t he wearing clothes?

As Jian Li panicked, the system appeared to congratulate him: “Congratulations, Host. Target favorability has reached 64.”

“64? Why the sudden three-point jump? When did that happen? Why did it happen? Why don’t I know anything!”

Jian Li grew even more flustered. He threw back the other side of the comforter to find the bed empty, then checked the wardrobe and the bathroom. Only after confirming Yu Cheng wasn’t in the room did he let out a breath of relief.

If Yu Cheng hadn’t slept here, why was the shirt here? Various strange theories popped into his head. He hurriedly changed into fresh clothes, intending to find Yu Manman to ask what happened.

The moment he opened the door, Yu Manman, who had been leaning against it, toppled backward onto the floor with a loud thwack.

“Manman? What are you doing out here?”

Startled awake by the fall, Yu Manman scrambled up and wiped a bit of drool from her cheek. She recounted everything that had happened after Jian Li fell asleep. She had been worried about the paparazzo situation all night and had stayed up guarding his door.

Jian Li frowned. “So you’re saying Yu Cheng carried me back?”

Yu Manman nodded.

Jian Li was still perplexed. “But why is his shirt in my—”

Before he could finish, the door next door opened. Yu Cheng stepped out, leaning against the doorframe as he looked at Jian Li.

“Awake?”

Jian Li nodded blankly.

Yu Cheng asked, “What did you dream about last night?”

Jian Li tilted his head, answering hesitantly, “Last night, I didn’t dream at all?”

Yu Cheng’s face went cold. He asked again, “No dreams?”

Jian Li searched his memory carefully, then nodded. “No dreams.”

SLAM!

Yu Cheng stepped back into his room and slammed the door right in Jian Li’s face. The sound was loud enough to feel like an earthquake. The system, which had just reported the good news, reappeared, its mechanical voice sounding almost distorted:

“Target Yu Cheng’s favorability -1. Host, please work harder to increase favorability!”

Jian Li scratched his messy hair, completely bewildered. Yu Cheng was clearly angry, but why?