Spilling the Tea on the Movie Star Who Won't Leave Me Alone - Chapter 25

Even after they entered the Cantonese restaurant, Xu Chi still hadn’t quite regained his senses. He gripped the edges of the coat Gu Jingxuan had draped over him with both hands, following behind Gu Jingxuan with extreme obedience. His eyes practically glowed as he looked at him.

“What do you want to eat?” Gu Jingxuan led him into a private booth and sat down. Seeing that Xu Chi had already started swallowing reflexively, he couldn’t help but find the boy adorable.

Seeing the menu pushed toward him, Xu Chi waved his hands hurriedly. “I… I don’t know how to order. Brother Gu, you do it.”

Xu Chi rarely ate out. Usually, he either boiled noodles at home, ate meals sent by Lin Tao, or, at worst, ordered a spicy stir-fry through a delivery app. Asking him to order from a formal menu was a daunting task. Without a hint of hesitation, he pushed the menu back to Gu Jingxuan. “I’m really bad at ordering. Brother Gu, you should be the one.”

It didn’t look like Xu Chi was faking it. Gu Jingxuan knew that Xu Chi wasn’t like those pretentious, flashy types. He naturally picked up the menu and ordered a few dishes he frequently ate.

“Can you eat spicy food?” Xu Chi was staring at Gu Jingxuan’s fingers as they marked the menu; he was caught off guard when Gu Jingxuan suddenly asked the question.

Xu Chi stared at Gu Jingxuan with wide eyes, his pupils shrinking slightly.

“I asked if you can eat spicy food,” Gu Jingxuan said, looking at Xu Chi’s expression and wanting to pinch his cheek.

Xu Chi laughed sheepishly and nodded shyly.

Xu Chi, you idiot… Brother Gu asked you a question and you were daydreaming! he scolded himself internally.

“Let’s get the white-cut chicken; the chicken here is delicious,” Gu Jingxuan said, directed at Xu Chi. Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, he saw Xu Chi nod eagerly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed.

Gu Jingxuan took off his outer coat and unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt. Xu Chi noticed that underneath, Gu Jingxuan wore a spring-weight shirt with every button fastened neatly to the top, giving him a particularly disciplined, “ascetic” look.

“That hungry?”

Xu Chi’s eyes kept darting toward the door, looking exactly like a hungry child. Having been read so easily by Gu Jingxuan, Xu Chi felt a bit embarrassed. He rubbed his hands together and gave a silly laugh.

“I am a bit hungry. I haven’t eaten anything all day.”

Usually on set, if Xu Chi saw someone else’s snacks after he’d already eaten lunch, his eyes would still glaze over. He hadn’t put a thing in his stomach since this morning; it was a miracle his stomach wasn’t growling out loud yet.

“Little glutton,” Gu Jingxuan said with a smile as he used hot water to sanitize the bowls and chopsticks in front of Xu Chi.

Xu Chi saw him doing this and started to stand up to do it himself, but Gu Jingxuan stopped him.

“Don’t move, I’ve got it. This water is quite hot. Let’s not pass it back and forth and risk both of us getting burned.”

Xu Chi’s personal principle was: whatever Brother Gu says goes, whatever Brother Gu asks he does; in his heart, Brother Gu was the ultimate authority. Hearing Gu Jingxuan say this, he obediently sat back in his chair, his eyes fixed intently on Gu Jingxuan’s hands.

“What is it? Are you so hungry you want to eat the chopsticks too?”

Xu Chi’s gaze was completely undisguised. From the moment Gu Jingxuan started rinsing the dishes, he had been staring at Gu Jingxuan’s hands. A stranger might have thought Gu Jingxuan was holding something incredibly precious.

“No… no,” Xu Chi said, turning his face away in slow motion. Soon after, he smelled the fragrant aroma of food.

The first dish brought out was a pot of sweet corn thick soup. Gu Jingxuan placed the clean bowl and chopsticks in front of Xu Chi and personally ladled a bowl of soup for him. The gesture made it look like Xu Chi was the Movie King and he was just a minor actor trying to curry favor.

Flattered and overwhelmed, Xu Chi stood up to take the bowl. “This… I can serve myself. There’s no need for you to do it personally.”

Xu Chi held the bowl of soup, almost reluctant to drink it. The thought that Gu Jingxuan had ladled this for him made him want to take the soup home and preserve it forever.

“When we’re out, don’t worry about all the formal titles. Just treat me like a brother,” Gu Jingxuan said. In front of people he knew well, he actually had no ego at all; being with him felt very comfortable.

In truth, it was only in front of Xu Chi that Gu Jingxuan acted like a “real person.” He was afraid of being too informal and scaring the boy, but also afraid of being too serious and intimidating him.

Gu Jingxuan sipped his soup and let out a sudden sigh. Being a Movie King was actually quite exhausting; when faced with someone he actually liked, he found himself completely out of moves.

Hearing the sigh, Xu Chi immediately set down his bowl and stared at Gu Jingxuan with wide, blinking eyes. Gu Jingxuan looked up and was startled by the intensity of Xu Chi’s gaze, nearly dropping his bowl.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Gu Jingxuan looked fine, and Xu Chi was too embarrassed to admit he was worried about that sigh. He cleared his throat and asked a question that had nothing to do with what Gu Jingxuan was thinking.

“Brother Gu, do you… do you really want me to go and act with you?”

The moment the words left his mouth, the tips of Xu Chi’s ears turned red. He wanted to bury his face in his bowl, yet he was desperate to know the answer.

Gu Jingxuan didn’t pick up on the depth of Xu Chi’s internal struggle, but seeing the expectation in those eyes, he didn’t have the heart to tease him further. He ladled another bowl of soup for himself, set it aside, and replied in a steady voice, “Yes. I want you to act with me. Being with you is very comfortable.”

Being… with me.

Even though he knew it wasn’t meant in that way, Xu Chi was so happy he wanted to jump up and spin Gu Jingxuan around. Brother Gu said he liked acting with him; Brother Gu said being with him was comfortable!

Xu Chi knew Gu Jingxuan had never said this to anyone else, because he had watched every single one of Gu Jingxuan’s interviews and never heard anything like it. As for whether he’d said it to anyone in private, Xu Chi didn’t care. Regardless, Brother Gu had just said it to him—to Xu Chi.

Gu Jingxuan looked at the corners of Xu Chi’s mouth, which he couldn’t stop from curling upward even as he drank his soup. His heart softened significantly. The thought of pulling Xu Chi into his arms and doting on him swirled through his mind over and over.

“What? Does the idea of acting with me make you that happy?”

Xu Chi looked up, his eyes curved into crescents like they were holding all the stars in the galaxy. He nodded vigorously.

“Yes. I really like acting with Brother Gu.” And I really like Brother Gu!

Xu Chi hadn’t been paying attention while drinking his soup, and some broth had splashed onto the corner of his mouth. Gu Jingxuan felt a stir in his heart. He reached out and wiped the corner of Xu Chi’s mouth with his thumb, then wiped his hand on a napkin.

He thought to himself that if he had performed the “finger-licking” move seen in TV dramas, he would probably have scared Xu Chi half to death. Besides, to him, that kind of move was a bit too “Mary Sue.”