When My Arch-Enemy Became Possessive - Chapter 3

The confrontation at the hotel had been so tense that every cell in Sheng Zhiyu’s brain thought Qi Fan was begging for a beating; he hadn’t had the peace of mind to observe the man’s appearance.

Now, at a proper distance and with ample light, he noticed that Qi Fan’s eyes were elongated with deep folds.

Beneath the eyelid of his right eye was a half-finger-long scratch. The result of the vase fragments from this morning.

Strangely, such a wound didn’t make that face look disheveled in the slightest; instead, it added a touch of demonic charm to those eyes.

Perhaps because he had entered work mode, the post-intimacy ambiguity in Qi Fan’s gaze had long since vanished. All that remained was a razor-sharp observation that traced the contours of Sheng Zhiyu’s face.

It wasn’t until his gaze fell upon Sheng Zhiyu’s tightly clenched left hand that a faint smile suddenly bloomed, and he returned to his relaxed demeanor.

“What a coincidence.” Qi Fan smiled first. His long fingers produced a cigarette from somewhere, and he flicked a pale gold lighter to life, lighting it. “Not getting in?”

A curl of smoke drifted past Sheng Zhiyu’s nose. It wasn’t intentionally blown toward him, yet it carried a heavy sense of suggestion.

Lin Weiyu’s voice rang out unseasonably in his head:

[Although overlapping scenarios aren’t common, why do I feel like Qi Fan is looking at you with such ill intent?]

Ill intent?

It’s just a provocation.

In that brief exchange of looks, Sheng Zhiyu understood exactly what the man was thinking.

The cigarette Qi Fan was smoking now was the same brand he had smoked this morning.

Whether it was a coincidence of similar tastes or a malicious act of picking up his discarded cigarette pack. Sheng Zhiyu didn’t care to think about it, but this man was definitely doing it on purpose.

He held his victory with such wretched posture, taking every opportunity to remind Sheng Zhiyu that they had spent a night together.

Against such a low-class provocation, Sheng Zhiyu naturally refused to admit defeat. He stepped around to the other side of the car and calmly pulled open the door.

Qi Fan’s gaze followed him, watching the midday sun flash across his cold, porcelain-like skin before he was shielded by the car window.

He seemed to have quite a temper, but when he spoke, he didn’t even bother to strike back: “To the destination.”

The corners of Qi Fan’s lips curled up imperceptibly. He extinguished the cigarette he had only smoked halfway and exhaled the white mist out the window: “Drive.”

The trip was only half an hour. Sheng Zhiyu chose to close his eyes and feign sleep.

He intended to focus his energy on the mission, but the more he tried to find peace, the more the memories of the hotel uncontrollably flooded back, bringing with them an unspeakable discomfort that spread through his body.

The dull ache left over from last night flared up from time to time, affecting him constantly.

Especially at his waist.

…When he entered the bathroom this morning, the first thing he saw were the marks on his waist—pinches and bites, both sore and painful.

It wasn’t sharp pain, but it felt like a fuse connected to his bones; if one spot was knotted, the rest of him felt unnatural.

Sheng Zhiyu suspected Qi Fan had some sort of sadistic hobby and had taken it out on him while he was unconscious.

Dog thing.

Bad technique, but lots of tricks.

Because of this discomfort, Sheng Zhiyu actually felt a wave of dizziness when the car stopped.

Then, he felt the gaze from beside him land on him.

“What’s wrong?”

Qi Fan seemed to have noticed something. His hand, resting on his knee, lifted slightly, but before it could touch Sheng Zhiyu’s face, it was intercepted by a grip on the wrist.

Sheng Zhiyu coldly cast his hand aside, expressionless: “Don’t keep Ah Zhou waiting. I’m getting out first.”

The car stopped in front of a winery. This was an asset under Qi Fan’s name, specifically designed for idle young masters to burn money. The most prestigious private room, 8888, was where the welcome party was being held.

[According to the plot, after the ‘best friend’ Qi Fan brings the White Moonlight inside, he’s supposed to egg on the circle of friends to stir up the Male Lead’s old feelings. Meanwhile, he arranges for the Substitute who is disguised among the waiters to be outside the room so the Substitute realizes how unworthy he is to be seen in public.]

[After doing all this, he will voluntarily disappear to let the Male Lead and the White Moonlight rekindle their old flame.]

Lin Weiyu couldn’t figure out Qi Fan’s attitude and certainly couldn’t guess Sheng Zhiyu’s thoughts, so he could only offer earnest advice.

[So Xiao Yu, just endure it for ten minutes. The mission is what matters.]

Sheng Zhiyu didn’t even bother to reply and walked straight into the elevator.

The waiter standing outside had intended to follow them in, but Qi Fan glanced sideways after entering, and the waiter hurriedly retreated.

This detail was so subtle that Sheng Zhiyu didn’t notice it before the elevator doors closed.

In the confined space, only he and Qi Fan remained.

After entering a mission plane, their every move was synchronized with the system. Sheng Zhiyu did not intend to have any extra interactions with Qi Fan, let alone allow last night’s events to leak into anyone else’s ears.

Ding.

The elevator reached the 18th floor without incident. Just as Sheng Zhiyu moved to leave, the man beside him slowly raised his hand and pressed the “Close Door” button.

“Mute your system for a moment.”

This unexpected sentence pricked Sheng Zhiyu’s nerves.

Ultimately, fearing that nothing good would come out of Qi Fan’s mouth, he instinctively muted Lin Weiyu.

“Regarding my proposal this morning,” Sheng Zhiyu’s lips curled into a hypocritical arc, the smile not reaching his eyes, “it seems Mr. Qi has decided on a price?”

“That? No rush.” Qi Fan looked at him without blinking. “I don’t discuss private matters during work. What I wanted to say was…”

He took a step forward, his fingertips hooking Sheng Zhiyu’s scarf: “You haven’t changed your clothes?”

The pale champagne-colored light was mostly blocked by Qi Fan. The close proximity brought a sense of pressure.

As veteran employees, they both knew that “body transmigration” (entering with one’s own physical body) was a major taboo.

Sheng Zhiyu remained unruffled: “Oh. Then congratulations on catching a flaw in my work. Go ahead and report it to the superiors.”

Qi Fan raised an eyebrow slightly: “In your eyes, am I that mercenary?”

“Then it is my own narrow-mindedness,” Sheng Zhiyu’s tone remained slow and gentle, hiding his hoarseness. “After all, if someone interferes with my mission progress, I will definitely act according to the rules.”

“Mm, mocking me for snitching while warning me not to get in the way?” Qi Fan shifted his weight, looking more like his usual lazy self. “It seems you really hate me, huh?”

Sheng Zhiyu shifted his gaze to Qi Fan’s face, his mockery undisguised despite his calm tone: “Is that so?”

For the first time, Qi Fan felt like he had squeezed a ball of cotton, only to find the cotton was lined with hidden arrows.

This ace of the White Moonlight Group was surprisingly irritating to talk to, yet left one with nowhere to bite back.

Receiving a protest in his mind about the “System” being blocked, Qi Fan let go of the scarf and took a half-step back. “Reporting someone to management is a bit low-class. How about you just withdraw voluntarily?”

After a moment of silence, the elevator doors opened again.

Before leaving, Sheng Zhiyu shot him a faint glance, his sneer undisguised.

“Are you afraid of losing?”

“…”

Qi Fan stood in the elevator, watching Sheng Zhiyu’s departing back from the corner of his eye. His amber pupils reflected a coldness from the shifting shadows.

The reconnected system stuttered for a moment: […Qi Fan, why did you suddenly block me!! You didn’t get into a fight with Sheng Zhiyu in the elevator, did you?]

[No. You just had a bad signal.]

[You’ve traveled to another world; do you really think I’ll believe that ‘bad signal’ excuse?]

Qi Fan smiled and stepped onto the soft carpet of the corridor.

At the end of the hall, Sheng Zhiyu was already standing in front of Room 8888.

The Male Lead and a group of “bad friends” were already waiting inside. They didn’t know about Sheng Zhiyu’s return, which was why this reunion was being staged.

Qi Fan wasn’t in a hurry to get close. Instead, he observed the person outside the door from a distance.

He saw Sheng Zhiyu lightly lower his long lashes and take a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, the rebellious defensiveness from the elevator had been completely masked, replaced by the gentle, aloof elegance that perfectly fit a “White Moonlight.”

He pushed open the door and then paused.

On that beautiful face, the surprise was just right, the dignified self-restraint perfect, and the irrepressible shyness… all layered clearly.

The original plot described this reunion as the moment the Male Lead fell for him for ten thousand years; Sheng Zhiyu had recreated it with just a look.

Tsk.

Qi Fan instinctively reached for a cigarette, only to find that his jacket only contained the half-smoked one from the car.

He had brought this half-stub from the hotel.

[Qi Fan? Are you listening to me?]

The “System” was still shouting in his brain.

[Anyway, you’re just here to play matchmaker for the ‘White Moonlight.’ Since the task is done, let’s go?]

[In case Sheng Zhiyu finds out you body-transmigrated, it won’t be good if he reports you. The Group Leader is counting on you to break their group’s record.]

Qi Fan gave a nonchalant response. Just as he was about to look away, he caught a glimpse of a figure flashing out from the private room.

The “White Moonlight” Sheng Zhiyu was the person the Male Lead had hidden in his dreams every night during his first awakening of love. Unfortunately, a young man’s feelings are hard to speak of; before he had the chance to be honest, the White Moonlight had left.

Sheng Zhiyu had intended to give his rival a show of force, so he had put three times the effort into his “performance” just now.

As a result, he overdid it and hit the softest spot in the Male Lead’s memory. Before Sheng Zhiyu could even say his lines, he was pulled into an embrace.

The Male Lead held him like a long-lost treasure, lost in his own emotions. His voice was deep: “Xiao Yu, when did you come back?”

The persona of a rebellious, high-and-mighty young master was thrown to the wind; the Male Lead instantly turned into putty for the White Moonlight.

Sheng Zhiyu actually loathed sudden physical intimacy from others. He instinctively wanted to push the man away, but a system prompt popped up in his mind.

—Adhere to the character persona.

A White Moonlight would wish for nothing more than to be in the Male Lead’s arms; how could he possibly push him away?

Sheng Zhiyu closed his eyes and endured it.

Sensing no resistance, the Male Lead tightened his grip, which hit the uncomfortable spot on Sheng Zhiyu’s waist.

He gritted his teeth against the ache, raised his right hand to pat the Male Lead’s shoulder, and feigned shyness: “Ah Zhou, so many people are watching…”

Before Sheng Zhiyu could push the Male Lead’s shoulder away, a shadow fell from the side.

Immediately after, the shadow intervened between the two, forcibly pushing the Male Lead away from him.

Once that suffocating, uncomfortable embrace was broken, Qi Fan’s nonchalant, smiling face appeared.

This man showed no hesitation, crashing into the hug with an attitude of “include me in the reunion”: “I knew you’d like the surprise I prepared for you, Ah Zhou. If you’re giving out hugs, I should at least be the first one, right?”

System: […]

Sheng Zhiyu: “…”

Male Lead: “?”