Chapter 39 - My Costar Won't Even See Me Coming

They finish shooting the scene without any more issues, and are finally done for the day.

When Xin Hulei asks Yao Shen if he wants to catch a ride together back to the hotel, Yao Shen, for once, agrees readily.

He spends the entire drive feeling smug about his ulterior motives and Xin Hulei's total obliviousness to them.

Once they reach the hotel it's time to put his plan into action. He leaves the elevator on his floor and says goodbye to Xin Hulei.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Xin Hulei just nods at him.

Yao Shen walks out of view of the elevators doors, and whispers, "what remains unseen is deemed to be clean" to himself.

A brief glance down shows him he was successful. The weirdness of looking down at himself and not seeing his own body is disconcerting but Yao Shen doesn't have time to dwell on that. He dashes back into the elevator, slipping back inside in just the dash of time, before the doors close and it continues its ascent.

Xin Hulei gives no sign of noticing another presence with him in the elevator. Yao Shen grins quietly to himself, his plan is off to a great start already.

The elevator arrives at Xin Hulei's floor, and Yao Shen follows after him at a distance. He has no issue slipping into his room unnoticed before the door shuts close with a soft thud.

Now he needs to find a hiding place quickly, because Invisibility might wear off at any moment, and he needs to remain out of view. 

He assumed their room's layout would be similar, and he's relieved to be proved right. There's a slat door closet in the bedroom, big enough for a person to stand inside it, while having a pretty unimpeded view of the bedroom and living room as long as the sliding doors between the two divisions stay open -- which they are.

Yao Shen takes advantage of the moment Xin Hulei goes into the bathroom to slip inside noiselessly, hiding himself among the hanging clothes, looking out at the room through the gaps between the slats in the door.

After some time, Xin Hulei comes out of the bathroom wearing only his boxers, his long wig tied up on top of his head in a messy bun. Yao Shen nearly slams his head into the wall behind him. 

The hard planes of Xin Hulei's chest and abdomen draw Yao Shen's eyes despite his best attempts to look anywhere else. He can't stop looking at the deep v-line of his hipbones and how it disappears into his tight boxers. 

Yao Shen reasons with himself that he's looking because he's jealous of Xin Hulei's great body, and not because he likes looking at him.

If anything, he feels a little bit better with himself for falling into bed with him so easily after a couple of drinks. Xin Hulei has such a sculpted body, if he pushed Yao Shen around a little Yao Shen wouldn't be able to do anything about it -- probably.

So really, it was unavoidable. 

Yao Shen ignores the heat climbing up his cheeks, and focuses on watching Xin Hulei's movements around the room.

He doesn't do anything suspicious, other than maybe not putting on any clothes, but then again, he does think he is alone.

One thing that strikes Yao Shen is how empty his room looks. They've been shooting the drama for some time now, but Yao Shen's room looks completely devoid of personality. There's no knickknacks littering the table, no laptops or books strewn around.

It's as if he barely spends any time in his hotel room.

The most glaring absences are the golden caterpillar and the black cat. If they're not in his room where can Xin Hulei possibly keep them?

After what feels like an eternity, Xin Hulei finally puts on some shorts and a plain white tshirt he grabs what looks like his wallet and then leaves the room.

It's the opportunity Yao Shen has been waiting for.

He waits for the sound of the door clicking shut before making it out of the closet. He doesn't have much time, Xin Hulei could be back any minute -- the problem is that he has no idea where to start.

The room looks so barebones it's hard to believe something  of interest could be found there.

By some stroke of luck Xin Hulei left his cellphone behind. Yao Shen picks it up not expecting being able to unlock it, but just touching the fingerprint button opens it. Xin Hulei doesn't have any fingerprint or facial recognition enabled.

He's a famous star who just leaves his phone unlocked.

Amazing.

A few minutes snooping into his WeChat records, and weibo profile reveal why.

There's absolutely nothing of interest in it. It would take a very creative gossip account to turn Xin Hulei's leaked private conversations into something interesting.

The most exciting person he talks with is Tan Liansi and even then, their conversations go like:

[Lian Lian: Ge, have you found it yet?]

[Xin Hulei: No, not yet]

[Lian Lian: Ge, when do you think we can go to that place?]

[Xin Hulei: Soon]

[Lian Lian: Ge, am I boring you?]

[Xin Hulei: yes]

[Lian Lian: Well, if I don't talk with you, who will? Why do you even have a phone for?]

[Xin Hulei: to check the time]

His other conversations are the same flavor of exciting.

Yao Shen can't help snickering a little to himself. "Talking with him is more boring than watching paint dry."

"Then perhaps you should add me on WeChat," comes a voice from behind him. "Maybe you could teach me how to be less boring."