Chapter 64 - My Costar Is Indulgent

To add insult to injury, Xin Hulei starts laughing. A low rumbling laugh that starts deep in his chest.

Yao Shen frowns, then he scowls.

And then he punches Xin Hulei lightly on the shoulder. "What's so funny?"

It takes a few seconds of Xin Hulei's laughter to die down. "A few moments ago you weren't even sure you wanted to kiss, and now you're disappointed we're not going all the way?" He flicks the tip of Yao Shen's nose. "You really are a little menace."

"I make my mind up quickly," Yao Shen says, defensively. "All thanks to my superior reasoning abilities."

Xin Hulei nods, and wraps one arm around Yao Shen's waist, pulling him closer to himself on the bed. "That's called being horny."

Yao Shen glares at him. "You're a condescending prick, do you know that?"

Xin Hulei shrugs. "Then why do you want to have sex with me?"

Isn't that a great question. Mostly it's because Xin Hulei is hot, and the fact they don't really get along gives Yao Shen the impression the sex is probably going to be great.

At least his previous lukewarm relationships never made him feel like he was missing out on much for not having it, but now he's positively vibrating. All those years of abstinence taking their toll, at last.

Xin Hulei is still waiting for an answer, so Yao Shen just tells him. "I must have terrible taste in men."

He doesn't expect Xin Hulei's small smile. "We're nothing alike then, I have the best taste in men."

Yao Shen's own amusement vanishes. He doesn't fool himself that Xin Hulei is talking about him. He's probably reminiscing about Yan Shuyi and how great he is, and how much he misses him.

"Maybe we should just go to sleep," Yao Shen says, turning his back to Xin Hulei. 

He knows he's probably being a little childish, but he would appreciate Xin Hulei not thinking about someone else while he's half naked in bed with him.

The dim lights in the room go dark, and then Yao Shen feels the thin comforter being pulled over their bodies.

"Good night," Xin Hulei says, spooning Yao Shen and dropping a gentle kiss on the exposed vertebra of his neck.

Yao Shen shivers in the gloom and doesn't say anything.

It takes him a long time to fall asleep.

Just before he does, he has the impression of hearing a soft voice whisper into his nape, "I hope it's only a coincidence, how much you resemble him."

---

The next day, Yao Shen wakes up alone in bed.

From the desk a tinny voice greets him. "Good morning, homewrecker."

Yao Shen ignores Jincan and sits up on the bed, stretching his arms above his head. 

That half-heard whisper floats up to the forefront of his mind.

What could Xin Hulei have been implying?

Who does Yao Shen resemble?

Those insufferable Ghost Kings told him he reincarnated before. Could one of those times have been Yan Shuyi? 

With a jolt, he jumps out of the bed, determined to find Xin Hulei.

He finds him in the kitchen, making congee for both of them in his underwear.

"Do you want leeks with yours?" he asks, raising a spatula in greeting.

"Do I look like, Yan Shuyi?" Yao Shen asks, his heart in his throat.

Xin Hulei gives him an inquisitive gaze. "You look nothing like him, why do you ask?"

"Oh," Yao Shen says, taking a seat behind the counter. "Something that came to my mind."

Xin Hulei places a bowl of steaming congee in front of him, the corner of his lips curled up knowingly. "Are you worried that I think you're a rebound?"

Not that's not it at all, but as the truth is far more humiliating, Yao Shen just nods.

"You're you, shizun is shizun," Xin Hulei says, leaning across the counter to eat his own congee. "That's all there is to it."

Yao Shen shoves a spoonful of piping hot congee into his mouth, so he won't have to say anything about it.

In that case, Yao Shen is forced to examine Xin Hulei's words under a different lenses.

Maybe he didn't sound cautiously optimistic, afraid to hope that Yao Shen could somehow be Yan Shuyi returned to him at last.

Maybe he sounded fearful that Yao Shen could be someone he never wanted to see again.

The man in the veil.

The Ghost Kings made it obvious that he met Xin Hulei back then under false pretenses, and whatever else transpired between them in the brothel, maybe they got what they wanted.

Yao Shen might have been just a pawn, but Xin Hulei never forgave the betrayal. 

He chances a look at Xin Hulei from beneath his lashes. These are all conjectures of course, but Yao Shen can't help feeling that maybe he's inching towards the truth.

It's too bad he can't ask Xin Hulei about it directly, without exposing himself. 

He remembers how ruthlessly determined Xin Hulei was to find out who he was in the beginning -- he only stopped actively suspecting Yao Shen so doggedly, after discovering he wasn't a ghost.

It's obvious he still thinks Yao Shen is more than a human, but he's no longer as watchful around him. Of course Xin Hulei is now keeping an eye on Gao Wu too, due to him snooping around Yao Shen's trailer, and now the whole business with attracting ghosts.

What would he do if he found out his initial suspicions were right?

"Isn't the congee to your liking?" Xin Hulei asks, after Yao Shen has spent a long time looking into his bowl and stirring it aimlessly.

"No it's great."

His next spoonful makes his throat seize up.

Without noticing, Yao Shen went from a starving nobody trying to land an acting job, to a former ghost king keeping secrets from three different factions.

If this doesn't put his acting skills to the test, Yao Shen doesn't know what will.

---

After breakfast, Xin Hulei takes Yao Shen back to his room.

Before he can disappear again, Yao Shen holds him back by the belt loops, and lifts himself up on his tip-toes to drop a kiss on the corner of his lips.

"I'll see you later."

"You're no longer mad at me?" Xin Hulei asks, a tiny smile playing at the corner of his lips.

Yao Shen averts his eyes. He's at once giddy and apprehensive about his deception.

On the one hand, the idea of having some secret affair with Xin Hulei is thrilling, something that he can scarcely believe is happening to him.

However, much more unreal than that, is the fact that there are three ghost kings trying to keep tabs on him, and a system he knows nothing about, too.

"Yeah, well, you have a terrible personality, I'm going to get mad at you a lot."

Xin Hulei smirks before the flames envelope him. "I look forward to it."

No sooner is Xin Hulei gone, than a deep voice inside his mind sounds.

[Host is growing very close to the Demon King....Congratulations.]

Maybe it is Yao Shen's imagination but he thinks there's a note of judgement to his words.

[Congratulations...again, for growing 55% closer to the Demon King. Sixth reward unlocked: Dream Sharing. Once again this System lost connection with Host for a period of several hours.]

Likely another reward that is going to cause Yao Shen more trouble than its worth.

He ignores the System and starts getting ready for the day ahead.

A few minutes later, a knock sounds at his door and Yao Shen opens it distractedly as soon as he sees Bi Jialu through the magic eye.

"Uh, has laoshi been to weibo today?" she asks, smiling awkwardly as she hands him a paper bag with youtiao she bought from the street vendor that sets up her cart in front of their hotel.

Yao Shen is in a conflicting good mood today, and he would rather not have it ruined by whatever people are saying about him on the internet.

He sighs and looks up pleadingly at Bi Jialu from his seat on the couch. "Do I have to?"

She shakes her head energetically. "No, absolutely not. It's best if laoshi doesn't, actually."

Yao Shen frowns in dismay. "Well now that you were so dramatic about it, I want to see it."

Bi Jialou tries to wrest his phone away from his hands, but just then he gets a text.

[Ye Fang: Ge! Have you seen this?]

Her message links to a post on a popular gossip weibo account. The first thing he sees is a blurry photo of him and Xin Hulei leaving the hotpot restaurant, and then another of him with his arms wrapped tightly around Xin Hulei's waist as he drives them towards his apartment complex's garage.

[Shocking! Costars Xin Hulei and Yao Shen seen together on romantic date. After dinner Xin Hulei seen taking Yao Shen to what netizens speculate is his secret apartment in Hengdian. Neither actor's representation could be reached for comment, at this time.]