Chapter 146 - My Costar Makes Me A Promise

Yao Shen slips into Xin Hulei's bedroom without being noticed. 

He passes through the living room where Tan Liansi is sleeping unaware in the sofa without disturbing her, and manages to sneak into the bedroom with barely a noise.

He closes the door behind him with a soft thud. Xin Hulei is asleep on his front, hugging a pillow to his face. The faint glow of the moon seeps in through the gaps in the blinds, limning his slender, muscular back in silver.

He doesn't stir when Yao Shen crawls up on the bed beside him, even with the extra weight on the mattress.

Yao Shen lays down beside him, content to admire him quietly. Xin Hulei isn't a very expressive person unless he's acting, and his face doesn't change much when he's sleeping, but it's somehow more relaxed, softer.

His lashes cast crisscrossing shadows on his cheeks that Yao Shen can't help but want to run his fingertips over.

Part of him feels like a creep for just observing Xin Hulei in silence like this, but an even bigger part wants to look his fill.

He had plenty of time of observe Xin Hulei when he was unconscious, but that was more of a worried watchfulness, he wasn't admiring Xin Hulei's beauty as much as he was looking for any signs that he was getting worse.

Now, Xin Hulei is fine, and Yao Shen's heart is at ease.

Perhaps too at ease, because he doesn't notice when Xin Hulei wakes up, and is completely blindsided when he wraps one arm around his waist to tip him on his back and climb over him.

"My Little Menace won't even let me sleep, what should I do with him?" Xin Hulei asks, his warm breath ghosting over Yao Shen's lips as he speaks. 

Yao Shen smirks up at him and shrugs. "Maybe your Majesty should punish me."

Xin Hulei kisses Yao Shen softly, taking tiny, sipping kisses from his lips. Yao Shen melts under him, feeling his body grow loose and languid. 

He missed this so much, and for a while there was afraid he wouldn't get to have it again.

Their kisses grow more heated, wetter, Yao Shen makes noise into Xin Hulei's mouth, looping one arm around his neck and pulling their bodies fully together.

Xin Hulei is just wearing his underwear and Yao Shen is wearing think tanktop and shorts. He starts tugging at the collar of his own tank, trying to take it off, when Xin Hulei stops him.

"Not here," he says, pinning Yao Shen's hands above his head on the mattress. "The house is full, and I don't think I can hold myself back. You'll scream."

A hot flush starts spreading up Yao Shen's chest and neck at Xin Hulei's deadpan tone.

He clears his throat. "I'll hold you to that."

Xin Hulei's dark eyes say that he doesn't make promises he can't keep. He nips at Yao Shen's neck, adding fuel to the fire already burning inside him. "We'll be going back to set next week. I'm going to set up Heimao and Jincan in my hotel room, and we'll have the Hengdian apartment just for ourselves."

Yao Shen can't believe that's happening in a week. He saw the days draw nearer while Xin Hulei was unconscious, and panicked a little about what they would do if the network called them back and Xin Hulei was still asleep. 

But Xin Hulei woke up, and they should still have a few weeks left.

He groans. "How long was I asleep this time?"

Xin Hulei kisses his cheek, almost reverent. "A week, Jincan woke up after three days, and then we just had to wait for you and Heimao."

"Then..."

Xin Hulei anticipates his question. "They're predicting some heavy rainfall this winter, so the production company wants us back in Hengdian sooner to get the most of the outdoors shots out of the way before it comes."

It feels like so much has happened since they left Hengdian and the set, that Yao Shen isn't sure how he feels about returning. In many ways he isn't the same person who started filming in the spring. Not by a long shot.

He's unsure of how he'll feel returning to Yan Shuyi's role now, and of course, there's still the ever present question hanging over their heads.

"We still have no idea who wrote the novel right?"

Above him, Xin Hulei shakes his head. "No. I thought it could have been Gao Wu. For a time I thought he was hiding something. I caught him snooping around your trailer that one time."

"I guess you were right, just not in the way you thought."

That's something else that's going to be awkward as fuck, how are they going to face Gao Wu on the set? Will Gao Wu even be back, or will he find a convenient excuse to not return? He would have to pay a premium for breach of contract, but Yao Shen supposes it's not like he really cares about his acting career.

He remembers his words, and tries to recall if any promising young actors worked together with Gao Wu only to never make anything else ever again. A few names popup in his mind, but the train of thought is too depressing for him to seriously consider.

Xin Hulei notices his downcast eyes, and drops a soft kiss to each of his eyelids.

Yao Shen smiles with his eyes closed.  After some time he says, "I was thinking. You said that the entertainment industry is the ideal place for demons to hide in the mortal realm, because of fan worship and all that, but you can only do it for a short period of time, right? People would remember you."

In the silvery gloom of the room, Xin Hulei's crimson eyes are like two jewels, shimmering with amusement. 

"Humans have short memories."

"How so?"

"In the past, all it took was moving to another city to start fresh. No one really cared if someone started rambling that the local opera actor looked just like the one his grandfather took him to see in his hometown when he was a child." 

"Things became harder after the invention of the camera, but the short memories remain." His lips twitch in amusement. "I'm sure you've seen those weibo posts about 'ancient people celebrities resemble'."

Yao Shen's eyes widen. "Holy shit. Hiding in plain sight."

Xin Hulei nods. "It's much easier to believe that two people born in completely different time periods are similar looking, than to believe one person is immortal."

Yao Shen grins up at him, biting his lips in amusement. "Opera, uh?"

"What about it?" Xin Hulei asks, raising his eyebrows, although it's obvious he knows where Yao Shen is trying to go with this.

"What role did you play?"

"Dan."

"Should have known. You're always the lead," Yao Shen says, grinning widely at Xin Hulei's impassive expression.

Yao Shen's mind starts wondering. What would Xin Hulei look like wearing a female opera costume and full makeup? There's something so sharp about his features. A rounder, softer face would make for a more convincing woman. But then again, maybe it wasn't about that at all. Especially way back. Everyone knew it was men playing female roles, perhaps there was no need to pass as a convincing woman, only as a good dan -- which was an entirely different thing.

"What are you thinking about?" Xin Hulei asks.

"You playing dan roles," Yao Shen admits.

"Is this going into the spreadsheet?" 

"Perhaps," Yao Shen says, wiggling his eyebrows.

Xin Hulei puts an end to that line of thinking with another of his fiery kisses.

---

Despite his many protests, eventually Xin Hulei manages to convince Yao Shen to get out of the bed. 

The promise of fresh breakfast helps.

Once they're all sitting down to eat, Jincan refuses to shut up about every thing that Heimao missed while he was asleep.

Yao Shen would normally be annoyed by his peppy tone, but considering everything he saw in both his and Heimao's dreams, he's willing to give him a pass.

Jincan for his  part, is also giving him a wide berth. Maybe they've come to a truce.

Oddly it's Xin Hulei who breaks the companionable mood.

"What are we going to do about Gao Wu?"

"What do you mean?" Yao Shen asks, exchanging a look with Tan Liansi. "We're not going to do anything, unless provoked."

She nods, stiffly, her shoulders hunched close to her ears. "It didn't seem like he was going to come after us. I told you a little bit about it, the business with Mei Shuang..."

"He might still be a threat, we should get rid of him."

While Yao Shen agrees with him, in theory, in practice that might get messy fast. "What if there's more like him? What if those people come after us?" He tries to reason with Xin Hulei. "When does it end?"

He knows Tan Liansi agrees with him. They've had time to discuss all this. The whole thing is probably even more harrowing to her than to Xin Hulei, considering her whole...deal, with Mei Shuang.

After some time, Xin Hulei finally nods in quiet ascent. But there's a familiar glint in his crimson eyes that Yao Shen recognises as a sign of ominous things to come.

---