Chapter 126：The Traitor (10)

Lee Mu suddenly sat up in bed, gasping for air. The rustle of the bed woke up Zao Ming who was sleeping beside him.

The bedroom was dimly lit and from the darkness outside the window, it should be quite late at night.

"Lee Mu, what's wrong? Is it another one of your nightmares?" Zao Ming's bleary voice asked from beside him.

Lee Mu took the time to catch his breath before he nodded his head silently. Zao Ming caught the motion in the dark and his drowsiness dispersed immediately. He also climbed up in bed to give Lee Mu's bare shoulders a squeeze.

Ever since they received that thing in the mail several weeks ago, Lee Mu had been suffering from nightmares. Zao Ming knew it was due to the heavy pressure that weighed down on his guilt and conscience.

Despite his many roles who placed him in the boots of the bad boys, Lee Mu had a heart of gold. That combined with his large physical size, Zao Ming often lovingly referred to him as his cuddly teddy bear.

At the same time, it meant that feeling of guilt could easily bring the man down. He did not have the heart to do anything malicious and coercing him into committing the betrayal must have taken the toll on the man's psyche.

Zao Ming thought it was all for the man's benefits but now, lying in the bed with the obviously troubled man, he started to have second thoughts. Zao Ming assumed the nightmares would go away after Lee Mu did what he was told but the night terrors had only gotten more frequent and intense. It had been a mere week since the grand "expose" on Joann and of those 7 days, Lee Mu had suffered from 7 nightmares.

Zao Ming gritted his teeth. They had been through a lot to reach the stage that they were in that day. When Zao Ming was first assigned Lee Mu as the artist that he was supposed to manage, he was overjoyed.

Zao Ming was not ashamed to admit he had a crush on the guy but he kept it wrapped up in a box locked up in his heart. At the time, Zao Ming believed Lee Mu was straight and so he did not breathe a word about his feelings because he did not want that to muddle their professional relationship.

However, Lee Mu made it very difficult for Zao Ming because the man had not met a celebrity that was so kind and thoughtful to his agent before. As his agent, Zao Ming was supposed to do works like carrying the man's bags, get him coffee, basically wait on his every desire.

However, due to his smaller frame, it was Lee Mu who often offered to carry Zao Ming's stuff for him. Zao Ming naturally was shocked and refused his help politely but Lee Mu insisted. He even once jokingly said, "What is the purpose of these muscles from daily gym training if I do not put them into good use?"

In the end, Zao Ming relented.

When Lee Mu asked Zao Ming to get anything for him, like food or drinks, he would be sure to ask Zao Ming to get another set for himself. Zao Ming would give reasons like he was not thirsty or hungry and Lee Mu would pout with that handsome face of his, saying he would be too lonely if his agent did not want to share his company. Zao Ming found himself to be powerless to Lee Mu's pleading face.

Their relationship was so much closer compared to other agent and their celebrities that inevitable rumours about them started to fly within the industry.

Zao Ming felt apologetic towards Lee Mu. As an agent, he understood how important a celebrity's image was. In their society where homosexual relationship was frowned upon, Zao Ming staying by Lee Mu's side would reflect negatively on the latter. As his agent and a person who really cared about Lee Mu, Zao Ming wanted nothing but the best for the man, and if that meant he needed to make himself scarce, then so be it.

Furthermore, he was afraid that he might not be able to control himself should he stay at Lee Mu's side any longer. The man was too kind and too charming for his own good. Therefore, he planned to hand in his resignation. Someone else who did not have feelings for him would be a much better manager for Lee Mu… or at least that was what he told his breaking heart. This was not meant to be.

Before breaking the news with his agency, Zao Ming approached Lee Mu first. He did not want the man to suddenly wake up one day with the surprise news that he was gone. He did not want the man to feel abandoned. Lee Mu deserved that much.

When he broke the news to Lee Mu, the latter was deathly silent, so silent that it honestly freaked Zao Ming out. Zao Ming had always associated Lee Mu with a sunny personality, watching him all cooped up and brooding unsettled him.

Zao Ming waited for a long time but there was no answer. Feeling the need to escape the scene as fast as possible, Zao Ming coughed drily and stood up from his seat, saying, "I'll be going. It has been an honour and a pleasure working with you, Lee Mu. All the best in your career. I will see you around."

He packed up his bags and prepared to leave that small café that they had decided to meet that day.

As Zao Ming turned to leave, he heard a severe voice coming from behind him. This was a tone that he had not heard Lee Mu used in his presence before.