CH 50

As soon as he saw the figure standing in the door, the blood in Ji Ning’s body froze.

He didn’t know how Ozer had entered the holographic network, but that issue was no longer important because Ozer had seen him and Gu Chen. 

The two of them were lying on the bed, dishevelled. Gu Chen was pressed tightly against his entire body, lowering his head to kiss a terrified Ji Ning. Ozer looked at the actor with chilling eyes—no matter how you saw it, it looked like a rape scene!

No matter how smart Ji Ning was, there was no way to explain this.

Technically, since Ozer was just a capture target of a previous world, he didn’t owe him anything in this world, but this wasn’t an explanation he could give Ozer. If the Emperor found out he’d only been a mission to Ji Ning, he might really try to kill him.

The only thing Ji Ning could be thankful for was that they were inside the holographic network and their bodies were only projections. Otherwise, there was no way Ozer wouldn’t kill Gu Chen. If Gu Chen died, he had no way to complete his task. 

As he was only a projection, Ozer didn’t need to use his wheelchair and slowly approached Ji Ning step by step.

Each time his long legs took a step forward, Ji Ning felt as if the Emperor was treading on his chest, his heart threatening to beat out of his chest. If he’d had this kind of reaction during the filming he would have been removed from the scene.

“Br-brother…”

Trying to protect Gu Chen, Ji Ning quickly pushed him to the side and sat up from the bed. He desperately covered his torn shirt, afraid it would anger Ozer further.

He was worried Ozer would memorise Gu Chen’s face and try to kill him outside of the holographic network. He couldn’t afford to care about anything else and whispered to Gu Chen anxiously, “Get out of the holographic network. Now.”

After hearing Ji Ning call ‘Brother’, Gu Chen had already understood that this was not a change to the script, but rather, someone who knew Ji Ning personally.

But he’d called the stranger ‘Brother’ the way a prince would. He almost thought he’d heard it wrong, but when he looked at Ozer’s face, he recognised him as the Emperor of the Mo Ling Empire who’d recently appeared in the news. Shocked, he couldn’t help but wonder about Ji Ning’s identity once again.

He turned out to be a member of the Mo Ling royal family. Was he really the Emperor’s brother? 

Gu Chen was taken aback. However, when he saw the panicked expression on Ji Ning’s face, he remembered it had only been a few years since the Mo Ling Empire had legalised same sex love and his heart clenched. Even though it was no longer a criminal offence, social customs were by no means easy to change.

Could it be that the homosexual theme of this film would bring trouble to Ji Ning?

In an instant, dozens of thoughts raced through Gu Chen’s head. He hesitated for a moment, not knowing if he should stay to help Ji Ning explain, or simply obey Ji Ning’s instructions and leave the holographic network. He didn’t want to make things worse for Ji Ning or anger the Emperor further.

However, he wasn’t given the chance to choose. Ji Ning not only wanted Gu Chen to leave, he wanted to exit the holographic network himself. Unfortunately, they soon discovered that the holographic space had been locked by Ozer’s spiritual energy and neither of them could leave. 

“You still want to protect him?”

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“Brother!” 

Seeing the pain in Gu Chen’s expression, Ji Ning’s heart leapt into his throat. Ozer’s spiritual energy had flooded the holographic network, allowing him to directly attack Gu Chen’s spirit. Even though his body was on another planet, if Gu Chen’s spirit was too damaged, it would be fatal.

“Do you feel bad for him?”

Seeing Ji Ning’s terrified expression, the blond man’s lips curled up, but there was no warmth in his smile. He held Ji Ning’s chin and lifted his face up, forcing him to look Ozer in the eyes, “Come on, tell me. Is he your new lover?”

Physically he appeared normal, but his mental state was rapidly deteriorating, leaving him on the verge of a spiritual attack. It was only through sheer force of will that he managed to suppress his spiritual energy in order to find out what relationship this man had with Ji Ning. 

Ji Ning had come back from the dead and returned to him, but he could sense that Ji Ning didn’t love him as deeply as he used to. When he saw this man, the unease growing in his heart burst out in an instant. He couldn’t help but think Ji Ning had left and fallen in love with this strange man.

Even when they couldn’t meet, they would have an affair inside a holographic projection…

Ozer closed his eyes, but the pain that came from his heart splitting in two wouldn’t stop. He was so happy to see Ji Ning again, but now it hurt so much he couldn’t even look at Ji Ning’s face.

His thoughts were divided into two sides from Ji Ning’s betrayal. Half of him wanted to kill Ji Ning right now, so he could never fall in love with someone else, but at the same time he wanted to hold Ji Ning in his arms and kiss him softly, begging him to change his mind, he would do anything to keep him. 

“Brother…”

He heard Ji Ning call for him again, his voice low and soft as he nervously pleaded.

“He’s not my lover, we’re just shooting a holographic movie, he’s my co-star…”

There was a sound of clothes rusting before Ozer, who had closed his eyes, felt a soft pressure on his lips, as his body was gently embraced. 

He opened his eyes to see Ji Ning kneeling up on the bed so he was able to wrap his arms around his waist. He kissed him anxiously, his beautiful eyes filled with a layer of watery mist, tears threatening to fall any moment.

Ozer’s breathing stuttered, pain and anger in his eyes. He didn’t want to listen to Ji Ning’s pleas or explanations and turned his face away, but Ji Ning persistently chased after Ozer’s lips, unwilling to leave him alone.

After a few seconds of stalemate, the blond man finally couldn’t stop himself from wrapping his arms tightly around Ji Ning’s waist. He pushed him down onto the bed, kissing him fiercely, as if he wanted to devour him whole.

“Nngh…” 

Ji Ning couldn’t breathe from the kiss and let out several soft moans. A slight coppery taste spread from the entanglement of lips and teeth as his lips were bitten and teased.

Although it felt good, Ji Ning’s heart was dripping blood, because in the corner of his eye he could see Gu Chen slowly turn pale.

Damn it…

Embracing another man in front of his target and also being the one to initiate it. He didn’t even want to think about the consequences. 

Of course, it wasn’t like he couldn’t ask Herinos to erase Gu Chen’s memory later, but he didn’t know when he would see Herinos again.

Taking a step back, even if Hereinos was with them, how could he ask him to do that? To erase a memory, he would have to view it first. If Herinos saw him enthusiastically kissing Ozer, that would be another disaster.

Tears fell from Ji Ning’s eyes, overwhelmed by Ozer’s deep kiss. He felt as if he was suffocating physically and emotionally – ah, he really wanted to cry.

But if he didn’t appease Ozer in this way, Ozer would have killed Gu Chen, even if they really were just filming. He’d been worried Ozer wouldn’t forgive him, but now he was more anxious he would be suffocated to death by Ozer’s kiss… 

It wasn’t until Ji Ning nearly fainted that Ozer finally released him, but the coldness of his eyes hadn’t faded. He observed Ji Ning with dark eyes and asked.

“Are you telling the truth, he’s really not your lover?”

“We’re really making a film Brother, if you don’t believe me, look outside…”

Ji Ning weakly pointed out the window. Outside of the towering building, the terrifying humanoid monsters could be seen through the glass rooms. “If we were really coming here for an affair, why would we simulate such an environment?” 

Ozer glanced out the window in the direction Ji Ning pointed. Ji Ning panted, catching his breath. He stumbled up from the bed again and caressed Ozer’s face, kissing the corner of his lips.

“If you still don’t believe me, release your spiritual energy and a film crew member will definitely come and explain it to you.”

Seeing that Ozer’s glacial expression had eased slightly, Ji Ning secretly breathed a sigh of relief and explained further.

“I’ll believe that you two have nothing to do with each other,” Ozer put his arms around his waist and narrowed his eyes, “But can you explain to me why you wanted to make a movie like this?” 

“…” Ji Ning’s body went stiff as he quickly searched for an excuse, “I agreed to film this with the director a long time ago. At the time, I’d only read the first half of the script, I didn’t know it was like this…”

Looking at his flustered performance, Ozer’s lips stretched into a thin line, that was still not quite a smile. Although he was still angry, just knowing that Ji Ning hadn’t fallen in love with someone else was enough to calm him down. Compared to that, anything else felt insignificant.

He lowered his head to look at the revealing clothes of the person in his arms, a darkness still evident in his eyes.

This film couldn’t be released no matter what and he would secretly execute everyone involved in its production. He couldn’t tolerate anyone else seeing Ji Ning in this state, and that man… 

His gloomy eyes fell on Gu Chen but he released the spiritual confinement and nodded civilly towards the actor.

“My apologies mister, this was my misunderstanding and I’ve hurt you because of it. Please allow me to make this up to you in the future.”

After soothing the dark and violent emotions of his heart, Ozer adjusted his expression to his usual polite manner. Even though he had already sworn to tear the man who touched Ji Ning to pieces, he still showed him a smile like a spring breeze.

“…It doesn’t matter.” 

Gu Chen touched the dark bruise around his neck and slowly stood up. Facing his near death experience just now, he was very calm. With cold eyes, he looked between Ozer and Ji Ning and asked in a stifled voice.

“Forgive me Your Majesty, but I still have a question. Are you two biological brothers?”

Ozer shook his head and smiled slightly, “We used to be brothers in name but we are not related by blood. Xiao Ning is just used to calling me ‘brother’.”

He turned his head to look at Ji Ning with a gentle smile, “We’ve been in love with each other for a long time, right Xiao Ning?” 

“…Yes.”

Feeling the heat of Gu Chen’s gaze, Ji Ning’s heart stuttered, but he could only nod his head in agreement.

“We won’t be brothers in the future.”

Ozer smiled slightly, took Ji Ning’s hand and intertwined their fingers. 

“Soon, I will marry him and make him my Empress.”

“…”

Ji Ning’s face went blank.

Alternative chapter title: when the fiance meets the new boyfriend