YiHan sat up straight. "What happened?"
Placing his pen down on the desk, JingYuan clasped his hands together and rested them on the wooden surface. "Just as I thought, Nan Shan suspected He Yuan. Not long after the man arrived in Nan Shan's home, the two fought. In less than two hours, He Yuan stomped out of the door with an upset look on his face. Slamming the door shut behind him, he left. No sign of movement from Nan Shan was observed since. My men are keeping a close eye on He Yuan's every move. Thankfully, he hasn't made a move against Nan Shan yet. He merely changed back to his usual outfit and returned to his office."
"He wouldn't be letting go so easily," said YiHan. "He'll want to make Nan Shan stay. That's why he didn't let his vicious side show."
"That must be it," said JingYuan.
Frowning, YiHan asked, "Nan Shan is all alone in his home. We don't know what happens inside at all. It's so worrying. What do we do now?"
"Nan Shan doesn't have any friends," replied JingYuan. "It's certainly not good to leave him to his thoughts without company. I think we should buy the apartment next to Nan Shan's home. We can stay there for a while. It'll be easier to care for him there. If anything happens, we can also react in time and help him up. At the very least, no one will be barging into his home. Your mission is to get close to him and counsel him, give him a friend. However, it's still the same condition. Do not let him grow any inappropriate thoughts about you, or else…"
"Or else you'd strangle him to death yourself," YiHan said, lips twisted to the side.
"You know me well, HanHan," JingYuan said with a smile.
YiHan was about to speak when his phone started ringing. A glance at it showed the caller to be an unknown number.
"Hello?" YiHan said, answering the call.
"Hello, Little Master Bai," said the caller. It was the deep voice of a man. "I'm Yan Yan."
YiHan was stunned. He covered the bottom half of the phone with a hand and mouthed "It's Yan Yan" to JingYuan. The older man nodded and calmly looked back at him.
"Second Master Yan," YiHan said, dropping the hand that had been covering the microphone, "is there something you need?"
"Let's not beat around the bush and get straight to the point," replied Yan. "Pei-Pei has told me about Nan Shan. As a fan, I would like to thank you for your help."
"It's fine," said YiHan. "I'm a fan of his books too. I believe we're all on the same side. If you had found out about this first, you would also help him without hesitation."
"That's right," Yan concurred. "However, I know nothing of Nan Shan's situation. Once this matter blows up, as a Yan family member, I wouldn't be in a good place to help him then. Thank you for letting me know about it before that happens."
"It's what I should do," said YiHan. "JingYuan and I were afraid of putting you and your sister in a tough spot. We had some worries about informing you. We can put those fears aside now."
"As Nan Shan's loyal reader, I know him well through his writing," said Yan. "I believe the current situation was not something he willingly created. You and Mr Mu have been keeping an eye on Nan Shan. Are there any new updates?"
"There are," said YiHan. "As JingYuan predicted, Nan Shan was already suspicious of He Yuan. Their meeting today was not a happy one. He Yuan stormed out of the place. However, he has yet to threaten Nan Shan or acted in revenge. We think he still intends on trying to make Nan Shan stay. As for Nan Shan, there has been no news. It's quite worrying."
"He needs a friend to counsel him," said Yan.
"Yes," YiHan agreed. "JingYuan and I are planning on buying the apartment next to his. We'll stay there for a while. One, we can use that as a reason to be with him as he goes through this dark period. Two, we would obtain first-hand information. Three, if anything happens, we'd be close enough to save him."
Yan was silent for a moment. "This is truly a good plan. If you trust me, perhaps you can leave this mission to me. The two of you are big targets, particularly Mr Mu. You'd attract too much attention. Nan Shan must not want too much attention at this time. This is also a long-term mission. It'd be inconvenient for you two to move about in secrecy."
"Of course, I trust you," said YiHan. "Pei-Pei told me she fell in love with Nan Shan's books because you recommended them to her."
"Nan Shan is a great author," said Yan. "His books are worthy of more love. I hope that our help can let him get through this obstacle in his life without a hiccup, that it'll let him create better works."
"What a coincidence," YiHan chuckled. "I think so too. It's a pleasure working with you, Second Master Yan."
"Pleasure working with you," said Yan. "This is my personal mobile number. We can contact each other through this and exchange information we have."
"Okay," said YiHan.
After hanging up, YiHan saved the number to his contact list as he addressed JingYuan, "You don't have to worry now. Yan has offered to take on the task. He's right. We're too eye-catching. We'd be easily found out. It'd be bad for other people to notice Nan Shan because of us. Yan by himself would be a smaller target."
"Yes. Yan might be rather conservative and reserved but his word is worth gold," JingYuan said as he nodded. "He's mature and calm. If he helps out in this, you can stop worrying and, yes, I can stop worrying too."
Once the number was saved in his phone, YiHan slouched back into a more comfortable position. He then clicked into the chat he had with Nan Shan.
"And what were you worried about?" asked YiHan as he typed up a message. "Don't tell me you were truly afraid he'd fall in love with me."
"Shouldn't I be?" JingYuan solemnly asked.
There was no reply from Nan Shan to YiHan's message.
YiHan sighed and rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Please, JingYuan. Do you really think my charms are that amazing? You might be fine saying that but I'm not okay listening to it. You are looking at me with the rose-tinted glasses of a lover. To other people, I'm just an average person, someone that's as normal as normal can be. How can people fall in love with me so easily?"
JingYuan closed the file in his hands as he sternly said, "HanHan, I believe there's a need for me to discuss a serious issue with you so you can understand the grave nature of the matter. You look at yourself in the mirror every day. You've already grown weary of your own beauty. You think it's nothing. You might not know this, but your looks and body are definitely the crème de la crème. Every time you walk out the door, you are the focus of everyone's gazes. This is an undeniable fact. Furthermore, there is the current situation. Nan Shan is at a low point in his life. Anyone who appears at this time to encourage him, to comfort him, will be his saviour. If this person is perfect in every way, it's extremely easy for him to fall in love again. I am not overthinking things. It is the reality of this situation. My concern is very reasonable. If not because of you… Because you love me and only me, I would never allow you to do such a thing."
YiHan was speechless. "Can you be any more illogical?"
JingYuan wasn't joking at all. He solemnly continued, "To save a man's life is better than building a pagoda in his honour. Nan Shan has had a rough life, but he's talented and someone important to you. It's understandable for me to save him. However, if it carries a risk of letting someone else steal you from me, I can no longer be so generous. After all, having one's lover be lusted over by another is not something that makes me happy. Even if I know that my lover is true to me."
There was a faint red blush on YiHan's cheeks. He cleared his throat and said, "Alright, enough. I can feel my skin growing thicker by the second. A-Anyway, Yan Yan has taken this mission. What's there for you to worry about?"
JingYuan nodded and looked back down at his document. Then, as he turned a page, he said, "Yan Yan is not a bad man."
"Not only do you think your farts don't stink, but you also think everyone finds them pleasant," YiHan muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?" JingYuan asked, looking up. "I didn't catch that."
YiHan smiled at the other man. "I said, hearing you flatter me as perfect in every way fills me with great joy."
"I was only stating the fact," JingYuan said with a nod. "It wasn't flattery. If I really wanted to do that, I should've called you a celestial fairy."
A snort burst out of YiHan. Could the other man be even more shameless? Was this some ultra-edition of rose-tinted glasses?
"What is it?" JingYuan asked, frowning. He shifted to stand up.
"It's nothing," YiHan said, hands hurriedly waving in a pacifying gesture. "Nothing. Just focus on your work. I merely choked on my own saliva."
JingYuan sat back down. "You're great in every way but you just don't know how to take good care of yourself," he sighed. "Well, no one's completely perfect after all."
"I have you, don't I?" YiHan awkwardly smiled.
"Mn, you're right," JingYuan said, nodding in agreement. "I'll just take care of you. You don't need to know how to do anything."
YiHan was touched. "I have you," he warmly said. "I don't ask for anything more."
JingYuan looked up from his work once more. The two spent a few moments just silently staring into each other's eyes. Try as he might, JingYuan couldn't resist walking over to YiHan and kissing him. Wrapped in each other's arms, the two made out on the couch for a long time.
"Mr Mu-Mu," YiHan eventually panted, "don't you have work to do?"
JingYuan's mouth on YiHan's neck froze. In a deep voice, he replied, "I do."
YiHan stroked JingYuan on the back of the neck and smiled, "Do you want to do it still?"
The other man went quiet. Staring down at the flesh before his eyes, the flesh that had turned bright red due to his gnawing, JingYuan said, "I do!"
YiHan patted JingYuan on the shoulder, smiled and said, "Then get to work. If we do it again, I'll die. My behind still hurts and you still want to do it."
JingYuan sat up straight. "Pain?" he asked, frowning. "Is it injured? I didn't notice it when I bathe you just now." He stood up from the couch, one leg kneeling against the cushions, and went to pull YiHan's pants down.
YiHan scrambled to hold onto his pants. "N-No. I'm not hurt. It's just…" His face was bright red. "It, erm, it's been strained. I'll be fine if I just rest for a day. Oh, just hurry back to your work. We might not be able to go home if this goes on."
Only then did JingYuan's hands stopped. After pecking YiHan on the lips, JingYuan said, "My bad for wasting time. Don't worry. I'll be done with work soon and we can go home. You can properly rest then."
YiHan kissed JingYuan back. "It's fine. Don't rush. We wouldn't want you making a mistake."
JingYuan lowly chuckled. "As long as you don't seduce me, I won't make a mistake."