For a moment, he almost thought he had misheard, but Lu Xingzhe repeated himself, "I can stop being a paparazzi."

If Xi Nian didn't like it, he could stop.

Lu Xingzhe's way of being good to someone was simple: give them what they want, and get rid of what they don't like. Just as in his past life when he gave Xi Nian fame and status, eliminating his rivals for him, with good and evil having to step aside.

Upon hearing this, Xi Nian lowered his gaze, only to see the top of Lu Xingzhe's dark head. He simply squatted down to be level with the other's line of sight, seemingly a little intrigued by the statement. "Why?"

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Lu Xingzhe turned his head away, avoiding his gaze. "There aren't that many whys."

He was wearing Xi Nian's clothes, which were too big for him. His slender figure could barely fill them out. His collarbones were faintly visible, and his fair skin was covered in bruises. There was a scar on his leg where the scab had already fallen off.

Xi Nian placed his warm palm over his left knee and asked, "Is your injury all healed?"

Lu Xingzhe didn't understand why Xi Nian was always staring at his leg. He even liked to kiss it when they were in bed. The back of his ears flushed for a moment as he looked up at him, thinking, 'This guy can't have some special fetish, can he?' "It healed a long time ago."

Unexpectedly, Xi Nian raised an eyebrow slightly. "So you were lying about your leg hurting today, and tricked me into carrying you downstairs?"

Lu Xingzhe didn't have much of a sense of right and wrong, as no one had taught him in the orphanage when he was a child. Hearing this, his long, narrow phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, a smile appearing with a hint of smugness. "So what if I tricked you into carrying me?"

Xi Nian looked at him and said nothing.

Seeing this, Lu Xingzhe raised an eyebrow. "Big deal, I'll carry you next time."

Xi Nian thought he was being both childish and missing the point. The hand on his knee tightened slightly. "Don't lie to me next time."

Lu Xingzhe showed his understanding. After all, no normal person liked being lied to. He nodded. "Okay, I won't lie to you."

Seeing this, Xi Nian slowly released his leg. Then he got up, tidied the bed, and walked to the desk drawer to take something out. With his back to Lu Xingzhe, his expression was unclear as he said, "Just stay here tonight."

Lu Xingzhe was actually out of energy, feeling weak all over. He buried his face in the pillow, quietly watching Xi Nian's back, then gave a barely perceptible nod. "Mm."

He didn't try to think about the meaning behind those words. If Xi Nian couldn't say it, he wouldn't ask.

Xi Nian had a set of keys in his hand. He unhurriedly took one off the ring, then turned around and, under Lu Xingzhe's gaze, placed it on the bedside table. "The key to my place."

He said nothing, explained nothing. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was arranging a long-term booty call.

Hearing this, Lu Xingzhe poked his head out from under the covers, looking at him with an inscrutable expression, one that could even be described as shocked and uncertain. "For me?"

Xi Nian looked at him. "Is there anyone else here besides you?"

Lu Xingzhe: "...Oh."

He showed no reaction, simply rolling over, pulling the covers up, and going back to sleep.

Seeing this, Xi Nian couldn't help but feel suspicious. He knelt by the bed and leaned over inconspicuously to take a look, only to see Lu Xingzhe curled up in a ball under the covers, his eyes crinkled with a smile, like a little kitten that had stolen a fish.

Xi Nian was silent for a moment. He tried hard, so hard, to remember if Lu Xingzhe had ever smiled like this when they were together in his past life.

The answer seemed to be no, because Xi Nian had never done anything to make him happy.

Sensing the bed dip beside him, Lu Xingzhe quickly suppressed his smile and snapped out of his secret delight, only to see that Xi Nian had somehow lain down next to him. A familiar scent instantly enveloped him.

Lu Xingzhe's body instinctively stiffened, then relaxed again. Xi Nian quietly gazed at his slender back, remembering how he had ignored him after they finished last time, and reached out to pull him into his arms.

Damn it...

Lu Xingzhe's heart sped up. They had just finished their session; Xi Nian couldn't possibly be this energetic, could he? But then he heard the man ask softly in his ear, "Is it still uncomfortable this time?"

Lu Xingzhe paused at his words, then slowly shook his head.

No matter what, this time was better than the last. He didn't have to go home in the rain, covered in pain, nor did he have to haphazardly clean himself up. And Xi Nian... Xi Nian was behind him.

He could see him just by turning his head.

Xi Nian didn't speak, just slowly caressed Lu Xingzhe's shoulder with the pad of his finger, tracing over each of the ambiguous red marks. Lu Xingzhe noticed his movement and subconsciously made a comparison, only to find that Xi Nian's body was unbelievably clean, without a single mark on it.

The first signs of Lu Xingzhe's possessiveness could already be seen at this moment. His eyes darkened for an instant, and for some unknown reason, he silently turned over under the covers, wrapped his arms around Xi Nian's neck, and his crimson lips, carrying a hint of coolness, landed on his Adam's apple.

Xi Nian noticed his movement and lowered his eyes. "What are you doing?"

Lu Xingzhe didn't answer. The tip of his tongue slid lightly over the skin, bringing a wet, ticklish sensation. His thick, long eyelashes cast a shadow beneath his eyes, creating an unprovoked, seductive ambiguity.

Xi Nian's breathing hitched for a moment. He tried to push him away, but Lu Xingzhe coiled around his neck like a snake and couldn't be pushed off. Panting, he whispered with a smile, "Why are you pushing? It's not like you're losing out."

Sure enough, even though everything had changed, a rogue was still a rogue.

Xi Nian was about to say that this wasn't a matter of losing out or not, but Lu Xingzhe's kisses were already falling densely on his neck, sucking and kissing with an unfamiliar yet fervent passion. As their positions reversed, he somehow ended up sitting on top of him, face to face.

Xi Nian's chest heaved erratically. He could only suppress his chaotic breathing and reach out to hold Lu Xingzhe's pliant waist to keep him from falling off, asking with an unreadable tone, "Aren't you ashamed?"

Lu Xingzhe held his face, his fingertips digging in painfully. His wet lips brushed back and forth against his ear, his breath hot and lingering. "You fucking did it already, and now you're discussing this with me? Besides, you're not ashamed, so why should I be?"

Xi Nian lazily covered his eyelids with the back of his hand, resigning himself to letting Lu Xingzhe leave hickeys on his body. "I never realized you were such a rogue before."

His vision darkened. Before he could finish his sentence, he felt Lu Xingzhe's kissing suddenly stop. Then, a weight slowly settled on him, hot breath fanned across his neck, and a low, smiling voice sounded by his ear, "Shh, Lu Xingzhe is only a rogue to you..."

...

Xi Nian didn't want to admit it, but when he heard that sentence, his heart genuinely skipped a beat. The hand on Lu Xingzhe's waist couldn't help but tighten abruptly, causing the latter to let out a muffled grunt.

"Hey," Lu Xingzhe said playfully, "Let go, you're bruising me."

More than just bruising him, Xi Nian practically wanted to strangle him to death. His Adam's apple bobbed, his body tensing for a moment before he unpredictably flipped the other man and pinned him underneath, asking in a hoarse voice, "Are you looking to die?"

Reckless flirting could really get someone killed.

Because they had just flipped over, the blanket had fallen over them, plunging their vision into darkness. Xi Nian couldn't see Lu Xingzhe's expression; he only felt the other man gently hug him in the dark. His ink-black hair rested against his jaw, giving him an unexpectedly obedient look, as he said softly and seriously, "Then I'll only die by your hands, won't I?"

Xi Nian's heart instantly began to pound, like a drop of water in a hot wok, setting off a frantic boiling. He gripped Lu Xingzhe's palm tightly and kissed him fiercely in the dark, their lips and teeth bumping until they drew blood.

Lu Xingzhe didn't dodge or evade, just tilted his head back weakly, panting in the darkness, calling Xi Nian's name over and over until his voice grew hoarse.

"Xi Nian."

"Xi Nian."

Xi Nian...

Xi Nian didn't respond. For a moment, he wanted to devour him, bones and all. Stimulated, Lu Xingzhe's eyelashes had unknowingly become wet and clumped together, his voice trembling and breaking into disjointed sounds.

The sky gradually darkened, and the room was unknowingly shrouded in shadow. Outside the window, branches slanted across, leaves grew wildly in a lush green expanse. When the moon rose, the cicadas' chirping also ceased.

It was rare for Xi Nian to lose control of his emotions like this. He slowly calmed his breathing, then glanced at the person in his arms, casually grabbed a piece of clothing to throw on, and carried Lu Xingzhe into the bathroom.

The sound of trickling water echoed as the bathtub gradually filled. Lu Xingzhe was too tired to open his eyes, only feeling himself immersed in the warm water. He clung to Xi Nian's neck, refusing to let go, kissing him intermittently like a little animal.

Holding him in that position, Xi Nian helped him clean up.

Lu Xingzhe frowned and shifted, then lazily opened his eyes. Seeing it was Xi Nian, he asked in a hoarse voice, "Are you done being a rogue?"

It was unclear who had started being the rogue first.

Xi Nian quickly dried his body and then carried him out of the bathroom. As they passed the balcony, he said with an ambiguous tone, "If you keep spouting nonsense, I'll throw you off from here."

Lu Xingzhe raised his eyebrows and tactfully stopped provoking him. He obediently lay face down in the bed, revealing only the top of his dark head. The lingering red at the corners of his eyes had yet to fade, giving him a deceptively docile appearance.

Xi Nian took a quick combat shower and lay down on the bed, bringing a chill with him. He took out his phone from the bedside table for a look and found that Sun Ming had sent him a schedule, telling him to participate in the fourth season of Escape Room: Decode as a special guest after the Star Games finals.

Xi Nian thought back and was absolutely certain and positive that he hadn't signed a contract renewal. This opportunity, therefore, seemed to have come out of nowhere, and he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Seeing this, Lu Xingzhe glanced at his phone screen. "What's wrong?"

Xi Nian came back to his senses and didn't hide it from him, handing him the phone to look. "I'm planning to terminate my contract with Shanxing, but they said before that I had to sign a renewal contract before I could go on any variety shows. I didn't agree. This time, they've suddenly changed their minds and want me to be a special guest."

Lu Xingzhe seemed to know the inside story. "After Su Ge was shelved, Shanxing no longer has anyone who can take his place. The show's producers are unwilling to invite anyone with too little clout, and your popularity is high right now. It's very likely they specifically requested you, and Shanxing couldn't possibly refuse."

He then added, "Escape Room: Decode has always had stable ratings among variety reality shows. Participating won't do you any harm, and it won't affect your contract termination anyway."

Xi Nian glanced at him. "Aren't you going to ask why I want to terminate the contract?"

Lu Xingzhe propped his head up. "Shanxing isn't a great place anyway. They haven't successfully promoted many people in recent years. It's a good thing for you to terminate your contract early. Besides, I'm not that curious."

Xi Nian felt the last sentence should just be heard and not taken seriously. He stuffed his phone under the pillow and lay down. "You seem to know quite a lot."

Lu Xingzhe leaned closer to him, his breathing soft and slow. "What I know isn't limited to just this."

He seemed to be implying something. Upon hearing this, Xi Nian paused slightly. Just as he was about to speak, a familiar mechanical voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

The System coughed. ‘Reform well, turn over a new leaf, hold fast to your original intentions, and reject temptation.’