Chapter 53

Lin Si stood inside the door, staring blankly at Lu Wei, as if he had never heard a confession from him before, or perhaps as if he had never heard Lu Wei say so much at once.

They looked at each other in silence, even the air between them was heavy with stillness.

Lu Wei took a step back, increasing the distance between them.

“Have you eaten?”

The opportunity to speak with Lu Wei properly was fleeting. Lin Si hurriedly grabbed his wrist. “I’m sorry.”

The expected response fell between them. Lu Wei lowered his gaze. “I know.”

Before meeting him today, he already knew Lin Si wouldn’t accept him.

Even though over the years, Lu Shaoming had treated Lin Si well and Lin Si had stayed with Shengshi Entertainment, it was unlikely that he had ever truly forgotten what had happened back then. He had signed an ironclad contract with Shengshi—one he couldn’t terminate before its expiration. They weren’t willing to pay an exorbitant penalty for his early release, and since Shengshi provided decent resources, he had simply waited for the contract to end this year.

“I don’t mean… what I meant is—” Lin Si clutched his wrist, his palm pressing against the back of Lu Wei’s hand, as if struggling to find the right words. He hesitated twice before finally speaking, “It’s not that I don’t like you. I went too far with my words that day.”

Before the light in Lu Wei’s eyes could brighten, Lin Si quickly added, “But can you give me some time? I’m really confused right now, and I’m about to leave for the film set. I’m scared that if I dwell on this too much, the director will fire me.”

There were so many things Lin Si wanted to say that he could only blurt them out as they came to mind, completely disorganized. “You used to look down on me… I don’t know what you think of me, but you seem okay with Omegas. You’ve even been with an Omega before. You drink milk regularly, so you probably don’t find my pheromone scent too repulsive. Or do you really think, like Liao Ji joked, that I was your father’s lover?”

Before Lu Wei could respond, Lin Si rushed on, rubbing his fingertips together anxiously. “I wasn’t. A long time ago… I don’t remember the exact time, maybe half a year after my gland surgery failed, maybe seven or eight months. Old Lu always called me to his office. I stabbed him with a small knife, and after that, he stopped bothering me… Later, when I became famous, he was afraid other management companies would poach me, so he started treating me well.”

Lin Si skipped over the two months he had been blacklisted by Shengshi Entertainment—those months without work, collaborations, or income, when even Liao Ji had been reassigned to assist other artists. Fortunately, an old song of his was unexpectedly bought by a short-video platform and went viral again. Fans then bombarded Shengshi Entertainment’s official accounts, and only then did the company allow him to resume his career.

Lu Wei had never known about this. His encounters with Lin Si in their youth had been brief, and afterward, he had deliberately avoided him, severing all sources of news about him. It was difficult for him to learn the full story.

When he realized that Lu Shaoming had tried to take advantage of Lin Si, a sharp, searing pain twisted in his chest, turning into a burning rage behind his red bloodshot eyes. He forced himself to relax his tense muscles, trying his best not to frighten Lin Si.

Confirming that Lin Si had nothing more to say, Lu Wei gritted his teeth and said, “I never doubted you.”

His voice was too harsh, and Lin Si was momentarily stunned.

Lu Wei exhaled, taking a long moment to calm himself. He raised his other hand slightly, intending to pat Lin Si’s head, but found it inappropriate and lowered it instead. “With the hatred you have for him, you would never agree to his demands.”

Lin Si belatedly tilted his head, still not used to Lu Wei leaning down to speak so close to him. He withdrew his hand from Lu Wei’s wrist, touched his pocket, and stood still.

“Have you eaten?” Lu Wei asked again.

Lin Si responded with a soft “Mm,” then quickly realized and corrected himself, “No, I haven’t.”

“What do you want to eat?” Lu Wei asked.

After such a long conversation with Lu Wei, Lin Si felt emotionally drained and wasn’t in the mood to think about food. He shook his head lightly.

Lu Wei took out his phone and scrolled through the options. “Hunan cuisine?”

“Aren’t you bad with spicy food?” Lin Si asked, surprised.

“I can order two non-spicy dishes for myself,” Lu Wei replied.

Lin Si glanced toward the kitchen. “I’ll cook. What do you want to eat? Xijiang can deliver fresh ingredients in about ten minutes.”

Lu Wei handed him the phone. “You choose.”

The phone still carried Lu Wei’s warmth, and Lin Si held it in his palm, feeling as if it was burning hot.

“Just now, when you said you didn’t dislike me… did you mean you like me?” Lu Wei suddenly asked.

Lin Si’s fingers paused as he was adding items to the cart. After a moment, he quietly responded, “Mm.” But fearing that Lu Wei would immediately push for a relationship, he quickly added, “I’m going into filming tomorrow…”

“Will you be staying on set the whole time?” Lu Wei asked.

Lin Si finalized the order and returned the phone to him, hesitating. “The set is in Beicheng. We’ll be filming at another location next month.”

“Will you be coming back often?”

“It’ll be difficult. I also want to stay on set more. Director Ye already made an exception by casting me, so if I don’t give my all, I’m really afraid he might replace me midway.”

They had been standing in the hallway for too long, so they moved to the living room. Lin Si finally got the chance to turn on the TV to lighten the mood.

After pouring out their hearts, they tacitly agreed not to continue the heavy conversation. Sitting in silence, they watched a financial news segment until Lu Wei asked, “Do you want to watch a drama?”

“Huh?”

“You’re about to start filming,” Lu Wei said, navigating to the drama section. “Which one do you like?”

Lin Si scanned the options. “Let’s watch a recent hit. There’s a period drama that went viral… Ah, this one—A Glimpse of the Bright Moon.”

When the page loaded, Lu Wei tapped his finger on the screen. “Lu Nan is in this?”

“You know Lu Nan?” Lin Si asked. “He plays a supporting role, and Qin Xiao is in it too. The leads—an Alpha and an Omega—are both former Best Actor and Best Actress winners. The cast is really strong. I think Lu Nan’s character is really likable, even though he doesn’t make it to the end.”

Lu Wei hummed in acknowledgment. “Do you have a favorite actor?”

“I didn’t watch many dramas before. Sometimes, when I wrote theme songs, I would check them out,” Lin Si explained. “I only started binge-watching dramas and films after deciding to act, so I wouldn’t say I have a favorite actor. But among the ones I’ve met, I think Xiang Yang and Lu Nan are good. And Song-ge too—Lin Zisong from Director Ye’s team.”

Lu Wei nodded and started the first episode. As soon as the opening credits rolled, Lin Si eagerly introduced the lead actors and their past works.

“You have a great memory,” Lu Wei suddenly remarked.

Lin Si, a little proud, curled his lips. “Mm, I can remember most things after seeing them once.”

Lu Wei rarely praised people, so he simply added, “That’s impressive.”

Just as they finished watching the opening, the doorbell rang with the distinct sound of a delivery notification. Lin Si quickly ran out to grab the groceries, catching sight of a small delivery robot turning the corner.

When he re-entered, he casually mentioned, “I noticed the residential complex got new delivery robots. Looks like they replaced the property management staff too.”

“There was an issue with leaked surveillance footage. After investigating, they found a problem in the information department. Further digging led to the security team, so they replaced a batch of people,” Lu Wei added in his usual composed tone. “The ones involved were handed over to the authorities—some had to pay fines, others were detained.”

Lin Si thought of the night Lu Wei had stayed up with him and felt a soft ache in his chest. “You watch TV for a bit. I’ll cook.”

Having his own space again, Lin Si let out a quiet sigh. He still couldn’t act naturally around Lu Wei under the same roof.

Aside from feeling the natural pressure of an Alpha’s presence, he was also struggling to reconcile Lu Wei with Y. He kept wavering between “I can treat him the same way I did with Y” and “I can’t bring myself to show any affection toward Lu Wei.”

Bubble, the dog, crouched at the kitchen doorway, sniffing the air. After catching Lu Wei’s scent, it followed him inside.

“What are you cooking?” Lu Wei asked.

Lin Si’s hand slipped while cutting a potato, turning a perfectly square cube into a trapezoid.

“I just bought coconut milk and curry. I’m making curry chicken,” Lin Si said. “I’ll add some potatoes and carrots.”

Lu Wei stood beside him. “What can I do to help?”

After witnessing Lu Wei’s disaster of an attempt at cooking steak, Lin Si wasn’t too confident in his kitchen skills. But since he seemed determined to help, Lin Si relented and pointed, “Wash the carrots and broccoli.”

Lu Wei began rolling up his shirt sleeves. Lin Si glanced at him and reminded, “Why don’t you change your clothes? They might get dirty.”

“Mm.”

After Lu Wei left, Lin Si turned back and watched him through the glass window.

He hadn’t changed his clothes at all, probably knowing he was being discharged and hurried back from the company.

Saying he didn’t like Lu Wei was a lie. When he saw Lu Wei in front of his hospital bed, all he could remember was how badly Lu Wei had treated him. He said he didn’t like him, that Lu Wei wasn’t Y, but the moment Lu Wei left, he couldn’t stop feeling sad. Lying in the hospital for those two days, he went through the chat records in the Bubble app from start to finish, realizing that he simply couldn’t stop talking to Y.

Not liking Lu Wei was a lie.

Liking him was the truth.

Lin Si knew it.

Lin Si had always been single-minded when it came to love. He believed that liking someone simply meant liking them, and if anyone asked, he would admit it without hesitation. To him, being in a relationship should be just like that—filled with affection and intimacy.

He still wanted to be with Lu Wei. Even though Lu Shaoming and an unfriendly past stood between them, he was willing to process it himself, even if it took some time.

When he and Lu Wei could be together again, he wanted them to be just like before.

Able to hold each other, gently saying, “I miss you,” rather than awkwardly and forcefully being pushed together as they were now.

After he finished cutting the potato cubes, Lu Wei happened to come back. Without any carrots, Lin Si started cutting the chicken first, occasionally glancing at Lu Wei.

Slender fingers curled around the carrot, washing it up and down under the water stream, repeating the motion four or five times at a steady pace.

Lin Si was reminded of a similar scene in a short video.

Noticing Lin Si staring, Lu Wei turned his head and asked, “What?”

“Nothing, just reminded me of something. It felt kind of similar.” Lin Si lowered his head and continued cutting the chicken breast. After a moment, he muttered, “Do you do this for Omegas too? The ones from before.” (T/n: Huh🙄…🫣🫢🤭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣)

Lu Wei’s hands, scrubbing the carrot, froze. As if he hadn’t heard clearly, he asked, “What?”

“Like Deng Tian and the others, did you—” Lin Si reached out, mimicking Lu Wei’s washing motions on the carrot, moving his hand up and down. “Do this with them too?” (T/n: I really didn’t understand what he was talking about but Si cub…baby…really🙄🤣🤣🤣🤣)

After demonstrating, he continued cutting the chicken breast. He was generally an open-minded person, but this was the first time he had felt jealous. Not knowing how to suppress the sour feeling in his heart, he just blurted out the question.

If Lu Wei said yes, Lin Si knew he’d feel a little heartache… maybe more than a little.

If Lu Wei said no, Lin Si would want to ask how he acted with Omegas in bed, and then he’d feel even worse.

“I still don’t know when we’ll be able to date properly… but that day should come,” Lin Si said. “You’ve had a past as a playboy, and I can’t do anything about that.” His voice grew softer, tinged with sadness. “But I at least need to know how much of a playboy you were. If it was too much, I’d be really upset.”

Lu Wei gripped the carrot with both hands and snapped it in half. (T/n:🤣 Hahahahha)

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Author’s note:
Lu Wei: Lu Nan is going to suffer a second sneak attack tonight.
Lu Nan: ??? I just watched a show with your wife, I didn’t make him doubt you! How is this my fault again?

Brought my cat home and found out it was a bit sick, so I had to take it to the vet. That’s why I missed yesterday’s update QAQ. I’ll write more in the coming days!

T/n: Really the last bit of this chapter really threw me out of the window….it was so sudden 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 our smart Si cub😏🤣🤣🤣🤣. Stay tuned 😜. If you like what I am doing so far, you can support me by buying me a Ko-Fi or go to my paypal page. Happy Reading 🥳😁