After lunch, there wasn’t much else going on. Yu Li flopped onto the sofa like he had no bones in his body, lazily scrolling through low-fat cooking shorts on his phone.

He looked pretty focused, but his eyes kept drifting over to the right—where Lu Qing was in the middle of doing bench presses.

The guy had been working out for a while now. Even though there was a bit of distance between them, Yu Li could still hear those low, slightly raspy breaths.

The sound made his ears tingle, and he reflexively raised a hand to rub at them.

If he didn’t know Lu Qing was just exercising, that breathy, sexy rasp… he’d seriously think the guy was—

…Well, the end of that sentence never quite formed, because a loud voice echoed from outside the villa.

“Xiao Li—I’m here!”

Pei Yu started yelling before he even stepped foot into the yard. Even from afar, his voice was loud enough that even Lu Qing, still mid-rep, heard it clearly.

Lu Qing paused mid-movement, turned his head toward the sofa—and saw Yu Li already springing up, slippers smacking the floor as he dashed out like a little rabbit.

Pei Yu had practically grown up in the Yu family’s old estate. So even though this was his first time visiting Yu Li’s new place, he still acted like he owned the place. “Nice area, good decor—Uncle Yu must’ve really put in some effort here.”

“It’s alright.” Yu Li glanced at the bag slung over Pei Yu’s shoulder, eyeing it suspiciously. “That bag looks like it’s got nothing in it. I don’t have any clothes for you, you know.”

“I know you’re a clean freak, I brought my own underwear.” Pei Yu rolled his eyes. “You’ve got such a big villa and didn’t even hire any housekeepers? Just you and that male mo—”

Before he could finish, he caught sight of the man standing at the doorway—sweaty, shirtless, muscles gleaming post-workout—and went absolutely speechless.

Mouth wide open, he stared at Lu Qing in stunned silence.

Lu Qing gave him a once-over, then looked to Yu Li.

It was only then Yu Li remembered—right, he’d forgotten to tell Lu Qing that Pei Yu was coming to stay.

He said, “Xiao Yu’s gonna crash here for a few days. I forgot to mention it to you.”

Hearing this, Lu Qing calmly picked up the tank top he’d tossed over his shoulder and slipped it on. “I’ll go get the guest room ready.”

“Hey—” Yu Li called out, stopping him just as he turned toward the stairs. “No need to prep anything. Xiao Yu’s sleeping with me tonight.”

Lu Qing froze mid-step, slowly turning his head to look at Pei Yu, who was still recovering from shock.

Pei Yu stiffened under his gaze. There wasn’t any visible emotion in Lu Qing’s expression, but for some reason, he felt like that stare was practically dripping with disapproval.

“…Maybe I’m imagining things,” Pei Yu muttered under his breath. But Lu Qing was still staring at him, so he quickly spoke up, “Uh, Mr. Bodyguard—I’m only staying for two days. No need to prep anything. I always used to sleep in Xiao Li’s bed when I came over before.”

Lu Qing: “……”

Yu Li noticed something was off, tilted his head curiously. “…What’s wrong?”

Lu Qing took a deep breath and shook his head. “Nothing. I’ll just go take a shower.”

With that, he turned and headed upstairs.

Pei Yu watched him disappear up the stairs before grabbing Yu Li and whispering, “What was that about?! Why wasn’t he wearing a shirt?! Was he like that before I got here too?”

As he said this, something clicked in his head. His eyes widened.

“Wait, I just remembered—he’s got huge pecs. Don’t tell me… you let him be shirtless because you wanted to look—”

Before he could finish, Yu Li smacked a hand over his mouth.

The little young master frowned and hissed, “No! I! Did! Not! He’s the one who said he likes working out shirtless! It’s got nothing to do with me!”

…Even though he did kind of want to look. But technically, all he did was agree to it when Lu Qing asked, which, if you think about it, means it had zero to do with him!

“Mmmpf! Mmmpf!!” Pei Yu flailed his arms until Yu Li finally let go.

As soon as he was free, he held up his hands in surrender. “I was just guessing! Guessing! Don’t look at me like that!”

Yu Li huffed and let it go. Pei Yu plopped down beside him, pulled out his phone, and said, “Anyway, forget that. Still a while until dinner—wanna play a round of Battle Royale?”

“Exams are finally over! We haven’t gamed together in forever.”

Yu Li thought about it for a moment, then nodded and logged in with Pei Yu.

It was Pei Yu who got him into the game. Yu Li liked it, but wasn’t very good. Plus, he was a bit of a scaredy cat—if Pei Yu was around, he dared to charge ahead. But playing alone gave him this weird sense of dread. Random shots from behind always spooked him, so eventually, he stopped playing solo altogether.

They queued up for duo mode, dropped into a small map, looted a bit, and immediately had to start shrinking with the zone. Pei Yu took the lead, dragging Yu Li to the top of a hill right in the middle of a chaotic shootout.

Yu Li, ever the noob, crouched behind a tree and didn’t dare move. Pei Yu hid behind a boulder ahead, sneakily flanking a team on the opposite hill. Even as he fired, he still called out, “Xiao Li, stop crouching like a bot! Be a man—fight!”

Obediently, Yu Li stood up, aimed down sights, and opened fire—spraying bullets that all missed. Not even a graze. He awkwardly dropped back down.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA—!” Pei Yu couldn’t stop laughing. “Nice aim! That rock’s on its last leg now.”

Yu Li: “…”

But karma’s a thing—Pei Yu had barely finished laughing before getting sniped clean off his feet. And before Yu Li could even throw a smoke to revive him, the enemy finished him off and turned him into a bright green loot box.

Pei Yu: “…”

Yu Li: “…”

When Lu Qing came downstairs, fresh from the shower, what he saw was the two of them sitting silently on the couch, blank-faced.

Gunfire still echoed in the game. The two remaining squads seemed to have pegged Yu Li as an easy target, and were raining bullets on the tree he was hiding behind like they cost nothing.

Clutching his phone, Yu Li looked helplessly at Pei Yu. “You died. What do I do now?”

Pei Yu scratched his head, leaned over to grab Yu Li’s phone—but before he could reach it, a hand appeared. Large, defined, and casually blocked him.

Pei Yu looked up to see Lu Qing, hair still slightly damp, gazing down at Yu Li. “Young Master, want me to play for you?”

Yu Li blinked. He wasn’t sure how good Lu Qing actually was, but somehow, under that intense gaze, he silently handed him the phone.

Lu Qing took it, walked around the sofa, nodded politely to Pei Yu with a “Excuse me,” and then—very unceremoniously—plopped himself right between the two of them. His tall, broad frame physically separated them like a human wall.

Pei Yu was stunned. Before he could even think about how weird that was, Lu Qing had already started playing.

And wow—he played like he looked. Brutal and efficient.

First, he peeked and wiped out a squad hiding on the right. Then spun around and took down the two enemies pushing aggressively from the opposite hill.

Yu Li hadn’t expected much when he gave him the phone. He figured Lu Qing couldn’t possibly be worse than him. But watching those fast, accurate, surgical movements—he raised his brows in surprise.

Not only could Lu Qing cook, but he was cracked at games too?

Just as he was thinking that, footsteps echoed from the lower ridge. Yu Li instinctively leaned in, pressing his head close to Lu Qing’s face.

“They’re coming!” he whispered nervously.

His breath tickled Lu Qing’s ear. The man’s forearm tensed, and—whether on purpose or not—he subtly tilted the screen away.

Yu Li, too focused on the minimap, didn’t notice at all. Instead, he leaned in even further, until their shoulders were practically flush against each other, pressed so tightly there wasn’t a sliver of space.

Body heat passed between them. And as if fueled by it, Lu Qing’s in-game performance got even more intense.

Pei Yu, still hugging his phone, stared at the screen, then at the two basically glued together beside him. His brain started short-circuiting.

Had he been shot in the head too hard earlier? Or did he really just see Lu Qing smile—like really smile—when Yu Li leaned in?

…

Mr. Bodyguard absolutely carried the game, winning the final circle and getting them a flawless victory.

He handed the phone back to Yu Li, who was glowing with excitement, face slightly flushed. “You’re so good at this! Since you’re free anyway, why don’t you play with us more?”

Lu Qing couldn’t handle that look. His throat itched under the heat of Yu Li’s gaze, a shiver crawling over his skin.

A little flustered, he turned his head away and logged into his own long-forgotten account.

And so, from that game onward, their team was filled with exchanges like this:

“Ah! There’s someone here!”

“Got him. Don’t worry.”

“I’m down…”

“Young Master Pei, cover me. I’ll revive him.”

“Young Master, there’s two bots here.”

“Where? I’m on my way!”

With Lu Qing in the squad, they basically won every match. And Yu Li’s experience skyrocketed—especially since Lu Qing made zero effort to hide the way he was spoiling him.

After the final match, Lu Qing got up to cook dinner.

Now that the human wall was gone, Pei Yu finally squeezed back to Yu Li’s side. He glanced toward the kitchen—where Lu Qing was tying on an apron—and whispered, “Hey, don’t you think he was… a little too nice to you during that game?”

“Even bots were giving you Level 3 gear,” he said, “and he ran around with a Level 1 helmet tanking for you. Every kill, he let you get the finishing shot. He’s playing support like he’s your boyfriend, not a bodyguard.”

Yu Li gave him a weird look. “He is my bodyguard. I’m his boss. I pay him. Isn’t it normal for him to treat me well?”

Pei Yu: “I mean… yeah, technically…”

Yu Li: “So?”

Pei Yu: “…So it’s just, the way he acted—it didn’t feel like he saw you as a boss.”

Yu Li: “Then what?”

Pei Yu: “…”

Like he saw you as a wife.