Yuan Xi was watching a horror movie. The plot was a bit ridiculous, but he had to admit—the background music really added to the atmosphere.

Engrossed in the suspenseful buildup, he clutched his fruit platter tightly, completely unaware that Fu Yunzou had already crept up behind him.

Fu Yunzou glanced at the screen, then at Yuan Xi, and a mischievous idea popped into his head. He suddenly let out a loud, “Ahhh!”

“Ahhh—!”

Yuan Xi yelped in fright, nearly flinging his fruit platter across the room. Instead, he shrank into the couch, grabbing the large cushion behind him as a makeshift shield.

Fu Yunzou chuckled at Yuan Xi’s reaction, unable to hold back his laughter.

Hearing the laughter, Yuan Xi finally realized the scream had come from behind him. He turned around cautiously, and the moment he saw Fu Yunzou’s familiar face, he dropped the cushion.

Trying his best to maintain a composed expression, he stubbornly pretended he hadn’t been scared at all. No way was he admitting it. That terrified person just now? Definitely not him.

“So scared?” Fu Yunzou smirked as he circled around the couch, plucked the tiny fork from Yuan Xi’s hand, and casually speared a piece of fruit before popping it into his mouth.

“N-no. It was just… the music…”

Yuan Xi refused to admit he was scared and stubbornly tried to come up with an excuse. But before he could say anything else, his gaze landed on the small fork in Fu Yunzou’s hand.

He swallowed hard. That was the fork he had just used!

“The shoot’s done?” Fu Yunzou asked with a casual smile, ignoring Yuan Xi’s weak attempt at saving face. He handed the fork back as if he hadn’t even noticed it had already been in Yuan Xi’s mouth.

“Uh… yeah, it’s done.”

All traces of fear vanished in an instant. Yuan Xi’s entire focus was now on that fork.

He had used it. Now his male god was giving it back to him. If he ate with it again… would that count as an indirect kiss?!

The tips of his ears turned bright red. He tried to keep his expression neutral, but inside, his heart was pounding like crazy.

Fu Yunzou leaned back on the couch, his gaze flickering to Yuan Xi’s flushed ears. A faint smile crossed his lips.

“Come on, let’s eat.”

At the dining table, all the dishes were already laid out, patiently waiting for their diners.

The food Aunt Zhang made was far better than Yuan Xi’s own cooking. He hadn’t thought much of it at first, but the moment he sat down and caught a whiff of the delicious aroma, his stomach let out an impatient grumble.

Hurriedly, he got up to serve himself a bowl of rice and soup.

After a few bites, a thought suddenly struck him. Remembering the dorm situation, he quickly swallowed his food and fixed his gaze on Fu Yunzou, eyes full of anticipation.

“Male god, all the company’s trainees seem to have dorms. Shouldn’t artists like me have one too?”

Fu Yunzou took a sip of his soup. Hearing Yuan Xi’s question, he looked up in confusion. “There are dorms, yeah. But why are you asking? You’re not comfortable living here?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Yuan Xi frowned, his entire face scrunching up. He had no idea how to explain that Fu Yushen was trying to kick him out.

Fu Yunzou set down his chopsticks and studied Yuan Xi’s expression for a full minute.

Yuan Xi was terrible at hiding things. One look, and Fu Yunzou knew there was more to the story. His voice dropped slightly. “Tell me the truth.”

“Emmm…”

Yuan Xi bit his chopsticks, staring down at the rice in his bowl. In a voice barely louder than a whisper, he muttered, “Erm… Second Young Master came back today and said he wants to kick me out. So, I figured if the company has dorms, I could save on rent.”

Fu Yunzou raised an eyebrow, his tone turning noticeably colder. “Fu Yushen was here?”

“Yeah, he was still around when I got back at about two in the afternoon.” Yuan Xi nodded, then casually reminded him, “Hey, he’s the second young master of the Fu family. You shouldn’t just call him by name like that.”

Fu Yunzou: …I am the eldest young master.

Fu Yunzou took a deep breath and asked in a steady voice, “Do you know why he came back?”

Yuan Xi shook his head, scooped up a bite of carrots, and muttered with his head down, “No idea. I just went straight to my room when I got back. Then he knocked on my door and told me he was kicking me out.”

Fu Yunzou let out a cold chuckle, glanced at Yuan Xi, and murmured, “Hah, getting bold, huh? Looks like he hasn’t been busy enough lately. Maybe he needs more training.”

Yuan Xi, focused on his carrots, vaguely heard Fu Yunzou mumbling something. He looked up in confusion. “Huh? What did you say, male god?”

Fu Yunzou calmly added more food to Yuan Xi’s plate. “Nothing. Eat.”

Suspicious, Yuan Xi gave him a skeptical look. But Fu Yunzou’s expression was completely composed, as if he had never spoken at all.

Convinced he must have imagined it, Yuan Xi lowered his head and continued eating.

As they were finishing up, Fu Yunzou suddenly spoke. “Don’t worry about the housing situation. Fu Yushen was just running his mouth—he won’t actually kick you out.”

“Huh? How do you know that?” Yuan Xi scratched his head, feeling a bit uneasy at how confident Fu Yunzou sounded.

Wait… could it be? Was there some kind of unspeakable relationship between his male god and the male lead? Otherwise, why was he so sure he wouldn’t get thrown out?

Fu Yunzou didn’t explain. Instead, he reached over and ruffled Yuan Xi’s hair. “Wanna work out together? There’s plenty of equipment in the gym upstairs.”

“No, no, no! I’ll do the dishes!”

The mere mention of working out had Yuan Xi surrendering instantly.

Exercise? No thanks—that was practically torture!

Meanwhile, completely unaware that his return to the main house had already been exposed, Fu Yushen took advantage of his rare free time to meet up with some friends for a night of drinking.

After a night of fun, Fu Yushen was still deep in sleep when his phone suddenly rang, rudely yanking him out of his dreams.

Annoyance flared at first, but the moment he saw the caller ID, all resentment vanished instantly.

His mind immediately started racing—had he done anything wrong lately? A quick review of his recent actions reassured him that he had nothing to feel guilty about. Only then did he calmly answer the call.

“Good morning, big bro! What can I do for you?”

“Send me your work progress. You’re coming in to work here again today.” Fu Yunzou didn’t give him a chance to react. As soon as he finished speaking, he hung up.

Fu Yushen stared blankly at his phone before letting out a dramatic wail.

“What did I do to deserve this?! Has Big Bro been traumatized recently or something?! Why is he suddenly so obsessed with making me work?! My vacation! My free time!”

With a miserable expression, Fu Yushen dragged himself out of bed, completely unaware that his own careless words had doomed him to a month of absolute hell.

After his dramatic outburst, he had no choice but to grab his files and head to headquarters.

When it came to his big brother, resistance was not an option.

Upon reviewing Fu Yushen’s sluggish work progress, Fu Yunzou made a swift decision—his brother wasn’t going anywhere.

Looking at Fu Yushen’s utterly defeated face, Fu Yunzou remained stone-faced. “You’re an adult now. It’s time you started shouldering some family responsibilities. Also, for the sake of your health, you’ll be running three kilometers every night. Personally supervised by me.”

Fu Yushen: …Can I just die instead?

As if drowning in paperwork every day wasn’t torturous enough, now he had to suffer physically too?!

Ignoring his brother’s look of pure agony, Fu Yunzou mercilessly ordered his subordinates to drag him away.

Once everyone had left, Fu Yunzou finally glanced toward the door.

That should keep him too busy to bother Yuan Xi anymore.

Daring to treat his future sister-in-law like that? Clearly, he was overdue for some discipline.

Meanwhile, Fu Yushen sat lifelessly in the office that had been oh-so-thoughtfully prepared for him. He stared blankly at the stack of documents in front of him, looking as if his soul had left his body.

Something nagged at the back of his mind—he was forgetting something… but what?

After a moment of fruitless thinking, he gave up, sighed, and forced himself to focus on the files.

If he didn’t finish before the end of the day, he’d have to drag all this paperwork to his big brother’s office and work under his watchful eye. And that was a fate worse than death.

At a romantic restaurant, Qi Yunrou sat waiting. Three hours passed, yet Fu Yushen never showed up.

Her expression darkened as she noticed the curious glances from the waitstaff and surrounding diners.

Frustrated, she pulled out her phone and dialed his number.

The number you have dialed is currently unavailable.

The cold automated response sent her face into a deep frown.

Clutching her purse, she fled the restaurant under the pitying gazes of the onlookers.

After finally finishing his work, Fu Yushen—who had been forcibly detained in the office—suddenly sneezed. He blinked in confusion at the shadow looming behind the desk.

The moment he heard Fu Yunzou’s cold command—“You’re staying. Run three kilometers tonight.”—his mind completely short-circuited.

Wait… so that wasn’t just a threat? He actually meant it?!

Under Fu Yunzou’s watchful eye, Fu Yushen had no choice but to complete the full three-kilometer run. By the end, he collapsed onto the grass, panting like a half-dead dog.

Only then did Fu Yunzou, without a shred of hesitation or sympathy, turn around and walk away.

Fu Yunzou didn’t spare a single thought for the mental devastation he had just inflicted on his collapsed younger brother.

Fu Yushen: I strongly suspect my big bro has lost his mind. I have evidence. But I do not dare to speak.

Completely drained, Fu Yushen lay sprawled on the grass, staring blankly at the sky. After finally catching his breath, a horrifying realization hit him—Wait… didn’t I have dinner plans with my girlfriend?!

He forced his aching body to sit up and fumbled for his phone. The moment he saw the flood of missed calls and the latest unread message, his vision went dark.

Heaven has abandoned me…

Staring at the dozen-plus missed calls, Fu Yushen fell into deep contemplation.

Why hadn’t he heard his phone? Why had his big brother suddenly taken such a keen interest in his life? Why had his luck taken such a drastic nosedive?

And most importantly… Does my girlfriend still want to keep me?

Meanwhile, by the time Fu Yunzou returned home—later than usual due to supervising his brother’s suffering—he was greeted by an unexpected sight.

A familiar figure was in the living room, guiding Yuan Xi through a yoga session.

Having experienced the agony of muscle strain before, Yuan Xi followed Shen Xiyun’s instructions with extreme caution. Watching his male god’s mother bend and stretch with such effortless flexibility, he couldn’t help but wipe his sweaty palms on his thighs.

Legs… Although I feel bad for you, this is my male god’s mother, so I’ll just have to bear with it.

Under the warm and loving gaze of his idol’s mother, Yuan Xi did his best to stretch his body.

When Fu Yunzou arrived home, he couldn’t help but sigh upon seeing the two carpets set out in the living room, with both people stretching their bodies.

“Mom, Xiao Xi pulled a muscle earlier. Be careful,” Fu Yunzou reminded, rubbing his temples.

Shen Xiyun waved her hand dismissively, looking unimpressed. “I know, I know. Xiao Xi’s body is more flexible than yours. As long as he’s steady, he won’t strain anything.”

Fu Yunzou: …Is it really something to be proud of that a guy is so flexible?

His gaze shifted to Yuan Xi’s legs as he did a split. His expression deepened.

Flexible… actually doesn’t seem too bad.

As Yuan Xi followed Shen Xiyun’s instructions, he suddenly felt an eerie sensation creeping up his spine. He couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably.

Since his back was to Fu Yunzou, his round little… backside was facing him.

Watching those tiny legs and the movements of that little behind, Fu Yunzou’s gaze darkened, almost as if it were being painted in deep ink.

=^_^=