A long time ago, Huo Youqing had thought that Dai Yixin’s eyes were like those of a wild animal, both in color and in the feeling they gave.
The eyes of a beast can appear pitiful when weak, yet also send chills down one’s spine.
At that moment, those beast-like eyes were fixed on him, as if they had become tangible hands or something else, caressing every inch of Huo Youqing’s face.
Under the motion-sensor light, a withered yellow butterfly suddenly spread its wings, magnificent and resplendent. Without uttering a word, it seemed as though Dai Yixin had simply come to take a deep look at Huo Youqing.
Dai Yixin withdrew his hand, red from being caught in the door.
Huo Youqing, expressionless, closed the door completely.
After closing the door, he began preparing dinner. Over the past six months, he had learned to make some simple dishes. The taste wasn’t anything special, but it was at least edible.
He hadn’t engaged in any self-destructive behavior due to his uncle and aunt’s passing. He was simply trying to grow up on his own.
He had deliberately rented a small apartment, ensuring he wouldn’t have any expectations of seeing someone dear emerge from an empty room. He had applied for a leave of absence from school, initially planning to drop out entirely. However, he remembered something his uncle said on his first day after transferring to study business.
That day, his uncle and aunt had taken him to school together. On the way, his uncle said, “Studying business is good. You can help out with the company later.”
His aunt, smiling gently, reached out to smooth his hair. “When the time comes, Youyou, make sure to watch over your uncle. Don’t let him get so absorbed in work that he forgets to eat. And of course, Youyou, you need to eat well too and grow up quickly.”
Though he was already an adult at that time, his uncle and aunt still treated him like a child.
Before cooking, Huo Youqing turned on the TV. By the time he finished, a movie was already halfway through. He wasn’t interested in the film—he just wanted some background noise.
Listening to the sounds of the TV, he held his chopsticks and ate. After just two bites, his hands began trembling.
His emotions weren’t as calm as he tried to appear. When he saw Dai Yixin, he felt both annoyed by his persistent presence and filled with a sense of exhaustion. There was hatred too—hatred for Dai Yixin’s forceful affection, hatred for Dai Yuan, hatred for the Dai family. But beneath most of that hatred, there was something else.
Fear.
Huo Youqing raised his head. The movie on TV was a crime thriller, with the female lead being imprisoned by a criminal for over a decade. One day, she finally escaped. She found her parents and told them she hadn’t died.
Since he had missed part of the plot, Huo Youqing didn’t know what had happened. The scene now showed surveillance footage.
In the footage, the female lead and the criminal were shopping at a mall together. For at least several minutes, the female lead had been alone while the criminal went to the restroom. People were bustling around her. She could have called for help at any time.
But she didn’t. She sat quietly on a bench, waiting for the criminal to return, then left with him.
He was a normal person, and Dai Yixin was a madman.
Anyone would fear a madman.
Huo Youqing stopped eating and silently watched the rest of the movie.
In the end, the female lead fought back and killed the criminal. She escaped from the house where she had been imprisoned for over a decade and stood in the empty street, breathing in the fresh air.
***
The next day.
After getting ready to go out, Huo Youqing saw Dai Yixin standing outside his door again. Dai Yixin was still wearing the same black hoodie and jeans from the previous day, all in black.
Huo Youqing only gave him a glance before averting his eyes. He had work to do at the theater that morning. He had found an internship as an assistant at a local theater. The pay wasn’t great, but he was satisfied with the job.
He could stand on the side of the stage or sit in the audience and watch the rehearsals for the musical. In the past, whenever he attended performances, they had always seemed flawless. Now, he could witness the imperfections and the ongoing adjustments of the show.
It was a new experience.
After work, on his way to the supermarket, he saw the same familiar figure.
Dai Yixin had followed him—from home to the theater, and now from the theater to the supermarket, always maintaining a five-meter distance.
While selecting ingredients, Huo Youqing caught a glimpse of Dai Yixin through the reflection in the stainless steel shelves. Perhaps it wasn’t a direct look, but in that moment, he felt as though their eyes had met.
He put down the ingredients in his hand and walked away with his shopping cart.
For five days straight, even his colleagues at the theater noticed the shadow trailing behind him. Because Dai Yixin kept his face mostly hidden beneath a hat, and his entire demeanor was gloomy and unapproachable, his colleagues naturally assumed he was some kind of criminal, possibly targeting one of the young, attractive guys at the theater.
“Should we call the police? Hasn’t that guy been following you for days?” a colleague asked, both concerned and on high alert.
Involuntarily, Huo Youqing glanced over in Dai Yixin’s direction. Dai Yixin was sitting in the far-left seat in the middle row, seemingly looking in their direction. The theater didn’t allow outsiders in during rehearsals, yet Dai Yixin had still managed to get in.
“No need,” Huo Youqing replied, pulling his gaze away.
The colleague remained worried. “Are you sure? Do you know him?”
Huo Youqing didn’t want to answer, but since his colleague’s concern was genuine, he could only offer a gentle smile. “I just remembered I have a box of props that still needs to be brought in. I’ll go get it now.”
He knew Dai Yixin was watching him, but he didn’t realize that, from Dai Yixin’s perspective, his conversation with the colleague seemed far too intimate.
Sitting in the chair, Dai Yixin’s slender fingers clenched into fists. He stared at the two of them, standing “so close,” and his mind filled with countless thoughts. Those thoughts swarmed through his brain, like a stick pounding against his skull. The nerves buried deep in his flesh were screaming in pain.
This can’t happen.
This isn’t allowed.
He kept warning himself over and over.
Youyou will be angry.
But those warnings lost their power when he saw Huo Youqing and that colleague heading to dinner together, smiling and chatting as they entered a restaurant.
Huo Youqing had never smiled at him like that, but now he was freely offering that smile to someone else.
Dai Yixin almost pressed his face against the glass, his cold amber eyes staring icily at Huo Youqing’s colleague. His behavior quickly frightened the guests sitting by the window, prompting the restaurant staff to intervene. However, Dai Yixin soon moved to a seat diagonally across from Huo Youqing.
He ordered a few items casually, even though his stomach had been burning with hunger for some time. But he didn’t want to waste time eating. Nothing was more important than keeping an eye on Huo Youqing.
***
It didn’t take long for the colleague to notice the “criminal” sitting diagonally across from them. He took a deep breath, leaned closer to Huo Youqing, and whispered, “That guy followed us here.”
This time, Huo Youqing didn’t glance over. Instead, he apologized softly to his colleague, “Am I disturbing your meal?”
The colleague waved it off. “No, I’m just worried you’re uncomfortable. He…” The colleague shot another glance at the person across the way. Now that they were outside the theater, he got a better look at the “criminal.” Despite the hat, the features exposed were strikingly handsome, and the man was tall and lean. “Is he your admirer?”
“No.” Huo Youqing’s expression turned cold, but out of politeness to his colleague, he maintained composure and changed the subject. “Let’s keep eating. The food won’t taste good once it’s cold.”
“Right, right! Youqing, try this—it’s really good.” The colleague generously offered a dessert he had already tasted to Huo Youqing. To him, this was normal; he and his friends often shared food, just as men might share a cigarette.
But before the dessert could be passed over, a figure suddenly rushed out and snatched it away.
The colleague stared in shock at the “criminal” standing beside their table, holding the dessert he had tasted.
In that instant, the colleague genuinely believed he might be killed by this “criminal,” because he saw the emotions in his eyes—emotions that viewed him as an intruder, as if he were already dead. A fierce and uncontrollable rage, combined with jealousy, surged from within.
It was Huo Youqing who broke the tense situation. Remaining composed—perhaps more accurately, indifferent—he said coldly, “Please leave.”
The colleague wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but the person who had seemed ready to kill him just moments earlier now appeared as if he were about to cry.
No, it wasn’t a mistake. He saw tears rolling down that pale, beautiful face, as though the man had just been sentenced to death.
Yet, all that had been said were a few simple words.
“Please—leave—now.”
They weren’t particularly harsh, were they?
***
When Huo Youqing got home, he suddenly realized he had forgotten to buy batteries for the air conditioner. Sighing, he put on his jacket and headed back out. There was still someone outside, but he treated the person as if they were invisible and walked straight to the elevator.
The elevator doors opened, and he stepped inside.
The shadow followed him in.
While watching the numbers change, Huo Youqing suddenly heard a voice.
“I’m sorry,” the shadow rasped.
Huo Youqing didn’t respond. When the elevator doors opened again, he walked straight to the 24-hour convenience store outside his apartment complex.
When he emerged from the store, the shadow was gone.
Without much reaction, Huo Youqing began walking home, but as he passed by an alley, he heard the sound of fists and feet hitting flesh.
He stopped, glancing at a group of people huddled together. Through the gaps between their legs, he could vaguely see someone curled up on the ground.
It was the shadow.
Initially, he thought they were just local thugs and was about to call the police when he overheard someone say, “Young master, we didn’t have a choice. You refused to come back. Mr. Dai insisted that we bring you back, no matter what. Oh, and Mr. Dai said that if you resist or fight back, you’ll be locked up for at least a month. You wouldn’t want to be stuck in a pitch-black room for a month, right? You’ve experienced that before, haven’t you?”
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