Chapter 37: Someone else’s man
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Xu Yibai had trapped himself at home for a whole week, fully aware that he was the one who needed to remain calm.
He knew very well that Shen Yao had cheated on him while being completely sober. The scene of Guan Shu bringing Shen Yao back was still vivid in his mind. Shen Yao himself had lifted his shirt, calmly showing the bruises on his waist.
Cheating was an unforgivable act in a relationship, yet Xu Yibai still hadn’t mentioned breaking up.
He didn’t smoke or drink excessively. Every day, he sat quietly in a room with no lights, pulling the curtains shut, and repeatedly played the piano.
When his eyes welled up with tears, Xu Yibai would stop and slowly cover his eyes with his hands.
In the transition between light and darkness in the room, Xu Yibai seemed like a lonely silhouette. With the passage of time, he thought his inner turmoil should have subsided, that he would be able to control his emotions and have a genuine face-to-face conversation with Shen Yao.
But as he continuously failed to reach Shen Yao through phone calls, Xu Yibai realized that he was deceiving himself. He couldn’t remain calm at all.
His every move was dictated by Shen Yao’s reactions. He had never known that emotions could become so amplified.
Xu Yibai rushed out and hailed a taxi to Shen Yao’s house. He didn’t even wait for the elevator and impulsively ran up the stairs.
Xu Yibai’s anger hadn’t subsided as he pounded on the door, shouting, “Shen Yao! Yao Yao!”
He slapped his palms against the door, causing them to turn red and swollen, but there was no response. Suddenly, Xu Yibai remembered that he had left his fingerprint on the lock. His breathing became erratic, and he struggled to align his finger properly before finally managing to press it firmly.
“Beep—”
As the fingerprint lock disengaged, Xu Yibai forcefully opened the door and stormed inside. No one was there. He couldn’t find Shen Yao, not even a chance to have a conversation.
In the bedroom, Xu Yibai only found a powerless phone. He sat on the bed, gripping his hair, his mind a blank mess. After charging the phone, the screen automatically lit up.
It was Guan Shu!
Xu Yibai abruptly grabbed the phone, stood up, and headed out again. He hadn’t been in contact with Shen Yao for a week, but Guan Shu had been desperately calling him these past two days.
His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he forcefully slammed the door behind him. Only one thought remained in his mind—Guan Shu! Guan Shu must know something!
“Well, if you can’t find Shen Yao, then how did you get his phone?”
The mention of “former boyfriend” didn’t make Guan Shu feel the slightest bit guilty. His gaze was fixed on the flickering screen of the phone. There was a row of missed calls in glaring red, not only from his calls to Shen Yao but also from Xu Yibai’s calls to Shen Yao, filling up the entire screen. When he scrolled down, there were many more.
Guan Shu, dressed in a black uniform, unintentionally straightened his posture, exhibiting the habit of standing at attention. When he looked at people with a cold face and raised gaze, he inexplicably resembled an interrogator. “You can’t find him, you entered someone else’s private residence without permission, and you casually took someone else’s personal belongings outside. What do you call that?”
Guan Shu intervened in the relationship between Xu Yibai and Shen Yao, yet he didn’t show the slightest trace of guilt.
Xu Yibai’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the phone, maintaining his composure. “The fingerprint lock on Yao Yao’s house has my fingerprints registered, so his house is not a private residence to me. I also know the password to his phone, and he wouldn’t get angry with me for taking the phone without notifying him.”
The corners of Xu Yibai’s mouth, already pulled tight, grew even more tense. The streetlight above him flickered for a moment, emitting a sharp, acerbic sound.
Guan Shu stood in the shadows, completely concealing his expression.
Xu Yibai had the fingerprints for Shen Yao’s home, but Guan Shu didn’t. It must be because Shen Yao moved out of the Shen family’s house after the college entrance exams when their relationship had already deteriorated.
Otherwise, he would undoubtedly have had access to the fingerprint lock’s password as well. There was nothing for Xu Yibai to boast about.
Guan Shu tugged at the corner of his mouth and inexplicably recited a string of numbers before continuing, “Isn’t it just a phone password? Do you think I don’t know it?”
When Shen Yao was in high school, he was very popular and received countless love letters and gifts every day. Guan Shu couldn’t just blurt out that he was dating Shen Yao, so he could only panic internally.
Many people had told him that he was aggressive, a straight guy, and incapable of taking care of others. So Guan Shu was always afraid that he wasn’t good enough for Shen Yao and that Shen Yao wouldn’t like him.
That’s why Guan Shu often sat beside Shen Yao, watching him like a large dog. It wasn’t until Shen Yao smiled and handed him the phone that he pretended to be indifferent, holding Shen Yao in his arms, and then gritted his teeth to reject the friend request.
The six numbers had no connection between them, and over the years, Guan Shu thought he had forgotten them.
But now, the password that he had entered countless times was etched in his mind and couldn’t be erased. It slipped out before he realized what he had said.
Guan Shu was momentarily stunned, losing control, and in the process, he failed to notice Xu Yibai’s pupils shrinking.
Xu Yibai quickly regained his calm expression and lied for the first time in his life, “Is that so? But Yao Yao changed the password a long time ago. It’s now set to my birthday.”
The air felt compressed, as if it were on the verge of ignition, ready to explode.
“He changed the password to your birthday, and you’re still asking me when looking for him? If you don’t know where he is, why would I know? I have no relationship with him now, and I wouldn’t be hiding him. Didn’t you see me calling Shen Yao so many times? Why would you think I know where he is?” Guan Shu’s eyes were as cold as stars. His fist clenched and relaxed by his side, and he said coldly, “What? Has his current boyfriend stooped so low as to ask his predecessor where his own boyfriend went?”
Xu Yibai refused to back down even half a step and pressed on, “Then why did you call Shen Yao so many times?”
Their gazes clashed in mid-air, and it felt like the first person to look away would lose the match. Guan Shu sneered and spoke with a hint of arrogance, “I called Shen Yao because he left something at my place.”
“Guan Shu.”
Xu Yibai calmly called his name, then suddenly raised his hand and threw a punch, fast and precise.
He didn’t come from a military academy like Guan Shu, but he had been practicing Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) since elementary school up until junior high. His pianist’s fingers were precious, and after he made the determination to pursue a career in music, he stopped practicing.
Later, when he was with Shen Yao, Shen Yao was locked up by another alpha in a warehouse, almost being assaulted.
For a whole month, every time Xu Yibai closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep, he would wake up drenched in cold sweat. He kept dreaming that Shen Yao was crying, but he couldn’t reach out and hold him.
After much contemplation, Xu Yibai finally made a decision. He knew it was highly irrational, but he wanted to protect Shen Yao, and he was willing to take on this risk for him.
Xu Yibai had been secretly practicing Sanda again, without anyone’s knowledge, not even Shen Yao.
The force of his punch broke through the air and came crashing towards Guan Shu with sharp intensity. Normally, Guan Shu could easily dodge it, but yesterday afternoon he had gotten injured due to being absent-minded during a mission. His back was now covered in bruises, and just the sight of it was daunting.
As he took a step back, he inadvertently grazed his injured back, causing a wave of pain to surge through his entire body. Even someone as resilient as Guan Shu couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat from the pain.
The pain delayed his movements, and Xu Yibai’s fist landed on his right cheek. Xu Yibai’s strength was quite impressive. If it were someone weaker, they might have been knocked down and unable to get back up.
Guan Shu staggered back a few steps, his shirt soaked with sweat. He clenched his fist against his cheekbone, and when he looked up again, his gaze had completely changed. He spoke in a low voice:
“I’ve been putting up with you for a long time.”
Slowly, he undid the buttons that restrained his collar and cuffs, driven by his instinct that resembled that of a wild beast. He disregarded the unbearable pain in his back.
Guan Shu was a person who believed in an eye for an eye, and without hesitation, he threw a punch towards Xu Yibai’s face.
Xu Yibai didn’t dodge. He knew he couldn’t evade it, so he took the punch head-on while simultaneously bending his knees and forcefully striking upwards.
This was a tactic of harming oneself by a thousand while also inflicting a thousand on the opponent. Xu Yibai had completely lost his rationality and, even after taking a punch, he continued to question, seemingly oblivious to the pain, “Did you coerce Yao Yao?!”
This was the last trace of hope Xu Yibai held onto. He wanted to find Shen Yao to know the truth.
The two alphas engaged in a momentary struggle, unable to determine who had the upper hand.
“Bang—”
Guan Shu seized the opportunity and executed a skillful back throw, slamming Xu Yibai to the ground. This intensified the pain in his back, and for a moment, everything went black before his eyes.
Relying solely on his willpower, Guan Shu lowered his head and spoke in an inexplicably detached tone, devoid of any emotions, “Coercion? I admit that I have done such things in the past, because Shen Yao was cheating.”
Guan Shu watched as Xu Yibai stumbled to his feet, clearly in genuine pain. Despite that, Xu Yibai lunged at him once again as if he couldn’t feel the agony.
The pain sharpened Guan Shu’s mind, and this time he didn’t fight back against Xu Yibai. He simply extended his hand to stop him.
He stated the past events between him and Shen Yao but it was not to be shared with Shen Yao’s current boyfriend as an ex-boyfriend’s experiences.
“You seem quite curious about why Shen Yao and I ended up together, so let me tell you,” Guan Shu lowered his gaze, staring at Xu Yibai, and continued, “I slept with Shen Yao because he actively pursued me to be his lover. I asked him if he had any other alphas, and he said no.”
“I didn’t ruin your relationship with Shen Yao. It was him who didn’t want you anymore,” Guan Shu stated with precision, “Xu Yibai, you call me the ex-boyfriend, but soon you’ll become the ex-boyfriend too, won’t you? Or perhaps you already are…?”
Xu Yibai refused to show weakness in front of his love rival. He freed himself from Guan Shu’s restraint, took a steady breath, and his eyes turned into an abyss with no end, “I don’t believe you. Shut up.”
“Don’t you know?” Guan Shu lowered his gaze, his eyes unexpectedly filled with a hint of pity, “Besides me, Shen Yao has another man, a man he parades around openly.”
Xu Yibai’s breathing faltered, and his mind began to spin again. He felt as if he was sinking into a quagmire, unable to break free.
“Ask your sister,” Guan Shu turned and walked away, but before leaving, he added, “She knows where Shen Yao is. He has met your sister along with the other man.”
He hoped that Xu Yibai would show the same attitude towards Yan Zhixing as he did towards him, so that Yan Zhixing would know what Shen Yao was doing behind his back. At this point, Xu Yibai should break up with Shen Yao, and Yan Zhixing would reject Shen Yao as well.
Shen Yao would become helpless and vulnerable. If he cried and begged Guan Shu, he could reluctantly agree to continue being Shen Yao’s lover.
Shen Yao lived in a separate small villa at Yan’s residence. He knew it was Yan Zhixing’s private residence within the family compound. The environment was pleasant, and the scenery was beautiful. Apart from Chen Shuang, Yan Zhixing, and the servants, he hadn’t seen anyone else there.
On a sunny morning, in a fragrant little garden, the gardener was trimming the trees, intentionally avoiding looking at the seat on the right side.
The maid placed the coffee gently on the table next to Shen Yao. He turned his face, and under the sunlight, Shen Yao’s beautiful face appeared much gentler.
He murmured a thank you in a low voice, then lifted the cup and took a sip.
The bitterness dispersed the slight drowsiness, and Shen Yao placed the cup back on the table. He continued to lower his head, looking at the book in his hands, with the sound of birds chirping in his ears.
As the sun gradually shifted, the perfect shady spot he had chosen was now exposed to direct sunlight, making the pages of the book slightly dazzling.
Shen Yao was accustomed to this and calmly leaned back, closing his eyes and covering his face with the book.
The living environment here was pleasant, much better than Shen Yao had anticipated. The best part was that Yan Zhihang was busy, and they hardly saw each other throughout the day, not even during meals.
His ears were still sensitive, and suddenly he heard footsteps, neither heavy nor light. Shen Yao reached out and grasped the bottom of the book spine, his slender fingers first illuminated by the sunlight, slowly lifting the book. As the book moved, the glow on his face shifted upward by an inch, even his pupils were illuminated like melted resin.
Shen Yao looked in the direction of the footsteps, and the person who appeared before him was the most unlikely to be here at this moment.
He immediately raised a smile and asked, “Why did you come here?”
Yan Zhihang stood several meters away, with a bouquet of peonies swaying in the wind beside him. He looked at Shen Yao and calmly asked, “Guan Shu asked me if I fed you to the sharks.”
With his expression and tone, Shen Yao had to suspect that he was telling a dark joke.
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