Chapter 36: Can a Gloomy Extra Be Locked in a Dark Room? [2]

Chapter 36: Will the Gloomy Supporting Character Also Be Locked in a Small Dark Room? "2"

Mu Jin blinked, confused: "...Huh?"

Ji Fengyan was still tangled up in his thoughts, but when he heard Mu Jin's voice, he instinctively looked at him and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

Mu Jin quickly locked his phone and shook his head. "Nothing, just a bit hungry."

Ji Fengyan: "How about we grab a bite before we head back? I'll talk to Mom about it."

Mu Jin's eyes lit up at the word "food." "I'm so down!"

Ji Fengyan couldn't help but chuckle at the look on his face. "So what do you want to eat?"

Mu Jin's eyes sparkled even more. "Hotpot!"

When he first came to this world, he spent three days getting to know it and another week getting used to it.

This world had way more good food than the last one.

But hotpot was still his favorite—in his book, there was nothing you couldn't throw in a hotpot.

Mu Jin sometimes thought that if his original world had hotpot, he could slice up all those demonic beasts and monsters into thin strips and shabu-shabu them.

Every time he thought about it, he felt like he'd missed out on so much good food.

But no biggie—as long as he saved up enough points, he could go back and use them all for hotpot.

Even though Ji Fengyan didn't get why Mu Jin was so hyped about hotpot, he still smiled in a good mood and made a mental note that Mu Jin liked hotpot.

"Alright, I happen to know a hotpot spot that's pretty good. Let me book a table first, and we'll head over."

Ji Fengyan looked at Mu Jin, his tone softening without him even realizing it.

But Mu Jin just grunted in acknowledgment and went back to staring out the window, lost in thought.

Mu Jin: [Xiao Liu, what did you mean earlier when you said the back-shot wasn't revealing enough?]

To him, they were just photos—how could there be a question of being "revealing enough"?

648 cleared his throat and stammered, "Well, you gotta take some more, uh, inappropriate photos to mess with the male lead."

"Like, first find a way to plant cameras in his place—especially in the bathroom and bedroom. Then you can pull screenshots of him showering or sleeping from the footage."

"Also, you gotta tail him and take sneaky shots. The angle you used earlier—the male lead could totally tell it was you."

648 looked at Mu Jin's serious, attentive face and couldn't bring himself to go on.

Aghhh!!!

Why did he feel like he was corrupting a good kid?

Wait, that didn't feel like just a feeling.

648 gritted his teeth and reminded himself it was all for the mission. They'd go through many worlds and meet tons of people—Mu Jin would have to get used to this sooner or later.

[How about this, Host—I'll send you some "study material," and you can learn from the leads in those.]

With that, 648 sent seven or eight super explicit novels about obsessive love to Mu Jin's phone.

"But just read 'em for reference, okay? Don't actually go doing what they do—like kidnapping or locking people up."

648 sighed. "We're not the main characters, after all. If you did stuff like that, I wouldn't be able to get you out of trouble."

Mu Jin obediently said "okay," then opened a book with a title that seemed pretty normal.

Three minutes later—

Ears burning red, Mu Jin flipped his phone face down with a blank expression.

The stuff he'd just read seemed to come alive, forcing its way into his brain like vivid images.

Sunlight streamed through the car window and spilled over Mu Jin, a faint blush spreading across his pale face.

Ji Fengyan watched from the side, feeling like Mu Jin was practically glowing. He couldn't help pulling out his phone and snapping a pic.

Even now, Ji Fengyan couldn't figure out how this guy, who used to annoy him so much, could now hit every single note in his heart.

Luckily, Ji Fengyan wasn't the type to overthink things.

Since he couldn't figure it out, he just let it go.

No matter what Mu Jin used to be like, the Mu Jin sitting there now could easily make his heart race with just one look.

Ji Fengyan looked at the photo he'd saved to his private album, the corners of his mouth curling up, a dark glint flashing in his eyes.

What he liked, he'd have—no matter what.

When they got to the hotpot place Ji Fengyan had booked, Mu Jin was surprised to run into Ye Luochen.

Ye Luochen had two guys and two girls with him, clearly there for hotpot too. The bouquet he'd bought from Mu Jin earlier that day was now in the arms of one of the guys.

Mu Jin was caught off guard for a second and instinctively glanced at Ji Fengyan next to him.

So this was the whole "protagonist vs. supporting male lead" attraction thing?

Even a random hotpot trip could end up with a run-in like this.

Ye Luochen stared at them, a flash of panic in his eyes. He quickly walked over to Mu Jin and greeted him with a smile,

"What a coincidence, Brother Mu. Didn't think we'd run into each other again—must be fate... Is this the friend you were talking about?"

Mu Jin noticed Ye Luochen immediately asking about Ji Fengyan and checking him out, and gave a knowing smile before introducing them.

"Yeah, this is my friend, Ji Fengyan."

"Ji Fengyan, this is Ye Luochen—he's a regular at my flower shop."

Mu Jin figured that with the natural pull between the male lead and the supporting male lead, he didn't need to say more.

Ji Fengyan just gave a cold nod. "Mm."

But to his surprise, Ye Luochen looked at him with a hurt look. "Brother Mu, we've known each other for so long—am I really just a regular customer to you?"

"I thought we were friends, at least."

Ye Luochen gave a bitter smile as he spoke, dropping his gaze, his voice tinged with disappointment:

"So I guess I've just been fooling myself all along..."

Mu Jin: "Ah...?"

Something about this development feels off...

The people who came with Ye Luochen looked at him acting like a wronged puppy, glancing at each other, struggling to hold back their laughter.

Ji Fengyan subtly stepped in front of Mu Jin, blocking Ye Luochen's view.

"Since you're just a customer, please don't say things that could be misconstrued in the future. It could easily cause him problems."

Ye Luochen seemed surprised Ji Fengyan would be so blunt.

He looked back at Mu Jin, his voice even more pitiful: "Brother Mu, does your friend not like me?"

Ji Fengyan smiled: "You're not even his friend, so why would I like you?"

"But if you don't mind me saying so, someone like you, who buys flowers a few times and decides on your own that you're his friend, would have a hard time actually becoming his friend."

"You!"

Ye Luochen couldn't even pretend to be hurt anymore. He crossed his arms, glaring at Ji Fengyan, and let out a cold laugh:

"Uncle Ji, you're just Brother Mu's friend. Don't you think you're overstepping your bounds?"

Mu Jin: "???"

Wait—Ye Luochen is supposed to be a supporting character with a decent amount of screen time in the plot.

Even if they met earlier than expected, Ye Luochen should've fallen for Ji Fengyan at first sight. So why are they arguing now?

Seeing the tension building, Ye Luochen's friends stopped watching the show and quickly stepped in to pull him back, urging:

"Okay, Luochen, enough. Let's go eat first."

"Yeah, Brother Ye, don't get mad. Let's go grab a bite."

One of the girls stepped forward and said apologetically to the two of them: "Sorry, you two. My friend didn't mean anything by it. Please don't take it personally."

Ji Fengyan gave her a cold glance, then looked away, grabbed the still-dazed Mu Jin and turned to leave.

Behind them, they could faintly hear Ye Luochen cursing, but Ji Fengyan couldn't care less.

Once they entered the private room he'd booked, Ji Fengyan didn't choose to sit across from Mu Jin but instead sat right beside him.

He casually ordered a few dishes he liked, then handed the tablet to Mu Jin. "I've ordered mine. Your turn."

Ji Fengyan had originally planned to keep track of Mu Jin's favorite foods, but to his surprise, Mu Jin wasn't picky at all—he just ordered five portions of everything.

Ji Fengyan: "..."

Mu Jin said earnestly: "Let's just eat this for now. Aunt Ji made food too, so we'll have to eat some when we get back, or she'll be sad."

Ever since he got familiar with this world and confirmed his mission, he'd been going to the Ji house every day to see Ji's mom.

Even though "Mu Jin" and Ji's mom hadn't seen each other in ages,

that didn't stop Mu Jin from getting close to her in just a few days.

Ji's mom had recently gotten obsessed with cooking, trying out all kinds of recipes from videos, and once she started, she couldn't stop herself from making too much.

And all that food basically ended up in Mu Jin's stomach.

At first, Ji's mom worried about Mu Jin's health and didn't want him to eat so much.

But once she confirmed Mu Jin just had a big appetite and wasn't picky at all, she got even happier—like she'd found a kindred spirit, and even wanted him to move in.

Ji Fengyan didn't know how much Mu Jin could eat, but he didn't say anything. After chatting for a bit, he casually mentioned Ye Luochen:

"By the way, what's the deal with that Ye Luochen guy earlier?"

"From the looks of it, he doesn't seem like just some regular customer."

He was definitely more than just a regular customer.

Ji Fengyan could tell Ye Luochen's look at Mu Jin was far from innocent.

When Ji Fengyan asked about Ye Luochen, Mu Jin thought for a moment and explained:

"He really is just a regular customer. He's only been buying flowers from my shop for a week."

Ji Fengyan nodded thoughtfully, then said calmly:

"Not that I'm trying to cause problems between you two, but you saw how he acted today."

"Someone like him—who assumes you're close, has a short temper, and causes you trouble—you should probably keep your distance from now on."

Ji Fengyan paused, looking at Mu Jin, who was still listening attentively even though his phone kept buzzing with notifications, and his expression softened.

"If it's inconvenient for you, I can take care of it. I'll make sure he never bothers you again."

"Or, my mom really likes you. You could come stay at my place for a bit."

Ji Fengyan spoke slowly, his tone casual:

"Kids just get bored easily. Once they don't see you for a while, they'll naturally give up."

His phone kept buzzing with notifications.

Ji Fengyan paused, then smiled lightly: "Why don't you reply to your messages first?"

Mu Jin hummed in agreement and opened the chat app right in front of Ji Fengyan.

But when he saw that the message was from Ye Luochen, Ji Fengyan's smile vanished instantly.

-----"Mini Theater"-----

Xiao Feng: Wife is listening to me seriously, hehe

Xiao Feng: Rival sends wife a message, not hehe

A Jin: I feel like the plot development is a bit off...

Side note: Xiao Ajin's normal updates are two chapters a day, totaling 6000 words! (hands on hips)

So, asking for a free little gift and a five-star review to buy some spicy strips for Xiao Ajin is totally reasonable, right?! (not confident but bold)