Chapter 38: Can a Gloomy Extra Be Locked in a Dark Room? [4]

Chapter 38: Will the Gloomy Cannon Fodder Be Locked in a Small Dark Room? "4"

Ji's mom had originally planned to bake desserts for Mu Jin in the afternoon.

But while Mu Jin was eating, watching her son casually walk past the dining table for the seventh time, Ji's mom went quiet.

She looked back and forth between the two of them, then finally picked up her bag, said she had some things to take care of, and left.

Before leaving, she made sure to remind Ji Fengyan to take good care of Wen Yihe.

Mu Jin didn't notice anything off, only feeling a bit bummed that there would be no desserts this afternoon.

But... can someone explain why, when he was sitting on the sofa munching on fruit and binge-watching a show,

Ji Fengyan clearly had a study, yet he still brought his laptop to work right next to him?

Mu Jin couldn't help but scoot over, creating some space between himself and Ji Fengyan.

Ji Fengyan noticed but kept quiet, continuing to focus on his work, though he kept stealing glances at Mu Jin.

Mu Jin quickly got sucked into the show and stopped caring what Ji Fengyan was doing.

He didn't even notice Ji Fengyan getting up to go get Wen Yihe.

Wen Yihe handed his gift and coat to a staff member, then gave Ji Fengyan a polite smile and held out his hand.

"Hello, I'm Wen Yihe. Nice to meet you."

"Ji Fengyan."

Ji Fengyan shook his hand back, but his demeanor was noticeably colder. He pulled his hand back right away.

Wen Yihe didn't seem to mind Ji Fengyan's cold attitude at all, chuckling lightly:

"Uncle and Auntie said you just returned to the country. Things have changed a lot here over the years. Since I'm free these days, I can show you around tomorrow."

"Honestly, I didn't really want to agree at first, because it'd be a waste of my time. But Uncle and Auntie have been really good to me, so I didn't want to say no."

Wen Yihe paused for a moment, a glint of interest in his eyes.

"But now that I've met you in person, I take back what I said earlier."

"Ji Fengyan, I don't think spending time with you is a waste at all. Maybe we could become good friends."

Ji Fengyan met Wen Yihe's serious gaze, his expression softening slightly.

"Is that so? I'd also like to become friends with you."

He hadn't forgotten what his mom had told him before she left.

The Wen and Ji families were already on equal footing, and now they had business ties. Wen Yihe, who was about Ji Fengyan's age, had already taken over the Wen family business.

Since Ji Fengyan had just come back, his mom arranging for Wen Yihe to show him around couldn't just be about catching up on simple changes.

The two of them chatted back and forth.

Wen Yihe noticed Mu Jin sitting on the couch, hugging a plush pillow and chewing on half a banana, and paused mid-step, asking a little confused:

"And this is?"

Ji Fengyan's lips curled up as he introduced, "My childhood friend, Mu Jin."

Wen Yihe nodded thoughtfully. There were plenty of people with the same name, but someone who could be called Ji Fengyan's childhood friend and also named "Mu Jin"—

That could only be the eldest young master of the Mu family. He was said to have a weird temper and was pretty disappointing—not only did he refuse to take over the Mu family, but he also ran off to open a flower shop.

He had essentially handed everything that should have been his to the Mu family's illegitimate son.

At that thought, a flicker of disdain quickly passed through Wen Yihe's eyes, and the smile on his lips faded noticeably.

In recent years, the Ji and Mu families hadn't had much contact. He hadn't expected this eldest young master to be here.

Wen Yihe turned his head toward Ji Fengyan. "Then let's go talk in the study."

Mu Jin sensed movement behind him and instinctively turned to look.

Hmm? So that was the other male supporting character in this world?

He looked pretty good too.

Wen Yihe didn't want to deal with Mu Jin, but he also knew that if Mu Jin could sit there eating fruit and watching shows, he must have a decent relationship with Ji Fengyan.

He didn't want to leave a bad impression on Ji Fengyan.

So when Mu Jin looked over, he turned to him, gave a slight nod, and offered a polite smile as a greeting.

But that one glance made it hard for Wen Yihe to look away.

Ah... why hadn't anyone told him that this good-for-nothing eldest young master of the Mu family was so good-looking?

Wen Yihe had seen the Mu family's illegitimate son before—like a cold, venomous snake always watching and scheming against people.

To be fair, the illegitimate son wasn't bad-looking, but compared to the young man in front of him...

No, there was simply no comparison.

Wen Yihe's eyes lit up with a new spark of interest as he looked at Mu Jin.

How rare. Today he'd run into two people who interested him in the same place. How amusing.

But Mu Jin clearly didn't want to engage with them, only glancing over once before looking away.

Ji Fengyan felt annoyed seeing Wen Yihe keep staring at Mu Jin, and a sense of wariness rose in him.

He subtly moved to block Wen Yihe's view.

"Didn't you say we should talk in the study?"

Wen Yihe had no choice but to look away, smiling at Ji Fengyan. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something. Let's go."

After a long conversation, Wen Yihe found Ji Fengyan to be a genuinely good partner.

The only pity for Wen Yihe was that even when he left, he hadn't managed to get Mu Jin's contact info.

But that was fine—if he couldn't get it here, he could have someone look it up when he got back.

Unaware that he'd already become a target, Mu Jin was deep in thought.

If I stay here tonight, could I sneak into Ji Fengyan's room while he's asleep and snap a few photos?

Well, it's not entirely out of the question, but photos taken in the Ji residence would probably be way too easy to trace back to me.

He couldn't afford to be suspected this soon. No, he needed to hold back.

In the storyline, Ji Fengyan only stayed at the house for a few days before moving to his penthouse in the city center.

"Mu Jin" installed surveillance cameras there too, and not only that—to make tracking and monitoring easier, he even bought the unit directly below Ji Fengyan's.

Mu Jin figured he should probably reach out to the Mu family again, because with his current income from the flower shop, he really couldn't afford it.

But "Mu Jin" had apparently blocked and deleted their contacts already. In the storyline, when he did reach out, he went back to the Mu residence himself.

He got humiliated by that illegitimate half-brother, but that very night, he had someone beat him up in return.

Mu Jin recalled the plot, and to avoid any further deviations, he decided to go back on the exact same day as in the storyline.

Until then, he'd just go back to running his flower shop.

Mu Jin quietly worked out all the details.

To his surprise, even by the time the servants brought dinner to the table, neither Ji's mother nor father had returned.

That meant that tonight, apart from the servants on the first floor, only he and Ji Fengyan were on the third floor.

That night, after taking a shower, Mu Jin lay in bed.

He noticed Ye Luochen had messaged him again, saying he wanted to order more flowers tomorrow and asking if it was convenient.

Mu Jin had just replied a couple of messages when he heard a knock at the door.

"Come on in."

The moment Mu Jin's words fell, the door to his room was pushed open.

Ji Fengyan had apparently just showered, wearing only a bathrobe with the collar open, revealing his toned chest and abs. The sash at his waist was just loosely hanging, and water droplets from his damp hair trailed down his collarbone.

"A Jin, not asleep yet?"

Catching Mu Jin staring at him, Ji Fengyan smiled and walked over to the bed.

Mu Jin looked at his wet hair and asked, puzzled, "Is your hairdryer broken?"

Ji Fengyan was speechless.

The smile on Ji Fengyan's face stiffened slightly. "No."

Mu Jin: "Then why didn't you dry your hair? You'll catch a cold like that."

Ji Fengyan let out a soft sigh, looking a bit helpless, but quickly explained:

"I mean, there's no hairdryer in my room, so I thought I'd come check if you've got one."

Mu Jin understood, swung his legs off the bed, and headed toward the bathroom: "Oh, I have one. Let me get it for you."

Ji Fengyan sat on the armchair, propping his head up with one hand, watching Mu Jin return with the hairdryer. He spoke with a gentle smile:

"A Jin, would you mind drying my hair for me?"

Mu Jin naturally wasn't going to refuse a request like that.

"Sure thing."

Ji Fengyan felt Mu Jin's gentle movements and couldn't help but close his eyes in contentment.

Mu Jin looked at the hair he'd dried and couldn't help but ruffle it.

As he put the hairdryer away, he thought to himself that once he finished this world's mission and went abroad, he definitely wanted to get a cat.

But Ji Fengyan didn't seem to have any intention of leaving.

Mu Jin asked again, "Anything else?"

Ji Fengyan said with a straight face, "Actually, the reason I came to you is that I just got back to the country and I'm still not used to it. I'm a bit scared to sleep alone."

"A Jin, how about you come sleep in my room tonight? Think of it as keeping me company. I really can't fall asleep alone."

Ji Fengyan dropped his gaze, his sigh filled with helplessness and bitterness.

Mu Jin was taken aback and didn't answer right away.

His character was supposed to be infatuated with Ji Fengyan, and facing Ji Fengyan's invitation to sleep together, theoretically, he shouldn't refuse.

But the thought of lying in the same bed as the male lead made Mu Jin couldn't help but think of Ying Huaifeng from the last world.

He wondered what would happen to Ying Huaifeng once he left that world...

"Sorry, that was too forward of me. If you're not willing, it's fine."

Noticing Mu Jin's long silence, Ji Fengyan spoke with an apologetic tone:

"Then get some good rest. It just so happens I just got back and have a lot to deal with, so I'll familiarize myself with things tonight."

He smiled, but said with disappointment, "Anyway, it's no big deal to stay up one night."

Ji Fengyan walked to the door, then stopped and turned back, looking at him seriously:

"Goodnight, A Jin. Have sweet dreams."

Mu Jin watched Ji Fengyan act like this and felt an inexplicable pang of guilt, so he grabbed his pillow and followed.

"You can't just not sleep. I'll keep you company."

Ji Fengyan hesitated: "But won't that be putting you out?"

Mu Jin shook his head and walked straight into Ji Fengyan's room: "It's fine. I can sleep anywhere."

Ji Fengyan followed him into the room, locked the door behind him, and the corner of his mouth curled up silently.

"That's perfect then. I can finally sleep well tonight."

Ji Fengyan sat on the edge of the bed, watching Mu Jin arrange his pillow, and slowly continued:

"But I should warn you, I might toss and turn a lot in my sleep. If I accidentally touch you or hug you, I hope you won't be upset."