Chapter 46: Can a Gloomy Extra Be Locked in a Dark Room? [12]

Chapter 46: Can a Gloomy Cannon Fodder Get Locked in a Dark Room? "12"

Wen Yihe narrowed his eyes, pushed his sleeves up a bit, pulled his tie loose, and unbuttoned a couple of buttons, showing off his collarbone.

Mu Jin was sipping a milk tea, watching Wen Yihe's moves with a puzzled look. Since this was the guy he was about to have lunch with, after all, he asked with concern:

"Are you feeling hot?"

Wen Yihe shook his head, then suddenly shifted to block his line of sight, reaching up to touch the corner of his lips.

"Hold still, there's still something right here."

Wen Yihe's sudden change of subject and move were so unexpected that Mu Jin didn't have time to react, so he just let Wen Yihe's fingertips brush the corner of his mouth.

Mu Jin kept his eyes down, avoiding Wen Yihe's gaze, his head full of whether that grilled fish place was any good.

But the next second, the lounge door was kicked open with a bang!

What hit Mu Jin's ears next was a familiar voice dripping with anger:

"Bro! What the hell are you two doing?!"

Mu Jin had no idea that, from Ye Luochen's angle at the door, his current pose with Wen Yihe looked super intimate.

It looked like they were hugging and making out.

But Mu Jin, clueless about all that, just stared at Ye Luochen in confusion, his eyes practically asking, "Why the hell are you here?"

Ye Luochen's heart stung, hurt flickering in his eyes. Anger and confusion consumed him, and he was shaking with fury.

Wen Yihe was also pulled in by the noise, calmly pulling his hand back and glancing over at Ye Luochen by the door.

Behind Ye Luochen stood a secretary who looked totally at a loss.

"Sorry, President Wen, I didn't expect Young Master Ye to just—"

Wen Yihe got up, walked over to Ye Luochen, and shot the secretary a look. "This isn't your fault. You can head back now."

Ye Luochen stayed quiet, eyes down, fists clenched at his sides, veins popping on the backs of his hands.

The secretary thoughtfully closed the door behind her as she left.

That left just the three of them in the lounge.

Mu Jin had no clue why Ye Luochen was here or why he was this pissed.

But he could feel how awkward the vibe had gotten.

Ye Luochen's earlier shout of "Bro!" already made it clear their relationship wasn't simple.

Yeah, this probably wasn't the moment for him to butt in.

Mu Jin thought, quietly chewing on his straw, a spark of nosy excitement in his eyes.

Looked like the brothers were about to go at each other's throats. He didn't think he'd get a front-row seat to some drama just by dropping off paperwork.

Mu Jin was even thinking about pulling 648 online to watch the show together.

But the moment Wen Yihe stepped up to Ye Luochen and patted his shoulder, before he could even say a word, Ye Luochen's fist slammed right into his face!

Wen Yihe hit the floor with a heavy thud from the force.

But Ye Luochen didn't let up, grabbing Wen Yihe by the collar, a murderous gleam in his furious eyes as he snarled through clenched teeth:

"Wen Yihe! You son of a bitch!"

"I treated you like my own brother, and you're trying to steal my man?!"

"Wen Yihe! Do you even have any shame?!"

Ye Luochen was beyond pissed, completely lost in his rage, and swung another punch!

But this time, his fist didn't connect—Wen Yihe caught it cleanly with his hand.

Wen Yihe looked at the livid Ye Luochen, still smiling, though there was a trace of helplessness in it.

"Luochen, I think you've got the wrong idea. I just left an important file with A Jin by accident and asked him to bring it over."

"Let's calm down first, okay? Otherwise, you're gonna scare A Jin."

Wen Yihe spoke calmly and evenly, looking at Ye Luochen like a doting older brother.

Ye Luochen had cooled off a little by then, especially after Wen Yihe's last line, which made him instinctively glance at Mu Jin.

Mu Jin was a little dazed too. Ye Luochen had always been this bubbly, cheerful, clingy kid around him—a total ray of sunshine of a little brother.

This was the first time he'd ever seen Ye Luochen this mad, let alone throwing punches.

It totally flipped his image of Ye Luochen upside down.

Noticing both of them staring at him, Mu Jin instinctively reached for a bag of chips, but all he had was his milk tea, so he just quietly bit down on the straw.

When Ye Luochen saw Mu Jin avoiding his gaze, his face went pale for a second, panic surging in his chest.

He shoved Wen Yihe off and hurried over to Mu Jin, trying to explain:

"No, Bro Mu, that's not it. It's not what you think. I was just so mad earlier. I didn't know..."

Ye Luochen stumbled over his words, wanting to explain but having no idea where to begin.

Mu Jin held up a hand to cut him off. "Okay, you don't have to say anything else."

He said, keeping his patience, "I'm just eating with you. You don't need to explain all this to me."

Ye Luochen's face went white as a sheet, tears pooling in his eyes, full of hurt and helplessness.

And then, the tears that had been building up spilled over, falling with a soft patter.

He timidly reached out to tug at Mu Jin's sleeve, his voice cracking:

"Bro Mu... do you... do you really... not like me even a tiny bit?"

Wen Yihe had walked over to them by now, his clothes a mess from Ye Luochen grabbing him, with a bit of blood at the corner of his mouth.

But with a face like that, Wen Yihe didn't look messy at all—he actually had a weird kind of charm to him.

Wen Yihe looked at Ye Luochen and said softly, "Okay, Luochen, even if you really like A Jin, you can't force someone to feel the same way."

"You can chase him the right way, not like today, throwing punches at your own brother over a misunderstanding."

"Luo Chen, you're not a kid anymore. You need to take responsibility for your actions and not fly off the handle like you did today."

Wen Yihe's tone turned a bit serious as he went on:

"You really need to rein in that temper of yours."

"I'm your brother, so even if you hit me today, I'll forgive you. But other people won't be so forgiving, got it?"

Ye Luochen suddenly looked up at Wen Yihe, staring at the man's phony smile, and hissed through clenched teeth:

"I understand. Thank you, b-bro."

Ye Luochen had been so pissed off earlier that he couldn't hold back from swinging at Wen Yihe.

With anyone else, he probably wouldn't have lost his cool like that, but of all people, it had to be Wen Yihe!

The one person who knew he liked Mu Jin, who'd always been there giving him advice, the guy he saw as his own brother—Wen Yihe!

How the hell was he supposed to stay calm? How could he not lose it?!

But now that he'd cooled off, Ye Luochen finally figured out Wen Yihe had set him up.

He'd deliberately made sure Ye Luochen walked in on that exact moment, deliberately goaded him into throwing a punch right in front of Mu Jin...

And those words Wen Yihe had spoken earlier—every single one hinted that his relationship with Mu Jin was way more than just casual.

Ye Luochen closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to get a grip on himself.

No matter how much he wanted to beat the crap out of Wen Yihe right now, he couldn't do it in front of Mu Jin.

He still had to figure out how to fix his image in Mu Jin's eyes.

"I'm sorry, brother. I was too hotheaded earlier and totally misread the situation. That's on me."

Ye Luochen looked at Wen Yihe, eyes all watery, his voice dripping with guilt:

"Let me take you to the hospital to get that looked at."

Wen Yihe gave his phone a little wave, smiling:

"No need. I'll just patch up this little scratch myself later."

"But your dad just texted me, saying you haven't reached out to them in ages and they don't know what you're up to. They miss you and told me to remind you to swing by home sometime."

Ye Luochen: "..."

God, this was infuriating—not only was Wen Yihe sneaking around trying to steal his crush, but now he was pulling the "your dad" card to pressure him.

For crying out loud, couldn't he just cut ties with this so-called brother for good?

Ye Luochen nearly ground his back teeth into powder as he turned to look at Mu Jin.

Mu Jin was still sipping his milk tea, looking like he was just here for the show.

Ye Luochen suddenly wanted to laugh. He'd actually thought Wen Yihe had managed to steal Mu Jin away.

But from the looks of it, even with Wen Yihe hurt right in front of him, Mu Jin couldn't care less.

A hint of mockery crept into Ye Luochen's eyes as he glanced at Wen Yihe.

"Alright then, I'll head home for a bit. Bro, you better take good care of yourself."

Ye Luochen smiled and patted Wen Yihe's shoulder, smoothing out his slightly rumpled clothes.

And using the chance, he leaned in and whispered in Wen Yihe's ear, in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"Wouldn't it suck if you happened to fall into a manhole on your way out and ended up all black and blue..."

Ye Luochen turned, his smile dropping as he walked off with a blank face.

Wen Yihe's smile disappeared too. He lifted a hand to gently touch his face, looked at Mu Jin, his expression softening, and said, sounding a little wronged:

"A Jin... it really hurts..."

--- "Side Note" ---

Lalala, I'm back again. Find me on Weibo: "Yu Yu Who Drinks Three Cups of Milk Tea a Day"

There'll be bonus mini-stories, plus some Xiaolongjin emotes and update news (like which world is next). If you're curious, go check it out.