Chapter 6: The Rival Always Wants to Taste Him Again [6]

Chapter 6: His Archenemy Keeps Wanting Another Taste of Him "6"

Before Lin Ran could finish his words, a crisp slap echoed through the private room, cutting through the air.

For a moment, the air fell silent.

Ye Qi expressionlessly shook out his hand. "Sorry, my hand slipped. I kept hearing a fly buzzing around my ear, and I just couldn't hold back."

Lin Ran covered his stinging cheek, glaring at Ye Qi, eyes wide with disbelief, his voice trembling:

"Y-Ye Qi... you hit me? How dare you hit me?!"

In his previous life, no matter how much he'd hounded Ye Qi, Ye Qi had never laid a hand on him.

But now Ye Qi had actually hit him, and so hard!

Lin Ran could distinctly taste blood in his mouth. His chest heaved as he panted, his emotions spiraling out of control.

Just as he'd thought! Ye Qi was no good after all!

In his last life, he'd chased after Ye Qi, always doing everything for him, always tolerating him, always giving in to him.

Come to think of it, today was the first time he'd ever talked back to Ye Qi, and this guy had responded by slapping him.

Lin Ran gritted his teeth. Reborn as he was, he wasn't about to keep putting up with this, and immediately wanted to slap him right back!

But his hand never reached Ye Qi's face.

Lin Ran turned his head stiffly toward Shi Mo, utterly bewildered: "A Mo?"

Shi Mo had been watching the show, but when he saw Lin Ran about to lay hands on Ye Qi, he stepped in and grabbed his wrist, stopping him cold.

Lin Ran clearly didn't understand why Shi Mo would stop him. A flicker of hurt passed through his eyes as he looked at Shi Mo, his gaze wounded.

He gave a bitter smile, his eyes full of desolation: "A Mo, is it because I didn't recognize your feelings back then, so now you'd rather stand beside the person you hate most, just to spite me?"

Ye Qi: "..."

Oh, his fists were clenched, alright.

Back then, Lin Ran had pestered him for so long, and he'd let it slide for the sake of their families' business ties.

But now Lin Ran was clinging to Shi Mo like this, even going on and on about how Shi Mo had feelings for him.

Ye Qi could barely hold back the urge to throw a punch.

But Shi Mo beat him to it, shaking off Lin Ran's hand.

He still had that smile on his face, but the force behind his hand was anything but gentle—with one shove, he sent Lin Ran sprawling to the floor.

"Ah!"

Lin Ran hit the floor but didn't scramble to his feet. Instead, he looked up at Shi Mo with tear-filled eyes.

"A Mo... how can you treat me like this?"

To be fair, Lin Ran was pretty easy on the eyes, and looking all wronged and pitiful like that, it was easy to feel sorry for him.

Too bad he was dealing with Ye Qi and Shi Mo.

One of them was looking for an excuse to beat him up, and the other wanted him dead, plain and simple.

Shi Mo let out a soft chuckle. "Don't look at me like that. We're nothing to each other—people might think I'm some heartless player."

"Besides, don't you have any idea why I'm treating you like this?"

There was a chill in Shi Mo's voice as he said the last part. With that, he turned and left, not bothering to see how Lin Ran reacted.

For a moment, Lin Ran forgot his hurt and just stared blankly at Shi Mo's retreating back.

His eyes were full of confusion, as if he were mulling over what Shi Mo had meant.

Then, as if a thought had struck him, a spark of light suddenly lit up his eyes.

Seeing that look in Lin Ran's eyes, Ye Qi frowned, unable to hide the disgust on his face.

Still, he grabbed the contract and turned to leave, chasing after Shi Mo.

He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he'd actually end up beating Lin Ran to a pulp.

Their families were all tied together by interests, both openly and behind the scenes.

Especially now—they had several joint projects with the Lin family at a critical point. He couldn't just recklessly lay a hand on Lin Ran.

As Ye Qi was about to walk out, he paused and glanced back at Lin Ran, his gaze dark and unreadable.

At least not out in the open...

Lin Ran snapped back to his senses from his thoughts after that single glance, his body stiffening as a chill spread from the soles of his feet throughout his entire body.

But before he could even get up, the door of the private room was slammed shut, leaving him alone in the empty room, looking rather pathetic.

After leaving the private room, Ye Qi immediately went to find Shi Mo. When he found him, Shi Mo was washing his hands.

Shi Mo didn't look up: "Tell me, how many people have you planted around me?"

Ye Qi coughed lightly, not taking up that topic: "Let's just find a place to sign the contract first."

Shi Mo dried his hands under the air dryer, then turned his head to look at Ye Qi. He was smiling, but there was no warmth in his eyes:

"So unwilling to answer my question? What, are the people you placed here that important to you? Or... Young Master Ye, did you install a tracker in my phone?"

The last part was originally meant to tease Ye Qi.

After all, having known each other for three years, he had some understanding of Ye Qi and knew he wasn't the type to do such things—at most, he'd plant his own informants in Shi Mo's territory.

But who would have thought that when Ye Qi heard the latter part, his eyes would dart away evasively.

"How could that be?"

The smile on Shi Mo's face gradually faded.

"Xiao Qi, help me check my phone. He wouldn't actually have installed a tracker in it, would he?"

447: "No, he hasn't, Xiao Momo~"

447: "But that doesn't rule out the possibility that he wants to. I secretly checked earlier—not only did he have someone prepare a tracker, he also had them prepare a micro surveillance camera."

Shi Mo: "..."

Shi Mo looked at Ye Qi with a somewhat complicated expression.

447 sighed and commented, "This male lead has totally gone off the rails, and it's all that False Protagonist's fault."

"Xiao Momo, you'd better stay away from him. You just slept with him yesterday, and he's already setting all this up. I bet he's plotting how to get back at you."

447 did a little roll on top of Shi Mo's head, watching Ye Qi with a wary look.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Shi Mo's lips, a glint of interest flickering in his eyes.

"Is that so... then let's see how he plans to get back at me."

Ye Qi was different from the male leads he had encountered before.

He was the "food" Shi Mo had his eye on the moment he first entered this world three years ago—perfect in both looks and build, exactly to his taste.

As a succubus, he'd never let go of "food" he'd set his sights on, even if it was the male lead of this world.

Keeping the "food" happy and getting him to willingly let himself be tasted was just as important.

So for three years, he'd kept up the whole "sworn enemy" act on the surface, but behind the scenes, he'd done plenty for Ye Qi.

All of it was to make sure Ye Qi would be in a good mood around him, wouldn't push him away, and wouldn't ruin the flavor.

Otherwise, Ye Qi wouldn't have been so easy to lure into bed yesterday.

Now, when 447 said Ye Qi was setting all this up to get back at him, he didn't buy it.

But he was indeed curious about how far Ye Qi could go.

A smile surfaced in Shi Mo's eyes again. He looked at Ye Qi and simply withdrew his hand, the tips of his fingers still damp, and wiped them directly on Ye Qi's clothes.

"Since you say you wouldn't, then I'll trust you. Let's go, sign the contract first."

Ye Qi lowered his gaze and grabbed Shi Mo's wrist, his fingertips brushing against it, a trace of loss flickering in his eyes, along with some frustration.

Gone. Every single mark he'd left yesterday was gone.

But his own back still bore the marks from last night... it just wasn't fair...