Chapter 55: Baby

Chapter 55 Little One

Faced with Chu Yan's sudden interrogation, Fu Junhang's brain went blank for a moment.

His face was still flushed, but he put on a faux-fierce look. Fu Junhang blinked, his mind racing with thoughts.

Should he take this chance to explain everything or keep lying?

"I..."

Crap. The more outrageous his initial lies had been, the harder it was for Fu Junhang to speak now.

If his patron found out even his name was fake, would he wring his neck on the spot?

What should he do?

The usually composed and self-controlled Third Master Fu was suddenly thrown off balance without warning.

"Is it that hard to answer?"

Chu Yan eyed the man suspiciously.

"You're not hiding something from me, are you?"

Chu Yan was absolutely certain. He tilted his chin up slightly, narrowing his eyes with a look that screamed, *Lie to me and you’re dead.*

Fu Junhang immediately broke into a sweat. Tentatively, he asked,

"If—just if—I *did* hide something from you, what would you do?"

Chu Yan could tell from his guilty expression. He snorted inwardly but put on a stern face. "That depends."

"How so?"

"If it's just some trivial little thing, then whatever."

"We used to have a patron-client relationship, and now we’re in a boss-staff dynamic. You’re not obligated to tell me everything. We agreed not to interfere in each other’s private matters."

"But!"

"If it's something important and you lied to me—" Chu Yan tapped his forehead, laughing darkly, "—then that’s a whole different story."

"Nobody likes a liar."

Fu Junhang wanted to scream. He could already imagine the consequences if he came clean now.

His name was fake, his identity was fake, the patron-client arrangement was fake—*everything* was fake...

And yet, the feelings built on this castle of lies were real.

He couldn’t confess everything at once, but he could try to reveal bits and pieces.

"Actually... I’m not a male escort from Qingxin Club."

Fu Junhang had braced himself, but Chu Yan’s reaction still caught him off guard.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Chu Yan had suspected Fu Junhang was hiding something, but he never expected *this* big of a lie. He lunged forward in an instant, reversing their positions.

Chu Yan pinned the man beneath him, practically straddling him, his hands pressing firmly against Fu Junhang’s hard chest.

"You’re *not* an escort?"

Chu Yan felt like his brain had been struck hard, teetering on the edge of collapse.

Fu Junhang was so guilty he wished he could crawl into a hole. His patron’s reaction was indeed explosive—good thing he hadn’t revealed everything.

He let out a faint grunt, not daring to meet Chu Yan’s death glare.

"Then why were you at Qingxin Club? And why did you... Wait." Chu Yan’s breathing grew rapid, his chest heaving, his eyes blazing. "You weren’t there to hire an escort, were you? You—you—you’ve been lying to me all along! You—"

"No, no!" Fu Junhang denied frantically. "You were my first, I swear! Before you, I’d never been with anyone else!"

Chu Yan was still furious. He seized Fu Junhang’s chin with iron fingers, glaring down at him.

"Fine, fine. You’re not an escort. Then what were you *really* doing there?!"

"I... I was actually there to meet a friend."

Chu Yan looked like a hissing kitten, ready to pounce and tear Fu Junhang, the big liar, to shreds.

The man known as a terrifying boogeyman to outsiders was now sweating bullets.

"Jiang Lvshen," Fu Junhang blurted out, dragging his poor bastard friend into this—conveniently, Chu Yan knew him too. "I was there to see him."

"Captain Jiang is a cop! What would he be doing at a male escort club? Hear yourself?!"

"Investigating a case!" Fu Junhang declared firmly. "Qingxin Club is dirty—it’s involved in drugs!"

Chu Yan’s eyes widened. "No way?!"

Now that he thought about it, that did make sense. And that manager who had drugged him was definitely a real piece of work.

"Seriously."

Fu Junhang didn’t flinch.

"So you..." Chu Yan was still skeptical. "Are you an undercover cop?"

If this guy really was undercover, why did he lie about being an escort and trick Chu Yan into paying to keep him? He’d even taken nine million yuan from him! Was this really how a proper undercover cop behaved?

Fu Junhang quickly shook his head. His goal now was to slowly clean up his mess of lies, not weave new ones.

"No, I was just helping Jiang Lvshen. Same as with the Puli Village case—I was just backup."

"But then why did you... with me..."

"I was drugged. Just like you."

Chu Yan froze. So that’s what happened.

"So it really was fate, huh? But why did you lie about being an escort?!"

Jesus Christ. Chu Yan remembered not only sleeping with him under the assumption he was an escort but even paying to keep a damn virgin as if he were some escort. What kind of telenovela-level nonsense was this? It was beyond embarrassing.

But then, to his shock, Fu Junhang flipped the script on him.

"It was you who mistook me for a male model first!"

Chu Yan widened his eyes, questioning his entire existence, while Fu Junhang nodded vigorously.

Chu Yan scrambled his memory, trying to recall—yes, it did seem like he was the one who had misunderstood first.

So...

"It's my fault then?"

Fu Junhang bit his lip and shook his head hard.

"Not your fault. It was me who seized the opportunity. I was drawn to you, became addicted to you, so I went along with it and pretended to be a male model so you'd take me in."

Chu Yan’s heart skipped a beat. What kind of crap was this jerk spewing? How could he say such things at a time like this? Was he even supposed to stay angry now?

Wait a minute!

"So you... scammed—me—for—money?" Chu Yan enunciated each word, finally honing in on the most crucial point.

Scamming his feelings was one thing, but he had been so broke back then—how could this guy have the nerve to swindle him?

"Are you even human?! Do you know how poor I was back then? I was kicked out by the Chu family, lost all my endorsements, couldn’t get any acting gigs, and owed millions in breach fees. I was struggling so hard, and you still had the audacity to scam me out of my money?"

Chu Yan was floored. Just how low could this guy sink?!

Fu Junhang: Heavens, bear witness to my innocence!

"I’ve been wronged!"

Back then, Fu Junhang had just found Chu Yan amusing. When Chu Yan mistook him for a male model, he played along. Somehow, things snowballed, and they ended up in a sponsorship arrangement—one a cash-strapped "benefactor," the other a billionaire "male model."

The situation had unfolded naturally, but his feelings had spiraled completely out of control.

Fu Junhang never expected he’d fall for Chu Yan later.

"I’m sorry, I was wrong."

"It was me who was drawn to you, me who was greedy for your looks, me who selfishly wanted to be with you, me who schemed to get close to you..."

Goddamn it. Chu Yan didn’t know whether to stay angry or not. Was this bastard apologizing or confessing? His anger lost steam.

"But you still shouldn’t have scammed me for money!" Chu Yan grumbled, swelling with indignation. Just thinking about it made him furious—he took money very seriously, okay?!

Back then, drowning in millions of debt and desperate, he had still tried to act, even took on trashy variety shows just to earn money to support Fu Junhang. That was blood-and-sweat money!

How could this bastard have the heart to make a broke guy like him break his back working to support a rich man like him?

Was this even human behavior?

"Alright, alright, I’ll pay you back right now—ten times the amount, okay?"

Chu Yan only got angrier, close to tearing up.

"You’re already so rich, and you still scammed me out of my money?"

Ten times meant ninety million. If he could repay it so casually, it meant that amount was pocket change to him.

You goddamn con artist.

"Give me my money back!!!" Fu Junhang saw Chu Yan’s eyes redden with fury, panicked, and immediately pulled out his phone, transferring a hundred million to Chu Yan.

"Is... is that enough? If not, I can—"

"Enough!"

Between Fu Junhang’s cautious demeanor, his apology-that-was-also-a-love-confession, and—most importantly—the intoxicating smell of money in his account, Chu Yan finally loosened his hold on the man.

"Fine. For the sake of this hundred million, I’ll let you off this time."

"But don’t let it happen again!"

Cash soothes the soul; money mends the heart.

Chu Yan was now very happy and very generous, so he decided not to hold it against this bastard.

"Yes, yes, I’d never dare again."

Fu Junhang’s repentant act was flawless.

Chu Yan had been sitting on top of Fu Junhang this whole time. Now that he wanted to get off, Fu Junhang suddenly gripped his waist and yanked him back down, giving his wrist a tug with just enough force to send Chu Yan sprawling across him.

"Sorry, baby, I didn’t mean to trick you."

"Don’t call me that!"

That "baby" nonsense instantly triggered Chu Yan’s shame reflex like a switch. His face went nuclear red, and he instinctively slapped a hand over Fu Junhang’s mouth.

"You... who taught you to call me that? I—I'm a full-grown adult! Who said you could call me that?!"

It was too embarrassing. Pushing thirty, how could he be called "baby"?

God, Chu Yan felt like a boiled lobster right now, radiating embarrassment. And this clueless idiot still didn’t understand.

"I learned it online. Don’t couples call each other that?"

Fu Junhang swore he had done his research.

"Sweetheart, darling, wife, honey... take your pick? But I still think ‘baby’ sounds the best."

To Fu Junhang, his little patron was a baby—the kind that could completely enchant him.

"Call me by my name!" Chu Yan was so embarrassed he could curl his toes into fists.

"Not happening!"

Fu Junhang shut that down immediately. He knew many people called Chu Yan "Xiao Yan" or "Yan Yan," and his fans mostly called him "Baby Yan." But those were for everybody else. Fu Junhang was determined to stand out—he needed his own pet name. So he couldn’t call Chu Yan the same things others did.

"I think ‘baby’ sounds nice. Or how about ‘wifey’..."

"Wait a minute," Chu Yan suddenly realized, feeling like he'd been tricked by that bastard again.

"Who said we're a couple? Since when are we a couple?"

Fu Junhang feigned hurt.

"God, Baobei~"

"You liar! First, you pretended to be a male model to con me into paying you, and now you're faking poverty to be my bodyguard? You're just fleecing me nonstop, and you still have the nerve to call us a couple?"

Hmph, Chu Yan wasn’t about to let this slide so easily. Did Fu Junhang really think he could get away with this?

Not a chance.

"It's fine, I’ll wait until you agree."

"Tch~"

Chu Yan tried to climb off the man again, but as he moved, his butt brushed against something hard. A stifled grunt escaped Fu Junhang’s lips, and Chu Yan was yanked back roughly. A firm hand pressed against the back of his head, forcing his lips toward Fu Junhang’s.

"Mmph…"

The scorching heat instantly enveloped Chu Yan’s lips, stealing his breath away. At first, he tried to resist, but the hands pushing against Fu Junhang’s chest had no strength left. Under the man’s relentless, fiery kiss, Chu Yan quickly surrendered, going boneless against him.

The hand on his waist had somehow slipped beneath his loose hoodie, trailing fire wherever it wandered. Things were teetering on the edge of a point of no return—

Then, Chu Yan’s phone rang.

The ringtone jolted him alert, his weak arms suddenly regaining some strength—though still no match for Fu Junhang’s vise-like hold. The ringing stopped.

"Let’s continue~"

"Ngh—stop…"

Their lips tangled again, and Chu Yan lost all control.

But before long, the phone rang once more. This time, Chu Yan managed to twist away with a jerk and sit up.

He grabbed the phone from the table, his face flaming scarlet, his fingers unsteady with lingering arousal.

An unknown number—but if it was a wrong call, why would they dial twice?

"Hello?"

His voice quivered slightly, drawing a sharp growl from Fu Junhang’s lower abdomen. But the next second, the familiar voice on the other end iced Fu Junhang's veins.

"Chu Yan, why did you delete me from WeChat?"

Chu Yan bit out a silent 'fuck'. Getting interrupted at a time like this was bad enough, but it had to be the last person he wanted to hear from. A 'fuck' was already on his tongue.