Chapter 71: You Must Miss Me

Chapter 71: You Must Think of Me

The next morning, Lu Hechi woke up feeling refreshed. He turned over and instinctively reached out beside him.

It was empty.

He froze, then snapped his eyes open.

Bright sunlight squeezed through the window. Lu Hechi sat up in bed, the blanket sliding off his chest, revealing scratch marks all over his body.

They were densely scattered across his chest and back, looking sexy and alluring in the sunlight.

Clearly, things had gotten wild.

He turned his head and saw the cat ears still on the nightstand, with the tail neatly placed beside them.

The fur at the tip of the tail had been brushed smooth, like someone had taken the time to fix it up.

Lu Hechi thought about how Shen Lanxue had stayed up half the night, then gotten up and picked these things up from under the bed to carefully put them away.

He felt like a total animal.

But his man had been exhausted last night, yet still woke up this early—that stamina was unreal.

After that little moment of self-reflection, Lu Hechi got up, washed up, changed, and headed downstairs.

Shen Lanxue had already left for work, and Little Star was in his piano lesson.

Even though Lu Hechi had no musical talent, he could tell his son didn't have much potential in that area.

It was pure torture, no lie.

Lu Hechi suffered through the racket while eating breakfast.

After Shen Yixing finished his lesson, he played with him for a while, then drove to the company.

The buzz from the variety show hadn't faded with time—it was only intensifying.

Netizens had dug up the deets on the civilian guests and posted them online, setting off a firestorm.

Lu Hechi had been masking up every time he stepped out lately.

By the second week of the show's airing, a new episode came out, and netizens started combing through every frame for crumbs.

The friend show had fully morphed into a dating show.

Lu Hechi, with his strikingly handsome face, no surprise, became everyone's favorite, which ended up boosting his company and the talent under him.

Guangyao Media was blowing up on the trending board.

The smaller artists got way more exposure, the company's projects started piling up, and some directors even sent Lu Hechi scripts, trying to get him to dip into a BL drama.

Lu Hechi was dumbfounded for a sec, then forwarded it to Chen Jiadong.

Chen Jiadong egged him on to go for it, saying it was the cheat code to going viral—guaranteed fame, maybe even worldwide.

Lu Hechi asked, "Then why don't you do it?"

Chen Jiadong said he'd been thinking about it for ages and had even reached out, but right when he was about to sign, Song Jiyao put the brakes on hard.

Because the script was packed with kissing and bed scenes.

Lu Hechi just replied with "..."

Nearly half a month flew by in a blur of busy.

In showbiz, it's all about exposure.

Even if you've only got fifteen seconds, as long as you shine in that window—whether it's looks, personality, or talent—

Any one of those is enough to make you stick in people's minds.

It was almost August. The sun had the city trapped in a glass jar, baking it alive.

Lu Hechi finally got his company stuff squared away and wanted to take Shen Lanxue out on a proper date, but the guy had to jet off abroad for work.

A whole dang month.

Lu Hechi's first instinct was to go with him, but he had Shen Yixing and his own company to handle, so he could only watch, helpless, as he sent him off at the airport.

The departure hall was way more packed than he expected.

Lu Hechi parked, grabbed Shen Lanxue's suitcase from the trunk, stood by the car staring at the terminal for a beat, then set it back down.

Shen Lanxue got out of the passenger side, shut the door, and came around to the trunk, finding Lu Hechi standing there, hand still on the handle.

"You can drop me off here," Shen Lanxue said.

Lu Hechi turned to him. "I'll walk you to security."

Shen Lanxue gave him a look and didn't say no.

They walked side by side into the terminal, the suitcase rolling smoothly over the polished floor.

The speakers overhead were announcing boarding for some flight, the voice echoing around them.

Lu Hechi walked next to him, slower than usual, his hand glued to the suitcase handle.

At the security line, Shen Lanxue stopped and pulled the suitcase toward himself.

He met Lu Hechi's eyes. "I'll be back in a month."

"I know," Lu Hechi said, sounding bummed.

"If work gets busy, drop Little Star off at the old house—Grandma'll look after him."

"...Yeah, I know."

"Make sure you eat on time."

Lu Hechi looked at him. "Anything else you wanna say to me?"

Shen Lanxue paused. "...I'll miss you."

Lu Hechi stepped in, pulled Shen Lanxue into a hug, and buried his face in his shoulder. "You better think of me!"

"I'll text you every day. You can reply late, but you can't ignore me. Don't chat up random guys, and if anyone tries to hit on you, shut them down hard."

"Better yet, whip out my photo and tell them you've got a husband who's a hundred times hotter than they are."

Shen Lanxue: "…"

"And outside of work, make sure you eat right, sleep on schedule, don't pull all-nighters, and take good care of yourself."

"If it thunders, call me. If you miss me, call me. If you're feeling down, call me. Basically, call me for anything—or nothing at all."

Lu Hechi went on and on for a good five minutes, then, reluctant to let go, gave Shen Lanxue's earlobe a soft nibble and finally released him.

"You got all that I told you?"

Shen Lanxue nodded.

Li Wenrui approached from behind with a few people in tow, only stepping forward once the two had separated.

He took Shen Lanxue's suitcase and gave Lu Hechi a nod in greeting.

Lu Hechi nodded in return.

Then he watched them head into the security checkpoint, passports and boarding passes in hand for the staff.

Shen Lanxue looked back over his shoulder.

Lu Hechi was still standing there, watching him from behind the row of barriers.

Shen Lanxue gave a quick wave, then turned and walked through the gate.

Lu Hechi stood by the barrier for a while, until the figure was out of sight, before turning toward the exit.

On the drive home, he put on some music—a soft, gentle track. Sunlight streamed through the window and spilled across the dashboard.

He felt a hollow ache in his chest.

It was the first time they'd be apart this long, and everything felt wrong. He was in a funk.

When he got home, Little Star was sprawled on the living room carpet, building with LEGOs. At the sound of the door, he looked up: "Dad, where's Daddy?"

"Daddy's away on a business trip."

"Where'd he go?"

"Overseas."

Little Star looked down and went back to his LEGOs: "When's he coming back?"

"A month."

Little Star counted on his fingers, lost track, then looked up: "Will he bring me a present when he comes back?"

Lu Hechi walked over and sat down next to him: "He will."

Little Star was happy with that and went back to his LEGOs.

The living room went quiet, broken only by the soft click of bricks knocking together.

Lu Hechi leaned against the arm of the sofa, watching Little Star's focused profile.

From this angle, Little Star's eyes and nose looked like they'd been stamped from the same mold as Shen Lanxue's.

When he was quiet and still, the resemblance was uncanny.

As he watched, Lu Hechi suddenly realized he was already missing his brother. How the hell was he supposed to get through this month?