Song Yu looked at Fu Yuqian with suspicion. He was certain he hadn’t misheard—Yin Lang had just mentioned his name during a phone call with Fu Yuqian, saying something about how Fu Yuqian would “eat” him.
Eat? Song Yu frowned, realizing this wasn’t as simple as it seemed. Why was Yin Lang so familiar with his name when talking to Fu Yuqian?
For a moment, Fu Yuqian felt a wave of panic, but he quickly steadied himself. Lowering his gaze slightly, he sighed softly, picked up his phone, and found Yin Lang’s WeChat. Holding down the voice message button, he spoke in a tone full of melancholy:
“Brother Yin, when I confessed my feelings for Song Yu to you before, I was seeking your help, not for you to turn it into a joke. I’m very disappointed in you for this.”
After sending the message, he immediately blocked Yin Lang and turned off his phone, his actions smooth and decisive.
Yin Lang, upon receiving the voice message, was utterly dumbfounded. Fu Yuqian had confessed three years ago that he had fallen in love with Song Yu at first sight. At the time, he’d boldly informed Yin Lang that once he successfully pursued Song Yu, he’d make their relationship public—flamboyant as a peacock in full display, leaving no room for negotiation. And now he was claiming it was a plea for help? Did he overdose on stupid pills?
“Fu Yuqian, you old fox, what kind of game are you playing now?!”
Yin Lang, still fuming, tried sending a reply, only to find it rejected—Fu Yuqian had blocked him. Furious, he attempted to call, but the phone was turned off.
Yin Lang took deep breaths, silently reciting the mantra “Don’t get angry” to calm himself. What was the point of being upset with Fu Yuqian? In the end, it was he who would suffer. With this thought, Yin Lang managed to soothe himself.
Song Yu, on the other hand, was completely stunned. His head buzzed with the shocking revelation. What was this “emotion” Fu Yuqian, his archrival, was talking about? Could it be that kind of emotion?
He was at a loss, staring blankly at Fu Yuqian, not knowing how to react.
Fu Yuqian reached out and pulled the dazed little cat back into his arms with a sigh. “Yiyi, I feel like fate enjoys playing tricks on me. When Song Yu first entered the industry, I noticed him. He seemed like such a good person—hardworking and ambitious. Later, when we won an award together, I thought it was fate, and I wanted to be friends with him. But I messed it up. For the past three years, I’ve wanted to apologize many times but never found the chance, so I kept silently watching him. Maybe I didn’t even realize it myself, but I developed feelings for him—beyond friendship. It wasn’t until Song Yu’s accident that I realized I truly liked him.”
“I was scared and worried, wanting to check on him every day. But we bear the weight of so many people’s expectations. I didn’t want to disturb him, but I needed to express my feelings. I confided in Brother Yin, but he mocked me for my wishful thinking.”
“Yiyi, someone as dazzling as Song Yu—liking him is my honor.”
After a heartfelt confession, Fu Yuqian concluded, “I’m grateful to have you, Yiyi. Without you, I wouldn’t know who else to share this with.”
Fu Yuqian’s voice was soothing and magnetic, making his words even more touching. Song Yu slowly came back to his senses. He immediately wriggled out of Fu Yuqian’s arms, darted out of the room, and ran to his cat room. He climbed to the top of the cat tree, hiding as if a big bad wolf were chasing him.
Fu Yuqian had a crush on him! If this had happened before his accident, Song Yu would have stood with his hands on his hips, laughing uproariously. “Ha! Even you, my archrival, have fallen for me. Watch me mock you to death before rejecting you mercilessly.”
But now, he couldn’t feel happy about it. He no longer held any hostility toward Fu Yuqian. In fact, he found this archrival quite likable.
Fu Yuqian was highly skilled in his field, good-looking (though not as much as himself), and a top-tier idol with a great personality. On top of that, he was excellent at making cat food—a perfect cat servant. As the saying goes, a man who’s kind to cats makes an ideal boyfriend because he’d treat his partner like a cherished pet.
But all of this was just objective reasoning. Song Yu didn’t have romantic feelings for Fu Yuqian. He even felt awkward about the situation. Fortunately, Fu Yuqian only had a crush on him. Once he regained his human form, he’d avoid Fu Yuqian altogether.
Being in a cat’s body made dealing with this awkwardness easier. Originally, Song Yu had planned to confess his true identity to Fu Yuqian, but now he’d completely abandoned the idea. Who knew if Fu Yuqian might develop some weird ideas about his cat form or demand gratitude after helping him recover?
Is it my fault for being so charming? Of course not, Song Yu thought smugly. He’d never blame himself.
As for Yin Lang’s phone call, he’d already forgotten all about it.
Fu Yuqian had guessed about seventy to eighty percent of Song Yu’s thoughts and decided not to disturb him. Though today’s confession was unintentional, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After all, Song Yu no longer seemed hostile. If he waited for Song Yu to realize things on his own, it might take a lifetime. Now that everything was out in the open, it would be easier to navigate things moving forward.
A warm smile spread across Fu Yuqian’s handsome face. The fact that Song Yu hadn’t lashed out or slapped him was already the best response he could hope for.
Fu Yuqian prepared the cat food and called out, “Yiyi, come down for breakfast.”
After a while, a cute little cat head peeked out from the intricately carved staircase. With its tail upright, the cat trotted over to the food bowl, lowered its head, and started nibbling. Gone were the days of rubbing against Fu Yuqian’s legs—now it maintained a chilly distance.
After breakfast, Fu Yuqian reached out to groom Song Yu’s fur. Since Song Yu couldn’t groom himself, Fu Yuqian had bought a grooming glove and made it a daily routine. But this time, Song Yu darted away. Puzzled, Fu Yuqian asked, “Yiyi, what’s wrong?”
Song Yu turned around and climbed back upstairs, clearly uninterested in interacting with Fu Yuqian.
Fu Yuqian followed him and caught him before he could jump onto the cat tree. Holding him tightly, Fu Yuqian asked with concern, “Yiyi, are you mad at me? Why are you so cold today? Did I do something wrong?”
Song Yu pushed against him in resistance, but Fu Yuqian refused to let go without an answer. Feeling annoyed and worried about being discovered, Song Yu reluctantly pawed at his face and meowed, “Meow~” Why are you so clingy? Who’s the real cat here?
Only then did Fu Yuqian release him and place him in the cat bed. However, he didn’t leave but instead said, “Yiyi, I’m heading to Mango TV for rehearsals the day after tomorrow, followed by a trip abroad. I’ll be gone for five days. I’m worried about leaving you alone at home, and I don’t want to send you to a pet hotel. Song Auntie seemed to like you a lot last time—would you like to stay with her for a few days?”
“Meow!” Song Yu’s eyes lit up instantly. He couldn’t be happier. Staying with his mom meant escaping from Fu Yuqian, the perfect scenario. He wished he could stay with his mom forever.
“Yiyi is so heartless. The moment you meet someone you like, you abandon your own master,” Fu Yuqian said, his eyes filling with a hint of sadness. “Song Yu hasn’t woken up yet. If you can make Auntie Song a little happier, it’ll ease my heart too.”
Song Yu lowered his head, his ears flattening into airplane mode. I didn’t hear anything, didn’t hear a thing, he thought.
Fu Yuqian felt an urge to kiss him again. How could someone be so captivating, with every little movement driving him mad with infatuation?
Thankfully, Fu Yuqian restrained himself and thoughtfully closed the door before heading to the study.
He opened his phone and found only one call from Yin Lang. Fu Yuqian removed him from the blacklist and called back, but Yin Lang immediately hung up. It seemed he was quite upset.
Fu Yuqian called Yin Lang three times before he reluctantly picked up. “Oh, who’s this sly old fox finally remembering me?” Yin Lang mocked.
“Brother Yin, I didn’t mean it this morning. I apologize,” Fu Yuqian admitted readily.
Yin Lang snorted. “I’ve already gotten used to it. So, what’s the matter now? Ready to talk?”
“Brother Yin, what’s the current situation with Xingyue?” Fu Yuqian asked. Initially, he had no intention of going after Xingyue, but now that things had come to a head and they were in a position of absolute advantage, he couldn’t resist the opportunity to gain some benefit. It wasn’t his style to let this chance slip by, especially given how poorly Xingyue treated Song Yu. He also wanted to help Song Yu terminate his contract. However, Song Yu’s contract was notoriously restrictive, and it wouldn’t be an easy task. He’d need to discuss it with Song Yu first.
Yin Lang’s tone grew serious as they shifted to business. “Xingyue is in chaos right now, torn apart by your fans and Song Yu’s fans. Some of their artists with connections are already preparing to terminate their contracts. Let’s not forget, Xingyue only managed to hold on this long because of Song Yu. Now that something has happened to him, all the company’s flaws are exposed. Plus, their treatment of Song Yu has left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.”
“Good. Let them flounder, and redistribute their resources. That’ll teach them not to act recklessly again,” Fu Yuqian said coldly, a stark contrast to the gentle demeanor he showed around Song Yu. His icy tone sent chills down one’s spine.
“I got it. I’ll handle this. You’ve got rehearsals for the New Year’s Gala the day after tomorrow and then an overseas trip. I’ll stick with you the whole way.”
“Understood.”
—-
Ye Tiansi spent a night in hell, obsessively replaying the recording Yin Lang had sent him. His bloodshot eyes betrayed his sleepless state. Where had this recording come from? He’d been careful that day—neither Liu Le nor Fu Yuqian had used their phones, so it shouldn’t have been recorded. Why, then, did this recording exist?
His hatred for Fu Yuqian burned bright, but his resentment toward himself and Song Yu ran even deeper. In the company, Song Yu had always received first pick of resources, leaving scraps for the rest of them. Despite debuting a year ago, Ye Tiansi had only amassed 2 million followers, 1.5 million of which were bought by the company or himself. Meanwhile, Song Yu had 50 million fans. How could this disparity exist when he wasn’t inferior to Song Yu in any way?
He thought Fu Yuqian and Song Yu were sworn enemies, so he tried to curry favor with Fu Yuqian, but it backfired spectacularly.
His phone rang—it was his agent. Afraid but unable to avoid it, Ye Tiansi answered, only to be met with a furious voice. “Get to the company immediately!”
Disguising himself, Ye Tiansi tried to sneak into the office but was spotted by reporters, who swarmed him for interviews. Panicked, he ran, dodging an object someone threw at him, only to stumble and fall heavily.
Once at his agent’s office, he was berated again. The company’s deputy manager had been demoted, and the CEO had taken over personally. Ye Tiansi was told he needed to apologize, but Hua Can wouldn’t accept it directly—they needed an intermediary. The intermediary, however, wanted to have dinner with Ye Tiansi.
The CEO explained, “You’ve caused enormous trouble for the company. We were going to terminate your contract, but this intermediary is a chance to salvage things. If you don’t agree, we’ll terminate you, and you’ll be on your own. But if you agree to meet Mr. Qian, who holds considerable influence, Hua Can might let this pass, and you could even gain resources. Plus, once Song Yu wakes up and publicly forgives you, your reputation will recover.”
Ye Tiansi froze. He’d heard of Mr. Qian, who had been interested in Song Yu, but the company had been unwilling to pressure Song Yu because of his popularity.
Was Mr. Qian now settling for him as a substitute?
Torn, Ye Tiansi’s resentment toward Fu Yuqian and Song Yu tipped the scales. He agreed.
—–
During the day, Fu Yuqian kept to his routine—practicing singing and dancing while reviewing work tasks in advance. Meanwhile, Song Yu, bored in his little nest, spent his time dancing in the cat room, imitating Fu Yuqian’s choreography for the New Year’s Gala. Occasionally, he meowed along, but it sounded more like mating calls. Evidence? A cute tabby female cat appeared outside the window, purring softly, “Cat brother, let’s have kittens together.”
The encounter nearly scared Song Yu out of his wits.
By evening, after dinner and a workout, Fu Yuqian picked up the panting, overheated Song Yu. “Yiyi, it’s bath time tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to Auntie Song’s place.”
Naturally, Song Yu refused. He wasn’t about to let his adorable naked self fall into Fu Yuqian’s hands!
But Fu Yuqian countered, “If you don’t bathe, you can’t meet Auntie Song. I don’t want her thinking you’re a dirty little cat.”
Song Yu found himself in an unprecedented dilemma.
[mfn]You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you and Enjoy reading! ❤️ -TL: Ysiad [/mfn]
