It turns out some people only speak the truth when they’re half asleep, half awake.
Li Mu thought this as he watched Zhuang Qin for a while.
Late at night, he slept on the single sofa by the bed, legs propped on a footstool, arms hugging a SpongeBob SquarePants plushie, his head tilted back, sharp features catching the first light of dawn through the curtain gaps.
Li Mu, eyes closed, reached out to tug the curtains, blocking out most of the light.
He shifted his position and continued to sleep on the sofa.
At eight in the morning, the alarm went off.
Woken up by the noise, Li Mu half-opened his eyes and saw Zhuang Qin buried under the covers, an arm stretching out, searching around.
Eventually, the alarm clock on the bedside was knocked over and fell to the floor, stopping.
It was probably set to a snooze mode, not meant to ring continuously.
Seeing no further reaction from the bed, just a fuzzy head pressed against the pillow unmoving, Li Mu rubbed his neck and leaned back.
The alarm went off again, and Li Mu watched as Zhuang Qin fumbled around, finally stretching his hand to the floor, half his body falling out of bed, to turn off the alarm.
After rolling around in bed a few times, Zhuang Qin sat up, eyes still closed, seemingly unaware that there was another person in the room, and with messy hair, he went into the adjoining bathroom to wash up.
Li Mu kept silent.
He didn’t have close siblings, nor had he experienced sharing a room with others, so he had never seen such an amusing scene before. It turns out kids love to linger in bed, their reactions upon waking up akin to sleepwalking.
Li Mu heard the electric toothbrush buzzing, a sliver of morning light falling on his head.
Feeling Zhuang Qin about to come out, he pretended to be asleep.
After all, it wouldn’t do for the host to not know he had slept uncomfortably on the small sofa all night.
Zhuang Qin came out and was stunned to see Li Mu in his room.
Why was he sleeping on such a small single sofa?
Recalling last night’s events, he only remembered watching a movie… How he got upstairs to his room was a blur.
Li Mu couldn’t have really slept on this tiny sofa all night, could he?
Zhuang Qin approached him quietly, noticing the golden sunlight casting on his black hair, the deep eye sockets, long eyelashes, high nose bridge, and the little brown mole on his nose tip making his otherwise cold face appear a bit sexier.
He couldn’t really have slept here, right?
Zhuang Qin felt even more guilty and stood beside him, looking down without daring to wake him, hesitating.
Li Mu, pretending to sleep, could feel his gaze. Did he think he wouldn’t notice just because he was ‘asleep’?
The corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl up slightly.
Zhuang Qin glanced at the time; they had to leave for the airport by nine to avoid traffic, and it was forty minutes away.
He decided to wait another ten minutes before waking him.
Zhuang Qin drew the curtains to block the light from waking him and then went downstairs to drink some water and started preparing a simple breakfast in the kitchen.
Li Mu opened his eyes upon hearing Zhuang Qin leave, puzzled; was he not going to watch anymore?
Hearing the sound of the fridge downstairs, Li Mu stood up and stretched, loosening his stiff muscles.
“Awake?” Zhuang Qin saw him come downstairs, wearing his own home clothes which were a bit short, revealing a sliver of his abs; the shorts were small too, looking fine while standing but quite revealing when sitting.
It was morning, and that was hardly a fault.
“There are disposable toothbrushes in the bathroom, I also found a brand new razor. What would you like for breakfast? Xiao Lian will be here soon, I asked him to bring some food over since I’m not good with cooking.”
“What are you making?” Li Mu knew about his poor cooking skills, also recalling how he mentioned on a talk show that his ideal type would be someone who can cook.
“Milk with oatmeal…” Zhuang Qin said, “I have steak and chicken breast, I can cook them if you want. Or we can order takeaway now.”
“I can cook, need help?” He subtly emphasized, “I’m quite good with seafood.”
Like boiled Arctic shrimp.
Zhuang Qin was surprised he could cook, considering Li Mu looked like the type who wouldn’t touch spring water.
“I don’t have seafood in my fridge. You go wash up, I’ll make you a steak, that’s the only edible thing I can cook.”
“It’s no trouble, I’ll have what you’re having.” Li Mu faced the mirror, slowly shaving his chin with the disposable razor.
The two sat at the kitchen island eating oatmeal and boiled eggs, Zhuang Qin asked him, “Did you really sleep on that small sofa last night?”
Li Mu eating his oatmeal: “Mm.”
Li Mu noticed he had picked out all the chocolate pieces from his oatmeal: “I was afraid you’d wake from a nightmare, scared to find no one beside you.”
Maybe waking up to find someone sitting beside him would be scarier—but Zhuang Qin still felt grateful and guilty: “I’m sorry, does your neck hurt?”
Li Mu, physically fit, was about to shake his head when Zhuang Qin said, “I used to sleep in the car often, and it made my neck and shoulders uncomfortable. I learned some massage techniques from a therapist, I’ll give you a ten-minute massage later, it’s quite effective.”
Li Mu, expression unchanged: “…Sure.”
Zhuang Qin put the bowls and cups into the dishwasher, washed his hands with soap, dried them, and came behind the chair, saying, “I’ve washed my hands.”
Afraid Li Mu’s germophobia might act up, he emphasized this before gently placing his hands on him, softly saying, “I haven’t massaged anyone else, I might not control the strength well, tell me if it’s uncomfortable.”
His palms were cold from the water, chilling when they first touched the neck, making Li Mu feel a bit uneasy, a ticklish sensation inside.
Sunlight streamed through the window, Li Mu’s eyes slightly narrowed, like a lazy big cat.
He generally disliked others touching him, knowing hands harbor the most bacteria. Even a touch through clothes would make him uncomfortable for a long time.
But unexpectedly, sometimes the touch of others could feel like this. During filming, physical contact wasn’t rare, but such touches outside of acting were few.
It seemed like he wanted more, wanting him to reach elsewhere. He became somewhat carried away with the feeling of acting, where Zhuang Qin would touch other parts of his body. This thought started to drive him wild.
He’d been abstinent for too long, he stopped himself.
Zhuang Qin kneaded his shoulder line, not using much strength: “Comfortable?”
Li Mu’s Adam’s apple moved, his jaw tensed: “…Mm.”
Zhuang Qin thought he seemed uncomfortable, probably didn’t like it, pressed a few more times then stopped: “I’m going upstairs to pack, we have to leave soon.”
That was it?
Li Mu turned his head, Zhuang Qin said, “Your clothes are in the dryer, should be wearable now.”
Ten minutes later, Xiao Lian called, notifying they were at the underground parking, Zhuang Qin and Li Mu went downstairs: “Your car is still in our parking lot.”
“I’ll have someone come drive it away later, and check your door thoroughly.” Standing in the elevator, Li Mu naturally carried his carry-on, saying, “When are you planning to move?”
“Haven’t found the right place yet, I’ll move next time I come back.” Zhuang Qin had looked into the complex where Song Ge lived; apart from the high price, everything else was good. He still hesitated, afraid that continuing this way might lead to financial issues, risking failure in a gamble.
Li Mu: “I have a house I’ve never lived in, downtown, it’s empty, you can move there.”
“Eh?” Zhuang Qin looked up at him.
Exiting the elevator, Zhuang Qin thought for a moment and said, “If you’re renting out your house, I can move there.”
“Then I’ll rent it to you, no need for a contract, it’s a hassle.” Rent was a minor matter, Zhuang Qin insisted on paying, Li Mu felt it made him more comfortable, so it didn’t matter.
But the kid was under a lot of work pressure, he needed to find a way to quickly acquire Yuedong.
Yuedong was medium-sized, but with many senior executives, not publicly listed, shares widely dispersed, acquiring scattered shares without drawing attention would take some time.
As the car door opened, the driver and Xiao Lian were shocked to see Li Mu.
Xiao Lian’s eyes widened, not understanding what had happened.
The two bent down to get into the van, Zhuang Qin explained, “I told you I bought tickets yesterday, Brother Mu and I are going together. He came over early in his car this morning, didn’t want to trouble me to pick him up.”
“Oh, oh…” Xiao Lian didn’t doubt much, just glanced a few more times at Li Mu.
“Stop at the property management for a bit, I need to pay the fee.” Zhuang Qin said.
Xiao Lian: “Shall I pay it?”
“No need, it’s so early, not many people around, I’m wearing a mask.”
Xiao Lian: “I’ll accompany you.”
Zhuang Qin: “Wait for me in the car.”
Li Mu getting off: “I’m going to buy a pack of cigarettes.”
Xiao Lian watched Li Mu and Zhuang Qin enter the property management office one after another: “…”
Driven by professional responsibility towards artists, Xiao Lian felt something was off.
“He used a swipe card to get in,” the security said, “It’s our complex’s access card, but not sure if it was found or what, might also be bought online… basically didn’t capture his face clearly, looking at the build, might be male.”
The property management took this matter very seriously: “We’ll change the access for building A separately, owners will change their cards, so unauthorized people won’t be able to get in.”
Zhuang Qin thanked them and left the property management office, Li Mu casually bought a pack of cigarettes in the nearby supermarket: “Has this happened before?”
“Following someone into the complex has happened, usually they can’t get in.” In his past life, more severe incidents occurred later, so Zhuang Qin was a bit on edge last night, afraid that person knew his password.
“It’s fine now.” Li Mu restrained the urge to pat his head to comfort him, “Next time I’ll accompany you when you move.”
“Thank you.” Zhuang Qin thought for a moment, handed his phone to Li Mu, “Brother Mu, can you change the password for me, to be safer?”
“I type it?”
“Yes, tell me next time.”
After remotely changing the password, Li Mu noticed the wallpaper: “Yogurt, how long ago was this taken?”
Zhuang Qin hadn’t been to his place many times, the picture looked like it was at his villa, the cat still small.
After getting in the car, Zhuang Qin glanced at the photo, recalled: “Last time I went to your place for the scene? That was the day you were adjusting the projector.”
Li Mu tried to remember.
Not sure what he thought of, his expression suddenly changed: “That day you were taking photos of the cat?”
“Yeah.”
Li Mu fell silent, a low pressure spreading.
During the flight, Li Mu sat next to Zhuang Qin, watching him put on glasses to watch a movie, then fell asleep, so he began reading the script, occasionally looking up at him, deeply concerned about whether he had secretly taken his photo.
Getting off the plane, Li Mu checked the seat and the floor between: “You often forget things.”
“Not… often.” He felt guilty.
Li Mu looked up: “Forgot how you dropped the script?”
“That day… because I had a connecting flight, worried I’d miss it, walked too fast.” Zhuang Qin struggled to explain, started checking his passport and boarding pass, couldn’t find them, panicked a bit, Xiao Lian quickly said: “Here with me, Brother Zhuang!”
Zhuang Qin exhaled: “Thought I lost it, scared me.”
Li Mu’s lips curled up.
Zhuang Qin noticed, Li Mu rarely smiled, such a rare sight: “Smiling at what?”
Li Mu lowered his voice, leaned close so others couldn’t hear: “Not mocking, I was thinking, you can’t go out alone, you’ll get into trouble… a careless kid.”
The warmth blew onto his ear, Zhuang Qin couldn’t help but raise his hand to rub his earlobe, mumbling: “I’ll be careful on my own.”
The group got off the plane, sitting in the car hired by the production team.
“Director Li, you and Teacher Zhuang together?”
The phone rang once, Li Mu saw a message from Guo Baozhen.
“Yes.” He replied.
Director Guo: “Wasn’t Teacher Zhuang’s birthday the other day? The crew is preparing a simple birthday party for him, also a chance for a meal together, when the car drives to the restaurant, just say you wanted to eat at this place, we’ve prepared a surprise.”
Li Mu felt Zhuang Qin needed rest.
“Let’s do it tomorrow.”
Director Guo: “Didn’t you all just get off the plane?”
It was already sunset, would probably be eight or nine by the time they reached the hotel.
“Need to film tomorrow.” Li Mu replied.
“No problem, rare chance to relax, tomorrow’s scenes aren’t heavy, Mr. Qiu specially rented a beachside restaurant, Teacher Zhuang’s presence is all that’s needed! You can go back to rest early.”
Li Mu was somewhat displeased, considered for a moment, then agreed.
Perhaps the crew’s dinner could help Zhuang Qin relax.
On the road, the car moved slowly, Li Mu noticed Zhuang Qin had fallen asleep on the assistant’s shoulder.
Li Mu’s expression darkened: “Does he do this often?”
“What?” Xiao Lian raised his face from his phone screen.
“That,” Li Mu pointed, his voice very low, “sleeping on the shoulder.”
Xiao Lian softly replied: “Occasionally, when he’s very tired.”
Li Mu began to feel sorry again, knowing the reason for his hard work.
He frowned: “Does he like taking photos of cats?”
“Brother Zhuang likes taking photos, cats too, anything really.”
“Taking photos of people?”
“Um… seems so.” Street human interest photos, small vendors, children.
Li Mu felt much better.
Author’s note:
Li Mu: Using the cat as a shield won’t work, he really did take photos of me.
