“Bang!”
Soups, watery rice grains, and vegetables exploded at Gong Ze’s feet. The shattered lunch box rolled and fell out the door. Outside the office, employees craned their necks, their faces a mix of shock and gossip.
“What’s going on?”
“Seems like the boss and Young Master Sang are fighting…”
·
“Last night, you just slept with me — you didn’t get enough of me? You had to go find someone else outside? Am I not enough to satisfy you that you had to sneak out and cheat?”
“Gong Ze, you bastard — !”
Sang You’s fists were clenched so tight his whole body trembled with the force of his shout.
His head was pounding — it felt as if all the blood in his body had rushed to his brain. The world spun around him; he felt as if he and his body were being torn apart. Something inside him was trying to rip through his chest, suffocating him — if he didn’t scream it out, he would die.
All pretense of refinement and reserve vanished.
Sang You felt like he had turned into a madman!
Gong Ze stood still, his back to the door, blocking the employees’ curious, startled gazes. “Baby, listen to me—” He stepped forward to explain, but Sang You shoved him away.
Reddened eyes glistened with tears. The beautiful young man’s face was twisted as he screamed, pointing at Gong Ze and venting with every ounce of his being. “You said it didn’t matter! You said you felt bad for me!”
Just yesterday, Gong Ze had held him and sunk with him into the hot, humid rain of clouds, saying over and over that he loved him. Sang You knew his body wasn’t up to par, that he couldn’t satisfy Gong Ze. He had brought it up several times — that he was fine with whatever Gong Ze liked, that he could endure it!!
But Gong Ze had said he was afraid Sang You would get hurt. Gong Ze had said it was okay.
At the time, Sang You had felt so sweet, so moved, so guilty.
And yet — right after holding him, Gong Ze had turned around and held someone else!
“Disgusting — are you disgusting or what?!”
His insides felt as if they were being squeezed and wrung dry. The pain was so terrible Sang You couldn’t breathe.
His mouth hung open, his lips trembling with rage.
Just thinking about the man he loved most betraying him — thinking about Gong Ze and another person, two pale, fleshy bodies entangled in bed, thrusting and twisting together —
Thinking that Gong Ze might have kissed some mistress — man or woman — then come back to the company and kissed him in this same office — Sang You felt as if his body and his heart had been torn to shreds.
He retched dryly, over and over, like a reflex.
“Why are you doing this to me…”
After his outburst, it was as if all of Sang You’s strength and spirit had been drained out of him.
Losing his strength, he covered his face and crouched down, his teeth grinding audibly, his throat so choked it hurt to breathe.
Every word he spoke tasted of blood; he had to exert so much force his whole body shook.
“You touch someone else and then sleep with me — what do you take me for?!”
“Gong Ze!!”
“Waa… how could you do this to me…”
By the end, Sang You felt as if his heart had been scooped out.
The palms covering his face were soaked with tears. He wiped them again and again, unable to maintain that sharp, piercing edge any longer — fragile as porcelain riddled with cracks.
He had given Gong Ze everything.
When he realized that Gong Ze had left him — sick — and snuck out to see someone else, more than anger, the overwhelming feeling was panic.
He was terrified that Gong Ze didn’t want him anymore.
Terrified that Gong Ze would break up with him.
And he could no longer live without Gong Ze.
“Sang You…” Watching the young master crouched on the ground in collapse, Gong Ze’s heart ached with a sharp, stabbing pain.
Listening to Sang You’s confused, heart-wrenching question of “why,” Gong Ze pressed his lips into a straight line. The soft place beneath his chest was tugged along with the young master, as if a thin, sharp hook had been driven into it, pulling on a transparent thread that left a bloody gash in the flesh.
“Calm down… it’s not what you think. Let me explain slowly. I know it was wrong of me to sneak out without telling you. After you hear me out, I’ll do whatever you want me to — okay?”
Gong Ze crouched down and helped Sang You up. The young master’s face was deathly pale, his lips tinged with purple. His hands were cold and clammy with sweat.
In an instant, Gong Ze panicked!
Afraid that such extreme anger and grief might trigger an acute illness in the young master, he held him tightly, whispering soothing words over and over. He took Sang You’s tightly clenched fist and forced the fingers open, rubbing the pale, bloodless tips.
“Don’t touch me!” Sang You’s face was red and tear-stained. He pushed at Gong Ze’s chest and yelled defiantly, “Fine! I want you to go away! Get out!”
Heartbroken, he pushed the man, cursing him as a bastard, telling him to leave.
He didn’t want to see him.
But if Gong Ze actually left, he would be a fool!
“I’m not leaving. If something happened to you after I left, I’d regret it for the rest of my life. I’d never forgive myself.”
Gong Ze hadn’t expected Sang You to be so fiercely angry.
He was genuinely scared now. He wiped his teetering wife’s pale, wet face.
He lowered his head and kept touching Sang You’s face with his lips, kissing the tears from his red-rimmed eyes, his heart aching unbearably. “Even a criminal gets a chance to defend himself. You can’t just sentence me to death without a trial, Sang You.”
“I did go to see someone. But I never did any of the things you’re accusing me of.”
“And where did you learn to say things like ‘not enough at home so go find a mistress’?” Gong Ze was both flustered and almost amused.
Yes, he had gone to see Qin Chuan. Yes, he had manipulated Qin Chuan and Yan Liben into working for him. But he had used the system’s props — how could he have actually touched either of them?
How desperate would he have to be?
To leave behind his fragrant, delicate young master at home and go cheat outside?
The two of them had disagreed before over their size mismatch. Gong Ze knew Sang You was sensitive about it, but he hadn’t expected Sang You to suspect him of finding a lover.
He trapped the young master in his embrace. Sang You kept struggling, refusing to let him touch him. Gong Ze took two hits to the chest. He didn’t let go. Sang You sank his teeth into Gong Ze’s collarbone. Gong Ze hissed in pain.
The system gloated on the side.
That bite had definitely drawn blood. Given the abundance of bacteria in the human mouth, the scar would be hard to remove — it might even stay with Gong Ze through the rest of this world.
The pain sparked a flicker of anger in Gong Ze. But soon, hot tears soaked through the shirt on his shoulder. In that moment, Gong Ze experienced what it felt like to have his heart turn tender and soft, dissolving into a complete mess.
Sigh…
Gong Ze let out a silent sigh. All traces of anger vanished.
He spoke softly, reasoning with his young master. “Let’s go into the break room right now and check my body. You can inspect me all you want. If I really slept with some non-existent third party, there would be marks on me, right?”
Calmed somewhat, Sang You released his bite. His body trembled with sobs as he glared at Gong Ze.
After a moment, his voice hoarse, he said, “…When you came in, I saw that the collar of your suit jacket was wrinkled, and around your arm too. That wouldn’t have happened if you’d left directly from home.”
The auntie at home would have ironed his clothes. She wouldn’t have let him go out wearing a jacket like that.
The system marveled, [Wow — he had time to notice that the moment you walked in? Truly, when catching a cheating husband, the bottom’s IQ approaches that of Sherlock Holmes.]
The corner of Gong Ze’s mouth twitched.
He truly hadn’t expected the young master to be so detail-oriented.
He met those red-rimmed fox eyes and explained seriously, “…I had a bit of a physical altercation with that person. He grabbed my collar and my arm. I pushed him away.”
Sang You: “Why should I believe you!”
“I can show you.”
Gong Ze pulled Sang You into the small break room inside the office, kicked the door shut, and started to undress without another word.
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