Dark Fire chapter 44
Keep Your Distance
At the end of the month, they both attended a certain entertainment gala.
Lu Chixie had always been disinterested in such events, but because Ling Zhuo was going with the group, he decided to join as well.
However, the organizer hadn’t arranged for them to sit together. Lu Chixie went on stage first to receive a participation award, and then stayed backstage without going to the front.
Ling Zhuo’s group’s award presentation and performance were scheduled later. Half an hour later, after Ling Zhuo came off stage, Lu Chixie was still waiting for him in the makeup room.
Ling Zhuo entered and said to him, “I didn’t see you earlier. I thought you had left.”
Lu Chixie replied, “We’ll leave together later.”
“I need to go on stage again, so it’ll be a bit later,” Ling Zhuo said.
He sat in front of the makeup table to touch up his face. Lu Chixie bent over from behind him, brushing his finger on Ling Zhuo’s lips, and looked at his face in the mirror. “What lipstick are you wearing? Why make it so red?”
Ling Zhuo pushed his hand away, “Stop it.”
The makeup room only had their teammates at the moment, and Ling Zhuo felt awkward. Lu Chixie seemed to be doing it on purpose.
Lu Chixie leaned in closer. “Stop what? Can’t I touch you?”
Ling Zhuo turned his face away, frowning.
Lu Chixie said, “We’ll talk about this when we get home,” completely disregarding the other people in the makeup room.
Except for Zhong Yiran, the others looked at their conversation with odd expressions, even Qi Liangyu seemed hesitant but didn’t ask.
Ling Zhuo didn’t want to deal with Lu Chixie’s antics and walked to the changing room.
He still had a personal award to collect. The others had finished their work and left after packing up. When he changed his clothes and came out, Lu Chixie was still at the makeup table, looking at his phone. Ling Zhuo didn’t have time to talk to him and went straight out the door.
Zhong Yiran, however, was still outside talking to a staff member. Ling Zhuo nodded at him, about to leave when Zhong Yiran suddenly called out, “Ling Zhuo.”
Ling Zhuo stopped in his tracks.
The person Zhong Yiran was talking to had left, and now it was just the two of them. Zhong Yiran looked at him with a somewhat complicated expression, “Ling Zhuo, is your relationship with him equal?”
Ling Zhuo was taken aback.
Zhong Yiran continued, “I know I shouldn’t pry into your personal matters. I’m just worried you might be taken advantage of. What happened just now, although we saw it, won’t matter much. But if outsiders see it, it could affect your reputation, and I’m afraid you…”
“Captain,” Ling Zhuo interrupted, “Why do you think my relationship with him is unequal? Do you think I’m someone who would choose an unequal relationship because of his status?”
Zhong Yiran: “I didn’t mean it that way. I’m just a bit worried about you. Don’t misunderstand, sorry.”
Ling Zhuo’s tone softened slightly: “Forget it, Captain. You don’t need to concern yourself with my affairs with him. I don’t like it when people talk about me or him. Let’s leave it at that. I’m about to go on stage now, so I’ll head out.”
Zhong Yiran was taken aback for a moment before Ling Zhuo had already walked away.
Lu Chixie was coming out of the makeup room and leaned against the door, watching him. “Let’s have a few words.”
Zhong Yiran kept a cold face and said nothing. Lu Chixie turned and went back inside, with Zhong Yiran following him and closing the door.
Lu Chixie spoke first: “Stop bothering Ling Zhuo from now on. You gave up your own chance. Don’t drag things out any longer. If you could be more graceful, I might have a higher opinion of you.”
Zhong Yiran’s brows were tightly furrowed.
Lu Chixie sneered: “I know you’re unwilling to accept it. Ling Zhuo liked you before, and you liked him too, but you were too afraid to accept him. You thought you were doing it for his own good and believed that I’m only with him because of my money and power.”
Lu Chixie hit the nail on the head, making Zhong Yiran’s expression turn a bit unpleasant: “Aren’t you the same? You and him are not in the same league. It’s fine if you fool around, but why play with his feelings?”
Lu Chixie: “This is my and his own business. What do you understand? If I were you, I would have been with him long ago. The only reason you’re not with him is that you’re cowardly and timid. You’re not even in the same league as Ling Zhuo. You can’t give him what he wants. If you really don’t want to affect his reputation, stay away from him in the future.”
“You don’t have the right to interfere in his matters anymore.”
Twenty minutes later, Ling Zhuo’s second performance was over. Yang Ming helped him gather his things, and they left directly.
Lu Chixie was waiting for him in the parking lot. Ling Zhuo ignored him and got into his own car.
Xiao Qian returned awkwardly to tell Lu Chixie: “Zhuo Ge won’t come over. His car has already left.”
Lu Chixie leaned back in his seat and lazily said: “Let’s go.”
When they arrived home, Ling Zhuo was already watching TV. He had turned on the TV to watch the second episode of the variety show aired that day.
Upon hearing the sound, he glanced at Lu Chixie who walked into the living room but still didn’t acknowledge him. Lu Chixie, with his hands in his pockets, leaned against the edge of the sofa and looked down at him: “Your temper is quite something, huh?”
Ling Zhuo: “Not as much as Teacher Lu, who can go off at any time.”
When he got angry, he still called Lu Chixie “Teacher Lu.”
Lu Chixie reached over, running his fingers across Ling Zhuo’s face. Ling Zhuo looked up: “What did I do to offend you today?”
Lu Chixie: “What were you whispering about with someone else during the opening?”
Ling Zhuo: “……”
Lu Chixie pulled out a photo on his phone to show him. It was a picture of Ling Zhuo and Zhong Yiran talking closely, with the logo indicating it was taken by Zhong Yiran’s fan site.
During the opening, they had been sitting in the audience watching others perform. Ling Zhuo and Zhong Yiran’s seats were next to each other, and Zhong Yiran had reminded him about his upcoming performance. Because the venue was too loud, they had leaned in to talk, and a fan sitting two rows behind them had taken the photo.
No wonder he was being so sarcastic.
Ling Zhuo: “He was talking to me about something serious. What are you thinking?”
Lu Chixie: “Stay away from him in the future.”
Ling Zhuo: “Why are you so jealous? Were you raised in a vat of vinegar?”
Under Lu Chixie’s gaze, Ling Zhuo softened his tone and shook his hand: “Fine, Lu Ge, good brother, please don’t be angry.”
After the last discussion about titles, Ling Zhuo sometimes called Lu Chixie by his full name and sometimes, like others, called him Lu Ge. The first time he used this title, Lu Chixie had asked why, and Ling Zhuo had simply said he wanted to. Lu Chixie laughed, pinched his face, and let it be.
Lu Chixie was easily appeased by this.
Lu Chixie: “Be obedient in the future.”
Ling Zhuo: “Okay.”
Lu Chixie finally let it go and sat down.
Ling Zhuo moved closer to him. Lu Chixie took his hand, and when Ling Zhuo tried to scratch him, Lu Chixie held him down, reminding him: “Stop messing around. Watch the TV.”
The episode had already been on for a while. Ling Zhuo saw himself on the screen, scratching his head and constantly sending messages, and when asked about it, he had thrown out “My dad” as an excuse. Lu Chixie glanced at him: “Your dad?”
Ling Zhuo awkwardly said: “I just said it casually.”
Lu Chixie turned his gaze back to the TV screen and commented blandly: “You’re quite interesting.”
Ling Zhuo felt he was being mocked again, so he bit Lu Chixie’s wrist. Lu Chixie lightly pinched his earlobe, making Ling Zhuo feel a ticklish sensation, and he reluctantly let go.
Ling Zhuo decided to lie down, watching TV while browsing the internet.
This new episode of the show had good ratings compared to other shows, and its online popularity was quite high. Especially tonight’s episode, from the moment the camera entered his home, posts discussing his luxury apartment flooded Weibo and major forums. Some even quickly found out the specific neighborhood.
“Over 200,000 per square meter, this place must be worth over a hundred million. I’m so envious.”
“Are all idols so rich now? He hasn’t debuted for long, has he?”
“I thought this episode would be filmed at the Group’s collective villa. When did he start living alone? I remember he was still living with his teammates in the group variety show before he started filming, right?”
Ling Zhuo frowned as he read the comments. He had expected the show to cause some trouble, but he didn’t anticipate it would be exposed so quickly.
It might have been better to move half a month later, filming at the collective dorms. Zhang Jing’s disapproval was likely just to avoid having teammates take advantage of his variety show exposure.
“Don’t worry about paparazzi,” Lu Chixie comforted him, “If someone really tries to stalk you, just call the police.”
Ling Zhuo exhaled lightly.
But clearly, there was more for him to worry about.
As the show aired, online discussions grew. The cameras captured every clumsy move he made, and the production team highlighted these as a running gag, further intensifying the topic when Lu Chixie appeared later on.
“Damn, damn, damn, who’s telling the truth here? Is this LZ’s place or LCX’s? Who was LZ messaging before? I don’t believe it’s his dad; it must be seeking help from LCX. LCX’s state clearly indicates it’s his home. He’s so familiar with it. These two guys are definitely cohabiting!”
“Speaking of this house being the young master’s, that would make sense. I thought, the LZ always said he was very frugal in interviews, so how could he afford such an extravagant house?”
“Recently, LZ seems like a little pampered wife raised by a rich boss. An over-billion-dollar house, million-dollar couple watches—these two are not even trying to hide it, tsk.”
“The production team should properly invite the young master once. Didn’t the young master say he’d invite everyone to his place? Let’s see which house it will be.”
“So it turns out calling each other ‘teacher’ is really a form of flirtation…”
“I’m a bit scared now. So, the previous scandal about them being seen together in the same hotel room was actually true.”
“I thought it was true from the start. Since the young master met LZ, he’s been acting weird, doing so many things he wouldn’t have done before. That time he spent over 200,000 buying the CP’s fan club merchandise was definitely him. LZ, too—besides his teammates, has he ever been this close to anyone else? The way they seem to ignite each other, something must be really going on.”
“Do CP fans have a screw loose? Can they fantasize about anything? Ling Zhuo obviously has a better relationship with his teammates. Did he have any interaction with Lu Chixie at tonight’s event? Only you guys can imagine these things!”
“Exposing your real identity, you’re just another CP fan. Acting all high and mighty, just because you’re shipping the Ling-Ran group’s CP doesn’t mean others can’t help LZ find a good husband. Let’s not even talk about family background, the young master’s looks and skills are way better than the captain’s. Why are you so upset?”
“As a loyal fan of Ling-Chi CP passing by, though it’s all just imagination, it’s okay to secretly ship it. As for the rest, forget about it.”
“Even if we set aside the fantasies, their private relationship is really good. LCX clearly isn’t visiting LZ’s place for the first time. Whether they’re actually living together is secondary; just ship it.”
Ling Zhuo almost had his face smashed by his phone. Lu Chixie took it, read out the phrase “little pampered wife raised by a rich boss,” and laughed.
Ling Zhuo got up to snatch the phone back: “Stop laughing. What’s so funny about this mess?”
Lu Chixie: “I was about to tell you that the production team did send me a formal invitation. I accepted it. We’re recording next week.”
Ling Zhuo: “…Then which house are you planning to invite people to?”
Lu Chixie: “My family’s resort.”
Ling Zhuo: “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? You did it last time, and now again.”
Lu Chixie’s behavior—testing the waters at the edge of coming out, making people think whatever they want. It’s as if he’s doing it intentionally.
But Lu Chixie didn’t admit it: “If you think so, then think so.”
The show had ended, Ling Zhuo turned off the TV, said he was going to shower, but was pulled back into Lu Chixie’s arms.
Ling Zhuo raised his hand to push against Lu Chixie’s chest: “What’s wrong?”
Lu Chixie: “Did the online comments upset you?”
Ling Zhuo: “No, why would I be upset? Let them talk. It’s the truth anyway.”
The living room was dark, with only a little light coming in from the terrace after the TV screen went dark.
In the darkness, Lu Chixie’s breath grew closer: “Don’t like others talking about me?”
Ling Zhuo: “Did you hear? … Since you heard, just leave it. It’s your domineering attitude that makes people think I’m being coerced.”
Lu Chixie snorted lightly: “I’ve said it before, asking you to have sex with me doesn’t count as coercion. I’m not doing charity.”
“I’m dating you,” Ling Zhuo said seriously, “You don’t always have to be so domineering. Even if you were in the right at the beginning, I shouldn’t have gotten so close to the captain and made you uncomfortable. You could have talked to me properly. I’ll pay attention next time. I don’t like others talking about you, but they’re not wrong either. You are bullying me.”
Lu Chixie: “I’m domineering, have a bad temper, and strong possessiveness, but I’m not planning to change. I did warn you.”
Ling Zhuo: “I’m not asking you to change. Just be a bit more restrained in public. We can settle things privately. Is that okay?”
He looked at Lu Chixie with his dark, bright eyes, softening his tone: “Lu-ge, if you could be a bit nicer to me, I’d like you even more.”
Lu Chixie laughed softly, the sound tickling Ling Zhuo’s ears: “What are you laughing at?”
Lu Chixie: “Ling Zhuo.”
Ling Zhuo: “Hmm?”
Lu Chixie: “You’re quite good with words.”
Ling Zhuo: “…I didn’t say anything wrong.”
Lu Chixie nodded: “Considering your good attitude, I’ll think about it.”
Ling Zhuo thought for a moment, leaned in, and pressed his lips to Lu Chixie’s.
Lu Chixie looked down at him without moving.
Ling Zhuo whispered: “I’ll take that as a yes.