SM Chapter 1
by VolareBeside the open-air Swimming Pool, Ye Lai, draped in a bathrobe, sat on a lounge chair, squinting at the entertainment headlines pushed to his cell phone. He allowed the water droplets from his hair to drip down. The water trickled down his forehead, over his dense, slender eyelashes, sliding like tears across his cheeks flushed from exercise, finally gathering on his chin before dropping after a long while.
Ye Lai’s profile, covered in a mist of water, and his upright nose supported the gentle curve of the sunlight. The pink on his earlobes was still spreading. Between his soft breaths, his small, rounded Adam’s apple bobbed on his neck.
After reading the news, Ye Lai’s slightly parted red lips pressed tightly together, the corners of his mouth turned down slightly.
#Platinum Awards Gala, Sheng Mingqian and Zhou Ran Sweetly Together#
#Best Director Sheng Mingqian Joins Hands with Best Actor Zhou Ran, a Deep Gaze on the Red Carpet#
#After Five Years, Sheng Mingqian and Zhou Ran “Team Up” Again#
Clicking on the headline’s video, it was footage from the red carpet and the awards gala.
Sheng Mingqian’s directed film “Double” was a huge success at this film festival: Best Director, Best Screenwriter, Best Actor, Best Actress…
In short, they swept all the awards.
Ye Lai had seen the film, it deserved its reputation, there was nothing to say. Winning was expected by everyone; it would have been strange if it hadn’t won.
Sheng Mingqian spent more than three years making the film. He made the actors refine one shot over thirty times before passing it. The originally scheduled male lead couldn’t stand his twisted pickiness and quit, so Sheng Mingqian finally brought in his “old partner” Zhou Ran.
This was something Ye Lai only heard about later. Thinking of this, Ye Lai gave a bitter laugh. To be precise, Sheng Mingqian and Zhou Ran weren’t just old partners, they were old flames.
The entertainment gossips used to say that Sheng Mingqian and Zhou Ran had been in an underground relationship for more than three years. The male leads in Sheng Mingqian’s early films were basically all Zhou Ran. It was said that they broke up because of incompatible personalities, and after the breakup, they no longer worked together. After five years, the media’s focus naturally fell on them.
After all, they were old flames, so naturally they had chemistry. They had chemistry in filming, and even at the awards gala.
In the video, the two walked side by side on the red carpet. Zhou Ran smiled at the camera, while Sheng Mingqian still had his usual icy face. They signed their names together, took photos together, and when the host asked them questions, Zhou Ran tilted his head slightly, smiling as he looked at Sheng Mingqian, who also looked back at him…
One was a genius actor, the other a genius director, they looked like a match made in heaven. The comments below were already going crazy.
[My dead CP suddenly attacks me, please lock them up!]
[Please move a bed for them on the spot, thank you]
[Ahhh, I want to lick the screen! That look between Sheng Mingqian and Zhou Ran is too sweet, I’m dying from the sweetness…]
[I’m the Civil Affairs Bureau, I’ve already taken the initiative to come, please get married on the spot]
Ye Lai clicked his tongue when he saw this comment: “What kind of bullshit hot search is this? You’re worshipping at the wrong grave. Sheng Mingqian sleeps on my Ye Lai’s bed at night, it’s legal, protected by law…”
[I seem to have discovered something amazing, look at Sheng Mingqian’s neck, is that a hickey under his shirt collar? I know, Zhou Ran must have given it to him, ahhhhh!]
The corner of Ye Lai’s mouth curved into a slight arc: “You know, you know, you know jack shit. That hickey on his neck was made by me last night. Not only his neck, but also his chest, his collarbone, even the root of his thigh.”
…
The more he watched, the angrier he got. Ye Lai threw down his cell phone, ripped off his bathrobe, and jumped into the pool again, swimming back and forth five or six times with all his might before stopping.
When he came up again, there was already someone else on the lounge chair. Sheng Mingqian was only wearing swimming trunks, his long legs crossed and stretched out. The side view outlined his slender, powerful lines.
Ye Lai lay on the edge of the pool, watching him. He could never get enough of looking at him, even after all these years. The shape of the light traced Sheng Mingqian’s heroic face. His sword-shaped eyebrows were thick and well-defined, and even with his eyes closed, one could see the depth of his eye sockets. Fine beads of sweat from the sun hung on his straight nose, and his sharp lips revealed a hint of fortitude and sharpness.
Sheng Mingqian exercised regularly and was extremely disciplined, so even when his body was relaxed, the contours of his muscles were still pronounced. One couldn’t tell that he was already thirty-six.
Ye Lai didn’t know how long he had been downstairs. Sheng Mingqian’s cell phone was placed beside him, and the video was still playing.
The awards host was asking Zhou Ran in an ambiguous way about his level of chemistry with Sheng Mingqian.
Zhou Ran was evasive, his words and gaze making people’s imaginations run wild. The comments were even crazier than before.
Ye Lai glanced at the cell phone, then looked at Sheng Mingqian’s face.
“Have you looked enough?” Perhaps a long time had passed before a cold voice reached him. Ye Lai curled his toes and cursed himself inwardly for being so hopeless.
“Mingqian…” Ye Lai went ashore, putting on his usual well-behaved and docile appearance. The lounge chair was very wide and long. Without drying himself, he lay directly in Sheng Mingqian’s arms.
“The netizens are about to move the Civil Affairs Bureau in front of you two. They’re all waiting for you and Zhou Ran to get married. I’ll be jealous.”
Zhou Ran was acting, so would he.
Ye Lai tilted his neck, raising his fair and delicate face. The skin on his body was as white as jade, almost translucent in the sunlight. His shallow double eyelids extended to the corners of his eyes. Those peach blossom eyes, filled with affection, curved upward even when he wasn’t smiling, able to evoke a captivating arc at any time. He just looked at Sheng Mingqian like that.
But Sheng Mingqian kept his eyes closed, unable to see the turbulent emotions in his eyes at that moment.
Sheng Mingqian didn’t respond to his words. If it were normal, Ye Lai wouldn’t have said anything more if Sheng Mingqian didn’t speak. He would just quietly nestle in his arms, feeling good to be so close to him, listening to his heartbeat, and feeling the warmth of his body.
But Ye Lai didn’t want to be quiet today. The area around his heart felt like it had been picked at with a hook, skin and flesh together. He felt pain.
He tilted his head, chuckled softly, and opened his mouth: “Great Director, although the film you directed is called ‘Double,’ you must not make a principled mistake. If you marry him, you will be committing bigamy.”
As expected, his words provoked Sheng Mingqian.
Sheng Mingqian slowly opened his eyes. Ye Lai even saw the arc that his eyelashes drew in the air as he lifted his eyelids.
Sheng Mingqian seemed to have grown on an iceberg, with a naturally cold face. However, most of the coolness was contained in his eyes. Seeing him suddenly look over, Ye Lai’s breath hitched.
Those sharp lips finally moved, and the words that came out were also cold: “Half a year left…”
Ye Lai wanted to take back his words, but it was already too late. The expression on his face stiffened for a moment, and he lowered his neck slightly, no longer looking at Sheng Mingqian.
The sunlight above was blinding. The vision in front of Ye Lai’s eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of red gauze, and he couldn’t see anything clearly.
The skin on Sheng Mingqian’s arm behind his neck was burning hot, scalding him and making him want to escape, but he couldn’t bear to part with that bit of warmth.
Ye Lai gently closed his eyes: “Mingqian, you don’t have to deliberately remind me. I remember our prenuptial agreement, only five years. I remember.”
Ye Lai’s longing was useless. Sheng Mingqian quickly pulled out his arm and walked to the edge of the pool, getting into the water.
Sheng Mingqian was on the school swimming team during middle school. His swimming posture and speed were unmatched by people like Ye Lai, who only knew how to dog paddle. Once in the water, his body was as light as a fish that had always lived in the water. Watching him swim was a pleasure.
Ye Lai was obsessed with Sheng Mingqian, fascinated by everything about him: his skin, his body, his voice, including the splashes of water his arms made while swimming.
Everything about Sheng Mingqian’s name was enough to make him infatuated, oblivious to the passage of time.
But he didn’t watch for long, quickly closing his eyes again.
He didn’t know how much time had passed before Ye Lai felt the red light above him being covered by a shadow. Then, a weight with moisture pressed down on him, and cold lips touched his.
“Mmm…” Ye Lai didn’t even have a chance to catch his breath, completely suppressed by Sheng Mingqian.
Sheng Mingqian was rarely so eager. The bathrobe on Ye Lai’s body was quickly torn off by him and thrown into the pool behind them. A large expanse of white floated in a deep blue, rippling back and forth.
Ye Lai liked having sex with Sheng Mingqian, even obsessed with it. They had sex more often than anything else in these past few years.
The villa was detached, with only the two of them, so he could fully display his enjoyment.
“Enchantress…” Sheng Mingqian blocked Ye Lai’s moaning lips.
Ye Lai raised his two slender arms and hooked them around Sheng Mingqian’s neck, responding forcefully, not wanting to be outdone.
“Do you like it that much?” Sheng Mingqian released him, pressed close to his ear, opened his mouth, and bit his earlobe hard.
“Of course,” Ye Lai moaned softly in pain, his eyes glazed over, the original pink on his face already completely flushed. “I like your body.”
Although most of the coolness on Sheng Mingqian’s body was immersed in his captivating eyes, as soon as they got into bed, that ice would instantly transform into fire of the same intensity.
Between ice and fire, Ye Lai’s body trembled. He could never last long in Sheng Mingqian’s hands.
“So fast…” A hoarse teasing voice entered Ye Lai’s ears, the sound boring into the depths of his body.
Ye Lai was so ashamed that his face was about to drip blood, and his eyelashes trembled non-stop, but he didn’t want to open his eyes.
“Turn over, it’s still early…”
From when the sun was high in the sky until it slanted to the west, Ye Lai felt like his whole body was falling apart.
Sheng Mingqian’s breathing was rapid. Ye Lai knew that Sheng Mingqian had had his fill. He had tried his best to cooperate with any position Sheng Mingqian had asked for just now.
Ye Lai lifted his eyelids, which felt like stones, and lay back in Sheng Mingqian’s arms: “Mingqian, I heard that you got the rights to that novel ‘The World on the Bough,’ and you want to make it into a movie.”
“Who did you hear that from?” Sheng Mingqian’s hoarse voice was mixed with a hint of darkness, sounding like he was unhappy. “Did you hear it from Lin Han?”
Lin Han was Sheng Mingqian’s agent. If he said he heard it from him, that answer shouldn’t be a problem.
Ye Lai answered: “Yes, I heard it from Brother Han.”
“What is it? What are you planning to do by asking about this?” Sheng Mingqian’s fingers caressed his back through his bathrobe, lightly teasing him, but also dangerously.
Ye Lai’s waist arched as he was touched, and he snuggled into Sheng Mingqian’s arms: “Mingqian, can I ask you for a role?”
“What role?”
“The male lead in ‘The World on the Bough.'”
Ye Lai’s eyes, red from crying, were filled with moisture. When he looked at people like this, he was unusually docile. His wet eyes, paired with his moving and pitiful face, probably not many people could resist such coquetry and temptation.
“Is that okay?”
Not hearing Sheng Mingqian’s answer, Ye Lai asked again, and even left a kiss on Sheng Mingqian’s chin.
“You’re not suitable.” Sheng Mingqian didn’t linger on Ye Lai’s face, rejecting him decisively without hesitation.
Ye Lai didn’t expect Sheng Mingqian to reject him without even thinking about it, but he still didn’t give up: “You haven’t even let me audition, how do you know I’m not suitable?”
Sheng Mingqian pulled his arm out again, standing up without mercy, his back to Ye Lai: “When I say you’re not suitable, you’re just not suitable.”
Ye Lai was stunned for a long while, finally lying limp there, muttering to himself after regaining his senses: “If I’m not suitable, who is?”
Ye Lai’s voice was too soft, muffled, and Sheng Mingqian didn’t hear clearly, turning his head to ask him: “What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
Sheng Mingqian bent down, pinching Ye Lai’s chin with his thumb and forefinger, turning his face: “Five years ago, when I asked you what you wanted, money? Resources? You said you didn’t want any of that, that you chose to have me. One shouldn’t be too greedy in life.”
Ye Lai thought he was already numb to things like this. It was something he already knew, but when Sheng Mingqian said it so bluntly, the area around his chest still contracted tightly in pain.
Five years hadn’t been able to warm up this stone of Sheng Mingqian, and he was still being stabbed by the thorns on his body, covered in blood, but even so, he couldn’t bear to part with him.
Ye Lai opened his eyes, feigning a laugh, and moved his neck, dodging his palm: “How boring. You remember so clearly, are you that impatient?”
“Afraid you’d forget, reminding you.” Sheng Mingqian stood up straight, still looking down at Ye Lai, “Why do you want that role?”
Ye Lai turned his face to the side, no longer looking at Sheng Mingqian’s cold eyes: “Since I can’t keep the person, of course I want to get something else, otherwise, it’d be too much of a loss…”
He was smiling the whole time he said this, and the orange specks of sunlight at dusk on his face were also shaking, precarious, as if they were overwhelmed and about to sink.