After Unbinding the Simp System, I'm Targeted by the Villain - Chapter 52

Yu Chucheng hadn’t actually meant to be so direct, but by the time he realized what he had done, it was too late. He heard his own rapid heartbeat; it felt as if both the left and right atria of his heart had simultaneously toggled to “rave mode.”

Duan Huaijin usually looked lean in clothes, but he was actually all muscle. Holding him felt firm and solid. An Alpha’s body temperature is higher than an Omega’s, and with the distance between them reduced to zero, Yu Chucheng felt Duan Huaijin’s warm breath—it was both reassuring and incredibly pleasant to smell.

At this very moment, they were standing on a main street. Although there weren’t many pedestrians out at night, the occasional passerby couldn’t help but cast curious glances their way.

Yu Chucheng felt a delayed surge of shame. Embarrassed to tell Duan Huaijin directly that he came here because he wanted to see him, he used his pheromone dependency as a cover. “I… I wanted to smell your pheromones.”

Duan Huaijin lowered his eyes. “Feeling unwell?”

Yu Chucheng paused for a moment, his voice slightly raspy when he spoke again. “Mm. But more because I wanted to smell them.”

Duan Huaijin’s hands, which had been hovering in the air, gradually tightened and finally landed on Yu Chucheng’s shoulders. Yu Chucheng finally managed to steady his breathing; as he was enveloped by the Alpha’s pheromones, his heart finally settled back into his chest.

The spot where they stood was directly across from a pitch-black alleyway.

Clatter…

A soft sound suddenly came from the alley—an aluminum can fell from a stack of cardboard boxes and rolled across the ground. Yu Chucheng finally realized he had forgotten to let go of Duan Huaijin. He hurriedly pulled away and shoved Duan Huaijin back slightly, looking into the alley alertly. “Who’s there?”

The alley remained quiet.

“Meow!”

A black cat darted out from the shadows. Yu Chucheng’s tense nerves relaxed slightly; it was just a cat. Duan Huaijin took a few extra looks in the direction the cat had run, then swept his gaze over the alley one more time before looking back.

Yu Chucheng felt standing right in front of that alley was a bit creepy, so he pulled Duan Huaijin a few steps to the side.

“I heard today is your birthday…” Yu Chucheng bit his lip. “Happy birthday.”

Duan Huaijin stood before him, the exhaustion and gloom in his eyes gradually pushed aside by other emotions. “Thanks. But I never celebrate my birthday.”

In the past, it was because his family never celebrated it for him; later, it was because he simply didn’t like the date. But today felt a bit special—mostly because the person offering the blessing was so unexpected. He actually began to look forward to what might happen in the final few hours of his birthday.

Yu Chucheng asked tentatively, “Is it because you don’t like it?”

Duan Huaijin replied airily, “It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s because I’m usually the only one who remembers.”

Yu Chucheng, who had grown up in the lap of luxury and received a mountain of gifts every year: “!!!”

All thoughts of “I must keep my distance from the villain” or “I’m a straight guy who likes sweet girls” had been tossed to the back of his mind on the way over. He looked fixedly at Duan Huaijin and said very seriously and earnestly, “Then I’ll celebrate it with you from now on. I will remember your birthday.”

For a split second, Yu Chucheng wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him; he thought he saw Duan Huaijin smile. A cold smile? A sneer? Yu Chucheng wasn’t just bad at reading comprehension; he was also a mess at analyzing micro-expressions. “You don’t believe me?”

Duan Huaijin seemed amused, suppressing a laugh. “No.”

Yu Chucheng couldn’t stand being doubted like that. Instantly provoked, he immediately reached for his phone to order a cake to prove to Duan Huaijin that he was sincere. However, he patted down all his pockets. “Where’s my phone?”

Only then did he remember that in his earlier excitement, he had thrown his phone away.

Twenty minutes later, Yu Chucheng and Duan Huaijin were sitting in a dessert shop.

Yu Chucheng was both embarrassed and annoyed. Just now, in front of Duan Huaijin, he’d had to slink back and pick up his phone. He had been as cool as could be when he threw it, and just as pathetic when he retrieved it. To regain some face, he had specifically picked the most expensive cake in the shop—it was just a bit large; it seemed two people couldn’t finish it.

“What are you thinking about?” Duan Huaijin sliced a piece of cake with fruit and placed it before Yu Chucheng, noticing he seemed distracted.

Yu Chucheng cleared his throat. “Suppose… I’m just saying suppose… suppose one day you discovered your entire life up until now was a mistake. That all the bad things you experienced weren’t meant for you, but rather because someone swapped fates with you. What would you do?”

Duan Huaijin said faintly, “That sort of thing won’t happen.”

Yu Chucheng pressed on, unwilling to give up. “What if it really did?”

“If it really did…” In that instant, for the first time, Yu Chucheng saw a flash of ruthlessness and coldness in Duan Huaijin’s eyes. “Then I would make that person pay. I would make everyone who deceived me pay back a thousandfold.”

As expected, no matter what period of time he was in, Duan Huaijin’s thoughts remained the same.

Yu Chucheng lowered his head and whispered, “Is there no other way? Like, turning it over to the police or something?”

Duan Huaijin paused. He’d had thoughts like Yu Chucheng’s in his past life, but later realized they were too naive. He looked down at the cake on his plate. “When you know you have nothing, you have nothing to fear losing.”

Hearing this answer, Yu Chucheng felt inexplicably dejected. He gripped his fork. A month ago, he hadn’t wanted Duan Huaijin to walk the path of a blackened villain seeking revenge; now, he wanted it even less. He had to do something to change the ending. Since everyone else was unreliable, he’d have to rely on himself.

“You don’t have nothing. I will stand on your side.”

One second, two seconds, three seconds… The longer Duan Huaijin remained silent, the more nervous Yu Chucheng became. Did that sound too narcissistic?

Just as he was staring at his plate, feeling his brain was as smooth and empty as the porcelain, a hand suddenly landed on his head, ruffling his hair very lightly and quickly.

Yu Chucheng’s eyes flew wide. This—this-this-this! Duan Huaijin just rubbed my head?! What does that mean?!

He quickly stole a glance at Duan Huaijin, only to see the other man eating the sweet cake as if nothing had happened. An atomic bomb exploded into a mushroom cloud in Yu Chucheng’s mind, and then his neck—pathetically and at a visible speed—turned red.

Meanwhile, Duan Haixiang was snoring away on his hard bed in his dilapidated apartment.

Lin Mei hadn’t been back for several days, but he was too lazy to care. Debt collectors were hounding him every few days with threats and intimidation; he could barely save himself. Plus, after a few days of running around begging people for money and being turned away countless times, he basically fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

The phone beside him suddenly lit up with a ping. A message from an unknown number.

Duan Haixiang smacked his lips and dizzily opened his phone—

[Have you gathered the money for the gambling debt?]

As if he’d seen a ghost, Duan Haixiang bolted upright in bed, breaking into a cold sweat. Before he could recover, the unknown number sent two more messages.

[Image]

[Take a good look. Now you know who to ask for money, right?]

Duan Haixiang tremblingly clicked on the photo. The angle was strange, as if taken from a hidden corner, but he could clearly see two people embracing under a streetlamp.

Duan Haixiang recognized Duan Huaijin instantly. As for the other person, he stared at the profile in the photo for a long time, narrowing his eyes. “Why does this person look so familiar?”