After Unbinding the Simp System, I'm Targeted by the Villain - Chapter 58

Early the next morning, Ji Zhou arrived at the apartment, trembling as he lugged a massive box of “condolence gifts” to atone for his sins to Yu Chucheng.

He had spent the night in deep self-reflection. If it weren’t for helping him, Yu Chucheng wouldn’t have been at the bar, let alone drunk enough to encounter those two perverts. But what filled him with the most self-loathing was waking up to find several messages and missed calls from Yu Chucheng on his phone—none of which he had seen at the time.

Duan Huaijin had spent the night in the living room. He called it sleeping, but he was actually just lying on the sofa with his eyes closed to rest his mind. He remained hyper-aware of the pheromone concentration in the air; the moment anything felt slightly off, he would steal a glance into the bedroom.

Yu Chucheng, on the other hand, had slept like a log. While everyone else had dark circles under their eyes the next morning, he was the only one full of energy.

“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault.”

Ji Zhou took the snacks out of the box one by one, arranging them in a ceremonial circle around Yu Chucheng’s bed.

Yu Chucheng: “Are you making an offering to a shrine?”

Ji Zhou was still drowning in guilt. He was two months older than Yu Chucheng and an Alpha; he was one of the few people Yu Jingchen actually trusted. Having betrayed that trust so deeply, he felt he didn’t have the face to see Yu Jingchen ever again. His only hope was to bribe Yu Chucheng with kindness to alleviate his sense of doom.

Yu Chucheng was quite satisfied with the snack haul. As he picked through the pile on the bed, he suddenly unearthed a small, distinct box.

“What’s this?”

Yu Chucheng picked up the small box curiously.

Ji Zhou panicked and shot a look toward the bedroom door—Duan Huaijin was in the kitchen peeling apples and wouldn’t be over for a moment. He grabbed Yu Chucheng’s hand and leaned in, whispering mysteriously, “I specifically went to the convenience store downstairs to buy this this morning. I figured you guys didn’t have time to pick this stuff up last night.”

Yu Chucheng focused his eyes on the box.

It was a damn condom.

Yu Chucheng’s face went dark instantly. “What the hell did you buy this for?”

Ji Zhou, being thick-skulled, assumed the expression was out of embarrassment. He patted the back of Yu Chucheng’s hand earnestly, looking like a mother advising her innocent daughter.

“We’re all adults, no need to be shy. But as your best bro, I have to warn you: never believe the nonsense an Alpha says in bed. No matter how much he tries to sweet-talk you, you must use protection.”

He had seen Duan Huaijin take the “in-heat” Yu Chucheng back with his own eyes. An isolated Alpha and Omega in a room together—time, place, and people all aligned—you didn’t need a brain to know what would happen.

Yu Chucheng felt like he was holding a hot potato. In a fit of humiliated rage, he snatched his pillow and hurled it at Ji Zhou. “Can you please shake the filth out of your brain?! We didn’t do anything last night!”

In fact, Duan Huaijin hadn’t even bitten him last night; he had only administered a suppressant.

Yu Chucheng was also privately brooding—was his charm really that low now? There’s a term for it online: “disenchantment.” Could it be that Duan Huaijin saw his violent side yesterday and became disenchanted? He had actually been trying to build a persona of being “mature, reliable, and easy to get along with”…

The more Yu Chucheng thought, the more flustered and annoyed he became. Seeing Ji Zhou still wearing that smug, lewd grin, he reached his limit and threw the “hot potato” directly at Ji Zhou’s forehead.

Ji Zhou had anticipated the move and nimbly ducked his head.

Whoosh—

The square little box landed right at the feet of Duan Huaijin, who was walking in with a plate.

Ji Zhou: “…”

Yu Chucheng: “…”

Duan Huaijin picked up the box, gave it a quick downward glance, and said to Ji Zhou with an unreadable tone, “You’re overthinking it. If anything had actually happened last night, you might not even be seeing him today.”

An awkward, cold sweat broke out on Ji Zhou’s forehead.

It took Yu Chucheng a moment to realize what Duan Huaijin meant by that. He hovered between “that would never happen” and “holy crap, would that actually kill me?” before choosing to stay silent like a dormant volcano, steam simply rising from the top of his head.

The incident was supposed to be a minor, harmless misunderstanding, and Yu Chucheng had almost forgotten about it by noon.

But to everyone’s shock, Yu Jingchen suddenly showed up at the apartment.

Facing Yu Chucheng’s questioning gaze, Ji Zhou gave a guilty smile. It turned out that because there was no surveillance in the restroom, the two perverts had flatly denied attempting to assault an Omega. The bar, wanting to avoid trouble, kept pushing for a private settlement. In a moment of morning brain-fog, Ji Zhou had called Yu Jingchen for help.

Yu Jingchen was a man of action. Having learned of the matter in the morning, everything was settled two hours later: the two perverts were detained, and the bar was ordered to suspend operations for rectification.

Everything was fine and harmonious.

Until Yu Jingchen spotted the small square box left casually on the counter.

Crush—

Yu Jingchen crushed the box in his hand and grabbed Duan Huaijin by the collar in a blind rage. “What did you do to my brother last night?!”

In the span of a few seconds, he had already picked out a location to dump Duan Huaijin’s body.

Ji Zhou thought, It’s over. This “Oolong” (misunderstanding) was entirely his fault. He sprinted at 800-meter speed to pull the two apart.

“Brother Chen, listen to me, it’s all a misunderstanding!”

“There’s nothing left to say! Duan Huaijin, from this moment on, you are not allowed within a single step of my brother!”

“Brother Chen, calm down! Calm down!!”

For a moment, Yu Jingchen was gripping Duan Huaijin’s clothes, Ji Zhou was hugging Yu Jingchen’s leg, and the originally quiet, spacious apartment became a chaotic circus.

Yu Chucheng was so ashamed and angry he wanted to shove the contents of that box into Ji Zhou’s mouth.

Eventually, after a painful explanation, Ji Zhou took full responsibility. Yu Jingchen, whose hair and tie were usually immaculate, sat in a chair with his arms crossed and a cold face, his tie crooked and his hair slightly mussed.

Yu Chucheng couldn’t stand Yu Jingchen’s “interrogation room” gaze and slipped into the kitchen to help Duan Huaijin, leaving Ji Zhou to sit on pins and needles in the dining room with Yu Jingchen.

“I’m sorry, my brother…” Yu Chucheng scratched his nose, his ears still a bit red.

“I know. Your brother doesn’t like me.”

Yu Chucheng blurted out, “No! He’s just misunderstood everything. It’s all Ji Zhou’s fault!”

In the dining room, Ji Zhou rubbed his nose and let out a violent sneeze.

The kitchen had glass doors; while the sound didn’t carry, people outside could see exactly what was happening inside. Yu Jingchen watched in silence as the two stood very close in the kitchen, his brow furrowed enough to crush a fly.

Yu Chucheng had never cooked a day in his life and didn’t know what to do, but he felt awkward just standing there watching—it made him feel useless and redundant. He noticed an onion hadn’t been chopped yet, so he picked up the knife and tried to mimic Duan Huaijin’s technique.

But as he chopped… his eyes began to sting. He couldn’t help but rub them with the back of his hand.

In the next instant, he felt like he was going blind.

Duan Huaijin noticed something was wrong, turned around, and cupped Yu Chucheng’s face in his hands. “Did the onion get in your eyes?”

Yu Jingchen in the dining room: “…”

Ji Zhou swallowed hard, feeling the temperature in the room drop several more degrees.