TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 31

Shi Ya, overhearing this bold statement, spat out a mouthful of soda and leaned against the table, laughing uncontrollably.

He Youjin looked at the straightforward little Omega for a long moment before calling out flatly, “Zero!”

Lin Mingfei, who was pouring coffee nearby, answered, “Hmm?”

“Xia Tong said you’re his… partner,” He Youjin announced loudly, adding fuel to the fire. “Do you understand what that means?”

Lin Mingfei’s hand twitched, spilling coffee all over his pants.

—

He Youjin never expected his straightforward clarification post to ignite a fan war lasting a full day and night, dominating the top of the trending list and showing no signs of dying down.

“Wow, your fans are intense. They’re practically taking over the forums,” He Youjin commented, scrolling through the official forum of King’s Tomb. “Will someone from the game’s team call me later?”

“They might.” Lin Mingfei, sprawled out on the couch with his phone, replied, “They might want to remind you to ‘control the fans.’”

“Control the fans? I don’t see any of you having experience in that area!”

“Sharp observation,” Lin Mingfei responded lazily.

“How can you be so calm?” He Youjin was exasperated.

“Sabretooth’s doing all this free publicity for me. Why wouldn’t I be pleased?” Lin Mingfei smirked, holding up his phone. “Look, I’ve already got sponsors reaching out. Should I forward them your contact?”

“So soon?” He Youjin was stunned, then nodded eagerly. “I’ll handle the sponsors. Don’t worry.”

“This sponsorship will help a lot. To be honest, I was considering auctioning my limited-edition ‘Cocoon’ just to cover your salaries.” Lin Mingfei shook his head.

“Is it really that bad?” He Youjin looked concerned.

“Of course it’s… fake.” Lin Mingfei lifted his eyes. “Dummy.”

He Youjin: “…Well, you’re clearly in a great mood today!”

Then, noticing something, he frowned. “How’d you figure out it was Sabretooth?”

“Sabretooth offered me eight million before to sit on their bench, which I refused. The nice approach didn’t work, so they went for this. Even Zhou Yanjun’s pinky nail could guess it’s their handiwork,” Lin Mingfei explained, putting his phone down and leaning back. “Negative publicity is still publicity. I’ll ride this wave for a few days, lock in some sponsors, and then let another story bury this one.”

“Hiss,” He Youjin drew a sharp breath. “You’re ruthless, but it seems we’re on the same page.”

Just then, Xia Tong came bouncing down the stairs, happily munching on a bag of chips with a loud “crunch, crunch.”

“Hey, your hubby’s here,” He Youjin teased mischievously, catching sight of him from the corner of his eye.

Lin Mingfei: “…”

Xia Tong, oblivious to what was happening, scooted over to sit next to Lin Mingfei and held out a chip in front of his nose. “Here, try it; it’s really good!”

“I’ll pass. You go ahead.” Lin Mingfei gently pushed his hand away, briefly holding the slender wrist of the little Omega. “Rare of Zhou Yanjun to be so generous, sharing his winter stash of snacks with you.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Xia Tong asked.

“Talking about… do you know of any big events happening lately?” He Youjin replied.

“What kind of big events?” Xia Tong asked.

“You know, dark secrets, hidden scandals,” He Youjin said, gesturing dramatically.

“He’d know nothing about that,” Lin Mingfei chuckled.

“Who says I don’t? I do!” Xia Tong suddenly chimed in.

“You do?” Lin Mingfei and He Youjin stared at him in surprise. “Really?”

Licking his fingertips, Xia Tong thought back. “The other night, I was doing a mission in the Forest of Brawls, and I happened to see KUQ’s King Kong harassing that pretty NPC, Princess Mengluo. Doesn’t that count as a hidden, dark scandal?”

Munching on a few more chips—this snack was new to him, crispy and aromatic—Xia Tong found himself unexpectedly hooked. “Crunch, crunch.” After a bit, he noticed the two intense, stunned gazes locked on him.

The little Omega tilted his head, asking, “Why are you both staring at me? Did I say something wrong?”

“Nope,” He Youjin said. “You actually used ‘harassing’—quite the vocab you have there.” Stroking his chin thoughtfully, he continued, “Well… if that’s true, it really could be a major event for us! Zero, this could be your chance for a comeback!”

Lin Mingfei didn’t respond; he just watched Xia Tong, his gaze deep.

“Come with me.” He grabbed the half-eaten bag of chips from Xia Tong and tossed it to He Youjin, took hold of Xia Tong’s slender wrist, and pulled him up.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Xia Tong stumbled, following him in confusion.

Lin Mingfei led him into an empty break room, shut the door behind them, and placed his elbow by Xia Tong’s head, caging the small Omega between his body and the wall.

“Who taught you that word?” His thick lashes lowered, brows furrowed, casting a shadow over the little Omega.

Completely unaware of the tension, Xia Tong’s attention was on Lin Mingfei’s hoodie, which had two cartoon rabbits embroidered on the chest. One of the rabbits had a little fluffy pom-pom tail. He couldn’t resist reaching out, giving it a playful flick and squeezing it twice, watching the soft, white fluff peek through his fingers.

“Timer did!” he answered with a grin.

The small Omega, blissfully oblivious to any sense of danger, was unconsciously teasing him. Lin Mingfei quickly grabbed his wandering wrist, his lips parted as if struggling to find words.

After a long pause, he finally grumbled with some jealousy, “What exactly were you two talking about to end up at ‘harassment’?”

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