Old K sent the email over quickly.
Pei Xu stared at it for a moment before downloading the attachments and beginning to browse through the photos inside.
Back in his first year of high school, Qiao Nan had almost been kidnapped.
Although it had ended without real danger and Qiao Nan wasn’t too shaken, the Qiao family arranged for bodyguards to protect him in secret afterward.
However, Qiao Shian and his wife were too busy with work to personally vet reliable bodyguards, so the task fell to Pei Xu.
Old K was someone he had carefully selected — a former special forces soldier who, after retiring, worked for a security company.
Because of his skills and tight lips, he had built quite a reputation in the security field.
Pei Xu went through great effort to poach him from his previous employer to assign him to secretly protect Qiao Nan.
At first, Old K only took photos for work reporting purposes.
Later… it was because of Pei Xu’s own requests.
When had he started asking Old K for this kind of thing?
Pei Xu looked at the enlarged photo on the screen, staring greedily at Qiao Nan’s face, and let out a self-deprecating laugh.
Probably during that summer after Qiao Nan’s college entrance exams.
That day, Qiao Nan went out to a gathering with classmates.
Pei Xu went to pick him up near the end of it, just as Qiao Nan — drunk — was playing truth or dare.
The beer bottle spun on the table, spun a few times, and pointed at Qiao Nan.
Without hesitation, Qiao Nan chose dare — kiss someone you like.
Everyone there started coaxing him to kiss the class beauty.
She seemed to like Qiao Nan too, lowering her head shyly and not rejecting the idea.
But drunk as he was, Qiao Nan looked around, then walked straight over to Pei Xu.
He staggered over slowly.
His movements were sluggish from the alcohol, like a film in slow motion.
He straddled Pei Xu’s lap, cupped his face, and kissed him square on the lips.
Then he turned to the others and declared, “Of course, the person I like most is my brother.”
The group burst into loud whoops and laughter, launching into another round of the game.
But amid the chaos, Pei Xu felt his heart seize violently.
He could hear the thunderous pounding of his own heartbeat — and an uncontrollable longing.
The instigator, after lighting the spark, soon dozed off in his arms, dazed and sleepy.
Pei Xu could no longer clearly recall how he got Qiao Nan home that night.
What stayed carved into his soul was the desire — awakened so suddenly, so vividly, and impossible to escape.
It made him feel unworthy.
Ashamed.
After that night, everything took on an ambiguous hue.
Things began to shift.
Desire, once awakened like a wild beast, only grew louder the more it was denied.
The more Pei Xu tried to run from it, the more he longed to get close.
The more he turned away, the more he wanted to look.
Qiao Nan’s face, his scent… everything about him wove into an intricate net.
And Pei Xu was caught in it. Unable — and unwilling — to escape.
Late at night, he often dreamed of that scene in the KTV room.
Qiao Nan sitting on his lap, arms wrapped around his neck, leaning in to kiss him.
Those lips were so soft, so hot with warmth.
He sighed in contentment, gripping the back of Pei Xu’s head and pressing him into the couch, taking what he wanted.
The kaleidoscope of lights and sounds merged into a portrait of desire.
Primal instinct took over, and everything slid into an uncontrollable, dangerous spiral…
Waking up from those dreams, Pei Xu was always overwhelmed by a mix of fear — and excitement.
It took millions of years for apes to evolve into humans.
And it took even longer for humans to develop morality and civilization.
That primal, beastly instinct had been suppressed by humanity and bound by laws and ethics.
But it never disappeared.
It only slumbered in the depths of the heart.
Pei Xu felt like his humanity was cracking, collapsing.
Since childhood, he had been called a genius.
Aside from the accident with his parents, his life had gone smoothly.
He was the perfect adopted son, the perfect elder brother, the shining example in everyone’s eyes.
But only he knew he wasn’t perfect.
Strip away the facade, and perhaps he was closer to the abyss than anyone else.
He tried desperately to suppress the dangerous thoughts, to keep from falling into that darkness.
But the temptation… was so hard to resist.
Pei Xu’s once-prized self-control crumbled completely when it came to Qiao Nan.
He gently clicked through the mouse, carefully examining every photo that had Qiao Nan in it.
—The young man was walking through the campus in a pure white T-shirt, with splashes of colorful paint near the hem, like blooming spring flowers full of life.
The emptiness in Pei Xu’s heart slowly filled up, and a faint smile unknowingly appeared at the corners of his lips.
But as he scrolled down and saw a familiar face suddenly appear beside Qiao Nan in one of the photos, the smile on his face froze slightly.
Narrowing his eyes, he zoomed in on the photo to confirm that the person walking with Qiao Nan was indeed the same one he’d seen that night at the club.
Che Liu.
Pei Xu knew all of Qiao Nan’s classmates and roommates—this person was definitely not one of them.
He suppressed his irritation and finished looking through the rest of the photos.
It turned out that this person had appeared by Qiao Nan’s side for three days in a row, even joining him for meals on occasion.
Staring at the photos for a long time, Pei Xu took a screenshot and sent it to his assistant, along with the message:
[Find out who this person is.]
After that, he pursed his lips and carefully cropped every photo that included that man, keeping only Qiao Nan’s figure.
He organized and numbered the photos, then stored them in an encrypted folder.
Only then did Pei Xu walk over to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down with a deep, shadowed gaze.
Qiao Nan was good-looking, had a great personality, and came from an even more outstanding family background.
He was never short of admirers, but had never accepted anyone’s advances.
And now he was getting this close to someone with such obviously impure intentions…
Pei Xu paced back and forth in frustration, tamped down the restlessness in his chest, and headed to the kitchen.
***
On Thursday morning, Pei Xu drove to Nanjing Academy of Fine Arts with seafood congee and chicken soup he had simmered overnight.
He had noticed from the photos yesterday that Qiao Nan’s mealtimes were irregular.
When he was home, someone watched over him so he ate more or less on time.
But when left alone, he often wouldn’t eat lunch until 1 or 2 PM, and if he wasn’t hungry for dinner, he’d just snack on some instant noodles or junk food.
Pei Xu parked his car and was about to go inside but suddenly hesitated.
—He remembered the cause of their argument, Qiao Nan wanted him to move back home.
If he went to see Qiao Nan now, and Qiao Nan brought up the topic again, he wouldn’t be able to say no—but he would have to.
Caught in a dilemma, Pei Xu paused for a moment before calling Uncle Wang and asking him to come to the school.
When Uncle Wang arrived, Pei Xu handed him the insulated lunchbox.
“Nan Nan probably hasn’t been eating properly at school these past few days. His stomach isn’t great—I made congee and soup, please take it to him. Also, make sure he gets proper meals for lunch and dinner from now on.”
“You’ve already come all this way, why not deliver it yourself?”
Uncle Wang didn’t really want to take the box and couldn’t understand what kind of petty fight the brothers were even having.
Pei Xu didn’t answer.
He just said, “I’ve got work to do at the company. I’m leaving,” then got in the car and drove off.
Uncle Wang watched the tail of the car disappear, shook his head with a sigh, and carried the lunchbox toward Qiao Nan’s dorm.
***
Qiao Nan hadn’t woken up yet.
He had gone to bed late, and it was only when a roommate opened the door that he was called up.
Groggy and still half-asleep, he stumbled out of bed.
Seeing Uncle Wang, he was surprised.
“Uncle Wang? Why are you here so early?”
Uncle Wang tidied up the paints and brushes on the desk and placed the lunchbox down.
“Your big brother was worried you weren’t eating well at school. He made congee and soup and asked me to bring it over.”
Qiao Nan instantly sobered up.
In his slippers, he shuffled over and sniffed—it was definitely his brother’s cooking.
He pouted.
“Where’s my brother? Why didn’t he bring it himself?”
Uncle Wang had no good explanation and could only shake his head and patch things up:
“He said there’s too much work at the company, so he asked me to bring it.”
Qiao Nan didn’t buy it.
He had time to cook but not enough time to deliver food?
Obviously, he just didn’t want to see him.
“Whatever. I’ll be less mad at him… just a little… for the sake of breakfast.”
Qiao Nan muttered under his breath, but the smile tugging at the corners of his lips couldn’t be hidden as he headed into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash up.
Maybe I’ll forgive him… ten percent.
***
When Qin Feng arrived at the studio, Qiao Nan was visibly in a better mood.
He noticed but asked casually, “Something good happen today? You seem really happy.”
“You even noticed that?”
Qiao Nan looked up and smiled, but didn’t explain why. Instead, he said,
“We’re nearly done with the painting. You’ve worked hard these past few days. After today, I won’t trouble you anymore.”
Qin Feng had expected this.
He smiled and said,
“Then how about lunch together today? And when your painting is finished, can I come see it?”
“Probably not today. Maybe next time.”
Qiao Nan unexpectedly declined.
He curved his lips and said,
“My family’s bringing me lunch today, so I won’t be eating out.”
“This project’s just a personal assignment, so it likely won’t be displayed anywhere. If you really want to see the final version, I’ll send you a photo once it’s done.”
Qin Feng didn’t push it and nodded with a smile.
***
Starting from Thursday’s breakfast, for two days straight, all of Qiao Nan’s meals were delivered on time by Uncle Wang.
Though Uncle Wang never said who cooked the food, Qiao Nan could tell—it was either Aunt Chen or his brother.
He could taste the difference.
By Friday afternoon at 4 PM, after his last class, Qiao Nan sent Uncle Wang a WeChat message saying he was going out to play and didn’t need dinner delivered.
Then he took a cab to Boting Mansion.
He still hadn’t replied to Pei Xu’s WeChat messages, and he hadn’t told him in advance that he was coming over this time either.
Using a sweet voice and a selfie with Pei Xu to charm the security guard, he got them to unlock the door and swipe the elevator card for him.
Qiao Nan successfully arrived at the 25th floor.
Pei Xu’s place used an electronic lock.
At this hour, Pei Xu should still be at work and hadn’t come home yet.
Qiao Nan stared at the lock for a while, then tried entering Pei Xu’s birthday as the passcode.
Wrong.
Then he tried his own birthday.
It opened.
With a beep, the door unlocked.
Qiao Nan entered as if it were his own home.
Originally, he had planned to hide and surprise Pei Xu when he returned.
But after checking the time, he realized there were still at least two hours before Pei Xu got off work.
Without hesitating too long, he went straight to the bedroom, planning to take a shower and nap before anything else.