Translated by Eve

　　Edited by Wuxian

　　The 'elopement' proceeded extremely smoothly as Sui Yuan had prepared according to the plot early on. As for Zhao Xihe, aside from changing into his poor-youngster-from-the-slum's stage costume, he didn't need to do anything. He only had to act according to Sui Yuan's arrangements, casually hold hands, and look at each other with teary eyes like the 'childhood sweethearts/friends' that they were.

　　Of course, like in the plot, they were 'smoothly' caught red-handed by the infuriated protagonist gong who had pursued them.

　　Selman had never been this angry before. Not only did Dill escape from his side, but more importantly, Yaan had betrayed him.

　　He had never thought that Yaan could betray him. Yaan, who had always silently stood behind him, managing everything on his behalf without a sound, would unexpectedly betray him! Selman knew that Yaan had always paid Dill a special kind of attention, but he never expected that Yaan would so boldly do such a thing.

　　Selman's eyes were red. Anger, disappointment, and an ineffable fear mingled together, making him unable to calm down. When he saw Yaan lying askew on the floor from having been struck by himself in his rage— complexion becoming increasingly pale, blood dripping down the corner of his pale lips—Selman did not have the heart to unleash the attack that had been brewing within his hands.

　　This short period of hesitation was enough for Dill, who had been scared silly just now, to react. He quickly rushed in front of Sui Yuan, stretching out both arms to block him with his body and denied loudly, "It's I who asked Yaan daren to help! If you're angry, directly unleash that anger onto me! Don't make things difficult for Yaan daren!"

　　Selman gnashed his teeth as he looked at Sui Yuan who had lowered his eyes. The pair of crystal-like gray eyes were tranquil, offering no explanation, refutation—quiet like a shadow, just as it had always been in the past. These eyes however made his heart hurt fiercely and incessantly, unable to stop.

　　Selman didn't want to look at him again. He s.h.i.+fted his gaze onto Dill, questioning him like a wounded creature, "Why did you leave me?!"

　　"Because I don't want to be your pet! I love you! But you don't love me! I can't bear it anymore!" Dill finally spat out the words that he had planned on keeping hidden for the rest of his life, speaking with an intention to simply destroy it all, "So I wanted to leave you; get far, far away from you; never see you again—"

　　"Shut up! I won't allow it!" Selman fretfully interrupted Dill. The burning hot emotions within that pair of tearful, limpid eyes instantly knocked down the guard around his heart. The candid words of love made him suddenly realize why he always cared about Dill, why he could not be apart from him. A pet was but an excuse that he had made up for himself. An excuse to indulge and dote on Dill.

　　Selman deeply sucked in a breath and extended his hand towards Dill, "Return with me."

　　"No," Dill stubbornly shook his head.

　　"Return with me," Selman repeated, his eyes softening, "I will…properly love you."

　　Dill froze in place. He could not believe his ears. While he was feeling incredulous, he was unable to resist in time and ended up being carried into Selman's arms.

　　Dill stiffened from head to toe. Selman painstakingly tried to act more gently, trying to placate him. His gaze, however, uneasily landed on Yaan who was still on the ground. Soon after, he directly met the other's eyes.

　　The heartbreak, disappointment, and worry in that pair of gray eyes made him unable to help but step back. Selman subconsciously felt that he had no way of facing Yaan for some inexplicable reason. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but quickly turned around and left with Dill in the next second instead, disappearing without a trace.

　　Sui Yuan："……………………"

　　——What happened to the agreed beating and expelling, ne?! Protagonist gong, you shouldn't play halfway only to suddenly disconnect, ah?! Quickly come back and finish off the latter half, ah! [Er Kang hand]

　　Zhao Xihe, who had been a prop piece from beginning to end and ended up forgotten by everyone, walked to Sui Yuan's side, gaze complicated, "Selman's target this time was also me. Why did you take the blow for me again?"

　　"In any case, it doesn't affect the plot whether or not you take the beating, right?" Sui Yuan replied without a care. He furrowed his brows and coughed several times, spitting out the blood in the depths of his throat, "Anson has always been a bystander. He has never been in Selman's line of sight. It's fine if you just obediently stand by, la! This time, the one that definitely needed to be beaten up was me. It doesn't make much of a difference if I help you endure one more strike. No need to worry about owing me one! If you don't get injured, so be it. After all, you are currently a weak human being. What should we do if you accidentally die off?"