Yu Zimo and Zihuai walked into the living room and sat down casually on the sofa, as if they were right at home.
Yu Zimo even beckoned to Zihuai, welcoming him to sit next to him.
Sheng Yiyang: "......"
Shen Mo nervously grabbed Sheng Yiyang, pulling him into the kitchen.
Sheng Yiyang kissed Shen Mo's forehead and murmured, "Is Momo going to make some new dishes for Zihuai?"
"I haven't made any."
Shen Mo blinked, lifting his eyes only to crash into Sheng Yiyang's starry gaze, which was filled with grievance.
Shen Mo: "......" A sudden feeling called "speechless" arose in his heart.
Still, he hugged Sheng Yiyang and nuzzled against his chest by way of comfort.
Having successfully achieved his scheme, Sheng Yiyang lowered his head to nip at Shen Mo's lips before helping him start preparing dinner.
Although Zihuai and Yu Zimo were laughing and chatting in the living room, Zihuai occasionally cast sidelong glances at the figures occasionally crossing paths in the kitchen. He hooked his arm around Yu Zimo's neck and whispered a reminder, "Remember to praise his cooking later, alright?"
Yu Zimo rolled his eyes at him. "You don't need to tell me that! Humph, I'll have you know I'm Momo's best friend!"
Zihuai: "......"
Aren't you just so proud.
Yu Chen arrived last, primarily because someone couldn't bear to see him "spending the night alone in an empty room" and had signaled Yu Zimo to go fetch Shen Mo. In the end, thanks to Yu Zimo's coaxing, Yu Chen got his wish.
At the dining table, Zihuai, Yu Zimo, and Sheng Yiyang showered Shen Mo with endless praises. They praised him until his little face turned flushed with bashfulness, his eyes brimming with smiles.
After a while, Shen Mo became quite familiar with Yu Zimo. Whenever Shen Mo heard that Yu Zimo had returned from school, he would give him his latest portrait. In return, Yu Zimo would bring home small toys from school and run over to Shen Mo's place to "do homework" with him.
Whenever Yu Chen and Yu Zimo went home and found no one there, they would routinely send a message to Sheng Yiyang; likewise, when Sheng Yiyang came home to find an extra head in his house, he would expressionlessly send a message to those two.
When Ji Rong arrived, Sheng Yiyang was cooking in the kitchen, while Shen Mo and Yu Zimo were sitting on the rug in front of the sofa, drawing.
Or rather, Shen Mo was drawing, while Yu Zimo was just making frantic, chaotic scribbles.
Ji Rong immediately recognized Yu Zimo as the kid who had talked back to Ling Chen last time. After asking a few questions, he bluntly remarked, "You brat are so lucky! Living right next door to a top movie star, and you're still worried about not winning a Best Actor award in the future?"
Sheng Yiyang: "......"
Sheng Yiyang shot Ji Rong an irritated look. "What are you doing here?"
Ji Rong rolled his eyes. "Let me tell you, Sheng Ge, it's been a solid month since *Fuqin Formula* wrapped up. You turned down a few guest appearance offers for the Mid-Autumn Festival, but you surely can't turn them down for National Day, can you? Have you almost forgotten that you're still a celebrity?"
Sheng Yiyang paused. He looked at Shen Mo, who happened to be looking back at him. Although Shen Mo still hadn't spoken, there were much more smiles in his eyes than before.
He couldn't bear to leave Shen Mo.
Sheng Yiyang: "We'll see."
Ji Rong wasn't the least bit surprised by this answer. What else could he do? Sheng Yiyang was the boss, and what he said went.
"Well then, I'll tell your fans that you're taking a break right now to look over some scripts. You should occasionally hop onto Weibo to interact with your fans, lest they spend every day wondering which ditch you died in!"
Sheng Yiyang: "......" Can you even hear yourself speak! Talking about dying and such—he still planned to live a happy, harmonious life with Shen Mo!
Ji Rong wanted to say more, but he was suddenly shoved hard. Focusing his eyes, he saw Shen Mo's slender figure standing protectively in front of Sheng Yiyang, glaring at Ji Rong with guarded hostility.
Ji Rong rubbed his head in confusion, completely at a loss.
Sheng Yiyang, however, wore a face full of smiles, thoroughly enjoying Shen Mo's defense of him and completely ignoring Ji Rong's frantic facial expressions.
Crunching loudly on a mouthful of potato chips, Yu Zimo glanced sideways at Ji Rong. "Who told you to talk about my big brother dying? Momo is extremely protective of his people."
Ji Rong's expression stiffened for a fraction of a second; he had only spoken without thinking. But seeing Sheng Yiyang standing behind Shen Mo with a blissfully rippling smile, he rolled his eyes and felt a sudden urge to beat him up.
Sheng Yiyang rested his chin on Shen Mo's shoulder, jutted his chin at Ji Rong, and mouthed the word: "Scram."
Rolling his eyes once more, Ji Rong tossed out a parting remark—"I've sent you the programs and scripts, make sure to reply after you've read them"—and left with a wronged expression.
Shen Mo tilted his head, turned around to wrap his arms around Sheng Yiyang's waist, his clear eyes filled with confusion and a hint of self-reproach, as if asking, "Did I do something wrong?"
Sheng Yiyang smiled slightly, wrapping one arm around Shen Mo's waist while using his other hand to gently stroke the back of his head, his expression infinitely tender and pampering. "Momo is amazing! Momo protected me! Momo is the best!"
He slowly lowered his head to draw close to Shen Mo.
Watching the drama unfold from the side, Yu Zimo saw that these two were about to get all mushy again. Rolling his eyes, he yelled out, "Big brother! I'm going back to ask my dad for that script for you!"
Before the shout had even faded, he vanished in a flash!
The sound of the door slamming shut echoed in the air.
Sheng Yiyang was grinding his teeth in frustration. That brat! He was definitely going to skin him alive next time!
True to his word, however, the brat delivered: the very next day, Yu Chen and Zihuai came knocking on their door.
As soon as Yu Chen sat down on the sofa, he cut straight to the point. "Are you looking for a script lately?"
Sheng Yiyang glanced at Shen Mo, who was busy drawing for Zihuai, and replied, "Ji Rong, my manager, sent me a few scripts, but I'm not very satisfied. Most of them are romance-heavy."
"There is one that's quite good, but it requires heading deep into the mountains to shoot. It'll probably take half a year once filming starts."
As he spoke, Sheng Yiyang's gaze never left Shen Mo.
During this period, the smiles on Shen Mo's face grew more frequent by the day. Apart from Yu Zimo and Sheng Yiyang, the only subjects of his drawings were Zihuai and Yu Chen. Elder Gong had also more than once invited Shen Mo to audit classes at the Kyoto Academy of Fine Arts, but in the end, neither of them had given an affirmative reply.
"Perhaps it's not that he can't live without you, but rather that you can't live without him."
Yu Chen glanced at Shen Mo, then looked back at Sheng Yiyang, hitting the nail right on the head.
Sheng Yiyang froze for a second, then gave a bitter smile and buried his face in his hands. It seemed he was indeed the one clinging. After his rebirth, he had avoided Ling Chen and desperately held onto Shen Mo; seeing Shen Mo's smiles and his reliance on him every day was enough to fill his heart with joy for the entire day.
Shen Mo was coming into contact with more and more people now, so it turned out he was the one who couldn't let go.
Shen Mo's drawing hand paused. He frowned, turned his head to look over, and upon seeing Sheng Yiyang miserably burying his head, he dropped his paintbrush, scurried over in a flurry, hugged Sheng Yiyang tightly, and glared at Yu Chen with round, wide eyes.
Yu Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Zihuai walked over as well, poked Yu Chen's arm, and whispered, "Didn't you say you were here to deliver a script? Why did you make it sound like you were bullying little Sheng? Looking at Momo right now, he looks like he's about to eat you alive!"
Hearing the phrase "eat you alive," Shen Mo frowned in distaste and hugged Sheng Yiyang even tighter.
Yu Chen and Zihuai: "......"
Veins popped all over Yu Chen's forehead, while Zihuai doubled over laughing onto Yu Chen's shoulder, leaning close to his ear to murmur softly, "Momo even despises you; he doesn't want to eat you at all~"
Yu Chen's face darkened further as he cast a gloomy look at Zihuai. Zihuai smiled and made a pleading gesture for mercy.
Sheng Yiyang saw this too, and a wave of warmth washed over him. He couldn't help marveling to himself that his Momo was simply the absolute best!
Still, he comforted Shen Mo, telling him that he was fine and that he only needed to go to work because he couldn't bear to leave such a wonderful Momo behind.
Knowing that if he stayed any longer, that little sheep might really start biting, Yu Chen left the script behind and walked out, holding a smiling Zihuai in his arms.
Shen Mo wrapped one arm around Sheng Yiyang's, rested his head on his shoulder, propped one foot up on his lap, and used his other free hand to periodically block Sheng Yiyang's hand whenever he tried to turn the script pages.
Sheng Yiyang pinched Shen Mo's now delightfully plump little cheek, making no move to rush his reading; he only turned the page to continue reading once Shen Mo had finished looking and allowed it.
"This script is pretty good—an e-sports theme, full of passionate youths!"
Shen Mo didn't quite understand, but feeling Sheng Yiyang's joy, the corners of his lips curved upward as well.
Sheng Yiyang kissed the corner of Shen Mo's lips, speaking as much to Shen Mo as to himself, "Momo, I have to start working soon~ I'm so reluctant to leave you. I wish I could drag you along to work with me~"
Shen Mo frowned slightly. He had never once thought about being separated from Sheng Yiyang, and hearing words that sounded like impending separation made him somewhat angry. In his upset, he straddled Sheng Yiyang's lap, hugged him tightly, and curled himself into his embrace.
"Momo doesn't want to be apart from me either?"
Shen Mo nodded.
"But Momo, we're going to run out of money~" Sheng Yiyang looked at Shen Mo with a wronged expression.
Shen Mo tilted his head, his little face creasing into a frown. He had accompanied Sheng Yiyang to the supermarket a few times and had learned that everything required money to buy. Having no money meant...
He glanced over at his unfinished painting.
It meant he wouldn't be able to draw anymore.
But what should he do if he didn't want to leave Sheng Yiyang either?
Drooping his head, Shen Mo nuzzled against Sheng Yiyang over and over again.
Sheng Yiyang felt an unbearable itch in his heart and called out in a husky voice, "Momo?"
After a long silence, he finally heard a soft murmur: "Go with you."
Sheng Yiyang was startled. He abruptly straightened his posture, gripped Shen Mo's shoulders, and looked at him with eyes full of hope. "Momo, did you just speak? Momo~"
Shen Mo's face flushed slightly, and he hugged Sheng Yiyang's head tightly, refusing to let go.
Sheng Yiyang's neck started aching from the tightness of the grip, and he thought to himself that it must have been auditory hallucinations. Gently patting Shen Mo's back, he rasped, "Momo?"
Sheng Yiyang's unnatural voice made Shen Mo realize something was wrong. He hurriedly loosened his grip and began inspecting Sheng Yiyang's neck from left to right.
Amused, Sheng Yiyang caught Shen Mo's hands and pressed his forehead against his. "Does Momo want to come to work with me? But there will be a lot of people at my workplace, you know. They'll all be staring at Momo."
Shen Mo's long eyelashes fluttered. He was still afraid of going to crowded places; whenever he went to the supermarket, he would always hide in Sheng Yiyang's embrace, and his body would instinctively tense up with defense whenever anyone nearby spoke.
Even when Ji Rong occasionally appeared, he would subconsciously stiffen up before quietly letting out a breath of relief after a moment passed.
Though this reaction seemed to apply only to adults other than Sheng Yiyang. As for Yu Zimo, Shen Mo could recognize him simply by his presence.
Sheng Yiyang had previously suspected that it was probably because Yu Zimo's voice always arrived before the person did, allowing Shen Mo to identify him by sound alone.
Seeing that Shen Mo remained silent for a long time, Sheng Yiyang's heart melted completely. "Momo, the workplace for this job isn't far. Just like before, I'll come back every night to sleep with Momo, alright?"
Shen Mo remembered how, in the past, Sheng Yiyang used to return every day with dark circles under his eyes, and later on ended up sleeping for a whole day straight.
If he did that, Sheng Yiyang would be too exhausted.
He couldn't bear it.
Shen Mo shook his head, rubbing his face against Sheng Yiyang's, his voice raspy from disuse as he declared, "No! Momo will go to work with Yangyang."