Chapter 15 : Swept By The Rising Tide Of Emotions (3)

"Let's go, Little Lang."

Wen Guilin dragged Lang Yuxuan away from the tent. The latter kept turning his head, obviously reluctant to leave Yan Renzhong and Shen Jingwei alone, unsupervised.

Shen Jingwei took a deep breath before he entered the tent.

Yan Renzhong sat on a stool, holding an ice pack to his cheek.

"Hey," Shen Jingwei pulled an empty stool and sat in front of Yan Renzhong.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Let me take a look."

Yan Renzhong removed the ice pack and turned his head to the side, showing Shen Jingwei the result of his violent outburst.

As Lang Yuxuan had pointed out, the imprint of Shen Jingwei's hand was starkly visible on Yan Renzhong's cheek, marring his otherwise perfectly sculpted face.

Shen Jingwei unconsciously reached out to touch Yan Renzhong's cheek, but his hand was immediately seized by the other man.

"..."

For several endless seconds, their gazes locked, and silence stretched between them like a taut wire. In the oppressive stillness, even the faintest sound seemed amplified, and the thunderous rhythm of Shen Jingwei's heart echoed in his ears like a relentless drumbeat.

Yan Renzhong's gaze was an invasive force, drilling through Shen Jingwei's defenses as if they were mere illusions. The intensity was unbearable.

Shen Jingwei averted his eyes and pulled away from Yan Renzhong, but the latter's grip remained steadfast, clamped around his wrist like titanium shackles.

Yan Renzhong's eyes flickered once before schooling his face to a neutral expression.

Having regained his composure, he let go of Shen Jingwei's hand without a word.

The latter quickly retracted his hand, afraid of losing it to the furious Emperor again.

Yan Renzhong heaved a long sigh, for whatever reason Shen Jingwei failed to fathom.

And then, he said something utterly nonsensical.

"There is nothing between me and Lang Yuxuan."

"..."

Shen Jingwei stared at him.

"Whoever you date is none of my concern," he stated, his words cracking through the air like a merciless whip."

Yan Renzhong arched an eyebrow at him.

"Again, there is nothing between me and him."

Shen Jingwei pursed his lips, full of indignation.

"I don't care."

"I see."

Shen Jingwei held his gaze against Yan Renzhong's.

He really didn't.

Why should he.

They broke up years ago.

They were no longer tied to each other.

Yan Renzhong was free to date anyone he liked, and so was Shen Jingwei.

"I am sorry for the slap," he slowly muttered. That was the reason he came here in the first place.

Yan Renzhong shook his head slightly.

"Not the first, and definitely not the last."

Shen Jingwei let out a burst of cheerless laughter.

"My character happens to be a seasoned slapper, and yours destined to be at the receiving end of some slaps."

A corner of Yan Renzhong's lips tugged up in a sneer.

"I trust that you will live up to everyone's expectation in this aspect."

"Heh. Count on it."

That was what he said, but Shen Jingwei did not get to slap Yan Renzhong anymore for the next days to come.

They also did not speak to each other anymore for the rest of the week.

Yan Renzhong was busy shooting scenes with Lang Yuxuan, and Shen Jingwei was stuck with scenes between him and Feng Jietang, his supposedly closest companion in the drama, save for Xie Jianyu's elder brother of course.

Shen Jingwei liked Jiang Muchen of the original novel for his love and devotion toward his Little Uncle.

To be fair, Feng Jietang did an excellent job portraying the hot-blooded but caring alpha lion.

But the Feng Jietang outside of the drama was a completely different person, and Shen Jingwei disliked him.

"Hey, Little Shen~"

Shen Jingwei, who was in the middle of taking a short break, gave the grinning man an irritated look.

"Stop calling me that," he snapped.

"Alright, Old Shen~"

Shen Jingwei heaved an exasperated sigh.

"What is it?"

"The chemistry between us is off," Feng Jietang sighed as he ruffled his hair. This harmless action earned him a round of scolding from the hairdressers.

"Mr. Feng!" One of them shrieked, drowning out whatever Feng Jietang wanted to say next. "Kindly do not mess up your look!"

"We worked for hours to comb your long hair!"

Feng Jietang pursed his lips.

"So sorry."

He tried to rectify the messed-up hairdo by using his hands, but he ended up infuriating the hairdressers instead.

"Sit down!" One of them pushed Feng Jietang onto an empty chair. "And stop moving about while we fix your hair!"

Feng Jietang sat next to Shen Jingwei and shot him a shameless grin.

"Hey there."

Shen Jingwei ignored him.

"Little Shen, come on. We should at least be friends outside of the drama. You don't want the rating to plummet just because we don't get along in real life."

"We are cordial with each other," Shen Jingwei said. "That should be enough, right?"

"Okay, I am sorry for what I said about you slapping Yan Renzhong the other day," Feng Jietang clapped his hands together in an apologetic gesture. "I miscalculated my move. I thought that you did it because, well, because the two of you didn't get along in the past. I never expected you to stick out for him. It was my bad. Sorry."

Shen Jingwei's grumpiness faded slightly upon hearing the other man's words.

Certainly, the rage he felt during the scene was real, not entirely unrelated to past resentment.

"It's okay," Shen Jingwei answered meekly. "You are right. We should get along better with each other."

Feng Jietang lit up almost immediately.

"Then, what do you say if we have dinner tonight? My treat, of course."