After the game ended, it was already five in the afternoon before anyone realized it.

The sky in East City always darkened especially quickly. Night had already begun to fall, and the evening sun cast a dim yellow halo over the mountaintop.

Golden and brilliant.

The sunset clouds were a scorching red, tinged with a little pink, their wavelike curves spreading outward into layer after layer of gorgeous ripples.

Gu Qichi stood at the foot of the hill, intently watching Bo Yu set up the tent, his whole body outlined in a faint golden glow.

The wind puffed up his coat again and sent his hair fluttering into a messy tangle.

Bo Yu had taken off his coat. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows, revealing a stretch of firm, smooth forearm muscle as he bent over and hammered in the tent stakes with a small mallet.

Gu Qichi squatted down beside him and watched as the stakes were driven bit by bit into the soil, while the pile of seemingly useless equipment gradually turned into a beautiful, spacious tent in Bo Yu’s hands.

Bo Yu was exceptionally skilled, his movements smooth and practiced, much faster than any of the other guests.

When the tent was finally finished, Gu Qichi obligingly let out a “Wow,” then tilted his head and asked Bo Yu, “Did you learn how to pitch tents before? How are you so fast?”

Bo Yu straightened up, still half-crouching there, and looked into Gu Qichi’s beautiful eyes as he answered gently, “I learned a little. Back when I was abroad, I joined this kind of outdoor club before.”

Gu Qichi got to his feet, took a pack of wet wipes from a staff member, then took Bo Yu’s hand and laid it across his own thigh, carefully wiping it clean little by little.

Not until every trace of dirt was gone and those hands returned to their original state—clear-knuckled, veins standing out distinctly, hands that whenever they gripped him, no matter where, could stir up pain and also the sharpest pleasure.

Gu Qichi asked casually, “Was your life abroad really that eventful?”

He rarely asked about Bo Yu’s past. It wasn’t because he wasn’t interested, nor because he didn’t care. It was more that he had heard bits and pieces of the unpleasant parts, and bringing them up rashly might stir up bad memories for Bo Yu.

Old Master Bo was already old, muddleheaded, and overbearing, determined to prop up his illegitimate son. That left Bo Yu, the son of the legal wife, in an awkward position, and Old Master Bo had simply had him kept overseas, forbidding him from returning to the country.

When Wen Xi had told him about it at the company, her tone had been exaggerated: “I heard from people in the circle that during that time, the illegitimate son secretly cut off Bo Yu’s financial support entirely. And while Old Master Bo was critically ill, he even hired people to try to get rid of Bo Yu…”

Seeing that Gu Qichi’s expression had turned grim, Wen Xi had quickly shut up. “They’re just rumors, just rumors. I saw them in the gossip sections of finance magazines. Baby Chi, don’t be sad. Anyway, it’s all in the past now…”

…

Bo Yu brushed back the loose hair on his forehead and leaned closer.

There was a fine sheen of sweat on his brow, and his meaning was obvious—he wanted Gu Qichi to wipe it for him.

Gu Qichi raised a hand to do so, listening as Bo Yu spoke.

Bo Yu said, “My time abroad really was quite eventful. Besides studying, I also had to deal with all the underhanded tricks Bo Hong used.”

Bo Yu said, “Those days were pretty hard to get through. Looking back on it now, it was actually quite dangerous.”

Gu Qichi’s movements slowed as he wiped his sweat away. His heart tightened suddenly, and he had the sudden urge to touch Bo Yu’s face. But Bo Yu unexpectedly smiled instead, and with a reverse motion caught hold of his wrist.

Bo Yu added, “Luckily, back then, I met someone.”

He lowered his head and pressed an intimate kiss to the inside of Gu Qichi’s wrist.

Heat spread all the way out from that thin patch of skin. Gu Qichi’s eyelashes trembled.

He had just been about to ask who that person was when the director suddenly shouted from behind them, “Teacher Gu, could you come over for a second? We need your help with something!”

The conversation was abruptly interrupted.

Just as Gu Qichi turned his head and was about to get up, Bo Yu pressed him back down.

In an even tone, Bo Yu said, “They’re probably calling me over to help pitch tents. Just sit here and rest.”

Gu Qichi was bundled into the tent along with snacks by him and could only answer, half laughing and half helpless, “Okay.”

…

Dinner was eaten together by the guest groups and the staff. The show had hired a professional outdoor barbecue chef.

The ingredients had been provided by Bo Yu: Albas lamb brought in from the frontier regions, fragrant without any gamey smell.

Three or four cubes of meat were skewered onto each iron skewer and set over glowing charcoal. The fat slowly rendered out, glistening in a bright, translucent layer of oil.

Even before any seasoning had been added, the pure aroma of the meat was already wafting up from the grill. Even someone like Gu Qichi, who wasn’t particularly driven by appetite, couldn’t help glancing over again and again at the lamb skewers on the rack.

It smelled so good.

Gu Qichi’s eyes were shining.

A large group of people sat in a circle. The livestream still hadn’t ended, but at that moment the cameras weren’t pointed at him and Bo Yu. Gu Qichi shifted slightly closer to Bo Yu and asked in a low voice, “After dinner, are we staying here for the night?”

Bo Yu raised an eyebrow at him, then reached out and rubbed lightly at the back of his neck. The pressure wasn’t heavy, but it tugged all too easily at certain sensitive nerves, making Gu Qichi go weak for no reason.

He leaned to the young man’s ear and said softly, “We’re not staying here. Filming ends at midnight, and then we’ll go home.”

The lamb skewers were done. Their outsides had been roasted crisp while the inside remained full of juices; one bite was tender and bursting with flavor.

The chef shook the grill twice, sprinkled a handful of cumin over them to bring out the most primal aroma of the meat, then added a bit of chili before serving them over.

Gu Qichi looked into Bo Yu’s eyes and slowly answered with an “Oh,” then said carelessly, “You can go back by yourself. I’m sleeping in the tent.”

As if he didn’t know why Bo Yu was so eager to rush home.

There wasn’t really anything Bo Yu wanted to do besides have sex with him.

Gu Qichi turned sideways, accepted the skewers from a staff member, split half of them with Bo Yu, then quietly moved a little farther away and started eating his dinner.

The barrage comments erupted excitedly:

“Wifey looks so cute when he eats, his cheeks puffing in and out like a hamster.”

“Wuwuwuwu, showing me this food stuff in the middle of the night is making me starving. Can’t scenes involving food be aired at some other time? This is so unfriendly to people trying to lose weight ahhhh!”

“Why is everyone only paying attention to wifey eating? Is nobody noticing the two of them whispering?”

“I noticed. He’s trying to lure wifey home. Damn this dog of a man—wifey stays right here and goes nowhere! [angry][angry]”

“They should still go home. There are livestream cameras at home too. We’re all the sponsors supporting the show, surely they won’t let us down.”

“Holy crap, sis, what you said actually makes so much sense. I really want to feast my eyes on that. [drool][drool]”

“You all are seriously something else, to think that far ahead. [thumbs up]”

“YYSY, Bo Yu and Gu Qichi sitting together is seriously so pleasing to the eye. I’ve already screencapped so many pictures. I’ll never run out of wallpaper material again.”

…

Gu Qichi was abducted at two in the morning.

When he was carried into the car, he was still sleeping soundly. Bo Yu thoughtfully didn’t wake him, wanting to let him sleep a little longer.

The car sped all the way there, lights and shadows flickering past outside the windows. One of Bo Yu’s hands turned the steering wheel, but instead of heading home in a hurry, he drove toward one of the hotels owned by the Bo Group.

It was a five-star hotel. Thinking previously of the possibility that he might need to travel for work, Bo Yu had deliberately reserved a permanent suite for himself in various places, so if he went there directly, there would be no awkward problem of not finding a room.

Bo Yu carried Gu Qichi out of the car. Half-asleep, the young man was muddled as he was moved around and thought he was dreaming, frowning in displeasure.

After showing proof of identity, Bo Yu quickly brought Gu Qichi up to the suite, entirely missing the front desk clerk’s eyes, which were so excited they were practically about to scream.

Front desk clerk: Oh my god, the ship is real!

There were probably still cameras at home, and if he wanted to do anything, it wouldn’t be very convenient. Taking Gu Qichi’s thin skin into account, Bo Yu had deliberately changed locations.

Much safer.

Tonight, Gu Qichi had actually eaten quite a lot. Add it all up, and the skewers of meat he’d consumed could practically make a handful. By contrast, although Bo Yu had been busy all day, he had eaten very little.

Bo Yu glanced over at the person sleeping on the big bed, then neatly took off his own coat. The taut muscle lines of his body shifted with his breathing, exuding a powerful masculine heat.

He brushed aside the hair on Gu Qichi’s forehead and curved his lips in a smile.

No rush. His dinner was only just beginning.

…

When Gu Qichi was finally tormented awake, he was completely dazed.

Not all the lights in the hotel room were on—only one dim little night lamp, casting an orange-yellow, hazy glow.

A tender, ambiguous tide of desire had been woven inch by inch, drawn tight, waiting for someone to fall into it.

Bo Yu’s face was hidden within the light. The outline of his profile was distinct, broken by shattered patches of light and shadow, his muscles tense, like an exceptionally powerful male lion.

And that lion was currently busy tormenting him.

Bo Yu didn’t bother with anywhere else. He only targeted the red mole on Gu Qichi’s leg, biting at it until marks slowly spread outward inch by inch.

Moisture had been forced into the corners of Gu Qichi’s eyes. Tugging at Bo Yu’s hair, he asked in a sleepy, hoarse voice, “Bo Yu, where is this? Weren’t we in the tent at the wetland park?”

Even having his hair pulled didn’t annoy Bo Yu. He lowered himself to kiss him, coaxing him in a husky voice as he did.

Bo Yu: “We’re not in the tent. We’re in a hotel suite.”

Bo Yu: “You’d already stayed in the tent for quite a while, and it’s not comfortable to sleep there anyway. Just think of this as coming out to indulge me a little.”

The night lamp flickered twice. Bundles of light shook and fell across Bo Yu’s eyelids.

He reflexively closed his eyes, then opened them again, looking at Gu Qichi, who was trying to struggle. The fierceness in his features faded, the lines softening.

Bo Yu let him go, then lowered his head and kissed him again. “I’ll coax you first.”

The instant the words fell, Gu Qichi let out a muffled moan.

The dampness at the corners of his eyes deepened. Bit by bit, flushed red spread across the ends of his eyes, mixed with that pale yellow light, making him unbearably alluring.

Bo Yu’s voice was a little indistinct, but he was still trying to speak clearly. “Wife, lower your head. Look at me.”

As if bewitched, Gu Qichi lowered his head under his influence. His eyes and brows were full of spring feeling, and sweat began to bead over his back.

Bo Yu reached out, forcefully threading their fingers together, his voice low and husky, carrying an unreadable emotion. “I really liked the punishment this afternoon. Let’s try it more.”

Gu Qichi’s jaw tightened, his chest heaving sharply with each breath. Almost instantly, he understood which punishment Bo Yu meant.

The koala one.

Before Gu Qichi could react, his whole body was already soft, yet Bo Yu had picked him up like he was carrying a child.

Laughter flowed from Bo Yu’s eyes and brows as he toyed with Gu Qichi’s Adam’s apple and leaned in to kiss him, gentle and affectionate, every movement light. “Baby, today you’re my little koala baby.”

He was losing his mind again.

Enduring the heat and sweat all over his body, Gu Qichi trembled and bit down on Bo Yu’s shoulder.

Bo Yu didn’t make a sound. Instead, he smiled with deep satisfaction and turned his face to kiss Gu Qichi’s earlobe.

His voice seemed stuck together with desire, carrying a different sort of bewitchment. “Little koala baby, so good.”

…

That whole night, Gu Qichi played the role of koala baby.

His vision was blurred, and through the moisture clouding his eyes he could only just make out Bo Yu’s features.

The two of them had snuck out at two in the morning, but Gu Qichi drifted in and out of consciousness over and over. By the time Bo Yu finally let him go, Gu Qichi hazily glanced out the window and saw that the sky outside was already bright.

The room was very quiet. There was no mixed-up noise of any kind, only the sound of his breathing and Bo Yu’s.

He didn’t know what floor they were on, but it had to be a high one.

When Bo Yu pulled him tightly into his arms, Gu Qichi instinctively shrank a little, still feeling like he was about to be turned back into a koala again.

“Jianbing guozi—!”

Even from far away, they could hear the breakfast vendor downstairs shouting out.

This area was close to a commercial street, with office buildings nearby too. Morning crowds streamed back and forth, and there were plenty of street vendors. If he didn’t sleep now, there wouldn’t be another chance.

Curled up in Bo Yu’s arms, his throat hoarse beyond belief and his mind still foggy, Gu Qichi still couldn’t help cursing once: “Pervert.”

Even when he was falling asleep, he was still muttering in his sleep: “Bastard.”

Bo Yu looked at Gu Qichi curled into a ball in his arms, his Adam’s apple moving once, his eyes overflowing with satisfaction and lazy contentment.

He took Gu Qichi’s hand, drew one of his fingers into his mouth, pressing it lightly with his teeth while his tongue wound around it, nibbling slowly.

“Mm, I really am a pervert.”

“And a bastard too.”

Bo Yu affirmed it for him.

…

After the first episode of I’ll Stay With You to the End aired, the results were exceptionally good, already far beyond the production team’s expectations. The follow-up buzz kept skyrocketing, directly attracting seven new advertisers who were now competing for ad slots once the show officially aired on satellite TV.

Wen Xi and Bai Heng were also watching the trending topics around the clock, and they directly sued every major gossip account that had spread rumors and slander about Bo Yu.

For a while, those marketing accounts that specialized in suppressing Gu Qichi quieted down quite a bit.

Mostly because they were scared of getting sued and really didn’t dare walk into the line of fire again.

But some of those accounts also noticed a key point: if they posted sweet couple videos and promotional write-ups about Gu Qichi and Bo Yu together, they wouldn’t get sued.

Not only would they not get sued, they would actually be welcomed enthusiastically by the pair’s CP fans.

With both heat and traffic guaranteed, who would still bother making money from black material? Marketing accounts weren’t stupid.

So in just two short days, Wen Xi discovered that her Weibo recommendations were practically being occupied by Gu Qichi and Bo Yu’s ship, Yu-Qin-Gu-Zong.

The speed and scale of it all were enough to leave one speechless.

That very night, while Bo Yu had taken Gu Qichi away, Wen Xi was diligently carrying out her duty as an agent—patrolling Weibo.

The trending search page had already been completely taken over by I’ll Stay With You to the End. At the top of the entertainment rankings, Gu Qichi’s name sat prominently in first place.

#GuQichi_SchrodingersBadLuck#, #GuQichi_BoYu_KoalaHug#…

Further down were other trending topics from the other guest pairs, and their discussion levels were considerable too. Their CP supertopics were lively as well.

It was just that Gu Qichi and Bo Yu’s popularity was too high. In comparison, the other guests really did seem a bit overshadowed.

Wen Xi scrolled a few times and felt bored, then on a whim tapped into the Yu-Qin-Gu-Zong supertopic.

The cover image had changed. It was no longer the old picture from I Took Dad on a Trip where Bo Yu hadn’t shown his face, but instead a screenshot from that afternoon’s koala-hug penalty.

A major fan account had edited it a bit, removing some irrelevant people around them, leaving only the two people embracing each other, and even adding a few cute effects on top.

Gu Qichi had gray koala ears on his head and a cute blush on his cheeks.

Wen Xi stared at that pinned image for a few seconds and fell silent.

You know… say what you will, but it really did have a strong atmosphere.

The person who hated Yu-Qin-Gu-Zong the most, Wen Xi, glanced away guiltily and long-pressed the save button.

Wen Xi kept scrolling and nearly tripped over the collective lack of pants in that supertopic. Truly, you never know until you look—then you get the fright of your life.

There were an astonishing number of people there. Setting aside the ship fans from the grape fandom, what was especially rare was the sheer number of fanfiction writers, fan artists, and top-tier video editors.

It was nearly catching up to the number-one CP supertopic ranking.

The content, however, was less than wholesome. Wen Xi casually opened a few fanfics and immediately saw things like lingerie, bathroom play, mirror play, ice cubes, cat tails, and the like. These bathtub girls were no longer satisfied with simply driving the car—they were ready to launch a rocket straight into space.

The newest refreshed comment was under a fanfic written in a very delicate style, with excellent prose and overflowing sensuality.

Even Wen Xi found herself a little tempted. She glanced at the poster’s ID—

@ForTheBathtubTenThousandTimes

Wen Xi hit follow and started scrolling again.

[Bathtub_SevenTimesOneNight]: “The little couple is so sweet, so when are they getting in bed and doing it for us to watch? [expectant][expectant]”

[blues]: “Ahhhh Bo Yu and wife Chi Chi are staying at home. Since there’s nothing to do, both of them are bored, and Bo Yu doesn’t dare talk to him because he’s focused on reading. But in the end, impatient Chi Chi still can’t help saying to Bo Yu: ‘Can you chat with me a little?’ Bo Yu is surprised and asks, ‘Aren’t you afraid I’ll disturb you?’ Chi Chi says it’s fine, he doesn’t dislike a noisy atmosphere. Yuzi’s eyes light up and he grabs Chi Chi’s hand, saying: ‘Then I’m going to make some noise for you right now.’ ‘Seven times a day.’ [playful]”

[LittleDimpleLongEyelashes]: “Insanely good. The atmosphere between these two is just unreal, so sexy. [drool]”

[YouAreMyMostBeautifulMark]: “I always have this illusion that the two of them are about to take their pants off and show me at any moment. Clearly I’m still too horny.”

[DontBeAfraidImAPervert]: “Found two nice-looking thongs, can some talented writer make content from them? Wuwuwuwuwu baby Chi would definitely look amazing in them.”

[qhdodhopqdh]: “@ForTheBathtubTenThousandTimes has already written that, dear. You can check her homepage, there’s staircase play too. [drool][drool]”

There was actually something this good?

Wen Xi followed the tag and dug around for quite a while before finally finding the fic people in the comments had been discussing. After bookmarking it in complete satisfaction, she returned to the supertopic.

[AfterTheTsunamiRecedes]: “Girls, there’s a piece of gossip. Guaranteed real.”

[AfterTheTsunamiRecedes]: “Fashion Pasha wants to invite the two of them to shoot a cover. [cheer][cheer]”

[SingleSidedWaitingTentativeTenderness]: “Pasha??? Seriously?!!! That’s the famous wedding-company magazine of the entertainment industry!!!”

[more and more]: “Oh my god, if they really do shoot a Pasha cover together, that magazine is going to sell out instantly.”

[one to one]: “It’ll definitely sell out. Don’t forget, baby Chi’s biggest fan leader YUCHI switched over to become a CP fan. That purchasing power is terrifying…”

At this point Wen Xi felt it was getting boring. She exited the supertopic while inwardly scoffing.

What kind of gossip even was this? “Guaranteed real”? Fashion Pasha hadn’t contacted her at all, and now they were supposedly shooting a cover.

Magazine cover slots had been absurdly tight lately, with everyone fighting tooth and nail over them. And a couple’s dual cover of this caliber? You hardly even needed to think before knowing it had to be fake.

Still, if Gu Qichi and Bo Yu really did shoot a couple’s cover for Pasha, it would probably be incredibly pleasing to the eye.

The kind that would absolutely wipe out the competition.

Wen Xi switched over to Lychee TV, planning to enjoy that afternoon’s livestream.

Then an email notification suddenly popped up on her phone.

The sender was @fashionPasha.

Wen Xi froze.

The gossip was actually real?!!

Fashion Pasha really wanted to invite Gu Qichi and Bo Yu to shoot a dual couple cover?!!

__

Author’s note:

Bo Yu: I’m a pervert. I love my little koala baby.

Chi Chi: Get lost.

Bo Yu: Wife is so good.

Chi Chi: Get even farther away.