Inside and outside the bathroom, there was only silence.

The air seemed to have frozen in place, suffocating and heavy.

Lin Zhu stared blankly at the tall man standing outside the bathroom with his arms folded, while Yan Ruojun looked back at the naked blond-haired youth inside…

Their eyes met, yet neither of them said a word.

Only the system was happy on its own, urging him on: “Host, don’t just stand there—move, move!” Hurry and run out there and say the key line!

That chattering electronic voice deep in his consciousness finally jolted the stunned Lin Zhu back to himself. His rigid body at last reacted, and in one swift motion he grabbed the bathrobe—

And threw it over his own head!

Outside the bathroom—

Yan Ruojun had never imagined things would develop this way. For a moment, he almost lost control of his expression. He held it in, but in the end he still could not stop himself from revealing the first genuinely heartfelt smile of the night. “…Heh.”

What was the point of covering his face?

It wasn’t as if he had never seen Lin Zhu’s face before.

He really was dumb in an almost hopelessly adorable way.

—

In one corner of the living room—

The hair dryer let out a low humming sound.

Lin Zhu had already put the bathrobe back on properly. The belt at his waist was tied tightly, the collar wrapped shut with strict neatness, as though he were trying to wear a bathrobe with the solemn dignity of formal attire.

He held the hair dryer over his head, while his other hand casually combed through his slightly long blond hair. His brows and eyes were dim, and his nicely shaped lips were pressed into a thin line.

The system comforted him, “It’s fine, host. That’s your future wife—you don’t need to be shy.”

Compared with shyness, Lin Zhu actually felt more humiliated.

At the time, his brain seemed to have short-circuited. He had actually acted on impulse in a way that felt straight out of an internet joke.

…It made him look not very smart.

The system paused oddly for a moment, then coughed twice and said in a rising tone, “If you think about it carefully, this might not be a bad thing…?”

Lin Zhu answered with practiced ease, “I don’t know what exactly you’re thinking, but please stop right there.”

However, this lousy little system not only failed to stop, it immediately continued down the same train of thought:

“Host, your body’s original stats are better than the original scumbag NPC’s. Being seen naked by the protagonist might even raise his affection level and help with later plot-restoration missions. After all, not every Alpha has 20—”

With a snap, Lin Zhu switched off the hair dryer and interrupted in pain, “Can I mute you?”

The system: “Huh? Why?”

After their little bathroom heart-to-heart, it felt that its bond with the host had grown even deeper. Naturally, it had to work even harder to help the host complete his mission from every possible angle!

Lin Zhu answered honestly, “I think your mental state is a bit too far ahead of its time.”

So far ahead that it seemed a little perverted.

The system: “……”

Lin Zhu ran a hand through his hair. It was already mostly dry. Then he turned to glance at the tightly shut bedroom door behind him and immediately let out a breath of relief.

Yan Ruojun was inside the bathroom showering.

If the system said all that wild nonsense in front of him, Lin Zhu felt he might die on the spot from embarrassment.

Don’t ask. The answer was just: too awkward.

Just as Lin Zhu was sighing to himself, someone suddenly knocked on the door, the sound slightly muffled.

Knock knock, knock knock—

Lin Zhu looked at the door hesitantly. Since he didn’t know who was outside, he did not rashly go over and open it.

After a little while—

Yan Ruojun’s voice came from beyond the bedroom door and reached the living room. “Lin Zhu, go open the door. I had my assistant buy a change of clothes. Bring it in.”

Lin Zhu replied through the door, “Oh, okay.”

After answering, and hearing no more sound from the bedroom, he walked toward the entrance in his cotton slippers and let the person outside in.

Yan Ruojun’s assistant was a male Beta, probably a little over thirty. His suit was immaculate, and he wore black-rimmed glasses, looking highly capable and efficient.

He walked in carrying two shopping bags printed with clothing brand logos. The moment they met, he gave Lin Zhu a nod and a faint smile. “Hello. President Yan asked me to come.”

Then he handed one of the bags to Lin Zhu.

Lin Zhu thanked him and accepted it with both hands. Glancing inside, he saw a full set of clothes: a simple white shirt and black pants, somewhat like a student uniform.

With his sharp eyes, he also noticed a still-unopened pair of underwear tucked between the shirt and the pants, and he couldn’t help pressing his lips together awkwardly.

The assistant pushed up his glasses, then handed over the other bag as well, explaining, “This one is President Yan’s. It’s the same size, so they won’t get mixed up.”

Lin Zhu took that one too and nodded repeatedly. Not knowing what else to say, he thanked him again. “Thank you. Sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s nothing. Just doing my job.”

The assistant waved his hand. His expression remained perfectly serious, and his eyes never wandered. After delivering the clothes, he politely withdrew.

Lin Zhu closed the door again and slowly let out a breath while looking at the shopping bags in his hands. Absentmindedly, he thought: Actually, the protagonist wasn’t as cold and aloof as he was written in the original novel…

Mm. His personality was obviously quite good.

While changing clothes, Lin Zhu’s mind drifted off into space. He had no idea how much of a shock he had just given that calm and reliable assistant.

Chen Yuan had worked by Yan Ruojun’s side for seven years.

As a senior secretary, he not only had to handle the official work assigned by his boss, but also occasionally had to act as a personal assistant and deal with his boss’s private needs.

This was not the first time Chen Yuan had delivered clothes to President Yan.

The upper circles and business world were never short of banquets and social events. Sometimes accidents happened and clothes got dirty, which was naturally inappropriate, so a fresh set had to be changed into.

So when he received the call from President Yan asking him to deliver a change of clothes to Xiangshan Villa, Chen Yuan remained perfectly calm—

At least until he heard the request in full.

“Buy two sets of clothes. One in my size, and the other… one size smaller? Forget it, just buy both in the same size. When you arrive, come straight to Hotel Area A on the third floor of Xiangshan, room 3012.”

“Oh, and keep this confidential.”

Chen Yuan responded at once, his tone completely steady, though his pupils widened slightly with surprise.

He was an old employee by President Yan’s side and knew many of his boss’s habits very well—for example, except when traveling long-distance for business, President Yan never stayed out overnight, much less got a hotel room with someone else.

And another example: whenever President Yan had private matters he did not want Old President Yan and the others to know about, he would tell Chen Yuan to keep it secret.

Last year, when President Yan privately went to consult a doctor about gland-removal surgery, he had said the same thing:

“Chen Yuan, keep it confidential.”

By the time he arrived at Xiangshan Club—

Carrying the two newly bought sets of clothes, Chen Yuan stepped through the door of A3012. He practically used every ounce of strength in his body just to barely keep his expression under control, though the hand with which he adjusted his glasses trembled faintly…

He did not see President Yan.

The one who opened the door was a young Alpha.

The Alpha had brilliant blond hair and strikingly aggressive good looks, yet his temperament was gloomy and world-weary. With no expression on his face, he gave off a faint trace of ferocity.

He wore only a white bathrobe, his hair half dry and still carrying the dampness of recent washing… and when he reached out to take the bag, Chen Yuan discovered several fingernail marks imprinted along his left forearm.

The marks were deep. The bluish-purple swelling made it obvious they had been left not long ago.

Chen Yuan had gotten married years ago and had two children with his Omega, so naturally he knew very well where marks like those came from.

Chen Yuan: “……”

At that instant, another magnitude-eight earthquake hit his heart.

—

Fortunately, Lin Zhu did not know how to read minds and had absolutely no idea what violent emotions were hidden beneath Chen Yuan’s calm, steady expression.

After changing clothes, he sat silently on the living room sofa waiting, still thinking about the missing 2% from tonight’s key plot point, too restless to sit still.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that in the span of a single day, the degree to which he had embarrassed himself had already broken all records from the past eighteen years of his life.

A brand-new historical high.

The system, which fancied itself a little quilted jacket of comfort, tried to console him: “Host, relax, relax. You’ve already thrown all your dignity away this early on, so nothing you do from now on can possibly be more embarrassing than this.”

Lin Zhu: “…Having you around is truly my blessing.”

Then he thought about it and realized that, strangely enough, the words did make a certain amount of sense. Against all odds, he found himself comforted.

The next second, Lin Zhu suddenly frowned. After changing his sitting position several times, he finally felt a little more comfortable.

At the moment, he was wearing a slightly loose white shirt, while the straight-cut trousers fit him very well. The only uncomfortable part was somewhere the eye could not see.

—The underwear was too small.

It felt tight.

Lin Zhu’s phone was still on the shelf in the bathroom attached to the bedroom, and he had nothing in his hands to distract himself with. The sense of constriction became harder and harder to ignore.

After about ten minutes—

The bedroom door suddenly opened.

Lin Zhu’s gaze immediately followed it.

He saw Yan Ruojun come out wrapped in a bathrobe, drying his hair with a towel. His features, still damp from the hot water, looked even more sharply defined and exquisite.

His figure was exceptionally tall and graceful; change his clothes and he could walk straight onto a runway. The long bathrobe looked a little too short on him, unable to cover those smooth, slender calves.

As he passed by the sofa to pick up the hair dryer, he glanced at Lin Zhu, who was sitting there frozen in a daze, and suddenly curved his lips in a smile.

Silent—but louder than words.

Lin Zhu: “…………”

Damn it, his personality was awful!