“How long have you lived here?”

Yan Ruoyun glanced around. Aside from the necessary furniture and appliances, the massive living room lacked any personal touches, making it look rather cold and desolate.

But it wasn’t empty.

Delivery boxes of all sizes were piled up in the corner of the living room. Opened packages and completely sealed ones were mixed together, almost forming a small mountain.

The single-story apartment was vast with a good number of rooms. Most of the doors were left open, revealing faint glimpses of even more stacked delivery boxes inside.

Just going by the sheer quantity, the packages in Lin Zhu’s house could rival the inventory of a local post office.

Lin Zhu noticed it too. He rubbed his nose in embarrassment and replied, “A little over three years.”

Lin Cheng had bought him this apartment mainly because it was close to the elite high school he attended—only about a ten-minute walk away.

However, he always slept until the sun was high in the sky and rarely ever made it to class on time.

Yan Ruoyun nodded, pointing at the only two closed doors. “And these two rooms are…?”

Lin Zhu gave a dry explanation: “The left one is the gaming room, and the right one is the bedroom…” He paused, then offered, “Do you want to take a look inside?”

“May I?” Yan Ruoyun cast a light glance at him.

Lin Zhu didn’t say anything; he just walked over and pushed both doors open.

Yan Ruoyun swept his gaze back and forth once, then decisively walked toward the gaming room.

The room was pitch-black, fitted with heavy, highly effective blackout curtains. The only illumination came from the faint blue glow of the computer tower’s brand logo in standby mode, pulsing like a breathing light.

The decor of the gaming room was no different from an esports suite in a hotel. There was even a modified automatic snack vending machine sitting in the corner against the wall.

Lin Zhu belatedly remembered that “he” had left half-eaten snacks on the desk from the night before, along with a half-empty pack of cigarettes and butts lying haphazardly in the ashtray.

Even though the air had been purified by the circulation system and lacked any strange odors, the whole room somehow felt foul and smoggy.

A wave of embarrassment washed over Lin Zhu.

He hurried forward to beat him to it, hastily sweeping the clutter on the desk into the trash can. But his hand accidentally bumped the mouse. Swish—the sleeping computer tower and monitor both lit up instantly.

His social app was set to auto-login. The moment the account signed in, notification chimes went off like firecrackers. The most glaring thing of all was a live stream room taking up two-thirds of the massive monitor.

The host was an adorable, soft-looking male Omega who went by the screen name Bai Xiaomo. He was very young—a freshman at the Kyoto Dance Academy. Half a year ago, he had gone viral online for a dance video and subsequently signed with the platform as a streamer.

Over the past six months, Bai Xiaomo’s follower count had neared ten million. With countless wealthy men and women throwing money at his stream, he had skyrocketed to become one of the platform’s top-tier streamers.

And Lin Zhu was his top patron.

Not too long ago, he had thrown a massive fortune to help Bai Xiaomo win a popularity PK. The sheer amount of money left onlookers utterly dumbfounded, propelling them onto the trending search lists that night and drawing hordes of netizens to witness the spectacle.

This only boosted streamer Bai Xiaomo’s popularity even more.

Because of this, Bai Xiaomo was incredibly enthusiastic toward his generous top patron. Seeing his ID enter the room with VIP special effects, the streamer immediately raised both hands above his head, formed a massive heart for the camera, and greeted him in a sickeningly sweet voice:

“Wow, welcome Chase gege to Momo’s stream~ Just now, a baby in the comments was asking if you’d be coming tonight.”

“We all missed you so much~”

It was peak internet traffic hour for live streams, and the viewer count in the top left corner was over a million.

Every single viewer heard those words in real-time.

But that wasn’t the main issue.

The main issue was—

Yan Ruoyun was currently standing right behind Lin Zhu, barely a meter away.

This gaming room had been comprehensively remodeled, with soundproofing cotton added to the walls, making the surround-sound speakers exceptionally crisp and three-dimensional.

Yan Ruoyun, naturally, heard it loud and clear.

After a few seconds, he asked very calmly, “Lin Zhu, is this what you usually play with at home?”

Lin Zhu finally snapped out of his daze. Sweating bullets, he hurriedly dragged the mouse and closed the stream.

He turned around, opened his mouth, then realized there was nothing he could really explain… Alas, who told him to transmigrate into the role of a pure-blooded, playboy scumbag?

And a twisted, gloomy creep at that.

After dropping that sentence, Yan Ruoyun turned and walked out.

Lin Zhu thought Yan Ruoyun was so pissed off that he was going to leave outright. His heart skipped a beat, and he rushed out after him.

The man had already strolled over to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of mineral water, and started drinking. His expression was placid, revealing no specific emotion, but Lin Zhu was so nervous he could barely speak.

“Uh…” Lin Zhu hesitated before stepping forward and asking quietly, “Are you mad?”

Yan Ruoyun tilted his neck back to drink, his eyes shifting slightly to give Lin Zhu a breezy glance. Once he finished drinking and screwed the cap back on, he asked with an amused tone, “Why would I be mad?”

Lin Zhu answered bluntly: “…Because I flirt with Omegas everywhere?”

Even though this was just the backstory of the “ex-husband” character he inhabited, this track record was now a part of him—an undeniable “fact” that he wouldn’t be able to explain away even if he had a hundred mouths.

Yan Ruoyun set the water bottle down on the empty kitchen island. Facing Lin Zhu, he said with perfect composure, “Lin Zhu, we only decided to get closer tonight. I have no standing to hold your past against you. But after tonight—I expect you to consciously cut ties with all your ambiguous flings and remain completely faithful, body and soul.”

“Can you do that?”

Lin Zhu nodded, thinking to himself: Even if Yan Ruoyun didn’t demand it, there was no way he could juggle them anyway.

For a moment, Yan Ruoyun fell quiet. His deep eyes locked onto Lin Zhu attentively, as if waiting for him to say something.

Seeing the youth stay motionless for ages, he sighed and took the initiative to prompt his mute boyfriend: “We are currently communicating and adjusting to each other. You should speak up too… For instance, do you have any demands or expectations of me?”

Lin Zhu thought about it carefully, then quickly shook his head.

He didn’t think there was anything wrong with Yan Ruoyun. Even if the man occasionally had a wicked sense of humor, it only made Lin Zhu feel awkward and embarrassed, never disgusted.

Strictly speaking, according to the original novel’s descriptions, he—the “scumbag ex-husband”—was the stain on Yan Ruoyun’s life, the part that needed to be optimized out, right?

Seeing Lin Zhu acting like a closed-off gourd again, Yan Ruoyun couldn’t help but grab the water bottle for another sip and pressed on:

“For the foreseeable future, Lin Xiujie and I are still publicly engaged. Coming up, the Yan and Lin families have several joint projects that require Lin Xiujie and me to attend together… Are you absolutely sure you don’t mind?”

Lin Zhu had read the original novel. He knew that at this stage, Yan Ruoyun and the official top, Lin Xiujie, were purely kindred spirits and close friends. Their romantic plotline wouldn’t begin until after his own divorce from Yan Ruoyun…

Theoretically, Lin Zhu had no reason to be jealous or upset right now. But as he recalled the plot developments in the latter half of the novel, his restless heart gradually cooled, and his brows drooped in tandem.

“I don’t mind,” he replied.

Little did he know that in Yan Ruoyun’s eyes, he looked just like a stray puppy unable to find shelter in a rainstorm, pretending the rain wasn’t that heavy and that he was completely fine.

Seeing this, Yan Ruoyun genuinely felt a flash of displeasure. He took two steps forward, used the water bottle in his hand to tip Lin Zhu’s chin up, and said coldly, “Communication goes both ways. Shouldn’t you also ask what expectations I have for you?”

Lin Zhu blinked and obediently repeated the question.

The moment the words left his mouth, Yan Ruoyun smoothly took over: “Of course I do. I expect you to attend class on time, starting tomorrow—”

His freshly hydrated lips were incredibly moist, catching the light with a slight gleam. “Because… I don’t want a little boyfriend who can’t even graduate high school normally and has to run off to a diploma mill abroad.”

The complex knot of emotions lodged in Lin Zhu’s chest was like a fully inflated balloon, instantly popped by those words with a massive BANG!

His eyes looked half-dead as he offered a weary smile: “…Oh.”

Who on earth transmigrates into an alternate world as a scumbag, only to still have to take the college entrance exams?

Turns out it’s me. Never mind then.

…Sigh.

Right at that moment.

The water bottle pressing against his jaw was suddenly pulled away. Lin Zhu’s vision darkened abruptly. Before he could react, the man in front of him tilted his head and leaned in…

Warm breath brushed past the side of Lin Zhu’s face.

The next second.

Yan Ruoyun gently pecked the corner of his mouth.

The man’s lips were damp and soft, pressing against the edge of Lin Zhu’s lips like cotton. Drawing out his words, their breaths mingling together, he coaxed his newly-appointed mute little boyfriend,

“Be good.”