Silent Signals and the Second Protagonist

Li Chen stared fixedly at Shi Ji, the fingers gripping the corner of the thin paper trembling slightly.

Shi Ji remained silent for a long while. He hadn’t expected Li Chen to be so sharp. Since discovery was inevitable, it was better to admit it now than to wait for a forced interrogation later.

He slowly lifted his gaze to meet Li Chen’s misty-blue eyes. The youth watched him without blinking. Suddenly, Li Chen’s expression shifted. He felt the palm covering his lips grow even hotter as Shi Ji’s finger tapped light signals against his cheek.

The movement was so subtle—little more than a slight curl of a finger—that if Li Chen hadn’t been entirely focused on him, he might have missed it.

It was as if he were transmitting a secret code. Li Chen swallowed, looking at Shi Ji in disbelief. The man’s gaze remained on him, calm and deep as a moonless night.

Li Chen’s brow furrowed. This revelation hit him hard; he couldn’t understand why someone as shrewd as Shi Ji would be under anyone’s control.

How is it possible…

He flipped the paper over and scribbled again: “Are you really Shi Ji?”

If this were the original Shi Ji, he wouldn’t care about Li Chen’s life, let alone save him, apologize, or worry about him being bullied.

The answer hidden in his heart became clear. Li Chen urgently turned the paper around. The man lowered his eyes in thought for a few seconds, and then more taps came against Li Chen’s cheek.

Two taps. Then one.

Yes, and no.

Li Chen’s long lashes fluttered like butterfly wings. His heart hammered a violent rhythm against his ribs. A strange, suffocating feeling clogged his chest, and his rapid breathing began to make him lightheaded from the rush of oxygen.

His hand clenched at his side, nails digging deep into his palm. The sharp sting stimulated his nerves, and his gaze darkened.

In that instant, Li Chen’s only thought was to seize Shi Ji and force every answer out of him.

Who is he? Why is he here? Who is controlling him?

But as he caught the anxiety in Shi Ji’s eyes, the predatory urge vanished.

He looks even more scared than I am.

Li Chen realized then: maybe Shi Ji hadn’t been afraid of him all this time, but of the entity pulling the strings from behind.

Shi Ji waited, lips pressed tight. He wasn’t sure if Li Chen understood the signal, or if the System would detect the hint and judge him for mission failure.

He was restless. His palm against Li Chen’s lips was damp—he couldn’t tell if it was his own cold sweat or the boy’s warm breath. His fingers curled slightly against the pale skin, inadvertently leaving faint red marks.

Shi Ji froze, listening intently. His hearing felt hyper-acute. The ticking of the wall clock, the gardener’s shears in the courtyard, the rustle of the paper in Li Chen’s hand, and his own heartbeat—all felt deafening in the silence.

One minute. Three minutes.

The System remained offline. Shi Ji’s constricted heart finally began to loosen. Cold sweat slid down his temple; he didn’t notice he had bitten his lower lip until it was swollen.

Suddenly, Shi Ji felt a soft touch against his palm. He looked down to see Li Chen tilting his head back, nuzzling his lips against Shi Ji’s hand.

The sensation of those two thin lips pressing into his palm made the back of Shi Ji’s head go numb. The intimacy was so close he could feel the exact shape of the boy’s mouth. The warm breath left a damp patch on his skin.

Shi Ji’s eyes widened. His heartbeat, which had just started to normalize, went off the charts. His face burned, a thin layer of pink spreading over his fair skin. It felt strangely erotic; he wanted to look away but was tethered by the sensation in his hand.

He suddenly remembered the time he had forced Li Chen to lick his fingers to maintain his “character.” It felt like that—except back then, Li Chen was provoking him.

Now… he was comforting him.

Li Chen gently bit Shi Ji’s knuckle before firmly nudging his fingers aside. His eyes met Shi Ji’s, and the man saw a dense, underlying heat in those blue depths.

Why is it like this? I should push him away.

But he didn’t. He wanted to get closer. In this world, Li Chen was the only one who knew. The weight on his soul felt halved.

He didn’t want to think about whether telling Li Chen was right, or if the boy would still kill him in the end. He was just tired. He wanted a moment of solace. He wanted someone to hold him.

Shi Ji’s eyes welled up. A single tear escaped.

But he couldn’t let it show. The System was always watching, waiting to punish him for any “out-of-character” behavior. He was terrified of the electric shocks. He swallowed the sob, letting the tear hide behind his glasses.

Only Li Chen, standing so close, saw the moisture in his eyes.

The youth froze. He watched the tear fall from the corner of Shi Ji’s eye and disappear into his collar. For a fleeting second, Li Chen thought: I should have caught that tear.

But Shi Ji quickly withdrew his hand and composed himself. He sniffed, letting his hair cover his face.

“This is the first time I’ve seen someone so desperate to come back and be my personal servant,” Shi Ji said, his voice returning to its usual cold, arrogant frost. He reached out and patted Li Chen’s cheek twice.

“You’d better behave yourself.”

Li Chen looked up at him and quietly nuzzled Shi Ji’s palm again before the man could pull away. Shi Ji stiffened, withdrawing his hand awkwardly while trying to maintain his poise.

Li Chen blinked, a meaningful smile playing on his lips. Shi Ji immediately grew wary; whenever Li Chen smiled like that, it meant trouble.

Still a wicked little dog.

Li Chen picked up his suitcase. As he brushed past Shi Ji, he leaned in and whispered:

“Don’t worry, Brother.” “I’ll help you.”

Li Chen’s cryptic promise bothered Shi Ji for a while. He didn’t know what the “Protagonist 受” (Shou) would do next. However, life resumed a routine: Li Chen went to school and returned in the afternoon. The only change was Li Chen’s demand: Shi Ji had to pick him up from school.

Li Chen’s excuse was that he didn’t have enough money for taxis and the distance was too far. He looked so pitiful that Shi Ji, as usual, was completely defeated by those big, pleading eyes.

So, while Shi Ji grumbled that it wasn’t his problem, he secretly made sure to be at the school gate on time every day.

One evening, just as Shi Ji was about to leave, he received a call from Yan Guangsheng.

“Mr. Shi,” Yan’s voice was low and cautious over the noisy background. “I think we’ve found a trace of the missing documents.”

Shi Ji froze. “Where?”

Yan Guangsheng gave an address—a bar. “They’re being watched now. A deal is expected around 9 PM. You should get here as soon as possible.”

Shi Ji realized this was an obscure sub-plot from the original novel surfacing again. He agreed to go.

He drove alone to the bar as evening fell. The dry leaves crunched under his tires, a sound that felt amplified in the twilight. He felt a sudden, profound sense of displacement.

Inside the bar, the world was different. Deafening rock music and strobe lights greeted him. A waiter in a vest—one of Yan Guangsheng’s men—bowed respectfully and led him through the crowd.

The atmosphere of the bar, with people dancing and drinking, made the normally introverted Shi Ji feel out of place. They reached the back of the club where Yan Guangsheng was waiting in a booth.

Yan leaned in and pointed to a group in a nearby booth. Seven or eight men in black suits and sunglasses sat in eerie silence, contrasting sharply with the chaos around them.

The most striking among them was a young man who looked to be about Shi Ji’s age. He had sharp brows, a high bridge to his nose, and a cold, defined profile. He sat with an air of indifference, a jade ring on his thumb.

“How do you know they have the documents?” Shi Ji whispered.

Yan Guangsheng took a breath and whispered back, “That young man there… that’s the heir to the Ji family.”

“Ji Shichu.”

Shi Ji’s breath hitched as he stared at the man.

Wait… isn’t that…

The Second Attacker Protagonist (Gong 2)?!