YueRui

@Wang Xingyue Xingyue's standard of 'got it' was truly low. He looked like a fish floundering on land, to be frank, but Ricky didn't say it, not wanting to destroy Xingyue's confidence and thus end up ruining the video. "Let's try it and review the footage after to see where you can improve," Ricky said, setting up his phone on the tripod to film. Adjusting the frame and then his own chair so they were both in view, Ricky started the music, watching the countdown on screen carefully so he could start right on time. He hit all of the moves, of course, while maintaining his face in an angle that would hide his bloating, but even out of his peripherals, Xingyue was completely bombing it. Once the snippet of the song ended, he turned to Xingyue. "Are you serious?"

@Shen Quanrui Ricky's clear disapproval was unwarranted - he should've already known that Xingyue was not a dancer, and this wasn't something he was interested in doing to begin with. "I'm doing what the video is doing!" Xingyue answered incredulously. Was he not doing a body roll? He felt like he was. He was already feeling the tension in his muscles for squeezing and rolling them in ways that he was not used to. Xingyue had trained his body to react to brute force, not to do these big repetitive actions. Another two tries later, he looked to Ricky, "Well, I think I got it," he said, though he had no will to be on camera. It was best to keep his face off the internet and out of the public's eye, especially since Ricky had quite a following. Xingyue was hoping the younger would see his terrible dancing and scrap the idea of having him in the video all together. At worse, Xingyue would just feign being hurt for having his dance rejected.

@Wang Xingyue "Managers aren't supposed to be in the video with the artists."

"And staff aren't supposed to talk back to their employers, but here you are," Ricky said without a second glance toward Xingyue. He sipped on his unsweetened green tea while Xingyue practiced, tilting his face this way and that as he checked on his condition—his face had been quite swollen as of late. It wasn't helping that Xingyue was being so difficult, too. After a long while, Ricky checked on Xingyue again, and he was completely horrified to find he made no improved. It had gotten worse, somehow. "What are you doing?" he yelped. "Roll your body like a wave, not like... that!!"

@Shen Quanrui First Ricky was mocking Xingyue for expecting to be part of the video, now he was giving him dirty looks for not wanting to be part of the video - what the heck did this kid want from him? Xingyue raised a brow and shot an equally disdained look back at Ricky, "But I'm your manager," he reminded the younger, "Managers aren't supposed to be in the video with the artists." Between practicing for the dance and fetching the green tea though, the latter sounded so much more appealing. Xingyue got up to get the bottle from the fridge first, bringing it back to Ricky. Despite his initial complaints, Xingyue didn't want to lose his job when he was getting closer and closer to achieving his goal every day, so when he returned, he diligently watched the video for ten minutes, moving his hands and torso with jerky motions as he tried to keep up with the tacky moves in the video.

@Wang Xingyue Ricky shot Xingyue a nasty glare. Did he not comprehend the words that were coming out of Ricky’s mouth? Xingyue’s sole strength was truly only his pretty face, and Ricky had no idea how he had survived so long acting as the social media manager for whoever his past employer was. “What… you’re supposed to be in the video with me,” Ricky said, slowly lowering his hand before he remembered there was still highlighter on it. He wiped it off a tissue, then plucked his phone from Xingyue’s grasp so he could mount it on the tripod in front of the mirror. “Look, I’ll put it up like this. You’re so slow. Learn the dance, we’re going to film in ten. Ah, but get me a green tea first. There’s one in the fridge.”

@Shen Quanrui The song itself was already enough to give Xingyue a headache, but the cringey and unnatural looking dance moves were the thing that made him recoil back from the phone in obvious disdain. He glanced up at Ricky while the video was playing, watching how the younger was moving with the music that came from the phone. It just didn't make sense why a boy would want to do this dance, even if Ricky did have the body figure to do so. "Do you want me to record you from here?" Xingyue asked, "The people seem to be doing it with a phone stand in front of them, there's no special video work going on. What do you want me to do?" he asked, turning on the camera and holding the phone up to capture Ricky.

@Wang Xingyue "Sit down, will you? You're making me nervous," Ricky said, taking another long sip of his water before he pulled out his reference video, sliding his phone over to Xingyue. "It's called 'Say So'. You know Doja Cat, right?" She was, of course, Ricky's idol in being a cat, not that Xingyue would know. Ricky dipped the tip of his ring finger into a pearlescent highly to touch up over the tip of his nose and the cupid's bow of his lip, examining himself carefully before his vanity mirror. While the video played for Xingyue, Ricky watched himself practice in the mirror, precise with his movements in order to make the entire dance look perfectly relaxed. "Got it?"

@Shen Quanrui Not even a minute after he sat down, Xingyue was back on his two feet again. Begrudgingly, he stood up and approached Ricky. Clearly this was going to be yet another one of those challenges that Ricky wanted someone to do with him before the official recording. At least with that notion in the back of his mind, Xingyue would just meander through the actions and hope that Ricky didn't nitpick him. "What do you want to film?" he asked, holding his hand out for a reference video, just like that 'Dog Splashing in the Yellow River' (or whatever it was called) example from before.

@Wang Xingyue While Ricky had a drink, he checked on his messages. All his collaborations had to be rescheduled, of course, but pushing all of them out for at least two months was too suspicious. What if people came up with wild rumours for him? Ricky needed to post a challenge, and he'd need a second person in it just to show he wasn't shutting out /all/ collaborations, but that some people were simply being put on the back burner. Ricky glanced around the room. Unfortunately for him, the most photogenic one was Wang Xingyue, but he also happened to be the worst influencer. /And/ he stole Ricky's first kiss. Ricky heaved a sigh after watching Ricky for a while. "A-Yue. Come here. Film with me."

@Shen Quanrui Xingyue couldn't believe that with the schedule change, his job had gone from 'manager' to 'personal assistant' to what could only best be described as a 'modern day indentured servant'. It wasn't that he owed Ricky anything literally, but somehow that was how the younger managed to make him feel. From running errands outside to pushing Ricky from room to room in his oversized apartment, Xingyue felt that his legs weren't his own anymore. They existed only because Ricky needed him to do things on his behalf. He wordlessly took the water bottle from Ricky while the other set up for his next video. Filling it up with warm water and putting it back by Ricky's tableside, Xingyue finally took a seat on the couch behind the younger, catching his breath since the morning.

@Wang Xingyue Since Ricky wasn't going to work from his parents' manor, he moved back to his own apartment to continue with his schedule. Someone was always carting him around in a wheelchair now, which Ricky absolutely loved. It was a shame he couldn't be crippled all the time. Being unable to put weight on his leg meant he couldn't do his regular reels. Instead, he switched to streaming from his desk, talking about this and that while he did his makeup, as if he was getting ready to go out for the day. His viewers, whilst confused with the change, took it all in a stride. Not being able to walk meant Ricky needed more help, too, and naturally, all of that fell on Xingyue. He had mostly forgiven him for stealing his first kiss—he had to, otherwise being around him was going to give Ricky an aneurysm. "A-Yue, my water bottle is empty. Refill."

@Shen Quanrui Bite him? That was hardly the worst thing that Ricky could do to Xingyue in the moment. What if he kissed him again...or did something even more unthinkable? Xingyue leaned in, his reflexes ready to kick in at any moment as he stood on the balls of his feet rather than on his heels. "What- ow!" he snapped, flinching backwards as he covered his mouth and shot Ricky yet another glare. "What the hell- if you didn't want me to eat your food, just don't offer it next time," Xingyue said, forgoing the last of his formalities of Ricky that he had been trying to hold up since day 1. "I know how to get myself out, no need," Xingyue said, turning on his heels and heading out without another look back at Ricky.

Since he was on the upper floor, it was convenient for him to map out the layout of the house, which would make for easier investigation in the future. Seeing that the housekeepers weren't around, he peeked into each individual room, eventually locating Shen Tianfeng's office that was down the hall from Ricky's room. All the important information was bound to be locked up in there, so his only goal was to get in and thoroughly take a look. Though he had the mind to start right then and there, Xingyue decided it was better to retreat and come back another day as Ricky's boyfriend when it was positive that his parents were truly out of the house and no one would run into him like the unfortunate soul Lin did.

@Wang Xingyue When Xingyue hesitated, Ricky's impatience got the better of him. "What are you so afraid of? I'm not going to bite you. Get closer." Once his beckoning finally pulled Xingyue close enough, Ricky flicked him over his mouth, hard. Those lips felt worse than they looked, and Ricky recoiled visibly once he doled out his punishment. He didn't want to admit to Xingyue that was his first kiss, so a hard hit would have to do to remind Xingyue that he better know his place. "Now clean up and leave. Xiaofei is going to show you out."

@Shen Quanrui This was truly such an awkward situation to be in. They were eating in silence, but Xingyue was already coming up with a list of 100 excuses for him to get out of the room as soon as he finished eating. It didn't take long for him to finish those four measly yet overpriced soup dumplings, and he was waiting for Ricky to just twitch even a little so he could take the handle from there to excuse himself. Unfortunately enough, Ricky called for him yet again, and Xingyue made a face as he realized they had to close the distance between them again. "Can't you just say it from here? There's nobody else listening," he said, standing up and putting the rest of the trash in the plastic bag it originally came in, "Let me just clean up, and I'll leave you to your space to rest and recover." Xingyue needed Ricky to fall asleep so he could sleuth around the house. Then again, with his injured ankle and the dramatic nature of his, Ricky wouldn't be going anywhere even if he was awake. Seeing that the younger wasn't budging, Xingyue sighed and went over to the edge of the bed, "What is it?"

@Wang Xingyue Ricky couldn't hold back an expression of disgust when he watched Xingyue eat all four of his soup dumplings in the same amount of time it took Ricky to eat one. Did Xingyue have to wolf down his food like he hadn’t eaten in a decade? Where was the decorum? Was his father so busy caring for him that he didn't bother to teach him manners? Ricky didn't bother to lecture Xingyue, though, instead focusing on his draining of his soup dumplings. He was a caveman, and his skull was too thick to get anything else too complicated through. Xingyue was destined to drive Ricky around and remember simple things like Ricky's drink orders. Once he finished with his food, Ricky set aside his trash for Xingyue to take care of, laying a hand over his full stomach. He wanted to say something about his schedule for the foreseeable future, but when he looked over at Xingyue, with truffle oil glazing his furiously thin lips, rage took ahold of Ricky. How dare Xingyue think he deserved to take Ricky's first kiss. No, even if it wasn't Ricky's first time, how dare Xingyue think he deserved to kiss Ricky /at all/ with that mouth? He beckoned at Xingyue. "Come closer. I want to tell you something."

@Shen Quanrui "What do you mean flex?" Xingyue asked, wondering why Ricky was always taking things in such weird directions. Besides, it wasn't as if his parents could do anything else when it was all Ricky's parents doing their 'busy' work that landed them in such a miserable situation. He frowned as he saw the dumplings being offered to him a second time. Xingyue thought again, and moved closer to eat them. After all, he had spent his own money out of pocket for this. If Ricky didn't want to eat it all, then this was his personal gain (that was the best way he could put it if he didn't want to feel the financial burden too deeply in his soul). And unlike the younger, Xingyue wasn't about nibbling and taking his time with food. Food was purely for sustenance, so he took a dumpling and ate it by the mouthful, his insides getting rushed at the reality that these dumplings were too freaking expensive for such a...mundane taste like this.

@Wang Xingyue Ricky's outstretched arm dipped when Xingyue brought up his parents and their obvious lack of interest. He almost didn't believe Xingyue when he said that his father would abandon everything on his schedule just to watch over Xingyue, when Xingyue would probably be just sleeping and minding his own business if he was ill. "My parents are busy," Ricky mumbled. What would an impoverished family like the one Xingyue came from know? "Are you trying to flex on me?" Although Xingyue rejected the dumplings, Ricky leaned over and left the little dish on his bedside table, digging into the bag for the second paid of chopsticks before laying that with the dumplings as well. "Get over here and eat it. I don't want you to get sauce over my makeup."

@Shen Quanrui Xingyue was starting to notice that Ricky only had the same few comebacks for him every time he inquired about his parents. It was kind of peculiar. "No it's not that," he said, straightening up to defend himself, "I just noticed that they didn't really disturbed by your appearance earlier. If I ever went home like that my...father would've dropped everything to check on me and take care of me." This struck a chord within himself because he knew that he was telling the absolute truth. And yet, it was because of these heartless frauds that Xingyue had been missing out on this part of family life for so many years. His throat felt a little dry after he said that, and he looked away from Ricky to avoid conveying his hatred for the other and his family. He looked at the four pieces of Xiaolongbao that Ricky had suddenly offered his way, and Xingyue raised a hand, "You haven't eaten yet right? You should eat more. Just eat what you can, and I'll finish the rest. If anything, I'll go out and get something else later, it's no big deal." There was no way he was letting that food go into the trash. It was way too expensive for that kind of ending. Besides, eight pieces was already quite little in Xingyue's opinion, but if Ricky was easily giving away 4 of them, that made him wonder just how miniscule that younger's appetite was.

@Wang Xingyue The dumplings were already a little cool despite the insulated bag they came in—Xingyue was going to have to work on his speed. Still, Ricky was happy to have them after a long day of being dragged through the dirt. For a moment, he even forgot about his throbbing ankle in favour of draining the soup from the black dumpling held between his chopsticks. Once he had it dry, he ate his first dumpling in tiny bites, taking his time to chew until it was properly broken down in his mouth before he swallowed. "No, they haven't. Why are you so nosy? You're in love with them?" When he looked over, Xingyue was just staring, sitting so pathetically next to Ricky's vanity that Ricky felt like he was looking at a stray animal. Maybe he /had/ been a little harsh, especially since Xingyue was just trying to help him out earlier. Xingyue probably didn't know it was his first kiss—not like that made it any better, of course! Xingyue shouldn't have presumed, but he was pretty helpful today, at the end of the day. "Did you eat yet?" Ricky pulled half of his dumplings onto the separated lid and held it out to Xingyue, wary as if he was really that stray dog on the streets covered in fleas. "Have some."

@Shen Quanrui A part of Xingyue was wondering if he had made the right choice in rescuing Ricky from the kidnappers earlier. Instead of being revered as the other's hero, somehow Ricky was talking at him like /he/ was the enemy. One would've expected a little more courtesy towards their literal savior, but he supposed Ricky was too privileged to understand what appreciation was. "Yes I did," he said, finally pulling out the chair at Ricky's vanity and taking a seat in it. Was Xingyue supposed to sit here and watch the kid eat his expensive dumplings? He had only planned on dropping the things off and then using the opportunity to peep around the house while Ricky was busy. When he looked up at Ricky's eating posture though, a weird feeling tugged at his heartstrings. Could it be...that Ricky looked a little lonely in that moment? "Have your parents checked in on you?" Xingyue couldn't help but ask.

@Wang Xingyue Ricky's scowl softened. Zhengting had told Xingyue about Ricky's predicament. He couldn't help the disappointment that welled in his chest—or maybe it was his hunger, so he nodded for Xingyue to bring him the dumplings. It was a good thing he had redone his makeup after his shower and fallen asleep sitting up, so that it was all still sitting perfectly still and unmoved on his face. If Xingyue had burst in while Ricky was barefaced, Ricky was just going to have him killed. For so long, only Zhengting was allowed to see Ricky without makeup on. He received the dumplings with both hands, spreading the carton out carefully across his lap after tossing his laptop aside. Before he picked up the first piece, he noticed Xingyue just... standing there. "You can sit down," Ricky said, although he was still avoiding looking Xingyue in the face—especially those horrendously thin lips of his. "Did you cancel my shoot for tomorrow yet?"

@Shen Quanrui If Xingyue could describe his face akin to something dark, it'd be charcoal. The fact that he was buying something out of his own pocket for his enemy would be a very humiliating situation in any circumstance, but it was all part of his plan, so he had to swallow his fury and fork out the money. Who would've thought that when he opened the door to Ricky's room, he was met with an even darker shade of black, akin to obsidian - and that was saying a lot since Ricky wore buckets of foundation to stay light-skinned. "You complained to Zhengting that no one wanted to drop off food for you, yet here I am dropping off food for you," Xingyue said, holding up the bag of Xiaolongbao and shooting the younger a glare, "It's not like you pay me that much to begin with, will you stop threatening me with my wages? Are you eating or not? These weren't cheap you know." For someone who had just claimed Xingyue was his boyfriend out of nowhere and then turn around and give the cold shoulder, Ricky sure knew how to play the victim card well.

@Wang Xingyue Ricky was revising the schedule Xingyue sent over when the phone from the house intercom system rang. The butler at the front door reported that someone was here to see Ricky—it must be Zhengting, with dinner. Ricky gladly had him sent up, but when his room's door was opened, the man who entered was clearly not Zhengting. It was, in fact, the last person Ricky wanted to see. His face darkened, and he nearly jumped out of bed to attack Xingyue. How dare he show his face here again? Did he have no shame? "What are /you/ doing here?" he said, slouching deeper against his mountain of pillows so they might swallow him. "Seriously, I'm not paying you overtime."

@Shen Quanrui Since they were just talking over the phone and Ricky couldn't physically see Xingyue, there was no need for him to keep up the pretenses. Xingyue's head truly hurt after interacting with Ricky's insufferable entitlement for too long periods at a time. He grabbed at his temples with his thumb and middle finger on each side, rubbing in circular motions while waiting for Ricky to break the silence again. Well, since he had done his due duty in offering to drop off food, Ricky was going to have to figure things out on his own if he refused Xingyue's help. Though it was a slight pity that he wouldn't get to investigate the Shen Manor tonight, there was bound to be more opportunities in the future. For now, Xingyue just wanted a hot shower and then to tuck in early for the night.

When he came out of the shower, Xingyue was surprised to find an unread notification on his phone. And to be even more surprising, it wasn't from Ricky. But of course, it had to be /about/ him. Xingyue sighed as he threw his phone to a side after reading the message, going to get a fresh change of clothes for himself. He supposed this was the universe telling him to get some investigations done tonight, no matter the cost.

Except that cost was high. Deadly high. Xingyue had stood in front of the ordering counter for fifteen minutes as he stared at the prices in absolute shock. First of all, truffle Xiaolongbao were already somewhat unnecessary, but for each /piece/ to be 20 RMB? How the hell was he supposed to get Ricky full off of this? After careful consideration of his mission, Xingyue reluctantly purchased the standard eight piece set and drove off to Ricky's house, his chest constricting in tightness at the thought of losing over half his monthly expenses over one stupid meal for Ricky's ungrateful .

@Wang Xingyue Ricky absolutely did not need to see and be reminded of Xingyue assaulting him and stealing his first kiss again, so he paused to text Zhu Zhengting, telling him he wanted black truffle xiaolongbao, that he was hungry and no one wanted to get it for him. Truthfully, he just wanted to see Zhengting. Ever since he left, and still without explanation, they had kept in touch, but no one /really/ got what Ricky was thinking or wanted besides him. When he remembered Xingyue was still on the line and waiting for a response, Ricky said, “Oh, uh… no. Are you trying to make up your docked salary by putting in more hours? Why don’t you just send me the revised schedule instead? You /are/ finished, aren’t you?”

Once Zhengting received a plea from Ricky, his brows furrowed. Why was he not forwarding his request to the new personal assistant now? Although their titles were officially ’Social Media Manager’, Zhengting had explained clearly to Wang Xingyue that he was supposed to basically cater to Ricky’s every whim. As much as Zhengting wanted to go on the xiaolongbao run for Ricky, he couldn’t step away from his mother’s bedside, and so forwarded the text to Xingyue without holding back on how displeased he was with Xingyue, especially when this guy had practically begged him for the job and offered up anything Zhengting could ask for for the job.

[From: Zhu Zhengting
To: Wang Xingyue

Ricky texted me asking for food. He said no one wanted to get it for him. I thought you agreed when you wanted the job that you were going to take care of him. Can you go get his dinner now. I’ll forward you the location of his favourite xiaolongbao place.

]

@Shen Quanrui Huh. Xingyue didn't think it would be possible for Ricky to be concerned with anyone that wasn't himself. "No I'm just fine," he told the other, "I don't need to get checked, and it really wasn't my blood." He supposed that concept might be hard for Ricky to wrap his head around, since he didn't actually witness much of the fighting, but what if it really was his blood? Was Ricky going to take responsibility for him or something? "You missed dinner?" Xingyue asked, bringing the conversation back to Ricky when he saw yet another opportunity to get closer to the other's house without being under the watchful eye of his parents, "Do you want me to bring you something?" he asked, "I'm not sure what's still open at this hour, but if you want it, I'll look it up for you."

@Wang Xingyue Ricky fell asleep after his call with Xingyue, and unfortunately for him, it was Xingyue’s next call that woke him again. It was dark already, and his stomach was tight from hunger. He hadn’t eaten anything all day, he remembered, since his captors didn’t bring him breakfast. “What?” he croaked into his phone when he picked up, blood roaring in his ears again when he remembered Xingyue’s assault on him. “My leg hurts. I just woke up, so I guess I missed dinner.” His leg had been left propped up by the doctor, but it was beginning to feel a little stiff since there wasn’t any blood flowing to it. When Ricky tried to shift it off the folded blankets, pain shot through his foot. Leave it to freaking Wang Xingyue to not pick up Ricky before his assailants did. But at least Xingyue came to save him, he thought, thinking of the way Xingyue had been covered in blood that he claimed wasn’t his own. How was that even possible? “Did you get your head checked?” Ricky ventured in asking—he was only making sure Xingyue was going to be fine to work. “Was it really not your blood?”

@Shen Quanrui “Because it’s a bad number, and I hope bad things happen to you,”

What kind of person who wasn't a sociopath spoke like that?! Xingyue sputtered in response, truly at a loss for how unhinged this kid was. There was the saying that the apple never fell far from the tree, and he was starting to see the resemblance between Ricky and his father. He did feel bad for Ricky at the beginning when he saw how his father spoke so harshly to him, but at home, Xingyue started to see that was pretty much how Ricky spoke to him! "Well, you're the one who said I was your boyfriend. Your mom looked like she didn't believe you in the slightest, so I was trying to help." Xingyue finally huffed back at Ricky. He listened on silently as the younger ranted about his schedule on and on. At the end of it, he only gave a grunt in acknowledgement, then hung up the phone. Had he really just gone through life and death to save such a little brat?

'Think of the bigger picture, think of the bigger picture,' Xingyue reminded himself as he worked on Ricky's new schedule, then calling him up again when he had (actually) finished it by the deadline imposed on him. "How is your leg feeling?" he asked, trying to be professional about the whole situation, "Did you have dinner with the Liangs? Did your parents ask about how you got injured?"

@Wang Xingyue “Because it’s a bad number, and I hope bad things happen to you,” Ricky said, seething, although he was toying with his lower lips as he spoke, as if he could scrub Xingyue off. “Why did you do that? All you have to do is stand there and nod and smile. You’re ruining everything!” The easy solution, Ricky supposed, was to tell his parents that he dumped Xingyue for being poor, but that he would retain him as his social media manager. He didn’t share his plan with Xingyue, though, only continuing to vent, “And you didn’t even help me back to my room. I had to crawl up here myself. The doctor said my ankle is going to take at least six to eight weeks before I can put any weight on it. We’re going to have to rewrite the entire schedule for the next two months. I hate you so much.” Then, after considering the fact that it was indeed true Xingyue rescued him (although Ricky would have been rescued sooner or later, anyway), Ricky said, “You’ll get a one-time bonus of 400 yuan for saving me. But I’m telling you now, anyone could’ve done that. Now redo the schedule and send it to me tonight.”

@Shen Quanrui Since Xingyue didn't know what measures Shen Tianfeng had up his sleeves to figure out his identity or to investigate more about him, he wanted to make all traces of him as untraceable as possible. He left with Ricky's van, since that was how he got around nowadays, and made sure that there was no form of identification of his own left in the car when he got back to his apartment. Xingyue had texted the rest of the film crew about Ricky's injury, dismissing them for the day, then hopped into the shower to rinse himself of the grime and dirt that had clung to him from trying to save Ricky earlier. Just as he finished up and got out of the shower, he heard his phone ringing from outside. Quickly wrapping a towel around his waist, Xingyue went to see who called. It was none other than Ricky himself.

"Hel-"

“I’m deducting 14 yuan per hour from your salary for the rest of the month.”

"What? Why?" Xingyue asked, taking a moment to process the younger's outrageous decision, "And why 14 yuan? That's so oddly specific. I saved you today, shouldn't I be getting a raise, if anything?" Xingyue did say he wanted to stay lowkey around Ricky, but how could a pretty rich boy also be so stingy too!