CHAPTER 677: CHAPTER 644: AO CHEN VS HUO QI 10_2

How utterly unreasonable.

Ao Chen felt incredibly stifled at home, so he called Qi Younian about the ownership of his work, asking if he could go talk to Huo Qi himself. Since Meng Qiuyan was pregnant, Qi Younian didn’t have time to talk to Huo Qi in detail, so he agreed and also notified Huo Qi over the phone.

Huo Qi didn’t want others to know about his and Ao Chen’s past grievances, so he agreed as well.

That very night, Ao Chen tidied up his disheveled self and headed straight to the hotel where Huo Qi was staying, ready to have a good talk with Huo Qi about the song issue and subsequent collaboration matters.

He lurked in the hotel for several hours before he finally caught sight of Huo Qi returning. His face subtly changed because Huo Qi, whose cheeks were flush and the corners of his eyes bloodshot, appeared intoxicated and alluringly bewitching.

He was furious and irritable, "You’ve been drinking?"

Huo Qi’s tolerance for alcohol was not strong, frankly speaking, it was quite poor, the type who would get knocked out by a single drink. Often, just a little bit of alcohol would render him unconscious. This was in America, where the safety was far less than back home.

How dare he drink by himself?

Just thinking about the possible consequences made Ao Chen beside himself with rage. On the one hand, worry outweighed his anger, and on the other hand, he was upset that others might see Huo Qi in such a drunken state.

He approached to support Huo Qi, who sidestepped to avoid his touch, "Don’t touch me."

Ao Chen stood rigidly in place, his expression somewhat petrified, but he quickly recovered and continued forward, this time grabbing Huo Qi’s hand without any regard, "Am I supposed to not care and let you self-destruct?"

Huo Qi had forced himself to come back after drinking, his whole body weak, lacking strength. Of course, he didn’t go drinking by himself; he was well aware of that. Friends from California had come to visit him, to hang out, and incidentally, they discussed promoting a movie for him. As a thank you, Huo Qi could not help but show his appreciation.

So after treating his friends to a meal and troubling them to send him back to the hotel, the evening came to an end. The dinner led to too much talking, and he returned slightly late—that’s all.

He didn’t expect Ao Chen to be waiting for him here, though he had agreed to meet Ao Chen, he didn’t say it would be tonight.

Huo Qi smiled at Ao Chen, his smile strangely soothing. With that smile, all of Ao Chen’s anger dissipated. He tightly held Huo Qi’s arm, supporting him towards the room, "Where’s your key card?"

Huo Qi shook his head, his gaze somewhat vacant as he just looked at him, silent, his expression dazed. Ao Chen paused, then it dawned on him: Huo Qi was befuddled by the alcohol, no longer able to distinguish direction.

"Huo Qi."

He reached out, patting Huo Qi’s face.

Huo Qi remained unresponsive, just looking at him.

Ao Chen felt his ears redden under such a gaze. As he reached into Huo Qi’s pocket for the room key card, he muttered, "Don’t look at me like that. I can’t control myself, and you won’t forgive me."

Huo Qi still showed no reaction.

Ao Chen found the key card, swiped it to enter the room, and Huo Qi was practically hanging on him. He was much taller than Huo Qi, with a typical European and American build, but Huo Qi was the epitome of a delicate youth from Nanshuixiang, decent in height but with a very small frame.

Standing next to Ao Chen, he looked rather frail.

Ao Chen wrapped his arm around Huo Qi’s waist, helping him to sit on the sofa.

"Wait here, I’ll get you some water."

Huo Qi, somewhat groggy, opened his eyes to see a familiar figure. His brain was slow to respond, and he spoke haltingly, casually calling out, "Ao... Chen..."

Ao Chen, carrying the water, twitched his hand, then looked at Huo Qi with an expression that was barely hopeful, the depths of his eyes flashing with a dark tint as he sat down beside him, bringing the water to Huo Qi’s lips, "Drink some water first."

Huo Qi began to smile, his smile clean and attractive, just like when they first met, unchanged.

Huo Qi stared into his eyes, focusing intently, seriously.

Ao Chen, feeling somewhat ashamed, wanted to look away, but Huo Qi reached out to cradle his face, "You seem to have aged a lot."

A sharp pang hit Ao Chen’s heart. Huo Qi had been tormenting him for so long. With his unkempt appearance, how could he not age?

Wanting to remove Huo Qi’s hand, but finding him unwilling, Ao Chen left it be. Huo Qi’s criticism came, "Ao Chen, you’ve gotten uglier. I don’t want you anymore."

Ao Chen found it hard to articulate the complexity in his heart. The current Huo Qi was inebriated and might not realize the difference between reality and the past, thinking they were still dating. A wave of sourness hit his heart; by now, even this version of Huo Qi seemed like a luxury to him.