The chat exploded.

> [Hungry Fan B keels over!]

> Fan C: this… this request… [sweatdrop]

> [YuriGod is desperately awaiting God’s response!!]

> [Fan C is desperately awaiting God’s response!]

> [sidestander is desperately awaiting God’s response!]

> mr fly: well well well

> [mr fly is eagerly awaiting God’s response!!]

Meanwhile, in a certain once-silent private chat:

[swair]: W! T! A! F!!!!!!!!

[swair]: is this jiong fxxxk some kinda f*xing demon???

[swair]: a succubus????

[XiErXi]: p sure it’s incubus for guys

[swair]: who f*ckking cares which!

[swair]: Lend him!! Lend him and dont f****ing receive him back!!!!!!

Jiong, who had paused mid-chew after seeing Bai’s coy ‘request’, was currently soldiering on, eating with his head bowed, as if the furore in chat had nothing to do with him.

And, in another private chat:

[mymy]: can god Xi forgive!!!

[mymy is repeatedly kowtowing to God Xi!!]

[XiErXi]: ? is this Xmyheart jiejie…?

[mymy]: yes [cry]

[mymy]: idek what’s going on [cry]

[mymy]: to tell the truth, I used to work with Andy’s main PR guy, they asked a favour

[mymy]: I thought it’d be good for you to kinda steer the slant a bit, push down all that BS about your looks, make it a fun dumb rivalry or smth

[XiErXi]: jiejie, you didn’t need to go that far

[XiErXi]: you know how quickly this kind of shit passes

[mymy]: but!! I wanted to try!!

[mymy]: and this, this fucking guy!!!!!!!!!!

[mymy]: really asking such bullshit! It’s not his PR, it’s 1000% him!!!

[mymy]: who carries a fucking grudge this long ahhh!!

[XiErXi]: [pats]

[XiErXi]: don’t worry, ok? I can handle it

Xi was sure he could handle it. He’d played out several silly small-time beefs before, with other groups, with other streamers, and done so enough times to know that the fastest way to settle someone thirsting to stir up drama was to project a front of either confusion or unconcern. Anyone who didn’t eventually give up in the face of either of those reactions could safely be reported to the police.

The problem was, Xi wasn’t sure he wanted to handle it that way, shrugging off or brushing off Bai’s sly follow-up remarks. He knew he had to respond somehow, he knew it wouldn’t benefit him if he tried to annoy Bai in response, but…

> XiXi: sorry, won’t lend [smile]

> Hungry Fan B: … [deflates]

> anbai: oh? you’re that attached already? [wink]

Fuck, of course, of course he didn’t know when to quit. Of course he’d shift to this pointed, passive-aggressive teasing. Probably, in a minute, Bai would start sighing about how, well, he just hoped so much that Jiong would treat Xi better, and that things kept on going well for the two of them…

> anbai: well, if it’s like that

> XiXi: seriously, though, fave pastry?

> anbai: hmm…

> anbai: gingerbread men?

> XiXi: hoho, I see where this is going

> XiXi: you want me to decorate them so they look like him, right? Punishment’s very easy then, lolol

> XiXi: just snapping off the head repeatedly can be satisfying ah

> Fan AAA: this…

> [Fan AAA is feeling worried for Star-hyung!]

> anbai: uhhh, I really just like gingerbread

> anbai: my mum always made them as men, they can be any shape really

> XiXi: haha, sorry

> XiXi: really shouldn’t measure you by my standard of spite [sweatdrop smile]

> anbai: haha, it’s fine

> anbai: people cope differently I guess

More to the point, there was no way in hell the great Andy Bai would ever even jokingly accept Jiong-shaped cookies he could toy with or bite in half on stream; it was utterly not the kind of thing even someone with his relaxed, more relatable Holy Father1 image would do. No one would bat an eyelash at Janey hosting a bonfire of her ex’s clothes, but Bai Bai doing the same? That would be news.

> anbai: really though, if I’m being mega honest?

> anbai: I’ve, well, I always wanted to have a challenge rematch [blushes]

What the fuck kind of grudge was this guy carrying??? Rematch, what fucking rematch, did he have even the slightest awareness of his identity as a star? Even with one or two shameful performances in his recentish history, he’d managed to claw his way up into stardom, and yet here he was, earnestly requesting some fucking karaoke challenge rematch with a fat, no-name former k-streamer?

[mymy]: disgusting!!!!!!

[mymy]: his PR now fucking begging us to go along, what ‘us’?

[mymy]: i’m your fan ok, not pr!! I even told them that, and they’re still spamming me!!!!!

[XiErXi]: it’s fine, just tell me their ID

[XiErXi]: I’ll handle it

[mymy]: i’m really fucking sorry about this U_U

[mymy]: guy you want is BaiBeautiful

Haha. Fuck, when even the ID was named that shamelessly, Xi hardly knew how he was going to settle this in a way that didn’t have him completing a nonsensical challenge only his handful of hardcore fans would ever even slightly believe that he won.

> XiXi: ok if we finish eating first?

> anbai: oh, of course, right [blushes]

XiErXi has unblocked MrJiong.

[XiErXi]: quickly confess wtf you did to this guy

[XiErXi]: you have 30 secs to fess up, no concrete answer and I’ll just block again

[MrJiong]: that…

[XiErXi]: 29! 28!! 27!!!

[MrJiong]: w-well, when jiongjiong was very young and very stupid, that guy… jiongjiong used to have that guy as one of jiongjiong’s spare tires2…

[XiErXi]: …you had more than one?

[MrJiong]: [sweats] before God Xi passes judgement, can jiongjiong just say something?

[XiErXi]: 18!!! 17!!!!! 16!!!!!!!

[MrJiong]: they all knew the situation! jiongjiong wasn’t good, but jiongjiong wasn’t doing it secretly ah

[XiErXi]: then why the fuck is he still raging after you like this?

[MrJiong]: [sweats] [sweats] [sweats] um…

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

[XiErXi]: 5!! 4!!! 3!!!!

[MrJiong]: the same night you crushed him, I tried, I asked if they’d all three of them want to give it a go with me at the same time

[MrJiong]: he didn’t want to, so he left, and ah, um, since the other two didn’t leave, jiongjiong just spent the night doing it with them

[XiErXi]: …? That’s it??

[MrJiong]: well, after, he said he didn’t want to see jiongjiong anymore if jiongjiong wouldn’t stop meeting the others

[XiErXi]: and????

[MrJiong]: [shrinks back] jiongjiong didn’t see him again after that

[XiErXi]: …hahaha fuck

[MrJiong]: um… can jiongjiong ask…

[XiErXi]: wtaf in that story was so explosive that you couldn’t tell me???

[XiErXi]: just what is fucking wrong with you?

[MrJiong]: [hides]

[XiErXi]: so you were a fucking horny moron back then, so what? Didn’t you already tell me??

[XiErXi]: the way you carried on, I thought you were still fucking him, ok!!!!!

[MrJiong]: jiongjiong would never ( ㄒoㄒ )

[MrJiong]: jiongjiong was just worried Xi-er wouldn’t like hearing about all of it…

With that settled, it was easy enough to finish off the negotiations with the head of Bai’s PR. Which was to say, finish them off, as in kill them entirely.

[BaiBeautiful]: ah, can’t you give us a little face?

[BaiBeautiful]: it’s trending so much right now, it’ll be good for you too [smile]

[XiErXi]: to be honest, I’m uncomfortable with how this has blown up

[XiErXi]: I just wanted to do a small thing tonight so my fans could get my side of the story on my dating Mike

[BaiBeautiful]: there’s nothing saying you have to sing too, I understand you might not be in the right condition

What fucking worry about his being in ‘the right condition’, wasn’t his not being in top-tier performance condition the whole fucking point of this?! Bai would get a surge of interest and accolades, and plenty of flattering comparisons and articles about his improvement from a nervous, simple sort of singer to what he was now, and Xi… haha. Xi would be the heartless corpulent, man-stealing blob who’d ‘definitely stagnated’ or even ‘totally regressed’ between back then and now.

[BaiBeautiful]: but couldn’t you let Andy do a little? Just a little bit?

[XiErXi]: not this time, sorry [smile]

[XiErXi]: probably just going to sign off and call it a night in a minute

[BaiBeautiful]: wait, right now?

[XiErXi]: Mike has training tomorrow, staying up late would be bad [smile]

It was probably too much to hope that those exact words would be conveyed directly to Bai, but Xi couldn’t help but hope for it all the same. Whatever the hell was on Bai’s mind, whyever he was so determined to make a splash in front of someone that he had supposedly been the one to cut ties with, Xi fervently hoped that seeing such words would screw with Bai’s night at least as much as his own night had been screwed with.

> XiXi: sorry to disappoint, Andy, but I’m actually thinking of signing off now

> XiXi: rematch some other time, maybe?

> anbai: wow, isn’t it kind of early?

> starmike: I’ve got training tomorrow and stuff, so you can just blame me for dragging Xi off with me [smile]

Heheh, those fucking smiles had nearly the same power as jiongjiong’s nauseating tildes.

> anbai: if you know you’re wrong, then why do it? Why not leave him to sing with me?

> XiXi: I have work tomorrow too, haha, mike’s exaggerating

> anbai: oh? I thought you worked from home?

My god, the amount of research he had put into this… well, he couldn’t have done it personally. It was hardly a secret, anyway, that Xi worked wherever and almost whenever he pleased.

Still, wasn’t this kind of sad?

> XiXi: well yeah, but it’s nice to get an early start

> XiXi: haven’t done that these last two days, so

> anbai: oh, so it’s like that…

> YuriGod: andy ah, you’re still too innocent ah, still not reading the mood?

> Fan C: lolol for real

> Fan AAA: it’s time for Star-hyung to eat3 the second meal~ second meal~

> Fan ZZ: can’t you be more careful ah!!! We’ve been jiongjiong free this long, don’t jinx, you’ll summon him and it’ll be destruction!!!

> anbai: ? what’s jiongjiong?

> swearmouse: radian-nim, it’s better you don’t know. Trust me.

> XiXi: in any case, it’s about that time guys, so goodnight

> XiXi: Andy, hit me up on chat or something, we could def do a rematch. Maybe make an event of it [smile]

> anbai: oh, that might work, haha

> anbai: talk to you later then [smile]

> starmike: you guys have all been really nice to me tonight, sorry I’m repaying you like this and stealing Xi early [blush] [blush]

> Fan AAA: lol is that the face of someone being stolen??

It was the face of someone marvelling at the sheer poison someone could load up alongside two blushing emojis. If Xi hadn’t been so annoyed at Bai’s relentless pushing of the stupid challenge thing, he’d have felt a little sorry for him—oh, alright, he wouldn’t, he’d just feel like he should feel sorry for him. All of that effort, and for what? Had Jiong even replied directly to Bai, or acknowledged Bai in any way, other than the one time he leapt to Xi’s unneeded defence?

> XiXi: ok, ok, signing off, goodnight [smile]

> [YuriGod is hoping God Xi can sleep very well~]

> [mr fly is hoping Yuyu can also sleep very well~]

“Huh,” Xi murmured, now that the camera was offline, and all that was left of tonight’s stream was the usual end-of-stream burst of activity, made up of various people leaving the chat, joining in at the last minute to try and dredge up gossip, or lamenting that they were hungry. “Didn’t think he was back on planet yet.”

“Who?” Jiong set down his nearly empty plate and inched a bit closer to Xi on the couch, his arm creeping slowly around Xi’s waist, as if doing that would make his attempt to get closer to Xi less noticeable. “Anyone I know?”

“Yuri’s longtime sponsor, Mr. Fly,” Xi said, sitting back to deliberately block the progress of that sneaky arm. “Spends a truckload on sims just to talk to her, and is therefore our weirdest and richest fan.”

“Really?” Jiong leaned in closer, looking at Xi from beneath lowered lashes. “I don’t measure up?”

“You don’t.”

“Jiongjiong isn’t weird enough?”

“You—” Naturally, that was when Jiong chose to administer a brief, teasing bite to the side of Xi’s neck, a bite that included a lick. His hands weren’t idle, either, one curling around the back of Xi’s neck, the other smoothing a path down his chest and over his belly, a path going in a very obvious direction. “We—we need to talk.”

“Now?” There was something utterly irresistible about the way Jiong liked to pause to fondle and squeeze the curve of Xi’s lower belly before he finally put his hand on Xi’s cock. “Are you sure?”

“No fair,” Xi heard himself say, in a tone that was equal parts strangled and weak. “I—there’s, there’s still the leftovers.”

“Hmm?”

Fuck, he often did this, he liked to touch and squeeze Xi’s aching cock through cloth, teasing and stroking Xi through the fabric. Xi always wanted to rush things, to speed things along until Jiong was touching him directly, but he’d never had any luck doing it. Jiong only liked to rush when Xi didn’t want him to.

“Alright,” Jiong murmured, just as Xi was starting to cant his hips up, helplessly thrusting into Jiong’s firm grip. “Let’s sort out those leftovers first, then talk.”

Naturally, that wasn’t what happened. Xi knew what Jiong was doing, touching him throughout, standing close behind him as he struggled to put everything away, but knowing he was being manipulated was entirely different than mounting an adequate resistance. By the time the leftovers were in the fridge, and the pots and pans and plates were in the dishwasher, Xi was shivering with need.

When Jiong began to drag him towards the bedroom, he struggled, but it was only because he wanted to feel Jiong’s hands tightening their grip on him. “You said we would talk,” Xi whispered, but he went along with it, letting himself be forced to his hands and knees. “You liar.”

“Can’t jiongjiong talk to you like this?” And then his fingers were deep in Xi’s arse, stretching him, rubbing rhythmically inside, and all talk was briefly forgotten. “Xi-er?”

“Don’t…” Xi knew he sounded strangled, and he hated it, he hated that just this, just being fingered, just hearing Jiong say his name in that low, teasing tone could scramble him so thoroughly. “Don’t do that, just—you know how much I need it, just please fucking do me. Give me your fucking cock. Please.”

Jiong laughed. He moved slowly, slowly, just too fucking slowly, kissing and nibbling at the back of Xi’s neck while he unbuttoned himself. “Beg me again.”

“You—!” You fucker, Xi almost said, before he remembered last night, and that one time two months ago, when Jiong had decided he didn’t like being cursed at so directly. “Please.”

“Again.”

“Please.”

Jiong’s hands had settled on Xi’s hips, their grip bruisingly tight, and though he could feel the slick head of Jiong’s cock pressing against him, there was no forward motion, no drive, no movement, nothing. “Again.”

“Fuck me. Please, fuck me.”

“What are you going to do,” Jiong murmured, bending forward, his breath hot on the back of Xi’s neck, his treacherous cock still just teasing, “if I say I don’t feel like it?”

“No, no, please—ugh!” Jiong’s first slow, deliberate thrust made a mockery of his murmured words, but even as Xi shivered, revelling in that wicked feeling of fullness, all movement stopped. “Please…”

“I’m tired.” He didn’t sound tired, he sounded like he was fucking smiling, enjoying himself, enjoying Xi’s ragged, desperate breathing, enjoying his wordless sobs. “Here’s an idea, why don’t you help me out?” His hands slid up Xi’s sides, then slid around to stroke up and down Xi’s heaving chest and stomach, as if there was nothing else he’d rather be doing. “Fuck yourself on me.”

Tears stung Xi’s eyes. “What if I’m tired?” he spat. “I, I cooked, while you just sat around and—ngh—panicked…” But he was already arching back, impaling himself on Jiong’s thick cock. “I can’t believe you.”

“You like it, don’t you?” Jiong’s voice was strained yet smug, smug enough that if Xi hadn’t been desperate to take in as much of his cock as was humanly possible, he’d have, he’d surely have reached back to give him a good, hard pinch… “Look how much you like it. Look how much you’re leaking.”

“Don’t—stop fucking up my rhythm!” It was too much stimulation, too much to have Jiong’s hand stroking him right now, but there was nothing Xi could do about it. Jiong, for all that he supposedly wasn’t doing any of the work, had nearly all his weight on Xi, and it was taking every bit of Xi’s strength to keep backing into him. “Please…”

“Tell me you’ll die without it.”

Xi gulped. He didn’t know if he could bear to. Up till now, there’d been an undertone of teasing in each of Jiong’s callous requests, but now, he sounded almost serious. As if he really wanted to hear Xi saying something so dramatic, so cheesy.

“I’ll…” Xi could feel his toes curling. How could he? How could he want to say it? “I’ll die, Jiong. I’m dying.”

After that, there were no words between them, just breathless sounds, a garbled mix of groans and loud, filthy smacks. They came together again and again, slamming against each other, their movements frenzied, barely in sync. Xi only realized he was coming halfway through it, feeling the hot splash of his own come dampening the sheets beneath his belly.

He didn’t even know just when Jiong had forced him down so low, when he’d lost nearly all leverage. He’d needed it too much to pay attention, and he was already regretting it, regretting even as he struggled to arch back, to spread himself wide open, to take Jiong’s cock as deep as he could get it.

He was dying. He could feel Jiong’s low, desperate groan, he could feel each one of Jiong’s desperate, relentless thrusts, he could feel Jiong’s hands bruising him, one at his shoulder, one at his hip. He was going to come again, cementing the ruin of the last sheet.

“Do it,” Jiong urged him. “I have more. Let it out, soak it, come all over all my fucking sheets…”

Xi couldn’t breathe. Doing anything other than coming was beyond him. He seized, tightening down around the cock inside him, milking it even as he spilled. The sound Jiong made as he did that sent a helpless shiver through him. Come in me, he wanted to say, but the pleasure went on stealing his breath, leaving him dazed and senseless beneath Jiong’s last few thrusts.

“Fuck,” Jiong rasped. “Fuck.” And then he was shuddering, his cock pulsing deep inside Xi’s tight, sore ass. “Fuck.”

Little as Xi wanted to move, he still managed it. He couldn’t do anything less, not when Jiong’s voice was wavering like that. “’S alright,” he mumbled, reaching up to give a clumsy pat to the trembling hand hovering at his aching shoulder. “So good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” For emphasis, he gave Jiong’s hand a brief, weak squeeze. “Stop worrying, okay? Was really good.”

----------------------------------------

1. Holy Father: Chinese slang for someone who is extremely saintly and forgiving, gentle, kind, etc. Has somewhat derogatory tone.↩

2. Spare tire: Chinese slang for someone you know is interested in you, and that you keep hanging on the line for you in case your main interest doesn’t work out. Think second male leads in most Asian dramas.↩

3. Eat: ‘eat’ is slang for fucking someone. Not sure of the specific origin, have seen this slang pop up in Chinese, Korean and Japanese webnovels. So the ‘second meal’ in this case would refer to Xi.↩