I silently watched Ji Shi as he picked up the blanket and wrapped it around himself with ease. He even remembered to wipe the oil he had spread on my body with a napkin before he got off the bed. He walked to the wireless door monitor with the blanket covering his lower body. He raised his arm, tapped the monitor, rested it on the wall, and asked, “Who is it?”
Ji Shi is tall with long arms and legs. The way he did a kabedon [mfn]Kabedon or kabe-don is a Japanese term that refers to the action of slapping a wall fiercely, which produces the sound “don”. It often appears in shōjo manga or anime when one character forces another against the wall with one hand or leans against the wall and makes the sound of “don”, and this has become popular as a “clever move of confession”. [/mfn] with the wireless door monitor was quite handsome. A pity that the young artist he was supporting was as tall as he is. Performing a kabedon on someone of the same height doesn’t evoke delight. So Master Ji can only kabedon wireless door monitors, video phones, plush dolls, notices on the wall, schedules, posters, and all kinds of strange things. I can’t help but think of my neighbor, Mr. Chen, who always hugged the sofa cushions as he brushed the fur of his husky.
“It’s me. I forgot to bring my keys. Since I’ve come here, let me stay for the night.”
The voice came through the monitor so it was a little distorted but I could still clearly recognize that it belonged to Alan, the drummer of LOTUS. I hurriedly made a hand gesture, begging Ji Shi to find an excuse to send his groupmate away, or at least give me some time to escape.
Ji Shi, who rarely showed the attitude a patron should have, impatiently said to the monitor: “Go find a hotel to sleep in!” Then he turned his head to look at me and smiled.
Unexpectedly, before he could get back to bed, the doorbell relentlessly rang once again.
Ultimately, the cool, handsome, and domineering patron was disappointedly defeated.
“Then what should I do?!” I howled. Treating your baby like this with no regard for respect! I subconsciously glanced at Ji Shi’s closet. I didn’t expect that I would one day hide in his closet.
When Ji Shi saw me glancing at the closet, he couldn’t help laughing. Ji Shi walked towards the closet. With the sound “duang duang duang”, he opened the closet and introduced the clothing inside: “This is where I hung my custom-tailored coats, and here is where I keep my secret underwear… Each has its merit, which one do you want to hide in?”
So inhumane.
“I’m just kidding.” Ji Shi said as he shut the closet. “Just sleep here. There’s a guest room downstairs. I just won’t let him come upstairs.”
I watched Ji Shi bend down to wear his trousers and his mermaid line came into view. He grabbed his white vest from the ground and was wearing it when he suddenly took it off and threw it back on the floor. Then he chuckled as he picked up my shirt from the floor and put it on himself with a smile. He pulled the hem of the shirt like a young lady and asked, “Am I handsome?”
“Spin around again.” I requested.
And so he spun around cutely, gave me a flying kiss then headed down the stairs. Truly an unconventional patron…
I laid down on the bed. The whole bed had Ji Shi’s smell. Of course, there was also my smell, but his overpowered mine. I rested for a while but soon got up to change the sheets. As dirty sheets couldn’t be brought downstairs and thrown in the washing machine, I could only leave them in the bathroom. I wanted to take a bath, but I was worried that the sound of running water would alert the people downstairs. Later on, I thought, what am I afraid of? This is a penthouse suite in a high-end apartment building. The sound insulation should be good. Sometimes, when Ji Shi wails and howls at me inside the bathroom, I couldn’t even hear it. I could even stand outside and criticize his cracked voice. Even if Mr. Drummer’s ears are sharp and he found something wrong, that’s for Ji Shi to worry about. To defend his integrity, even if he has to hug Alan’s thighs and wail on the ground, he still has to protect me, who is taking a bath while singing.
I hummed a song while taking a shower as I recalled that there was also a sweet memory that took place in this exact bathroom. Master Ji slipped and hurt the thing between his legs when he was trying to do that thing [mfn]“That thing” refers to, y’know, sex. Lol.[/mfn] in the bathroom. I helped him sit on the bathtub, washed him, and gave him a massage. Ji Shi sulked and so I comforted him by saying, “Let’s not try that again in the future. Those novels are all nonsense!”
“…Not necessarily, maybe I just haven’t gotten the hang of it.” Ji Shi’s forehead glistened with cold sweat but still defended the wicked little yellow book. [mfn]Little Yellow Book is the direct translation of 小黃本 or 小黃書, which means a porn book or reference materials about sexual intercourse. In this case, Ji Shi’s little yellow book is the uncensored novel that he read. [/mfn]
“What is there to get a hang of? The bathroom is wet. Even if you don’t want to slip, you still can’t help it when the floor is so slippery. How about we just turn off the water, and mop the floor dry before doing it? But isn’t that stupid?” I laughed in my heart, pretending to be full of righteous indignation.
Ji Shi frowned and looked at the bathroom floor. He probably thought the floor wasn’t slippery enough. The way he was thinking about it so seriously left me speechless. Even after slipping so badly, he still hasn’t given up. I’m not sure whether to say he was stubborn or he was just overwhelmed by lust. I dismally thought, if he could devote more of his thoughts on how to improve his singing skills so he could hit the high notes, how great would it be?
Ji Shi rested his body on the side of the bathtub. He even stared intently at the floor that had caused him pain. I impatiently lifted the shower head and sprinkled it all over his head which was filled with lustful thoughts.
…
I don’t know what Ji Shi and his bandmate were talking about; he didn’t even bother coming upstairs.
After I had taken a shower, I went to bed by myself. Just when I was about to sleep, I received a text message from Ji Shi — Alan is heartbroken. I’m accompanying him. Sleep by yourself tonight.
In the end, saying he forgot his keys was a lie. Celebrities are also human. I replied — Okay. Is he alright?
Ji Shi replied — He can’t die from heartache. Isn’t it just a broken heart?
I stared at his reply and shook my head. I turned off the lights and went to sleep.
Honestly, there was one thing that I was concerned about. I didn’t think much of it at first, but then I gradually realized that the patrons in entertainment genre novels were usually experienced. They would usually support not one but several young artists. Before finding true love, the number of ‘partners’, or in other words, cannon fodders, would be more than enough to build a fortress. I couldn’t help but wonder, did Ji Shi support someone else before me? Someone who has slept on his bed as I do, has kissed the craterlet mark left by the pimple on his cheeks, watched his mermaid lines, watched him acting cute, watched him wrestle… I also told myself to be apathetic about it. I also accepted this fact when I agreed to be a kept man. But the more we spent time together, the more curious I got. I wanted to know who else he sponsored before me and how it ended.
I thought about it restlessly and couldn’t fall asleep. I sat up and pulled out a box from under the bed. All of Ji Shi’s entertainment genre novels were hidden in this box. I randomly chose a book that I have yet to read, and unsurprisingly, it was a novel about a patron and his boy toy. In this particular novel, there was a cannon fodder who started concerning himself with the patron’s history. He inquired around and inevitably interfered with the patron’s life. And because of that, the patron ended up breaking off their relationship.
When the relationship ended, the cannon fodder was devastated. On the other hand, the patron acted indifferently. The other characters in the novel also thought the patron blameless for his actions. Since they all knew that the relationship between a patron and a kept man was mutually beneficial, they should abide by the hidden rules to avoid overstepping the line.
I realized I couldn’t stand reading novels with patrons anymore. In my opinion, if the cannon fodder did make a mistake, the only mistake he made was not being the patron’s true love.
I don’t want to end up being cannon fodder. Even if Ji Shi decides to end this relationship someday, I hope I can walk away smoothly. It would be better to end it on a good note, so we can still be friends afterward. Then we can still go to KTV, or act cute together.
When I woke up the next day, Ji Shi was already beside me. I opened my eyes and stared at his flawless face, the long eyelashes that hung down, and even the craterlets on his cheeks looked cute. I thought of those stereotypical descriptions used in the novels, such as “little brush” and “butterfly wings.” [mfn]I have no idea which novels the author or Xiao Tong was reading because I haven’t read any novels using “little brush” or “butterfly wings” as an adjective.[/mfn] At present, I also have my own “little brush” and “butterfly wings.” I chuckled to myself. I had the impression of sleeping in heaven, next to an angel. I didn’t want to think about how our relationship would end in the future, how ruthless a patron could be, or how a kept man doesn’t usually get a happy ending. Right now, I’m satisfied by just gazing at him silently.
When I had seen enough, I quietly got off the bed. Taking the chance while Ji Shi was still asleep, I took out the sketchbook and pencil I always carried in my backpack, and carefully drew his sleeping face.
I drew a sleeping butterfly with its wings folded on the craterlet on his cheek, covering his one and only blemish. [mfn]In chapter 1, the author wrote that Ji Shi had two craterlets mark on his face; but now it suddenly became just one. I guessed the other one disappeared like magic.[/mfn]
