QT: Don't fall in love with the Male Lead

Su Xueyi isn't in a talkative mood when he gets home later that day, and Xi Zirui is happy to give him a wide berth.

He and Han Yu exchange charged looks all through dinner and through the few hours Su Xueyi insists in staying in the living room to watch the news.

Probably looking for any reports on Shen Yun's disappearance, or of sightings of a dead body - parts of one, most likely.

Eventually he leaves for bed, and Xi Zirui shares a hasty kiss with Han Yu before following after him.

---

The next day Su Xueyi leaves first, and Xi Zirui makes some noncommittal noises about it.

As soon as he's out the door, Han Yu tackles Xi Zirui to the sofa and covers his face and neck in kisses.

"Fuck, I hate him so much," he groans against Xi Zirui's neck. "I can't wait to get rid of him, so I can have you all to myself."

Xi Zirui tenses under him. He's managed to put off thoughts of Su Xueyi's eventual demise out of his mind, but he really needs to find a way to talk Han Yu out of it.

He runs his hands through Han Yu's smooth hair. "I don't think killing him is a good idea."

Han Yu's face shoots up from Xi Zirui's chest. "Why the hell not?"

"Death is an easy way out for someone like him," he says, continuing to draw his fingers down Han Yu's scalp. "I think prison would be a better punishment for someone who values his luxuries so much."

Han Yu muffles a snort against Xi Zirui's chest. "As if he wouldn't find a way out of it."

"There's more than one kind of prison," Xi Zirui says, smiling cryptically to himself.

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

Xi Zirui kisses him. "I'll tell you later, now let's go."

---

He calls up Jin Ranyu who meets them in the garage.

Han Yu doesn't comment on why Xi Zirui suddenly wants to take the car again after insisting on the metro for the past few days.

Jin Ranyu likewise is silent through the whole ride.

Once they reach the company one of the receptionists immediately warns him, "Mr. Su is in a meeting."

Xi Zirui smiles politely at her. "I'm not here for him. Can you please tell me where I can find Mr. Cao?"

"Oh, I believe he's in his office in the Human Resources department."

Good to know, that makes him easier to corner.

He thanks the receptionist and makes his way there.

"What are you going to do?" Han Yu asks him, keeping pace with Xi Zirui's long strides.

"You'll see," and then, "Give me your phone."

Han Yu hands it to him.

"Did you save the video like I asked?"

Xi Zirui sees Han Yu nod from the corner of his eye and pushes open the door into the Human Resources department.

He spots Cao Fei's fluffy head of hair buried in his cubicle in the corner and makes a beeline for him.

"Mr. Cao, what about coming for a ride with us?" Xi Zirui asks him, smiling widely.

Cao Fei gives him a wide-eyed look. "I'm still working."

Xi Zirui takes Han Yu's phone and opens the video from the gallery, being careful to turn down the volume. He starts playing and turns it around to show Cao Fei.

"Are you sure you don't want to come for a ride?" Xi Zirui insists, his kind smile never wavering. "It's so stuffy inside this office."

Cao Fei's eyes widen to the size of small moons, and he trembles a little in his chair. "That is, I..."

Han Yu kindly helps him out of the chair. "Let's go," he says, keeping a firm grip on his shoulder.

They escort Cao Fei out of the office. Xi Zirui hopes they draw enough attention so that this will be reported to Su Xueyi, he wants him to learn about his little excursion with Cao Fei, regardless of what Cao Fei ends up telling him and Han Yu.

Jin Ranyu does a doubletake as soon as he sees Cao Fei coming out the building with them, confirming Xi Zirui's suspicions about the worlds following a pattern, and therefore the two of them having some sort of connection.

Han Yu sits in the front next to Jin Ranyu while Xi Zirui pulls Cao Fei into the backseat with him.

"Care to tell us why after you sent Shen Yu a message pretending to be Su Xueyi he ended up dead in one of Greydot's warehouses?" Xi Zirui asks, pressing play on the video once again.

In the front, Jin Ranyu's eyes meet his over the rearview mirror, his brows tightly furrowed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cao Fei stammers.

Han Yu turns around on the passenger seat. "Don't lie, we know you were the one who cloned Su Xueyi's mobile."

"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't go to the police right now?" Xi Zirui asks, hugging Cao Fei's thin frame to his side.

"Because your husband is steeped in much deeper shit than this," Jin Ranyu cuts in, fingers tight on the steering wheel.

"Don't-" Cao Fei stars, but Xi Zirui silences him with a hand over his mouth.

"So kind of you to join the conversation, Mr. Jin, now would any of you care to explain what the fuck is going on here?"

---

The explanation isn't exactly what Xi Zirui anticipated.

Especially when Cao Fei delivers it with a sheepish smile and a deep sigh, "We're contract killers."

Xi Zirui isn't sure he heard right. "I'm not sure I heard right, you're what?"

In the front seat, Jin Ranyu grunts in exasperation. "Assassins for a price, hired guns. None of this can be shocking to you, your husband works for the mob."

"And you're admitting it so easily?" Han Yu asks, his tone higher by two full octaves.

"No offense, but what are the man married to a mob collaborator and his bodyguard going to do about it?" Cao Fei asks, his polite PR smile never leaving his face.

"Tell Su Xueyi, at the very least?" Xi Zirui says, his eyes narrowing at Cao Fei's bland smile.

"I don't think that is a smart idea, not if you want him to know about the nature of your relationship," Cao Fei says, looking pointedly between Xi Zirui and Han Yu.

"Besides, we haven't been hired to kill him," Jin Ranyu says, still driving around aimlessly. "So if you're worried about his health and well-being, don't."

"Then what were you hired to do?" Xi Zirui asks.

"Exactly what we've done. Attract Shen Yun into the warehouse, posing as Su Xueyi, and kill him."

"Great success on all counts," Jin Ranyu parks the car under a parasol tree and cracks open a window, a few seconds later he pulls out a cigarette from a half empty carton and lights it. "Our payment should be reaching us soon."

So the point isn't to kill Su Xueyi.  Is it framing him for the murder, as Su Xueyi himself suspects? Hiring professionals would make it harder to find out who ordered the hit, but not impossible.

There's almost zero chance of either of them telling him that, but Xi Zirui still asks, "Who hired you?"

Cao Fei continues smiling politely. "Even if we knew, we wouldn't tell you."

Eh, worth the shot. "So what are you going to do know?" Han Yu asks.

"Going to wait for our contact to confirm the next steps."

"Are you going to say anything about this meeting?" Xi Zirui asks.

"We won't tell, if you don't," Cao Fei says, his eyes darting towards the phone in Xi Zirui's hands.

Xi Zirui exchanges a look with Han Yu. He's fairly confident that Han Yu saved another copy somewhere else, so he has no problem deleting the video in front of Cao Fei.

"I'm so glad we've managed to reach a satisfactory resolution for all parts," Cao Fei says, clapping his hands together. "Now, if you could please return me to the company, I would really appreciate it. I need to keep up this role until our contact calls us off. Besides, I enjoy being a model employee. Both when it comes to murder and turning in new hires' evaluation reports." 

---

They drop off Cao Fei at the office and tell Jin Ranyu to just to whatever with the rest of his day. After that surreal experience, Xi Zirui doesn't think he wants to be driven anywhere, ever again.

"So, someone else is trying to take Su Xueyi down, that is both not surprising, and also oddly convenient," Han Yu says, as they make their way to the metro station.

He would think that, but Xi Zirui can't afford to not know how exactly these people are planning to take Su Xueyi down. If they kill him, that's it for him too.

He needs to think of something, but he doesn't know who to trust. Who even hired Cao Fei and Jin Ranyu? Bai Mi? She seems to be protective of whatever she and Su Xueyi have got going on, but Xi Zirui would not put it past her.

What kind of enemies has Su Xueyi made along the way? 

Granny Ma would want to avenge her granddaughter at all costs, but where would she find the money to hire contract killers?

"I can hear gege thinking," Han Yu says, grinning when his voice startles Xi Zirui out of his reverie. 

"I don't know, this whole thing can spell trouble for us," Xi Zirui says, shrugging. 

Ni Ni has been silent lately, only updating him on Su Xueyi's increasing favor. She continues to insist that none of this was supposed to happen in the original world, and that Su Xueyi was only supposed to be a crooked businessman, not involved with the mob.

Which leaves Xi Zirui grasping at straws. 

---

Xi Zirui still isn't sure what he's going to do by the time Su Xueyi gets home. 

It does strike him as odd that Su Xueyi's mood doesn't seem to be as terrible as the day before.

Su Xueyi finds him the kitchen chopping vegetables, and hugs him from behind to drop a kiss on his nape.

"Any news on Shen Yun's murderer?" Xi Zirui asks.

"None." Another kiss. "I heard you came by the office to take Cao Fei on some sort of ride?"

"Oh, I just wanted to put him in his place, regarding his relationship with you," Xi Zirui says, his knife striking the cutting board loudly. "I found a very interesting video of the two of you."

Su Xueyi's arms tighten around his waist. Xi Zirui can feel the smile pressed against the back of his nape. "Oh? Baby's very industrious."

What the hell is going on? Xi Zirui's hand falters on the knife. Su Xueyi's covers it with his own. "No, no, keep going exactly as you've been. You're doing great."

Somehow, Xi Zirui has the feeling he isn't talking about his chopping skills.

"If there's something going on, I'd rather not be kept in the dark."

Su Xueyi grins, twin dimples denting his cheeks, and drops a kiss on Xi Zirui's temple. "All in its time."

His words don't reassure Xi Zirui in the least.