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

Chapter 113: Don't lose sight of what matters

In the pilot's cabin, a red 'transmission request' warning flashes on the holo screen.

"Stay out of view," Xi Zirui tells Han Yu, taking a seat on the pilot's chair. 

"Patch it through," he tells Ni Ni, once his hair is smoothed into place and his features are schooled into a mask of neutrality.

Xi Zirui was expecting the sight of Shen Yun's emaciated face, but it still sends a shiver of revulsion to see it blown up over the holo screens. His hair is slicked back and his thin lips flattened into a disapproving line, making his sharp features look even more severe.

"Captain Xi, you're late," he says, his sparse eyebrows arching in dissatisfaction.

Xi Zirui kicks his boots up onto the console. "There have been some complications."

"I pay you to get around that sort of thing," Shen Yun says.

Xi Zirui hums thoughtfully. "Well, these things happen anyway. Dr. Shen can rest assured that he'll see his merchandise in no time."

He smiles genially up at Shen Yun's cold face and moves forward to disconnect the call.

"Wait," Shen Yun says, the corner of his thin lips curling in amusement. "I know that Captain Xi is very busy, I have no problems meeting him instead."

Xi Zirui tries to keep his smile from faltering. "There really is no need, I promise I'll meet Dr. Shen at his location, soon."

Shen Yun leans back on his plush chair and steeples his fingers together, looking intently at Xi Zirui over the tips of his joined fingers. 

"What if I told Captain Xi that I have visuals on his ship?" Shen Yun asks, his expression barely shifting besides the deepening curl of his smirk.

Xi Zirui makes a conscious effort not to look sideways at where Han Yu is observing this conversation, just out of sight of the camera.

"Then, I would say that's very convenient." He smiles up at Shen Yun. "I'll go over right this instant and deliver the cargo."

He still has the large crate Han Yu was laying in when he found him in the cargo hull. He can find something to fill it with and buy himself some time that way.

Shen Yun grins, showing a sharp canine, and Xi Zirui experiences the awful feeling cornered prey animals must feel all the time.

"No need to for Captain Xi to inconvenience himself, I can go," he turns around to signal something, and in the next moment Xi Zirui feels something collide with the Irregular.

It's not a violent collision, just the soft jostling of a bridge being attached across the distance between two ships.

Xi Zirui grits his teeth. "Then I'll be waiting for Dr. Shen," Xi Zirui says, and immediately turns off the transmission.

"Hide," he tells Han Yu, the panic obvious in his eyes.

"Where?" Han Yu asks, gesturing around at the absence of available space in the tiny ship.

"The bathroom, inside the shower cubicle," Xi Zirui says, springing into action to push him in that direction.

An idea crosses his mind, and he takes Su Xueyi's laser pulse out from inside one of the console's utility drawers.

"What is Xi Zirui going to do?" Han Yu asks, poking his head out of the bathroom.

"Dealing with our other problem."

Su Xueyi is barely awake when he makes his way to the cargo hull.

He can barely mumble a startled "uh" before Xi Zirui is zapping him with the electric pulse.

He's unconscious in seconds, and Xi Zirui struggles to free him from his restraints as fast as possible.

"Host, Shen Yun is at the door, demanding entry," Ni Ni warns as Xi Zirui is pulling Su Xueyi by the ankles towards the empty crate he found Han Yu in.

Xi Zirui does a poor job of throwing Su Xueyi inside and closing the lid, but with the amount of time he has, it's the best he can do before Shen Yun tears down the door of his ship.

He rushes upstairs and opens the hatch door to Shen Yun with a smile on his face.

"Dr. Shen, welcome to my humble ship."

Shen Yun walks past him without any pleasantries and immediately casts his eyes around the Irregular with a look of utter disdain. He's flanked by two burly men carrying guns, and wearing helmets which completely obscure their faces.

Xi Zirui eyes the two goons with some apprehension, wagering that his chances against either of them don't look promising.

"Right this way," he says, pointing the way towards the cargo hull and walking in that direction.

Shen Yun follows after him with his hands clasped behind his back.

Xi Zirui leads him towards the crate he hastily sealed off. "Here it is, I'll help carry it to Dr. Shen's ship if necessary."

Shen Yun accesses the crate with a critical eye, and then takes a small instrument from one of the pockets of his jumpsuit and aims it at the crate.

Over his shoulder, Xi Zirui can see the familiar heat signature of a human being in vibrant shades of red yellow and green.

Shen Yun turns to Xi Zirui with a pleased smirk, almost as if he already anticipated this outcome.

"Can Captain Xi explain why is there a person in this crate instead of the Android I bought?"

Xi Zirui can't, but he's willing to give it his best shot.

He has barely opened his mouth when something hard strikes him on the back of the head, and then everything goes dark.

---

Xi Zirui wakes up to an ache to his shoulders and a stinging pain on the back of his skull.

He blinks his eyes open with much effort and comes face to face with Shen Yun's sickly countenance.

He clicks his tongue. "Dr. Shen's hospitality is lacking," he says, and then runs his tongue over his upper teeth, tasting blood.

Shen Yun leans back on his chair, his lips curling in disdain. "Captain Xi, I never took you for an idiot."

Xi Zirui winks at him. "First mistake."

Shen Yun gives someone behind Xi Zirui a look, and seconds later one of his goons is landing a solid punch on Xi Zirui's stomach, making him dry heave in pain.

"I'm not amused," Shen Yun says, accepting a steaming cup one of the other goons offers him.

Xi Zirui lifts his head with effort, trying to see his surroundings through the tears stinging his eyes.

He's somewhere dark and dank, probably deep in the guts of Shen Yun's ship. It's just him, Shen Yun, and his two goons in the cramped space.

There's a blurry figure in one of the corners and with much effort Xi Zirui manages to identify Su Xueyi's still unconscious form.

It strikes him as odd that even in their boss's ship, the two goons don't take off their chrome helmets.

Shen Yun takes a dainty sip of his drink, and then runs his pinky over the rim of the cup. "I'm a very busy man, so I'll go straight to the point: where is the Android?"

The wave of relief Xi Zirui feels is so great that he needs to make a conscious effort not to let his shoulders sag against the bindings. He can't let Shen Yun realize what Han Yu means to him. 

Although, he probably only has until Su Xueyi wakes up to find a way out of this situation.

Su Xueyi will have no problem filling Shen Yun about the exact nature of their relationship when he comes to.

"I sold it to someone who was willing to pay more," Xi Zirui says, setting his jaw, giving Shen Yun his best challenging look. 

"Who?" Shen Yun asks, his eyes narrowed.

Xi Zirui scoffs. "I'm not going to breach my client's privacy. Why would I tell you? So you can run after the guy and do to him what you're doing to me?" he shakes his head. "How would that make me look? My reputation is all I have."

Shen Yun takes another sip of his drink, his gaze cool and accessing, trying to parse out the truth in Xi Zirui's words.

He tilts his head towards the corner where Su Xueyi lays crumpled against the wall. "What about Commander Su? How did he end up aboard your ship?"

Right, he needs to think fast.

"What do guys like him always want? To be paid a bribe for staying silent about my smuggling," Xi Zirui grins. "This time we couldn't come to an agreement."

Shen Yun hums thoughtfully, and raises from his chair. He makes his way to Xi Zirui's side, still holding the steaming drink in his hand.

"That's interesting, because it was Commander Su's SOS message that alerted me to your location," Shen Yun says, pacing in front of Xi Zirui.

Xi Zirui shrugs. "He was afraid of what I could do to him."

Shen Yun hums again. "Interesting again, because Commander Su's exact words were: "got eyes on one of your products. Walking around Kappa-Nu."

Xi Zirui freezes and Shen Yun turns towards him with a sweet smile.

With surprising strength, he grabs a handful of Xi Zirui's hair and yanks his head backwards.

He lifts his steaming cup up into Xi Zirui's line of sight. "This is a delicious drink, pipping hot, just how I like it." He blows on it for a moment. "I wonder if Captain Xi would feel like being more honest after I make him drink it through his eyes."