Rebirth of a Rose

84. Joining the dots

A month of isolation was enough torture to make Dong Fu feel sick to the stomach. Liang had rented a small villa in the city. At no cost, they could return to their respective houses. It wasn't feasible to freeload at Sam's villa either. Also, it was inconvenient to travel back and forth from the outskirts of the city.

Liang's easy life had turned upside down, he could hardly spare any time for his beloved. He would leave early in the morning and return late at night, seemingly exhausted. They had a huge argument over Liang's decision to accompany his dad at work. Dong Fu had spent more than a decade in the corporate industry, he knew exactly how stressful that life was. Their comfortable living was no more in the picture, however, Dong Fu couldn't point the finger at the other man either. There was a time he was living the same life. While Liang lived a simpler life, concentrating on acting, the younger worked late nights counting money.

Dong Fu tried to step into the company, only his car was blocked by extremely angry fans. Some of them even filed a lawsuit against him, accusing him of harassment and sexual assault. Dong Fu laughed, looking at the papers and magazines disclosing shit, tearing them into pieces. His name was trending on all social media making his glamorous face, famous for the undesired eyes.

On the days he had stepped out to enjoy the fresh air or buy groceries, angry fans would magically find him. He was chased by women like being chased by loan sharks for money. He would prefer a loan shark thousand times, then moody, angry fans waiting to set him on fire. His face was already being advertised online to such an extent, even a kinder garden kid would point at his face, shouting trouble.

Irrespective of how troublesome it was for the younger, Liang refused to clarify the matter to the public. They debated about it, Liang believed that things would simply escalate if they were to intervene and make any comment. The fans may possibly assume that Liang was tyrannized to make a statement in the other's favor. This left Dong Fu with no choice but to laze around the house.

To some extent, their life was back to normal. Dong Fu asked his father to withdraw the bodyguards. It was weird to have too many people keeping watch on him. After much discussion, he was left with four pairs of eyes monitoring his life, in addition to blondie who had gone missing since they arrived in Beijing. Skeptically, Gold and the cats were found at a nearby animal shelter, packaged in lost and found category. Dong Fu had them settled in their newly rented home. Sam was busy cleaning someone's disturbed reputation online and his wife was back on duty at the hospital. Dong Fu having all the time in the world took care of Gold, that's the least he could do for the trouble his boyfriend has caused to the company.

Dong Fu woke up in the middle of the night when he felt something wet crawling up his legs. His brain indicated him of the upcoming crisis, he sat up straight and pushed the sheets aside to find which insect was making itself comfortable on his body. For some reason, Gold had decided to interrupt his sleep by licking the poor man's leg.

Dong Fu sighed and scratched the other's ears. He switched on the lamp to find the space beside him empty. He glanced at his phone, it was one am. He furrowed his eyebrows and questioned Gold, "Did you wish to inform that Liang was secretly cheating on me behind my back?" The dog wagged its tail and barked, responding positively. The furry friend pulled Dong Fu's pajamas indicating him to follow.

Dong Fu chuckled, "Alright, alright.... You are my master, I shall follow you. Lead the way, old boy."

He got out of bed, following the four-legged baby downstairs. A guard was standing at the end of the stairs. He looked at the younger male stepping down and asked if everything was okay. Dong Fu nodded before accompanying Gold to Liang's new study. His eyebrows twitched, looking at the light emitting from the study. He was ready to squeeze and pull Liang by his ear, dragging him back to bed. When he opened the door, he found three confused faces staring at him. "What's going on here?" He questioned the three musketeers.