Scumbag Actor Screwup System

Chapter 35 - Shen Yuan has to live with the consequences

Shen Yuan was getting home after a long day, that interview had drained him. Luckily they'd been fed afterwards and he got to socialize with some of the show's staff. It was fun but he'd drunk a couple of beers and somehow the keyhole of his apartment now felt like an impossible hurdle. Since when was it so hard to get his key in? He fumbled around and with a small push the door opened.

Only he hadn't managed to get the key in yet.

He stepped back as the automatic light in the hallway turned off by itself and left him only with the illumination of a tiny red LED. There were steps inside his apartment. Shit. What the fuck was up? Were those voices?

He decided not to turn on the light, no, it was best to just flee and he knew the size of the hall by heart. He turned around, put one leg before the other and tested his weight on it. No sound, perfect, now another.

"Write it bigger," a female voice said loudly, "he has to get scared or he won't listen. Yes like that- cut yourself a bit, we need some more blood!"

He could feel a dull pain at the pit of the stomach, his heart started pounding like a cheap hentai GIF. He truly needed to flee. Another step, then the other, slowly, silently. The voices gradually grew distant, and at the stairs he allowed himself to move quicker. He could pretend to be a neighbor, neighbors walked. They wouldn't suspect, right? He peered at every corner to check if the coast was clear. Next floor- check. Next floor- check.

When we got to the ground floor, at fucking last, there was a person with a hoodie and a facemask looking at the door. God, how many were there? But the person was looking outside, not inside. They wouldn't see him exit if he acted naturally.

He put on a battered dirty facemask and as casually as he could manage he walked out. He made it to the corner before sprinting, his feet hitting the asphalt with his dressy shoes, the rigid soles making his toes ache. Still, he didn't stop, he paused every red light and continued, dodging commuters and mothers with groceries and kids. He kept the running pace for some 15 minutes, heading wherever, turning sometimes, just until the streets weren't quite so familiar. His battery was almost dead but it was enough to call someone. He tried Qinghua first, no answer. Then, Xu Tengfei.

"Good evening Shizun! What's wrong, did you forget to tell me something?"

"I need a place to crash. Could you keep me for the night?" He managed to convey the urgency with his voice, the sharp tone in which he spoke was enough, Xu Tengfei's relaxed voice switched immediately to alertness.

"Of course, I'll send the address right away- or do you want me to say it?"

"Tell me quickly, I'll memorize it."

Xu Tengfei repeated it 3 times until Shen Yuan was able to remember it.

"I'll see you in a bit."

He stopped a cab and got in, repeating the address immediately, then chanting in under his breath. He counted his cash, it'd probably be enough. Hopefully. He was even scared of using his card right now. His battery died just then, meanwhile his brain was having fun replaying the words he'd overheard. He had to call the police. He would, when he reached a safe place. Fuck, these people weren't simple robbers.

The cap stopped at a nice middle-sized house and the door opened even before he got off. He'd been able to pay it all, thank goodness. Xu Tengfei was in front of him by the time he closed the car's door with an overly energetic thud.

His emotions were probably showing because Xu Tengfei looked really worried.

"Shizun, what's wrong?"

"I'll tell you inside." He power-walked towards the door with an urgency he never showed when entering someone else's home, specially being rude as fuck and going before the host. Xu Tengfei rushed after him and locked the door behind them. Only then did Shen Yuan exhale, let himself rest against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Somebody... Many somebodies broke into my apartment. I have no battery in my phone, can you call the police?"

"Of course... Did anything happen to you? Did they hurt you?*

He shook his head, eyes still shut, just breathing. After that brief respite he got no pause.

The questions and answers were a big blur, a lot of awful scenes one after the other.

It was almost 2 am when they returned to the Xu home, no suspects apprehended, no advice other than change the locks. Xu Tengfei's- no, Xu Xiaosi's parents were still up and they served them some pork soup and sweets. Shen Yuan gave them his best thankful smile, though his stomach was not in favor of eating. Still, he took a few spoonfuls before they left to sleep.

"Thank you," he said in a tired whisper. Xu Tengfei nodded and smiled a sympathetic sort of smile. Shen Yuan had probably brought it on himself with that broadcast, but how the fuck had they doxed him so quickly? They were threatening him, to get him to return to PDIW. They hadn't gone for the faceless writers, nor the producers, people who might have more power than him. Oh no, but he'd revealed he'd had something to do with his own death, and now there was no going back. He should have known, visibility really sucks. Both love and hate towards him had merged into a toxic fandom sludge of anger. True, many people were posting on his side, saying he could decide what to do. But the people who had gotten to his apartment, they clearly did not agree.

"You can stay all you want here. Xu Xiaosi rarely comes and when he does he doesn't stay the night, so you can sleep in his bed."

Shen Yuan nodded.

"Thank you. You've saved me," he said with barely any emotion, no energy left for him to show anything other than deep tiredness.

"Nothing to thank me for. Come, now, if you're not hungry, let's go to bed."

He nodded and dragged himself up.

Xu Tengfei helpfully provided clothes, a Shen Qingqiu shirt (the same he'd been wearing in that photo) and some shorts. He might scold the kid tomorrow, but right now he let himself fall into some bed and his eyes were closed even before he hit the pillow. He felt someone putting some blankets on him, he was surrounded by warmth and softness and sleep took him immediately. Maybe if his brain had worked, he might have figured the nice scent surrounding him was the familiar one that had made his body react before.

—

He woke up past noon the following day, and when he looked at his phone he had a zillion messages. From System, of course, trying to get into damage control mode (she'd revoked some points- where the fuck from? Did he have a score?), missed calls from PDIW's director, messages from Qinghua starting with capital "BRO" and a bunch of others. It was too much to take in, his brain still a bit foggy. At least it smelled like food here, something he wasn't used to.

He got up, opened a door - closet, whoops, then another, a bathroom, until he finally found his way to the kitchen. Xu Tengfei was there, wearing an old battered white apron and adding hot water to a stew that seemed to almost have evaporated.

"Shizun you're awake! I've been keeping lunch warm for you," he said with a smile way too bright for the time of the day.

"Don't you have... work or something?"

"The script is still delayed, and it seems it might be delayed a bit longer..."

Shen Yuan rubbed his forehead as he heard Xu Tengfei speaking, "right. Shit, I really do need to deal with this."

"Eat first, shizun," said Xu Tengfei, handing him a plate of warm stew, he even added some spring onion on top. Shen Yuan nodded and started feeding himself, mind lost in thought.

"I think I will talk to System first... this stew is great by the way... did anyone call you?"

"Yes, I spoke to your friend Qinghua. He wanted to know if you were okay, he saw your missed call from yesterday."

Shen Yuan nodded, "good... let me make a call."

He got up and finally started facing the monsters, in a neat tidy row.

Two hours later, one of which consisted of talking to his therapist to help him take control again, he was standing in the Xu household's shower and pondering the fact that he'd be wearing Xu Tengfei's boxers. Right now the writers including Qinghua would surely be meeting and trying to figure out what the fuck to do with the plot. And everything pointed that the story would be written to include him once more.