Is a Succubus Considered a Demon? – CH27

Chapter 27

That afternoon, Ye Xiyao was in his office, summarizing the week’s work. He was listing a few products he had tested and found impressive, preparing them as potential candidates for the department’s next live-stream showcase.

After finishing the list, he stretched lazily and suddenly realized that Xing Xu had appeared next to him without him noticing.

Ye Xiyao wasn’t surprised at all. Instead, he smiled and playfully poked Xing Xu’s waist. “Were you trying to scare me?”

He now felt completely natural doing little things like this to Xing Xu, knowing that Xing Xu wouldn’t get upset. Besides, he enjoyed the sensation of Xing Xu’s firm yet supple muscles.

Xing Xu let him play around and asked, “Do you have plans for tonight?”

Ye Xiyao responded, “Why? What do you want to do?”

Xing Xu said, “Nothing. I’ll drive you home.”

“Oh,” Ye Xiyao squinted and smiled. “No thanks, I’ll just take the subway.”

Xing Xu hesitated for a moment, as if uncertain about what he wanted to say. In the end, he decided against it and simply replied, “Alright, then be careful.”

“Don’t worry!” Ye Xiyao made an “OK” gesture at him.

Xing Xu’s phone buzzed softly. Without even looking, he knew it was Luo Yiji’s signal, urging him to contact the security bureau.

It had been a week since their failed attempt to collect demonic energy. During that time, Xing Xu hadn’t come up with a better approach to try again.

Luo Yiji had subtly hinted several times that he wanted the security bureau to handle it. Xing Xu had delayed it with various excuses, but he knew that without results, dragging it out any longer would be pointless.

Luo Yiji didn’t want Xing Xu to take action himself because if Xing Xu’s methods for extracting demonic energy alarmed Ye Xiyao and aroused his suspicion, all their work would be for nothing.

If the security bureau failed, at least Xing Xu could remain uninvolved.

But the undeniable reason Xing Xu didn’t want Luo Yiji to take action was that he feared Luo Yiji might go too far.

Demons had an infinite capacity for self-healing, even if their bodies were ground to mush. Given enough time, they could always recover.

So, Luo Yiji’s plan was to stage a discreet “accident,” leaving Ye Xiyao with some “remains,” which would be far more effective than just drawing blood, preserving a more complete sample.

Xing Xu couldn’t argue against Luo Yiji’s proposal. He knew the reasoning was sound.

But in his many interactions with Ye Xiyao, Xing Xu had unconsciously started treating him as a ‘person,’ making it hard for him to imagine using brutal methods to deal with him.

It felt as if, once Ye Xiyao’s body was destroyed, the existence of Ye Xiyao would be lost as well.

Xing Xu was trying to find a solution that would achieve the best of both worlds. As long as he remained uncertain about Ye Xiyao’s purpose for staying in human society, he didn’t want to harm his body.

However…

Xing Xu had a feeling that Ye Xiyao was starting to suspect him.

Like just now, Ye Xiyao had refused his offer to drive him home, which might mean he had become wary of him. At the very least, he was more cautious now.

“You… why…” Ye Xiyao suddenly spoke.

But coincidentally, Xing Xu spoke at the same time, and faster: “I’m heading out for a bit.”

Leaving those words, Xing Xu walked out of the office with his phone in hand.

Ye Xiyao watched him leave and sat on the sofa in a daze.

Two minutes later, Qiao Linchuan popped his head into the room at just the right moment, grinning. “Little Bao, where do you want to eat lunch today?”

Seeing Ye Xiyao’s expression, he asked curiously, “What’s up with you? You look… weird. Hiss, did Xing Xu bully you?”

Ye Xiyao looked up and smiled at him, “I bullied him.”

“Our Little Bao is that powerful now!” Qiao Linchuan glanced around, making sure Xing Xu wasn’t in the office before walking in and sitting next to Ye Xiyao. “Then why do you still look upset?”

“I’m not upset, I’m happy,” Ye Xiyao smiled again.

Qiao Linchuan shook his head, “That’s a fake smile.”

Ye Xiyao: “How could it be? I practice in front of the mirror every day.”

Qiao Linchuan was horrified, “Practice fake smiling?”

Ye Xiyao got frustrated: “I’ve been practicing smiling!”

“Seriously, though, you’ve been acting like you’re pretending to be happy these past few days,” Qiao Linchuan said as he studied him. “You seem troubled, and it even looks like your forehead is faintly dark.”

That startled Ye Xiyao, and he rubbed his forehead vigorously. “A dark forehead? Am I about to face a disaster?”

“I was joking,” Qiao Linchuan laughed. “You really believe anything, don’t you?”

Ye Xiyao said, “Better to believe it than not.”

Qiao Linchuan raised an eyebrow. “There’s more to your words than you’re letting on.”

Ye Xiyao replied, “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Stop pretending. I can already tell,” Qiao Linchuan said knowingly, patting Ye Xiyao’s shoulder with a sigh. “You and Xing Xu had a falling out, didn’t you?”

“Huh?” Ye Xiyao was confused.

“Come on, don’t try to hide it from me. Last month, you and Xing Xu were practically glued together, going to and from work every day, even having lunch together. But starting last week, your schedules started to misalign. Now you take the subway home by yourself, and you haven’t been riding with him. Even today, you had lunch on your own.”

For a moment, Ye Xiyao didn’t know how to explain. 

Oddly enough, he had been spending a lot of time with Xing Xu recently, both to and from work, but it started as a coincidence. Leaving work together was natural—they shared the same office, so it made sense to clock out and leave at the same time. Since Xing Xu mentioned it was on his way, Ye Xiyao accepted his ride home.

The odd part was that they often ran into each other at the subway station in the mornings too.

Sometimes, Ye Xiyao spotted Xing Xu’s car first and waved to him. But more often, it was Xing Xu who saw him and opened the door for him to hop in.

This happened so frequently—about four days a week—that it felt like a cheesy scene out of a movie. Now, Ye Xiyao had almost developed a conditioned reflex: whenever he saw Xing Xu’s car, he’d instinctively run over. He knew Xing Xu would always open the door for him.

At some point, Xing Xu had half-jokingly said, “I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

Ye Xiyao couldn’t find a reason to refuse, especially since Xing Xu always had a practical argument ready. 

He’d say, “We always meet at the subway station anyway, and I have to stop my car to wait for you to cross the road. That part of the street is awful for parking.” 

So, they agreed that Xing Xu would wait for him downstairs at his apartment, and they’d go to work together. Convenient, easy, and safe.

At first, it sounded so thoughtful.

But the next day, Ye Xiyao realized he was actually causing Xing Xu a lot of trouble.

He had assumed that whenever he ran into Xing Xu, he should ride with him. But logically, even if they met on the street, they could just greet each other and go their separate ways.

Like that one time when Qiao Linchuan had complained in the office about Qin Zai: “I saw your car at the intersection after work yesterday, and just as I was about to wave at you, you floored the gas and sped off 200 meters! I shouted for ages, and you didn’t stop.”

Qin Zai had calmly replied, “I heard you, but my car only seats two.”

Qiao Linchuan: “?”

Qin Zai: “My girlfriend said no one else can sit in the passenger seat but her.”

Qiao Linchuan: “… When did you get a girlfriend?”

Qin Zai: “This morning.”

Qiao Linchuan: “Then why didn’t you let me ride yesterday?!”

Qin Zai: “If I’d let you ride yesterday, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten a girlfriend today.”

When Ye Xiyao heard their conversation, he initially wanted to laugh, but the laughter quickly faded. 

Usually, there was no need to take Qiao Linchuan and Qin Zai’s banter seriously; their department could pull off 800 comedic skits a day, and everyone laughed and moved on without thinking twice.

But that day, something clicked for Ye Xiyao, and he suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment. Was riding with Xing Xu every day becoming a burden for him too?

Qin Zai could easily tell Qiao Linchuan that he didn’t want to offer him a ride because they were close enough to be blunt without anyone getting upset. 

Maybe Xing Xu didn’t say anything because he wasn’t sure if Ye Xiyao would take it as well as Qiao Linchuan, or perhaps Xing Xu just hadn’t found the right moment to bring it up.

In this situation, Ye Xiyao should have been more considerate, but he remained at ease. 

So, he shared his thoughts with Xing Xu, saying, “I don’t think I should trouble you anymore. You don’t need to pick me up from now on.”

At the time, Xing Xu stared at him for quite a while before slowly replying, “I understand. Colleagues should indeed be mindful of boundaries. Once you leave the company, you don’t want any interaction with me, right? What can I do but agree with you?”

“Huh?” Ye Xiyao always thought he was quick-witted, but this time he completely missed the point and fell right into Xing Xu’s trap. He shook his head repeatedly, “No, no, I consider you a friend.”

Xing Xu countered, “Are friends really afraid of inconveniencing each other? At the end of the day, it’s because we’re not that close yet, right?”

“We are close!” Ye Xiyao said urgently, “We’re really close.”

He cared too much about the label “friend,” and he believed that as long as the word “friend” was involved, everything else had to take a back seat.

After a back-and-forth exchange, not only did Ye Xiyao fail to refuse Xing Xu’s offer to pick him up for work, but he ended up agreeing to let Xing Xu drop him off afterward, too.

After that, they commuted together every day.

Since he was riding in Xing Xu’s car, it was only fair that Ye Xiyao gave him some perks. So, he started buying Xing Xu breakfast and even offered to refuel his car.

But starting from one day last week, this arrangement changed. Xing Xu no longer picked him up or dropped him off.

It wasn’t because of Xing Xu. 

It was Ye Xiyao who had brought it up.

The trigger was an evening when Ye Xiyao was followed again.

That day was really strange. Xing Xu had uncharacteristically said he had something to do and couldn’t give Ye Xiyao a ride, and as a result, Ye Xiyao got followed. It was as if someone had orchestrated the whole thing behind the scenes.

Although Ye Xiyao eventually managed to escape using some high-tech anti-stalking products from his company, the fear lingered even after he got home.

That night, he couldn’t sleep at all. Ye Xiyao clutched a stuffed toy and kept staring at the door, afraid the stalker would break in while he wasn’t paying attention.

Luckily, he had just replaced his door and installed a smart alarm system with surveillance. If someone tried to pick his lock again, the system would automatically sound an alarm. Plus, his phone was connected to the camera, so he could monitor the situation outside at any time.

But even so, Ye Xiyao was still scared.

His fear wasn’t the typical panic people feel in the face of danger; it was a more distant uncertainty.

He was afraid of being hurt but even more afraid of hurting others. He feared that if he ever reached a dead end, he wouldn’t be able to hide his true identity.

His life had never been entirely aboveboard, and if people found out he wasn’t human, how could he continue to live in human society?

With these complicated fears swirling in his mind, Ye Xiyao unknowingly dialed Xing Xu’s number.

He swore that until the moment the call connected, it was an unconscious action. When he snapped back to reality, he wanted to hang up, never expecting that Xing Xu would actually answer.

“Hello, Ye Xiyao?”

Xing Xu’s tone sounded calm, but his voice had a lazy rasp that comes from being half-awake.

Ye Xiyao had no doubt that he had woken Xing Xu up.

Even though he knew it was incredibly rude to disturb someone in the middle of the night, the moment he heard Xing Xu’s voice, Ye Xiyao’s nose stung, and he blurted out, “I’m a little scared.”

Xing Xu didn’t even ask what had happened. He just told him not to hang up and then appeared at his house an hour later.

At the time, Ye Xiyao was, of course, touched.

He snuggled into Xing Xu’s arms and instantly felt safe.

Ye Xiyao wasn’t sure if he had some sort of attachment to Xing Xu, like an imprinting response—because Xing Xu was the first person to get close to him, even though he now had other people he could consider friends, none of them could compare to the sense of security Xing Xu gave him.

Ye Xiyao couldn’t explain it. Making friends was still a new experience for him, let alone having someone come to guard him in the middle of the night just because of a single sentence.

Ye Xiyao didn’t even dare ask why Xing Xu came. He was afraid that Xing Xu had acted out of unconscious instinct and that if he asked, Xing Xu would suddenly realize his actions made no sense and leave.

In the end, Ye Xiyao slept soundly, thanks to the sense of security Xing Xu brought him.

Half-asleep, he seemed to hear Xing Xu ask, “Do you want to move?”

Ye Xiyao, still groggy but somewhat rational, replied, “No, I can’t afford it.”

Xing Xu chuckled, and Ye Xiyao fell asleep to the sound of his low laughter.

But when the first rays of sunlight hit Ye Xiyao’s eyelids in the morning, he jolted awake.

He suddenly realized something.

Xing Xu had driven to his house at 3 a.m. when the roads were completely clear, which meant—unless something unexpected happened—he must have been speeding. Yet it still took him an hour to arrive at Ye Xiyao’s place.

Were they really that far apart?

So, what kind of “on the way” was Xing Xu referring to when he always said it was convenient?

Of course, there was another possibility: Ye Xiyao might just happen to live midway between Xing Xu’s house and the company.

To confirm this, Ye Xiyao casually probed for information from Qiao Linchuan the next day.

The answer he got was, “Not far from headquarters. Back then, President Xue had me help buy some furniture, so I know for sure. As for your place? That’s in the opposite direction. Why are you asking? Planning to move? That area is highly sought after—I can ask around for you if you want.”

From Qiao Linchuan’s words, Ye Xiyao confirmed that his home and Xing Xu’s were indeed in opposite directions.

So, it wasn’t a coincidence, and it wasn’t “on the way.”

Xing Xu had been going out of his way every day just to pick him up and drop him off.

Unable to comfortably accept such special treatment, Ye Xiyao firmly decided not to trouble Xing Xu anymore after that.