Xu Chun crouched down and looked at them, unable to suppress a smile. "Where did you find out my address?"
The girls' voices immediately grew quieter. "We bought it," they mumbled.
Some paparazzi and private accounts put clear prices on celebrities' private information. As long as someone had money and connections, they could get their idol's phone number, home address, and even personal belongings.
"That's wrong, you know?" Xu Chun looked at them, patiently guiding them.
There was no telling how long they had been waiting there. Their faces were dirty, and they were curled up miserably in the corner, but they still clutched the signs in their hands.
"We know." The female students couldn't help lowering their heads.
"Don't do anything like this again. I hope the next time I see you, it won't be in a place like this."
"We're sorry..."
Xu Chun smiled, then stood up. "Hurry home. It won't be safe for you girls if it gets dark."
"Brother Xu, are you leaving it at that?" The assistant discreetly pointed his phone at the girls. Even when he saw Xu Chun nod, he still didn't put it down.
He had to report this to Sister Su.
#Xu Chun#sasaeng fans#
The third spot on Weibo's trending searches was flooded with news of Xu Chun being harassed by sasaeng fans.
A marketing account's post described in detail how the sasaeng fans had harassed him. They had been lying in wait in his residential complex's garage, and their faces had even been caught on camera, though they had of course been blurred out.
In the comments below, not only Xu Chun's fans but also casual onlookers from other fandoms were outraged.
"Will the ss fans please explode on the spot?"
"ss fans, give up your moms first [smile]"
"If you love him, get closer to his work and stay farther away from his life."
"My heart aches for Brother Xu Chun. Will the company please protect its own artist? How did all this private information get leaked?"
"..."
"What are you looking at? You're so engrossed." Wei Jiahe came over and patted Xie Jianyuan on the shoulder, then leaned in to look at his phone. He made a sound of recognition. "Isn't this about Xu Chun being harassed? Let me see. Third on the trending searches. Damn, impressive."
Xie Jianyuan smiled and changed the subject. "Finished all your scheduled jobs?"
Wei Jiahe rolled his eyes. "Of course. You think I'm like you? You're a rich young master. Even if you didn't act, you'd never lack money."
The two were chatting and laughing in the hallway when a figure suddenly emerged around the corner.
"Brother Xu Chun!" Wei Jiahe greeted him with a smile.
Xu Chun first caught sight of the figure beside him, and his gaze sharpened slightly, but the smile on his face remained unchanged. He nodded and greeted Wei Jiahe warmly. "Hello."
"Senior." Xie Jianyuan bowed slightly and nodded to him, speaking in a low voice.
Xu Chun stared at him for a few seconds before nodding in response.
Then he started to walk past them. Just as they were about to pass each other, Xie Jianyuan suddenly spoke. "Have I done something to upset you, Senior?"
Xu Chun's gaze darkened, and he felt inexplicably irritated, though he curved his lips into a smile. "It might not be my place to say this, but since you've become an actor, take your acting seriously. With an indifferent attitude like that, you have no right to call yourself an actor."
What he said was true. Xie Jianyuan's indifferent attitude toward acting was also one of the reasons Xu Chun treated him so poorly.
Xie Jianyuan pressed his thin lips together and stared at him for a long moment. Xu Chun's face, so similar to his own, was reflected in his dark eyes. His gaze actually made Xu Chun somewhat uncomfortable.
Only then did Xu Chun realize that Xie Jianyuan was at least half a head taller than him. His tall figure cast a shadow, giving off an intensely oppressive presence. After three or four seconds of silence, Xie Jianyuan said in a low voice, "I'll make you change your opinion of me."
"Say that when you've caught up to me."
Xu Chun smiled dismissively. With that, he walked away without looking back.
Xie Jianyuan watched him leave and narrowed his eyes slightly, eager ambition in his gaze.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, he turned to look at Wei Jiahe, who had been holding his breath in silence. Wei Jiahe covered his ears and shook his head desperately.
"Don't look at me. I didn't hear a thing."
"..."
The online uproar over the sasaeng fans' harassment was in full swing. Xu Chun sighed as he looked at the trending searches. He knew this was Su Li's doing: she was using the sasaeng fans to make him look pitiful and shore up his fanbase. The trending spot had also been bought, which was why it had remained so high on the list.
Xu Chun drew the curtains. It seemed to be rainy outside, and thunder rumbled faintly in the dark night.
He checked the time. It was only six or seven o'clock. It seemed he had finished work and come home early today.
When he went out to throw away the trash, Xu Chun was wondering which restaurant to order dinner from when he suddenly heard a clattering noise from next door.
He couldn't help stopping. After he waited for a long while without hearing anything else, he began to feel a little worried.
The complex had been built on the most expensive stretch of land, and with one of the country's leading real estate developers in charge, it was famously extravagant. The people who lived there could be said to be either rich or powerful, and Xu Chun's status as a celebrity didn't amount to much, so he didn't worry that his identity would cause any inconvenience.
After hesitating for a moment, he went to the door and knocked. "Hello, is anyone there? Do you need any help?"
There was still no response after a long while. Xu Chun panicked. Had something really happened? Something like this had happened in his old complex: an elderly person had suddenly fainted at home, and it had made the same kind of noise. As he thought of this, his knocking grew more urgent.
"Is anyone there?"
As soon as he spoke, the door opened with a click, revealing a familiar face.
Xie Jianyuan stood there in loungewear, a white cat in his arms, looking at him with sleepy eyes. When he saw it was Xu Chun, he immediately woke up and looked at him in slight astonishment.
At that moment, Xu Chun wanted nothing more than to find a hole to crawl into. He was mortified.