The board of directors.
He figured someone would be unable to sit still soon enough. He would have to make another trip back to the Europe headquarters.
As for those people in the livestream, Yaqing only wanted to teach them one lesson: disaster came from the mouth, and the internet was not beyond the reach of the law.
After Elysia stepped in to smooth things over, the viewers could all tell she was angry. The barrage comments aimed at Yaqing dwindled until they nearly vanished.
Elysia adjusted herself slightly and said, "Today, Miss Pink Elf's livestream has once again reached the segment where she listens to fans' emotional troubles. The elf lady will be opening voice connections shortly."
The moment Elysia enabled voice connections, a viewer connected.
"Hello, Miss Elf." Judging by the voice, it was a young man.
"This... um, fan, do you have some emotional issue? Or did you simply want to come on and chat?" It was not that Elysia deliberately refused to read the fan's name aloud; it was simply far too... wild.
Miss Elf's Dog?
Miss Elf's Dog said, "It's like this, Miss Elf. I've been a little confused lately. A friend of mine fell in love with his girlfriend's coworker, but before he could confess, the coworker he fell for got together with his bro. But then his bro told him he didn't like the coworker my friend loved—he liked my friend's girlfriend. But my friend's girlfriend also told him that actually, her coworker didn't like men. She liked her instead. He went and asked the coworker, but unexpectedly, she said his bro had no interest in her. The one who really wanted to screw him was my friend. Now he's completely confused. Who exactly should he believe?!"
Yaqing, sitting beside Elysia, was utterly dumbfounded. Forget the people involved in that mess—even he was confused now. The web of relationships was so complicated that even he could not make sense of it.
Just as Yaqing was about to speak, Elysia beside him replied, "Based on your question, dear fan, Miss Elf thinks this: your friend's bro was not lying, and neither was your friend's girlfriend. However, that coworker lady was most likely the real liar. She wanted to use such lies to trick your friend into leaving his girlfriend, while also driving a wedge between your friend and his bro, so she could reap all the benefits for herself."
Yaqing watched Elysia's expression shift from initial shock to later bewilderment. He had no idea what Elysia was talking about. He could understand every single word, but once they were put together, he could not understand any of it.
"So, Miss Elf suggests that your friend take his girlfriend and stay away from that coworker lady. Otherwise, he could easily lose both the girl and his money, you know~?" Elysia said with a smile.
Yaqing had personally witnessed one bizarre emotional problem after another—more than he had seen in all twenty-eight years of his life—yet Elysia answered them one by one.
After the livestream ended, Yaqing did not say a word. He fled the living room as if escaping for his life.
Elysia looked at Yaqing in confusion, unable to understand him. It somehow felt like Yaqing had suffered an even greater shock.
The Fallen Kevin
Without looking back, Yaqing returned to his bedroom, locked the door tightly, changed into his favorite dinosaur pajamas, and collapsed onto the soft bed. Just as he was about to take a nap, his phone gave several beeps.
Yaqing picked up his phone and discovered that Walter Yang had sent over the character designs for a new tokusatsu IP Anti-Entropy was preparing. His head began to ache again. Where was he supposed to find so many male actors?
Yaqing covered his eyes with an arm and drifted off in a daze.
The sun was setting. It was five in the afternoon.
Yaqing woke up, scratched his messy hair, and yawned.
Yaqing left his bedroom.
"Yaqing!"
The familiar roar instantly woke Yaqing up. Looking at Kalpas storming toward him in fury, he remembered deliberately eating instant noodles in front of Kalpas and hurriedly explained, "Kal... Brother Kalpas, I... I..."
Kalpas grabbed him by both shoulders. His eyes beneath the face mask burned with rage as he said, "Yaqing Schariac! I will not allow you to eat instant noodles! From now on, you have to eat what I cook!"
Kalpas shook him so hard his brain was about to turn into mush. Yaqing could only agree.
Only then did Kalpas let him go.
Having regained a little clarity, Yaqing looked at Kalpas's muscular build, and inspiration flashed through his mind. An actor? Wasn't Kalpas a qualified tokusatsu actor?
"Brother Kalpas, have you ever thought about becoming an actor?" Yaqing's eyes lit up.
"No." Kalpas walked straight back to his room, which was two doors down from Yaqing's.
Rejected once again, Yaqing was not discouraged, because he remembered there was someone else in the courtyard who definitely would not refuse him.
"Pfft." Kevin spat out the juice he had just drunk.
He successfully drew the furious glare of Hen, who had just finished mopping the floor.
Kevin looked at Yaqing in disbelief and asked, "What did you say? An actor? Me? A tokusatsu actor?"
"What's wrong with being a tokusatsu actor? It's not like I'm asking you to wear a suit yourself. Believe in yourself, Kevin!" Yaqing made an encouraging gesture.
"Can I really do it?"
Mei carried over a cup of freshly brewed black coffee and sat beside Kevin. "What are you talking about?"
"Mei, Yaqing wants me to become an actor," Kevin answered honestly.
"What?" Mei looked strangely at Kevin and Yaqing.
"It's not like you have to do it right now. It'll probably take around a year to prepare. Use that time to work out properly. Kevin, how long has it been since you last went to a gym?" Yaqing said.
Hearing that, Kevin thought about it. It seemed that ever since he graduated and started working, he had never set foot in a gym again. Pinching the soft flesh on his stomach, Kevin snapped, "Mind your own business! It's not like you're any better!"
Kevin looked at Yaqing's baggy dinosaur pajamas and asked a question from the depths of his soul.
"Is that so?" Yaqing raised a brow, glanced at Mei, and said, "Mei, could I ask you to leave for a moment?"
Mei nodded, stood up, and left.
Only Hen, Kevin, and Yaqing remained in the living room.
Yaqing unfastened his dinosaur pajamas.
After quite a while, Mei returned. Seeing Kevin sitting there in silent dejection, she asked in confusion, "What happened to Kevin? Yaqing, what did you do to him again?"
Yaqing leaned back against the padded wall behind the sofa and said helplessly, "I merely made him face reality."
Kevin hugged his legs and curled himself into a ball on the sofa.
Mei had already guessed roughly what had happened. Stroking Kevin's white hair as though soothing a little dog, she comforted him, "Kevin, don't be sad. You don't need to compare yourself to Yaqing. There's at least one thing you're better than him at."
Kevin silently raised his head.
"You have a flawless girlfriend." After saying that, Mei herself blushed bright red.
The smile on Yaqing's face slowly disappeared.
The smile had not disappeared—it had merely transferred to Kevin's face. He pulled himself together again.
"No, I have to start working out!"
Kevin excitedly ran upstairs.
"Why did you have to provoke him?" Mei asked helplessly.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the sofa, Yaqing had become the Kevin from moments ago, hugging his legs and curling up on the sofa.
"Another one." Mei rubbed her forehead helplessly.
"What do you mean, another one?" Mobius, who had just returned, took off her high heels, changed into slippers, and sat on the sofa.
Mei pointed at Yaqing on the sofa.
"What's wrong with him?" Mobius asked in confusion.
"I'm thinking about something," Yaqing suddenly said.
"You're not shutting yourself away?" Mei asked.
"Of course not. If I didn't do that, why would Kevin have gone upstairs so quickly?" Yaqing stretched out his long legs.
"What happened to that little lackey again?" Mobius leaned against the padded wall behind the sofa.
"Tomorrow, you'll probably see his hands trembling while he writes code." Yaqing smiled mischievously.
"Really? Then I'm looking forward to it." Mobius picked up some sunflower seeds from the coffee table, found the remote, turned on the television, and continued watching cartoons.
Watching the two of them sit in the exact same lazy posture, Mei sighed inwardly. They really did look like a married couple.
Elysia came downstairs and asked in confusion, "Professor Mobius, you're back? I just saw Kevin rush into the gym. Why did he suddenly decide to work out?"
"Someone provoked him."
Mei looked at the two people seriously watching cartoons and pinched the bridge of her nose.
The gym was on the second floor, across from the rooms Yaqing and Kevin shared.
Kevin rushed back to his room, changed into a tank top, and immediately headed to the gym.
Inside the gym, Kalpas was doing bench presses. Seeing that the person who entered was actually Kevin, he was somewhat puzzled. Ever since moving in, he had never seen Kevin enter the gym.
"Hey, Brother Kalpas!"
Kevin greeted him, lay down on the bench beside Kalpas, and looked at the barbell. Half of the passion in his heart immediately cooled, and he began to regret acting on impulse.
Kevin gripped the barbell with both hands, every muscle in his body straining as he made noises like he was constipated, yet the barbell remained utterly motionless on the rack.
Kevin became so anxious that even his legs started lifting off the ground.
Beside him, Kalpas's barbell moved rapidly up and down, forming a stark contrast with Kevin.
Seeing Kevin beside him, Kalpas returned his barbell to the rack with one motion, secured it, stood up, and said, "So damn annoying. You really are weak!"
Kevin felt another knife plunge into his heart.
Kalpas grabbed Kevin's barbell with one hand and casually set it back on the rack.
Kevin was completely dumbfounded.
Was he confused because the barbell he could not lift even with all his strength had been raised one-handed by Kalpas?
Or was he confused because Kalpas had suddenly lifted his barbell?
Perhaps it was both.
Kalpas pointed at the dumbbells on the floor to one side.
"Now get over there and start with the basics. Immediately! Right now!"
Kevin climbed off the bench.
Only after seeing Kevin leave did Kalpas silently lie back down and continue his bench presses.
Kevin miserably picked up a one-kilogram dumbbell and began doing arm exercises.
St. Freya Spring Festival
When Kevin came out of the gym, both his hands were trembling. He had trained himself mercilessly, as if he thought he could build muscles in his arms within a single day.
That evening, Kevin could not even hold his chopsticks while eating and had to use a spoon.
"Brother Kevin, shame on you. Even I don't need a spoon to eat."
Ling was, without question, lectured by Sakura again.
Griseo placed a slice of meat into Kevin's bowl. The meaning was obvious.
Amid the laughter and cheerful chatter, Kevin was the only one who got hurt.
"Ah!"
When Kevin woke up the next day, his hands no longer felt like his own. The soreness was unbearable. After Su examined him, he determined that Kevin had strained his muscles and would likely need two or three days of rest.
Mei personally approved a few days of leave for her boyfriend.
Mobius found it rather regrettable. She would not get to see Kevin's hands tremble as he typed code. She had even been looking forward to it before going to bed last night.
In the living room, Yaqing sat on the sofa with Kevin, whose hands were powerless. Watching Yaqing leisurely eat fruit, Kevin asked in confusion, "It's Friday. Aren't you going to work?"
At this hour, everyone in the courtyard who needed to work was at work, and everyone who needed to attend school was at school. Apart from Elysia, who livestreamed from home, Eden, who had no performances scheduled for now, Pardo, who was "temporarily" unemployed, and Kevin, who was recovering from his injury, there was also Yaqing.
"Come on, I'm the boss. Whether I go to the company or stay in the courtyard, I'm just playing around anyway. Why would I go all the way to the company when I can stay nearby?" Yaqing popped a grape into his mouth.
"Evil capitalist." That was all Kevin could say.
Yaqing had not forgotten Kevin either. He picked up a grape and tossed it into Kevin's mouth.
A direct hit.
"By the way, what exactly happens later in the Honkai movie? Give me a spoiler," Kevin said.
"Kevin, do you just want to know whether you'll have any scenes later on?" Yaqing asked with a faint smile.
Kevin merely smiled awkwardly, which counted as an admission.
"Yes."
Before you continue