Shiyan, I Really Didn't Try to Drive a Wedge Between You

One act of courage had bought him a lifetime of introversion.

Chu Tian had only meant to tease Gu Shiyan while he was relaxed, but he ended up getting turned right back around.

All night, he had all sorts of bizarre dreams. Gu Shiyan's voice kept repeating the words "boyfriend" in his ear, impossible to shake off.

The next morning, when Little Cai hauled Chu Tian out of bed, his eyes were vacant and enormous dark circles hung beneath them. He looked as though some demon had drained him dry and thoroughly ravaged him.

"Whoa, what happened?" Little Cai panicked at Chu Tian's swollen, haggard face. "Soul Shocker starts streaming tonight. How can you go on like this?"

Little Cai hurriedly messaged Little Huang, telling him to buy two popsicles for Chu Tian to ice his eyes.

"Ah..." Chu Tian suddenly let out a long sigh and muttered indistinctly, "This isn't right... This isn't scientific!"

If he had known Gu Shiyan would turn the tables on him, he should not have let his mouth run yesterday. Those three words, "boyfriend," had tormented him all night and kept him from sleeping.

Chu Tian's cheeks burned as he covered his face with both hands in utter resignation, convinced he could no longer face anyone.

Pathetic! He was just called "boyfriend" once. What was there to be embarrassed about? He was hopeless!

Even as Chu Tian harshly despised himself inwardly, he had to admit that he did have just the tiniest bit of fondness for Gu Shiyan.

He had known his sexual orientation from a young age, and Gu Shiyan happened to hit every one of his preferences. There was not a single thing about him that Chu Tian found unsatisfactory.

If it had been an ordinary person, he might have been able to cheer himself on and make one brave attempt. But this was Gu Shiyan...

The moment Chu Tian thought of the male lead aura surrounding Gu Shiyan, along with his cursed lone-for-life constitution where anyone who got close to him died, he chickened out.

Compared to male beauty, he valued his own little life more.

Besides, they were in a relationship bound by a dating agreement. He could not fall for his partner, or he would not only violate the agreement, but also be unethical!

Chu Tian quickly used that reasoning to suppress his restless heart and secretly swore that from now on, he would seal off his heart and lock away love. He would only make money, not chase men.

Thus, when Gu Shiyan came to knock on Chu Tian's hotel room door as agreed, ready to head to the variety show's filming location together, he found nothing.

[Chu Tian: Ah, I suddenly remembered I have something important to do, so I'm leaving first. Sowy~]

Gu Shiyan raised a brow, somehow detecting a trace of guilt in the tilde at the end of the message.

He gave a faint laugh and unhurriedly changed Chu Tian's contact name to "Little Liar."

To boost viewership, Soul Shocker had deliberately promoted the gimmick of an "immersive top-secret script."

Not only could viewers find out nothing real about the new episode before the livestream, even the guests themselves only received portions of their character and plot scripts on the day of filming.

This achieved the effect the production team wanted, but it also successfully screwed over the guests.

Guests were allowed to bring their scripts on set, but if they actually read from them during filming, viewers would instead criticize them for being unprofessional and insufficiently immersed.

To stand out and participate immersively in the show, guests had to prove both their script-memorization speed and acting skills.

The first episode's script had been exciting enough that, even though some guests had performed less than ideally, the flaws had not overshadowed its strengths.

Although Qian Feihe's scandal had erupted far too quickly, fortunately the show used a livestream-first, edit-later format, so it was not a major problem.

The guests for the new episode had already arrived. Supposedly, one was a child star who had entered the entertainment industry at age three and grown up before the audience's eyes.

After growing up, he had gone abroad for his studies. Now that he wanted to return to the entertainment industry, he had chosen Soul Shocker as his comeback project.

That was the information Song Qiang had dug up, and Chu Tian instinctively felt there had to be more to it.

His first meeting with the other party seemed to confirm his suspicions from another angle.

The character scripts for the new episode had been delivered personally by the "child star."

"Hello," the other party introduced himself with a bright smile. "My name is Zhang Yang, but you can also call me Yangyang. Nice to meet you. Please guide me."

Chu Tian had been dozing in the dressing room. He forced back a yawn halfway through and politely greeted him, "Hello, hello. I'm Chu Tian."

"I know you." Zhang Yang tilted his head, looking innocent and guileless. "I saw clips of you on the trending searches. You're even more handsome in person than you are on camera."

It would have been cute if a child had made that expression, but Zhang Yang wore a face that was mature beyond his years while striking that pose, making him seem even more affected and pretentious.

"Thank you, thank you. You're very handsome too."

Chu Tian forced out a professional fake smile, unable to understand why they had to continue this kind of insincere small talk.

Whether Zhang Yang was truly naïve or merely pretending, he seemed completely unaware of Chu Tian's perfunctory distance. He pulled over a chair and sat down as though he intended to have a long conversation with him.

Chu Tian immediately became wary and exchanged a glance with Little Cai through the mirror.

"Did you come alone today? Why haven't I seen your boyfriend?" Zhang Yang probed with a smile. "Did you two have a fight?"

Chu Tian was already irritable from not sleeping well, and Zhang Yang, as though unable to read the room, kept overstepping and prying. Chu Tian could no longer maintain his professional fake smile, and his expression gradually darkened.

"Mr. Zhang Yang," Chu Tian said patiently, tactfully showing him out, "we don't seem to know each other very well, do we? That question is a little over the line. Sorry, but I need to change now. We can chat later when we have time."

"Huh? Did I offend you?" Zhang Yang's lips pouted, and he instantly looked aggrieved, tears even welling in his eyes. "I was just curious. Big brother isn't angry, is he?"

Chu Tian was so angry at that green tea performance that he laughed.

He had never considered himself particularly good-tempered. The fact that he had kept up a pleasant face and humored Zhang Yang for this long was already more than respectful enough.

And this guy still dared to push his luck and pull this act in front of him?

Chu Tian had been nervous, cowardly, and obedient around Gu Shiyan because he valued his life too much and feared the power of Gu Shiyan's male lead aura.

But in front of everyone else, he was the famously arrogant Second Young Master Chu.

As long as Chu Corporation stood and Chu Maoming was still around, he could strut sideways through City A.

Once the young master's temper flared, he did not care who you were.

"Are you fucking done?" Chu Tian finally snapped, slamming his hand on the table as he rose to his feet. "We're all foxes who've lived for a thousand years, so what the hell are you playing at? Can't you understand human speech? What's our relationship? Why do you need to stick your nose in? Cluck, cluck, cluck—are you about to lay an egg? Sorry, sweetheart, but you're a year older than me. I can't accept you calling me 'big brother.' The door's over there. Take care, and don't let it hit you on the way out."

Sharp-tongued Chu Tian fired off a rapid barrage at Zhang Yang. Even the irritation from his sleepless night evaporated with the outburst, leaving him instantly refreshed.

Zhang Yang was left tongue-tied. He had never expected Chu Tian to be too lazy even to keep up appearances, and a flash of resentment passed through his eyes.

Catching sight of a figure lingering outside the door from the corner of his eye, Zhang Yang's gaze flickered. He immediately put on a flushed, tearful expression.

"I-I only wanted to be friends with you. How could you curse at me? Shiyan, I really didn't try to drive a wedge between you two."

Who?

Chu Tian abruptly turned his head and met Gu Shiyan's gaze as he stood in the doorway. His mind instantly went blank.