But before Ye Zexi could reach the lounge, a man suddenly stepped out from the side and blocked his way.
The man wore a simple white T-shirt and beige trousers that wrapped around his long, straight legs. He was very tall, only about half a head shorter than Ye Zexi.
Ye Zexi's gaze fell on the man's face. His skin was fair, and beneath his chestnut-colored hair, his features were exquisitely handsome at a glance.
Unfortunately, this handsome young man currently had anger in his almond-shaped eyes and was glaring at Ye Zexi furiously.
Ye Zexi believed he had been cautious ever since transmigrating here. He surely had not made any enemies, much less gotten into a conflict with such a handsome guy.
That meant the handsome man before him must have had a problem with the original owner.
Ye Zexi did not want such a handsome young man to have a bad opinion of him. The corners of his lips curved into a pleasant smile as he asked softly, "What is it? Did you need something from m—"
"Ye Zexi, quit pretending!"
Before he could finish saying "me," the handsome man cut him off. The corners of his eyes were faintly red, and his fists were tightly clenched, as though he had used every ounce of strength to suppress his rage. "It's been a whole year, from last year until now. Can't you stop harassing me? So many people saw what you gave me yesterday..."
At that point, the handsome man refused to continue. He turned his gaze away in shame and indignation.
The information in his words was abundant, and Ye Zexi almost instantly matched the person before him to a name—Tang Jing.
As for Tang Jing, there was a lot to say.
In the novel, the original owner had joined Era Idol because he was pursuing Tang Jing.
But who was Tang Jing? He was the novel's bottom protagonist. Let alone being won over by the original owner, Tang Jing had never given him so much as a glance from beginning to end.
It was precisely because of this that the original owner became enraged from humiliation. Relying on his family's influence in the industry, he began suppressing Tang Jing at every turn.
Thus began the original owner's self-destructive life.
After briefly recalling the plot, Ye Zexi understood why Tang Jing was making that expression.
No wonder Jiang Ran and the others knew the original owner was pursuing Tang Jing. So that was why.
Putting himself in Tang Jing's shoes, if some man he did not know kept following him around and desperately pursuing him, then affected his career after failing to win him over...
Ye Zexi's fists clenched!
Looking again at the furious Tang Jing before him, Ye Zexi could fully understand how he felt.
Now that he knew what was going on, Ye Zexi needed to make his stance clear.
Suppressing the emotions in his eyes, Ye Zexi looked at Tang Jing again and said with exceptional sincerity, "I'm sorry."
The moment those words fell, Tang Jing was visibly stunned.
What had he just heard?
Before he could respond, Ye Zexi continued, "It was my fault for harassing you before. I apologize to you, and I also promise that this will never happen again."
Ye Zexi said, "I don't expect your forgiveness. I only hope you won't continue to feel troubled by my past mistakes. This is the last time. Once I'm eliminated, I'll never appear before you again."
"Before then, though, sorry for the trouble—I'll need you to bear with me a little longer."
After all, what if such a handsome guy got sick from being too angry?
Ye Zexi's gaze was sincere, and his expression was especially serious. He looked directly into Tang Jing's eyes while saying this, not seeming to lie.
Tang Jing was momentarily dazed. He had never expected the always-arrogant rich young master Ye Zexi to apologize to him, much less say that he would no longer harass him.
It was simply like a dream.
Tang Jing gave Ye Zexi a suspicious look. The man before him had striking pink hair that made his skin look even more porcelain-white. When he was not smiling, his peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly, adding a trace of wild defiance to his expression. He looked like someone not to be messed with.
Although Ye Zexi's eyes were curved in a smile now, all the defiance in them had faded, leaving only gentleness behind.
Tang Jing found it strange and could not help taking another look.
Noticing his gaze, Ye Zexi gave him an innocent, harmless smile.
He had always been handsome, but before, others had noticed only the gloom and arrogance in his eyes at first glance, and they had not dared look any further.
Now was different. This gentle warmth was something Ye Zexi had never shown before.
Looking closely... he was actually a little handsome.
The moment Tang Jing realized he was thinking that, his expression changed noticeably.
"It'd better be!"
Leaving those words behind, Tang Jing turned and walked away without another glance at Ye Zexi.
Watching his retreating figure, Ye Zexi let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief.
Tang Jing had not noticed anything wrong. It seemed his performance just now had been flawless.
As expected of me!
A smile immediately appeared in Ye Zexi's eyes. He headed in the direction Tang Jing had just left; the lounge was over there.
*
In recent years, boy group survival shows had become wildly popular, and Era Idol had caught this wave.
Li Changjian wanted to create the country's number one boy group, selecting four people out of a hundred, so he had been especially meticulous in choosing the contestants.
Most of the hundred trainees had been carefully selected from major talent agencies across the country. There were also some artists who had debuted years ago but remained obscure, such as Tang Jing.
However, it was too difficult to fill the entire lineup with trainees like that, so naturally there were also contestants with nothing but good looks and no substance, such as Ye Zexi.
A hundred contestants of varying ability made up today's Era Idol.
Unlike other survival shows, Era Idol took a different approach. Before revealing the trainee roster or mentor lineup, it announced the first performance today.
The moment the news came out, viewers and fans who had been quietly following Era Idol became extremely excited.
Era Idol had been in preparation for months without making a sound, only to come out with such a huge announcement.
Within a single morning, related terms for Era Idol had climbed the trending searches.