You certainly know how to make use of your time

Shi Zhou asked, "This..."

"Are you going to use it?"

He meant the Mecha Control Console. Although it wasn't a real mecha, the virtual AI connected to the brain could recreate eighty percent of the experience.

Seeing those two talking inside, someone in the production team's monitoring room sighed helplessly. "Those two barely seem to get any screen time."

Another person sighed. "Isn't that Su Yue's fault?"

At the beginning, Su Yue had even said Shi Zhou had left the deepest impression on him. But over the past two days, he had barely interacted with anyone else. Whenever he had nothing to do, he trained or read.

All that excitement for nothing.

The production team even wondered if they had been played.

They had finally gotten a particularly good clip of Su Yue playing the piano, with a beautifully picturesque shot, but unfortunately, no one had seen it.

Director Zhang had even spoken to Su Yue about it then. "Could you play something when the other guests are there, so everyone can hear it? It would help build your image, too."

Unsurprisingly, he had refused.

Su Yue said, "I only play for myself. Music is meant to please oneself, not to show off to anyone."

He wasn't wrong, but this was a dating show!

The viewers had been so annoyed they laughed, promptly dubbing him "Mr. Antisocial" and "Mr. Sour Face."

Now, seeing Su Yue and Shi Zhou together, the live comments all said:

-Ah, why did Shi Zhou have to run into Su Yue in the gym?

Xie Jiali and Asta had both been looking for him earlier. Asta had even brought flowers and scented candles, but sadly, they had both missed him.

It wasn't that Su Yue was bad, but he had no intention of dating anyone. Hadn't he said two days ago that he had only come on the show to fulfill an assignment from his superior?

Shi Zhou: ?

After waiting a long time without Su Yue saying anything, he started to head out.

Su Yue pressed his lips together, his ice-blue eyes fixed solely on Shi Zhou's face. After the prolonged, intense workout, Shi Zhou's cheeks were flushed, and his eyes were moist.

As he stepped forward, Su Yue took half a step back.

Lowering his eyelids, Su Yue couldn't help lifting his hand again to pinch his jacket zipper.

Thinking the other man disliked how sweaty he was, Shi Zhou stopped where he stood and explained:

"I didn't use the simulator, and the robot has already disinfected the other equipment."

Su Yue seemed to be a bit of a neat freak.

The original novel had described how he could tolerate getting as filthy as necessary on the battlefield, but when he wasn't training, he could shower twice a day.

Su Yue said nothing and pinched his jacket zipper again. With a zip, he simply pulled it down, revealing the fitted short-sleeved shirt underneath. Then he swiftly took off the jacket and tossed it onto Shi Zhou.

"Put it on," he said coldly.

Draped in the jacket and its cool pine scent, Shi Zhou said, "Huh?"

Su Yue's gaze remained on his face without shifting an inch. "Your shirt is too see-through."

Shi Zhou glanced down. It was a little see-through after he had worked up a sweat, but they were both men, and both liked women. What did it matter?

Seeing the other man insist, Shi Zhou smiled. "Thanks."

At his smile, Su Yue turned his face away, nodded, and went off to one side to exercise.

Su Yue was satisfied, but the live comments weren't:

-Fuck, fuck, fuck! Sure, you're a gentleman, you're so noble! Aaaaaah, who's going to make up for the little nipples I'm missing out on?!

-What little nipples? I can't see anything.

-You can zoom in with the VVIP ultra-HD camera. From diagonally above, you can just see a little. Sheer and pink, hehe (¯﹃¯)

-Holy shit, why didn't you say so sooner?! I missed out on a fortune!

The production team couldn't care less about the comments' filthy talk. What was the big deal? The men would have to bare their entire upper bodies later anyway.

The production team was also pleased by the scene. A little excited, someone said, "Why do I feel like there's potential here? Has he ever cared about what anyone else wore?"

Another person held back a laugh, their eyes teasing-a complete reversal of their earlier boredom.

"Right? Didn't Yu Manman wear a short skirt yesterday afternoon? He didn't even look, did he?"

It wasn't that he hadn't looked. He hadn't noticed at all, and he didn't care.

Shi Zhou put on the other man's jacket. It was a little too big. No longer in the mood to work out, he stayed where he was and took a couple of sips of water. Watching the pronounced lines of Su Yue's waist and back rise and fall, he went over and asked quietly, "Chairman, could you give me a little information?"

He set an unopened bottle of water beside Su Yue.

Su Yue came out from beneath the gravity machine. He trained hard, and in just a few minutes, his face and neck had reddened slightly. Against his fair skin, it was especially noticeable.

Su Yue pressed his thin lips together. "Zip it up."

Fine.

Shi Zhou obediently zipped it up.

Su Yue gripped the water bottle and unscrewed the cap. His Adam's apple bobbed as he took a couple of sips before saying:

"I can't tell you yet, but there's no need to dispute the terms of your punishment."

Shi Zhou's eyes curved at that, as though a little pink flower had sprouted above his head with a whoosh!

"Then doesn't that mean I'm not the main culprit?"

Although he had no memories, after he had "awakened," some people had still tried to maliciously stir things up, urging him to go make trouble for Xie Jiali. Shi Zhou had refused without a second thought after hearing them out:

He had even looked at the other person as though they were insane. "There are so many outstanding people in the world. If I had to envy every single one, how could I possibly keep up?"

Even if Xie Jiali was an outstanding student in the same department, praised by teachers and admired and adored by boys and girls alike, that was because he was capable.

What did that have to do with him?

He just needed to do his own best.

The other person had choked, their expression twisting. They couldn't understand how this idiot had suddenly wised up. They had talked until their mouth went dry, only to end up looking like an idiot themselves.

Shi Zhou sighed inwardly. There really was more to the story.

The system agreed: [Yes. If this novel hadn't materialized, none of that would matter. After all, everyone is here to see the protagonist. But once the novel's world materializes, the seemingly illogical parts of the book are filled in with coherent logic, and the actual truth naturally comes to light.]

Su Yue raised an eyebrow slightly. "Don't worry. The committee will get to the bottom of it."

"But you still haven't answered my question. Why are you here?"

Shi Zhou froze. After a long while, he finally squeezed out an excuse, saying slowly, "Um, I want to fall in love."

As he spoke, he extended his index finger and scratched his cheek.

Su Yue watched his finger make a small dent in his cheek. With his lashes lowered, he squeezed the water bottle in his large, veined hand.

"Heh. While you're being disciplined by the school?"

Shi Zhou despaired. What else could I do? Tell the male lead I'm minor cannon fodder and an undercover mole?

After stumbling for a moment, he could only put his hands behind his back and sigh theatrically:

"Yes. I'm old enough anyway. It's about time I tried dating someone."

That was what Shi Zhou's family had said, so it came in handy here.

Su Yue's fingers were long and slender. After hearing his words, he crushed the empty water bottle completely flat, casually tossed it into the trash, and pressed down the corners of his lips.

His tone seemed a little strange.

"You certainly know how to make use of your time."