I Was the One Being Bullied

"You saw it? I thought none of you checked your phones." The sun had made Yu Xiuyuan drowsy, and his voice sounded a little sleepy.

"It's trending so much, of course we all saw it. Is that song your original work?" From her tone, she was simply curious.

"Yep. With my army of haters, if it weren't original, they'd have dug that up and dragged me through the mud already."

People really did learn bad habits quickly. It had only been a day, and claiming it was his original work already felt much less shameful.

Li Rou grew excited. "It really is original? You're so talented! When are you releasing the full version? Only getting to hear half of it is driving me crazy."

"Relax. Maybe in a couple of days, when I have time."

At this point in their conversation, the live viewer count began rising rapidly, and comments flooded the screen.

"Waaah, thank you, gorgeous Li Rou, for saying what we're all thinking."

"It really is original!"

"Another couple of days? Can't you sing it now? I've listened to those few lines on repeat eight hundred times."

"I thought we'd never get the full version."

"Yu Dog's ankles are so pale they're glowing. So tempting. I want to be his husband~"

"Are you making a dirty joke up there? You need to step on the gas."

They were only chatting, but the livestream's viewer count kept shooting up. Neither of them had any idea.

"You seem pretty different from the rumors online." Li Rou regretted it the moment she said it. Had a few minutes of casual conversation made her lose all sense of tact? Wasn't that bringing up a sore subject?

Just wait to get yelled at. Why can't I remember my quiet, sophisticated, gentle, ladylike persona?

"A small portion of the rumors are true. I did make some mistakes, but most of them are false, so it's normal that I seem different." His voice was casual, as though he were commenting on the nice weather.

Huh? He didn't get angry? He's even being calm about it?

"Which ones are false?" Her mouth moved faster than her brain, and so did her hand.

As soon as she asked, she smacked herself on the mouth. Stupid mouth! Just shut up already!

Hearing the smack, Yu Xiuyuan turned to look. Her expression was so cute that he couldn't help chuckling.

He had wondered what felt off about her. So the sophisticated lady was just a persona; her real personality was actually rather adorably goofy.

Keeping his arm raised to block the sunlight was getting tiring. Yu Xiuyuan looked at the red ribbon tied in a bow around Li Rou's wrist and tipped his chin toward it. "Give me that, and I'll satisfy your craving for gossip."

"Your smile is so dreamy~" Li Rou stared at him in a daze, completely missing his question.

Yu Xiuyuan laughed again, his chest shaking.

Li Rou snapped out of it and hurriedly untied the bow, her face flushed, before handing him the red ribbon. "What do you need this for?"

Yu Xiuyuan took the ribbon, straightened it with both hands, and laid it across his eyes. It was long, and one end dangled down, swaying gently in the breeze.

In the sunlight, the red ribbon covering his eyes made his skin look fairer than snow, lending him an indescribable allure.

Watching her ribbon lie across that face, Li Rou slowly raised a hand to her chest. Only one thought remained in her mind:

This is going to kill me. How can he be this beautiful...

The comments were flashing wildly too.

"Enough chatter, spill the gossip... Oh! My God..."

"False, my ass. Don't try to whitewash yourself... Oh... Then again..."

"What a creep, asking for her ribbon... Holy shit, he's gorgeous!"

"Holy shit, I want to lick him..."

"Don't you dare fight me for him!"

With his arm freed and the sunlight no longer glaring into his eyes, Yu Xiuyuan felt comfortable.

He tilted his head and shifted against the surface beneath him, finding a comfortable position before continuing. "The school bullying, having a financial backer, all that-it's false."

After a moment's thought, he added, "Well, not entirely false. The school bullying was real, but I was the one being bullied. As for a financial backer, there was never anyone like that."

"What? You were bullied?"

Li Rou cried out, forgetting her persona. Looking at the radiant beauty before her, she couldn't bear to associate him with words like "being bullied."

"You don't believe me? Fair enough. With all those rumors saying I bullied other people, who would believe me?" Yu Xiuyuan stated calmly. "But that's false. The truth is, I was the one being bullied."

Hearing him calmly accept being misunderstood by the entire world made Li Rou's heart ache. She explained as gently as she could, "It's not that I don't believe you. I'm just shocked and heartbroken by what happened to you."

Yu Xiuyuan was a little surprised. "You believe me that easily? Girls really are such lovely creatures."

"Why didn't you explain?" Li Rou asked, puzzled.

Yu Xiuyuan suppressed a smile. This girl really knew how to keep a conversation going. Hadn't she just handed him a chance to expose Wen Lin? He almost suspected she was a plant he had hired himself.

He laughed inwardly while keeping his expression relaxed. "Back in high school, my classmates were always bullying me. Then one time, Wen Lin showed up and saved me. He appeared in the light like a savior."

"Even though I got beaten worse after that, his appearance gave me warmth. From then on, he was my only friend."

"When the smear campaign started, I did think about explaining, but Wen Lin said there was no evidence and no need to explain. He said not to bring up bad experiences again, that the attention would die down quickly, and that people needed to look forward. I thought he was right."

"As for a financial backer, how was I supposed to prove something that didn't exist?"

"People need to learn to look past appearances and see what's really going on. If I had a financial backer, the negative trending topics about me would have been taken down ages ago. How could I end up trending over some scandal every few days?"

After hearing him out, Li Rou felt a heaviness in her chest.

Was Wen Lin really his friend?

She asked, "Wen Lin said there was no evidence? So you didn't even explain?"

"He was telling the truth. I really didn't have any evidence then. And when I didn't respond, the attention did die down quickly, though people kept bringing it up afterward."

Li Rou didn't understand why he was so calm. She couldn't contain her anger. "Didn't you say he saved you? He could have vouched for you."

"I did think about asking him to, but he was right. Everyone knew we were good friends. No one would have believed him."

"He thought no one would believe him, so he wouldn't even vouch for you? And he wouldn't let you explain either? Are you an idiot?"

Yu Xiuyuan fell silent. After a long while, he slowly said, "I don't know either. It was like my brain was clouded over back then. I believed everything he said."

"It was only later, when people kept insulting me, that I started to regret it a little. I'd been bullied so many times, and plenty of classmates had filmed it. If I'd looked back then, I probably could have found evidence."

Li Rou went quiet, her thoughts unreadable.

When she made no further sound, Yu Xiuyuan grew a little worried about this innocent, foolish girl. He raised a hand, pulled off the red ribbon, and sat up to look at her.

She really dared to ask anything. For a scandal-ridden celebrity she had known for only two days, she had gone and offended Wen Lin, whose career was rapidly taking off.

I'll figure something out. I can't let her take the fall.

Seeing that she was still silent, as though she were still aching for him, he could only reassure her first. "Don't worry about me. Some people online are probably already looking for those old videos. Maybe they'll clear my name."

He reached over and switched off both their microphones, then warned Li Rou, "You should worry about yourself first. Helping me like this? Just wait until your manager comes down on you."